Story 24: Basil versus Uncle Jacob
July 27th, 1913
Basil and his family were in the Heaven realm with Olivia's deceased parents and their good witch friends, Tsura and Lulu. The detective was given a bucket of carrots to feed Hiriam's horse, Argus and he takes a sniff of the carrots, they smelled freshly picked from the ground.
Then, they stop in their tracks as they notice a figure standing by Argus at the fence and petting his neck. It was a female mouse with long red hair and light brown fur. She wore a rather elegant cotton dress and her hair flows freely in the breeze.
The mice walk towards the stranger and Hiriam lets out an audible gasp. The female mouse hears it and turns to face the family, but locks eyes with the detective. To Basil's shock and surprise, the female mouse was none other than Aunt Sophie, only she was far younger than he remembered her in her old age.
"Why hello Elliot," Sophie speaks in a soft tone. Basil's grip on the bucket of carrots loosens and it clatters to the ground. "Oh, don't waste those!" she insists, but then Basil pulls her into a hug.
"Aunt Sophie," he said in a tearful voice and she returns the hug. Olivia joins in the hug and Aunt Sophie takes a look at her great-niece's belly.
"Oh my word! I heard that you were expecting another!" Aunt Sophie exclaims and looks around, "Where are your-" she stops when she sees the twins, John and Leana Basil. She collapses to her knees, staring at them with tears in her eyes.
"Who's that?" John asks his grandparents, who chuckle a bit.
"John, Leana," Hiriam said, placing a comforting hand on his aunt's shoulders, "This here is Sophie Flaversham, my aunt, which makes her...oh, I never cared for all those fancy words. Just call her-"
"Call me Aunt Sophie," she cuts in and opens her arms to them. They jump into her embrace and she squeezes them tight. "My gracious," she said and looks at them, "Why John, you are the mirror image of your father," she comments and looks at Leana, "You young lady, you have the same beauty as your mother and grandmother. I do sense that the two of you possess your father's intelligence and your mother's fighting spirit."
The twins hugged their grandfather's aunt, they were very happy to finally meet her. Sophie then gets to her feet and looks at her great-niece, Olivia and her husband, Elliott Basil. "I've missed you both so much. I really wish I lived long enough to see your first children be born, but I have been keeping a watchful eye on you," Aunt Sophie said and they hug her, again.
Basil tries his best to gain his composure, but he had missed Aunt Sophie. She was a likable mouse when she was alive and he also wished she lived long enough to see the birth of the twins.
"Where have you been all this time?" Olivia asks and that sparked her husband's curiosity.
Aunt Sophie lets out a frustrated sigh, "I've been trying to get Jacob to come here and visit his nephew, Hiriam, but he still thinks Hiriam is a traitor," she said and Olivia and Basil look at her in surprise.
"A traitor?" Olivia asks, but then Basil explains that her uncles Kendrick and Stewart spoke of Uncle Jacob being a rather prideful mouse and that he didn't like the country of England or of the inhabitants living there. Aunt Sophie nods at every word Basil spoke of.
"It's true," she said and adds, "When I came here to the Heaven realm, he was so ticked that I bought that house in Scarborough, even putting in some of his glass-work there, and of you, Olivia marrying a Briton. I swear you can't change Jacob's mind on England, even though he never set foot there."
"Yes, I do recall Uncle Jacob having that sort of pride," Hiriam said, "He said he considers himself an "honorable Scottish mouse"."
"When I first met him, I was afraid of him," Hiriam's wife, Leana said, "He did pose a scary demeanor, almost like a real Scottish warrior."
Basil was, at first, a little afraid of Jacob Flaversham, but he did meet a lot of rodents like Jacob as they took pride in a few things, that is either from a country or of their gender. Most of the male rodents Basil met were rather mean spirited towards females, which he didn't like at all.
Then, they feel the ground rumble underneath their feet. "Oh no, here he comes," Aunt Sophie warns and places herself in front of Basil and the twins, with Hiriam doing the same.
Argus runs off in fright as a large looking mouse with red hair and a beard appears from the lower pathway, with Lulu following behind him. "Oh," the young witch said, trying to catch her breath, "Hello friends."
"Sophie," Jacob Flaversham said in a thick Scottish accent, "I see you left me behind. Wanting to meet with our renegade nephew I see?" he asks and looks at Olivia, his great-niece. "Why hello there Olivia, I actually haven't seen you since you were a wee little babe," he said, his tone was a bit soft, but still scary.
Jacob then looks at Basil, his eyes grew dark with distaste, "And you must be Olivia's husband? What's your name, again?" he asks.
"I'm Elliott Basil," the detective replies in a rather cheerful tone, "It's a pleasure to meet you Uncle-" "MISTER!" Uncle Jacob snaps and Basil hushes at once.
"It's Mister Flaversham to you, you scroungy Briton!" he shouts, but Aunt Sophie pulls on his ear, causing him to cry out in pain.
"Jacob, I told you a thousand times, Elliott here is a good family mouse. In fact, he saved Olivia more than a few times I believe, but he loves her very much. Why can't you see that?" she said, but her husband scoffs at this. He pulls his ear away from his wife's grip and stares back at Basil.
"He is one from Britain, the land wanting to spread dominance over others," Jacob said and continues, "I swear, your kind longs to show their dominance. Tis true, look at the North American continent. You brought ruin and disease to those natives."
"Good sir," Basil protests, "That was hundreds of years ago, but I didn't bring ruin and disease to the American natives as I was not there to-"
"Oh hush!" Jacob shouts at him, "All of you Britons are all the same!" He then looks at his nephew, Hiriam and great niece, Olivia. "You two betrayed your birth country by settling in Britain and marrying one of them!" he shouts, "Why if I had-"
"Enough Uncle Jacob!" Hiriam shouts in protest, "I understand that you take pride in being Scottish and for having the blood of a warrior, but I'll have you know that Elliott here makes my daughter happy! Why look at them, they have two children with a third on the way," he said and Uncle Jacob looks at the twins, who were hiding behind their father. They were afraid of their Scottish relative, who looked more like a scary giant to them.
"Jacob," Hiriam's wife, Leana said, "I personally believe that two people from different places can find love in one another. Why I've seen two people of the same gender fall in love. Times have changed and many living beings have a choice to-"
"Enough!" Jacob scolds his niece-in-law and that made Hiriam really angry. The two male mice look at each in the eye, both were not going to stand down. Jacob then looks at Basil and says, "There is one way to settle this. We fight like warriors in a game of backhold wrestling."
"What?! You can't be serious!" Sophie protests, but her husband wasn't fooling around.
"If you win, then I'll admit I am wrong about you," Jacob tells Basil, "But if I win, all of you will be forbidden to interact with my wife Sophie and you will be dead to me."
"Jacob, you're so selfish!" Sophie shouts, but Basil walks up to Jacob.
"I understand that you have a grudge against England and those who live there. Even though I don't wish to fight, I do accept your challenge, but on the condition that we have a fair fight, no tricks or cheats," the detective replies and the Scottish mouse lets out a laugh.
"Oh I accept to those terms," Jacob said and the two male mice prepare themselves. Tsura and Lulu prepare the wrestling ground, while Basil receives a quick lesson on Scottish Backhold wrestling. It was similar to grappling and the goal was to prevent any part of his body, other then his feet from touching the ground.
He removes his vest, but still keeps his trousers and white shirt on, while Jacob dressed himself in the Flaversham family kilt. Basil recognized the colors from the skirt Olivia wore when she was ten, light blue upon dark blue and red.
"Elliott, please, I don't want you to get hurt," Olivia protests her husband's pending fight with her great-uncle.
"I won't and I'm pretty sure Mister Flaversham will be defeated before this is over," Basil replies and goes to the center of the wrestling ground. The two male mice were told that if one won five victories, they would be declared the winner.
Basil and Jacob places their hands on the opposite's back, with Basil's arms under Jacob's armpits and they stand firm on the ground. "I'd be really careful Mr. Basil," Jacob said in a warning tone.
"Ready?!" Tsura shouts and blows on a whistle. The detective was caught off guard by Jacob's strength and tumbles on his back in less then a second. Tsura blows her whistle. "One for Jacob Flaversham!" she shouts and the two mice get into position, again. Basil formulates a plan, he had to focus on pushing hard on Jacob's mid section.
Once Tsura blows her whistle, again, Basil summons whatever power he had in his muscles and pushes hard. Jacob does the same, except he lifts Basil off his feet, surprising him for a second, but when his feet hit the ground, he uses his legs to push harder.
Then, Jacob lifts him up again, but Basil lands on his feet, again. "You are a stubborn mouse!" Jacob shouts and Basil chuckles a bit.
"Yes indeed, I am stubborn!" the detective shouts back and suddenly, he forces his feet upward, sending Jacob backwards. Jacob lands on his back and Tsura blows the whistle.
"One for Elliott Basil!" she calls out in a cheerful tone.
"Come on Dad! You got this!" John shouts out to his father. The muscles in the detective's body were started to ache, but he had to keep going. A few times, Jacob lifts Basil off his feet and twirls him around, but he lands on his feet. Basil's goal was to prove the prideful Scottish mouse wrong and have Sophie visit them whenever she wanted to.
The two male mice tumble to the ground or triumph over the other, but Tsura shouts, "It's a four-way tie! One more victory and we will have a winner!" Basil and Jacob take a moment to breathe before the final victory.
"I don't get it," Basil said and looks at Jacob, "He has this immense strength that I haven't seen before the wrestling started," he tells his wife and the others, including his in-laws.
Hiriam takes a look at his uncle, "I think you're right," he said, "I never seen him this buff before." The two male mice then return to the center for one last round.
"You did put up a good fight," Jacob whispers as they get into position, "But I'll be the victor for sure."
"I highly doubt it," Basil replies and breathes in deep. Tsura blows her whistle, but suddenly, Jacob lifts Basil high off the ground and slams him back down, but the detective uses whatever strength he had to prevent himself from hitting the ground.
Jacob then hoists him up again and tries to throw Basil onto his side, but he was quick. However, Basil was exhausted and his knees were ready to give out.
"Elliott!" Olivia cries out, just as he collapses to the ground. Jacob towers over the detective, he was the victor and his conditions would be fulfilled. Tsura helps Basil to his feet and takes both of the fighters' hands in hers.
"The victor," Tsura begins and was about to lift Jacob's hand, but then notices something. "Wait a second," she said and lifts some of Jacob's hair on his neck to reveal a patch of some kind.
She peels it off and then, Jacob's body depletes a little and reveals the patch to the others. "What is that?" John asks.
"A muscle enhancing charm," the witch replies and looks at Jacob, "You sir had cheated!" The Scottish mouse backs away, his family stares at him with anger, but then, he slaps at Tsura.
"Tsura!" Basil calls out, but suddenly, Jacob rams him in the stomach. Basil goes flying and lands on his back. "Jacob! Stop!" he hears the others demand, but Jacob refuses to listen and instead, takes a rock much larger than him in his hands.
"Jacob!" Sophie cries out, just as he throws it at Basil. The detective shuts his eyes, but then feels a rush of wind and opens his eyes in time to see Olivia, her back to him and she summons a spell.
The rock vanishes into the halo Olivia summoned and it appears above Jacob. It lands on his back, knocking him out cold and Olivia takes a deep breath. Basil gets to his feet and takes his wife into his arms.
Tsura and Lulu surround Jacob, they summon a spell and a dark aura emerges from Jacob's body. Lulu sends it into the muscle enhancing patch and then destroys it all together.
"What was that?" Leana Basil asks.
"The muscle enhancing charm is like a drug, it poisoned Jacob's mind and sent him into a rage," Tsura explains and she uses another spell to patch up the Scottish mouse as he was starting to come to.
"What happened?" he asks and looks at everyone, but stares at Basil holding Olivia close to him. "Oh what have I done?" he adds, recalling the moments that just occurred.
"Mr. Flaversham, I would like to know, where did you get that patch?" Tsura asks, but then, a dark figure appears before the group. It takes the shape of a male mouse with one white wing and one black. He was holding a dark colored staff with the craving of a raven on top.
"Well hello there Tsura, Lulu," he said in a rather light tone.
"Who in the world are you?" Hiriam asks, taking his grandchildren into his arms.
"Fonso," Lulu answers for them, "I thought you were placed in Hell for what you did all those years ago!" she shouts, but the male mouse Fonso chuckles a bit.
"Oh dear sweet cousin, I paid my debt to society as they say and I heard through the grape vine that you were hanging around with some mortals," he said and looks at Basil, Olivia and their children.
Both John and his sister, Leana stare at Fonso and then at Lulu. "He's your cousin?!" John asks and the others were shocked, too.
"Estranged cousin," Lulu replies and notices that her friends, except Tsura were curious of the relation between her and Fonso. "He has a sick habit of hurting the occupants in the Heaven realm. Over 100 years ago, he was sentenced to Hell for the cruel pranks he's done and he was supposed to serve 200 years!" she shouts.
"Oh dearest Lulu, I've turned over a new leaf. I've decided to make amends for the crimes I've done," Fonso said, but Lulu marches up to him.
"Did you give Jacob Flaversham that muscle-enhancing charm?!" she shouts, angrily.
"I did no such thing," he replies, but no one believed him. He then looks at Basil and his family, "All right, I did, just to see how Mr. Basil would handle someone using a charm such as this," he said and that got everyone angry.
"Have you completely lost your senses?!" Tsura yells at Fonso, causing him to step backwards in fright. "If Olivia didn't react and saved her husband in time, Basil would've been seriously hurt or worse!"
"Oh, I did forget about the after effects once the charm was removed," he said, but didn't John marching up to him and stomps on Fonso's foot. He lets out cry of pain, but then laughs. "We're immortal, we can't feel pain here," he said.
He looks at his cousin, Lulu and sighs, "Listen I'm really sorry. I came looking for you in the hopes of breaking my habit and when I heard that you came home earlier this summer, I had to seek you out," he explains.
Lulu takes a deep breath and then punches Fonso in the shoulder. He didn't react in pain, but yelps in surprise. "I don't believe you, however, I will accept in helping you break that nasty habit. I will be keeping an extra close eye on you and I ask my friends here to do the same, even though I hate to cut our time together short," Lulu said and looks at her mentor, Tsura, "If he does one slip up, you have my permission to annihilate him," she adds.
The two witches decide to take their leave with Fonso, but Tsura summons a spell that clears up the scoff marks on Basil's clothes and heal his injuries, including his sore muscles. "I think Jacob owes all of you, especially you Basil an apology. Fess up to it Mr. Flaversham, having a lot of pride will bring shame on you," the witch explains and leaves with Lulu and Fonso.
The Basil family settle at Hiriam's house with the others. Basil's parents, his partner Dawson and his mentor, Henry had arrived, having missed the fight earlier, but Basil's parents were horrified after hearing about it.
"Why I ought to strangle you for hurting my son!" John Frederick shouts in Jacob's face, but the Scottish mouse does not protest.
"I don't blame you," Jacob said, his head hung low, "I failed to see pass the flaws of my pride. I love my birth place and since I was a young lad, I was fascinated by the stories of our ancestors, mostly those who fought in the wars for Scotland's independence."
He then looks at Basil and Olivia, "I am sorry for hurting you and I will take the blame if your babe was harmed during my rampage," Jacob said to the two. "So can we start over?" he asks Basil and holds out his hand, "The name's Jacob Flaversham," he begins.
The detective then shakes his hand, "I'm Elliot Basil," he replies and introduces his parents to him. He also introduces his mentor Henry Walker.
"I understand you two are very famous detectives, or one of you was until...well I had to learn the history of you two. I understand that you Elliott were in this great depression after what happened to your teacher," Jacob said and Basil nods. Jacob then chuckles a bit, "It's a good thing Olivia came into your life; I'm pretty sure you know this already, but while Olivia has her father's spunk, she does have her mother's love. Why I heard Olivia made everyone around her feel much better, much like Leana."
The other mice began to chuckle a bit, while Basil hugs Olivia tight. "She did make my world bright, again, and I would've been very miserable if she didn't come back, but I despise Rosenberg for what he did to Hiriam," he explains and Jacob crosses his arms, then features a cross face.
"That rat did get what he deserved, including the rest of his family, but I heard his mother was far worse," Jacob said, then unfolds his arms to pat Basil's back, "But on the bright side, you lot get to visit us every night," he adds and then looks at Olivia in the eye, "I understand that you revived the magic that our family once possessed."
Olivia pulls out a sheet of paper and then draws a symbol on it. It glows and becomes a small orb of light. "I'd rather not use too much as my body becomes weak after using too much magic," she explains and Jacob stares at the glowing orb.
"I can understand why. Them little buggers take up a lot of their mother's energy. I remember Sophie going through the same thing, ferocious they were, Hannah and Logan, even Kendrick, Stewart and Hiriam here," Jacob said and they laugh a bit. "I swear, Hiriam took up a rebellious streak against Sophie here. His brothers were the apples in Sophie's eyes," he adds and they continue to laugh.
The families exchange stories on their backgrounds while feasting on a buffet of various meats. "The Flavershams are rather carnivorous compare to the other mice," Jacob said as Olivia was having a craving for ham.
"We understand that you chose some names for the baby?" Sophie asks and both Basil and Olivia blush a bit.
"We did choose Elliott for a boy, but we choose Sophie for a girl," Olivia replies and her great-aunt smiles at this.
"I like the name Sophie, but we want to name our baby girl after you as you understood us, even though I might've disliked you when we first met. I hope you can forgive me for that," Basil replies and Sophie laughs.
"Yes, I was rather strict and I don't blame you for not liking me at first. I was taught to raise a family with tough love, but was also taught to follow tradition and the ancient values of the times," she explains and adds, "However, I am happy that you two opened my eyes before my passing."
The twins decided to stand next to their relative, despite being scared of him earlier. "So you two possess both your parents' traits, but I can tell that you two will do amazing things," Jacob said and takes them up on to his lap.
"Do you think you can train me on the wrestling you did on our Dad earlier?" John asks and Jacob lets out a bellowing laugh.
"If you like, but I swear to all of you, no cheating on my part," he answers and John was elated as he saw Uncle Jacob as the family strongman.
The families continue to swap stories before the sun was set to rise by quarter after 5 in the morning. They did notice that the sun was rising later and it would not be long before the winter season would bring longer hours of darkness.
"Elliott," Jacob said and Basil looks at him, "I do want to ask you something and I'm pretty sure Olivia wants to ask you this, too, but the Flavershams tend to forget about some little details."
"Oh, what's your question?" the detective asks, he was excited to answer anything.
"If I recall correctly, you kept a portrait of that horrid monster, Ratigan. Just how did you get it? And why did you keep it?" Jacob asks and Olivia suddenly remembers the portrait of the rat that Basil used to have perched on the mantle above the fireplace.
"I've been meaning to ask you about that, but you told me you threw it out after the time we first met. It's true, some small details tend to slip my mind," Olivia said to her husband.
Basil lets out a sigh and his mentor, Henry Walker stands beside him to show support. "It was after I returned from Germany, after failing to capture Ratigan and I assumed his half-brother Rosenberg had died at the Lichtenhain Waterfall. After Henry and his family were buried, I returned home in time as a nasty winter storm showed up.
"Mrs. Judson had received a package while I was out and I opened it to see the taunting face of that horrid creature. Ratigan had written a note, he was provoking me as he wrote from that nursery rhyme, 'The Gingerbread Man'.
"Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me!"
"He did mention in his note that he would never forgive me for what I did to Rosenberg and that he would kill me at an opportune moment. However, I find it strange as I was able to outsmart his traps and therefore cheat death, but he would be long gone," Basil explains and breathes in a little.
"At first, I was ready to tear that portrait to pieces, but I figured it would be best for it to serve me as a reminder that Ratigan was still alive and doing all these atrocities on innocent rodents. He did prefer to harm young children, mostly by taking their innocence and discarding them like rubbish," Basil said and notices the rage in Jacob's eyes.
"You probably know this, but I couldn't let that sewer rat hurt Olivia as she did help me in putting an end to his reign of terror as well as his life. Although, I would've liked it if he faced the justice court and be hanged for his crimes.
"It was after Olivia and Hiriam left that I didn't exactly throw it out," he said and the others were dumbstruck by this. Then, Basil summons a memory, it featured him taking the portrait of Ratigan and throwing it into the burning fire. The flames consume the picture and disintegrate Ratigan's face. The Basil in the memory lets out a deep sigh of relief and the memory fades away.
The present Basil then feels the warm embrace of his wife, Olivia and he returns the hug. "You know, after I threw that portrait in the fire, I did feel a little relief, but then a new sense of dread filled my mind. For ten years, my mind told me to stay away from you as I wasn't worthy enough to love you. Oh, I wish I shut out that stupid voice in my head," he said.
"Not worthy huh?" Jacob said and the two look at him. "Well Elliott, from what I recall, you did deserve her then as you do now, but I can understand in having an annoying voice tell you otherwise," he adds and the detective listens to him. "Why when I was pursuing Sophie's hand, I was tested by her father and let me tell you, he tested on my intelligence as well as my strength.
"Then whenever I thought of giving up, the irritating voice would urge me to give up, but I would defy it. Guess it was the Flaversham's rebel blood in us, but some voices of doubt are more irritating than others," Jacob explains and pats Basil's shoulder, "You take care of the love of your life, she will make you happy as long as you make her happy," he suggests and Basil nods with a smile.
Then, the clock tolls the hour at 5 in the morning, the sun would rise in just a few minutes. The twins decide to give Jacob a squeezing hug before departure, "Oh, I like the strength you possess!" he chuckles and the Basil family and their friend, Dawson bid goodbye before they woke up in the mortal world.
Elsewhere in the Heaven realm, the two witches, Tsura and Lulu were having a private conversation with Fonso, who told them of his real intentions. "I was told to spy on the mortal realm as well as keeping an eye on some souls in the River Styx. The mortal world will go through turmoil within a year or so," Fonso warns and the two witches listen to him.
"I strongly urge you to keep an eye on your mortal friends, who knows what-" Tsura stops Fonso from speaking any further.
"I'll have you know, Elliott and Olivia Basil are good folks, their children love to have adventures with them. Why, if anything were to happen to the twins, Elliott would go into protective parent stance. I mean, he killed Ilse when she was about to stab them in their crib," the elderly witch said and adds, "Those folks are the greatest of friends to us. I will annihilate anyone for hurting those kids."
"Tsura, there's a change in the wind," Fonso said, "I insist that you prepare yourself for change within one year. By then, the mortal world will be going through many years of great turmoil, both in the physical and mental sense."
Tsura, however, decides to not let the words sink in her mind, but she did sense that a great change was coming. She didn't want anything to happen to her friends, the Basil family as they were her greatest companions.
"And what of the River Styx? Will another condemned soul break through?" Lulu asks her cousin, but Fonso wasn't sure on an answer.
"It's hard to say, but I fear some great evil will emerge from the River Styx like Ratigan and attempt to take over the other realms," he said, but Tsura didn't believe him.
"What makes you so sure of it?" she asks.
"Fonso does have the ability to foresee the future, although it is in bits and pieces. He is usually never wrong," Lulu explains and then looks at her cousin in the eye, "If what you say is true, then I won't doubt you afterward," she tells him and Fonso decides to take his leave.
He flies away, the two witches watch as he disappears into the sky and they look at each other. "I don't like this kind of change," Tsura said to Lulu.
"There is nothing we can do to avoid it, that is, our friends can't avoid it," the younger witch replies, "But I don't want to think of any horrible happening to them either."
"Fonso mentioned one year, we'll think of the fun times for now," Tsura insists and her student nods. Then they hear the tolling of the hour, it was 5 in the morning, which meant that their friends would be waking up soon.
"We will be taking extra care of them when they visit, especially Olivia and her baby. She is in a delicate stage and I would hate for that baby to be born prematurely," Tsura said and they decide to head out to perform their duties as guardians of the realms assigned to them.
From the author: Don't want to spoil too much, but we are exploring a bit more of Olivia's side of her family and meeting a family member of Lulu.
I really don't want to go into detail on the last bit of the story, so I insist you try and figure it out. Take care!