The Great Mouse Detection

Epilogue

"Snuggles, come on" Dawn yelled as she tried to fit her feet into the snazzy red heels. "The mugs are getting restless; I need them warmed up before I go out there and kill it"

"I'll wait until there's less commotion" Snuggles replied

"That's not how it works Snuggles" Dawn responded, urging the stage hand to attend to the zip on the back of her dress so she could secure in it. "If they pipe down, they get bored, when they get bored, they leave, when they leave, I don't have an audience, if I don't have an audience, I don't get paid, and we need this last flow to cover the rest of the trip back up North where the lights are"

"I need to be in a good place to deliver good material, what I'm half-way through right now really threw me for one, I'm not in the right train of thought"

"Don't tell me its stage fright again, look I'm with someone who put all that to one side in our duet, if he can do it, you can do it too. Come on, do it for me, it's the last gig. Whatever you've been reading back there can't have messed you up that much"

"Fine, you got me" Snuggles replied, "It's a romance comic. The couple I like the most in it, they...they might just spit, you know? I can't deal with that if they do, he wants to sacrifice his own happiness to be this wicked queen's prince, run away with her, all so she spares his real love and seizes an attack on their village at the same time"

"So what's so emotional about that? It's simultaneously trading up and making his love for the first interest seem so important he's willing to trade it to keep a whole community from falling apart, he's doing her proud" Dawn replied, grabbing her hairbrush and gracefully combing her long black locks.

"Besides, you can always peek to the end" she suggested.

"You really think I should do that?" Snuggles said

"Who taught you to read comics strictly in the store and not purchase them? Who taught you to read comics online?" Dawn asked.

There was silence from the other end of the door. Indicating she was getting through to him.

"I'll wait" she said, smearing her lips with lipstick.

Minutes passed, and just as the commotion steadily diminished, Snuggles sprang right up on stage, ready to deliver his stand-up routine to keep the place lively and energised.

Dawn could hear the uproar of laughter from the crowd, a perfect time to spring herself on them. She headed out of the door and headed towards the stage.

Snuggles welcomed her on, the pair embraced and Dawn sought out one other person in the crowd before her. A reliable hand, her rock.

There he was, in a brown bomber jacket, pipe in hand, accompanied by Penfold, the unmistakable mouse of mystery gave her an encouraging salute.

For Dawn, the performance that came bellowing out of her proved a seismic hit with the crowd, much to Dawn's amazement.

For the last three months, the British government had done their best to bring her and her assets to heel, forcing her to travel from place to place, she had not been in a patriotic mood and would not be for some time, so for her last day she picked a song that was very decidedly non-British, complete with a backing chorus that repeatedly belted out ''God Bless America' towards the end.

Dawn had hoped it would incite a riot from the britbox boomers huddled around their tables, and also hoped in equal measure that the venue owners would appreciate the cut of her moxie.

Upon completion of this powerful performance, a rendition of 'Tell Me' by Terry Kath, ultimately force choking the backing singers and rendering them unconscious when it became clear they could sing just a tad better, she took a quick bow and prepared to head out back.