Olivia goes West

Chapter 1

Green River, Utah. 1890

"Wake up Olivia, we're finally here." came the thick Scottish accent of Hiram Flaversham, stirring his young daughter awake as she leaned against him, the two of them riding beneath a wagon with their belongings in a smaller mouse-sized replica.

It had been a long journey to the land of opportunity, where the streets were paved with cheese. Here he would find his fortune in the toy business, and make a better life for his daughter, far away from any danger. Even with Ratigan dead (though no body was recovered, chillingly enough), after having suffered such an ordeal, Hiram could never have peace of mind living in London again. He didn't feel safe. Perhaps it was the nagging thought that maybe, somehow, Ratigan was alive; though he would never admit to that fear, even to himself. He had to believe Ratigan was dead, for the sake of his daughter. How else could he calm her fears when she woke up at night screaming, having dreams that her father had been taken from her again? He had to stay strong for them both.

Hiram didn't want to live in a city again, with its crime and danger from cats. Luckily enough, once they'd arrived at Castle Garden in New York and became American citizens, three young mice outside, looking to be no older than sixteen or so, offered them passage to an old mining town in the West, said to be a place where mice were safe from cats and crime thanks to Sheriff Wylie Burp, and a vacant shop where Hiram could live and restart his toy business. He said he worked for a real estate agent, wanting to sell properties out west to anyone fresh off the boats. Hiram took them up on the offer, paying them most of his money in exchange for a wagon ride to Green River. Though having barely a penny to his name now, Hiram was optimistic. They were leaving Ratigan behind once and for all and starting anew. What had happened in London would now just be a bad memory. He only wished his wife were alive to see them through the journey.

Olivia yawned and stretched her body. She'd grown a lot in the past year, but she still wore her coat and a skirt down to her kneecaps, with a hat and a red bow tucked behind her right ear.

"Oh, we're finally here? I can't wait to see it!" she said, pressing her nose to the glass as the desert scenery passed them by.

Soon they came up to an old prison where a hound dog in a cowboy hat rested lazily on a chair. Then as they traveled down the dusty main street came an array of shops and homes, a schoolhouse, and a saloon, all of which had mouse equivalents located underneath them.

"It looks like such a lovely little town," Olivia said happily. She'd never lived anywhere but a city.

"Aye, we'll be happy and safe here."

"We're comin' to our stop folks," said the driver, one of the three lads who'd given them the shop, who wore glasses and a flat cap, "I have it on good authority dat the wagon'll be here for a while, but ya better unload your stuff fast because when it's gone, it's gone."

The other two mice on either side looked to be little more than vagabonds; an overweight mouse with black hair and a scrawny looking mouse with a pointy nose.

The human driver stopped the wagon, the horses kicking up dust as they stopped in front of an inn. Beneath that were mouse-sized shops hidden under the sidewalks. One read "Mousekewitz Fine Violins" on the front, the other was vacant.

"There it is Olivia, our new home," Hiram said with a warm smile, opening the door and unrolling a rope ladder to the ground, "Grab some bags. It'll take us a while to unpack all the toys, and we need to do it before the humans notice."

The bulk of their belongings were up on top of the wagon, with the human luggage. It could take hours to get it all down, and Hiram hoped he had that much time. Olivia put a bag around her shoulder and began the climb downward.