THE MOUSE, THE CANARY, AND THE FALCON
CHAPTER ONE: STUART'S DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
"She's not going anywhere!" Falcon snapped.
Stuart Little had offered Margalo to come with him while he'd covered her escape, only to learn that she had stolen the Littles's ring and that she was an accomplice of the villainous bird. Still, he knew she was likely doing this out of fear of the falcon. When he'd offered for her to come with him, however, the large bird had just seized with him his talons. He looked up at the large bird. He thought of shooting one of the arrows he'd brought with him at the bird. However, he was hesitant. If he missed, he was sure to die a violent death and be turned into falcon poop. "Maybe you won't let her, but can I make you an offer?"
"An offer? What could you offer, cheese face?"
"You return my mother's ring and-"
"No deal. That ring is mine!"
"Hey, if you'd let me finish, you'd have heard the rest of the offer. I was going to say, if you return my parents's ring, I will join you and Margalo. I am very good mechanically and just as small and easy to miss as Margalo. You can easily get many more rings like that."
"Hmmm, forgo one ring and get many more, and I get to keep the mouse boy too. Tempting. You do realize, if I agree, that you can't go back home. This will be forever."
"Stuart, don't do it! Get out of here now!" Margalo yelled.
"Margalo, Margalo, keep your beak shut and let the mouse think," Falcon scolded her.
"Go back home! You don't want this kind of-" Falcon seized her beak, holding it shut.
"Nobody likes a girl who is too chatty, Margalo."
Seeing Falcon pick on Margalo only strengthened Stuart's resolve to go through with this. He couldn't just leave the sweet bird at Falcon's mercy.
"So, do you agree to my terms, or not?" Stuart asked.
Falcon shook one of the mouse's hands with one of his talons. "Deal!" he declared. "Oh, and by the way, fur face, if you try and go back home and run out on me, well, either I'll just drop you from the tower and watch you scream helplessly as you fall to your death, or I'll just straight up eat you for a snack. And I won't kill you before I start to eat you, either." Stuart gulped nervously. "Either way, you'll end up splatted on the ground in some form or other."
"Got it."
"What's that cat doing down there? Seems like he's calling for you?" Falcon asked.
"Oh, that's Snowbell. he came with me."
"Well, if you don't want to see him turned into kitty litter, I suggest you go along with the plan I have."
"Which is?"
A moment later, Stuart walked up to Snowbell. "Hi Snow. She wasn't here. Thankfully, that falcon wasn't either."
"I told you this was a hopeless quest."
"You were right. Margalo just doesn't want to be found."
"Well, we'd better be going back home. Mrs. Little will be worried about-"
EEEEEK! The two turned to see Falcon coming toward them, talons outstretched. The bird seized the mouse, carrying him off.
"Stuart!" Snowbell cried.
"Snowbell, get out of here! Save yourself!" Stuart cried as Falcon carried him off and out of sight.
Snowbell, teary eyed, began the slow trek home, certain that Stuart had become Falcon food.
Falcon returned Stuart to the tower. "Well done, Stuart. You may have the markings of a good con after all."
"I still say you're making a mis-" Margalo began.
"Too late. He's made a deal. If he breaks it, well, let's just say, that the deal won't be the only thing getting broken."
"Please, don't hurt Stuart."
"I won't, as long as he behaves. He's mine now, just like you. You know, I'm glad that you made a friend after all. Now I can get double the loot."
That night, the two went into Falcon's lair. It was filled with blankets, a bean chair, and loads of other things that the bird had bought by selling off his loot. There were also, of course, loads of trinkets. Falcon, true to his word, had subtly dropped the ring back on the windowsill at the Little house after dark, where the two Littles would surely find it.
"Goodnight you two. Remember, we start tomorrow."
"Goodnight Falcon," Stuart said. The bird flew off to another room.
When they were sure he was too far to listen, Margalo slapped him with her wings. "Ow, what did you do that for!"
"It was to slap some sense into you! I told you to go away and leave me!"
"I couldn't fight him. I realized my arrow, which wasn't very sharp, wouldn't do much to him."
"That was wise, not to fight him. But he'd have let you leave."
"I would be a very terrible friend if I just left you here to suffer. I came to get you free, and that's what I'm going to do."
"How does being his servant get me free? I just made you not free!"
"Whatever I have to do to free you, I will!"
"Stuart, you have no idea what you're dealing with here!"
"Hey, what's going on in there?" came Falcon's angry voice from outside. Thankfully, it didn't seem like he'd heard them.
"Oh, nothing, just friends talking before they go to bed," Margalo lied.
"Well, I'm in charge here and I say, it's bedtime!"
"Ok, you're the boss," Stuart said.
"And don't you forget it! Don't let me catch you two talking again. Otherwise, I will have to give you both an attitude adjustment, and you can ask Margalo what those are like."
"We're going to bed now," Margalo said, trying not to anger him.
"Goodnight. And keep quiet!"
"Well, that's that. We have to go to bed now. Goodnight, Stuart," the canary said, before going to sleep.
"Goodnight, Margalo," the mouse replied, before also going to sleep. But he wasn't planning on sleeping all night here. No, he had an idea.