Chapter 11
Into the Rosebush
It was a long night for all of them and Jeremy was taking Chris and Mrs. Brisby back to Mrs. Brisby's winter home. They barely spoke a word to each other and Jeremy hadn't even spoken about Chris's "sparkly". Mrs. Brisby didn't even seem worried about falling off of Jeremy as she looked lost in her thoughts. Seeing the Great Owl was certainly quite the experience for Chris and it was like he was on some wild quest for some buried treasure and the way he would need to find it was to speak to some wise owl like the Great Owl. Even thinking about that owl still amazed Chris in a way as he has never seen an owl like the one he and Mrs. Brisby spoke to and the eyes… those eyes were very alien-like. Almost like that owl had some sort of magic within him.
However, Chris couldn't get his mind off of the conversation he and Mrs. Brisby had with the Great Owl; his name was not unknown? Sure, the animals knew about his family members but him? How could his name possibly be known to them? He didn't even live on that farm. He just came over to visit his family there whenever possible. Chris was trying to wrap his head around all this as it was getting too strange by the second and who could blame him? With the situation he was in pretty much there was so much mystery that he had not known about but now that he was the size of a mouse he was now tangled up in not only this quest to help Mrs. Brisby but trying to figure out what the Great Owl meant by what he said.
Chris was even still confused as to why they needed to see the rats, what could they even do to help? They practically have been breaking and entering his family's home and have been managing to get away with what they've been doing without Dragon even managing to catch them. What was even special about them anyway? For all Chris knew they were probably brutes and when they even tried to visit them they might even kill them on the spot with an ambush of some sort. Chris tried not to think that would be the case, maybe they would be reasonable but what would happen if they saw him as a human though? Even thinking about the many scenarios of what may happen made Chris almost gulp.
A few more minutes later, they had finally arrived at the Brisbys's home-which was now pretty dark inside-and Jeremy lightly settled them to the ground, and when he did he lowered himself so Chris and Mrs. Brisby could get off. "Well, here we are," the crow said.
Chris got off and after he did he helped Mrs. Brisby down and Mrs. Brisby allowed him to help her. After Chris helped her down he looked up to the black crow. "Thanks for the lift, Jeremy."
"No problem, it's the least I can do."
"Well, we truly appreciate it," Mrs. Brisby said kindly. "We should head inside though."
"Right, and you're always right. Mrs. Briz." Jeremy then looked to the sky and he squinted his eyes as if he was trying to figure out if he saw some sort of apparition or not.
Chris and Mrs. Brisby looked at the crow confused and when they looked to the sky they saw nothing and looked back to him. "Hey, Jeremy? Everything alright?" Chris asked.
"Huh?" Jeremy then looked at Chris and smiled awkwardly with a nervous laugh. "Well, when it gets very dark out it can be very hard for me to see."
"You managed to get us back here alright though."
"Well, the night was still pretty light a while ago but now it's pretty dark and when it gets this dark I sometimes tend to bump into a lot of objects while I'm flying."
The tiny human then tilted his head. "Is it that bad?"
Jeremy started to rub his neck with embarrassment. "I once flew into a spider web and when I did I ended up crashing into a tree."
Chris and Mrs. Brisby widened their eyes at what the crow said. "Oh my," The field mouse said. "That must've been awful."
"I managed to make it out alright though and I have been very lucky so far. Nothing can stop ol' Jeremy, no sir." Jeremy then started to laugh.
Jeremy was certainly lucky he didn't get himself killed and Chris could only imagine the type of injury Jeremy got in the end and it was probably not pretty either. Jeremy was a pretty nice bird but he tended to be very clumsy and a little annoying in a lot of situations. Chris decided not to comment on what Jeremy said and instead crossed his arms as he continued to stare at the black crow.
After a little bit of laughing, Jeremy then looked back at the two. "Well, I guess I should be on my way now."
"Are you sure?" Mrs. Brisby asked. "You're welcome to sleep around here."
"Nah, it's okay. I think I'll be alright. I just need to be careful is all. Let's just hope I don't break anything."
"Like a wing?" Chris said.
When Chris said what he said, Jeremy nervously laughed. "Precisely…" Then, as if he was offered some candy, his eyes lit with an idea as he gasped and smiled. He then looked to Chris. "Say, uh… if you changed your mind about wanting to keep your sparkly could I maybe… you know borrow it so I can get home?"
Since Jeremy first saw Chris's "sparkly", Chris could tell how much the crow really wanted it but he was still sticking by his decision of not giving it to the crow. The necklace seemed to be his only key to getting back to his normal size but the question was how was he supposed to activate that power? So far the pendent worked two times, but it still wouldn't get Chris back to his normal size. Chris wasn't sure when or how he would get back to his normal size but he hoped that he would be able to figure something out. As of now though Mrs. Brisby needed his help and Chris would do anything to help Mrs. Brisby out, she was his friend and friends never refused to help.
Chris then crossed his arms as he continued to stare at Jeremy. "Still haven't changed my mind, Jeremy." The small human then thought of something and as he did he hummed and placed the side of his finger on his chin. Mrs. Brisby and Jeremy watched as Chris was thinking and they did not interrupt his thoughts. After a minute of thinking, Chris then looked back up to Jeremy and it was clear in his green eyes that he thought of an idea. "I do have a solution though." Chris then went through one of his pockets and when he did he pulled out his flashlight and turned it on. "This should help you get home, make sure you turn it off when you get back home by sliding this button down." Chris then showed the crow what he meant by sliding the button down and up a couple of times. "Just make sure you bring it back to me tomorrow." The small human then extended his flashlight to Jeremy.
As the crow looked at Chris's flashlight he gasped and then started to smile. "This is by far the best help anyone's ever given me! Thanks a lot, Chris! I owe you one!"
"Don't mention it. Glad to be of help."
"Well then, I will see myself home now. See you two tomorrow!" With that, Jeremy took off from the ground, took Chris's flashlight, and flew off into the night with the flashlight helping him guide through the dark of the night. Chris and Mrs. Brisby watched as the crow left and they watched until the last of the bright light from Chris's flashlight was gone.
When Jeremy disappeared, Mrs. Brisby then looked to Chris and smiled softly. "That was very generous of you, Chris."
The way that the field mouse spoke made the small human smile weakly towards her. How Mrs. Brisby could be so kind-hearted Chris wasn't sure but he liked that about her. She wasn't demanding, pushy, or selfish: she was an angel, an angel with a strong heart.
Realizing that Chris hadn't responded yet, he shook his head and cleared his throat. "Thank you, just uh… wanted to help the crow out. We should probably head inside now."
Chris cursed in his head as he felt awkward at that moment, he shouldn't have to should he? So why did he all the sudden feel like what he said felt off-putting? Mrs. Brisby didn't look at him weirded out, but he felt like that maybe she was thinking of him as awkward at that moment. Chris barely looked awkward in front of anyone and the fact that he now felt awkward was very surprising, to say the least.
The field mouse then nodded as that smile was still on her face. "Of course."
With that, the two started to make their way inside and as they were, Chris couldn't help but think about how he stared at Mrs. Brisby. He had never stared at someone like that for a while and the fact that he did that was very strange. Maybe since he turned very small he's been developing some small changes. After all, it couldn't have been something else… right?
Ever since yesterday, the police have been doing all they could to find Christopher Fitzgibbons but there was no sign of him. A search team was searching in the woods near the Fitzgibbon farm once more to see if they missed anything and there were five in the team, including Sheriff Reeds. Sheriff Reeds was wondering how Chris could've gone missing, perhaps someone kidnapped him or something like that, but who would want to kidnap Christopher Fitzgibbons? The Sheriff had his notes still and kept them with him so he wouldn't forget something and according to Mrs. Fitzgibbons Chris had no enemies… or did he?
It was very dark outside and it was around 11:00 something so the team had to get their flashlights out. The team had been calling out Chris's name for a very long time but all that came back was their echoes but they kept on looking and calling out for Christopher. They would eventually need to call it a night and even the thought of it sounded absurd when their main focus was finding Christopher they needed their sleep though.
Everywhere the Sheriff looked all he saw was the wildlife and no human being could be seen anywhere. The Sheriff would do everything he could though to find Chris, dead or alive and the Sheriff hoped that they wouldn't find Chris dead. Otherwise, he would need to report the bad news to the Fitzgibbons, and losing a family member was indeed hard to try and accept. The person either tried to get through and move on or they stayed miserable for the rest of their lives.
A few more minutes passed and it seemed like they wouldn't find anything… or so they thought. "Sheriff!" One of the officers called to Sheriff Reeds. "I think I found something!"
Sheriff Reeds looked to where the officer called to him and when he did he went over to him to see what he had found. The officer was shining his flashlight onto something and the Sheriff bent down to see what it was. What he saw made him pull out his notebook and look through what Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgibbons said and after he did he looked to his team. "Can one of you get me the gloves? I think we found Christopher Fitzgibbons's belongings."
On the ground there laid a dirty bag that was badly ripped which some sort of animal may have done and a broken Kodak camera and it only meant one thing: they may have been on the right track of finding Christopher Fitzgibbons.
It was an early morning on the Fitzgibbons farm and the rooster was sounding the morning alarm. The sun was shining brightly with a clear blue sky to be seen on the horizon and it looked like it wouldn't rain at all. It was a perfect day to do anything like running, hopscotch, jacks, bird watching, anything. Unfortunately for Chris and Mrs. Brisby they wouldn't be doing those sorts of things today.
A while ago the two left Mrs. Brisby's house and the children had to stay behind while they went to the rosebush that Chris's Aunt adored all too much. Out of all the things, why was the rosebush the one place these rats had to choose as their home? How could that rosebush even fit a ton of rats in there when there were thorns clear as day to be seen? Chris then remembered that rats could dig, but still, Chris would've thought that the rats would've wanted to make a home somewhere inside the house at least. Chris wasn't sure what to think anymore, ever since they spoke to the Great Owl things were just getting confusing to him. The rats were the main ones that were confusing him a lot.
Sneaking to the rosebush was a hard task for the two though as they saw Chris's Aunt and Dragon outside. Chris's Aunt was doing laundry while Dragon was sleeping and that was two times now Chris saw Dragon sleeping and he didn't even notice him and his field mouse friend sneaking to the rosebush. The fact that Dragon was sleeping though was a good thing as Chris and Mrs. Brisby needed to find a way into the rosebush without touching the thorns, it would be a risky task but they needed to speak to the rats. Chris saw the rats yesterday get into his Aunt's rosebush and if they could get into the rosebush then there was no reason why he and Mrs. Brisby couldn't.
As Chris was trying to help Mrs. Brisby find a passageway he couldn't help but think about how big the rosebush was compared to him. When he was bigger it just looked like a bush but at the size, he was now it looked like a dense forest. It was hard though finding a way inside it and no matter where they looked all they saw were intertwined branches with very sharp thorns and every so often they had to look to be sure that no one was watching them. Dragon was still sleeping though and Chris's Aunt was still doing laundry and whenever Chris looked to his Aunt he almost wanted to run towards her and get her attention, but he knew that deep down that helping Mrs. Brisby was much more important than getting his Aunt's attention. Chris missed her as much as he missed his Uncle and cousin but right now he needed to focus on finding a way inside the rosebush.
A couple of minutes passed and they had no luck, but they kept on looking and as they were looking, Chris noticed something strange at the corner of his eye. When he turned his head he saw a baby's baptismal gown across the yard. At first, he thought he was seeing things but after he rubbed his eyes and looked again he still saw the gown moving. Chris blinked his eyes in confusion as the gown was now nearing Dragon and when it did it jumped over Dragon's foreleg as he was still sleeping. After it did, Chris managed to get a better look from where he was, and when he did his eyes widened when he saw who it was in the gown: Jeremy.
Jeremy was looking at Dragon as he pulled down the makeshift hood of the gown he was using and when he did it looked like he was going to sneeze a couple of times but he managed to suppress them. The crow then pulled the hood over his head and started to walk carefully away from Dragon and make his way over to the rosebush. Chris wasn't sure what Jeremy was doing but he thought that the crow looked ridiculous.
Mrs. Brisby was then next to Chris and she was about to ask him what he was looking at but when she saw what Chris was looking at her eyes widened as well. Jeremy didn't look like he saw them but he began to whisper as he continued walking. "Mrs. Briz! Chris!" The crow then didn't see a low branch that was in his path and before Chris could even warn Jeremy about it the crow had already tripped over it. "Oh, excuse me, pardon me."
Chris and Mrs. Brisby slowly walked over to the crow as he laughed a little and when they did, Chris spoke to him in confusion. "Jeremy? What the hell? Why are you wearing that?"
Jeremy looked to Chris and Mrs. Brisby and when he did he was smiling. "I'm in disguise," he said theatrically and then started to laugh diabolically.
As Jeremy laughed diabolically, Chris palmed his face and shook his head. "Good god…"
"Jeremy, please, not now," Mrs. Brisby whispered as she went back to searching for a way in the rosebush. "We're trying to find the entrance, and these thorns are very dense."
After what Mrs. Brisby said, Chris nodded. "What she said." He then looked at the crow confused. "What're you even doing out here?"
"Well, I'm here to help you two," Jeremy responded to Chris's question. "I'm at your service. Oh, and before I forget here's your device you let me borrowed, Chris." Jeremy extended the flashlight he had in his talons towards Chris. "Thanks for letting me use it once more it really was helpful."
"Sure thing and thanks for returning it, Jeremy," Chris then took his flashlight from Jeremy, and after he did he tested it to see if it was still working and luckily enough for him it was indeed still working and he was very glad that Jeremy listened to his directions.
"No problem, I made sure that it would be in perfect condition when I returned it to you. I also did say that I owed you one so here I am ready to help you and Mrs. Briz."
Chris hadn't looked back at Jeremy as he was still looking at his flashlight and as he was this gave him an idea. Once more he turned on his flashlight and shined it towards the rosebush to see if he could try and find anything. He then looked to Mrs. Brisby. "This should help us out better." He then walked towards where Mrs. Brisby was and started to look inside where Mrs. Brisby was looking.
"Oh, here, let me help you two out…" Jeremy then stuck his head through the upper part of the rosebush to see if he could find anything, but when he did a couple of the thorns managed to prick him. "OW YEOUCH!"
The small human and field mouse looked to Jeremy with their eyes widened and Mrs. Brisby didn't hesitate to jump up and wrap her arms around Jeremy's beak so he wouldn't draw any attention. Jeremy started to muffle as Mrs. Brisby continued to keep his beak shut and Chris was so glad that she managed to close Jeremy's beak in time. Just to be sure, Chris checked to see if his Aunt or Dragon heard the crow, and to his relief Dragon was still sleeping while his Aunt was still doing laundry.
"Will you keep quiet?" Mrs. Brisby said to Jeremy as he continued to muffle. "They'll hear you! We've got to find this Nicodemus before Chris's Uncle gets the tractor fixed any day now!" After she spoke to Jeremy she took her arms off of Jeremy's beak carefully and then went back to searching.
"I'll keep a lookout," Jeremy said and then tried to take off, unfortunately, his "disguise" got caught on the bush and the dress pulled him back down and he ended up hanging upside down like the clothes that Chris's Aunt was hanging up and Chris and Mrs. Brisby watched as it all happened.
Chris turned his flashlight off and he quickly went over to Jeremy. At this point the crow was just making things complicated and if anything he was probably this close to getting them caught and that was the last thing Chris wanted. If his Aunt saw him at the size he was at she may have screamed. No way, he didn't want her screaming or anything else if she saw him like this.
"Will you…!" Chris almost started to shout at Jeremy but he then lowered his voice and closed his eyes. He tried to calm down so he wouldn't make a scene and after he did he looked back to the crow and whispered. "You're going to get us caught! You want that?"
The crow started to look around him and as he did he spoke. "I don't see anybody coming."
All the sudden, Jeremy fell to the ground with a flop with the dress still on him. Chris started to rub his temples as he was getting more annoyed with the crow by the second. He wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed or not for Jeremy but either way, time felt like it was being wasted.
"If you really wanted to help us, you'd go away," Mrs. Brisby whispered as Jeremy started to sit up.
Mrs. Brisby and Chris then went back to searching for an entrance in the rosebush as Chris turned on his flashlight once more and as they continued to search, Jeremy spoke to them in a worried voice. "Why that's very brave of you two, but I can't… I can't leave you guys here alone. Why, if anything were to happen, think… think of the children!"
At the mention of the children, Jeremy did have a point there. If something bad were to happen to Chris and Mrs. Brisby what then? What would happen to the children? Neither of the two told the children where they were going because they didn't want them to worry about them. They also didn't want them to come with them because they didn't want them to get hurt. It was a mission these two had to do on their own but what of the children?
Chris hated the thought of something happening to the both of them 'cause then if they were gone for a very long time the children would have no mother they would take care of them. Having no parent was probably the worst thing imaginable and it would probably crush the children if something bad happened to Mrs. Brisby. The thought of a child getting killed was also the hardest thing to think about but Chris tried not to think too much about it and before he could think about it any further he heard Mrs. Brisby gasp.
"That's it," Mrs. Brisby said with a smile on her face as she folded her hands.
"Huh?" The boys said in unison.
Mrs. Brisby looked to Chris and gave him a look that told him that she had an idea and she then turned to Jeremy and placed her hands on the bark of a branch near the dress that was still on Jeremy. "Jeremy, someone… strong should be protecting my children. In case something was to happen." As she spoke she fixed up a little of the dress that was like a sleeve for Jeremy.
Chris watched what Mrs. Brisby was doing and as he was he realized what Mrs. Brisby was doing. If they were to keep on searching for the entrance without Jeremy causing a scene Mrs. Brisby would convince Jeremy to keep an eye on her children. If Chris was being honest right now he thought that was a clever idea and he had no idea that Mrs. Brisby was a good actor and right now she was nailing it. Although he wasn't sure how good Jeremy was with children, but he could only hope that Jeremy would do okay with that job.
"Oh, you mean…" Jeremy spoke and then he all the sudden had a silly smile plaster on his face as he leaned against one of the branches and pointed at himself. "Hey! How 'bout me?"
"Oh… would you?" The field mouse said as she laid her upper body on one of the branches and she fluttered her blue eyes up at the crow very convincingly.
As Mrs. Brisby was putting on a good act for Jeremy like she was trying to seduce him, Chris did everything he could not to laugh. This was just too good for him to see and seeing Jeremy fall for it was just icing on the cake. Chris was no expert on acting but he thought that Mrs. Brisby was still doing a good job at that.
"Yeah, sure," Jeremy responded. "That'd be terrific practice!" As he spoke, Mrs. Brisby got off the branch and got next to Chris. "Girls can't resist a guy who's good with kids, you know, domestic type. Play games, help out domestic!" As he said all that he continued to look at Mrs. Brisby as he hung his head upside down on the branch he was on.
"Yes. Yes, domestic." Jeremy then got down from the branch and rested one of his wings on it as he continued to stare at Mrs. Brisby. "Now whatever you do, don't tell them where we are."
"My lips are sealed, Mrs. Briz." As the crow said that he made a zip motion across his beak and then flew off, or at least tried to.
Mrs. Brisby then waved to Jeremy. "Bye."
Chris also started to wave at Jeremy. "Yeah, see ya, Jeremy."
The crow looked back to the small human and field mouse with that smile still on his face. "Good luck with the rats!" He then saluted to them sharply and when he did the dress fell off him but he quickly put it back on him and started to leave. Mrs. Brisby looked to Chris and when she did he gave her a thumbs up and Mrs. Brisby smiled softly at that. They were about to look again in the rosebush but they heard Jeremy laugh and come back towards them and when they did they both rolled their eyes at the same time. They looked back to Jeremy and he placed one of his wings on one of the bricks that were surrounding the rosebush and his other wing on his hip and he spoke to Mrs. Brisby once more. "Where do you live?"
Chris looked at Jeremy like he was crazy. Was he serious? Jeremy took them back to Mrs. Brisby's home last night and already he forgot where Mrs. Brisby lived? How could that crow even get around places without getting himself killed?
"By that big stone in the garden," Mrs. Brisby replied. "Just stay out of trouble."
"Not to worry, Mrs. Briz. I love kids and kids love me." Jeremy then started to walk away and as he was he was doing some rapping and some weird dance moves and as he was Chris thought that he was being ridiculous. "Kids love me and I love kids, I a-love-a kids, and-a kids a-love…"
The crow didn't watch where he was going and all the sudden he accidentally tripped over Dragon's leg. Luckily for Jeremy Dragon was still sleeping but the cat then wrapped his forelegs around him like he was a teddy bear. Jeremy did everything he could to suppress his sneezes and Chris and Mrs. Brisby watched as the crow was struggling. Jeremy tried to fly and pull the gown out of Dragon's grasp and as he was it looked like he couldn't suppress one of his sneezes and it wasn't long until he finally sneezed, causing the gown to inflate like a balloon and it all ended up with him propelling into the sky.
Chris winced as he saw Jeremy propel in the air, but he then saw his Aunt and she was walking up to Dragon. She was wearing a blueish and greenish looking dress, an apron, a pink headband, and some tannish-looking heeled shoes. Chris's Aunt looked very annoyed when she saw Dragon had her dress and Chris was very glad that his Aunt didn't see that Jeremy was the one that took her dress. Once more, the crow got very lucky.
"Dragon," Chris's Aunt spoke in an angry tone. "You lazy kitty! Go catch some of those rats out in the barn!" She then took her gown from Dragon and when she did the cat opened one of his eyes then went back to sleep again. "I've never seen a cat sleep so much." Chris's Aunt then went back to do the laundry.
Chris watched his Aunt sadly and he didn't notice Mrs. Brisby watching him and it wasn't long until the field mouse approached him and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. The small human looked to the field mouse and when he did Mrs. Brisby spoke softly to him. "We should… keep looking."
The small human nodded as he knew that his friend was right and if they wanted to save Timmy they needed to speak to this Nicodemus who apparently lived in his Aunt's rosebush. He still didn't like the idea, but he was willing to help Mrs. Brisby no matter what. He then nodded and spoke. "Alright, let's get to it." He then started to help Mrs. Brisby look for an entrance with his flashlight still on.
As Chris was searching, Mrs. Brisby all the sudden called to him. "Chris, I think I may have found something."
Chris perked his head up to Mrs. Brisby and walked towards her. The field mouse was looking at something and he shined his light to where she was looking once he got next to her. There was a big looking hole that he never saw before and in that very hole there appeared to be a branch that stood out from the rest of the branches. It was close to the ground, the thorns were scraped off, and about a half-inch of it-just big enough for a handhold-was worn smooth. There was some rope tied around it and the more Chris looked at it the more he had a bad feeling about it. He didn't like the looks of it and thought that it was a bad sign that they shouldn't mess around with it.
Slowly and steadily, Mrs. Brisby reached her hand towards the branch and as she was, Chris looked at her with his eyes widened. "Wait, don't-"
Before he could finish what he was about to say, Mrs. Brisby pushed on the branch and when she did the branch yielded easily and she and Chris gasped. Then, they started to hear a creaking sound and they looked up to see some sort of door open and it opened all the way. What Chris saw shocked him. The rats had a door? That couldn't be possible…
Beyond that door, the two could see a trail, a sort of tunnel through the bush, wide enough so that the both of them could walk through it without touching thorns on either side. It looked pitch black in there and Chris thanked his lucky stars that he had his flashlight with him otherwise he wouldn't have been able to see in there. Maybe the necklace that was on him would've helped him see in the dark but he still wasn't sure how he needed to activate it.
Quietly, the small human and field mouse looked at each other, and as if they both knew what they were thinking they started to advance towards the entrance. Before they went inside they looked at each other and Chris could tell that Mrs. Brisby was very nervous about this so without saying a word he extended his hand towards her. If they were to go in there they would go in together as a team should and when he held her hand the first time they went to see the Great Owl she seemed to have calmed down and he hoped that holding her hand would relax her the second time.
Mrs. Brisby was a little hesitant, but she finally gave in and held Chris's warm hand, and together they walked through the entrance and made their way inside. Once they were inside the door slowly closed behind them with that same creaking sound. They finally got inside the rosebush but now they needed to find Nicodemus, but who knew what these rats would be like?
A/N- After these months of studying, business, and such I finally was able to sit down and work on chapter 11 for this. Sorry it took so long but so glad I could finally work on this fanfic and I hope to work on the next chapter very soon ^^