Disclaimer: The script and characters belong to Don Bluth and company
as well as Robert O’Brien. I don’t own any of it; accept the idea for
the idea to write this fanfic, and Mrs. Brisby’s parents, and sisters.
This story is mostly in between the events of the movie at the
beginning. The second half though is changed slightly with my own
little twist.
The Secret of NIMH: Another Story
By Nala5
A long taper lights a candle. We see two gnarled hands dip a pen into a
pot of ink, and begin to write in a book. An old rat named Nicodemus
was writing in an old book that he used as a journal.
Jonathan Brisby was killed today while helping with the Plan. It is
four years since our departure from NIMH, and our world is changing. We
cannot stay here much longer. Jonathan was a dear friend. I am lost,
knowing how to help his widow. She knows nothing of us, or the Plan.
Perhaps best that I do nothing at present. I shall miss him.
With a flourish, he signs his name: Nicodemus
He had been told earlier that day by one of the rats that Jonathan
Brisby had not come out of the Fitzgibbons house, and was quite sure of
his fate.
Then we see his gnarled hands cradle an amulet. It is a round red stone
set in a gold base. We see Nicodemus' face dimly reflected in the
stone.
“Jonathan, wherever you are, your thoughts must comfort her tonight.
She'll be waiting, and you will not return.” said the old rat with a
look that made him seem older and more wistful.
Nicodemus places the amulet into an ornate box, and closes the lid.
“Farewell...my friend.” he said as he left the room.
In Another Part of the Farm
Phoebe Brisby the wife of Jonathan Brisby, known to her acquaintances
as Mrs. Jonathan Brisby, was lying in her small bed in her small brick
house. Her husband had not come home and she lay there wishing he
would hurry. Yet she knew that Jonathan would come home if he could.
Her heart was still waiting for him, but if he was coming home the
normal time for it was long past. The one love of her life was gone,
though she kept hoping that he had merely stopped over to see old Mr.
Ages, as he had done once in a while, and it had caused him to be so
late.
After two more hours, nearly midnight she had stopped believing that
idea as well and resigned herself to life as a single parent. In the
morning she would tell the children and they would somehow move on with
their lives.
Days later…
Mrs. Brisby was running through the field towards the loud mechanical
place that was the home of Mr. Ages. She was very afraid of this old
white mouse and the place he called home, but this was an emergency.
When she reached the entrance to the strange place she carefully walked
in. It was now or never. It was for poor sick Timothy that she did
this.
“Mr. Ages” she called nervously as she stepped into his mysterious
looking abode.
(Short scene where we see old Mr. Ages for the first time. The young,
apparently widowed mouse begs him for help with her son Timothy who is
gravely ill. After some convincing, and grumbling the old mouse gives
her some medicine saying that Timothy has pneumonia. And he must not
me let outside, even on Moving Day.)
That Night
She had given her son Timothy the medicine that Mr. Ages had made up
for him. Timothy had pneumonia and wouldn’t be able leave the house
for almost a month. The plow would come ripping through the garden
where their house was in less than a week since the spring thaw had
begun. Tears flowed down her cheeks and whiskers as she thought about
Timothy at the mercy of the plow. She didn’t know what to do; exposing
him to the outside would most assuredly kill him. Her mind wandered a
bit as she lay there trying to decide how to shield Timothy from the
cold outside air. They could do nothing about the plow when it came,
and the shrew had already said that now that the winter frost was gone
it could come be any day now. First it had been Jonathan not coming
back and probably dead, and now she was going to lose Timothy too. She
would have to get used to single parenting.
The Morning
Mrs. Brisby awoke to the sound of the tractor’s engine. The next thing
she knew Auntie Shrew was running through the field shouting something.
“Moving Day!” said the shrew coming closer now
Teresa, Martin, and Cynthia were up as well and she took them out of
the house
(The scene with the tractor, where Auntie Shrew saves the day by
pulling out it’s wires. Then she suggests, demands, that Mrs. Brisby
go see the Great Owl about her problem.)
The Night After
Phoebe Brisby sat in her house thinking, while the other three children
entertained Timothy trying to keep his mind off of the dreaded tractor.
There had to be someone who could help her find a way to the Great Owl.
Then she thought about the bird she had saved that day, he had said his
name was Jeremy. Surely he would know help her save her son, who
better to ask than another bird. Yes that was it. She would ask him
to take her to the Great Owl. She would tell Auntie Shrew that she was
going off and to keep an eye on the children. If she never returned
from her venture then at least there would be someone to take the
children to safety when the plow came back. Jonathan would do this if
he were here she thought that mouse was never afraid of anything. If
only she had his bravery and cunning, it might make her mission easier.
At Dusk
So off she went, a small brown mouse with her old red cloak wrapped
around her to keep out the wind, to find Jeremy. She found a flock of
crows out in the field and picked out one of them with several strings
tangled in his feet.
“Jeremy” she called and he looked up from his find and waved one of his
black wings in greeting.
“Hi Mrs. B” he said as she approached him, the edge of her cloak
fluttering in the wind “What can I do for ya”.
“I would like to ask a favor of you” she said
“Sure” he said bringing his face down to her level he winked at her
“you saved my tail feathers yesterday Mrs. B. Name it!”
“I would like to see the great owl” she said with a courage she hadn’t
even known she had “I have a problem that needs solving fast and I’ve
have run out of ideas”
(So comes the scene where Jeremy the Crow flies her to the tree of the
Great Owl. Ooooo! Scary part! While there she learns about the
mysterious Rats of NIMH and that her husband had a connection with
them. Apparently his name was well known because of it too.)
Night: After the Visit to the Great Owl
Mrs. Brisby sat by Timothy’s bed watching him as he slept, his
breathing was raspy and constricted. Though he had improved since he
had taken Mr. Ages medicine, he was still a long way to recovery. She
began to worry that whatever method the rats used might do some harm to
Timothy. What if he took a turn for the worst? There was no guarantee
that these mysterious rats would even help her and her family anyways.
But she had to try. So tomorrow she would go to the Rosebush and hope
that the rats wouldn’t eat her. She sighed. It was going to be a long
day tomorrow.
The Next Afternoon: Going to the Rats
Teresa and Martin were put to the task of taking care of Timothy;
Cynthia being too young to understand too much of what was happening
was still asleep in her bed. Their mother had already gone hours
before. She had gotten up early to scout out a way to the Rosebush so
that she wouldn’t run into Dragon. Dragon was certain death to any
smaller creature that walked across his path. Mrs. Brisby suspected
that her husband might have run into Dragon the night he hadn’t come
home. A tear fell from her eye as she remembered Jonathan, wondering
how he was connected to these rats. Then she quickly made her way to
the Rosebush and the next step in her mission to save Timothy.
(Our young mousie heroine gets chased by Brutus, and then helped by Mr.
Ages. She then meets Justin and Nicodemus as well as the rest of the
NIMH Rats. They agree to move her house, partly because of their debt
to her husband Jonathan. While she agrees to take over her husbands
job and drug Dragon.)
At the Brisby’s House: Before the Move
“Now children tonight you must be on your best behavior” said Mrs.
Brisby
“Why mother? What’s going to happen tonight?” asked Martin curiously
his ears twitching
“Some rats are going to come and move the house” she said slowly “they
will move it to a place where it’s safe from the plow.”
“Yay!” said Teresa jumping up “That means Timmy will be able to get
better right Momma”
“Yes Teresa that’s right” said her mother with a smile “but you must be
aware that whatever they do may seem strange, but it will help us in
the end.”
“Alright Mom” said Martin “if you say its okay for them to do those
things then we’ll be good”
“I’ll have to leave you here with Auntie Shrew for a while though” said
Mrs. Brisby getting a groan out of Martin
“Why Mom?” asked Teresa “Can’t you stay in here with us?”
“I have to do something to help prepare for the rats to move our house”
she said trying to sound cheerful “Don’t worry I’ll be back soon
enough”
(Mrs. Brisby and Justin go off to the Farmhouse to drug Dragon. Then
the scene ensues where the brave young mouse manages to do so and then
gets caught by one of the Fitzgibbon boys. Justin presently runs away,
saying he’ll be back later…)
Mrs. Brisby’s Imprisonment (And Other Things)
The young brown mouse thrashes in the boy’s hand as she is brought up a
flight of old creaky stairs. She is filled with terror and a desire to
run back to her children. Thoughts came spinning into her head as she
wriggled to escape the boy’s grasp. Where was Justin? Wasn’t he
supposed to make sure nothing happened to her? He could have bitten
the child and freed her instantly. A rat could get through the hole
and crawl if need be, though being able to get back quick enough could
supposedly be only done by a mouse. She hoped that Dragon was now
eating the packet she had put in his food, if not her efforts had been
in vain.
Once they reached the top of the stairs the creaking stopped, and the
boy brought her into a room painted pale blue all around except for the
hardwood floor. The fight against the boy’s grip had finally worn Mrs.
Brisby out. She stopped moving and lay still. The last thing she
heard before blacking out was the clang of a metal cage door closing
behind her…
She felt like she was falling down a long endless tunnel.
Then a dream began to unfold in her subconscious mind.
She was four years younger and running through a field. Phoebe was
running away from her old home on the Benford’s farm. This was the
fastest she had ever run. Yesterday was gone. Yesterday had been the
day that her parents had been killed by stray cats that had wandered
onto the farm looking for food. She remembered it well…
Martha, her mother had been knitting a new blanket that morning. She
had made the red cloak that Phoebe loved to wear and twirl around in
the fields. Her father Christopher had been a lively mouse especially
for someone his age, and that morning he had come in with a small
bouquet of flowers for her mother.
Martha blushed as she took the flowers. Then her father had picked up
her mother and started twirling her around.
“Chris!” said her mother laughing “What are you doing?”
“Remember when we used to go dancing every night back at Mayfield?”
said her father
“Yes” said her mother smiling remembering her hometown fondly “That was
a long time ago. I’m getting too old for it now.”
“You’re still as beautiful as ever” said her father as he put her
mother back down by the half finished blanket and her mother blushed
again.
Phoebe laughed.
“When are Margaret and Tansy coming to visit” asked Phoebe
“Your sister’s will visit in a few weeks dear don’t worry” said her
mother
“You have to give them sometime to get used to being married, you’ll
see them soon enough as well as your nieces and nephews when they
arrive”
“I know it’s hard being the youngest sweetheart” said her father
sympathetically “I was the youngest of my family and I had to watch
everyone else leave home before me and begin new lives. It can get
lonely.”
“I’m not alone with you two here” said Phoebe “It’s just been a long
time since I last saw them that’s all.”
She hugs them both and goes outside to play in the fields.
“Be careful dear!” her mother calls after her
The young mouse imagines what Mayfield must have been like, a village
of mice. There was the work of scrounging and knitting during the day.
Then, dancing and celebrating at night. Her parents had left shortly
after being married and had come here to the Benfield Farm. She
stopped her twirling and looked up the sky. Then she climbed up to the
top of a nearby bush to see how far it was to the end of the field.
After surveying the farm like a general would a battlefield she climbed
down. Her first stop would be the pond to see if the lily pods had
finally opened up. Then suddenly she heard a scream and recognized it
as her mother’s.
“Momma” she cried as she ran towards the house.
When she got there it was empty, though in the distance she could see
the tips of two cats tails above the grass and saw by their paw prints
that they had been by her house. Inside the house she discovered her
mother’s knitting had been thrown aside, with a sudden chill in her
bones she ran outside again. In back of the house she discovered a
pool of blood and bits of fur.
Phoebe crouched down, her face in her cloak, and cried.
Her parents were gone. She had no idea where either of her sisters
lived. All she could do was survive now.
That night she had bundled up a few belongings and what food was left
from her parent’s scroungings in the half finished blanket her mother
had been making. Then she tied the blanket closed with a piece of
string then used the rest of the string to tie the blanket to a stick
that had been her father’s walking stick. The next day she had grabbed
the stick and blanket and ran away.
So here she was running through the fields, Benfield Farm was well
behind her now. She would find a place where she could live by herself
and hopefully survive. Perhaps another farm, one that wouldn’t bring
back any memories about her parents as Benfield would have.
Phoebe traveled for days on end, sleeping in old drainpipes and living
off of what she had put into the blanket she carried. Weeks passed by
quickly as she tried to come to terms with what had happened. She had
lived only because she had not been there when the cats had gotten her
parents. The thought that they had died and she had not filled her
with a terrible guilt. The world seemed so large and lonely now they
were gone.
That night it had rained hard and the drainpipe she had been sleeping
in flooded. She had moved very fast to try and escape the rising water
level of a nearby river. Though, all her running had been in vain,
because the surrounding area was covered with several inches of water.
There was no escape. Then a log floated by her and she jumped on to it
still clutching stick and blanket and rode out the storm.
In the morning Phoebe found that things had calmed down since the night
before, though most of the water was gone it was still very muddy. She
tried to climb down from the log and slid down into the mud. After
getting up and falling down several times she managed to get through
the mud to the edge of a field. She kept going and passed through many
more like it in her travels.
Many weeks went by and by now much time had passed since her parent’s
death, and she had grown more and more over time learning to survive by
herself. Now she was crossing a brook hopping from one stone to the
other. It was easy enough, but then she slipped on the last stone and
fell into the watery depths of the brook.
Then the next thing she knew a white paw pulled her up and out of the
water.
She looked up and saw that her rescuer was a young white mouse about
her age.
“Are you okay, Miss?” he asked good-naturedly
“Yes” she answered “Thank you for saving my life”
“It was nothing.” he said “I’m Jonathan by the way, Jonathan Brisby”
“I’m Phoebe” she said “Phoebe Mayberry”
They sat by the brook and talked for hours. Phoebe shared some of her
food with him and told him her story. His was a hard past as well and
there were a lot of things he wasn’t able to talk about. That was
something that she could understand so she didn’t press him for any
details. They had become friends and at the end of the day the two
young mice left the brook paw in paw. Jonathan took her to the
Fitzgibbon’s Farm and she lived there from then on.
He helped her find a small brick house to live in; though he
disappeared every day, he came back each morning. Sometimes he would
bring things for her house like little decorations, or thread so that
she could finish her mother’s blanket. He even taught her how to read
a little from the books that humans had on their shelves; he even knew
how to write them. Then with each passing day he stayed longer, and he
began to help scrounge for food and other chores. Finally she made up
a bed for him in her living room, and he took to sleeping in it. In
time she fell in love with him and he with her. So the next spring
they found a churchmouse and got married.
Then the years followed after that and she got to know some of their
neighbors like the shrew, who was determined to be a spinster and the
stuffy old mouse known to everyone as Mr. Ages. She also learned about
Dragon, the farmer’s cat. Dragon would always be the great danger to
living there. Then she later on she had her children Teresa, then
Martin, Timothy, and last of all little Cynthia. Jonathan loved the
children dearly and he even taught them how to read. The children had
the knack that their father did for that sort of thing. They had face
a few problems that had almost turned into disasters, like the time
that Timothy had been bitten by a spider. Though, in the end they had
all lived to see another day. Once in a while Jonathan would go off
and disappear for a few hours, but he’d always come back.
Then there was one night that he was gone for a long time. She waited
and waited for him to come back, but he never did…
Then the dream ended.
“Jonathan” she whispered to herself
Her subconscious mind realized what Jonathan had been doing all those
nights he had been out. Then her senses again were dulled and she
drifted back into unconsciousness.
(Meanwhile the Rats have begun to move the Brisby house, and poor
Auntie Shrew is panicking. Also Jenner has begun to cut the ropes, and
the cords of Nicodemus’s life.)
Mrs. Brisby awoke to find herself in a cage hanging from a hook on the
wall. She sees that her cage is hanging right by her captor’s bed.
Panic fills her as she tries to squeeze through the metal bars and
realizes that she can’t. Suddenly all seems hopeless as she tries
frantically to twist the wire that holds the cage door closed. Her
small brown paws keep trying to rattle it. Then she grabbed the wire
again with the idea of untwisting it.
She winced as the wire moved back into position, the end of one cutting
her arm.
There was a small tub of water at the other end of the cage that the
child had left for her to drink.
There she washed it wincing in pain as the water caused agitation in
the cut. Then as she looked down into the water she could see that the
water tub was half in and half out of the cage. If she could just
squeeze under the small opening under the cage wall, she would be able
to escape. So she got into the tub, held her breath, and put her head
and body under the water. Scrabbling towards the other side of the tub
with her paws she managed to find the bottom of the cage wall, then she
edged out and came up back inside the cage and took a breath. Then
sure of herself this time she dived into the tub and curved her body so
that she could slide under the part of the cage wall and edged her way
to freedom. She was finally free.
The cage began to shake a little as a result of her moving around and
changing it’s balancing point. She hung on for dear life as the cage
rocked, the she saw that it’s movement brought her closer to the boy’s
bed for a few seconds. So she waited several seconds and jumped
towards the bed as the cage began to turn that way again. Her landing
was soft and after that she managed to slide down the child’s blankets
to the safety of the floor.
Unfortunately, as soon as she was off the bed the water tub came loose
and fell to the floor. The boy in the bed began to stir at the sound,
and Mrs. Brisby instinctively ran to the nearest closet. Another child
entered the room a few seconds later and turned on the light.
“Billy” he said “what was that noise?”
“What huh...” answered Billy “What did ya hafta wake me up for Jimmy?”
Then looking around the boys noticed the fallen water tub and the
vacant cage.
“It looks like your mouse escaped, ‘cause you didn’t put that thing in
properly” said Jimmy picking up the tub “We’ll hafta get ‘er before
Dragon finds her!”
They look around the room for her.
“It doesn’t look like she’s here anymore” said Jimmy “Come on lets
check the bathroom and then we’ll try downstairs if we don’t have any
luck there”
Billy in his pajamas follows Jimmy out of the room.
Mrs. Brisby looks at her surroundings and discovers the closet’s back
wall has a hole in it.
They won’t find me in there she thought maybe they’ll go back to sleep
when they don’t find me. Then I’ll leave. Its lucky Dragon will be
asleep all night, otherwise he’d find me here and I’d never get out.
So she climbed up the baseball bat leaning against the wall and jumped
up and into the hole in the wall. Strangely enough it led into another
children’s room, obviously Jimmy’s.
“They won’t find me in here” said Mrs. Brisby in a whisper and she ran
under Jimmy’s bed.
*Clang*
Mrs. Brisby ran straight into a metal cage hidden under the bed in the
darkness.
Squinting her eyes she could see that there was another creature inside
the cage, and she had woken it up. She quivered in fear as the
creature got up and looked around.
Maybe if I stay quiet it’ll go back to sleep thought Mrs. Brisby
Then suddenly it seemed to notice her shivering form beside it’s cage.
It was coming towards her! When the creature was right next to her it
put a paw through the bars of the cage.
“I won’t hurt you” it said in a kind voice that was very familiar “Who
are you?”
“M-Mrs. J-Jonathan B-Brisby” she stuttered and she saw the creature try
to back up and trip over his own tail.
He got up and walked towards her again and he was shivering too.
“Phoebe!” he said with joy and at that moment she knew who he was.
“Jonathan!” said Mrs. Brisby crying now “You’re alive!”
He put both paws through the cage bars and clasped hers.
“How did you get here?” said Jonathan, still in shock.
“It’s a very long story” said Mrs. Brisby “I met the rats, you know.”
“Y-y-you did” said Jonathan
“Yes dear” she said “I’ve only just escaped a cage of my own in the
next room. I had volunteered to take your place and feed Dragon the
powder.”
For a few minutes Jonathan Brisby was too shocked for words, this was
like a blow to the heart.
“Dear, you could have been killed!” he said “What would they need you
to drug Dragon for anyways?”
“Timothy’s sick Jonathan” answered Mrs. Brisby “Mr. Ages says he has
pneumonia and he can’t leave the house for almost a month. When the
frost melted I went to the Great Owl for help and when I told him I was
“Mrs. Jonathan Brisby” he said that your name was well known. I
learned your story from Nicodemus.”
“So you know everything” said Jonathan taken aback and greatly saddened
by the news of Timothy’s illness.
Both are silent for while.
Then Mrs. Brisby gets good look at the cage. She realizes that he’s
probably been in there this whole time.
“Jonathan, is this where you’ve been?” she asked with much curiosity.
He sighed. It was hard enough that his family and friends had thought
him dead. But to have gone missing when they needed him the most.
Would Timothy be alright? Was it his fault for taking such high risks?
No more, he vowed silently, he’d done enough for the Rats. Now it was
time to be there more for his family. After almost being eaten by
Dragon, he’d realized how reckless his actions been these past few
years.
Jonathan wished the Rats luck with their plan, but he wanted a much
simpler life. Thorn Valley was a faraway dream to him, while the love
of his family was real. So reality, harsh as it was sometimes, was
what he decided on. He’d stay here with his family.
After that the Brisby’s had a long talk and decided to reserve
judgement about Thorn Valley until a later date, when it became more of
a reality. Though secretly, Mrs. Brisby was overjoyed to hear about
his other resolutions. Things were looking up, and both wanted to make
the best of their second chances at life.
A few moments later the young female was pacing around the cage as if
inspecting it, as her husband looked on in amusement. Then finally she
found what she was looking for and pulled the latch.
Mrs. Brisby looked up at her husband, eyes twinkling, and slowly opened
the cage door.
Jonathan smiled.
“You are learning.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little while later the two mice sneak downstairs and into the
kitchen, and find that dreaded cat has succumbed to a drugged sleep.
All seems well as they slowly creep across the floor and towards the
small mouse hole where they’d come in.
Then the phone rings.
The sounds of Mr. Fitzgibbon bounding down the stairs can be heard.
Both mice reach the safety of the whole in time, but stay to listen out
of curiosity.
“Hello” they hear Mr. Fitzgibbon grumble “yes…yes” sigh “You’re the
NIMH people right?”
Two pairs of mouse ears perk up as the conversation continues. They
hear the exhausted farmer give his permission for the extermination of
the Rats and his address to a certain Doctor (guess who!).
“The land will still be fertile after you do that?” he asks switching
the phone to his other ear “My wife wants another Rose bush after
this!…Yes…Very well then! Goodnight!”
Then he slams the phone down and trudges back upstairs.
Both Brisby’s stare at each other. Jonathan starts pacing, while Mrs.
Brisby gets her shawl and the Amulet from where she left them.
Jonathan does a double take when he sees the stone. Then he grins.
“I think you’re going to replace me before this is over, Mrs. Brisby”
“Then you’ll be out of a job, Mr. Brisby”
The two of them laugh momentarily forgetting the situation. Then
glancing at the stone, Nicodemus comes to mind. With a new energy the
couple races towards home, hoping all is well. Mrs. Brisby resolves to
tell the Rats about what they’ve heard.
(Meanwhile Jenner and Sullivan have caused the tragic accident with the
Cinderblock. Justin and the other rats search the rubble for the old
rat, but cannot find him…)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan knew that something was wrong as soon as he saw the rubble.
It seemed that Jenner had been there after all. Just as he’d always
feared, the evil rat had tried to kill Nicodemus.
Mrs. Brisby recalled what Justin and Mr. Ages had said earlier about
Jenner opposing Nicodemus in front of the Council. Now things had gone
from bad to worse, they needed a plan.
She bit her lip.
“Jonathan, what if I went and told them myself?” she said thoughtfully
“then you could look for Nicodemus. We don’t want any of them finding
him.”
Jonathan sighed. She was right. They didn’t know who they could trust
right now. It was bad enough that Jenner had swayed the Council, but
it was worse if more of the group were with him as well.
“You’re right of course dear” he said leaning against a board “I just
don’t like you putting yourself in danger like that”
“But Jonathan if he’s hiding I wouldn’t know the first place to look
for him” his wife protested “He trusts you.”
Reluctantly Jonathan agreed and both set to work on their tasks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As luck would have it just as Mrs. Brisby arrived Jenner was addressing
the group. He was putting down the Plan and trying to convince them to
stay. She knew she couldn’t let that happen.
“No! You can’t!” Mrs. Brisby shouted running towards them “You’ll die!
You’ll all die!”
Then Jenner tried to push her away as she tried to climb up the rock.
“Get out of the way!” he snarled “Don’t speak of what you know nothing
about!”
But she persisted.
“NIHM is coming!”
That brought a stir from the crowd.
“They’re coming! In the morning!” she said as Jenner took a swipe at
her “You must leave or you will all die!”
Then Jenner unsheathed his sword and came at her in full force.
“NO!” he shouted in her face “YOU LEAVE!”
The evil rat stopped and eyed the Stone, which was on a chain around
Mrs. Brisby’s neck. Then he pushed her forward and continued his
ongoing attack.
“Give it to me!”
The young mouse screamed in pain.
The blow never came however, because another figure appeared and
knocked Jenner off of her.
Mr. Ages came to her aid and helped her up as best he could. While
Justin and the others just stood there in awe.
There stood Jonathan Brisby brandishing a sword of his own in a duel to
the death with Jenner.
Where had he gotten that sword? wondered Mrs. Brisby.
Joy filled her heart as she saw that Jonathan was winning. Then Jenner
tried to make a move towards Justin and accidentally stabbed Sullivan.
Though, Sullivan had stepped in front of him on purpose. He was
through with Jenner’s evil and was willing to pay the ultimate price
for redemption. The guilt of thinking he’d killed Nicodemus was
starting to get to him.
So as he lay dying, Jonathan and Jenner had reached the height of their
duel atop the high rock. Then without warning Sullivan sent his dagger
flying straight into Jenner’s black heart.
Jonathan backed away in shock as Jenner’s body tumbled into the mud.
He was dead.
Mrs. Brisby ran to her house to make sure everything was alright.
While Jonathan was talking to the others, most of whom were still in
shock.
She was surprised to find Nicodemus crouched in the house’s shadow a
little ways away. Carefully she checked him pulse and was relieved to
find that he was still breathing.
After placing her shawl over him like a blanket, the young mouse
pressed her ear against the Cinder block listening for any signs of
life.
“Children!”
“Mom?”
“Are they done Mom?”
Mrs. Brisby sighed.
“Soon now… Don’t worry!”
Blub! Glump!
Oh no! thought Mrs. Brisby as the cement moved beneath her paw tips
“Jonathan!” she cried frantically “Jonathan! The house is sinking!”
Frantically everyone moved towards the house and leapt into action.
Justin securing the lines, while Jonathan and the others set to work
with the other equipment.
Mr. Ages quietly moved the unconscious form of Nicodemus to a safer
spot. He waited there beside the dying Sullivan.
“The Stone” mumbled Sullivan as he took his last breath
“What?” said Mr. Ages, but too late...
Sullivan was gone.
Meanwhile the others were having little luck with the Cinder block
house. It was sinking so quickly that there was little that could be
done to save it.
Justin had to pull Jonathan away, while Mrs. Brisby was sobbing
fitfully.
They were watching their whole future disappear.
They’re children were going to die!
“NO!” shouted Mrs. Brisby and the Stone around her neck flared bright
red
As if by some strange magic, which it was, she was able to grab the
rope and their house floated out of the mud. All was consumed by a
bright reddish light, and then suddenly their house was moved to the
lee of the stone.
Slowly the magic faded and Mrs. Brisby was placed gently in Jonathan’s
waiting arms.
“I was right you know.” he said looking down at her with a smile “You
did replace me”
Mrs. Brisby looked up at him and smiled.
Then sleep overcame her.
Much later…
The Brisby family would often be found sitting outside their home on
the shore of puddle, which the children had taken to swimming in. Once
their mother taught them how that is.
Phoebe Brisby smiled as she watched Martin and Teresa chase each other
around. Cynthia was helping her mother in the garden, while Jonathan
had gone inside to check on Timothy.
She thought back to her friends had said before they left…
“Nicodemus” said Mrs. Brisby stepping into Mr. Ages house “I’ve come to
return the Stone”
They’d all taken refuge at Ages house before leaving for Thorn Valley.
“Keep the Stone my child” Nicodemus had said “You deserve it, and
besides Jonathan was the only other person who could get it to work”
At this some of the others had laughed. Apparently they’d all tried it
at some point or other.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You’ve got guts for a mouse Mrs. Brisby” Justin had said “I’m sorry
for leaving you back there”
She had sighed and forgiven him.
Though, she would try to find another working partner in the future, if
she ever had need of one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr. Ages had taken both of the Brisby’s aside and into one of his
secret catacombs.
“Jonathan” he said when he finally spoke “As I understand it, you were
afraid of watching your mate grow old while you stayed young.”
Jonathan stared at the floor.
“Yes” he said guiltily “and it will happen too, won’t it?”
Surprisingly Mr. Ages laughed and Mrs. Brisby thought he had gone
insane.
However what he’d said next had changed their lives, and solved their
problem.
“No, dear friend” Ages said kindly “That won’t happen now”
Both Phoebe and Jonathan looked at him strangely.
“Now I guess I’d better explain my self, eh?” said the older mouse
fixing his glasses and peering at them intently “Well then, ahem…First
of all Jonathan your DNA as it were contains the NIMH formula. As does
that of your children, but now so does that of your wife.”
Mr. Ages held up a vial.
“This is the blood that I tested after she collapsed” he said “to make
sure Jenner or the farmers hadn’t done any serious damage. I was
surprised to find signs of the formula in her DNA.”
Jonathan looked at him in awe.
“But how?”
At this Mr. Ages grinned.
“Because you have created children together” was his answer
This caused both Brisby’s to blush bright red.
Mr. Ages laughed again, he had always enjoyed catching Jonathan at his
most embarrassing moments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And of course…
Jeremy had arrived later with his string collection and everyone had
laughingly helped the crow untangle himself. Then she’d introduced him
to Jonathan.
“Wow Mrs. B!” squawked Jeremy “So this is Mr. B!”
They shook, wing and paw, it was quite comical.
Then of course a female crow had come flying in and the two birds
became entangled in web of strings.
“Look mommy” said Cynthia “another turkey”
“Is he always like that?” asked Jonathan
Mrs. Brisby nodded trying to hide a smile.
“That’s Jeremy”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At the End
So Mrs. Brisby was able to live for tomorrow, and know that her husband
would be right there with her.
They were together with their four beautiful children.
That night they all gathered together by the fireplace.
“Mom, we wanna hear a story”
“Alright my dears, I’ll tell you one that started years ago at a place
called NIMH. There was a young mouse named Jonathan…”
So alls well that ends well.
And so ends the story of the Brisby’s and the Rat’s of NIMH.
The End
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