Olivia goes West

Chapter 20

The next morning, Tanya was silent at breakfast. Things had been rather gloomy in the Mouskewitz household since Fievel's disappearance, but even then, her parents noticed something wrong about Tanya. She'd tried to cover it with some make-up, but she had bags under her eyes, and they were bloodshot. She hadn't had any sleep the night before. She'd spent most of the night crying, or staring out the window.

"You didn't stay out all night partying vith zat Ratigan fellow did you?" Mama asked sternly.

Ratigan. What in the world had she seen in him, she wondered. Sure he was handsome, and he acted so kind to her...but it was all a big lie. Just like Waul was.

"No Mama, I promise...I went straight home after work," she answered, "I just...didn't sleep well last night."

"Maybe you should call in sick tonight so you can rest," Papa said.

That didn't sound like such a bad idea. Thinking about what she'd seen Waul do almost made her sick on cue anyway.

"I might," she sighed, pushing her oatmeal away, "I'm not very hungry today."

"Hm? Maybe you are sick," Mama said, coming up to feel Tanya's forehead and cheeks.

"I'm fine, Mama," she said, "I'm just tired, and not hungry. Mama, Papa, could I go see Miss Kitty? She said she was going to teach me some dance steps."

"Are you in any condition for zat?" Papa asked.

"She'll go easy on me," Tanya said, "It will mostly be me watching her..."

"I don't see vhy not zen," Papa said.

"Vhen you return I vant you to babysit Yasha so I can do laundry," Mama told her, "So don't be gone all day."

"Okay, sounds good," she said, getting up from the table, "See you later."

She couldn't get out fast enough. She needed to see Nellie. But she knew enough to realize that she couldn't let anyone know that's where she was going. If that Vartan boy was right, she had an inside scoop, and had probably been spying on Waul and Ratigan for some time.

She strolled down the main street of the town, which was busy with mice and humans going about their daily business. Commerce in the town had been up lately, since the saloon had become rather popular in the area, actually attracting cats and mice from other cities. Partly thanks to her. A feeling of dread came over her when the saloon came into view. She hoped not to be noticed by anyone as she walked through its doors. Not as many people came into the bar during the day, but there were still poker games going on, with a roulette wheel having been installed recently at both saloons. The bartender at the mouse bar during the day was a tall rat with a moustache, who unlike Tony never talked much. A few heads turned but Tanya's presence was mostly unnoticed as she made her way to the stairs.

Eventually she came to Nellie's door, and with a deep breath, gave a few brisk knocks on it. She could hear some voices inside, and then the door opened a crack, Vartan peering through to see who it was before undoing the chain and opening it fully.

"Oh, she is here," Vartan called back, before turning back to Tanya shyly, "Please, sitting down, I will go get Nellie. She has been expecting you."

"Thanks," Tanya replied, having a look around at the little apartment.

There were piles of papers here and there, on the tables and such. Tanya sat down in front of the coffee table and waited for a few moments. She could hear a typewriter clacking in the other room. Nellie probably wanted to finish something up first. Curiously, Tanya thumbed through some old letters and newspaper articles on the table. Though tempted to read the letters she decided not to, after all, that kind of thing was private. She did notice a little book beneath a newspaper, and she took it out.