Because of the plane's limited seating they agreed to split up; Abigail, Willy and Timothy Brisby would carefully search on the ground while Gadget, Dale and Russell took to the air, all in search of Edgar and Zipper. On the ground, Abigail tried to retrace where they'd been when Dragonson first attacked them, all while trying to avoid the cat seeing them again.
"We should find a hole in the ground somewhere around that spot," said Abigail.
"How could he dig a hole so fast?" Timothy asked.
"He's a mole, it's what he does," Abigail answered, "At least he's in his element. These last few days are probably the longest he's ever gone without being underground."
"That cat can't best him. Remember how he beat up Waggs?" Willy chuckled.
"It's definitely not a good idea to underestimate him," Abigail remarked.
At that moment, Farmer Fitzgibbons exited his house, grabbing a rake from the porch and heading toward his crops. He opened the gate to the fence, and Dragonson came to rub his body against the man's legs.
"Ah git outta my way," Fitzgibbon griped, shoving the cat away with his leg and proceeding.
"Uh oh…a human," said Abigail. To her that was even scarier than a cat.
"It's Farmer Fitzgibbons," said Timothy, "I don't think he'll notice us if we stay close to the fence."
The three of them tried to lay low. Up above, Gadget watched with a keen eye as this human entered the scene, hoping the children would be okay.
"Think they'll be seen?" Dale asked from the back seat, being forced to abdicate his favorite spot for the sake of cranking the winder uppers.
"I think Abigail's smart enough to know what to do," said Gadget, "Maybe we ought to make ourselves scarce though, who knows what could happen if he saw us."
"This guy was contacted by NIMH before about the smart rats wasn't he?" Dale asked.
"Golly, you're right! I'm gonna take us over the forest for a bit," Gadget turned the plane, looking back toward Abigail and the others, "Good luck."
Mr. Fitzgibbons hummed to himself, raking the soil and checking on the plants. But, he stopped when he saw a conspicuous hole in the ground.
"What?!" he shouted angrily, crouching down, "Dammit! We must have gophers again. I'll show those little pests."
Farmer Fitzgibbons dropped the rake, and ran back toward his house.
"That's not good," said Timothy.
"What is it?" Abigail asked.
"I remember what he did to the gophers that used to live in this garden," Timothy said, fearfully, "He threw some kind of smoke bomb into their holes. It suffocated them."
Abigail gave a gasp, and Willy winced.
"Now's our only chance, you guys," said Abigail, "We need to get into that burrow and find Edgar."
"Right," said Willy.
Timothy nodded, and together the three of them scampered toward the hole. They stood at the edge, peering into the inky blackness.
"I'll go in, you two keep a lookout for the human or the cat," said Abigail.
"Alright," said Timothy.
Abigail hopped into the hole, the dirt soft under her feet. She felt for the walls of the tunnel and moved forward.
"Edgar? Edgar it's me, Abigail."
She raised her ears for a response.
"Abigail?" she heard.
"Edgar, you've got to get out of here."
"What about the cat?"
"A human is going to gas the tunnels!"
There was a small gasp, followed by frantic footsteps. But he'd dug himself in pretty far.
"Uh…Abigail?" came the voice of Willy.
"Yes?"
"The human's coming this way."
Outside Farmer Fitzgibbons held a gopher bomb, tossing it to himself in one hand.
"Think you're getting a share of my crops, eh?" he said with a grin.
Dragonson followed by Fitizgibbon's feet, a vicious, toothy grin on the monstrous cat's face.
Inside, Edgar finally made it to Abigail. She took his hand and then she ran for the entrance.
"Come on!" Timothy shouted.
Abigail jumped for the opening, clawing the dirt but falling down again.
"It's too deep!"
"Get on my back," said Edgar.
He crouched down, and Abigail climbed onto Edgar's back. From there she jumped again, and Willy caught her arms, pulling her up. Edgar gripped the dirt walls of the hole and was able to climb his way up. But, they had taken too long.
"What! There's rodents in my garden too!"
Dragonson licked his teeth, ready to pounce.
"Get them!" Farmer Fitzgibbons shouted.
"Not again…" said Edgar.
The four of them darted for the edge of the fence, scattering but going in the same general direction this time. The bloodthirsty cat bounded through the crops after them, fixating on Abigail and Willy. The two of them ran as fast as they could go, neither of them daring to part with the other. It was just closing in on the two of them when Zipper flew into the cat's face and landed a kick into its eye, making it howl in pain and claw the air. Zipper then followed Abigail and Willy as they made it past the fence.
"Damn cat, can't do anything right," Farmer Fitzgibbon grumbled, dropping the gopher bomb into the burrow, "Good for nothing freeloader."
Abigail was the first to make it up to the stone block where the Brisbys lived. She stopped and listened, panting, as she heard the footsteps of the others. Timothy was the first to emerge from the grass.
"There you are," he said.
"Edgar's the only one who doesn't know where to go," said Abigail, "I hope he makes it."
Willy then darted through the grass on all fours, and kept running until he noticed Timothy sitting with Abigail and skidded to a stop. He stood up.
"Is everyone alright?"
Abigail nodded, "Did you see what made the cat stop chasing us?"
"I think it was Zipper," said Willy.
"He deserves a reward for all he does for us."
The little fly could be heard buzzing across the grass, followed by Edgar who was following him from below. Abigail smiled and ran up to hug Edgar.
"I'm so glad you're alright."
"Well, I guess digging isn't always the safest thing to do," Edgar said sheepishly.
"Especially not in the garden," said Timothy.
"Now all we need to do is wait for the others," said Abigail. She turned to Zipper, and pulled him down for a hug, "Thanks for saving our necks. That's twice today, and once yesterday."
Zipper nodded with a smile.
"Maybe you could find the others and tell them where we are. They haven't been here before."
Zipper nodded again, and flew off into the sky. Not long afterwards, the plane came circling the field and coming down for a landing, much more gracefully than Abigail had managed of course. Gadget removed her goggles and hopped out of the plane.
"So we're all here and alive?" she asked.
Abigail nodded, "Mission accomplished."
"It's a good thing too, that was a close one," Gadget said, turning her attention to the concealed cement block, "So is this where you live, Timothy?"
Timothy nodded, "I'll introduce you to my mom, and maybe we can get this whole thing sorted out."
"Okay," said Gadget, "We had something to ask her about."
"I know," said Timothy, looking around as if someone could be eavesdropping, before turning and with discreet caution moving toward the door.
Inside Mrs. Brisby and Cynthia had been telling Michelle stories, when everyone entered the room, single file.
"You're all back!" Michelle exclaimed happily, running up and hugging Gadget.
"Well! This is certainly a very large group," Mrs. Brisby said, "Was it any trouble finding your friends?"
"A little bit of trouble…" Abigail gave a giggle.
"You must be Timothy's mom," said Gadget.
"Yes I am, my name's Elizabeth Brisby. Let me get you all some tea, I think I may have enough cups."
The ones who hadn't been here yet all introduced themselves, as Mrs. Brisby handed out carved wooden cups and poured tea from a teapot that had been hanging over the fireplace. It was crowded, and there weren't enough chairs to go around for everyone either, so most of them sat on the floor.
"Did Abigail tell you why we came here?" Gadget asked.
"Yes, yes she did," Mrs. Brisby replied, "Little Michelle has already told me a lot about what's happened, what the humans did to her home and how she traveled to the big city with her friends and met you."
"That's right," Gadget said, "Then of course, NIMH somehow found my friends and took our home away."
Mrs. Brisby seemed to cringe whenever she heard that word, NIMH.
"What do you think they wanted with it?" Mrs. Brisby asked.
"Michelle may not have told you, but what Dapplewood and our headquarters both had was technology."
Mrs. Brisby nodded, "I…I see. I heard about that airplane contraption. You must be very intelligent."
"Why thank you," Gadget gave a humble smile, "Anyway I did research after NIMH took our headquarters away, and after a little hacking found out that some rats and mice they were experimenting on became smarter and escaped. NIMH said they'd searched here in 1982 following some clues but came up with nothing."
"And why would that lead you to believe the rats were here at all?" Mrs. Brisby asked, still hesitant about giving up any information.
Timothy and Cynthia stepped away and exchanged glances with one another.
"It's the only clue we have for finding these rats. We're trying to find out if they ever were really here. Maybe they'd help us. Mrs. Brisby, if you do know anything, please tell us," Gadget implored her, "You know this isn't just about my friends or their families. Scientists finding out how smart we really are is trouble for everyone. Maybe even yourself. The rodents in Dapplewood were no more technologically advanced than you are."
Gadget gestured around the room, at the table, chairs and the fireplace.
Visibly distraught, Mrs. Brisby looked downward, considering her choices.
"You do know something, don't you?" Abigail asked,
"I'm sure you have the best intentions," Mrs. Brisby began hesitantly, "But I've sworn an oath of secrecy on the matter. I can't go back on it. I can't."
"The rats were here," Gadget deduced, "But you can't tell us where they went? Why not?"
Mrs. Brisby bit her lip, and shook her head, "I…I'm not even completely sure where they are myself…and I could get in so much trouble."
"Those rats might be our best chance of rescuing everyone from NIMH," said Gadget, "You sure you can't tell us more?"
Mrs. Brisby hesitated, before Timothy put a hand on her shoulder, making her jump a little, startled.
"Justin will understand," Timothy said quietly, into her ear.
"Timmy…" Mrs. Brisby thought for a few moments, working something out in her head, before turning to Gadget, "Their location is a secret, but…maybe if I took someone to see the Great Owl, he could take us to them. If he agrees."
"Owl?" Abigail's mouth fell open.
"Abigail, your mouth is hanging open," Michelle nagged.
"I hate owls," she groaned.
"Who is the Great Owl?" asked Gadget.
"He's a friend of the rats," Mrs. Brisby answered, "He was also a good friend of my late husband. He won't eat us. Whether or not he'll help us though depends."
"On what?" asked Gadget.
"On his mood."
"Very reassuring," said Abigail.
"And if he agrees, I won't get in trouble for telling you about the rats. Hopefully." Mrs. Brisby added.
"Oh I'm sure once these rats hear about what NIMH is doing they'll be eager to help us," said Gadget with optimism.
Mrs. Brisby cleared her throat and looked to the side, knowing this probably wouldn't be the case.
"It's too close to dusk now, we'd best go in the morning," Mrs. Brisby said, "You don't want to go see him at night."
"Understood," said Gadget.
"In the meantime, well…I don't think I have room for all of you, but you can stay here tonight."
"A couple of us can sleep in the plane," said Gadget.
"You will cover it up, won't you?" asked Mrs. Brisby.
"Of course, we can't risk the humans seeing it."
"Is there anything to eat?" Russell asked, "We haven't eaten all day."
"Russell, don't be rude," Abigail shook her finger at him, "She can't be expected to feed all of us."
"We do have a storage of nuts and grains from the forest," said Mrs. Brisby, "It's been too dangerous to go to the garden for food. I suppose you can have a little, Timmy and Cynthia can always gather more."
Willy's face lit up at this, having not eaten nuts in a long time, but Russell did his best to hide his disappointment. He sure missed city food.
"You sure you don't mind?" Edgar asked.
"Oh no, it's alright," Mrs. Brisby gave a nod, "I can't let you all go hungry."
That evening they feasted on some roasted chestnuts, only enough for one each, and then got ready for bed, the furlings and Willy sleeping on the ground while Gadget, Dale and Zipper covered the Ranger Wingamathing with leaves and slept in its seats. The morning would bring new adventures, but, could also be fraught with peril. That night, Abigail had nightmares about owls.