Upon returning to the Brisby home, Abigail explained to her friends what had happened and what the Great Owl had said. The next course of action was to leave for Thorn Valley, without haste.
"Thanks for letting us spend the night," said Gadget to Mrs. Brisby, smiling and putting a hand on her shoulder, as everyone gathered outside in front of the Ranger Wingamathing, "I don't know what we'd do if we hadn't met such a kind family."
"Oh, it was nothing," Mrs. Brisby answered shyly.
"Good luck at Thorn Valley," said Timothy, "When you get there, try and find my brother and sister. Tell them what happened and they'll help you."
"Thanks," said Abigail, "And thank you for all your help yesterday."
"Don't mention it," Timothy said with a smile, "Maybe you guys could come visit us again sometime."
"Sure," Abigail said with a giggle, "Maybe we'll resettle somewhere nearby when this is all over."
"That would be great!" said Cynthia, "There's not that many other mice to talk to around these parts."
"Best of luck to all of you," said Mrs. Brisby, "Remember if all else fails, try and find my children there. Their leader, Justin, will probably be understanding though if you just tell him everything."
Gadget nodded, "We'll keep all that in mind, thanks."
"So do I get to go with this time?" Michelle asked.
"As a matter of fact, you do Michelle," Gadget said, patting Michelle's head.
"Yes yes yes yes YES!" she cheered and jumped.
"Stay with me though," said Abigail, "We don't know what it'll be like there."
"Kay!" Michelle answered, hugging Abigail's arm.
The furlings and the Rescue Rangers finished saying their goodbyes to the kind family that had taken them in and given them a direction in which to continue their long journey, and piled into the Ranger Wingamathing with renewed determination. Once again Michelle sat on Abigail's lap. Once in the air and over the forest canopy, Gadget turned around to Abigail.
"So what exactly did the Great Owl say about the location?"
"He said it was near the river, in a deep ravine and a briar patch," she answered, her chin on Michelle's shoulder, "There's supposed to be a tree marking the spot. If we just follow the river and keep our eyes peeled, we'll find it."
"Gotcha," said Dale, looking over the edge of the plane, "I need something to keep my mind occupied after all, with the radio gone."
Gadget steered the plane over the river, and followed its winding path through the forest. It was perhaps a couple hours before they got their first hints that they may have found Thorn Valley.
"Look at that ravine down there," said Edgar.
"Yeah, lotsa thorny plants," said Dale, "It's got thorns, and it's kinda like a valley."
"Alright, let's go down and investigate," said Gadget, taking the plane down. She circled around, finding it hard to see a place to land.
"Golly, does anybody have a problem climbing here?" she asked, "I don't see anyplace to land but in the branches of that tree. This ravine is so steep."
"I'm okay with that," said Willy.
"I like climbing trees," Abigail answered.
"I…guess I could climb…" said Edgar, who out of all of them was probably the worst at it.
Gadget nodded, "All right, get ready to take us in for a landing on that branch over there."
The furlings cranked the winder-uppers, and Gadget flew the plane along one of the thick tree branches, one with dimensions not unlike the tree where Rescue Rangers HQ had been. It was camouflaged well enough by the tree's leaves not to be seen by any passer-by, both protecting themselves and Thorn Valley from being discovered by NIMH. Everyone unbuckled their seatbelts, and stepped out. Gadget grabbed some string from the glove compartment that they could use as rope.
"Okay, pick someone to be tied to while we climb down," said Gadget, "Anyone not good at climbing should be tied to someone who is."
"I'll go with Michelle," said Abigail, "Willy, maybe you can help Edgar."
"Sure," said Willy, as Gadget passed around string.
"Chipmunks are natural born climbers," Dale boasted, "Let's see, who do I go with?"
"Maybe you can go with Russell," said Gadget, "I'll go on my own."
"Just be careful," said Dale, "And don't look down."
"If you tell her that, she's gonna look down," said Russell, tying the string around his waist.
"Oh, uh, well look down all ya want then," said Dale.
"Probably not a good idea to tell her that either," said Edgar.
"I can't win!"
"Golly, I'll just look where I'm putting my hands and feet," Gadget said, hoping to solve the argument, "I'll be fine, I can climb."
Abigail tied the string to her waist and helped Michelle with hers, "Okay, you go down first."
"Me?" Michelle peered over the edge nervously. If they fell they'd land in the thorny bushes.
"That way if you accidentally let go I can hold on," she said, "Otherwise if you were on top your weight might pull me down too."
"Well, okay…"she said, carefully lowering a leg down and finding a place to plant her foot on the bark.
The others followed suit with the worse climbers going first. They slowly and carefully made their way down the tree bark. Luckily the bark was filled with grooves, places for them to grab hold of. Zipper hovered along beside them, ready to intervene something were to go wrong.
As they reached around the halfway mark, Abigail noticed Michelle beginning to pant and gasp down below her.
"Michelle?" Abigail asked, looking down.
The little girl's face was going red. She clutched her throat with one hand, and accidentally let go with the other, falling and dangling by the string that connected her and Abigail. Abigail let out a squeak and clutched the bark, struggling to hold herself and Michelle up.
"She's having another asthma attack!" Willy exclaimed, he and Edgar below them on tree.
"Zipper, help them!" Gadget called out.
Michelle hyperventilated as she dangled from the string. Zipper flew over to her, rubbing her back as she coughed.
"G-get the inhaler from my pocket," said Abigail, holding on with all her strength.
Zipper nodded, and flew up to Abigail, fishing through the side pocket of her overalls and retrieving the inhaler, going down to bring it to Michelle. Michelle had learned to work the device herself, and shook it before putting it in her mouth, and then pressing down on the canister, holding her breath as long as she could before coughing again, and beginning to breathe normally. Zipper pushed Michelle against the tree, and she grabbed onto the bark, just as the bark Abigail was holding onto began to crack and peel away. Abigail quickly climbed downward, once relieved of Michelle's weight.
"Good job you guys," said Gadget, smiling and resuming her climb.
"I-I'm sorry, Abigail…" Michelle said with a sniff, "I guess this is why I don't get to come with you a lot."
"Don't worry about it Michelle, just keep climbing," Abigail said, looking down at her.
Michelle nodded, and they continued climbing down the tree. Eventually all of them reached the bottom. They untied their strings. Gadget took one of them and wrapped it around her shoulder, just in case they needed it later. Michelle returned her inhaler to Abigail, who tucked it away into her pocket. The ground here was steep, and consumed by a carpet of twisted, thorny plants.
"The Great Owl said the entrance was around this tree somewhere," said Abigail.
"At least we shouldn't have to go very far, if this is the right place," Gadget said.
They slowly walked around the base of the tree, feeling its bark for any kind of switch. The tree was wide, and the plants surrounding it thick, so it took them quite a few minutes before Abigail, feeling around the bark, pressed it in just the right place. There was a large button underneath the bark, and when pressed, they heard the rumbling of a door open nearby, between the roots of the tree, followed by a ticking sound.
"In there," said Gadget, pointing, "I'm not sure what that ticking is but my guess is that it's timed to close on it's own. Hurry!"
They hurried toward a circular opening in the wood, Abigail holding Michelle's hand. They just made it in when the door closed, almost closing on Russell's pants.
"Phew, just made it," Russell said, rubbing the quills on his back.
There was a dark staircase. Abigail felt around on the walls.
"Edgar, can you see?" she asked.
"Sure. This is too dark for you guys?" Edgar asked.
His eyesight was bad above ground, but being a mole he could see just fine in the dark, even without his glasses.
"Maybe you should lead us down," Gadget suggested.
"All right, just walk down these stairs," said Edgar, taking the lead as the others blindly walked down the steps. The stairs went on for a long time, leading them deep underground. After a few minutes, Edgar said, "Here's where they end. There's another door here. And a sign above it."
"What's it say?" Gadget asked.
"Caution to those who enter. From this point on you take your life into your own hands."
"Umm…maybe we should uh, come back some other time…" said Dale.
"We have to keep going," said Abigail.
"So these rats can read too?" Willy said, feeling more discouraged about being the only illiterate one.
"I guess they must have learned at NIMH," said Gadget, "Anyway, can you open the door Edgar?"
"Sure thing," Edgar answered, turning the knob and slowly opening it.
A dazzling golden light illuminated the room they were in, its rays shining through the door as it opened. They were awestruck by the chamber behind the door. The walls were lined with bright crystals, shimmering with electric sparks charging through them. The path ahead of them seemed to be made of polished crystal. Shallow pools of water were on either side of the winding path, which zigzagged around tall crystals sticking out of the ground.
"I've never seen anything like this…" said Gadget.
"It's so pretty,' said Michelle.
"Let's go," Abigail said.
Abigail held Michelle's hand tight, and was the first to walk through the door, the smooth crystal ground feeling cold beneath her bare feet. Willy followed alongside her, and the others trailed behind. They couldn't help but be awestruck by this beautiful chamber, neglecting to look where they were going as they craned their necks looking at the electrified crystal spires surrounding them. Abigail was the first to notice what stood at the end of the chamber; a large, elegant, golden double-door entrance, guarded by a huge, imposing rat.
The rat took a fighting stance immediately after they turned the corner around a crystal and toward the doors, pointing a double-bladed spear at them, its long blades charged with electricity.
"Who dares intrude?!" the rat shouted, dressed in menacing black armor.
Michelle hid behind Abigail as the rest of them stopped in their tracks.
"Excuse me, but…we wanted to see the rats," said Abigail, "It's important."
"No one must enter," the rat said, "Take one more step, and it will cost you your life. You will get no help here."
"But please-"
"Go, now!"
Abigail frowned, "We've come this far. We can't stop now. We need to help our families and friends."
The rat hissed, and lowered it's spear, "Then you choose death. So be it, impudent child."
He began to charge.
"Run!" Gadget shouted.
They scattered, running in all directions, splashing through the shallow water. But the rat focused on Abigail. She pushed Michelle aside, who fell on her hands and knees into the water, and ran down the path, followed by Willy. The rat charged past Michelle, swinging his bladed spear and managing to rip the back of Willy's shirt.
"We have to do something!" Gadget shouted.
"We don't have any weapons to fight back with," said Dale.
Gadget looked to the string wrapped around her shoulder, "We'll just have to use what we do have."
The rat chased Abigail and Willy among the crystals, swinging his spear at them and narrowly missing. They ran as fast as they could. The rat finally began to catch up, shoving Willy aside with his armored elbow and smacking his body hard into the water with a loud splash. Abigail couldn't stop to look back as the rat came after her, chasing her into a dead end between two enormous crystals.
"I gave you a chance, little girl," the rat growled, clutching his electrified spear with both hands and raising it to do a horizontal slice at her.
Thinking quickly, Abigail ducked as the blade swung at her, slicing strands of auburn hair from her head and cutting into a crystal, electrifying the rat. As he tried to pull the blade out, vibrating as electricity coursed through his body, she scurried on all fours between his legs and ran again. It wasn't long before he pulled it out, his fur singed and his eyes narrowing with vicious rage. He charged at her again. Abigail continued to run on all fours, splashing through the shallow water and making her way back to the path. The path went between two white quartz crystals. The rat followed close behind, but, as he passed between the two crystals, Gadget and Dale, hiding behind them, pulled on the string she'd saved. The rat tripped, falling on his face and dropping his spear, which slid across the ground.
"Get his weapon!" Gadget called out.
Abigail, panting frantically, turned around, seeing the rat begin to get up, his spear on the ground in front of him. She ran back, and picked it up just before he could grab for it. It was heavy in her arms, but she pointed it inches from the rat's snout, it's blade sizzling with electric bolts.
"You're a clever one," he said with a scowl, holding himself up with his arms as he lay on the ground, "To think that the great Brutus will be finished off by a little girl. Go on then…stab me."
Abigail trembled, but kept the spear pointed at him, breathing hard.
"Get him, Abigail!" Dale shouted.
"W-won't the rats be mad at us?" Michelle asked.
"You may be right," said Gadget, looking on with worry.
Abigail hesitated, saying nothing, staring the rat in the eyes.
"You can't do it, can you? If the tables were turned I would do it without question. You're too soft." Brutus flashed a grin, and continued to get to his feet, Abigail unable to stop him.
"Give me back my spear before I take it from you."
Abigail took a few steps back, "I'll use this if I have to. But I don't want to hurt anyone."
"Cute," Brutus said, cracking his knuckles.
It was then that the sound of the double doors opening echoed loudly throughout the chamber. Brutus looked on in surprise, and Abigail spun around, brandishing the heavy spear. Two rows of rat soldiers marched through the doors, carrying swords. They stopped in front of Abigail.
"Uh oh," said Michelle, watching from behind a crystal.
"Surrender," said the soldier in the lead, who was stout and looked barely older than a teen, "Lay down your weapon, and no one gets hurt."
"My weapon, you mean," Brutus said angrily.
Abigail looked back to the others.
"I think you better do as they say," said Gadget.
Abigail sighed, and tossed the spear on the ground.
"I am the Captain of the Guard, and you're under arrest," said the soldier.
All but the Captain advanced past Abigail.
"Arrest?" Brutus protested, "That girl almost killed me and you're only going to arrest them?"
"Those are our orders from Justin," said the Captain, as he pointed a sword to Abigail's back, "You will be taken to the dungeons, and one of you will plead your case to the council before we decide your fate."
Brutus gave a disappointed grunt, and he turned and walked back.
"Where are you going?" asked another soldier, as he pointed his sword at Dale and Gadget, who put their hands up.
"I knocked one of the little runts into a pool back there, and he's out cold. I'm gonna go get him," Brutus answered, with a disgruntled tone in his voice, "There's more hiding around here, make sure you don't forget any of them."
The rest of the soldiers scoured the chamber, eventually finding Michelle, Russell and Edgar. Brutus picked Willy up out of the water by the collar of his shirt and slung his dripping wet, unconscious body over his armored shoulder, muttering to himself, "Lousy council, bunch of weak bleeding-heart goody-goodies…"
The rest of them were led through the doors by sword point, Brutus bringing up the rear with Willy, Michelle sobbing as she went. Zipper looked on as the doors closed, having hidden unseen behind a crystal near the ceiling.