The Adventures of Henry Whiskers

by Gigi Priebe

  “These mice may have crossed the territory line by coming here,” said Silver Snout, “but they saved one of our own along the way.”

  Jeremy gave Henry a puzzled look, and for a moment, Henry didn’t understand either. Then it hit him. The baby rat! thought Henry. He let out a little puff of air.

  “I don’t like mice any more than you do,” the elder rat continued, “but they saved my grandson from Titus, so I’m grateful.”

  Snag seemed to be ignoring the speech until Silver Snout grabbed him by the throat.

  Nobody twitched a whisker.

  12

  ON THE COUNT OF THREE

  “YOU GOT LUCKY THIS TIME,” Snag snarled after Silver Snout released him from his grip. He stared threateningly at Henry. “Don’t think it will happen again. You better get going before your luck runs out.”

  Henry stood stock-still. He heard a few stifled squeaks from Isabel behind him. Jeremy stood by his side, planted like a statue.

  Snag shot Henry one more look before he skulked off, his rat pack following close behind.

  Henry let out his breath.

  “Can we go home now, Henry?” Isabel squeaked.

  Jeremy and Henry exchanged a worried glance.

  “We’re going to have to leave the car here, Henry,” Jeremy said, reading Henry’s mind.

  “We can’t do that. I promised I’d bring it back.”

  “Promised who?” asked Jeremy.

  “Myself, that’s who! And besides, I don’t want Warden to get suspicious if it’s missing. He might search the drawers and discover my family living there.”

  “But how can we get it back where it belongs if it’s out of gas?” Jeremy said. “We couldn’t be farther from home if we tried.” He tossed his paws hopelessly in the air.

  For the first time since their adventure began, Henry felt exhausted. He pictured himself curled up on his soft bed of cotton balls and cattail fluff with the smell of poppy-seed pie wafting through the air. Then a bolt of fear suddenly gripped him, snapping him out of his daydream.

  Henry felt a soft tap on his shoulder.

  When he turned, Henry saw the baby rat standing behind him.

  Silver Snout reached out and wrapped a paw around the young rat’s shoulders. “This is my grandson. His name is Widget.”

  The young rat looked at Henry and smiled. “You saved me,” he said. “That cat almost killed me, and you saved me.”

  “I’m afraid Widget got lost,” Silver Snout explained. “He wandered off and got himself into a dangerous situation.”

  Widget’s whiskers drooped and he looked down at his paws.

  “That’s what happened to me,” squeaked Isabel tenderly. “Henry and Jeremy saved me, too. Then we got chased down here by that horrible cat.”

  “Widget and I would like to return the favor and lend you a helping paw,” said Silver Snout. “We can escort you back to the border of Rat Alley.” Then the old rat turned and commanded: “All paws on deck!” And suddenly, dozens of rats from the crowd stepped out of the darkness.

  “We owe these mice our help. Who is willing to push this car up to the border?”

  A group of young, muscular-looking rats raised their tails to volunteer.

  Henry clapped his paws together and patted Isabel on the back reassuringly. Maybe this nightmare was finally going to end.

  Isabel and Widget jumped into the car. Isabel let Widget sit behind the steering wheel.

  “Ready, boys?” hollered Silver Snout at the back end of the car beside the other rats.

  Even though Henry and Jeremy were so much smaller than the rats, they felt obliged to help—or at least look as if they were.

  They joined the rats behind the car, and everyone leaned in to push.

  13

  SAFE PASSAGE

  “THIS IS AS FAR AS we can go,” Silver Snout announced when they reached the border of Rat Alley.

  Now they needed to hide the car from Snag and his pack, just in case. They buried it beneath a mound of moldy meat scraps, crinkled paper, crackly plastic bags, and smelly, slippery slime. Before they exchanged good-byes, Silver Snout asked, “Who among you is willing to stand guard until our friends can return for their car?”

  Two rats, named Diesel and Dodger, volunteered.

  “Well done, then!” said Silver Snout, turning to face Henry.

  “Thank you,” Henry said, looking up at Silver Snout and shaking his large paw. “Thank you for all your help. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come along.”

  At that moment, Henry had an idea. He thought it best to keep it quiet, so he pulled Silver Snout aside for a quick discussion while Isabel and Jeremy said their good-byes to Widget and the others. With a sigh of relief and a grateful smile, Henry turned to leave.

  As the three of them made their way toward home, though, something kept nagging at the edges of Henry’s mind. By the time they reached the familiar path back to the Whiskers’ place, Henry realized what it was and stopped abruptly. He turned and placed both paws on Isabel’s petite shoulders.

  “You have to go on by yourself, Izzy.” He glanced at Jeremy and then continued. “If Jeremy and I go with you, Mother won’t let us leave to get the car, and we can’t leave the car. You go home so she knows we are all safe.”

  A frightened look flitted across Isabel’s face. Her lower lip quivered. When tears escaped her control, Henry offered a calming thought. “If we’re not back before the Mouse Masquerade, you can get Uncle Charlie to send out a search party. But don’t say a word to anyone until then.”

  Isabel sniffled, nodded, and wiped her eyes. Henry gave her a brotherly embrace. He kissed her damp cheek and nudged her toward the crack in the floor above them.

  As soon as Henry thought Isabel was safely home, he and Jeremy took a different route into the dollhouse so that Mother Mouse wouldn’t see them.

  “It’s getting light out,” Henry said, noticing the palest light peeking into the entrance of the exhibit room. “Hurry!”

  Jeremy didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Nighttime was slipping into day, and time was running out if they were going to return the car under the blanket of darkness. They headed straight for one of the bedrooms, hoping the hot water bottle was still in the place where Henry remembered seeing it.

  “Here it is,” exclaimed Henry. “Do you think this will hold enough gas to get us home?”

  “It has to,” squeaked Jeremy.

  14

  TITUS

  DASHING BACK DOWN TO THE fleet of cars, Henry and Jeremy scurried over to the gas pump. “Fill ’er up!” Henry panted, holding the hot water bottle out for Jeremy to place the nozzle in. Hoping it would be enough to get them home, they wasted no time getting back to the Rat Alley border.

  Sticking to the shadows as much as possible, Henry took the lead. When the familiar mound of muck appeared and they could see Diesel and Dodger pacing on the far side of the car, Henry held up a paw to signal Jeremy to stop. He cautiously sniffed for danger, then waved Jeremy on. They scampered over to the car, where the two rats met them to help dig it out from hiding. They filled the gas tank as quickly as possible and thanked Diesel and Dodger before rushing to leave.

  “Ready to roll?” Henry whispered to Jeremy as he climbed into the driver’s seat.

  “You bet!” Jeremy replaced the gas cap and hopped in the car. He tossed the hot water bottle in the back, and Henry started the engine.

  Just as the car began to inch forward, Isabel appeared out of nowhere, pumping her two front paws in the air. “Stop!” she hollered.

  Henry braked and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

  “Where did you come from?” squeaked Jeremy.

  “I backtracked from home,” Izzy replied, darting over to the side window next to Henry. “I’m so glad I got here in time,” she panted. “When I got home, nobody was there, but Mother left this note,” she gushed, handing Henry the note.

  Henry read it out lou
d:

  Not safe here.

  Evacuate.

  Gone to Uncle Charlie’s.

  Come immediately.

  As soon as he’d finished reading it, Izzy continued. “The place is crawling with humans. I heard them. Lots of them. I got out of there as fast as possible, but I heard them say that today is the rain date for the queen’s birthday banquet.”

  “What does that mean?” asked Henry.

  “I don’t know, but they said the party is TONIGHT!” Izzy puffed.

  “That means . . .” Henry paused, trying to make sense of it all. “That means that the masquerade has to be tonight!”

  “We better get going,” said Jeremy, clapping his paws.

  “Just one second,” squeaked Henry, hopping out of the car to chase after Diesel and Dodger. They hadn’t gone far. He delivered his message and raced back to Isabel and Jeremy.

  Izzy jumped into the backseat once again and held on for dear life as they sped off. Bumping along on the gravely ground through the tunnels, the three of them were too tired to talk. Then Jeremy asked, “How are we going to get the car back up that long staircase?”

  Henry and Jeremy exchanged a worried glance and fell silent again.

  “I know!” yelled Henry. “The elevator that I saw Warden get into right next to the stairs!” He held up a paw for Jeremy to high-five.

  “Yes!” They slapped paws.

  “We make a good team,” said Henry, winking at Izzy’s reflection in the rearview mirror.

  The farther Henry drove, the more familiar the tunnels became. They all ran together, crisscrossing, intersecting, and snaking below Windsor Castle. He followed his instincts, and before long, they were spit out of a pipe behind a furnace in the basement corridor where they’d last seen Titus.

  After poking their noses out to make sure it was safe, they cruised a short distance until they reached the elevator.

  “I’ll do it,” Jeremy volunteered. He hopped out of the car, scaled up the wall, pressed the big shiny button, and dashed back down.

  “How do we know they won’t see us when we get upstairs?” asked Izzy.

  “We have to take our chances,” said Henry. “It’s too early for visitors.” He was thinking out loud.

  “So the only humans we have to worry about are the ones working on the dollhouse,” Jeremy piped in, reading Henry’s mind.

  “We’ll take the car as far as we can and leave it where it will be found,” said Henry. “That’s the best we can do.”

  Jeremy nodded in agreement.

  When the elevator doors opened, Henry eased the Silver Ghost inside. The doors closed, the elevator lurched, and then it lifted them up to the floor with the dollhouse exhibit. When the doors opened again, Titus was standing right in front of them.

  Titus was so close to the elevator that Henry could smell his foul, sour breath. He glared at the three of them as if he had been waiting for them a long, long time. Titus flattened his ears and coiled himself into a crouch, ready to spring.

  Henry revved the engine. Titus jumped up on all fours. Henry punched the gas pedal and shot straight out of the elevator, right between Titus’s legs.

  “Bravo, Henry!” cheered Izzy, clinging to the seat.

  Henry cranked the steering wheel and circled a huge statue on the far side of the room.

  “Faster!” yelled Jeremy.

  Henry stole a quick glimpse into his rearview mirror just in time to see Titus’s powerful paw slice through the air toward the car. With a neck-wrenching whack, the car was hurled into the air before it crashed to the floor and everything turned upside down.

  15

  MOUSE ON THE MEND

  WHEN HENRY AWOKE, HE WAS whisker-to-whisker with a mouse who looked older than Windsor Castle itself. It was Dr. Getwell. Even though he looked blurry, Henry couldn’t mistake his coat of thinning gray hair, oversized ears, and long, quivery whiskers bent every which way. Dr. Getwell was leaning over Henry, inspecting him from head to tail while his whiskers tickled Henry’s nose.

  “Well, look who’s back to the land of the living,” harrumphed the old mouse as he cleared his throat and straightened up. “Remember me, Henry?”

  Henry began to nod his head but stopped abruptly. It hurt too much.

  “Head hurt?” asked Dr. Getwell, digging into his medical bag.

  Henry didn’t say anything. He didn’t remember climbing into bed and he couldn’t imagine why Dr. Getwell was there, but he felt weak and tired so he stopped trying to think and closed his eyes. He heard Dr. Getwell speaking with someone, but the voices were whispered and muffled as Henry drifted back to sleep.

  When Henry opened his eyes again, he was alone. It took a moment before he realized that he was in Jeremy’s bedroom. Why? he wondered. The light was dim, but he could see from a nearby stool that somebody had been sitting by his bedside.

  The nest was silent and still. Must be late, Henry thought as he tried to sit up. His body refused. The slightest movement made his stiff muscles scream and his head throb. He rubbed his brow gently.

  A moment later, he heard someone scurrying outside the room.

  “You’re awake,” whispered Mother Mouse, rushing to his side. “How are you feeling? Are you in much pain? Do you know where you are? Talk to me, Henry.”

  Henry was struggling to make sense of what his mother was saying. “What happened?” he moaned.

  Mother Mouse sniffled. “Oh, Henry, I’ve been worried whiskerless about you,” she said, starting to sob. “Don’t you remember the accident?”

  “Accident?” Henry frowned. “All I remember is seeing Titus take a swipe at us in the car and everything spinning around.” An awful wave of panic washed over him. “Where is Izzy? Where’s Jeremy? Are they all right?”

  Mother Mouse scootched next to Henry on the bed and squeezed his paw. She smiled down at him. “They are both just fine. Jeremy has a sprained paw, but that’s all, and your sister’s out in the kitchen telling everyone what happened.” She hesitated to go on.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Henry asked, watching her face for clues.

  Mother Mouse stood and squeaked softly, “You’re going to be fine, but you broke your leg.” She pulled back the covers for Henry to see. He lifted his head off the pillow to inspect his leg. Dr. Getwell had custom nibbled two lollypop sticks to brace either side of it. A string of bright red yarn was wrapped around the sticks to form a cast.

  Mother Mouse covered his leg again and began to cry. “Oh, Henry, I was so afraid. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you. Thank you for bringing Isabel back and coming home safely to me.” She leaned over and kissed him softly on his forehead. She plumped his pillow for him as he leaned back against it.

  “Dr. Getwell said that you should be able to walk with your cast, and you’ll probably be able to dance a little if you’re careful.” Mother Mouse sounded cheerier.

  “At the masquerade?” asked Henry. He had completely forgotten about it.

  “Yes, Henry, tonight!” Mother Mouse clapped her paws and smiled. “Those people have been working nonstop to get everything repaired and polished so they could put things back in place before they leave to help with the queen’s party. I just took a peek. Everyone’s gone. It sparkles like new, and the party can go on just as your father would have wanted.” She stroked his cheek with the back of her paw.

  Just then, Isabel darted into the room. She looked so happy and carefree.

  “They’re coming,” she squeaked excitedly. “Can I hide in your bed?” But before Henry could answer, Isabel burrowed her way into the loose feathers and fluff and asked Henry not to give her away.

  A smile crept across his face, and Mother Mouse smiled back. When all of Henry’s sisters and brothers tried to run in, she held up her paw, saying Henry needed his rest. When they had all skittered away, Henry poked Izzy. She popped her head out and sniffed the air.

  “All gone,” he whispered with a faint smile.

  Isab
el hugged Henry. “You’re my hero,” she whispered in his ear, then she kissed him on the cheek, jumped out of the bed, and dashed out of sight.

  Henry dozed on and off the rest of the day. By the time Jeremy poked his head in to check on him, he was feeling a lot better. He rather liked the looks of his cast and even looked forward to showing it off a little bit at the Mouse Masquerade.

  “How are you?” Henry asked when he saw Jeremy’s bandaged paw.

  “Better than you.” Jeremy smiled. “You sure had everyone worried. Let’s not do that again!”

  “What happened, anyway?” asked Henry. “I can’t remember a thing after Titus whacked the car.”

  “It’s a pretty good story, my friend,” said Jeremy, sitting down on the stool. He gushed the whole thing from beginning to end while Henry listened, transfixed. At first, it felt like he was listening to an adventure that had nothing to do with him, but as Jeremy went on, memories returned.

  “But how did we escape?” asked Henry. “And what happened to the car?”

  “We were thrown from the car.” Jeremy looked at Henry, and Henry looked back wide-eyed. “You were knocked out. Izzy and I pulled you through a floor grate before Titus could get to us, and I ran to get help. You were still unconscious when Uncle Charlie and I came back for you. The two of us carried you here.”

  Henry couldn’t believe it. He sat in stunned silence, listening to how his friend had saved his life. And little Izzy, too!

  Jeremy went on. “You haven’t heard the best part. Warden and Freddy found Titus playing with the car after we escaped, so he got blamed for taking it and scratching it all up. I overheard them say that it would be freshly painted and returned to the dollhouse.”

  Jeremy beamed at Henry. “We couldn’t have planned it better if we’d tried!” he said, slapping his tail on the floor and laughing out loud.

  Henry was speechless. He couldn’t believe their luck. A sense of drowsy relief washed over him. Then he remembered the one thing that nobody else could.