Chapter 15: An Unexpected Heroine

"Where's Sheila?" Becca whispered to the animals.
"I don't know, honey," whispered Fantasy, "But the last time I saw her, she went that way." The squirrel pointed to the door to the suite, which was open!
"Oh no!" Becca said softly, "Sheila could be wandering around anywhere – and someone might see her!" She got back on her feet and walked towards the men and the countess. "Pardon me," said Becca, "But I have some unexpected business to take care of. May I be excused?"
"Of course," said the countess, "You have such nice manners for an American. Maybe you'll come back to assist me with finding my carbuncle?"
"Maybe," replied Becca, heading towards the door. She then motioned for her animal friends to follow her, and act inconspicuous.

The girl and the animals looked down the hallway for Sheila. The kitten wasn't anywhere. They tried searching on all the floors of the hotel, but Sheila was nowhere to be seen! Down in the lobby, Becca was getting very worried until she heard a faint meow from behind her. She turned around and saw a wall that had a large hole at its bottom.
"Sheila?" Becca wondered. She and the animals were about to look into the hole, when Horror tugged at the girl's skirt.
"Mistress, I see her!" the woodchuck whispered. He pointed to a window, where he saw Sheila prancing on a street.
Becca turned and immediately saw her kitten. "We have to get her!" she cried. So she and the animals ran out of the hotel's main entry door to follow Sheila. Outside, the streets and sidewalks of London were much busier than earlier in the morning; it was very hard for Becca to find a tiny kitten within a large crowd of people, horses and carriages!
Down by the girl's knees, Mystery saw something and pointed. "There's the kitten!" he cried, "And someone has her!"
Becca looked in Mystery's direction and was horrified by what she saw: Sheila was trapped in the arms of a man in dark clothes – and the man looked very much like the runaway criminal earlier!

The girl and her friends immediately ran after the man, while people and carriages swerved and tried to move out of the way. "STOP, THIEF!" Becca screamed at the top of her lungs. The thief jumped over a fence, but the girl had fast reflexes, so she and her friends were able to jump over and catch up to him. Eventually, Becca caught up with the thief and pushed him to the ground. "Where's my kitten?" she demanded angrily.
"What kitten?" the thief questioned in a thick Cockney accent. As if it were instinctive, Sheila carefully crawled out from the thief's grasp and over to Becca. The kitten was carrying a shiny blue object in her mouth, so the girl picked her up and gently took the object away.
"So this must be the missing carbuncle!" Becca exclaimed.
"I think so," said Mystery, then he turned to the thief and said, "Where and how did you get this carbuncle?"
"I ain't telling you blokes!" shouted the thief.
"TELL US!" Sci Fi shouted with fury.
"All right!" the thief said, getting up, "I wanted to surprise my dear mother for Christmas by hiding a jewel in the goose dinner!"
Becca gave the animals a look of suspicion. "This doesn't seem right," she whispered to them.
"But being a poor chap," continued the man, "I had no pounds or shillings to afford such a thing. So I saw the closest thing, which was an open hotel window, and there was the prettiest blue thing I've ever seen. So I took it!"

Just then, two police officers, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Watson arrived at the scene. One officer asked, "All right, what's going on here?"
"Never mind what's going on!" said Mr. Holmes, "This girl is a hero!" The detective made his way over to Becca and took her hand. "Elementary, my dear, you've caught what appears to be the carbuncle thief!" said Holmes.
"Well, actually," said Becca, "He was after my-"
Her sentence was cut off when the second police officer said, "Good show, Mr. Holmes! Another criminal has been caught, thanks to your new friend!"
Meanwhile, Fantasy and Sci Fi motioned for Becca to walk away slowly from the action. The girl did as she was instructed and gathered all her friends. They ran through the streets of London until they came to a meadow away from the bustle and action.
"Good riddance!" scoffed Adventure, "I've never cared for the stench of old London, anyway!"
"I most certainly agree," said Mystery. Then he turned to Becca and said, "Excellent job, my dear! If it weren't for you, that thief would have never been caught!"
The girl only blushed a little and said, "I wonder what will happen next?"
"I can't exactly say what happens next, because that would be a spoiler for you!" laughed Mystery, "But unless you've read that story…"
"I haven't," Becca said with a smile, "So maybe I'll look for it back in the real world."
"Speaking of worlds," added Sci Fi as she cleaned her glasses with her tail, "I doubt that we're far away from my section – the Dimension of Science Fiction! Just follow me, and we'll be there in no time!"