Chapter Fourteen

Three hours later, Devin's ears were still burning.

Speaking badly of Thorn Valley in polite circles is an excellent way to get shredded. It is too shining an example of hard work, sacrifice, and achievement to ever earn it a harsh word. Bernard had nearly popped a blood vessel. Bianca had been on the verge of hissing at him like an alley-cat. Gadget was certifiably stunned, but had stood by Devin's side as he bore the weight of the Chairmice's wrath. Devin had never had such a tongue-lashing in all his life.

One look at the pills stopped that, cold.

Now, with the vidscreen safely silent in the corner, and no frantic questions hounding him, Devin sat staring through an amber-colored plastic bottle at the pills inside. Embossed on every single one of the hurtful little things were the initials "T.V.I.", which could only mean that the Thorn Valley Institute was about to get some very unwelcome attention.

"You've sure done it now," Gadget broke in, her voice still tinged a bit with awe. "There's no telling what they'll do, the way you stirred them up. I mean, Bernard and Bianca are taking it to the whole Assembly soon, so they'll have animals from one-hundred-and-eighty-five different countries calling for blood..."

"Calm down. It's not like the Rescue Aid Society is going to declare war on Thorn Valley or anything," Devin gulped. They were quiet for a while after that. Gadget thought too hard and shuddered now and then. "At least I hope not," Devin finished.

"They need to send someone in to look around." Gadget said, "not a SWAT team or a raft of special investigators--"

"Justin and his Guards would eat them for breakfast if they came swarming into the Valley without a clue of what they were doing." Devin permitted himself a guilty smile at the thought of a pencil-packing Rescue Aid investigative unit pinned down by sword-wielding rats in really neat uniforms...

"You know Justin? The Thorn Valley one? I mean, it's not as if anything else could surprise me today, after your little show-and-tell session." Gadget reached out and jostled the pill-bottle in Devin's paw.

Devin sighed and packed the pills away in his medical bag again. They're in the dark, at least. I wish I still were. "I don't know him personally, Gadge. Just a lot of rumors and a couple of history classes. I'm a rat, after all, and I keep an ear to the ground."

"And that's a pretty big ear," snorted Gadget. Devin rolled his eyes and groaned. Gadget jabbed a paw at Devin, still chuckling slightly. "I'm sorry, I know we should be all serious-like and sit here waiting for news from Rescue Aid, but my mind's always working. And it's worked something out about you."

"Yeah? Like what?" Devin was suspicious, but secretly very glad Gadget was in better spirits, even if it turned out to be at his expense...

"I figured it out." Gadget sat back against the wall, crossing her arms smugly.

Devin was at a loss. "Figured--"

Gadget eyed him piercingly. "I've heard about rats like you. You're a Justin groupie."

"Wha-groupie? Justin's no rock star--" Devin waved her off.

Gadget leaned forward, raising a paw to stop him. "But he's as famous as one. C'mon, admit it. I bet you secretly wish for all his influence and control--the big roomy burrow, the secret meetings, the great outfits..."

"That's silly. I went to vet school to help out furkind and make a diff--"

"--Yeah, but there's part of you that wants to kick butt, swing a sword around, maybe break the rules and marry someone outside your species, say a mouse--" Gadget choked and blushed. "Geez, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that--"

Devin put his head in his paws sheepishly. "Don't worry about it. Okay, okay, so there are some cool fringe benefits to being like Justin. I'll admit I've read just about everything Elizabeth Brisby-Justin's ever written, even the mystery novels."

Gadget cocked an eyebrow at him. "Mystery novels?"

It was Devin's turn to blush. "All right, romance novels. But you still don't know who's going to end up together until the end. I say that counts as a mystery. I only read them because they're set in the Valley."

"Yeah, right." Gadget cracked her knuckles, rubbing it in.

"What, are you going to hold this over my head forever?"

Gadget put her chin on one paw, 'hmm'ing to herself and letting him suffer for a little while. "As long as you're good, I won't have to tell anyone."

In the corner, the vidscreen crackled and sparked.

"If that's not an incoming call, get ready to hit the dirt," Devin said, shielding his eyes from the electrical arcs.

Gadget leapt off her feet and in front of the camera, waving her arms. "Devin reads romance novels! Devin reads r--"

"DON'T YOU DARE!!"

"Just having a little fun at your expense," Gadget began, but the vidscreen cleared--a jerky image of a fidgety Bernard and Bianca breaking through the static again.

"What was that about romance novels?" Bernard nervously chuckled. Devin shot a dirty look at Gadget, who covered her face.

"Nothing, nothing," Gadget said through her paws. "Just blowing off a little steam."

"Well, while you're blowing off steam," Bianca started testily, but caught herself. "I'm sorry, Gadget. Rescue Aid delegates from all over the world are calling in, and all of them are cheesed off--" Bianca startled and covered her mouth with a paw. "--pardon my Hungarian."

"You should hear some of these guys," growled Bernard. "The Israelis offered to send a strike force wherever we wanted one, and the Italians are calling in all sorts of favors--"

Devin paled and gulped. "I hope you didn't mention the Thorn Valley connection to anyone."

The Chairmice shuddered in unison. "Heavens, no," Bianca reassured him. "That's between us four, for the moment. And of course Thorn Valley doesn't know about any of this, not even about the other Rangers--"

"--and they'll blame us for not telling them sooner. Never mind that we have to send a special courier all that way. Thornies don't even do radio." Bernard threw up his paws in frustration. "Right now any move we make is going to get us into deeper trouble," he fretted, stepping off-screen and rummaging around. "Damn lamp."

"Oh, leave that alone. Let the janitor change it," Bianca called after him, rolling her eyes. "My husband, the maintenance mouse," she apologized to the camera.

"Sorry, force of habit," Bernard shot back. The light from his side of the screen grew brighter. Hardly realizing it, Gadget reached for her shoulder, tracing the deep scratches there. Devin did not miss her reaction, and felt a chill race up his spine.

"Bernard--" Gadget hesitated, "--what was that?"

The Chairmouse stepped back into view, tossing a bit of metal from paw to paw. "Damnedest thing. We just left the room for a few minutes and the bulb blew. Glass all over the floor--" Bernard shut up and bit his lip hard. Everyone fell silent.

"--but it couldn't be--" whispered Bianca.

"I think," Gadget spoke up, "we're all in deadly danger. And if there's anyone we can trust with our lives, you know who they are."

Far beyond the reach of telephones and vidscreens, a sleek-furred messenger raced through rough stone tunnels, knocked on a door that opened, and handed over a letter that hadn't been. He saluted and retreated; things were still done that way there.

The wax seal was broken and the hastily scribbled note was spread out on a rough wooden desk. Two figures stood over it, silent in their sorrow and worry. The smaller one pulled her red cloak closer around her shoulders. The taller one brushed her cheek, breaking her horrified stare and folding her to his chest as she crumpled the note in one paw. Her angry, fearful tears streaked the green-and-black crispness of his uniform as he stroked her head and shook his own.

"Friends and heroes pass away," she felt his deep voice rumble.

"Do we have to keep learning that?" she cried, and of course he had no answer but to hold her closer.

Artwork by Keith Elder

Button images by Keith Elder