The Basil Family Case Files Part 2

by duchessofbooks

The adventure continues for the famed mouse detective and his family, including the new addition. However, the mystery cases have become more dangerous and Basil and his loved ones must face against enemies, both old and new. Many secrets will be unearthed and a great magic, after one thousand years of slumber, will be awakened, again. Rated M for violence and lemons/smut!

1. Story 1

The Basil Family Case Files Part 2

All characters of The Great Mouse Detective (1986) belong to Walt Disney Animation Studios and the author Eve Titus. Original characters belong to me.

Story 1: A New Year's Mystery

Lemon warning towards the end!

221B ½ Baker Street, December 29th, 1913

The occupants of Baker Street were sleeping soundly as it was nearing early morning. The weather outside was dreadfully cold and new snow began to fall, but mixing in with the rain that had fallen the day before, creating a slushy combination that would freeze later.

Inside the Basil household, the famed mouse detective was aroused by crying. His newborn daughter Sophie was probably fussing because she needed her nappie changed or was hungry.

His wife, Olivia was also aroused, but her husband volunteers to see to their new baby. Elliott Basil grabs his robe and slips into some warm bed slippers. Basil did have the crib in the adults' bedroom as Sophie would be close by. It was nerve racking for him when Olivia insisted they put the crib back in the baby's room the other night.

He walks into the nursery where his daughter slept and turns on the table lamp. Sophie stops fussing when the light came on. Basil picks her up into his arms and takes a sniff of the air around her. "No changing, thank goodness," he said with a chuckle and sits in the rocking chair, but Basil takes the teddy bear in his hand, showing it to Sophie.

"Were you afraid of the dark? Or was Fonso being mean to you?" Basil asks in a cooing voice. Ever since introducing Sophie to the family's deceased loved ones in the Heaven realm, Fonso liked to tease the baby, but sometimes went over the top.

Fonso had a reputation in pulling mean tricks on the inhabitants or visitors in the dream realm. His cousin and recent new lover, Lulu was still keeping a close eye on him.

Sophie begins to breathe softly as her father cradles her; she did like her father holding her, much like the twins when they were infants. "Oh, you just want my attention," he replies and holds her close for a few minutes.

Before he settles Sophie back down in her crib, the telephone rings, startling her and she begins to fuss, again. "Now who could be calling at this time of night?" he asks, but Sophie only cries. Basil manages to calm her down and he takes her to the kitchen to answer the telephone. "Basil residence," he said.

"Mr. Basil, I'm sorry for calling you this early," the voice of Inspector Timothy Wyatt answers.

"Mr. Wyatt, is something wrong?" Basil asks, holding Sophie in one arm and the receiver in the opposite hand.

"I rather not discuss this over the telephone, so I'll be dropping in at your place in a half-hour. There's an urgent case for you," Mr. Wyatt said.

Basil felt a sense of ecstasy; he had been waiting for a case during this time, mostly because he promised his twin children John and Leana to a case during their winter holiday.

"I will be waiting Mr. Wyatt, but do expect the rest of my family," Basil replies.

"All right, I'll be there as soon as I can," Wyatt replies and disconnects the call. Basil hangs up the ear piece and settles in his chair in the parlor.

"I hope this urgent case isn't harsh," he tells his daughter. She looks at him with adoring eyes and he nuzzles the tip of her nose.

"Elliott?" He hears Olivia's voice and he looks to see his wife, dressed in her winter blue robe, walking into the parlor. "Who was that on the telephone?" she asks.

"That was Mr. Wyatt. He said there's an urgent case, but wouldn't share it over the telephone. It has to be of absolute secrecy," Basil answers, with excitement in his voice.

"Elliott," Olivia replies with an annoyed tone. She takes Sophie into her arms, despite her husband's protests. "I don't want Sophie to be scared out of her wits. She's just a baby. You remember what happened when you decided to bring John and Leana along on that case involving the stolen clock?"

"Yes, I remember, no need to remind me every time," the detective answers, but Olivia chuckles a bit when she sees the eccentricity in his eyes. "But who knows? It might not be too bad," he said.

Some minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and Basil goes to answer. There stood Inspector Timothy Wyatt with a plain clothes officer, both covered in wet snow, and Basil lets them inside.

"Hello Mr. Basil," Mr. Wyatt said and looks to see Olivia, with Sophie in her arms. "Oh, I didn't get a chance to meet your new baby," he adds and Basil introduces Sophie to him and the officer.

"Hello Miss Sophie," Mr. Wyatt said to the baby in a cheerful voice. "Congratulations you two, she's lovely like you Miss Olivia," he adds.

The plain clothes officer says hello to the baby, but then Mr. Wyatt decides to get down to business. "Mr. Basil, at around midnight our time, the Prince Alexander of the House of Regilna was assassinated while on a visit in Rome.

"He was the leader of a pro-democracy group, but he gained a lot of enemies within the anarchy groups, particularly the Black Crosses group," Mr. Wyatt said.

"The Black Crosses, that does sound familiar," Olivia replies; she tries to think back on her government classes as she also studied one party systems, such as dictatorship or Marxism.

"They have a large base in East Europe, especially Russia. I've been hearing a lot of horrible things over there," Mr. Wyatt said before continuing, "Anyway, Alexander's son, Michel has been staying here in London, but he desires to return to his family. They have been relocated to their summer home in Lausanne in Switzerland for their safety.

"He has placed passage on a boat that would leave from Portsmouth and it'll arrive in the Port of Le Havre in France. From Le Havre, he'll take a train all the way to Geneva and catch a ride to Lausanne. He did request that you serve him as his bodyguard and perhaps, capture any members of the Black Crosses," Mr. Wyatt finishes and the gears in Basil's brain begin to turn.

"Elliott," he hears Olivia, "This sounds crazy to me, but maybe we, including the children should go. If any members of the Black Crosses are on the boat or the train, they wouldn't suspect a detective on holiday with his family. Plus I'm sure they wouldn't know of what we look like, especially you. Some anti-government groups don't take the time to research on police or even famous detectives like you."

Basil stares at his wife, his eyes wide with astonishment. "My word Olivia, that is a genius idea, but are you sure? A moment ago, you told me we shouldn't expose Sophie to such danger," he said.

"I know I sound like a hypocrite, but as I said, the anarchists might not target you as long as we all go with you," Olivia replies and Basil begins to think on this.

"I did promise John and Leana to a case and with this one being abroad, this is an excellent opportunity for them," he said and then, his ears perk up. He turns to see the twins walking into the parlor, dressed in their night clothes.

"Dad, what's going on?" John asks. Basil ushers them closer and places a hand on their shoulders.

"John, Leana; there is a case for me, but I want you, your mother, and little sister to come along," the detective tells them and sees elation in their eyes. "The best part is that we'll be traveling to France and then by train to Switzerland. Looks like we will be celebrating New Years in the city of Lausanne," Basil adds and both the twins began to dance around in excitement.

"However," Olivia said and the two children look to their mother, "Given that there is a dangerous group of anarchists, we are to act like a normal family going on holiday."

"Oh," Leana said, "So we could fool the culprits and easily arrest them?" she asks.

"Yes indeed," Basil replies, making the twins even more excited.

"Basil?" everyone turns to see Dawson appear from his new room downstairs. He yawns and asks, "What's going on?"

"Dawson, don't get upset about this, but there's a case," John said and his father explains what Mr. Wyatt told him. The color in the doctor's face drains to a rather chalky white.

The twins help him to his chair and once he settles, he shakes his head to get his blood running. He looks at the children, including Sophie in Olivia's arms, and then up to Basil.

"Basil, you are a bad example," Dawson begins and continues, "Putting your family in dangerous situations. Who's to say that one of the assassins will target them?"

"Dawson," Olivia said, "Many anarchist groups don't take the time to study the physical descriptions of 'the enemy', if you will. However, they see youngsters as a potential as children are vulnerable in believing in wicked things."

"What do you mean, mummy?" Leana asks her mother.

"Some youngsters are introduced to ideas by adults; some are rather harmful than others. If a child is introduced to the idea of warfare, they'll see it as a wonderful thing, when it's really not. It's mostly to bring in more individuals to support a horrible idea and to keep others in line," Olivia said and both the twins look at one another.

"I'd be glad to beat those anarchists to oblivion," John said to his parents; his father chuckles a bit and pats the top of his son's head.

"It will be me who will beat them to a pulp; I want the two of you to care for your mother and sister. Dawson and I will be checking out the passengers on the boat, see if any of them pose a threat to the prince," Basil replies, but adds, "However, I will appreciate any help from you."

"Like point out who seems suspicious?" Leana asks and her father nods.

"I will forgive you if you get distracted on the trip. I do want you two to have a good time since this will be your first time going abroad," Basil said and his children give a big smile.

The family looks to Dawson, who did calm down a little more, but was still infuriated with his partner taking the children, including Little Sophie along.

"Mr. Wyatt, tell the prince that we accept the task, but I do wish to meet him in person before we get on the boat," Basil tells the inspector.

"Very well Mr. Basil, there's a train that leaves this morning at 10 and the boat is scheduled for departure at 5 this evening. That should give us time to formulate a plan, that is if you have a plan in mind," Mr. Wyatt replies and Basil nods.

Mr. Wyatt and the officer leave the house; the inspector and maybe some officers will need to pack for the journey.

"Dad, can we meet the prince?" John asks, but Basil quickly shakes his head.

"I'm sorry, but no. The reason being that you should…oh what's the saying, again? Curse this brain of mine," he mutters.

"The lesser you know the better?" Leana asks and Basil nods vigorously in response. "So if we don't know the identity of the prince, then the assassins will not know either," she said and her father smiles.

"Exactly. Even though I trust you to keep his identity secret, it's better to be safe than sorry," he replies and notices Mrs. Rachel stepping into the parlor from downstairs.

"I thought I heard voices," the new housekeeper said. Her mother Mrs. Judson was probably still asleep in the room they shared. The retired housekeeper had planned on returning to her son's home on Knox Street in a few days.

"Mr. Basil, I'll try to keep my mother calm, but I don't like what you're planning for this case," Rachel said, having heard the conversation, but then, they hear someone clear their throat. Mrs. Judson had come up from behind her daughter and she, too, had heard about the case.

The twins brace themselves, fearing Mrs. Judson would bellow out her anger towards her former employer's behavior. She takes a few deep breathes and looks at Basil dead in the eye.

"Mr. Basil, this is…" she breathes in some more, "Oh, I need to sit down," she said and takes a seat at a chair in the parlor.

"Mother, you know Mr. Basil here is fiercely protective of his family. Remember the cases you told me-" "I remember Rachel," Mrs. Judson cuts in, but sighs.

She looks at Basil, again, with the same deathly glare. "Mr. Basil, if one thing goes wrong on this case, I will do something nasty. Let's see…I could lock you out in the cold or-"

"No, Mrs. Judson," Olivia cuts in, "I will take care of the punishment." Basil looks to his wife, who gives him a devious grin, and his cheeks turn red. He saw firsthand of Olivia's ferocious side; he had taken the twins out to an abandoned shipwreck without her consent when they went to Scarborough in the summer.

As punishment, Olivia performed rough sex on him, but he did enjoy it. He did like it when he submitted himself to her as she was not to be trifled with when it came to their children's safety.

"You do that, Mrs. Basil," came Mrs. Judson's reply, who did seem to notice her mistress' plan of punishing her husband.

Basil then orders his two older children to pack their clothes and other necessities before they were to depart for the train station. They obey and ran to their room.

Both the detective and his wife, who still had their newborn baby in her arms, take a moment to see what would be needed for the journey, including Sophie.

The sun began to rise a little after 8 o'clock, but Basil's brain was bothering him about the case. He decided that he, his family, and Dawson leave for the station as it was Sophie's first time seeing or even hearing a train.

Mrs. Rachel and her mother tell Basil, more like order him to watch out for his children. "If your wife's punishment is not enough, then you won't have any meals for a week, Mr. Basil," Mrs. Judson warns.

The detective was used to these kinds of threats, but the former housekeeper usually never made promises on them. It was Mrs. Judson's tactic to scare him with brutal punishments and she was teaching Rachel her 'trade'.

"Tell Kitty and her sisters that we wish them a happy new year, if they drop in for another visit," Leana tells the housekeepers, who nod. The family's friends, Kitty, her sisters Lizzy and Jodie, Lizzy's husband Auguste and Kitty's friend Aiden had dropped in for a visit on the 26th, mostly to spend time with the twins and their newborn sister, Sophie.

Dawson had spent Christmas night with Jodie, in which, they did seem to have been intimate during that time. Basil and his family were hoping Dawson would propose marriage to Jodie soon, but the doctor was being hesitant about it. He wanted to propose in a nice setting, but with good weather and such.

The mice start their trek down the street, but then became aware of a sound. They hear the running of paws and someone shouting.

"SLOW DOWN MAX!" a high-pitched male voice cries out and they turn to see a small, dark colored dog running towards them.

"Stop Maxie!" both John and Leana shout, and the mutt comes to a screeching halt. The little dog begins to pant, but she did look happy to see the twins.

"Okay, that's it!" the voice shouts, "No dog biscuits for-" Lope the bat stops when he sees the Basil family.

"Hi Lope," Leana said, while waving her hand and her brother also greets him.

"Oh kids!" he exclaims and he dismounts. "Happy belated Christmas!" he cheers and the dog barks.

"Happy Christmas, Lope," the twins reply and notice that he was wearing some heavy winter wear, although he was still shivering. "What are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to sleep during the day?"

"Mr. Whittaker asked me to go to the market, need to pick up another cod. But dang! It's freezing!" Lope exclaims and then, his ears perk up as Sophie begins to fuss in her mother's arms.

"Oh sorry, Sophie doesn't like loud noises," John replies and the bat looks over to Olivia, who smiles in greeting, while calming the baby down.

"Oh! You have a sister?!" Lope asks, excitedly, but quiets down. Both Basil and Olivia smile at the young bat before showing Sophie to him. "Hello little baby," he said in a low whisper.

Sophie looks at him with her blue eyes and gives a toothless smile. "Man, she's cute, when was she born?" Lope asks.

"Early morning on Christmas Eve," Leana answers and the bat gasps.

"Christmas Eve?!" he nearly shouts, but then covers his mouth to quiet down as his voice did startle Sophie. "So sorry," he said to her before looking to his friends, "Man, you two are so lucky."

He then looks to Basil and Olivia, "Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Basil," he said, "Sophie, right? I like that name, going to suggest it to my family whenever a new girl pup arrives."

"Thank you Master Lupus," Basil replies and the bat notices the luggage bags. "So sorry, but we're in a hurry to get to the train station," the detective said.

"Oh, but daddy he just-" "Excuse me for butting in Leana, but why don't Maxine and I drop you off? I believe you older folks have not met Maxine or Maxie here," Lope suggests and the adult mice look at the dark colored dog.

"Maxine?" Dawson asks and the mutt pants happily in response. "Hmmmm, she's adorable, but I never seen a dog like her before."

"She's a mutt, which is another word for mixed breed," John explains and Lope nods.

"Winnie did say she looks like the illustrations of Toto from the 'Wizard of Oz' books," Leana said and her mother, Olivia examines the dog.

"She does look like Toto, but she does remind me of Greyfriars Bobby," she said and her family looks at her in confusion.

"Greyfriars Bobby was a Skye Terrier, who stood guard at his master's grave in Edinburgh for 14 years. Daddy told me about him and Bobby is very known and loved for his loyalty to his master," Olivia explains and her husband and children smile at this fact.

"Could you tell us more about Bobby sometime?" Leana asks and her mother nods, and then looks back at Maxie.

"So Maxie here, she's the one that you two and your friends took a ride on at Pedlar's Park in September?" she asks and her two children nod.

"Of course, Ben did save us from those foxes," John replies. Basil looks at his children; the memory of that weekend in September comes back to him. While he was angry at the twins for going to see Benjamin Whittaker as he did forbid it, his mind was fraught with curious intent as he wanted to know for sure that this rat was related to Ratigan or not.

The dog lets the mice climb onto her back, with Lope taking the collar.

"All right Maxine, let's roll! But at a gentle pace," the bat insists and the dog begins to trot down the street. She continues to trot as they head towards the train station. She was careful not to slip on icy patches on the street or kick up slushy water.

"Where are you folks heading?" Lope asks. Both John and Leana look at their parents, before looking back at their friend.

"Lausanne in Switzerland. We're taking a boat to the Port of Le Havre in France and then catch a train," John answers and the bat stares at his friends with a jealous look. "We're visiting a friend there and spending New Year's. We did pester our dad in taking us somewhere for the winter holiday," John adds. He didn't want to share the true reason for leaving London.

"You have all the fun," Lope groans, "I might not get to go anywhere until I'm 18."

"Where is it that you want to go?" Leana asks.

"Anywhere, just want to get away from London for a while. Would like to lounge out on a beach somewhere during the night and gaze at the stars. I heard the beaches in the Southern United States are pretty nice," Lope answers and both twins nod.

"Master Lupus," they hear Basil say and the bat looks at the detective, "I have a question; this is out of curiosity, but how did you meet Mr. Benjamin Whittaker?"

Olivia and the children look at him in surprise; Basil was curious about Ben and wanted to know some information on him.

"Met him a few years ago, just before we became teenagers, but a couple of my female bat relatives were having cravings as they were expecting pups at the time.

"You remember those bats on Halloween night? Well, they were playing mean pranks on Mr. Orson and Ben when they arrived with the delivery. Ben almost got whacked in the head with a club, but my folks manage to scare those jerks away.

"We welcomed them in our home because we felt awful in what they experienced. Ben was afraid of going back out in the dark, but my folks and I brought them home.

"Some time later, those brutes dared me into a race of some sort, but I got into a bit of a tumble during the race. Made a huge mess and had to get out as fast as I could.

"Ben did save my skin that time, but I'll share the full details some other time. We've been watching each other backs since then; we did make this vow to save any other rodent or bat in a bind with bullies."

Lope finishes his story and the Basil family and Dawson were intrigued with this account. The detective knew for a fact that Ratigan would save his own skin and let his cronies take the fall. He did recall the rat throwing Fidget out of his dirigible in an attempt to flee from Basil, but had crashed into the clock face of Big Ben.

The only other person Ratigan cared for was his half-brother, Erich Rosenberg. It was evident according to Basil as Ratigan had developed an immense hatred towards the detective following Rosenberg's fall, which resulted in a devastating brain injury.

Ten years after Ratigan's death, Rosenberg attempted to kill Basil and Olivia in a fit of rage, the same rage Ratigan went through while at Big Ben.

The memories of those cases go through Basil's mind in a flash; if he were to die at one point, either in 1897 or 1907, he would not be here. He would not be married to the woman mouse who saved his life from years of torment and his children would not be here either.

Basil shakes his head, trying to get of rid of those horrible outcomes. He notices the twins looking through their luggage. "Here," John said, giving one of his jumpers to Lope, who was shivering from the cold.

"Oh thanks," the bat said, "Oh, nice and warm," he comments after putting it on, which surprisingly did fit him. Maxie then comes to a stop in front of the train station and the dog kneels down for the mice to dismount.

"Thank you so much Master Lupus," Basil said to the bat, who smiles in response. The detective also thanks Maxie and she happily pants.

"Have fun you two!" Lope said while helping the twins down, but he slips something in Leana's hand. It was a letter; she hides it in her sleeve, not wanting her parents to know what it was.

Lope was about to give the jumper back to John, but the boy mouse insisted he keep it for now. The bat then commends Maxie to turn around and she runs off, heading for the fish market. The little dog kicks up a bit of snow in her wake.

"What a nice dog Maxie is," Olivia comments and Basil, her husband nods in agreement.

They locate the ticket booth to get tickets for the train to Portsmouth, which was set to leave at 10, which was an hour and a half away.

"Daddy, we're going to Portsmouth?" Leana asks and her father nods. He then remembers that their rescuer Ben Whittaker was in Portsmouth for naval school. Perhaps this would give him the opportunity to meet the rat who saved his children and put his mind at ease as he was bothered by the physical description he was told of.

Basil decides to take his family and Dawson to the restaurant in the station, where they would eat their breakfast before getting on the train. The restaurant was barely full, as many rodents had left London days before in order to visit relatives or to get away to the countryside for Christmas.

Mr. Wyatt and two plain clothes officers were there; a male mouse with light brown fur was with them. He was wearing a fine suit that had a black armband on one of the sleeves.

"Mr. Basil, this here is Mr. Nicolas De Luca; he wishes to accompany us to Lausanne," Mr. Wyatt said. Basil takes a moment to introduce himself, his family and associate to Mr. De Luca and then settle in the back, where no one else would eavesdrop on their conversation.

"He must be a valet to the Regilna prince," Leana whispers in her father's ear as they settle at a table where some plates of food and cups of tea were brought out by the waiting staff. Basil examines Mr. De Luca; he had a tired face, but he did have a dutiful air around him.

"I can't express how much I appreciate you coming along on this journey," Mr. De Luca said to the detective in a French accent. "Master Michel has been distraught ever since we heard the news earlier. He was insistent that he go to be with his family in Lausanne.

"I tried to persuade him to stay here in London as it would be too dangerous as members of the Black Crosses are still out there. The ones who killed his father, Prince Alexander were caught, but they swore that their comrades would go after his son," Mr. De Luca explains.

The detective, his family, and their friend, Dawson assure Mr. De Luca that they would catch the Black Crosses' members who would try to kill Prince Michel.

"Mr. De Luca, who is in line for the throne?" John asks the valet.

"That would be the Crown Prince William, older brother of Prince Alexander. His Royal Highness and his family were also transported to Switzerland for their safety. Their father, the king is staying in their homeland in order to appease both sides, that is to give his people some peace of mind as well as fulfilling the desires of the anti-government groups like the Black Crosses, but he doesn't make deals with criminals.

"I'm so afraid that they will obtain control of much of East Europe. It is happening in Russia as there's been a lot of protesting on living conditions among the poor and factory workers," Mr. De Luca explains.

"Where is Prince Michel?" Olivia asks.

"He left for Portsmouth earlier. The prime minister for the royal house of Regilna wishes to keep him in a secure location before getting on the boat. The prince is very anxious to get home to his family," Mr. De Luca answers.

"Mummy, daddy," Leana said and her parents look at her. "Would Kingswood have a class on government?" she whispers.

"Maybe so; do you wish to learn more about governments?" Basil replies.

"Yes and I do want to learn about anarchy and those 'stateless' governments. I do want to understand why some people and even rodents don't want to be governed," Leana explains and her brother begins to think.

"I believe some governments have a history of tyranny, so the people want a change, especially the poor or working class. It would be nice to see all corrupt politicians be thrown in jail," John said to his sister.

"Yes, that is true. The world would be a lot better if there were many politicians who think of the well-being of the people and not themselves," Leana replies and both their parents smile at this.

"My word," Mr. De Luca said, "Excuse me, but I never met children like yours. Master Michel was never interested in government when he was their age."

"Well, we feel youngsters should understand the horrors of the real world, but there's also goodness in this world," Basil explains and Mr. De Luca clears his throat.

"I forgot that you are the most intelligent detective of Mousedom, so I should've suspected that your children are also brilliant," he replies, but the twins give him a scornful look.

"Our mother is smart, too," John said, "And we're sure our sister Sophie here will be just as smart as both of them."

"Now John," Basil said, "Don't be rude. Mr. De Luca suffered the loss of a good friend from the looks of it. Let's not put him through any more frustration."

John apologizes and Mr. De Luca accepts, just as the clock strikes the time for 9:30. The mice pay for their breakfast and headed to the train where it would take them to Portsmouth.

The journey to the port city was roughly two hours away, but Basil did want to take the time meeting with the prince before getting on the boat to Le Havre. However, he wanted to take the time to go to the Victoria Naval Academy for Rodents.

After settling in a private compartment, Leana pulls out the letter she hid in her sleeve. "Darling, what's that?" Basil asks and his daughter looks at him in surprise.

"It's…uh…a letter from Ben Whittaker," Leana answers and Basil was shocked.

"Wait, you've been writing letters to him? For how long?" he asks. Both John and Leana were now afraid of their father; they weren't sure how he would take it once they told him the truth.

"Since he left for Portsmouth in September," John answers and Basil's mind goes into a tail-spin.

"Elliott, are you all right?" Olivia asks, handing Sophie over to Dawson in order to help her husband.

"Let me think this through for a minute," Basil replies before looking back at his twin children. "Why didn't you tell us you were writing letters to him? And how are you getting these letters from him?"

Both John and Leana look at one another; they take a deep breath and begin to explain.

"Dad, we felt we made a connection with Ben since September and he's really supportive and such. We felt that we should keep the friendly connection going while he is away," John starts out and Leana takes over.

"Lope delivers the letters from him to us as we didn't want you to be…well, we don't know how you would feel about it," she said.

Basil takes a couple more deep breaths and replies, "So you have been sending off letters to him while we would go out. Why didn't I ask you earlier?"

"We didn't mean to keep this a secret," Leana answers, "Ben's a really good friend, and his stories out on the water are amazing."

Basil does his best to ease his mind; the words that Josiah Easton spoke of how rats lure in their victims by using their charms. Mr. Easton would say such things as he didn't trust rats.

The detective, however, wasn't entirely sure if he should trust Ben Whittaker despite doing the total opposite of what Ratigan would do. That is, rescuing others as Lope the bat told him earlier.

"Well, all right, you can keep writing to Ben, but please," he said in a warning tone, "Do be careful. While I haven't met him in person, I don't want him to take advantage of your kindness, although he sounds like a thoughtful fellow."

"He is and we're hoping we'll see him in Portsmouth," John replies and Leana opens the envelope to reveal the new letter.

"Looks like he hasn't gotten our recent letter. We told him about Sophie, but it seems he doesn't know yet," Leana said as the envelope was postmarked the day after Christmas.

Dear John and Leana,

I want to reach out to wish you two a Happy Christmas and a wonderful new year. Not sure if this letter will reach you in time, but still sending you two and your family well wishes.

I do want to tell you that I will be partaking in a boating excursion around the English Channel starting early on the 28th and will not be back until at least January 10th. Need to learn on how to care for a ship while it's cold, but curse the winter gods or deities for making the weather so terrible!

Leana stops reading as she felt disappointment bloom in her mind. "He left?" Dawson asks, but his partner quiets him as they saw the look of frustration on Leana's face.

"Oh sweetie," Olivia said, while gently caressing her daughter's cheeks. Basil takes the letter to look it over and reads the rest of it.

I am happy to announce that the naval academy will be letting the students leave for the Easter holiday. I do plan on coming home to London in April, so I do look forward to spending a fun week with you my friends! Please tell Milton and Winnie as I miss them, too, and I actually want to meet to your folks.

I've been feeling rather anxious to meet them for a while; don't know why, but your father is an incredible detective as I've started reading his old and new cases in the newspapers. He is a hero for all rodents, especially youngsters and I do want to meet him in person and tell him how much I appreciate his work. I'm sure he gets that a lot.

You did mention in your last few letters that your sibling is due to arrive pretty soon, but you may have sent a message about your little brother or sister already. Do look forward to seeing that letter!

Can't wait to see you in the spring! Take care of each other in the meantime.

Big Ben

Basil looks over the letter, again; he wanted to be sure that Ben Whittaker was trustworthy. It was evident that Ben did see John and Leana as good friends, as well as Milton and Winnie.

"Even though I am just as disappointed as you two, but April will be here before you know it," Basil said to his children in an encouraging tone. They were upset that they missed the chance in seeing Ben while down in Portsmouth, but they were surprised in what their father just told them.

"You mean you really want to see Ben?" Leana asks and her father nods.

"From the looks of this letter here, he thinks of others and he does seem to really want to be out on the water," Basil answers and adds, "Ratigan would never take up a difficult job like being in the navy. He would let his cronies do all the dirty work, even in dreadful weather."

"Yes, that's what we told you about in September," John said with a scornful look. "You can trust him."

Basil looks at his son; the boy mouse did get to meet the fearsome rat in the nightmare plane in June before the fateful battle in the dream realm. John obviously did not let Ratigan win him over with words of having a better life in the criminal underworld.

"I still feel uneasy about Mr. Benjamin Whittaker, but once your mother and I see him in April, we'll see," the detective replies.

"Well Elliott, I honestly feel we can trust him," Olivia said, "I do want to hear his reaction when he writes about Sophie."

Both John and Leana were happy to hear that their parents wanted to meet their friend come April. Leana, however, begins to think on the new case.

"Daddy, can I say something?" she asks her father.

"Of course you can, what's on your mind?" he replies.

"It's Mr. De Luca," she replies, "I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling about him."

"Why's that?" Dawson asks.

"I can't really explain, but my gut tells me that there's something off about him. He didn't seem to be emotional about the death of Prince Alexander," Leana said and her family and good friend look at one another, except for Sophie as she was sleeping soundly.

"I don't think valets are meant to show emotions," John said to his sister. "Then again, he did seem harsh or cold natured," he adds.

Basil smiles for a bit before he starts thinking, too. His two children were becoming professionals in observing one's character, but he did understand that not everyone displays the usual signs of grief.

"Leana, why do you think your gut is telling you about Mr. De Luca? I'm just curious," Olivia asks her oldest daughter.

"Like I said, I can't explain, but he didn't go with Prince Michel to Portsmouth, and…well, I don't want to upset any of you, but if something were to happen to me, I suspect all of you would stick together and look out for one another. Does that make sense?" she replies.

Basil and Olivia look at one another in silent dismay; they didn't want anything to happen to their children, but it would be true that they would come together in their time of need.

"I don't know, it's our first time seeing him, so I really don't know Mr. De Luca. Maybe I should give him a chance, but I thought a valet is supposed to stay beside their employer," Leana said after a long pause.

"That is true, he should've gone with the prince. Darling, it's all right to be suspicious about someone," Basil replies, placing a comforting hand on his daughter's head. "I always have my suspicions. In fact, I was suspicious of Tsura and Lulu the first time we met them, but now I see them as good friends for what they've done for us," he said.

Leana nods and she and her brother take a look out the window. The train was traveling through snow-covered villages or towns. Their mother shows Sophie the snow and she did seem to be mesmerized of the world outside.

"Dad, have you seen Switzerland?" John asks his father.

"Yes, but only passed through it while attending to cases abroad. There are many mountains and lakes, an ideal location for those who want to spend a snowy Christmas or winter holiday there," Basil answers and adds, "I do know that the city of Lausanne is situated on Lake Geneva or Lac Léman. That would be a wonderful site to see every day."

"Oh Leana," Olivia said and her daughter looks at her mother, "You might be putting your French to good use as we are going to the French speaking region of Switzerland, but I understand that it's a bit different from their neighbor France. I still think this is wonderful opportunity for you."

"YES!" the little girl mouse exclaims, but clamps her mouth shut as it did startle her baby sister Sophie. "Je suis désolé. Je ne voulais pas te surprendre," Leana apologies to her sister.

"She probably doesn't understand you," John said, but Leana gives him a scornful look.

"Well she might not understand you when you ramble in Greek," she replies, which did irritate her twin brother.

"Now you two," Basil speaks in a warning tone, "Please be nice to each other. Sophie will be exposed to you talking, so she will eventually understand you."

John then showed a grin and says to Sophie, "To ónomá mou eínai John kai eímai o aderfós sou." The baby girl didn't seem to understand, so John translates, "My name's John and I'm your brother." Sophie gives a smile and giggles a bit, which made Leana feel jealous as her sister did seem to like their brother speaking in Greek.

Leana lets out a frustrated sigh, but her parents did notice. "Oh don't worry, she'll be having conversations with you in French when she's older," Basil said to his oldest daughter, which did seem to make her happy.

"Will she become a polyglot? Someone who speaks multiple languages?" she asks and the question did surprise the adults. "You daddy speak German; mummy knows Gaelic, and John talks in Greek sometimes," Leana explains.

"Hmmmm, I honestly didn't think of that," Basil answers, "Perhaps she will. It's a good thing to have knowledge on foreign languages." Sophie yawns, showing her toothless mouth and her mother cradles her close.

Later, the train comes to a stop in Portsmouth and the detective, his family, and their good friend depart with Mr. Wyatt and Mr. De Luca. An officer outside the station greets them, but takes Mr. Wyatt and Mr. De Luca aside. "I wonder what's going on," John said and they notice the shocked expressions on the two mice's faces.

Mr. Wyatt returns to them, while rubbing the sides of his temple. "There's been a change of plans. There is an earlier boat that will take us to Le Havre at 2 this afternoon and the prince and prime minster insist they take that one."

Basil pulls out a pocket watch; it was a few minutes after 12, but he begins to think. "There is still enough time to think of a plan," he replies and they follow the officer to where the boat would be leaving.

"I was hoping to tour the Victoria Naval School for Rodents," John said and his parents understood. They did want to see the new naval academy where Ben Whittaker was being educated.

Just then, a gust of arctic cold wind blows in, sending a chill down to the rodents' bones. "Goodness me! It's cold!" Dawson exclaims, trying to bundle up in his coat.

Olivia encloses her baby daughter in her own coat to keep her warm. They manage to hitch a ride on an automobile heading down to the docks. The noise irritated the detective's ears and his children began to choke at the fumes the vehicle produced.

Sophie begins to cry; Basil thought the noise and smell made her feel scared as this was her first time seeing or hearing such things. He pulls Olivia into his embrace, putting Sophie in between them.

"It's all right," he said into her little ears and she calms down a bit, "I hate these things, too." The ride was thankfully short and Basil didn't hesitate to jump off the footrest. He catches his children first before helping Olivia and Sophie down.

The officer takes them to a restaurant located inside a building on the wharf. The mouse detective tells his family to stay in the main dining room, while he and Dawson went with Mr. Wyatt and Mr. De Luca to another part of the restaurant.

Both John and Leana were curious about what their father planned on doing for the prince. They couldn't know his physical features, but they were good in keeping an identity secret.

"Maybe we can take the time to observe the rodents here," Olivia suggests to her children. "Surely some of them here will be getting on the same boat as we will."

Both John and Leana look around; many rodents were chatting amongst themselves while eating and drinking. The majority of the patrons spoke in British accents and the twins did pick up a few who said they were heading home to London or elsewhere after spending their Christmas holiday abroad.

"I wonder what it would be like for Ben to celebrate New Year's while out on the water?" John asks.

"I am curious about that, too. Pretty sure there will be plenty of fun for him and his peers," Olivia replies and a waitress comes by to take their lunch order. The twins continue to observe the patrons and their mother joins in. There were a few rodents that spoke in foreign accents; they must've spent their Christmas holiday in England and were heading home.

Olivia looks over to one section of the restaurant, but she then notices a male mouse dressed in fine clothes sitting at a table with two other male mice. These two were wearing dark colored clothing, but Olivia stares at the one who she couldn't help but feel that he looked familiar even from behind.

Then, he looks around the place and Olivia's heart stops beating. The male mouse had light brown fur, but had wicked looking eyes. He then stands up to leave the table and the other two mice follow him.

"Olivia?" a voice speaks, but she lets out a startled yelp. She was relieved to see her husband with Dawson; however, they notice the look on her face. "What is it darling? You look like you had seen a ghost," Basil asks and Olivia looks back where she saw the familiar looking mouse.

"Either I did or I am hallucinating," she replies and says, "I thought I saw him, Robert Kinkle."

"What?" Basil replies in absolute horror. "That is not possible; he and his father had been banished."

"I know, I remember," Olivia said, "I don't know if it's really him, but I thought it was him."

"Robert Kinkle?" Leana asks, "You mean mummy's former pursuer?"

"Yes," Basil answers, but decides to drop the discussion as their food arrived. "Eat something, it'll clear your head," he insists.

"What's the plan, dad?" John asks in a whisper.

"The prince is already onboard the boat with some bodyguards, but he has booked us some compartments on the train near his and the prime minister's compartments," Basil said, but the twins notice a young male mouse standing beside Mr. Wyatt. He was fairly tall with brown fur and a light colored muzzle. He had blue-green eyes and was wearing a nice outfit, although not fancy.

"Oh, this here is Mr. Wyatt's nephew, Michael Lewis. He has volunteered to accompany us to Lausanne," Basil introduces his family to the newcomer.

"Hello, came down here to Portsmouth with the prince at my uncle's request. I'm training to become an officer like him," Michael said to the twins, who reply with a hello and then finish their lunch. They then prepare themselves for the walk to the boat that would take them to Le Havre.

The journey to Le Havre would be roughly five to six hours, which gave the arrival time at around 7 or 8 in the evening. From there, the train would take them to Geneva and they would catch a ride to Lausanne. The journey itself would be at least fifteen hours, it was going to be a long night.

"Dad, do you think we'll be able to see Paris? The skyline I mean," John asks during their walk to the boat.

"Maybe, it'll be dark, but I think we would be able to see the Eiffel Tower when it lights up," Basil answers and his children, especially his son were delighted.

They reach the boat and were allowed on board before the other passengers arrived. Basil, his family, Dawson and the others settled in the entertainment area, which had a bar and dining area.

A male mouse who was stout like Dawson walks over to them and greets them. "Monsieur Basil, the prince is in a secured room," he said in a whisper.

"Oh, you must be the prime minister?" Olivia asks, also in a whisper, despite the place being empty of the other passengers.

"Oui, I am Julian Meunier; I am here to accompany the prince home as his father would've wanted it," he answers. The twins look at him; he was wearing a dark colored suit with a black armband, much like Mr. De Luca's.

"Monsieur Meunier?" Leana asks and the prime minister looks at her. "How long has the prince been on the boat?" she asks; she was curious if Mr. De Luca was also on board as he did not accompany them.

"About an hour," Meunier answers, "Monsieur De Luca and I came on board before you did."

Basil notices that his daughter was thinking about something; she did seem troubled by these strange outcomes. She and her brother did seem surprised upon meeting Michael Lewis. Basil was wondering if she was troubled by the measures the prince had taken.

Sometime later, more passengers begin to board the boat and the entertainment area was full of rodents of various nationalities. Basil did pick up a few rodents speaking in different languages, a few he did recognize immediately, including Italian, French, German, and Russian.

At 2 o'clock sharp, the boat lets out a loud blow from its horn and it departs from the dock. A pianist came in and began to play a few songs for the passengers in the room. The twins had a hard time contracting; the piano music drowned out the conversations the other rodents were having, making it hard to point out a culprit.

"Daddy, is it all right to step out?" Leana asks her father.

"Yes, I am actually not enjoying the piano music," he replies in a whisper, as to not offend the pianist.

As they walked towards the door that would lead them to the upper part of the boat, Basil notices a mouse dressed in fine clothes. The male mouse was speaking to a second male mouse, who appeared to be whispering in his ear.

Basil turns away before the two mice even noticed and he leads his family upstairs, although his brain was starting to recollect on the mouse who he knew was familiar, but he felt horrified to see his face, again. There was a large room for the rodents to look out on the sea, but it was above the human's entertainment area, which was pretty similar to the rodents'.

The room was warm since the humans' had the heat on in the room below. The twins look out on the water; there were many rough-looking waves, but John suddenly got queasy.

"Don't like it?" Basil asks his son, who shakes his head and his father looks him in the eye. "I fear as much; you do look sick," he said.

"I didn't get sick on the sunset cruise," John points out.

"Well from the looks of these waters, it's rough out there. You must not be use to conditions such as these," Basil replies and takes a seat on a wood bench.

"Would it have been better if Albert took us?" John asks. Basil looks to his wife, who was holding Sophie close to her bosom.

"I'm afraid not; the air above is much colder than it is down here," Basil answers and lifts his son up into his arms. "Let's go someplace else; pretty sure there's a room where we can take a nap."

They go back down to the entertainment area, where the pianist was now playing louder. It irritated the detective's ears; he quickly leads his family out of there and to a quieter part of the ship. They locate a spare cabin that had two beds and a comfortable chair. Basil lays John down on one of the beds and he notices the look on his son's face.

"You look real sick," Basil said and John nods in response, his face did look green. The detective leaves the room so he could locate Dawson and examine his son.

He finds the good doctor still in the entertainment area, having a conversation with Mr. Wyatt and Michael Lewis. He did notice Mr. De Luca with the male mouse that had been speaking to the oddly familiar mouse Basil saw earlier.

The pianist stops playing for a moment and the detective sees Mr. De Luca and the male mouse leave the room. "Basil, is something wrong?" he hears his partner ask.

"It's John, he doesn't look so good. I think he has sea sickness," Basil explains and Dawson follows him back to the room. When they step inside the room, the room was dark, and Olivia looks at them, with a finger over her lips.

Basil looks over to see that the small window in the room was opened slightly, but with the curtain drawn, a cold breeze flowing in. Then, Basil picks up the sound of voices outside the window. "You sure this is the room?" a male voice asks.

"I've studied the blue prints, don't test me!" a second voice snaps. Leana looks up at her father; she did seem to recognize the second voice and he did, too. Basil looks at his son, who had his head on the pillow, but his eyes were shut. The detective then sees a hand creep in, holding a dagger.

"The bed should be under the window," the second voice whispers.

Basil wasn't going to let this crook hurt his son, who was sick and he hated criminals who harmed children who were ill. An idea comes to his mind; he quietly removes his shoes and quietly gestures his daughter to move aside.

"I can't see a darn thing!" the first voice said, but the second hushes him. Basil then climbs over his sleeping son, kneeling on the mattress and placing both hands on the window.

When the hand started to retreat, Basil forces the window to clamp shut, but the goon's hand was caught. He drops the dagger and the detective could hear him struggling to hold back a scream of pain.

"My hand!" the goon shouts, but Basil keeps the window in place for a minute. He wanted this crook to feel pain and for him to know that Basil was protecting his son.

It was at that moment that Basil felt a rage within him; it was a different kind of rage. Whenever he and Olivia made love, he sometimes felt an animalistic, but passionate aggression, although this was nothing like it.

He was feeling a storm of anger at the ones who dared harm his children. He then feels someone pulling him back, letting the window go and the hand retreats.

They hear the two mice run off and Basil looks to see Olivia, she had pulled him away from hurting the assailant even further. "Elliott?" she asks, but she sees the fury in his eyes. "Calm down now, they're gone," she insists and Basil takes in a few deep breaths.

Then, John begins to groan and looks up to see his father. "Dad? What are you doing?" he asks.

"Just want to be sure you're all right," Basil answers, "And perhaps take a nap with you," he adds.

John was a bit confused, but he did welcome his father's company. Basil did have Dawson examine John before they dozed off together. Dawson gives John a half tablet of hyoscine, the same medicine the doctor used whenever they traveled by air. "Don't want to give you a full tablet, seeing how small your body is," Dawson said to his young friend.

"I think it's funny that we are opposites," John replies, "You get air sick, but I end up getting sea sick."

Dawson chuckles a bit and John takes the tablet. "Now you might suffer from a dry mouth when you wake up," he said.

"How long will he be out?" Olivia asks.

"A full tablet usually works for eight hours, but a half tablet should last about four. I understand John wants to see the Eiffel Tower when we travel through Paris," Dawson answers and the little boy mouse dozes off, again.

Just then, there was a knock at the door and Dawson opens it to reveal Mr. Wyatt and Michael Lewis. "Mr. Basil," the inspector said, but goes silent when he sees the detective lying next to his sleeping son.

"Mr. Wyatt, is something wrong?" Basil asks.

"It's Monsieur Meunier," Michael replies, "We saw him be taken by these rough looking rodents."

"Kidnapped?" Olivia asks and Mr. Wyatt and Michael nod.

"How long ago was this?" Basil asks, rubbing John's back and leaves the bed.

"Not that long, about five minutes," Mr. Wyatt answers and Basil begins to think.

"Someone tried to harm my son here," the detective replies as he gets his shoes on, again and notices his daughter, Leana pointing to something on the floor. Basil sees the dagger and uses a handkerchief to take the blade part in his hand.

"Elliott, what are-" "Quiet Olivia," Basil insists and produces something from his coat pocket. Olivia recognizes the brush and powder that were part of the fingerprinting kit he got for his birthday.

Basil uses the brush to take a bit of powder and motions it over the handle. Some prints appear and Basil uses some plastic to retrieve the prints and store them on the cards.

"Excuse me?" a voice said from behind Mr. Wyatt. A boat attendant looks into the room, "Is there a doctor? We have a passenger who injured his hand."

"I am a doctor," Dawson replies and was about to follow the attendant, but Basil stops them and he looks to his wife and two daughters.

"I have a feeling that the assailant knows what happened to Monsieur Meunier," Basil tells Olivia, who nods in agreement. "Please, stay here with John," he urges and looks to his oldest daughter Leana. "Don't go anywhere; look after your brother and sister."

"But daddy, I want to-" "Leana," Basil cuts in with a forbidding tone, "Do as I say." He didn't want to argue with his daughter, but it was evident that she was becoming more interested in the case, despite the fact that it was getting more dangerous than what Basil anticipated.

Basil leaves the room, following behind Dawson and they enter the entertainment area, where a male mouse was sitting at the bar. He was holding his left hand, blood dripped from a cut on his palm.

While Dawson attended to the mouse's injured hand, Basil checks the finger prints he lifted from the dagger's handle. He then examines the dagger; while it still had the dust, Basil could easily tell that the assailant used his left hand.

"Excuse me," Basil said, "Do you mind if I take a look at your hand?" The male mouse, whom Basil did not recognize looks at him quizzical.

"Why do you want to look at my hand?" the mouse asks and Basil notices that his accent was Irish.

Basil doesn't respond; instead, he takes the mouse's hand to examine the injury. "Did your hand get caught in a window?" he asks, noticing that the rage was starting to come back.

"Yes, what is it to you?" the Irish mouse replies. At that moment, Basil grabs him by the cuff of his shirt, and lifts him off the ground.

"Did you intend to hurt my children? Or were you targeting someone else?" he asks in a low whisper and he starts to growl.

Dawson takes a few steps away; he knew his partner was angry at the assailant, but the Basil he was seeing and even hearing was not the detective he knew for many years.

Basil looks deep into the Irish mouse's eyes and the mouse gives a startled expression. Basil notices a glow reflecting off from the mouse's eyes; a light?

"All right!" the mouse exclaims, "But we thought the prince would be in that room!"

"Who? Who else is in on this?" Basil demands, but before he got an answer, something inside of him screamed from the depths of his thoughts.

He turns around to see Mr. Wyatt and Michael Lewis standing in the doorway of the room. "Have you been standing there this whole time?!" he shouts, which surprised both of them.

He doesn't wait for an answer; instead, he rushes pass them and runs back to the cabin where his family was. His insides went cold when he saw that it was empty, even his son John was not in the bed.

"Basil?" he hears Dawson behind him and the doctor sees the look of fury on the detective's face. He sets his gaze at Mr. Wyatt and Mr. Lewis.

"You left my wife and children here, defenseless!" he shouts at them. The only feeling he was experiencing now was anger.

"Mr. Basil, we're sorry but—" "I don't want your apology! Not yet!" Basil shouts.

"Basil, you got to calm down," Dawson insists, but his friend did not heed him. Then, his ears pick up a noise, a baby crying. It was his daughter, Sophie.

"This way!" Basil orders, leading the others as he followed the baby's cries. "Keep crying Sophie," he pleads under his breath.

The little baby did cry; she did have good, strong lungs for an infant. Then, Basil hears a familiar voice, "Will you shut that baby up?!"

There was no mistake on who it was and Basil stops in his tracks when they came upon a spiral staircase. He looks back at Dawson, Mr. Wyatt, and Mr. Lewis. He urges them to remain quiet as they descend the stairs and into the crew's quarters.

"Hush now Sophie," came Olivia's voice. Basil thanked his lucky stars for his good hearing. He could hear the footsteps of his wife and daughter, Leana, but he didn't hear his son.

"In here," the voice demands and there came the creaking of a heavy metal door being opened. Basil and the others hide behind the corner of the hallway where he heard the criminal take his family. He takes a peek to see that the door remained ajar.

He then feels the new rage coming back, he was going to save his family from those brutes, but he had to do it quickly and without hurting anyone, except perhaps the criminals responsible for the whole ordeal.

Basil holds up a hand to stop the others from following him; he crawls on his hands and knees to the room where his family was held captive.

"Now you're going to answer this question; where's the Prince Michel?" came the male voice and Basil knew that it was none other than Nicholas De Luca. However, something stumped him; Mr. De Luca was the prince's valet, or was he?

"I take it that you're not Mr. De Luca," Leana said in a defiant tone. Basil takes a peek in through the crack of the door; he sees his wife holding Sophie and John in her arms, the boy mouse was out cold, thanks to the hyoscine. He also sees Monsieur Meunier in the room, sitting on the floor with rope tied around his bosom.

"I am not, the real Mr. De Luca has been dead for roughly 12 hours I believe," the impostor valet answers. "He was easy to find as he liked hanging around bars at night. However, he refused to tell me what his employer looks like, and I was hoping he would as he was so drunk," he continues.

"You anarchists are so dense. Mr. De Luca, even though he did neglect some part of his duty, he did keep his oath of protecting the prince," Leana said, but that irritated the mouse. Olivia, with both John and Sophie in her arms, stands up to get in between her oldest daughter and the assassin.

"Well, if you won't talk, then perhaps Monsieur Meunier here can," he said and looks to the prime minister. "Tell me, where's the prince?" he demands.

"I rather die than give up the prince's whereabouts," the prime minister replies.

Then, the assassin produces a pistol, puts in some bullets, and takes aim at the prime minister's head. "I insist that you reconsider," he said, cocking back the trigger, but then, he turns around to face Olivia and the children.

"I am going to count to ten, and if you don't tell me where the prince is, then I'll shoot one of them," the killer demands. Those words sent Basil into a whirlwind of fury and he sees spots of light in his vision. He ignores them and before he knew it, he charges in in a flash. Basil slams hard into the mouse who threatened his family, causing the assassin to drop the pistol.

There was a cry, but Basil wasn't sure who shrieked. However, he had the assassin in his grasp, but the rage within had taken hold of his body. The detective begins to choke the killer; he wanted to annihilate this mouse.

"ELLIOTT!" he hears Olivia cry out and he feels some hands pull him back, giving the mouse a chance to breathe. Mr. Wyatt places the impostor in handcuffs and it was then that the rage within Basil subsides.

He looks to his wife and children; John had been awakened by the scuffle, but still looked groggy. "Dad?" he said and Basil takes them into his arms.

Olivia and Leana return the embrace with a more crushing hug. "Are you all right?" Basil asks, "I'm so sorry for scaring you."

"You saved us and you saved Monsieur Meunier," Leana points out.

"Elliott," Olivia said and Basil looks at her; he did see that she was afraid of something. "I don't recall you being so…ferocious before," she adds. Basil begins to think about what she said; while he did let his anger get the best of him, mostly towards some criminals, but he never acted this barbaric before.

"Dad," he hears his son, again, "I thought I saw a wolf," John said before his head slumps down. Basil takes him into his arms.

"A wolf you say? In here?" he asks, but the boy mouse had dozed off once more. Basil looks to his wife and oldest daughter, "Did you see a wolf?" he asks them, but both shake their heads.

"It must be the hyoscine," Olivia points out, "I know that hallucinations is a side effect, but it's rare."

"I insist we get him out of here, I do want to keep an eye on him during the rest of the way," Dawson suggests and they leave.

Basil carries his son back up to the cabin and places him on the bed. He gives him a tender kiss on the forehead and looks to Dawson, "Keep a close eye on him," Basil tells the doctor, who nods.

The detective then looks to Olivia and two daughters, but then gazes down at Leana. "Darling, do you mind accompanying me?" he asks, which surprises the little girl mouse. "I want you to tell Mr. Wyatt what that impostor told you. I did hear him say that Mr. De Luca is dead. Perhaps you could figure out who he really is," Basil said.

Leana gives a little smile; she was still afraid of the events that she witnessed earlier. She also thought she saw a wolf when her father barged in to save them. She wondered if she was hallucinating, too, but deep down, she knew she didn't see any illusions.

"Can mummy come along?" she asks and Basil looks to Olivia, who nods. He takes Sophie into his arms; she was happy to see her father, and Olivia rubs her sore arms.

He leads them to the entertainment area, where the piano stood silent and the other passengers were elsewhere. Mr. Wyatt and Mr. Lewis were with some plain clothes officers, guarding the Irish mouse and the assassin. The prime minister was also with them, a glass of water in hand and pressing an ice cold cloth to the side of his temple. It was likely that he was knocked out and then tied up.

"Mr. Wyatt, my wife and daughter have some information to share," Basil said and Leana steps forward. She repeats the words that the assassin had said earlier, but then notices Mr. Lewis turning a bit pale when she mentions that the real Mr. De Luca was dead.

"Once we're in Le Havre, we'll send a correspondence to Scotland Yard. Mr. De Luca must be somewhere around Prince Michel's London residence," Mr. Wyatt suggests.

Leana looks at the assassin; for some reason, she did recognize him. "This might seem strange, but are you Mr. Gerard Ducharme?" she asks, which surprises everyone, including the killer mouse.

"How did…I mean, I'm not answering to that," he replies, but Mr. Wyatt scoffs.

"No need, although I wonder how this young lady was able to figure out your name," the police inspector said.

"I did see his wanted poster somewhere; he is wanted in the contract killings of a few highly respected politicians in France and Italy. The American police have offered to help locate him as he's also wanted for some other crimes in the United States," Leana explains. She did look back on the day when her friends, Milton and Winnie hosted a 'Final Farewell to Summer' back in September. She was given Ducharme's wanted poster as part of the ceremony in order to give the others a bit of peace of mind during the winter.

"Oh well done, Mademoiselle," Monsieur Meunier said to the young girl mouse, "Now that I can observe him better, he is indeed the killer Monsieur Ducharme. When we reach Le Havre, I would like to summon the French authorities. I'm sure they'll be happy to see him," he tells Mr. Wyatt, who nods.

"Would you happen to know Ducharme's comrade here, Miss Basil?" the inspector asks the detective's daughter, but she shakes her head as she didn't recognize him.

"If I'm right, you must be Seamus O'Sheehan," Olivia said after looking him over and he nods. "He is wanted in Ireland and the UK for fraud, but the authorities want to question him on the suspicious deaths of some officials in Ireland."

"Pretty sure the French authorities will extradite him back to London for us," Mr. Wyatt said and O'Sheehan gives an audible gulp in his throat.

The police inspector and one of his officers take the two criminals to the brig. "Daddy," Leana said after they return to the cabin room. "This is just my gut instinct, again, but since Ducharme is a contract killer, there has to be someone more malevolent that came up with the plan on killing the prince on his way back to his family," Leana explains and her father gives an encouraging smile.

"Well you were right about Ducharme imposing Mr. De Luca. Henry did say that you should listen to your gut," Basil replies and rubs the top of her head. "I am proud of you for that; you are actually becoming a keen observer on others."

Leana smiles at this and her mother gives her a kiss on the cheek. "I am sure everyone is happy that you presumed Ducharme's identity. I am sure he is still surprised that you figured him out," Olivia said and her daughter giggles, but then lets out a yawn.

Her sister Sophie also lets out a yawn. "Looks like we got a couple sleepy heads," Olivia teases. Basil lays Sophie down on the other bed, wrapping her blanket in a protective embrace and Leana climbs up on the bed where her brother was. The boy mouse didn't stir and Dawson still kept a close eye on his young friend, despite struggling to keep his own eyes open.

"Olivia," Basil said, placing a hand around her back, "Why don't we get a drink? I do wish to speak to you for a moment," he proposes and Olivia was now curious.

They leave the room and step into the entertainment area once more. Some of the passengers did occupy the space, but Michael Lewis had taken the seat at the piano. The song he was playing was a classical piece that many did recognize, but his performance was quite flawless.

After Basil orders a glass of wine for himself and a cup of tea for Olivia, they take a seat and the detective looks at his loving wife. "Olivia, when we were in here earlier, I thought I saw Robert Kinkle like you did at the restaurant," he said and she covers her mouth in shock.

"But…he was banished like you said, which means he can't set foot in England or anywhere in the UK," Olivia replies, "Why is he here?"

"Darling, we could be wrong. It could be someone who has physical features identical to his, but I am just as concerned as you," Basil said, taking one of her hands in his.

"I suppose we could be wrong, but I would like to know how he got back to England or if he possibly could," Olivia replies, but gives a little gasp, "What if he became part of the Black Crosses?" she asks.

"That does sound possible, I understand that some anarchists are banished to Devil's Island, but it must've taken him many months to get here," Basil said and sees that Olivia was deeply thinking.

"Perhaps they paid someone to grant them passage or maybe create fake passports. Some criminals have fraudulent identification on them, right?" she asks and her husband nods.

She takes a sip of her tea, it wasn't really the same as the tea Mrs. Judson or Mrs. Rachel made back home, but it will suffice. Basil only examines his glass of wine, he was thinking deeply. He sits it down on the table in front of him and produces his smoking pipe, filling it with tobacco, and lights it.

He takes a few puffs and lets the gears in his brain turn. Olivia looks to her husband with a little smile; she did love it when he thought long and hard on a case. She then leans her head on his shoulder, which made Basil smile himself. He wraps his free arm around her backside and continues to take a few puffs of his pipe.

A few hours later, the boat docks at the port in Le Havre and the Prime Minister Monsieur Meunier summons the French police rodents. They were thrilled to take Ducharme into custody and some of them volunteered to take O'Sheehan back to England.

"Nous recherchons ce criminel depuis des années. Les rongeurs de France seront éternellement reconnaissants," the French police chief rodent said to Mr. Wyatt, although he didn't understand French. Leana helps out by translating.

"He said the police have been looking for Ducharme for years and that the rodents in France will be eternally grateful," she said, but asks the French police, "Qu'en est-il de ses crimes en Italie et en Amérique?"

"Il devra également faire face à un jugement en Italie et en Amérique," the rodent police chief answers, "La façon dont je le vois, il affrontera le peloton d'exécution."

The French police rodents bid farewell to Basil, his family and his comrades before the police chief departs with Ducharme. A few French police rodents took O'Sheehan back on the boat, which would depart within an hour and head back to Portsmouth.

"What did the police chief tell you?" Olivia asks her daughter; she knew a little French, but not enough to speak in full sentences.

"He said Ducharme will face judgement in Italy and America, too. Due to the crimes he committed, it's very much likely he'll be sentenced to death," Leana answers.

"A suiting punishment for a killer," Mr. Wyatt said and they were escorted to the station, where they would catch the train to Geneva.

Basil had to carry his son John, who was starting to come out of the drug-induced sleep, although he was still groggy. John then begins to stretch his arms and crack his toes. Basil takes a seat with him on the berth in their compartment. "John, are you feeling all right?" he asks.

"Kind of; I have a bit of a headache, but I feel fine," John answers and Basil takes in a deep breath.

"John, do you remember yourself saying you saw a wolf?" he asks, again.

The boy mouse looks at his father with confusion, but he begins to think. "I don't think it was a real wolf," John answers, which puzzles his parents.

"What do you mean?" Olivia asks, taking a seat next to him with Sophie in her arms. John tries to think, but the pain in his head began to increase.

"Mummy, daddy," Leana said and they, including John look at her. "I saw a wolf, too, but it was more like an apparition of a wolf. This might seem strange, but it surrounded daddy's body when he rushed in to stop Ducharme," she said and her brother begins to nod, vigorously.

"Me? I was surrounded by a wolf's spirit?" Basil asks and his children nod. "How bizarre," he mutters.

"Maybe we should discuss this with Tsura when we go to visit," Olivia suggests and her husband nods.

When the clock struck 8, the train lets out a bellowing whistle and begins to move, slow at first, but gains speed. "Can we get something to eat? I'm hungry and pretty thirsty," John said, rubbing his eyelids.

"I am, too," Olivia replies and the family leaves their compartment to the dining car. Dawson, who had his own compartment, was still getting settled, but assures the family he would join in a few minutes.

They locate Mr. Wyatt with Monsieur Meunier and Mr. Lewis; they were speaking in low voices and eating little on their plates. Basil and his family, excluding Sophie, feasted on a fine meal of duck meat, mushrooms, and bread rolls. They were puzzled as Dawson still had not come to join them for dinner.

"I wonder what's taking him so long," John said, his headache subsiding thanks to the food and seltzer water.

"I don't know," his father answers and they leave Olivia and the girls behind. They went back to the sleeping car and discover a pair of feet sticking out from a compartment.

"Dawson!" John cries out as he recognized the pair of feet. The boy mouse shakes his friend's body, who begins to groan and come to his senses.

"Dawson, what happened?" Basil asks his associate.

"I heard someone entering your compartment, thinking it was you, so I thought I check to see, but then…" Dawson trails off, rubbing the back of his head with his head. "They must've had an accomplice who knocked me out as I did see an intruder in your compartment."

"What did he look like?" Basil asks, while John rushes to the toilet to get a cold cloth for Dawson. He thanks his young friend and places it over the swollen part of his head.

"He was wearing all black," Dawson begins, "He did have brown fur, but…his hair had a darker shade of brown. Or I must be wrong, his fur was a darker shade," he explains and apologizes for not getting a good description of the trespasser.

Basil asks, "Were they looking for something?"

"They were looking at your bags, but I don't think they opened any of them," Dawson answers. The detective looks around the compartment; nothing seemed to be missing or out of place.

Then he hears John sniffling. "Dad, do you smell that?" he asks and Basil takes a whiff of the air.

It was a rather terrible smell, almost like a decaying corpse. Basil looks around the compartment, but found nothing unusual. He checks the other rooms, but he also found nothing that smelled of death.

He returns to the compartment and takes in another whiff of the aroma; it also had a metallic scent mixed with perspiration. "I recognize this horrid odor. The memory of being in Thames Prison still haunts me now and then," Basil said to his son and good friend.

"Wait, a prisoner was in here?" Dawson asks.

"Or an escaped convict?" John suggests and Basil nods in response.

"Let's get you something to eat Dawson and see if you can recognize anyone in the dining car," the detective replies and they leave the sleeping car. Olivia and Leana were shocked to see Dawson in such a state. Mr. Wyatt did offer to do a thorough search and question the passengers, but Basil insisted they keep quiet for now.

Dawson ate his meal, while Olivia and John eat a sweet confection of vanilla ice cream with a sugar wafer. Leana was not too fond of ice cream, so she tries a madeleine, a small sponge cake that had a hint of lemon zest. "I do like this," she said and her father tries some.

"Very light, not too sweet, a bit tart I'll say," Basil replies and they finish their meal with cups of seltzer water.

As the train was riding further inland, Basil takes out his pocket watch; it was a little after ten at night. He then gathers his two older children to the window in their compartment.

"You'll be seeing the Eiffel Tower soon," he tells them and shuts off the light in the room. He wanted them to see better and they were overcome with giddiness. Then, they see the structure, the light on top of it was rotating, much like a lighthouse, but the lights from the city gave it an almost shadowy essence to it.

The twins had their eyes glued to the strange piece of art, but Basil notices that they were mesmerized. He chuckles a bit before saying, "I take it that you like it."

"It's magnificent," John replies, pressing his cheek against the window as he wanted to take a good, long look before the tower was out of sight. An attendant brings in a tray of tea as requested by Olivia before going off to sleep. When Basil pours himself a cup, he notices something unusual in the tea.

"Elliott, what's wrong?" Olivia asks.

He doesn't answer and sets his cup down and taps on the door for Dawson's compartment, but the doctor doesn't answer. Basil opens the door to find Dawson slumped in the berth, a tea cup lying on the floor.

"Dawson?" Basil said, shaking the doctor's shoulder, but he was out cold and he snores pretty loudly. The detective decides to look through Dawson's bag; he knew that the intruder did take something from the doctor's room as the stench he smelled earlier was lingering in Dawson's compartment.

"Dad, what's wrong?" John asks and lets out a gasp when he sees Dawson slumped over.

"He's all right, but the bottle of hyoscine is missing. The crooks must've slipped it in his tea and even ours," Basil answers. John opens the top for the tea pot that was in Dawson's compartment, there appeared some grimy particles at the bottom.

Basil decides to use his fingerprint dusting on the cup, wondering if there was a set of prints other than Dawson's. There weren't any, perhaps the criminal used gloves, so he tries the tea pot; again, nothing.

The detective thought the criminal used gloves on the tea pot and cups meant for him and his family. "This assailant is pretty clever ," Basil said, just as Mr. Wyatt, Mr. Lewis, and Monsieur Meunier appear from the dining car.

"What happened to Dawson?" Mr. Wyatt asks.

"Someone tampered with the tea he ordered; they slipped hyoscine in our tea as well," Basil whispers and urges the two male mice to not order any beverages. Mr. Wyatt, Mr. Lewis, and the prime minister decide to retire to their compartments; they said they were light sleepers, so they would hear anything unusual during the night.

Basil and John return to their own compartment, where Olivia and Leana were wondering what was going on. Sophie had wondered off to sleep earlier and was resting in the opposite berth.

"I suggest the three of you get some rest," Basil said, but his wife looks at him in shock. "You need to sleep; you're tired and I can stay awake," he insists.

"Elliott, it's not healthy to lose sleep, you know that," Olivia replies, but he remains firm with his decision.

"I want to catch the crook; they were planning to drug us, so they catch the prince," Basil said and sets up the berth for his twin children. They decided to sleep in their clothes in case if the crook were to appear during the night.

"Dad, where is the prince?" John asks, "Shouldn't we be concerned about him?"

His sister, however, insists they should not talk about the prince. "I have a feeling that he's been close by this whole time," she whispers into his ear. The twins take up the berth opposite their parents'; Leana was able to shut her eyes in an instant, but her brother was still awake.

He takes in the sounds of the train's clanking wheels and his mother and two sisters breathing softly while they slept. He looks up to see his father, sitting in a chair at the end of the twins' berth.

Basil had something in his hand; John saw the faint glint of silver. The detective was armed with his pistol. John did admire his father as he was fearless and devoted to protecting his family. That was something John wanted, he wanted be just as brave as his parents.

The little boy mouse shuts his eyes as he was pretty tired, but he did want to be on the alert.

Basil does his best to distinguish the noises outside the compartment; the wheels of the train were loud, but he could still hear footsteps and Dawson's snoring in the other compartment.

An hour went by, Basil did not pick anything out of the ordinary, but his nostrils did detect a new smell. It was a sweet scent; he takes in a whiff, but then realizes that he was starting to get light-headed.

"Oh no," he said, trying to stand from the chair, but the nitrous oxide overtakes him. He collapses to his knees; he sees a cloud of nitrous vapors enter the compartment from the underside of the door.

Basil uses his free hand to slap himself, trying to keep awake and get help. He pulls out his handkerchief to cover his nose and then opens the door.

He was about to reach the window to open it, when suddenly, someone hits him from behind. The crook pulls Basil's arm that had his handkerchief away and he tries his best to not breathe in the vapors.

He looks up to see that the criminal had a thick cloth over his mouth and nose, protecting him from the gas.

Basil begins to see stars in his vision; he was going in and out of consciousness. "Take the brats," he hears the assailant, "The baby, too."

The voice sounded oddly familiar to the detective, but it had been six years since he last saw him and his father. There was no denying it, both Basil and Olivia were right all along; Robert Kinkle was here.

"GET BACK!" he hears Olivia scream, although her voice sounded muffled.

"What?! She hasn't been knocked out!" a male voice shouts. Basil looks over to see that she had a pillow case tied over her mouth and nostrils. He keeps his gaze on her before the world around him went dark.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Basil knew his soul had entered the 'In-Between' or the bridge connecting the mortal world to the dream realm or even the Heaven domain. It was bleak and very quiet; he started to panic, he feared for the lives of his wife and children. "C'mon Elliott! Wake up! Wake up!" he urges himself, but it didn't seem to work.

"Basil!" he hears Dawson's voice and he looks to see the doctor come out of the blackness, followed by Tsura the good witch.

"Where are the twins?!" Basil pleads with Tsura.

"Nitrous oxide is a dastardly agent," she begins, "It may put your body to sleep, but it causes a lot of confusion."

"You mean you don't know where they are?! Not even Sophie?!" Basil exclaims, but then the thought of his newborn daughter being exposed to the gas did scare him as such dosage was lethal for a baby.

"Take it easy Elliott, I put a spell on her; she will not get sick from the fumes," Tsura replies, but Basil was overcome with so much fear.

"How do we wake up?! I need to stop Kinkle!" he pleads once more.

"Kinkle? You mean Samuel Kinkle?" Dawson asks, but his partner shakes his head.

"No, his son Robert," Basil replies and Dawson lets out a horrified gasp. The detective looks over to Tsura, again. "Please, get us of here! I need to save my family!" he cries.

"All right, but your body might feel sore afterward," Tsura warns and uses her staff to summon what appeared to be a bolt of lightning.

"Basil, I don't have a—" Before Dawson could finish, Tsura slams her staff down on the ground, the lightning illuminates the darkness and Basil then feels a surge of pain.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Basil felt his body jolt back into consciousness; he still felt the surge of electricity within. "OW!" he hears Dawson cry out; the lightning bolt must've awakened his body, too.

Basil looks in the compartment, it was empty. He looks around the corridor, wondering if there was a clue that would lead him to his family. "Basil, what's going on?" he hears Mr. Wyatt. He sees that the police inspector opened a window, letting the nitrous oxide out.

"The assassins! They took my family!" Basil cries out. Mr. Lewis then appears from behind Mr. Wyatt.

"I heard them go towards the back of the train, but I was too light-headed to get up," Mr. Lewis said, but was speaking in a French accent and Basil pulls out his pocket watch; it was nearing midnight.

The detective decides not to ask questions and begins to run towards the back of the train. The three mice follow behind him and they stop when they see a large male mouse slumped over in the corridor in the next car.

"Damn wench!" he mutters, rubbing his stomach. "I'm going to rip her head off when I-" Basil slams his body against the large mouse, sending him flying across the corridor.

"What the?!" the mouse shouts, but Basil holds up his pistol.

"Tell me, where are they!" he demands, but the mouse shakes his head. "Don't give me that! You're with the Black Crosses! Now answer my question, where are my wife and children?!" he nearly shouts. The mouse points to the door at the very end of the car and Basil hurries off, with Dawson, Lewis, and Wyatt not far behind him.

He pushes the door open, but his family was not there. Then, he picks up the sounds of Sophie crying. They were above, having climbed up to the human deck of the last train car. Basil puts his pistol in his pocket and begins to climb up where his daughter's crying got louder.

"Will you shut her up?!" Robert Kinkle's voice shouts. Basil stops short, but was able to see Robert, pistol in his hand, and two other male rodents were with him; one rat and one mouse, both were also armed. He peeks over to see his family, all four of them were awake and alert.

"I don't understand, just how were you able to get back to England?" Olivia asks, cradling her three children close to her, although her son was prepared to fight.

"Money can go a long way, especially for a group of rodents in desperate need of funds," Robert answers, but his captives were still confused.

"It wasn't easy," he begins, "When my father and I were sent to Devil's Island, we were treated like criminals. No, more like dirt. No privacy whatsoever and having to work under the hot sun!

"Before my father died, he insisted that I return to London to reclaim what is rightfully mine. However, I wanted to track down the two mice who ruined my life, you and your bastard husband!

"When I discovered that you had children with Basil, I figured they were his weakness, but the tricky part was getting him and you to a location where I would be able to do away with you."

The blood in Basil's veins was boiling when he heard Robert Kinkle speak of his intentions to kill Olivia and the children.

"So you joined the Black Crosses on this, just so you could kill us?" Leana asks.

"That and to provide information on what Basil looked like, but still can't locate the Prince Michel. Although I am not interested in him," Robert answers, but he was getting angry as Sophie continues to cry.

In a flash, he grabs her out of Olivia's arms and holds her by the back of her shirt. This causes her to cry even louder and Basil couldn't take it anymore. "NO!" he shouts and jumps onto the walkway, pistol drawn. "Put her down!" he demands.

"DAD!" John exclaims and the other mice climb up. Mr. Wyatt also draws a pistol, aiming at the other rodent anarchists.

"Monsieur Kinkle is it?" Michael Lewis said, his voice still in the French accent, "S'il vous plait, give the baby back to her mother. It's me you want, not her."

Olivia, the twins, and the anarchists stare at him in surprise. "Tu es le prince?" the rat asks in French.

"Je suis," he answers and the two rodent anarchists began to walk over to take him, but Basil and Wyatt aim their pistols. "S'il vous plait," he repeats, "I don't want anyone else getting hurt or killed tonight. Give back the baby and I'll go with you," he said.

Robert looks at Basil, his family, and then back at Sophie, but a sinister grin forms on his face. "No, I rather destroy the very mouse who ruined everything for me," he replies and walks over to the ledge with Sophie. The twins and Olivia start to scream, begging him to not hurt the baby. The two rodents that were with Robert were stunned.

"Es tu devenu fou?!" the French rat asks in dismay.

"We didn't agree on killing a baby!" his comrade, an English-speaking mouse insists, but Basil could see that Robert had indeed gone insane.

"She's a girl, a worthless female," he replies and both the rodents were horrified of this. "You know, women don't deserve the same rights as we male rodents. They always mess up everything, hence why they should keep their mouths shut!" Robert shouts, angrily.

"That's not they believe," Leana said and the two rodents look at her, "Doesn't socialism or any kind of anarchism embrace equality for both genders? Doesn't it want to help women break away from being stuck in the house and help them secure good jobs?

"For what I understand, everyone, both male and female work together to make society better for everyone. I also have reason to believe that children are viewed as equals in socialism," she explains and both rodents look at one another. They then train their firearms at Robert.

"What are you doing? You believe what she said? She's just a girl," Robert said.

"A very smart girl," the mouse answers and his comrade the French rat urges Robert to surrender.

Basil could feel the animalistic rage grow inside of him once more. He wanted to save Sophie from this deranged lunatic who didn't see her as a living soul due to her gender. Suddenly, Robert lets out a bellowing scream and Basil sees his son John, who somehow sneaked up on Robert and stomped on his foot.

Both the rodents rush in as Olivia grabs Sophie when Robert dropped her, but the rodents grab them before they fell off. At that moment, Basil rushes in, pinning Robert down. The rage within Basil had consumed him; Robert had threatened to hurt his family and he wanted him to pay the ultimate price.

Just then, Robert lets out another scream, but it was of fear and Basil could see light reflect in his eyes. Robert pushes him off and scurries away from the detective, but he trips.

There was a collective gasp as Robert falls off the edge of the walkway. Basil and some of the others rush over, only to watch as the former Kinkle heir plummets down the side of a steep, snowy hill. A heavy snowfall covers any last trace of him.

Basil comes back to his senses when the thought of his children clicks in his mind. He looks over to see the anarchist rodents surrender to Wyatt and plead forgiveness from Prince Michel, who had been posing as a common mouse the whole time, an idea of Basil's.

"Daddy!" Leana exclaims as she and her brother jump into their father's arms. Olivia, with Sophie also join in the warm embrace. Basil holds them close and tears fall from his eyes, but he doesn't stop them.

"Dad, you're squeezing too hard," John protests and tries to break away, but his parents didn't let go.

"Mr. Basil, we should get back inside, it's really cold," Wyatt insists and the detective agrees on this. They went back down to the rodent quarters of the train and settled in the dining car. Basil looks out towards the snowy landscape; Robert Kinkle did fall while the train was in motion. Basil did believe no rodent or even a human would survive a fall like that. If Kinkle did, he would probably freeze to death as there appeared to be no towns or villages nearby.

The plain clothes officers had found two more assailants, both Russian mice, and they also had the second English speaking mouse. Olivia had kicked him in the stomach, mostly so her husband could interrogate him on their whereabouts. The officers also found the missing bottle of hyoscine as well as an empty metal canister that contained the nitrous oxide.

The two members of the Black Crosses who helped save Olivia and Sophie decided to come clean and admit that they were actually following the prince to Switzerland. Their leaders wanted to kill the entire royal family, including Michel's grandfather and uncle.

They did tell Basil and his family that they had no intentions to kill them. "It was that lunatic, Robert Kinkle. While he did point you out, we actually neglected to research of what the prince looked like. That's what wrong with anti-governments groups, they never want to do any research," the English speaking mouse said, he did have an American accent.

"So Monsieur Kinkle bribed you to help him escape Devil's Island?" Prince Michel asks.

"He did offer most of the money at first, but he said once he returned to London after killing you and your family, he give us the rest. We made him a phony passport, but he had to wear a disguise in order to get on a boat leaving the island.

"It did take him a few weeks to reach Europe, but he met with most of the Black Crosses in Portugal at Christmas and I think he was the one who pressured the leaders into assassinating Prince Alexander. The prince did have a reputation of speaking out against anarchy and such," the American mouse explains and apologizes to Prince Michel once more.

"Since you two helped rescue the Basil family, especially the petite fille, I am willing to make a deal with you," Prince Michel said, which shocks everyone, especially Monsieur Meunier. They speak for a moment in French, but the prince was insistent. He turns back to the two rodents, and begins to discuss the deal.

"If you provide the foreign authorities any information on the whereabouts of the other Black Crosses' members, I'll be willing to reduce your prison sentences. My grand-père might not agree, but once he hears of your heroic actions, I'm sure he'll show mercy on you two. As for these three, I'm not so sure as they did risk injuring les enfants with that nitrous oxide and I believe hyoscine," the prince said and the two rodents look at one another.

They decided to think about this and were escorted by the officers to another part of the train where they would be kept under close watch.

Olivia looks at her children, but notices that her husband was not in the room. Instead, he was by the doorway that lead into the sleeping car, hands covering his eyes. She gives Sophie to the twins, but the prince volunteers to hold her. "Tu me rappelles ma petite sœur," he said in French, but she was confused as to what he said. The twins giggle at this.

Olivia walks over to where Basil was, seeing the look of shame on his face. "Elliott, are you all right?" she asks and he lets out a sigh.

"How could I have been so stupid?" he said, which confuses her. "Putting our children in grave danger like that. Sophie or any one of you could've been killed and I…" he trails off to look at Olivia.

"What kind of father am I?" he asks her, but then she takes both his hands into hers.

"You are a good father and a good mouse," she replies, pressing her forehead against his. "And truth be told, we didn't know Robert would be tailing us during the trip. But to be fair, I deserve the blame as I thought this would be nothing like the case when the twins were infants."

Basil lets out another sigh and places one hand on her cheek. "That's true," he replies and then he recollects on Robert's look of fear before he fell off the train.

"Olivia, did you see anything unusual? Before Kinkle fell off? I find it so strange for him to be suddenly afraid when he intended to kill me," Basil asks his wife.

Olivia begins to think; she did thought she was seeing things when Robert cried out in fear. "I do remember seeing a silhouette of a…of a lion, but it surrounded you. John and Leana said they saw a wolf when we were on the boat, I wonder if that's some kind of magic," she explains and he looked at her in surprise.

"Magic?" he repeats the word. From what he recalled, Tsura told them over the summer that Olivia's family had a history with magic, but some rodent families did not possess magic. He wasn't sure on his family history; all he knew was that most of his ancestors had fought in many battles for Britain.

"I wonder if Tsura can tell us more about these…animal silhouettes you and the children saw," he said and Olivia nods.

"We should try and get some sleep; it's been a rough few hours for all of us. I believe we will be in Geneva by 3 o'clock or so," she suggests and he nods in response.

They return to the others, where Leana was explaining that she knew that Michael Lewis was really Prince Michel. "I just sort of knew that you were not related to Mr. Wyatt here. He doesn't have family members by the name of Lewis if I recall correctly," she said and they chuckle in response.

"I am grateful that you didn't expose our ruse," Basil said to his daughter and everyone decides to turn in for the night.

In their compartment, the Basil family settle back in the berths, with Sophie in between her brother and sister. "I suppose I'm in for an earful when we see everyone," Basil said before shutting his eyes. He was feeling a bit sore due to the spell Tsura performed to get him to wake up.

"We both will I'm sure," Olivia replies and she also settles down to sleep.

"Olivia, quick question, why did you have that pillow case over your nose?" he asks.

"After you mentioned that our tea was drugged, I developed a gut feeling that someone would attempt to knock us out some other way. I know that you can get easily knocked out by consuming a drug or by releasing vapors. So I was concerned about the latter," she said and Basil gives her a quick kiss.

"You are a clever woman," he replies and sees her smile. They breathe in deep and were out like a light.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Basil and Olivia find themselves inside the barn where Hiram kept the horses. Toby also made it his home here as it was dreadfully cold outside. They see their families and good friends all gathered around a little fire pit. The twins had explained the rather horrific details on the case, which caused the adults to let gasps of fear.

"Elliott Gresham Basil," John Frederick said in a stern voice.

"Olivia Bridget Flaversham," Hiram also spoke in the same tone. They were in for a lecture and they open their ears as both their fathers gave them a rather mean talk on exposing the twins and Sophie to such dangers.

"Now we understand that you love each other very much and that you love your children, but please we don't want any of you to get hurt," Hiram said and both his daughter and son-in-law look at everyone.

"Yes, I don't blame any of you for being angry," Basil said and looks to his children. His mother, Sarah was holding Sophie and the baby grips one of her grandmother's fingers.

"I don't have any excuse on my behavior, but I was so overcome with giddiness when Mr. Wyatt told me about the case. I did promise John and Leana that I would treat them to a case over their winter holiday as they had not partaken in any since September I believe.

"That's my biggest flaw, wanting to fulfill promises, even though Hiram did mention that there are some promises we can't keep," Basil said and couldn't say much else.

"You know," Hiram replies, "You are a great mouse. You obviously did outperform in being a father and I think we can all agree that you put Olivia and your children's well-being above your own. And Olivia is right, you didn't know that Robert Kinkle was following you. I would like to give him a piece of my mind."

The other mice in the barn nodded, including Dawson and the three witches, Tsura, Lulu, and Fonso. "I am interested in hearing more of these animal apparitions the twins mentioned. Elliott, is there anything you can recall when you took down those two brutes?" Lulu asks.

Basil begins to think back earlier in the day and explains that he felt an animalistic rage grow inside of him. It was of anger, but nothing like the fury Ratigan or Rosenberg displayed as both became homicidal menaces.

"I never acted like that towards criminals, but when both Ducharme and Kinkle threatened to kill Olivia and the children, I couldn't help it. It really sent my mind into this, I want to say dangerous whirlwind," Basil finishes explaining and sees Tsura pacing around a bit while thinking.

"I don't recall our ancestors performing magic," Basil said to his parents, who agree, but the earliest ancestor they knew was Gresham Basil, who fought in the Third Crusades.

"Actually, there is a possibility," Tsura said, "I think I did mention that some mortals are not aware of the magic performed by their ancestors. However, many of you don't know the very first member of your families. You see where this is going?" The other mice nodded as there often was no written record on the earliest known members of a family.

"So daddy is reviving his family's magic? But what kind of magic?" Leana asks, which made Basil immensely curious.

"That I still need to do research on, but from what I understand, he was willing to risk saving you from those crooks. His fury was shown in the form of these animal apparitions you mentioned. However, I am a little stumped about something. This Robert Kinkle was the only other rodent who saw the lion specter, right?" she asks, but Basil recollects on a memory.

"Actually, I think that Seamus O'Sheehan saw something. I did see a light reflecting in his eyes, the same with Kinkle. They did look petrified for some reason," he replies and Tsura continues to think.

"That's interesting," she replies, "I might need a few days to research on this. After being away for 60 years, I can't seem to recall some forms of magic, even the rare kinds of magic."

"Tsura, do you think dad will become a shape-shifter? Like you?" John asks, recalling the witches duel between her and her arch-rival Lamia.

"It's actually pretty tricky as one needs to learn control and being able to change into something by your own will. As for your father, I think there is a slight chance he has the opportunity of becoming a shape-shifter," she answers.

Basil then begins to pace around himself; he was overcome by confusion as this information was a bit overwhelming to take in. He, Basil of Baker Street, the Great Mouse Detective had magic in his blood?

"Elliott, what's wrong?" he hears Olivia and she stands beside him.

"I'm trying to process all of this. I, too, have a history with magic? Now I sound crazy, but this is not as exciting, unlike you when you found out about your family's magic," Basil answers, but Olivia places both her hands on both sides of his face.

"Actually, I did feel uncertain about having magic myself," she said and looks to Tsura, "Speaking of which, you did say you would teach how to maintain control. Can you teach both of us?" she asks.

"I do want to wait," Tsura replies, "I would like to see more of these 'animal apparitions' and maybe Elliott can bring out more. By that, I mean he must have powerful magic in him."

"That's what I am afraid of," Basil said, "I don't want to scare anyone if I have something like black magic in me."

"Highly doubt you have black magic," Tsura replies. "Looks like I got my work cut out for me," she mutters under her breath.

"Think of it this way Elliott," Henry Walker said to his former pupil. "You can use this magic to an advantage by scaring culprits, especially those child predators."

Basil begins to think on what his teacher said. The two of them hated child predators with a passion, so Basil could definitely scare the living daylights out of such criminals.

"It would feel good to see such monsters be fearful of you, pretty sure they'll hide under their bed-sheets for quite a while," Hiram said in an encouraging tone.

"Yes it would, but I still want to see them face a judge and be sentenced for their crimes. However, I am pretty sure they'll suffer nightmares for many weeks, maybe months. As I said, such cases involving children gave me and Henry here nightmares. Give them a taste of their own medicine," Basil said with a grin.

The families spent quality time together before the train stopped in Geneva. "The trip to Lausanne shouldn't take long, so we should be back here before sunrise," Basil said and he becomes aware of the sounds of screeching metal.

"The train must be coming to a stop, we should wake up and get ready," he suggests and they give a little wave before their mortal bodies were aroused.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Basil and his family awoke, raising themselves up from the berths, but Basil still felt sore. He looks outside, it was pretty dark as it was still nighttime, but the lights of the station were giving off a bright glow.

They gather all their belongings and get into their warm coats. Wyatt and the prime minister show the way to a taxi automobile that was leaving for Lausanne.

"Oh no, not this thing," Basil said as he hated automobiles. His wife Olivia shakes her head in annoyance and they jump inside the vehicle as the human driver was prepared to leave.

It was warm inside the car and the sounds were muffled by the interior, but it was still shaky. The mice hid under one seat and they remain quiet during the journey as it was too loud to try and talk.

Sophie was irritated by the noises and starts to fuss. Basil takes her into his arms and comforts her. "I know, I hate it, too. Darn thing is like a roaring dragon or something," he said to her and she calms down a bit. Basil figured she liked the sound of his voice as he often spoke to her when she was inside Olivia.

He did read something that babies recognize the voices of their parents while inside their mother's womb. A rather strange, but interesting fact to know.

"Wish we could see what's outside, but it must be too dark to see anything," Leana said and Prince Michel gives a nod.

"Oui, although I would like to see the mountains," he said, "But all of you will be in for a surprise when the sun comes up. Our home is on the water of Lac Léman and you'll just love it.

"I do want to offer the best rooms in our home as a thanks for helping me and Monsieur Meunier get here in one piece," the prince said and Basil and his family nodded in response.

It was nearing 4 in the morning when the vehicle came to a full stop and the driver and his passenger began to disembark. The mice jump out, but were overwhelmed by the sheer bitter cold.

"Oh gracious!" Dawson exclaims, trying to warm himself up.

"Oh good," the prime minister said and points to a big house, "Here's where the Regilna family is staying."

They walk up to the front door, where some maids and other household staff greeted them. A middle-aged female mouse wearing a robe comes rushing and takes the prince into her arms.

They begin to speak in French and the female mouse, Michel's mother looks up to see Basil, his family, and associates. She kneels in front of them and speaks in French; she was thanking them for bringing her son home.

Then another female mouse, much younger than Michel's mother comes running in to hug him. She must be his sister and they were happy to see each other.

Michel then tells the household staff to take their guests' luggage up to the rooms. He shows them the way up the stairs where their many rooms.

Wyatt and Dawson were across from one another, but the children had a big room, much bigger than theirs back home. There was also a crib for Sophie and there happened to be a connecting door to another room, which was for Basil and Olivia.

The room was much bigger than their own with a large canopy bed with dark curtains, and it had a bathroom with a toilet and large bathtub. "You must be exhausted," the prince said, "You can sleep as much as you want."

He points to a strange device that looked like a speaker as it had a long pipe that went down to the floor. "This leads to the household quarters below. You can call them up at any time for any request, they're light sleepers," he said and bids them good night and thanks them once more.

"I feel dirty," Leana said and her brother did, too.

"We should take a bath before going to bed, pretty sure Sophie here needs to be washed, too," Basil said and they go to the bathroom. It was a fancy bathroom as the tub was big and it had a shower head.

"Rich rodents have all the nice things," John mutters as he starts to take off his clothes.

"Always appreciate we you got in life," Olivia said and takes Sophie to the sink. Basil turns on the hot water for the bathtub and finds a bottle of lavender bubble bath.

"This should help your nerves," he said and adds a bit to the water. Bubbles form and the twins get in. They felt happy in feeling the nice water on their skin and fur. Basil takes a wet cloth and washes their backs, which they did enjoy as it was a tough spot to clean.

He leaves them for a moment to check on Olivia with Sophie at the sink. The baby did seem to be enjoying the warm water and Olivia avoids touching the stump on her belly as she cleaned her. The stump of the umbilical cord was still attached; it dried out, but it would still be some time for it to fall off.

Sophie looks up at her father with her blue eyes and he smiles at her. "I'm sure she will not remember what Kinkle did," he whispers to Olivia.

"No, she's a newborn. Newborns don't remember the first few months of life, not even the time they arrived," she replies and she dries her daughter off before taking her to the other room. Basil turns back to the twins in the tub, who were struggling to hold back their yawns. He helps them out of the tub and wraps them in towels.

After being dried off, the twins go back into the children's bedroom, where Olivia had wrapped Sophie in a nappie and a baby night shirt. The twins also get into their night clothes and get into bed.

"Do you think we can stay in the dream realm even after sunrise?" John asks, but his parents were not sure.

"Might want to ask Tsura if it's possible," Olivia replies, placing Sophie down in the crib and wrapping her in a cozy blanket. Their parents give their children a kiss goodnight and went back to their own room. Basil decides to shut the cover over the calling device, he didn't want to disturb the staff, and he closes the door. They both let out exhausted sighs and Basil sits down on the bed.

"Never thought this journey would be tiring," he hears Olivia say and sees her shedding her dress and shoes.

"I say we take a shower," she suggests and walks over to him, still wearing her undergarments. Basil then felt his desire for her and even felt his cock hardened. "Try not to be too loud," she whispers and he lets her help him take off his clothes.

They turn on the shower and close the curtain. They stood under the hot water; it felt wonderful to stand under the shower head as the water felt like rain to them, washing away the grim from the day.

Basil encloses Olivia in a tight embrace and starts kissing her. She returns the kisses while they wash each other, mostly their backs. Basil notices the urge to make love to Olivia grow stronger as it had been many months.

"Elliott," he hears Olivia moan. "I don't think I can wait any longer," she warns and he nods in response. They turn off the water and dry themselves as fast as they could.

Olivia looks down to see Basil's erect member; she did desire it and they went back into the bedroom. She pushes him down on the bed, while kissing rather violently now.

She licks his neck, causing Basil to let out a gasp; his desire for her was at its peak now. "Olivia…" he moans and sees her open a drawer in the bedside table to retrieve a case of condoms.

"Where…? How did…?" he sputters some words.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but I hope the prince doesn't mind. This must be a honeymoon suite or something," she replies, giving him the case. He takes a condom and slips it on his cock.

"Now I think a punishment is in order," she adds in a devious whisper. Basil couldn't help but smile as she sets herself over his erect member. It slips into her opening; Olivia lets out a soft moan. She had missed this and so did Basil.

She begins to thrust, slow at first, but gains some speed. Both of them let out soft moans, not wanting to awake the household or even the twins. Basil had his hands on his wife's hips, which then slowly went down to her buttocks.

Olivia takes both of his hands, moving them away from her bottom, but has them stream through the fur of her rib cage before resting them on her breasts. She presses them hard against her, letting out more moans and her thrusting went faster.

"Olivia…" Basil whispers, while gently squeezing her breasts, causing her to moan in response.

"Elliott…" she said, but her thrusting begins to slow. Basil then feels her legs lock around his waist and she leans down over him. She then forces him on top of her. "Please finish it," she begs.

He places both his hands down on the bed for support and begins to move his member deeper into Olivia. He could tell she was exhausted, but wanted to finish their love making.

"I'll unleash my wrath some other time," she said and Basil takes one hand into his. "I want you to unleash yours as well," she adds, which did surprise him.

She was probably thinking of the night he had of wanting to make love to her following her father's funeral. He did release a rather animalistic passion and it consumed him. Olivia did not fight back then, but it did scare him as he thought he hurt her.

Basil did insist that she fight back in case he was consumed in the same passionate fury. He didn't want to hurt her and to think for herself, especially if she wasn't interested in being intimate.

Basil goes faster with his thrusting, wanting to go in deeper, but Olivia's insides were closing in on his cock. He was feeling a climax and she was, too. "Olivia…" he moans and he goes faster. He places his hands on the bedpost, trying to prevent it from slamming against the wall too hard.

"Elliott…be more…vicious…" Olivia pleads, gripping the fur on his rib cage. He does so by giving a few violent pushes of his member inside of her as they near the climax. He then lets out a gasp as he feels the release of his seed, but it was stopped by the condom.

His breath comes out in hot waves and his arms were starting to shake. "Elliott, are you all right?" Olivia asks, also panting.

"I suppose my body is struggling to get use to this, again," he replies and he removes his cock from her insides. "I miss this erotic intimacy between us," he whispers and takes off the condom.

He throws it into the waste basket under the side table. He takes Olivia into his arms and moves her as he got down on the bed, with her on top of him. "I love you so much," he said, his fingers streaming through the top of her head.

"And I love you," Olivia replies and gives him one last kiss before settling down to sleep.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

When dawn arose on the 30th of December, the Basil family and even Dawson found themselves lying in bed.

They had a few hours to spare to spend with their deceased loved ones before sunrise. Tsura, however, told them that their spirits couldn't stay in the Heaven realm come sunrise. "Sorry kiddos," she tells the twins, "I don't make the rules."

The family remained in bed, but Sophie started to fuss as soon as the sun rose. She needed to be fed and Olivia dresses in her robe. After Sophie had her fill, the twins also wanted to eat. After dressing in his normal attire, Basil sends word to the kitchen staff and they were greeted by an attendant who were brought in a fancy looking breakfast.

"John, Leana, I've been thinking," Basil said, sipping on his tea and his children look at him. "If you're up to it, we can make a day trip to Paris on our way home."

"Really?!" both of them exclaim and their father nods.

"Consider it as an apology for what Robert Kinkle did. Plus I always wanted to see Paris in the wintertime," he replies and his children were overwhelmed with glee, but rub their eyes, struggling with fatigue. "I'd say we stay here today, it has been a long night for all us," Basil suggests.

"Daddy, what do you think happened to Kinkle?" Leana asks and Basil recollects on his thoughts of last night.

"From what I can recall, he had fallen from a moving train and down a steep hill. He might've suffered broken bones and if he did survive the fall, it's very much likely he froze to death, given the winter conditions and his lack of warmer attire," the detective answers.

After dressing for the day, the family explores more of the summer residence of the royal family, alongside Dawson. There were many rooms, apart from the ones they stayed in. They locate the grand parlor where the prince and his family were having a discussion with the prime minister and a male mouse dressed in a Swiss police uniform.

"Monsieur Basil," Prince Michel greets the detective and introduces the Swiss police mouse chief to Basil. "We received word that the two Black Crosses' members agreed on giving the whereabouts of their leaders. Many of them are in England and your friend, Monsieur Wyatt sent word to Scotland Yard.

"As a reward for your efforts, you, your family, and associate are welcome to come here at any time of the year. I do want to invite you to a dinner party tomorrow night as it is New Years' and Lausanne gives a grand celebration at midnight," the prince explains and the twins got excited.

Basil accepts the invitation, but realizes that he would probably need to wear a fancy dinner suit, which was not to his living. His children would also need finer attire, too. "Pardon me, Your Highness, would the shops be open tomorrow on New Years' Eve? I'm afraid we don't have the attire for such an occasion," Basil asks.

The prince decides to summon his personal tailor and he takes the measurements on Basil, Dawson, and even John. Olivia and Leana were shown a closet full of gowns of various sizes. Sophie was excused from wearing anything fancy as she was a newborn and that she would be cared for by a few trustworthy nurses during the party.

The family explore more of the residence and were overcome with shock and amazement when they find a room with a large window overlooking Lac Léman. "Whoa," John said with a breathless expression and looks across the bright blue span of water to see the snow-covered peaks of the French Alps.

"France is just beyond the lake," Olivia said and her daughter Sophie gazes at the mighty looking mountains. The family stare out for a few minutes and the twins got excited for some reason.

"We need to explore Lausanne!" Leana insists and her brother agreed with her.

"We will, tomorrow," Basil replies, urging them that they catch up on their rest. The day slowly winds down, but the detective didn't mind as he was in need of a sluggish day. While his mind was still bothered by the events of last night, he did put his faith in Tsura to finding out what kind of magic he performed.

When the day had faded into evening, the Basil twins were eager to see Lausanne in the morning. When they settle into bed, Basil and Olivia made love as they had indeed missed the physical as well as the sensual feeling between one another.

By morning, the family dressed in warmer attire as it was very cold, but the sun kept them going, even though they were sweating underneath. They explored the shores of Lac Léman and some of the old city. They even went to the cathedral and went to the top of the tower. The view of the city and of the surrounding lake and mountains were beyond words.

"I said this while in Paris, but I bet the king doesn't have a view like this," Olivia said, taking in the sights before leaving. Many rodents as well as the humans were preparing for the New Years' celebration at midnight. Some rodent children were playing with sparklers and noise makers. There was music being played and the city was full of good cheer.

That evening, Basil, John, and Dawson were dressed in fine dinner suits, even though both John and his father hated wearing them. Olivia was clothed in a beautiful blue gown, while Leana wore a red colored dress.

The dining room was enormous with a large table and the twins were greeted by many of the royal family members and government officials from different parts of Europe. Both John and Leana were happy to have individual conversations with the members of both the Greek and French governments, but they were told by their parents to be courteous.

The rodents were to dine on the finest foods anyone has seen and the best bottles of wine were opened. The twins sat beside their parents near the head of the table, where Prince Michel's uncle, the Crown Prince William holds his glass high for his deceased young brother. The two princes did want to work together in making their homeland a better place for all rodents.

"Mademoiselle Basil," Prince Michel speaks to Leana, "I do want to hear from you; what is the first step my grand-père, the king should take in making a better place?" he asks and the little girl mouse looks to her parents, who give smiles of encouragement to her.

"Even though I am still a little girl and still learning new things, I do believe a monarch should consider the well-being of the people. Times are changing and not everyone is keen on change. Monsieur Robert Kinkle did not believe in equality for women and girls, but they do deserve a chance to show their strengths.

"My mother here doesn't want to stay home to attend to chores or care for my baby sister while my brother and I are at school. The king should consider in granting women and even girls the opportunity to have jobs, even in politics and especially in crime-solving like my father's occupation as a detective.

"Another is that the poor and destitute should be seen as living beings, not some low-lifes who should be ignored. And the third would be making discrimination of any kind illegal. No one should be judged by their looks or backgrounds. In my home country of England, rats have finally been given the opportunity to have some nice paying jobs as well as getting necessities in life as Professor James Raitgan tarnished the reputation of honest rats due to his crimes.

"However, many mice still despise the presence of rats; I understand that some rats were murdered by such prejudicial mice, but for what exactly? All because they were born rats," Leana finishes explaining to her audience and some were moved by her words.

The Crown Prince was thinking deep about this and speaks to his nephew in French. "My uncle has said he agrees that these are changing times. It's not easy for new ideals, but he does believe we will all strive for such goals," Prince Michel said and many of the officials were also considering of making such commitments for the rodents in their countries.

"May I offer a suggestion?" John asks and he was granted permission. "I understand in keeping a strong alliance between countries, but there are some rather dishonest leaders out there who I think would want to pick a fight for no reason. So it would be necessary to have a strong military and to call upon a few friends for help in case of catastrophe."

"The boy has a point," Monsieur Meunier said, "I can sense an uneasy feeling in the air. A lot of radical rodents and humans are demanding some control, so we need to be ready," he warns and many started discussing such sensitive subjects.

The talks of change were dropped when it was nearing midnight. The rodents took their glasses and went up to the roof as the humans were down below, awaiting the stroke of twelve. Basil and Olivia went to collect Sophie as Basil didn't want all of his children to miss out on a splendid occasion.

The air was cold, but everyone felt the warmth of rebirth as New Years was sometimes seen as the start of a new chapter. The rodents begin to hear the chatter of humans as the countdown began. A few bottles of champagne were popped open just as the first stroke of midnight had rung in the new year of 1914.

Fireworks exploded above the rodents' heads, displaying an array of color and sparks. Champagne glasses were clanked among the attendants and everyone wishing a new year among their friends and loved ones. Basil kisses his three children first before giving his beloved wife a much tender kiss as he was looking forward to a grand year with his beloved family.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

In the Superiors' realm, Tsura, Lulu, and even Fonso were not partaking in the festivities among their friends. Instead, they were going some archives on Basil and his family in the ancient 'Library of Names'.

The library had billions of records on rodents both living and deceased, but it was not too hard to locate Basil's family tree. After locating a few names of the Basil family's ancestors, Tsura was shocked to see something written about them.

The good witch looks over the first Basil family members, who were indeed practitioners of magic, but of various kinds. Tsura was disturbed when she found information of the "light within one's eyes". "This is what I was afraid of," she said to her pupil, Lulu, "But I do want to be sure if this kind of magic is really manifesting within Elliott after all these years," she said with a warning and looks to Fonso.

"What was it you said about the mortal world going through turmoil? I now have a feeling that the year of 1914 is going to change everything."

---

From the author: Wow! This feels like a two part premiere for the new "season". I apologize if the ending feels rushed, but do want to get started on a more serious, if not suspicious note. The earlier part was inspired by "Pursuit to Algiers (1945)" starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

With the year of 2021 off to a not so good start, at least for me here in the United States, I do wish everyone to stay safe and be calm during these troubled times. We will get through this! See you soon!