Chapter 9

Five Days

Their eyes were closed as they waited for the rubble and bits of rocks to collide onto them but nothing seemed to have happened. They were still hugging each other in the darkness as if they were afraid to be stuck in it like they were in a horror movie. Mrs. Brisby was shaking in fear as her heart pounded against Chris's chest as if it was trying to burst out of her while Chris held her tightly trying to stay calm, even though he was frightened himself as well.

The two were close to death and the thought of that didn't satisfy nor comfort Chris at all. Already, when he was only three days away from New York City in Virginia he was this close of dying by his Uncle's plow. His body could've been crushed while blood would've splattered anywhere near or on the tractor like paint and the same thing could've happened to Mrs. Brisby. If she ever got hurt or killed, Chris wouldn't have forgiven himself. He was glad though that she was alright.

At the sound of something starting up again, Chris and Mrs. Brisby opened their eyes. They looked up and to their surprise, they saw that the rubble and bits of rocks were above them like they were part of a ceiling. Chris then looked at the pendant on his necklace confused. This thing is so confusing…

Chris and Mrs. Brisby then started to make their way out of the piles of rubble and bits of rocks and as they did, light streamed down through the opening and they were then out into the open as they pushed off the final of the rubble and bits of rocks and when they did, the smell of fuel could be smelt. Chris then looked behind him and he saw his Uncle's plow had stopped and he also saw that his Uncle was trying to start it up again. He then realized that he and Mrs. Brisby stopped the plow from crushing the Brisby's home which meant that not only was the house safe but little Timmy was as well. Chris was relieved that Timmy was going to be alright.

"Brisby!" Chris and Mrs. Brisby turned around to see the shrew running towards them with worry in her eyes. She then got to Mrs. Brisby and helped her up out of the rubble and bits of rocks. "Come on, come along."

The shrew then led Mrs. Brisby away from the tractor and as she did, Chris quickly got up from the rubble and bits of rocks and ran after them. The three of them then made it into the safety of the tall grass as Chris heard his Uncle still try to start up the tractor. Even though Chris wanted to run up to his Uncle he couldn't let him see him like this. He didn't even know what his Uncle would do if he found him so short but he didn't want to find out.

Chris looked to see if his Uncle saw them but to their luck, he didn't and was only focusing on the fuel line that was now cut and he was mumbling to himself. He thought that at least his Uncle didn't find out that it was him and Mrs. Brisby that cut the fuel line. Plus he didn't want to pay for any damages that he and Mrs. Brisby caused on his Uncle's plow because that thing cost tons of money.

He then looked away and looked at Mrs. Brisby and the shrew and they were trying to collect themselves as he was. It was a scary situation for the three of them and even though they weren't seen it was too close of a call and Chris could see that Mrs. Brisby still looked scared. He walked over to her and then hugged her to try and calm her down and as soon as he did, Mrs. Brisby seemed to have stopped shaking as he was doing the best that he could to comfort her. She was now relaxing as he caressed her back. He couldn't blame her for being scared.

"He'll come back tomorrow," Mrs. Brisby said with fear in her voice. "I wish Jonathon were here…"

Chris felt guilty for his Uncle's plow almost killing her son and if he'd known about it sooner he would've done something about it. However, if he never had known Mrs. Brisby and her children he wouldn't have known that his Uncle's plow… He shook that thought away, desperately not wanting to picture the gruesome scene in his head. He may not have been Mrs. Brisby's husband but he wanted to comfort her the best that he could. Chris could see that Mrs. Brisby was not only frightened of what just happened and for her children but she was also tired and stressed.

Why did this have to happen to her? Chris thought. What did she ever do to deserve this?

"Well, he's not," the shrew pointed out as she looked at Mrs. Brisby with her brow furrowed. "Stupid!"

At that, Chris looked at the shrew angrily. He stopped hugging Mrs. Brisby and he got up to her closely. "Who the hell do you think you are of calling her stupid? Can't you see that she's stressed? You shouldn't have said what you just said."

"Chris, please," Mrs. Brisby said.

The shrew looked directly at Chris about as angry as him. "Says the nephew of that farmer who has that monstrosity! You, humans, are all the same, destroying anything your hands can reach and you take it away from all the animals that live out in the wild ever since you all evolved! You are all disgusting in every possible way! If you weren't small like you are now I can guarantee that you would've done what that Uncle of yours does every year!"

"Auntie Shrew!"

Chris bared his teeth angrily towards the shrew and he had about had it with her. "You think we're all the same?! Not all of us are! We're all different! Not all humans destroy things for granted! Some of us even care for wildlife! Even I do! I'm not even a farmer like my Uncle is and I don't even live on that farm like I said yesterday! I'm a photographer that lives in the city!"

"Chris, Auntie Shrew." Mrs. Brisby got in between the two. "Stop arguing, please. We need to focus on helping my son. It's more important than arguing right now."

Chris and Auntie Shrew stopped glaring at each other and looked at Mrs. Brisby. Chris sighed and knew that Mrs. Brisby was right. They had to do something and once his Uncle got the plow running again he was likely going to crush the Brisby's home with Timmy inside it for sure and trying to save it a second time might prove to be more difficult. He and Mrs. Brisby almost got killed the first time and the second time they would surely get killed.

"I'm sorry," Chris said.

Mrs. Brisby looked down as she slid her hand through her hair still worried. "What am I going to do?"

"We'll think of something," the shrew said reassuringly. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Mrs. Brisby and Auntie Shrew started to walk away and Chris was about to follow them but he stopped in his tracks before he could follow them any further. He looked over his shoulder and he hummed to himself. He walked back over to see the plow and his Uncle and when he looked he saw the plow just staying still in place but he didn't see his Uncle near it but he did see him walking back to the farm. Chris looked over his shoulder and he saw that Mrs. Brisby and the shrew were out of sight. He then looked back to his Uncle and he breathed, knowing what he had to do.

Following his Uncle back to the farm was a pain in the ass for Chris because of his stubby legs. He wished for once that the stupid blue pendant on his necklace would make him run fast, fly, or better yet, change him back to his normal size because that would've made things go much faster. Surprisingly enough, Chris was keeping up with his Uncle at an accurate rate without him noticing him and that was the way he was going to keep it.

Eventually, Chris managed to follow his Uncle back to the farm and he was heading towards a big looking shed and as he did, Chris hid behind a tree and watched him carefully. He had to know what was going to happen because he needed to know if his Uncle Paul was going to continue to plow tomorrow as Mrs. Brisby predicted. He wanted to help and the way he could try to spy on his Uncle. He felt his stomach twisting and turning for some reason as he was watching his Uncle walk towards the shed. It was probably because he felt guilty. Guilt for what exactly?

"Paul?" Chris heard his Aunt call out his Uncle's name and he looked to her to see that she was walking towards him with confusion written all over her face while she was holding a watering can. "I thought you were going to go plow the fields? What happened?"

Paul stopped in his tracks and he looked at Beth. "I was plowing the fields but the fuel line cut for some reason. I was sure everything on the plow was secure in place… I guess I didn't look close enough."

"When do you think you're going to go and try to plow the fields again?"

"I can try again in five days. It was probably too wet to plow today. When the fifth day hits I'm sure the ground will be dry enough by then. I'm going to bring the plow back here with the bulldozer and see if I can try and fix it up."

Five days… Chris thought. At least it won't be tomorrow but will it be enough time to get Timmy out of the fields? And how can we get Timmy out of there without him getting worse?

Chris then heard his Aunt sigh. "So I'm guessing no sign of Chris?"

He held his breath when he heard his name. Chris could tell that his Aunt looked worried for him and that included his Uncle. It was clear from the looks of their eyes.

Paul sighed and then shook his head. "No sign of him… so I guess the police haven't found any traces of where Chris could be?"

Beth shook her head. "They haven't called today, but hopefully the Sherriff will call later with some news, hopefully, good news."

His hands started to scrape against the bark of the tree he was hiding behind as he so badly wanted to jump out from behind it and call out to them saying he was okay. Chris wanted to hug them tightly because he did miss them, he even missed Billy. However, his feet were stuck in place as he didn't dare move from his spot like he was stuck in glue. Even though he wanted to do what he imagined in his head he knew he couldn't. When he got back to his normal size he would go back to them.

"I'll be back soon," Paul said and he then walked inside the shed to get his bulldozer.

Beth then started to walk away and as she did, Chris could hear his Uncle start the bulldozer inside the shed. It took a few tries but eventually, he heard the bulldozer come to life. His Uncle was then driving the bulldozer out of the shed and to be sure his Uncle wouldn't see him, Chris hid more behind the tree. Paul then drove the bulldozer away from the farm and went to go get the plow.

A sigh of relief came spilling from Chris's mouth as he then thought about the conversation his Aunt and Uncle had. He wasn't going to lie he felt extremely homesick at the moment. Even though he would like to be sleeping in a comfy bed and have a nice meal he needed to focus on helping Mrs. Brisby. It was more important than worrying about if he would be back into his normal size anytime soon.

Chris decided that it was time to head on back to Mrs. Brisby's house and he started to turn in a random direction to get back to Mrs. Brisby's home but when he walked a few inches in the direction he was going without looking he felt a warm breeze blow through his hair. However, when he got a taste of the warm breeze it didn't taste like some breezes would taste or feel. Instead, it tasted like… cat food.

His eyes widened nervously when he then heard a yawn and some purring. Chris slowly looked up and he almost had a heart attack when he saw Dragon in front of him sleeping in the sunlight. His breath was caught in his throat as he watched Dragon sleeping. The last time he saw him was yesterday and he broke the tree branch on a tree that he and Mrs. Brisby were on and they both fell towards the waterfall. Chris was somewhat glad to know that Dragon was alive and that Billy wouldn't cry about him being dead like he cried about his old pet dead. However, he didn't want Dragon to see him after he cut his back with his pocket knife.

It seemed that Dragon hadn't noticed Chris's presence at the moment and Chris knew that if he even made one wrong move, Dragon would wake up and attack him like a wild cat he was. He carefully started to walk backward slowly as far as he could and as he did he tried to breathe steadily so it wouldn't catch the cat's attention. He knew that cats had good hearing and not only that he also knew that cats had good senses of smell. He was toast if he made one error either way. This thought didn't comfort him at all but he tried not to think about it too much.

As he kept walking backward he didn't even think to notice that a branch was behind him and at that, the heel of his foot pressed on it and it snapped. Chris flinched and froze in fear as he kept staring at Dragon, waiting for the worst. Dragon started to move and as he did, Chris held his breath. He cursed in his head for not watching his step and because he didn't he was in for some trouble.

However, to Chris's surprise, Dragon only rolled over to his other side and he continued to take his catnap. Chris wasn't sure how to respond to that but either way, he didn't want to stick around here too long. He looked around him to make sure no one saw him and when he thought that the coast was clear he continued to back away from Dragon, really making sure he wouldn't step on anything else. The first time was only lucky and as for the second time, he might not be so lucky.

When Chris was about halfway away from Dragon near a couple of rocks and a tree, he then noticed something strange beyond the barn and the house. He wasn't sure what it was but it looked to be small gray figures and they seemed to be around Chris's height, only they were a few inches taller. Confused on what he was trying to see, Chris wanted a better look at these strange figures and so when he saw the couple of rocks that led up to a tree branch on a tree hanging close to the ground he decided to climb it. Chris carefully got on the first rock then stepped onto the other rock that was bigger and Chris managed to haul himself up onto it and then he grabbed the tree branch above him and then he pulled himself up, trying not to fall from it and it'd been a long time since the last time Chris even climbed a tree and luckily his memories haven't failed him as he was now sitting on it like he was a kid again. He tried not to look down for if he did he might freak out and fall from the tree branch and cause some sort of damage to his body parts. Even though Chris wasn't one to be afraid of heights he was short and with him being short and sitting on a tree branch that was above the ground a few feet he felt nauseated about falling from it.

Chris shielded his eyes from the sun as he looked to where he saw the gray figures and when he did he started to get a better look at what they were. They were indeed small and they were rodents and not just any rodents. These rodents were ones that made people have musophobia.

Rats.

Chris's brow furrowed as he looked at these rats confused. They looked like they were marching in columns. Not exactly marching but they were slowly moving in a line. There were a dozen of them at least and at first, Chris could not see what they were up to but then he saw something moving between them and behind them.

"What the…?" Chris whispered to himself.

He saw what looked like a thick piece of rope, a long piece. However, Chris noticed that it didn't look like rope. It looked more like… cable. Yes, there was no denying it, these rats were carrying cable. Chris could see that it was an electric cable, the heavy black kind used wiring and strung on telephone poles.

Chris blinked his eyes to make sure he was seeing this correctly and sure enough his eyes weren't playing with him. Those rats were stealing from his Uncle and Aunt's house. He started to wonder why on earth these rats needed cable. Out of everything and they took cable? Did they think it was food or something like it was black licorice? Rats were known for taking food from garbage cans and such but seeing them have cable did not make any sense whatsoever.

He then remembered his Aunt talking to him about how they were having a rat situation and these very rats must've been the rats that his Aunt was referring to. Chris then wondered how they managed to not get caught already and how Dragon hadn't picked up their scent. Speaking of Dragon he still hadn't woken up yet which was strange considering he was a very active cat, even when he was a kitten he was very active. Chris then remembered that Dragon was growing old and when pets like Dragon grow older they get too tired to do anything and just sleep all day. Either that or Dragon was just too lazy.

Chris continued to watch them and he saw that they were taking the cable in the direction of where his Aunt's wild rose bush was. His Aunt cherished that rose bush and she made sure that it was perfectly healthy almost every day like her life depended on it. It was a nice looking rose bush and it was concealed and protected by dense tangles of fiercely sharp thorns. Then to Chris's surprise, he saw that these rats were going through some entrance in the rose bush like it was nothing.

It seemed like he was watching these rats for a while and as he did he could see that these rats knew what they were doing and they were as well-drilled as if they were soldiers in the military. It was incredible what Chris was seeing and these rats were working together to haul the cable to the rose bush and as if it was a signal they would all pull together, moving the wire about a foot. Then they would pause, rest, and heave again. After about twenty minutes the rats all then made it inside the rose bush and the last bit of wire then disappeared without any sort of trace.

The whole time he was watching he was dumbfounded. Who would have anything to say about it? This whole scene he saw was about as unexplainable as finding a dollar bill on the side of the street and wondering who dropped it.

His back then met with the tree and Chris tried to put this all together. Rats breaking into the house and stealing without getting unnoticed by anyone. How was that possible? Chris rubbed his temples finding this very confusing.

However, he did not want to think about this right now and decided that he needed to get back to the Brisby's home. He wasn't sure if he should tell Mrs. Brisby about what he saw because he didn't know if she would say if he was crazy or not and crazy if he was or not he saw what he saw and that scene he saw would not be erased from his mind.

After some time of walking, Chris finally made it back to the Brisby's house. He didn't bother to take notice that he was now sore again from all the walking and running he's been doing as he couldn't stop thinking about what he saw. He sighed and tried to stop thinking about it but it kept coming back to his mind nonstop. The plow was gone and he heard and noticed his Uncle bringing it back to the farm.

He then walked inside the house and started to descend the stairs and as he did he saw Mrs. Brisby and her three children sitting at their makeshift table and they were quietly eating. Mrs. Brisby had a makeshift cup in her hands and she then took a sip of her drink from it. It seemed like they were still frightened of the incident that happened a while ago and Chris could understand that.

When he got to the bottom of the steps the four mice looked up at Chris and when they did, they looked relieved to see him. "Chris!" The children shouted and they got up from their seats and went to hug Chris and this took Chris by surprise.

He only knew these three for a couple of days and already they were hugging him like he was part of their family. "Hey, you three."

"What happened, Chris?" Martin asked. "You just disappeared but now here you are."

Chris tried to smile and he wasn't even sure if his smile looked like a real one. "It's a long story but I'm back with no broken bones."

"We were wondering if you'd ever come back," Teresa said. "We knew you would though."

Chris then felt his jean jacket being tugged and he looked down to see Cynthia tugging at it as she looked up at him. "I mostly knew you would though."

"She's been saying nonstop that you'd be coming back and she didn't want to believe that you wouldn't return."

Cynthia nodded.

Cynthia is too cute, Chris thought. "Well thank you for believing that I would return, Cynthia, even you two."

The children smiled up at Chris. "We like having you around, Chris," Martin said. "You're better to be around with than Auntie Shrew."

"Martin," Mrs. Brisby said after being silent for some time now and she had her brow furrowed.

Martin looked at Mrs. Brisby. "It's true though." Mrs. Brisby's expression didn't change and then Martin sighed. "Sorry…"

Mrs. Brisby placed her cup down and then sighed. "Children, do you mind getting some fresh air? I need to talk to Chris and I'll call you when you can come back in."

The children looked at each other but obeying their Mother they started to make their way outside. Chris could see that she was thinking about something and that she needed to talk to him about it. Without hesitation, Chris walked over to the nearest chair, pulled it out, and then sat in it. He then folded his hands and placed them onto the table. Mrs. Brisby was silent as she was deep in thought and Chris tilted his head.

"Where were you?" Mrs. Brisby asked.

Chris felt bad that he didn't tell Mrs. Brisby that he was following his Uncle back to the farm. He was in too much of a rush that he didn't want to lose any information that could've proved to be useful. Luckily he got the information he needed.

"Sorry, I was following my Uncle back to the farm for a good reason and I'm glad I did," Chris said. "My Uncle's not going to plow tomorrow; he's going to plow in five days. I'm not sure if that'll be enough time to figure things out but that's what I heard my Uncle say." He didn't want to mention the part about the rats to her but when it felt right maybe then he would tell her about it.

Mrs. Brisby's eyes widened at the news Chris said. "Five days…" She then looked away as she was thinking about something again.

"Something on your mind?" Chris asked.

Mrs. Brisby was tracing her finger around the top of her makeshift cup as she was still thinking about something. "Auntie Shrew told me something that I should consider doing…"

Chris sat back at his seat as he was now interested in knowing what the shrew told her. "What did she tell you?"

Mrs. Brisby was silent for a minute but she then sighed and looked back at Chris. "While we were heading back to my house she told me that I should consider seeing… the Great Owl."

Chris furrowed his brow confused. He wondered why the shrew would tell Mrs. Brisby to see some sort of owl. Did she want to put her life in danger? He could see that Mrs. Brisby didn't want to see this owl because they did after all eat mice.

He then wondered why Mrs. Brisby called this owl great. There were plenty of owls around the area and this supposed owl was known to be the great one. Chris, however, had one big question in mind: Who was the Great Owl?

"The Great Owl?" Chris said. "Who's the Great Owl?"

"He is one of the oldest owls to live in the forest," Mrs. Brisby said. "Some say in the world. Whenever someone doesn't know what to do some of the animals go to him in hopes of seeking some sort of guidance. I don't know much about him but what I do know is that he'll sometimes answer your question and sometimes he won't, it depends on how he feels."

Chris had read about owls and in one book he read that in Greek mythology, owls were known for as a sign of wisdom. These owls were said to be connected to the goddess of wisdom, Minerva. Owls also had a fearsome reputation over the centuries and Chris read about how many human cultures have feared the owl and connected them to many negative things, darkness and mysteries. Chris also recalled reading how other cultures have seen the owl as a symbol of prophecy and wisdom. It was often connected to the nighttime, the moon, and the feminine side of life.

They were interesting facts which brought Chris to wonder if this owl was wise and would maybe help them. However, he didn't want to push Mrs. Brisby into going because she did look scared to even meet the Great Owl. If she didn't want to go then he wouldn't pressure her into going. However, something within him told him that the shrew was right about seeing the Great Owl.

It might've been a stupid idea to even consider seeing the Great Owl but Chris thought that maybe they should take that chance. Even if it might kill them.

A/N- Hey, guys! Another chapter down and I know I said I was going to make some corrections and changes to this story but I thought screw it and got this chapter updated because I think some of you were waiting a long time for this chapter to come. Well, here you go! I will continue to make the corrections and changes to the other chapters soon so hopefully it'll look neater then.

If you noticed the chapter title you might recognize the same chapter name from the book and if you read the book you'll know what I mean. Plus I didn't know what to call this chapter so that's how I ended up with that chapter title XD

Also, I would like to give a big thank you to Taylor Marshall. Taylor has given me a suggestion for the state of setting of where the story should take place and if you read it it was Virginia. Taylor has also given me another state setting of another particular place but I won't say anything about it yet. In the sequel it will be said though. I didn't even think about a state of setting but I would like to thank Taylor Marshall again for that and the credit goes to you Taylor, thank you once again.

I will have another chapter on here posted soon and until then, later!