Chapter 2
"And when did you last see her?" the conductor asked, his notepad in his hand as the two stood in the small hallway with the room now taped off beside them.
"About ten minutes ago now." Minnie explained. "Oh, I hope Ortensia's ok."
"I do too, ma'am." The man said, putting his notepad and pen in his chest pocket. "I'll call ahead to the police in Burbank. In the mean time you can take room number seven, just down here."
"Wait, you're not going to do anything?" Minnie asked, outraged. "My friend has been kidnapped and most likely still on this train and you're going to let the police take care of it tomorrow?!"
"I'm sorry, Miss Minnie, that's all I'm allowed to do." The dog shrugged his shoulders apologetically. "Would you like me to show you to your room?"
"I know where number seven is." Minnie said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Could you just get my belongings in there, please."
"Got'cha." The conductor quickly ducked under the yellow tape and pulled out Minnie's luggage.
The mouse watched him take it down the hall and into the room at the end of the car before dropping her arms. She quickly glanced around the car before ducking under the tape and shutting the door behind her. "If they're not going to look for her, I will." She told the room as she looked around at the mess who ever had kidnapped Ortensia had left.
A smell caught the mouse off guard, surprising her of the smoky smell before noticing a glint on the table next to the window. She looked down to notice a diamond cross pendant. She picked it up, knowing she'd seen it before, and put it in her purse hoping to confront the wearer of the pendant.
Turning back to the room, she looked for more clues, besides the mess of black fur under her feet. What Ortensia must look like scarred her to even think about, making her hope it was actually her attacker's fur instead. "Too bad black fur's really popular." Minnie mumbled to herself, looking around as much as she could without disturbing too much. If she couldn't find Ortensia, hopefully the police could. But she couldn't let her friend wait a day for professional help.
As she moved back to the doorway, thinking she might've missed something about how the attacker had made their way inside, she stepped on something, making her lean away to protect it from getting squashed. She kneeled down and picked up a black jewel in the form of a backwards D with a P overlapping it.
"Miss Minnie?" the conductor's voice asked, the door handle getting turned warning the mouse of his presents.
Minnie quickly stood up and grabbed Ortensia's robe hanging off the closet before heading to the door as it opened.
"I have to ask you to leave the room, please." The conductor said, trying to be polite.
"You missed my robe." Minnie said, ducking out from under the tape and closing the door behind herself.
"Sorry 'bout that." The dog tried, motioning for her to walk in front of him. "Please just let the police handle your friend's disappearance. It'll be safer for you."
"Thank you for your concern." Minnie said, forcing out her politeness as he made sure she got back to number seven. She closed the door behind herself before tossing Ortensia's robe onto the chair. She walked to the table by the window and sat her purse down to pull out the two clues she'd found. She placed her purse in the drawer under the bed and walked out of her room to see if she could find the person the two objects could belong to.
As Minnie entered the next sleeper car she found the rabbit she was looking for looking out a window and blocking the walkway.
"Excuse me, can I talk to you?" Minnie asked, trying to sound friendly as she walked up next to the rabbit.
"Oh!" the rabbit turned towards the mouse, startled out of her mind as her ear drooped over her eye. "Hi, Miss Minnie. You wouldn't've happened to have seen a diamond cross laying around here, have you?"
"You mean this?" Minnie asked, pulling out the cross from her pocket. She held it in her pointer and thumb so that it hung down and the rabbit could see it but not offering it.
"Yes, where did you find it?" the rabbit asked, surprised.
"Where my friend went missing." Minnie said, her voice taking on an icy tone as she put the cross back in her pocket. "Any reason why that would be?"
"Ortensia's missing?" the rabbit's eyes opened wide in surprise. "I don't know why my cross was there, the last time I saw it I'd bumped into some male cat. It must have fallen off then."
"Who'd you bump into?" Minnie asked, curious if maybe this rabbit was being set up.
"I'm not sure, he had on a sports coat and his fur was black, but I don't know what his name is." The rabbit shrugged. "I think I saw you and Ortensia talking to him earlier."
"Julius?" Minnie asked, surprised.
"I guess. Can I have my cross back?"
"Oh, sure." Minnie pulled it from her pocket only to have the DP logo fall out with it. She looked at the small jewel and asked, "Any idea what this is?"
The rabbit brushed back her ear to look at it with both eyes before shaking her head. "Sorry, no. Was that found there too?"
"Ya. I'm hoping I can find her before anything bad happens." Minnie admitted. "What's your name, by the way?"
"Fanny, uh, Fanny Cottontail." The rabbit let her ear cover her eye again, almost hiding behind it now.
"Thanks, Fanny. Here. Is it real?" Minnie asked, curious as the girl took the cross back.
"No, but who gave it to me was special to me." Fanny admitted. "Do you want any help in trying to find Ortensia? I sometimes write mystery novels so I might be able to help you."
"Oh really, that'd be great." Minnie smiled. In her mind she knew she was going to have to go everything that Fanny said, even if she offered to help, she could still be the one who kidnapped Ortensia. "Maybe you can help me with this then. I wanna talk to Julius, which since you said he bumped into you might make it so that he wouldn't tell me much if you were there."
"Right, he might be trying to pin it to me." Fanny realized.
"Why would he think you could take the blame." Minnie asked, realizing she had no idea of a motive for the rabbit.
"Excuse me." a voice said, getting the two to push themselves closer to the windowed wall as a female cat pushed through, her designer purse almost hitting them as she walked by talking on her cell. "I know, I can't see why we couldn't take a plane, but you know men. Always have to do it their way."
"Let's talk in the dining car, more space." Fanny offered, noticing the Van Pork's walking their way and about to get stuck going against the way the cat had been walking.
"Good idea." Minnie said, following the rabbit back the way she'd come.
-.-.-.-
"You wanna go ahead and get dinner?" Fanny asked, noticing a few people already eating.
"I don't have my purse." Minnie admitted.
"Don't worry, I'll pay." Fanny offered, going ahead and getting in line to get her food.
"I'm not a guy, you can't bribe me with food that you're innocent you know." Minnie put in, getting in line behind Fanny.
"I'm not trying to bribe you." Fanny said, almost sounding annoyed. "I know I'm suspect number one, you don't have to try and hide that fact."
"At least you know it." Minnie said. She tried to soften a little, sad she was being so hard on the girl. "If we had met on better terms, it wouldn't be like this, I swear."
"I know, it's alright." Fanny said, throwing a smile over her shoulder before grabbing her food.
Minnie got her food behind the rabbit and the two found a table for two by the window. "So why would anyone think you could be set up as Ortensia's kidnapper?"
Fanny sighed before starting, keeping her eyes on her food. "I guess jealousy? Back in 1927 I was Oswald's girlfriend in the shows. Walt took me off the role after convincing Ortensia to come in."
"Oh, you're that Fanny?" Minnie said, surprised. "I'd heard Oswald say something about the rabbit he worked with in the first few shorts but I didn't know you were still around."
"Ya, I started writing books and tried to stay in contact with Oswald afterwards but he moved on and so did I." Fanny said, keeping her eyes down.
Minnie noticed her last words, wondering if it was true. Hoping to find out more about her, and to take her mind away from being prime suspect number one, she asked, "What type of books, other than mystery, do you write?"
"Sci-fi, actually." the rabbit rose her head to looked at Minnie with a smile on her face. "If you've heard about the End of the World series?"
"Oh, ya, I've read a couple of them." Minnie smiled. "I heard they're thinking about sending them off to the human world to see if they'll read it as well."
"Man, I wish rumors like that were true." Fanny rolled her eyes with a smile. "No, it's not supposed to. I think a few more thousand copies have to be sold for my publishers to even think about that."
"Why's your pen name Sasha Amore, it's such a distance from Fanny Cottontail." Minnie said, pointing out the reason why she asked her first question.
"Actually blame Oswald on that." Fanny admitted. "While Walt and the animators were trying to figure out how my character was going to be, Oswald was playing around with the idea of giving my character a different name then I had and came up with Sasha Amore."
"Oswald really did influence you, didn't he?" Minnie smiled before working on finishing her salad.
"Hey, could I see that jewel you found?" Fanny asked.
"Sure, here." Minnie reached into her pocket and found the small jewel before dropping it onto the table. "I wish I knew what it was off of."
"I'm wondering if it's off a jacket or shoe." Fanny admitted, picking it up to look at it closer. She sat it down and pulled up her purse. Pulling out her phone she quickly touched a few buttons before turning it to Minnie. "It's off a purse!"
Minnie took the phone to see a google page with the logo at the top. "The Daniel Painter collection." She looked up at Fanny before admitting, "That's a super expensive purse. Who would knock someone out with that?"
"I'm wondering who would even have something like that." Fanny admitted, taking her phone back to put it back in her purse.
"Well, Mrs. Van Pork would have the money to get one." Minnie admitted, knowing the woman's tastes. She looked around the dining car to see the couple and child sitting some space behind her. "Hey, make sure they stay here."
"You don't think she did it?" Fanny asked, surprised.
"I don't want to think that, but I need to find Ortensia." Minnie admitted, quickly finishing her salad before standing up. "I'll make it as quick as I can."
"I don't think you need to be too quick." Fanny admitted, watching the pigs eat.
Minnie stole a glance back at the pigs to see Mrs. Van Pork's purse wasn't the purse they were looking for before leaving the car, heading down to the second sleeper car and the room she had seen them come out of earlier. She tried the door, almost surprised to find it unlocked. She quickly snuck inside the room, silently closing the door behind herself, before flicking the switch on to see the room.
To spite their raise, the Van Pork's room was tidy showing obviously the left side of the room was the misses. Quickly Minnie opened the small closet door and ran a search of the three purses hanging on the door only to find none from the Daniel Painter collection.
Minnie closed the closet, wanting to make a complete sweep of the room before giving up. She looked at the drawers under Mrs. Van Pork's bed only to find woman's necessities. With the bed only covered in her own sheets Minnie moved to the table under the window but found nothing she was looking for. She checked the rest of the room quickly before leaving the room, glad to find no one as she crossed into the sleeper car she was in. A voice traveled to her as she was passing her own room only to find Julius and another cat coming out of the room next to hers.
"Julius, can I talk to you?" Minnie asked, stopping the two.
"Could you go ahead and order my dinner?" Julius asked, sending his lady friend away.
The female cat gave no motion she had heard the question, leaving the two as she walked down the car.
"Forgive her, Cleo's mad at me for some reason." Julius admitted, smiling at Minnie. "What can I do for you?"
"Is she your wife?" Minnie asked, surprised.
"Ya." Julius said, surprised of the question. "I'm not sure if I can say happily married at the moment, but she'll get over it. Sooner would be better than later."
"I was hoping you might be able to help me with something." Minnie admitted, getting back to the point. "I'm trying to help a rabbit here who's lost a cross pendant and she says the last time she saw it was when she bumped into you. Do you remember seeing it on her then?"
"You mean a cross necklace?" Julius asked, getting a nod from the mouse. "Ya, it was still around her neck when I saw her. She might've lost it afterwards, I think she was heading to her room then."
"Oh ok, thank you." Minnie nodded, turning to head back to the dining car.
"How's Ortensia? She seemed to have disappeared from the dining car after I left to smoke." Julius said, stopping her.
"I'd assume asleep." Minnie lied. "She wasn't feeling all that good so I've left her alone." She watched for a change in his face only to be disappointed as all he showed was a concerned look.
"I hope she gets better soon." Julius offered. "Are you heading to get dinner?"
"I thought you just had lunch?"
"Cleo want's dinner." Julius admitted, the two heading back to the end car. "I'm just munchy."
Minnie snickered at the term, "Nice word."
"What? It works." Julius smiled back.
-.-.-.-
"Well, anything?" Fanny asked as Minnie sat back down in her seat.
"No, if she's got a Daniel Painter purse, it's not in there." Minnie admitted. "And Julius claims to have seen your necklace on you when he bumped you."
"Well, I guess that means it's up to you to tell which of us is lying." Fanny realized.
"I still wanna find that purse." Minnie said.
"Oh! Look over there." Fanny said, pointing to the table across the car from them. "Julius' friend has a Daniel Painter Purse."
"That'd be his wife, Cleo." Minnie informed. "Can you convince Julius to talk to you away from her so I can ask her."
"Sure." Fanny nodded, standing up. She walked over to the couple and after a moment the two headed back to the sleeper cars.
Minnie quickly took her chance, dropping down in the seat Julius just left.
"Excuse me, my husband is sitting there." Cleo said, offended.
"I won't take long. Is that a Daniel Painter purse?" Minnie asked, looking at the purse sitting next to the wall on the table.
"Yes, it is." Cleo nodded. "My idiot of a husband doesn't realize how valuable it is."
"What do you mean?" Minnie asked, surprised that was what the two were arguing about.
"He said he wanted to use it real quick earlier on the train ride but the man never asked me for it until after the fact." Cleo admitted. "And he gives it back to me ruined."
"It doesn't look ruined to me." Minnie admitted, trying to find the spot the DP logo could have come from.
"Right here." Cleo motioned, turning the purse so that Minnie was looking at the side. "The logo's been ripped off."
"Could it be repaired?" Minnie offered.
"Sure, but it drops the value of the whole purse." Cleo admitted. "You'd think four years in show business and that cat would know a thing or two about quality."
"He acts?"
"Used to. Both of us did actually." Cleo admitted, a smile appearing on her face as the memories came to her. "We were in the Alice Comedies back in the mid 20's."
"You don't say." Minnie found herself exclaiming, surprised so many of the older toons were on this train.
"Ya, actually we got married during the show." Cleo said.
"When did Julius take your purse?" Minnie asked.
"Shortly after we left Klondike. Why?"
"No reason. Thanks for your time." Minnie smiled before getting up and leaving the car. Her smile quickly faded as she realized her grave mistake of letting Fanny help her.
-.-.-.-
"Hold on, I'm going to try to land on the train." Mickey called back as the plane dropped down closer to the train.
"Look out!" Oswald called, noticing the train was about to go through a tunnel.
Mickey grunted as he pulled the plane back up, going around the small hill the train was driving through. "There's gotta be a way of getting on that train."
"We'll make it." Oswald tried.
"As long as it's in one piece." Mickey added as the train came into sight on the other side of the hill.