Chapter 9
December 19, 2015
Minnie threw a glance at Putrid Pete, him having thrown Ortensia over his shoulder in a similar fashion as Minnie was held and Daisy being forced to walk in front of him with a shove or two whenever he felt she needed it. Minnie caught his eyes and gave him a snarl, fear hiding inside her. They took another turn down a hallway that led up stairs before Pete pulled open a door. He flung Minnie off his shoulder and onto the ground.
Minnie let out a grunt as she landed hard on the floor, her friends making similar sounds beside her. She pushed herself up on her hands and knees and looked over her shoulder at the two Petes. "What do you want with us, Pete?" Minnie ordered.
"It's not them that want you," Julius' voice said, drawing the girls' attention to the far corner of the room.
Julius sat at the control panel in a swivel chair, hands resting on the arm rests. He dropped his hands to his lap as he leaned forward and said, "I need your help. You know of my wife, Chloe?"
"Don't tell me you brought all of us here just so you could get marriage counseling?!" Daisy exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.
"Well, not entirely, no," Julius admitted, throwing his gaze up to the ceiling for a moment.
"Then why did you pick up my entire house and family?" Ortensia asked as she rose to her feet.
Minnie followed suit, brushing her skirt down as she studied the two Petes standing on Julius' either side.
Julius leaned back in the chair and replaced his hands on the arm rests. "Truthfully, I want those two dead," he admitted. He gave them a side nod as he smiled. "But you already knew that. Your kids were just," he paused a moment as he looked at the ceiling for the word he wanted. "Collateral."
"Why you!" Ortensia gripped her hands in fists as she started walking towards the three.
Minnie quickly lashed out and caught the girl's tail, pulling her back just as the Petes took a step forwards. "'Tensia," Minnie hissed, grabbing her friend's shoulder with her free hand as she let go of her tail.
Ortensia threw her a look, worry evident on her face.
Minnie shifted her eyes to the control panel, willing her to understand.
Ortensia's shoulder dropped under Minnie's hand as she dropped her head.
Minnie took her hand back as she gave Daisy a look, knowing she had seen her write the note for the boys, to see the duck give a nod. Minnie turned her attention back on Julius and asked, "What could we help you with?"
"Ah, I knew you were a sensible person, Minnie," Julius said, rising to his feet. He walked over to a screen on the wall and tapped it to bring it to life, showing all a grand hall decorated in gold and white. "Chloe and I have been married for a good eighty-odd years and I thought it might be a good time to have our vows renewed. I know her well enough it would of course be a grand affair, but I wanted your opinions."
"Can I go back to the cellar?" Daisy asked, crossing her arms.
"Come on, ladies," Julius said, looking the three over. "It might help me reconsider what I plan to do to those two."
"Help him," Minnie mouthed to Ortensia.
The girl closed her eyes tight, as if debating internally before she turned to face Julius. "For Chloe's sake, I think it's a great idea," Ortensia said, stepping over to the screen.
Minnie threw Daisy a look, getting the duck to drop her arms.
"What's the venue you plan to hold it?" Daisy asked, joining the cats.
Minnie quickly flicked her foot, smashing down on the heel of her shoe. She went to walk forward, following Daisy, only for her shoe to give out on her and drop her to the ground with a scream.
"Minnie!" Daisy exclaimed, the first to turn around and see the mouse on her side.
Minnie pushed herself up and took the shoe off, saddened for the loss of her favorite yellow heels. She rubber her ankle, it hurting more than she had expected it to. She looked up at Julius, seeing both of the Petes stepping forward as well.
"Are you alright?" Julius asked as he held out a hand.
Minnie took the hand offered and got to her feet only to let her ankle give out from under her as she let out a surprised sound. Julius caught her before she fell again and helped her back upright. "Here, let me help you." He looked up and ordered, "Pete, bring that chair over here."
Pete grabbed hold of the chair's back and rolled it over.
"Thank you, Pete," Minnie offered as she took the seat.
"Do you need anything else?" Julius asked, already kneeling down to remove her other heel.
"Oh no, I'll be fine," Minnie threw off.
Julius took the broken heal from Minnie and sat them beside the wheels of the chair. "Just stay here for a while, rest that ankle."
"Thank you, Julius," Minnie said, flashing the smaller cat a smile. "But back to your idea, I think it's a good one but, like Daisy was about to say, venue is important."
"Right." Julius gave her a nod as he straightened his back. He stepped back over to the screen and tapped on a link to bring up a web page for a hotel. "That in itself is a pièce de résistance. I've already made reservations with the Four Seasons, in Paris."
"That's a human hotel!" Daisy exclaimed.
"Exactly," Julius said with a smile. He threw a look over at the two guarding the console and ordered, "Pete, go get the bag so they can see the ring."
Pete gave Putrid Pete a glance, the bear giving the cat a silent point. Pete rolled his eyes before stepping out of the room, mumbling something under his breath.
"When are you going to tell her?" Ortensia asked.
"Well, the idea was to surprise her," Julius said.
"Oh no." Daisy shook her head. "She'll need time to pick out her dress at least."
"And knowing Chloe, she'll want to make sure everything's just as she thinks it should be," Ortensia pointed out.
Minnie gave Putrid Pete a look, the bear leaning against the wall beside the control panel with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed. She leaned back in the chair and turned her back towards him and the control panel. Carefully and slowly, she put her bare feet on the ground and pushed backwards. Keeping her eyes on Julius' back, she made her way to the controls only to be startled by a sound coming from Putrid Pete. She looked up over her shoulder, panicked she had gotten caught, only to see the bear was lightly snoring. Letting out a silent sigh, Minnie turned to the panel and took in the screen.
A camera feed of Oswald and Ortensia's house, it sitting crooked on the basement that had been pulled out of the ground, in a logging woods showed on the screen. Minnie took in the dials and buttons and picked one to take hold of. She looked back at the screen and turned the dial, glad she found the one that cycled through different cameras the device was attached to. She saw the boys and bunny children, empty halls and rooms, and Pete walking out of a room with a small gift bag in hand, his mouth moving as if he was talking to himself.
I hope this thing works like Mickey said it did in his stories, Minnie thought, remembering the past better than her mouse did. She gave the controls another look before pushing a button close to the top right corner of the panel.
"You already picked out your suit?!" Daisy asked, drawing Minnie's ears back to the conversation her friends were keeping going as a distraction.
Turning her attention back to her work, Minnie grabbed two dials and watched as she controlled a yellow beam around Pete to pick him up off the ground and smack him against the ground. It took a few assaults of the ground before the cat acted as dead weight to the beam. Minnie released him from the device, dropping him onto the ground, and went back to flipping through cameras again. She threw a glance over her shoulder, noticing Ortensia pointing at the screen with Julius watching, as Minnie looked for a camera in the room they were in.
There, Minnie smiled as she saw the small black dome covering a camera. She turned back to the control panel and continued cycling through angles until she found one that looked over at the five of them in the room. She reached up to turn on the beam in this room only to stop with her hand floating over the button. Julius may be awake, but Putrid Pete might be the bigger target. Minnie threw a look behind herself and tilted her head towards Putrid Pete. She squinted, unsure if the idea in her mind would work or not. She caught Ortensia's eyes, giving the girl a nod, only for Julius to notice something.
"Hey, what are you-Minnie!" Julius called out, turning around to see Minnie at the control panel and Putrid Pete asleep. "Putrid Pete! You oaf!"
"Wha-what!?" Putrid Pete asked, flaring his arms upwards as he was jolted out of his nap.
Minnie slapped the button to activate the beam before jumping out of her chair in time to avoid Putrid Pete's dive at her. "Duck!" she ordered, diving herself to the ground. She prayed her friends understood what she meant as she held her hands over her head, hoping to keep her bow out of the beam. Carefully she looked up to see a yellow beam cutting through the air right above her. She pushed herself aside before looking over her shoulder to see Putrid Pete and Julius both caught in the beam, the two floating up towards the camera that was connected to the device.
"Let us out of this!" Putrid Pete ordered, throwing a fist through the air.
"Ladies, really?" Julius asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he accepted his float towards the doorway.
"You did it!" Daisy let out as she jumped off the floor.
"And the other Pete?" Ortensia asked, brushing herself off as she rose to her feet.
"Knocked out in the hall," Minnie offered, pushing herself up. She dusted of her chest, realizing when she had dived against the floor, she had slid a couple of meters. "We should tie all three of them up," Minnie thought aloud. She looked at her friends and said, "I'll baby sit these two, go get Mickey and Oswald to help tie up Pete and call for the police."
Ortensia let out a laugh and walked over to Minnie. She reached up and fixed the girl's hair bow as she said, "Sorry, your bow had fallen down and all I could see was Mickey in one of his adventures."
"I've been around him too long, haven't I?" Minnie said with a laugh as Ortensia took a step back. "Must be rubbing off on me."