Siblings Unite

Visit from an Old Friend

Chapter 29: Visit from an Old Friend

At midnight, an old friend of Red, Snakes, and Bill had come to visit them. His name was Bartholomew. The trio woke up to see a ghost of their old companion and gasp. "Who are you?" they asked.

"Don't you remember?" Bartholomew replied, "I'm your old friend, Bartholomew."

"Y-y-you mean y-y-you're safe from Felicia?" Bill stammered.

"Why yes. When you're dead it doesn't matter or hurt anymore."

"And you're here now just to visit us?" Snakes inquired.

Bartholomew nodded.

"I see you're in a better place," Red said.

"Yes."

"How do you like it up there?" asked Bill.

"So much happiness and no pain," Bartholomew answered.

"It's good to have you back, Bartholomew," Red told him.

"We missed you, buddy," Snakes added.

"I'm so glad Ratigan left all of us alone, so we can be together," Bill said and the four friends hugged.

"Guys," Bartholomew said glumly, "I should've helped Fidget."

"We all should have, Bartholomew," Snakes said, "It was our fault Fidget was in danger with Ratigan and the only one who defended Fidget was Eve. We also could've saved Hiram and stopped him from building the robot queen."

"But we made up with the two love bats," Red added.

"We realized some of us are non-mice like myself," Bill stated, "So Fidget and Eve aren't alone."

"Eve's family is alive," Snakes declared.

"But where's Fidget?" Bartholomew asked.

"Beats me," replied Red, "He's probably with Eve and her family."

"You just might find him," said Bill.

"Well, I may as well start looking for him," Bartholomew told them, "See you later."

"See you! Bye!" the trio shouted.

...

That night, Bartholomew searched for Fidget when he came to a bat family's house. Fidget awoke to see a ghost. "What? What are you doing here?" Fidget asked.

"I came to see you, Fidget," Bartholomew told him.

"H-h-how do you know my name?"

"We used to work together."

"What's your name again?"

"Bartholomew."

Suddenly, Eve, Flappy, Shade, and Luna came into Fidget's room, wondering who Fidget was talking to. "Fidget, who are you talking to?" Eve inquired.

"His name's Bartholomew," Fidget answered, "You know the guy who used to work for Ratigan like we did?"

This all came back to Eve, since she remembered the drunken mouse.

"You must be Eve," Bartholomew guessed, "Isn't that right?"

"Yes, and this is my brother, Flappy and my parents," Eve replied.

"Hi," Flappy greeted. "Barthomew. Barthmew."

Before the little bat could try pronouncing the mouse's name any further, Bartholomew stopped him and said, "Hey, don't hurt yourself, kiddo. You can call me Bart for short, okay?"

"Okay, Bart."

"He's just a kid," Eve told the ghost.

"But a good kid," Bartholomew said, tousling Flappy's hair, making him laugh.

"He's funny and nice!" Flappy giggled.

Luna hugged Flappy and Shade tousled his hair.

"So, I take it that you used to work for Ratigan, as well?" Shade asked.

"Yeah, before I called him a rat when I was drunk and he fed me to Felicia," Bartholomew replied.

"But you seem like a kind man," Luna said.

"I'm also good friends with Snakes, Red, and Bill," Bartholomew pointed out, "And anyone who is a friend of them is a friend of mine." Then he witnessed Eve and Fidget hugging. "Are you two in love?"

"Duh," Fidget replied jokingly.

"He's my knight in shining armor as Basil is Clover's," Eve stated.

"Who's Clover?"

"One of my best friends. You should meet her and her family and friends."

"Oh, I think I will." Then, he hugged the bats and all of them bade their goodbyes before Bartholomew left.

...

Bartholomew's visits were the same as the previous ones. Each person he came across said, "Who are you?", "What are you doing here?", and "How do you know we're friends of Fidget, Eve, Red, Snakes, and Bill?"

"I'm Bartholomew and because I'm a friend of Red, Snakes, Bill, Fidget, and Eve, too," Bartholomew replied in his visits, "I came to visit you because they wanted me to see you."

Slowly, Basil, Dawson, Toby, and the Flaversham family: Hiram, Olivia, Clover, and Andrew began to trust him. Then Bartholomew added, "Red, Snakes, Bill, Fidget, and Eve told me so much about you."

"After all, Andrew, Olivia, and I are Eve's, Fidget's, and Flappy's friends," Clover said, "And I've been joining Basil and Dawson in their investigations. Plus, we're spending the night at Basil's."

"Clover's been a big help in our cases, right Doctor?" said Basil.

"By all means, she has," Dawson replied.

"I couldn't be any prouder of my oldest daughter as well as my other children," declared Hiram.

"I saw Clover in the papers with Basil and Dawson!" Stella exclaimed excitedly, "She's famous!" She also squealed like an eager fan. "I'm so happy for her!" Then she hugged Clover.

Clover hugged her friend in return. "Oh, Stella, I'm glad you support me solving mysteries," Clover declared.

"Hiram, you have a nice family," Bartholomew told Hiram.

Mr. Flaversham nodded. "Thank you."

"Hello, Mister," Olivia greeted, "My name's Olivia."

"Pleased to meet you, Bartholomew," Andrew told the former thug, "I'm Andrew."

Toby barked and licked the spirit, making him chuckle.

"Toby likes you, Bartholomew," Basil said.

"Would you like a cheese crumpet, sir?" Mrs. Judson asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Bartholomew answered and she handed him a cheese crumpet. "Thank you." He ate the cheese crumpet.

All of a sudden, the clock struck 1:30 AM.

"We best be heading back to bed, eh Doctor?" said Basil.

"Why yes," Dawson replied with a yawn.

"Us, too," Andrew and Olivia said in unison and went upstairs to bed.

"Goodnight," everyone else said.

"Well, it was nice seeing you all and goodnight to you," Bartholomew said as he waved goodbye and disappeared in a flash.

AN: I know, not a very exciting chapter, but no worries. The final chapter will be here soon.