A Boy Called MOUSE

by Penny Dolan

  Vanya and Nick clapped each other on the back, and little Dog Toby danced around them. Adnam’s Dream seemed greater than ever.

  I could not find Kitty anywhere. I climbed the ladder to the walkway. I checked with all the lighting men and stagehands. I asked as the flymen swung the scenery back into position. No one had seen her. Nor was she tucked away in the boot room.

  At first I wondered if she was hiding away from Bellina Lander, but she wouldn’t do that, not on a night like this, not when she was in disguise. My bad feeling grew. Why hadn’t she taken the final bow as planned? Why had I had to run onstage myself? It was a mystery.

  Had she gone to the stage door to breathe some cool air? I didn’t find her, but I found Smudge snoring groggily on his chair, a bottle hugged to his chest.

  ‘Smudge?’ I tapped his arm.

  His eyes opened and goggled at me. I didn’t know what I’d done to make him stare so.

  ‘Have you seen Kitty?’

  Smudge was like a fish lifted from water. His mouth opened and closed. No sound came out other than a terrified gasping. All his blustering manner had gone.

  ‘Mouse? What are you doing here?’

  ‘Looking for Kitty. What’s wrong? Have you seen her?’

  Smudge groaned again, and his stupefied eyes closed.

  ‘Vanya!’ I yelled, racing back through the corridors. ‘Help!’

  Vanya lurched towards me. ‘Stop that noise! You’ll alarm Adnam’s guests.’

  I jumped at him. ‘Kitty’s disappeared, and something’s wrong with Smudge. You must come now!’

  Vanya thundered towards the stage door. He grabbed Smudge by his lapels and shook him awake. ‘What’s wrong with you? Have you seen Kitty go past? Tell me, quick.’

  Smudge’s bleary eyes blinked. ‘A man came. Didn’t want Kitty. Wanted ’im!’ He pointed at me sulkily.

  ‘What man?’

  ‘Little man wiv hard round eyes.’ The gin bottle smashed on the floor, and Smudge’s lips curled into an angry curse. ‘Devil’s spawn!’ He glared at me. ‘It’s your fault, Mouse. Coming here and getting in the way, spoiling poor young Kitty’s chances. I thought he was after you, didn’t I? Oh Gawd! He’s taken Kitty, hasn’t he?’ Smudge slumped down in his wooden seat. ‘I feel ill.’

  ‘Good,’ said Vanya. ‘Just feel ill and be quiet, you stupid fool. Let me think.’

  A little man? I knew this little man, and his name was Button. An awful chill ran right through me.

  Along the corridor trotted Flora and Dora, grizzling with alarm. Nick Tick, with Dog Toby, was in their wake.

  ‘Where’s Kitty?’ Flora whimpered. ‘She didn’t come for us. Did we make her angry with our dancing?’

  ‘Shh! Shh! No, my pets. Don’t worry,’ Vanya murmured. ‘Mouse and I will find her.’ He hugged them briskly, beaming. ‘Now, you are two lucky girls. Mr Nick – he will take you home. Is that how it will be, Mr Nick?’

  ‘Delighted, my dears,’ agreed the clockmaker hastily. ‘An absolute enchantment.’

  Dog Toby tipped his head to one side and looked at me. Then he looked up at Nick, wagged his tail and pattered to my side.

  ‘Good boy!’ said Nick. ‘Stay where you’ll be of use. Now, girls, we must go. Come, come!’ Flora and Dora trotted off obediently, holding Nick’s hands very tightly.

  We both knew Nick had to tell the Aunts about Kitty. There was someone else who had to be told too.

  .

  CHAPTER 64

  ADNAM’S LAIR

  Adnam’s suite of rooms was high in the green copper dome above the theatre. It was not where the cast went uninvited, especially when Adnam was trying to impress his backers with a private feast.

  ‘Sit, Toby,’ I said, and he squatted on his haunches. Vanya and I entered Adnam’s rooms unannounced.

  Heads turned as we made our rough and sudden appearance. Peter, startled, nearly spilled wine over one of the fine guests.

  Adnam rose to his feet with a lion’s lazy ease, laughing at a guest’s joke, but his eyes were not amused. Vanya would never have interrupted him unless there was a very serious problem, but Adnam needed to be sure this moment was shown as fun.

  ‘Aha! My little Puck has flown here for your delight!’ Adnam cried, tugging playfully at my strands of ivy. ‘Bow before my guests, my wild green boy!’ he ordered, so I made my deepest theatrical bow as if this was a finale all over again. ‘Apologies, my friends. I must leave you to attend to a small theatrical concern. Enjoy yourselves well until I return.’

  He bowed most energetically himself, then steered us quickly through to his private study, from where the street lamps below looked like gems laid out on the vast darkness of the city.

  ‘What’s wrong? Tell me!’ He grabbed Vanya’s arm.

  ‘Hugo, it is Kitty.’

  ‘My Kitty? She landed safely, didn’t she? There’s not been any accident?’

  Discovering that Adnam did know of our deception hardly made things happier now.

  ‘A man takes her away from backstage. He waits till we are all busy, then he snatches away Kitty.’

  ‘What did you see, Mouse?’

  ‘Nothing. I was still up on the walkway. I raced down when Kit didn’t come on for the final curtain.’

  ‘Yes, you were late.’ The frown deepened across his face. ‘But why Kitty? What will Indigo and Violet say? It is senseless!’

  A fear wormed into my mind. I am Puck, and Kitty is Puck. ‘I think . . . I’m sure . . .’ I stammered, holding out my green-stained arms, ‘that . . . that . . . person actually wanted me.’ How could I have brought this on Kitty?

  There was not enough time for long explanations. ‘Well, where will the man be, Mouse? Where will he have taken her?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Button was someone I’d always wanted to get away from, not go towards.

  Adnam whirled around. ‘Vanya? How can I get Kitty back? Do you have any thoughts about what we can do?’

  Vanya shook his mighty head. ‘I have no answer.’

  I shuddered as I said it. ‘Sir, I believe the man’s name is Mr Button.’

  Adnam grabbed at this horrid name as if it was an evil but necessary talisman. ‘Go find this Button, Vanya. Something must be done. Someone must know where he is – and where she is!’

  Suddenly he clasped his hand to his forehead. ‘Oh blessed Shakespeare! My guests! I must go back.’ He glanced around at his fine room as if it was a cage. ‘How can I carry on? The Albion is killing me,’ he said in anguish. ‘Vanya, do something, my friend. I’ll get rid of the guests as soon as I can.’ Despair lurked behind his smile as he strode back to his merry supporters.

  ‘Vanya?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes?’ The tall man gave a big sigh as if he knew what was coming next.

  ‘Why did Adnam call her my Kitty?’

  ‘That question is not for now, Mouse. Now is for action.’

  Dog Toby growled under his breath and pattered purposefully along the corridor.

  .

  CHAPTER 65

  POST HASTE

  The hired cab moved through the silent streets. The driver flicked the reins, immersed in his own thoughts. At this time of night, he had seen many odd incidents and strange people. He had learnt to listen carefully to directions and ask very few questions, especially about any large bags and sacks.

  Button packed away the acrid wad of cloth that had brought Puck, that naughty sprite, down to earth. The creature lolled limply, wrapped inside the bundle of sacking. Did the child know his value? Probably not. Did he know how much he had annoyed Button? He would, before long.

  As the horses cantered on, Button mused over his plans. He knew that Scrope would already be in a fit of anxiety. However, now he had seized the wretc
hed boy, he could play his trump card.

  His spies had told him – joy of joys, news of news – that the older brother had returned home. Though Scrope might find it hard to get money from his father, big brother Albert would have no such difficulty.

  Button twirled his stubby thumbs and chuckled to himself. He patted the letter tucked into his waistcoat.

  As they passed the post office, Button knocked on the door of the cab. The horses were reined to a halt, while Button leaned out and thrust the ominous envelope into the post box.

  ‘Hurry!’ Button snarled.

  As the cab turned a corner, the bundled sack rolled across the cab floor and stirred uncomfortably. Button moved his boot in case he needed to give the child a kick.

  What would he do when the brat woke up? A sly smile slipped across Button’s smooth cheeks, as he felt the cab slow for its destination. He’d do nothing for a while. He’d stow the brat in the back cellar until he had a better idea of the boy’s worth. It had better be plenty.

  And if not? Well, the river’s turbulent brown flood could always be relied upon to welcome any guests who had overstayed their usefulness. All was going his way.

  .

  CHAPTER 66

  ON THE SCENT

  ‘What’s wrong with this Toby dog, young Mouse?’ Vanya asked. ‘Why he is fuss, fuss, fuss?’

  The little dog was growling over something he’d found. He wagged his tail frantically and placed the object before me. It was a soft Puck-green shoe. Kitty’s!

  Immediately I remembered what a clever creature Toby was. ‘Vanya, listen!’

  We left a message for Adnam.

  In all the side streets around the theatre stood rows of cabs, ready to get any night folk home. Many had already taken one fare and returned. The weary nags, long noses hidden in hay bags, occasionally scraped their hoofs on the cobbles, while the drivers, wrapped in waterproofs and mufflers, dozed within their cabs.

  Toby, nose twitching, pattered along the rows, searching for Kitty’s scent. He whined, unable to find any answer.

  ‘Are you sure the dog can do this?’ Vanya grumbled, unimpressed.

  There were only three cabs ahead, waiting by a street lamp. The last had just returned to its stand, its horses sweating and tossing their manes.

  Toby ran towards it and stopped. He yelped three times and scratched insistently on the pavement.

  ‘I speak to this gentleman. All right?’ Vanya rapped on the cab door until a whiskery face appeared, wrapped in a muffler.

  Vanya thrust his bearded face towards the driver. ‘Mister, where was your last call?’

  The man refused to meet his eyes. ‘No need to tell you. Is there?’

  ‘Maybe there is, sir,’ Vanya said emphatically. ‘Because soon you may be meeting the good men from Scotland Yard, and it will be a happy chance if you have someone like me to speak about your helpfulness.’

  Whether Vanya’s size or Vanya’s words made the cabby speak up, I was not sure.

  ‘Well, I did think there was something odd,’ said the cabby slowly. ‘Besides, he left green stains smeared all over me upholstery. Can’t trust no one these days.’

  ‘How about you take us right there this minute, mister?’ Vanya growled, as we clambered inside the cab, Toby jumping up on to the seat beside me.

  The horses clip-clopped off down the lonely streets, snorting and rattling their reins.

  ‘Hey, cabman,’ called Vanya. ‘Not too close to the place. We must make a surprise.’

  After a while, the cab slowed down.

  ‘Over there.’ The driver pointed to the end of the terrace. ‘Down in that basement.’

  ‘You wait for us, mister. You better be here when we come out, or worse for you!’ hissed Vanya.

  We approached the place as quietly as cats. When we reached the top of the basement steps, Toby paused. He whimpered, softly, and Vanya got ready to act. I felt scared at the thought of facing Mr Button.

  .

  CHAPTER 67

  MISTAKEN IDENTITY

  Kitty woke, feeling strangely groggy. Rough sacking was dragged tight across her face. Her body ached and her knees were scraped and raw. Moments passed before she remembered what had happened when she had stepped back behind the scenery.

  Then she heard a voice, quite close. ‘Stay still, stupid boy! You’re not Master Puck this time. There’ll be no flying away from me now, Mouse.’

  Fear filled Kitty, turning her limbs to lead. She dared not move. Her mind began racing and her ears started listening, listening for any clue. Kitty almost shouted out that all this was a mistake, but she locked her jaws tight. Think! Was she safer just now as Mouse or as herself? Play for time, play for time. She counted, as she did when overcoming stage fright. One, two, three . . .

  Kitty tried to pretend she had drifted off to sleep, but she kept listening. Where was she? Each tiny sound echoed. Stone walls? The air stank with damp and with cheap tallow candles. Underground somewhere?

  Her unknown captor drank in gulps. He scraped a knife on a plate, and munched. What? She could smell it. Raw onions and cold fatty mutton.

  The man suddenly spoke, and Kitty almost moved, almost shrieked aloud.

  ‘Could give you some grub if you were awake, Mouse, but lucky for me, you aren’t. Now, I wonder which one of them relations will pay for you first, my wretched little bundle of money? Will it be your naughty uncle Scrope, or those parents in their fine, fine house?’

  Kitty opened her eyes in the darkness within the sack. Blackmail! Though it couldn’t be against Mouse’s Ma, because she certainly didn’t live in a fine house. Nor could it be the parents Ma spoke about, for surely they were drowned and dead.

  Her capturer was roaming round the room now, or so his tip-tapping boots told her. Kitty curled herself up, as if sleepily. She wrapped the sack into a tighter bundle around her body and gave a gentle snore, acting harder than she had ever acted before. She had to stay hidden as long as possible.

  If the man pulled away the sack, how soon would it be before he saw through the green paint and realised his mistake? If all he wanted was Mouse, what use was she to him, alive or dead? Kitty waited, and waited, hearing the man clear his throat and move around this room.

  Before long, time had lost its pattern. She might have been there five minutes or five hours. Certainly she had been there long enough to want a chamber-pot, and the pain in her gut was tightening.

  Kitty made herself think very hard about other matters. She thought about being onstage as she once was, dancing with her sisters. Silently she counted through the steps of one of their dances, but what would she do when the curtsy came? She changed her thoughts, concentrating instead on Adnam’s Dream. She recalled the words as they stood in the playscript, marked with notes and stage directions, until she felt she could touch the words on the printed pages. Even so, the ugly sacking scratched harshly at her mouth and eyes, and fear was picking away at her courage.

  Not far away, Kitty heard the pattering of paws, too eager to be any rat. Something scraped against a door. Somewhere near.

  A fat clammy hand grabbed at her wrist, and she couldn’t help gasping.

  ‘Don’t you dare move, Vermin,’ the man ordered, pinching hard. ‘Don’t say a word, rat-boy.’

  Wood crashed and splintered close by.

  .

  CHAPTER 68

  MORNING TEA

  The cosy had not been lifted from the teapot. The toast was untouched. On the breakfast tablecloth a letter lay open. Button’s unmistakable script delivered its precise message to Epton Towers.

  ‘What sort of a person can do this?’ Adeline paced about the morning room. ‘Isn’t it enough that our child is lost, without strangers making threats? Who knows if this child is our boy
anyway?’

  Albert stared bleakly out of the window. ‘We must do what this man asks for now, my dear, just in case it’s true.’

  ‘And say nothing to anyone? How can that be right, Albert?’ Adeline trembled with anxiety as she stopped by the window. Outside, the morning sun sparkled on the frosted lawn and the sky was a bright clear blue. ‘How can the day dawn so beautifully? Cruel, very cruel!’

  ‘You don’t suppose Scrope is behind this?’ Albert enquired.

  On the floor above, in his own study, Scrope pushed his fingers through his hair again and again. He stared at Button’s last letter, turning it over and over in his fingers. How could he deal with this request for money? What would happen if another letter arrived? Maybe he should tell Adeline.

  For so long he had wanted the boy gone, but had he truly wanted such a situation as this? The boy in such real danger? Maybe once . . . ? But now? Button’s invisible fingers dug at his heart. What could he do now? What could he say to his brother, and to Adeline? Scrope squirmed. It was all his fault!

  ‘Brother,’ Albert said, bursting into Scrope’s room and into his thoughts, ‘we have some terrible news.’

  Scrope, transfixed, jumped at Albert’s voice, sending Button’s letter skidding across the desk. He slapped his hand down across the sheet, but not before Albert saw that awful writing. He snatched the sheet up and read it. Then Albert held up the message that he and Adeline had just received.

  ‘Snap!’ Albert said, and he was not amused.

  Albert walked Scrope from his study. He took him along the carpeted corridor, down the marble stairs and into the library, where they found old Epsilon, blinking like a wrinkled tortoise, and the fair Adeline.

  ‘Tell us, Scrope,’ said Albert. ‘Tell us exactly what happened to Mouse!’

  Scrope’s whole frame shrank. Unable to explain, he mouthed silent half-shaped words. Then he raised one finger towards his father at the head of the table.