Miss Mousey was left standing in her best friend Young Mr. Bunny's entryway and shook all over as he tried to console her. No more did she have her long, lovely tail. Very thankful to have escaped with her life, she suddenly realized why her little village was so quiet. She had had no visitors, she had seen no one in the hallway of her apartment house, and no one going to the shops. All was strangely quiet too. She had heard no talking or laughing from the other apartments, no children playing, no singing, no radios, no tvs. Everyone was hiding from the two raptors. Poor Miss Mousey was afraid to go back to her apartment in the oak tree that night, as she knew old Mr. Owl would be watching. So the two best friends stayed awake all night, waiting for the time when Mr. Owl would return to his sycamore, and Mr. Eagle would just be waking but too groggy to go looking for his breakfast. When that time came, she left the safety of Young Mr. Bunny's tunnel and raced to her own apartment.
When Miss Mousey got home, the first thing she did, after locking the door, was to bandage her tail. Her poor, beautiful tail! How sad it looked. Only a couple of inches long now, it just flopped behind her, wherever she moved. She walked aimlessly around her apartment, pacing back and forth between her living room and bedroom, and feeling very sorry for herself. But what could she do? She had lost her tail! Everyone would make fun of her now! The poor little mouse felt so ashamed. Just then she saw her reflection in a mirror, and she felt even worse. She just wasn't the same without her tail! Thinking she might feel better if she dressed herself up, she put on her very best blue and white polka dot bonnet (the one with the white lace ruffle)and her best matching apron. After she was dressed, she took another look in the mirror and sighed. She still looked ridiculous! A little mouse all dressed up with no place to go, and only a stub for a tail. She did feel fortunate that her friends and neighbors were all hiding inside their homes as well, so that they wouldn't see her. But she had to do something!
It would do no good to stay inside her apartment forever; she would have to do something. And that's when she remembered old Mrs. Belinda Badger, who lived three doors down, in apartment 1-D. If anyone could do anything to help Miss Mousey, it was Mrs. Badger. The only problem was, how to get to her without being caught by Mr. Eagle.
Miss Mousey poked her head out her door, her sharp eyes scanning all around her for any sign of the cruel lord of the day. She looked to her right, and then to her left. She looked up, and she looked down. She looked towards the river. At the moment, everything was clear, so she quickly ran to Apt. 1-D, the home of Mrs. Badger.
"Mrs. Badger! Let me in!" screamed Miss Mousey as she nervously looked around her while beating on the old critter's door. "Ahz 'acomin, Ahz 'acomin," drawled a voice from the other side of the door. "Mah, mah, mah! What have we here?" she asked, peering down from her open cafe door. "Ah do declare, if it isn't Miss Mousey! What happened to your tail, girl?" "Please let me in, and I'll tell you all about it," the little mouse said tearfully. So that is how Miss Mousey came to be in Mrs. Badger's apartment.
Mrs. Badger opened her door, just barely enough for the little mouse to get in. She didn't have to open it very far, hardly more than a crack, as Miss Mousey was so small. Opening her arms to our little mouse friend, Mrs. Badger said, "Come on in, honey chile, and tell 'ol Miz Belinda what happened." Miss Mousey began to cry and her whole body shook as she recalled the previous night's event, every last detail. And she cried because the stub of her tail hurt. But more than anything, she cried because her pride was wounded. Her beautiful long mouse tail...gone!
Mrs. Badger sank back into her favorite chair near the fireplace and took out the sweater she was knitting for her brother Bradley, who lived over in Bayberry with his wife Bettina and their 3 children, Bo, Beverly, and Bradley Jr.
