Siblings Unite

Ratigan's Trap

Chapter 13: Ratigan's Trap

Clover Flaversham, Eve, Basil, and Dawson were already in the sewers beneath the pub listening to Fidget hum to the song, "Let Me Be Good to You". The three mice and the female bat watched as Fidget carried a lantern with him, leaping from stone to stone and positioning his lantern inside the opening of the pipe, while scrambling in with a grunt. "Let me be good to you," Fidget sang Miss Kitty's song as he'd done so. Basil waved to Dawson and the girls to come along and follow Fidget as Fidget hummed and sang. "So, dream on and drink your beer," Fidget continued to sing giddily, unaware that Eve, Clover, Basil, and Dawson were following. "Your baby's here..."

As Fidget grew farther away from them in the distance, it took Dawson only a second to take a glimpse of him leaving with a light. "Basil..." Dawson said, louder than he intended, so Basil quickly shushed him.

Basil climbed up the pipe before poking his head. "Follow me," he commanded in a whisper.

Dawson started to climb after him. "Great Scott! I can't see a thing!" Dawson exclaimed in aggravation.

"Grab my back and hold on tight, Clover," Eve commanded, once they caught up to Basil and Dawson.

"I've never been through here before, Eve," Clover said.

"I have, lots of times," replied Eve.

"Grab onto my coat and follow along," Basil instructed, but then noticed Dawson going the wrong way when Dawson's eyes slowly adjusted. "No, no, no, not that way! Dawson, look out for your-"

Dawson accidently banged his head against the loose lid with a loud thump. "D'OW!" he cried in pain, "Confound it!" He rubbed his head.

"Dawson, are you okay?" Clover asked with concern.

"He'll be fine in seconds," Eve replied for her, since Dawson didn't answer.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Dawson asked Basil, once he recovered.

"But of course," Basil answered confidently as he proceeded to lead the way. "Left turn...right turn here, Doctor..."

"We're right behind you, Basil and Dawson," Eve said as she crawled behind them, with Clover on her back.

"Very good, girls," Dawson said.

...

What seemed like a long while of climbing through the pipes with so many twists and turns, they finally reached the top when Basil opened the grate of Ratigan's secret hideaway. Seeing the golden "R" engraved on the barrel, Basil realized he, Clover, Eve, and Dawson came across Ratigan's home. "A-ha! Eve, Clover, Dawson, we found it!" Basil hissed excitedly, "Ratigan's secret lair." He was the first to climb out and lift the grate so that Dawson, Eve, and Clover could join him. "And it's filthier than I imagined." Basil set the grate down gently.

"No question about it," Clover agreed.

"I'm used to it," Eve told her.

Basil and Dawson crept towards a corner to see if there were any thugs in sight. What was strange to them, mostly Basil, was that everything in the palace was eerily quiet, yet they could see a light in the barrel, which meant someone was home.

"Look, the bottle!" Basil gasped.

For all they knew, it was Olivia trapped in the bottle. So, they rushed over to it with her imprisoned inside. Basil climbed up to the bottle's neck, trying to pull out the cork while Dawson stood beside it. The question was: Where was Andrew? With his adopted father, perhaps?