The next day, Basil brought out a basket of goodies just so everyone can gain enough energy to journey on foot. "Fidget Flamchum," he said.
"Flaversham!" Fidget corrected angrily.
"Whatever."
The bat punched Basil on the arm. "Geez, get my last name right." Fidget rolled his eyes. That Basil can be so critical. All Fidget ever wanted was to see his family again because he cared so much about them and they missed him greatly. If only such a detective can acknowledge family matters in tough situations. This was important, indeed.
"You and your friends must've been famished," Basil said, changing the subject and rubbing his sore arm.
"What does famished mean?" Fidget asked curiously.
"Well, my friend, it means to 'be hungry' or 'starving'," replied Basil, "I'm glad you asked. Oh, and curiosity killed the bat, you know."
The young bat was apparently awestruck by what the mouse detective had just said. "No, I didn't know that," Fidget said, shaking his head.
"Never mind that now," Basil said, "Let's eat." Therefore, they did and they were ready.
…
Iago and Abu hovered away onto their friend, Carpet, the magic carpet to see their friends again in Agrabah, while Basil, Dawson, Toby, Fidget, and the Flavershams went their separate ways, meaning Fidget joined the Flavershams and Toby united with the mice detectives. Every step in their quest was calm. Whenever they were hungry, they took a break until they were ready to move forward.
…
Suddenly, the six travelers heard waves rustling. "Oh, dear! I was afraid of that!" Basil said.
"What is it?" asked Fidget.
Basil took a glance at where the rustling waves came from and replied, "Pirates! Hide!"
Everyone started to hide and Basil climbed the tree to hide in the leaves.
The pirates rowed the ship until they saw Basil's coat hanging in the trees. "Halt!" Captain Hook commanded and they stopped.
"What's that, Captain?" Mr. Smee asked, seeing someone's coat in the trees.
Captain Hook looked through the stethoscope to see what Mr. Smee was talking about. "I don't know, but why don't you take a look?"
"Yes, sir!" the same pirate said and whistled to signal Captain Hook's men to follow him and hop off the ship on land to see what was up in the tree. "Look what we have here!" the pirate exclaimed and pulled the coat to reveal a mouse that landed on his shoulder. "Mouse!" he and the other pirates shouted.
"Kill it!" one of the pirates screamed and nearly hit Basil with a club. Luckily, Basil dodged away from the blows and scampered away. The pirates left, forgetting all about the mouse with the brown coat.
"Phew! That was close!" Basil said to himself. "Drat! I should've brought disguises with me! It could've ended badly, but I escaped."
All of a sudden, a rose popped out and said, "Oh, dear. What can I do for you? Don't you look handsome tonight?" The rose hugged him.
Basil looked astonished to see a talking rose. "What are you doing? I must be seeing things!"
The rose scoffed dismissively. "Seeing things? Nonsense, I love you more than that pesky little blonde brat!"
"What are you talking about? Drat! I'm engaged to a talking flower! HELP! FIDGET! EVERYONE! WHERE ARE YOU?"
"Mr. Basil, what's wrong?" asked Olivia.
"Just do something!" Basil ordered.
Fidget and Olivia went to grab onto the rose's stem to drop Basil and the rose turned into an ordinary rose.
Basil heaved a sigh of relief. "You wouldn't believe what I've been through tonight. I almost got hit and captured by pirates. A rose talked to me and said she loved me. I thought she was crazy that I'd be engaged to a plant."
Everyone eyed him, thinking he was crazy.
"What? Come now! You think I'm crazy? You wouldn't think I would imagine this! I almost got killed tonight!"
"You called for help and there Livy and I went to save you," Fidget said.
"And that rose you mentioned was what motivated Olivia and Fidget to rescue you," Dawson added.
"What a nightmare!" Basil facepalmed.
...
A rainy night had fallen and it was time for Fidget and his beloved friends to spend the night. This time, inside a cave, where they searched for a comfortable spot to sleep in. Once they had, Fidget jolted at the sound of thunder and leapt into Basil's arms for protection.
Olivia, who had witnessed this, jerked at the sound, too because she was also scared of thunder, but was mostly concerned for Fidget; he really needed a hug. Basil gently patted and rubbed his back and held him like a baby. The girl rubbed Fidget's back, as well. "It's okay," Olivia said softly, "I'm scared of thunder, too."
"We're right here for you even when we're apart," Basil soothed as Fidget nuzzled his head against Basil's chest.
"You are profoundly safe and sound," Dr. Dawson assured the terrified bat.
"Whenever we're around," Mr. Flaversham finished.
Fidget chuckled and yawned.
Toby sniffed and licked the bat, making him giggle.
Noticing that Fidget cheered up, Basil set him down, allowing him to sleep soundly and covered him up with his jacket. Olivia bent down and lied down next to Fidget, covering herself. He needed a sleeping buddy to keep him company and make him feel at ease.
"I'll leave you two alone," Basil whispered as he, Dawson, and Toby found a comfortable place for themselves to sleep in.
…
Later that night, a pack of wolves prowled around inside the den, sensing something strange that was bound to be afoot. In the cave, Basil, Dawson, and Toby had awakened and alerted Fidget and the Flavershams because they also sense trouble. Right away, the wolves reminded Fidget of how he met Toby at the toy store, where he kidnapped Olivia, whom Dr. Dawson and Basil were supposed to watch and his past dislike of dogs because of how loud and scary they were. Compared to Toby, these wolves were a lot nastier and more terrifying. Everyone gasped at the sight of wolves and ran. They had to leave the den immediately.
"Just remember to fly whenever you're ready, Fidget!" Basil reminded Fidget.
"Can do!" Fidget replied. Just then, his peg leg got stuck in between two boulders. He tried to pull it out himself, but couldn't. "My peg leg! HELP!"
Olivia came by to help and pull it out, although she and the bat tumbled over to a cave wall. Basil got to them before the wolves had. "Come along, children!" he said as he grabbed hold of the mouse girl and Fidget.
The mice, dog, and bat were getting further away from the wolves and split. The Flavershams and Fidget had gone left, while Basil, Dawson, and Toby headed right. The left section of the cave had bats…like Fidget! Only they were much smaller and noisier compared to him. He screamed in horror as he tried to shoo them away. Irritated, Fidget shouted, "GET OUT OF HERE! GET AWAY FROM ME! GET OUUUT!" The bats flew out of the cave, afraid of his shout.
Slowly, Fidget started to feel guilty, knowing that he was the only bat that had ever lived in London, or was he? He almost forgot about his parents for they had lived in London, too. They raised him. They nurtured him. His mother gave birth to him. How can he forget all he'd been through with his family? Heck, he loved his family and they loved him!
The group of bats stopped, turned to Fidget, and apologized. As soon as he accepted their apology, he also repented, "I'm sorry I yelled at you. Do you know where my family is? I'm lost. You see? My family's in a village of some sort and they've been worried sick about me. Can you take me and my friends there?"
Once his apology was accepted, they led him and the Flavershams out of the cave. Out of the cave, they met up with Basil, Dawson, and Toby, who progressed out through the maze of the den. Now, it was Fidget's chance to reunite with his family. What a family reunion it will be! He and his assembly were safe from the wolves…well, at least for now…
To be continued…
Author's note: I'm trying to avoid being a copycat, I promise!
The pirates, including Captain Hook and Mr. Smee belong to Peter Pan and Disney.
Before anyone gets on my case on the previous chapter with characters outside of London and this chapter, I don't know exactly where the Snow White characters live. Iago and Abu came to Paris to help Fidget and his friends. Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and the pirates from Peter Pan live in London, but maybe they decided to travel through seas outside of London.
The wolves in this story belong to Beauty and the Beast and Disney.