loud a squeak as she could manage.
Nothing.
She tiptoed forward, listening. Down the center aisle of the nave. There would be no traps there, no poison. This was the place where the congregation walked, the humans, looking for their seats each Sunday morning.
Silence.
The traps would be elsewhere, she knew, for the Great X chose carefully the places where mice (pests! rodents!) would be. There would be glue traps in all the obvious places: under the sink, in the sexton's closet, oh, all the rest of their favorite haunts. Hildegarde sighed. There was so little time left. She must find Trina, likely stuck, glued into place (maybe
her tiny sweet mouth was glued and that's why she could give no cry for help!), and then attempt to do the rescue procedureâso very difficult!âthat Ignatious had described.
But where to look first? She scampered down the aisle, turned right at the chancel, and hurried through the south transept. Then, from the dark hallway, she heard, suddenly, a small noise from Father Murphy's office. She froze. Surely the priest would not be here, in the middle of the night!
The sound came again. A small huffing of breath, then a click. Hildegarde scurried to the office door and found it slightly ajar. She peeked inside. There was the telephone book, on top of the desk. She could see it in the moonlight. The framed photograph of Father Murphy's mother. The stacked magazines.
Click. "There! Got it!" squeaked a tiny voice. She recognized it, with enormous relief, as Trina's.
"Trina?" she called.
"Over here!" Trina called back. "Is that you, Hildegarde? What are you doing here? I'm on the first shelf, by the crossword puzzle book!"
Hildegarde remembered that book. Father Murphy often paused between appointments and worked on a puzzle. Quickly she scurried across the carpeting and made her way up, clinging to the draperies, to the shelf, where she found Trina tugging at a small plastic box.
"What on earth are you doing? We're all frantic about you!"
"They left things a bit of a mess in here," Trina explained. "Of course it was awfully hard, and there was so little time. Jeremiah got the card box open"âshe gestured to the box, the lid to which she had just clicked into placeâ"and he gave out the cards. Fifty-two, just like you said. He saved one for himself, of course. I got the queen of diamonds," she added.
"Then we all set off, each with our card. And it worked! Just like you predicted! Such a clever idea, Hildegarde! Of course that's why you're Mouse Mistress! No one else could possibly have thought of it!
"Here, we can jump down now," Trina said. "I'm through in here."
"Through with
what?
"
"Just as we were leaving, after such a successful mission," she explained, "I remembered something. I remembered that we had left Father Murphy's card box open, there on the table, with all the cards gone! You know how tidy he is. He would have noticed, first thing! And it was so important to keep our presence invisible. That's why I came back, to put the lid back on the box. See? It's all tidied up and back in place. We can go now. I'm sorry I made you anxious."
Jean was weeping.
"Oh, dear. I told her I'd be careful, but you know Jean. She's a worrier."
Together they jumped down to the floor and ran quickly across the carpet and through the crack in the door. Then they pushed it, together, with all their combined strength, until it closed.
"Could you just show me one, so I can see how it worked?" Hildegarde asked.
"Of course. On the way out. I have to tell you something, though, Hildegarde..."
"What's that?" They were hurrying along, side by side.
"We only found fifty-one.
Please
don't say anything to Jeremiah. He feels terrible. He had the eight of spades. But we all looked and looked, and we only found fifty-one glue boards. Finallyâso much time had passedâwe simply left the eight of spades in the bushes by the front door.
"Here. Come over here." Trina directed Hildegarde
Nothing.
She tiptoed forward, listening. Down the center aisle of the nave. There would be no traps there, no poison. This was the place where the congregation walked, the humans, looking for their seats each Sunday morning.
Silence.
The traps would be elsewhere, she knew, for the Great X chose carefully the places where mice (pests! rodents!) would be. There would be glue traps in all the obvious places: under the sink, in the sexton's closet, oh, all the rest of their favorite haunts. Hildegarde sighed. There was so little time left. She must find Trina, likely stuck, glued into place (maybe
her tiny sweet mouth was glued and that's why she could give no cry for help!), and then attempt to do the rescue procedureâso very difficult!âthat Ignatious had described.
But where to look first? She scampered down the aisle, turned right at the chancel, and hurried through the south transept. Then, from the dark hallway, she heard, suddenly, a small noise from Father Murphy's office. She froze. Surely the priest would not be here, in the middle of the night!
The sound came again. A small huffing of breath, then a click. Hildegarde scurried to the office door and found it slightly ajar. She peeked inside. There was the telephone book, on top of the desk. She could see it in the moonlight. The framed photograph of Father Murphy's mother. The stacked magazines.
Click. "There! Got it!" squeaked a tiny voice. She recognized it, with enormous relief, as Trina's.
"Trina?" she called.
"Over here!" Trina called back. "Is that you, Hildegarde? What are you doing here? I'm on the first shelf, by the crossword puzzle book!"
Hildegarde remembered that book. Father Murphy often paused between appointments and worked on a puzzle. Quickly she scurried across the carpeting and made her way up, clinging to the draperies, to the shelf, where she found Trina tugging at a small plastic box.
"What on earth are you doing? We're all frantic about you!"
"They left things a bit of a mess in here," Trina explained. "Of course it was awfully hard, and there was so little time. Jeremiah got the card box open"âshe gestured to the box, the lid to which she had just clicked into placeâ"and he gave out the cards. Fifty-two, just like you said. He saved one for himself, of course. I got the queen of diamonds," she added.
"Then we all set off, each with our card. And it worked! Just like you predicted! Such a clever idea, Hildegarde! Of course that's why you're Mouse Mistress! No one else could possibly have thought of it!
"Here, we can jump down now," Trina said. "I'm through in here."
"Through with
what?
"
"Just as we were leaving, after such a successful mission," she explained, "I remembered something. I remembered that we had left Father Murphy's card box open, there on the table, with all the cards gone! You know how tidy he is. He would have noticed, first thing! And it was so important to keep our presence invisible. That's why I came back, to put the lid back on the box. See? It's all tidied up and back in place. We can go now. I'm sorry I made you anxious."
Jean was weeping.
"Oh, dear. I told her I'd be careful, but you know Jean. She's a worrier."
Together they jumped down to the floor and ran quickly across the carpet and through the crack in the door. Then they pushed it, together, with all their combined strength, until it closed.
"Could you just show me one, so I can see how it worked?" Hildegarde asked.
"Of course. On the way out. I have to tell you something, though, Hildegarde..."
"What's that?" They were hurrying along, side by side.
"We only found fifty-one.
Please
don't say anything to Jeremiah. He feels terrible. He had the eight of spades. But we all looked and looked, and we only found fifty-one glue boards. Finallyâso much time had passedâwe simply left the eight of spades in the bushes by the front door.
"Here. Come over here." Trina directed Hildegarde
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