Chapter 12: A Gorgeous Girl In A Glittering Gown
The late morning's sunlight flooded in through a long row of windows. It illuminated an apartment in the Versailles Palace which gave a new meaning to the term 'spacy', even if only by rodent measures. The furniture almost seemed lost in the giant living-room. There were two sofas and a handful of armchairs around a round black table which used to be a Frank Sinatra 12". Along the walls, there were wardrobe-like closets with glass doors which contained one dress each, all of them designed to be worn on stage. Furthermore, there were photographs and rodent newspaper pages framed and hung up on the walls, all of which showed one and the same chipmunk.
Said small animal was there, too. Wearing a kimono-style bathrobe made of shiny, dark blue silk, she sat in front of a pearl-white concert grand piano. From time to time, she played something on it and hummed along. She avoided singing any lyrics, though.
Unseen and unheard by her, an armadillo dressed in a white shirt and an old-fashioned black swallow-tail coat entered the room. The door through which he stepped was high enough for him, but luxuriously tall for chipmunk standards, as were all doors in the apartment. "I've got my doubts that playing your old songs over and over again will solve your problem, Miss," he spoke.
The chipmunk stopped playing immediately and turned around on the piano stool. "Mandy! Don't sneak upon me like this! I never know when you can hear me play that way."
"You play wonderfully, Miss."
"Not nearly half as good as you, Mandy."
The armadillo sat down next to the chipmunk, hiding some of his height advantage as he was almost twice as tall as her. "What I wanted to say is if you're looking for your future repertoire, you should quit clinging to your past and look ahead. Or go outside, take a stroll, enjoy the weather. I'm sure you'll get some inspiration then."
"I can't go out there. Everybody knows me out there. They'd just stop me and question me when I'll launch a new show. And they expect it to outshine everything I ever did. Again. How inspiring can that be?" She adjusted herself back to the keyboard. "No more ideas from you, Mandy?"
"It's your show, Miss. You're the singer, and thus the center of attention. I can't provide you with much more than my piano playing. Most of the composing, writing, and arranging was done by you as well. I can't help you out that much."
"But how am I supposed to put together a show that's greater than the Chipmunk Divine? How am I supposed to compose the future when the sounds of the future are lost in the past? It's never been the same since our synth man quit. The mélange of the Destiny Unlimited Orchestra with electronic sounds and beats was perfect." The chipmunk lady hit an augmented 7th chord on the piano. "Mandy, we could've performed that show forever! There'll never be a second Chipmunk Divine. And the original one will never return."
"What about the songs these two spiders sent you from New York City? Andrew & Lloyd?"
"Mandy, I told them once, I told them twice, and I'm tired of telling them yet once more. This is not the Broadway, and I'm not doing musicals! Besides, if I wanted to perform what someone else wrote, I'd do nothing but cover versions like I always did to spice up the set list. Tell the Cobwebbers they can look for someone else to play their stuff. I'm not interested, and I'm certainly not that desperate."
"But you have already written something, haven't you?"
"Four songs. Not one big hit among them. They're rather something for somewhere in the middle when the expectations aren't too high. So what, shall I fill up the rest of the evening with cover songs?"
"And our older, pre-Chipmunk Divine material?"
"Nah. I can't warm up something I did more than three years ago. Mixing songs from various shows to a best-of wouldn't cause anything else than pity within my audience either." She got up and walked around in the room. "Can it be so hard to find a rodent who plays some electronic instruments?"
Playing a matching tune on the piano, the armadillo replied, "You're still counting on a wonder to happen, Miss. Apparently, you expect our synth guy to return, for I suppose you know that it's impossible to find someone—"
The sound of an electronic door bell interrupted him.
"A visitor?" the chipmunk wondered. "Who can that be? Mandy, please go and have a look, and if it happens to be impatient fans or gossip reporters, get rid of them."
"Sure, Miss."
The armadillo left the living-room and headed for the entrance door. Opening it, he found a white-furred mouse in a light blue shirt standing in the hall. "Good morning, Armando," the mouse greeted shyly.
"You?!" Armando shouted out loud, expressing his surprise. "What drove you back here?"
"Um... is she here?"
"She's always here, Todd. She hardly ever leaves her apartment since she had to cancel the show."
"She did what? Why?!"
"Oh, stupid, stupid boy. How do you think she should've continued the Chipmunk Divine without you? You yanked out one of the pillars that carried the show, and the entire thing collapsed. So what do you want?"
"Armando, first let me tell you I'm sorry, honestly... for what happened... but I felt I couldn't go on, I already told you that. And as for your question... I need her help."
"You need her help?" Armando was unable to hold a laugh attack back. "You need her help! You run away, ruin her show, take her out of business for half a year, and now you come creeping back and say you need her help. Any idea what sounds wrong with this, Todd?"
"Step aside, Mandy, and let him in." There she was. Todd hadn't seen her for the six months Armando had mentioned. And now there she was, standing in the doorway behind the armadillo, the sunlight glistening on her silk robe and outlining her figure.
Todd's heart missed a beat. This sight stole the ability to speak from him. "Nice to see you're back, Todd," she said in a friendly, almost joyful tone, and, "Come on in." He couldn't see the smile in her face, he saw hardly more than her silhouette in the bright doorway, but he could hear it in the way she spoke.
Slowly and still a bit shyly, he moved forward and into her place. When he passed the doorway in which she stood, she gently took his arm and led him to one of the sofas. He felt as though his fur and skin were burning where she touched him.
"So, Todd," she said as they sat down, "you said you need my help?"
"Yes... see, I met some... well, visitors, and they need a guide for the palace. I thought you know this building pretty well, and..."
"I do, yes. This knowledge served me well in so many situations when I had to escape from fans, for instance." She leaned back and enjoyed memories of past shows.
"Do you know how to get down to the vault?"
"I know how to get everywh... The vault?" she suddenly shouted out and sat upright. "Todd! I'd expect a lot from you, but not that you're being tricked into helping in a burglary! Plus, it's impossible to get into the vault. What happened to you in that half year?"
"Please calm down, I can explain everything. Yes, I'm helping them in a burglary. But no, it's not a crime, they want to steal something back that's already stolen. And no, it's not impossible to get into the vault. Not for small animals, even less with my help, and a lot less with your help, too."
She sat up. "But who'd wanna do that, Todd? They must appear very trustworthy if they got you to help them. Who are they?"
"Have you ever heard about the... Rescue Rangers?"
"Rescue Rangers?" Her eyes widened.
"From New York City. Do you know them?"
She jumped up, pronounced a brief, "Excuse me for a minute," and disappeared into her bedroom.
'The Rescue Rangers... here in Las Vegas...' She pulled out a matchbox from underneath her large bed and opened it. It was filled with some clippings from rodent newspapers and a very few from human newspapers, articles about old Ranger cases. The Rangers had always left the scenes before the reporters were there, only few had ever met them. She went through this one article from the Baltimore Nutshell once again. 'They made it into NIMH's laboratories, defeated five guard dogs, liberated 71 mice, and got back out again, all within less than an hour, in the darkness of the night, and despite the presence of five guard dogs... Except the open cages and the five unconscious dogs, they managed to not leave any trace, not even wherever they passed through when they went inside... Not to mention they knocked five large dogs out... and brought one of the mice to a hospital in Philly the same night... With Todd's help, they might really be able to get into the vault...'
Again, like so many times before, she read the names of the Rangers which were mentioned in a few rodent newspaper articles. 'Charles Maplewood... Dale Oakmont... Charles... Dale... and they're chipmunks...' She laid the clipping back into the matchbox. 'I don't believe in such coincidences, even if I'm willing to be taught otherwise. I must see them. But I'd like to take some advantage of Todd's presence myself...'
The door to her bedroom opened again, and Todd saw her return. "Okay, I'll do it. It must be mighty important if they travel all the way here to break into one of the safest vaults ever built. But," she added as she sat down next to her guest again, "I'd like you to do something for me in return."
"Whatever you want. I guess you wouldn't expect anything from me that I can't do."
"Don't worry, it's not something you've never done before. Todd, please play the Chipmunk Divine once more. One whole show. With my orchestra and me."
The Chipmunk Divine. Back on stage with her. Todd had to swallow hard. She stared at him with begging eyes. "Please. Pretty please. Grant our visitors a bit of Las Vegas entertainment. And let me do my beloved show again."
He had to admit that this price wasn't easy for him to pay. It was hard to resist her eyes and the way she looked at him. He hadn't seen her for half a year, but her feelings for him were still as present as they used to be. He had only just arrived a few minutes ago, and she wasn't made up for the stage, but he felt his tongue would jam if he even tried to pronounce her name. Still, he had no choice, there was no other way for him than join the Destiny Unlimited Orchestra for one more night and get his obsession under control as well as he could.
"Todd," she spoke again. "I don't blame you for ruining my career or something like that, believe me. Even though you never told me why exactly you left. I guess I needed a rest, too. And you're welcome in my orchestra anytime. So, are you in?"
"Okay." A part of him actually missed the stage, the feeling of performing in front of a huge audience and for that very special chipmunk lady who suddenly fell into his arms in a big hug. "Thank you," she said, "thank you." A part of him wished she didn't do that. Another part wished the hug would never end.
"Thank you for helping me bring my show back," she repeated herself as she let go of him again. "Would you mind if we perform tonight already?"
"No, I'm fine with that."
"And I'm glad you decided that way, Todd. Mandy!" she called the armadillo who then came in from the kitchen.
"Miss?"
"Guess what? The Chipmunk Divine is back! For only one night, but it's back!"
"Really?"
"Really! But we still need the orchestra. Can you get them back? You said you know where they spend most of their time. Rehearsals shall start at 2 pm."
"I'll do my best. I guess I'd better hurry up then."
Armando was about to leave when the chipmunk singer had him stop. "Wait. One more thing. I've got a better idea. You don't have to look for all of them. Todd, do you know where Melissa lives?"
Melissa Mayfield. Todd remembered the half-Japanese mouse very well. She played solo violin in the Destiny Unlimited Orchestra, and she played it excellently. And of all members of the orchestra, she was without a doubt one of the nicest. She smiled a lot, especially at him, as if his very sight was reason enough for her to smile. One day, she played her violin just for him on his birthday, and on later occasions, too, even if it was not his birthday or anything else to celebrate. He could actually not remember her having done that for anyone else. On the other hand, he could not imagine a reason why she did it all for him. She was not only one of the best rodent violin players in the world, she was also one of the most beautiful mice he had ever seen. He, however, was nothing but a pale computer nerd whose social skills were hardly sufficient for playing in an orchestra.
"Yes... I think I know."
"Good. Here are your tasks for right now. Go back to the Rescue Rangers, take them on a sight-seeing tour around the city, have lunch with them if you want to, show them where to get something more elegant to wear for tonight..."
"Something elegant? For a burglary? Excuse me, but..."
"Not for the burglary. They must see the Chipmunk Divine! I want them to see the Chipmunk Divine! They'd miss something if they didn't see the Chipmunk Divine! Tell them to come to the music hall before 8 pm, I'll have four first row seats reserved for them. And I'll meet them after the show."
"Eight seats," Todd corrected her. "They've got some additional members since last year."
"Eight then. It's okay, the more audience, the merrier. Anyway, your most important task is to go and see Melissa and ask her to come to the rehearsals. Oh, and don't forget to bring your computer thingy."
"I promise you I won't."
Todd got up and was about to leave the apartment together with Armando when they were stopped. "Wait, you two. Can you... spread the word that the show's back for tonight? As I said, the more audience, the merrier."
"Sure," Armando approved, "we'll do that, too. Right, Todd?"
"Right, Armando." Todd didn't know what he felt so eager to do. Maybe it was because he was helping the Rangers. He wasn't sure if it could also be performing the show again. But he felt rather sure that it wasn't meeting Melissa. He couldn't enjoy what appeared as her appreciation for him as long as there was no way to explain the way she treated him. At least so he supposed.