Orville Mouse and the Puzzle of the Last Metaphonium

by Tom Hoffman

  An Orville Wellington Mouse Adventure

  ORVILLE

  MOUSE

  and the Puzzle of the

  Last Metaphonium

  by Tom Hoffman

  Copyright © 2017 by Tom Hoffman

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Tom Hoffman Graphic Design

  Anchorage, Alaska

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Tom Hoffman

  Visit my website at thoffmanak.wordpress.com

  Email: OrvilleMouse@gmail.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: 2017

  ISBN 978-0-9971952-9-3

  Books by Tom Hoffman

  Paperback versions available online

  at Amazon or Barnes & Noble

  The Eleventh Ring

  The Thirteenth Monk

  The Seventh Medallion

  Orville Mouse and the Puzzle

  of the Clockwork Glowbirds

  Orville Mouse and the Puzzle

  of the Shattered Abacus

  Orville Mouse and the Puzzle

  of the Capricious Shadows

  Orville Mouse and the Puzzle

  of the Last Metaphonium

  Orville Mouse and the Puzzle

  of the Sagacious Sapling

  With lots of love

  for Molly, Alex, Sophie, and Oliver

  A very special thanks to my wonderful editors

  Beth, Sophie, Oliver, Alex, and Amanda

  for their invaluable assistance

  and excellent advice.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1The Beautiful Mouse

  Chapter 2The Ghost

  Chapter 3Okeanos

  Chapter 4The Sound Piano

  Chapter 5A Knock on the Door

  Chapter 6Mirus’ Surprise

  Chapter 7Elevator Music

  Chapter 8The Invoice

  Chapter 9Cathne

  Chapter 10Puella the Wise One

  Chapter 11Project Haven

  Chapter 12Revelation

  Chapter 13Proto’s Discovery

  Chapter 14Brother Solus

  Chapter 15Caterpillars

  Chapter 16The Note

  Chapter 17The Elysian Inn

  Chapter 18Old Captain Tobias

  Chapter 19Over the Bounding Main

  Chapter 20The Blue Pirates

  Chapter 21Orville’s New Watch

  Chapter 22Isle of the Silver Ship

  Chapter 23Orville’s Bed and Breakfast

  Chapter 24Madam Beasley

  Chapter 25Reach for the Stairs

  Chapter 26The Crater’s Secret

  Chapter 27Squeaky

  Chapter 28Time for Launch

  Chapter 29Downtown Bellumia

  Chapter 30Fear

  Chapter 31Charon the Ferrymouse

  Chapter 32Lost and Found

  Chapter 33Laurus

  Chapter 34Orville the Ghost

  Chapter 35By Chance

  Chapter 36The Thirteenth Monk

  Chapter 37The Swamp of Despair

  Chapter 38Okeanos Revisited

  Chapter 39A Knock on the Door

  Chapter 40Papa’s Old Trunk

  Chapter 41The Secret

  Chapter 42Gnuj’s Infinite Wonder

  Chapter 43The Visitors

  Chapter 44Aislin’s Gift

  Chapter 45Treasure

  Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,

  And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes

  The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,

  Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: —

  He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:

  Environment is but his looking-glass.

  - James Allen, 1903

  Man’s task is to become conscious

  of the contents that press upward

  from the unconscious.

  – Carl Jung

  Chapter 1

  The Beautiful Mouse

  Twilight was painting a soft orange glow across the horizon, its dim spectral light illuminating the quaint thatched roofs of a nameless village. Orville listened intently as he stepped through the gossamer shadows cast by rows of long neglected cottages, his eyes alert for movement. There were no distant voices drifting across the still evening air, no boisterous laughter reverberating from a bustling inn, no gentle bedtime stories floating out of half opened windows. The village was deserted, the only sounds being the scuffling of Orville’s heavy boots on the hard packed ground and a curious but ultimately unidentifiable scratching noise.

  Orville felt a certain pride in experiencing this shadowy realm on his own, although truth be told, part of him wished his best friend Sophia was there by his side.

  “The sun has gone down, I have no idea where I am, no idea why I’m here, but I’m not scared. Even that weird scratching sound doesn’t bother me. It’s probably a tree branch brushing against one of the houses.”

  Orville stopped to listen, his ears turning slowly. The air was silent and still, the leaves in the surrounding trees motionless.

  “It is a bit weird that there’s no wind but I can still hear that scratching sound. I bet Sophia could figure out where it’s coming from.”

  Orville followed the winding village lane to its abrupt end in front of a thirty foot tall cylindrical wooden building topped with an artfully thatched roof.

  “It must be an old barn or something.”

  He approached the weathered gray structure, squinting in the dim evening light at a crudely painted sign resting on a wooden easel.

  OKEANOS BOOK FAIR

  TODAY ONLY

  ALL VISITORS WELCOME

  “This is great, I love book fairs. I hope they’re still open.” Orville hesitated, furrowing his brow. He had a vague memory of Ebenezer Mouse asking him to find a book, but he couldn’t remember the title. He raised the heavy iron latch on the front door, pushing it open.

  “Whoa, this is amazing!”

  Orville stood facing a twenty foot wide circular table piled high with books of every imaginable size, shape, and color. The room was illuminated by an enormous wrought iron chandelier holding dozens of flickering orange candles. He rubbed his paws together in eager anticipation.

  “This is perfect, they’re sure to have the book Ebenezer wants, and I can probably find a nice one for Sophia. I bet they have a lot of science books, she loves those. It’s a little odd that I’m the only one here. I’ll just poke around for a bit and see what they have.”

  Orville stepped over to the massive table, perusing the vast array of books. Some looked almost new, but most were old and worn, many in languages Orville was unfamiliar with, obscure scientific tomes filled with charts and diagrams and all manner of incomprehensible mathematical equations.

  “This is the kind of stuff Sophia likes. I’m sure to find something here. I hope they’re not too expensive.”

  Orville’s thoughts were interrupted by a soft rustling sound coming from behind him. It was mildly disconcerting, but not especially scary. He turned around to see a beautiful mouse in a flowing white robe staring at him with unblinking eyes. When he studied her face with his intuitive mind he
sensed a surprisingly complex assortment of emotions. She had an aura of kindness and gentleness about her, but also great sadness, a deep longing, and a profound weariness. She was tired beyond measure. Perhaps some bright chatty conversation would cheer her up.

  “Hi, I’m Orville Mouse. I’m from Muridaan Falls, but I don’t imagine you’ve ever heard of it. It’s a little fishing village in Symoca. This is a marvelous book fair, I’ve never seen one with so many wonderful books to choose from. I work at a book store called Master Marloh’s Book Emporium. We carry a lot of books, but nothing like this. They’re amazing. Sophia would love them. She’s my best friend in the world and a brilliant scientist. She’d probably understand all the science stuff in these books. She’s from Quintari, but she’s going to school at the Symocan Institute of Mechanistic Studies. We’re both Metaphysical Adventurers and we’re going to marry, I don’t know exactly when, probably when she finishes her schooling. We’re going to have two mouselings.”

  Orville had no idea why he was telling the beautiful mouse so much about himself, but he couldn’t seem to stop.

  “I’m looking for a book that our neighbor wanted me to find. He’s kind of old and crabby but I like him, even though he yelled at me when I was screeching like a Gnorli bird in Proto’s vegetable garden. You have to give a big screech to make the red snackles fall off the vine. Proto is a Rabbiton, a ten foot tall robotic rabbit built by the Elders over fourteen hundred years ago. He’s an old friend and really funny, but some of his jokes are a bit confusing.”

  The beautiful mouse stared at Orville with unblinking eyes.

  Orville pressed on.

  “So anyway, I’m not exactly sure about the title of the book old Ebenezer wants, but I’ll probably recognize it when I see it. I think it’s big and sort of square. I’m also looking for a science book, something with lots of numbers and diagrams and technical stuff in it. It’s for Sophia, that’s the kind of book she really likes.”

  The beautiful mouse glanced at the far wall, then motioned for Orville to follow her. She stepped slowly but purposefully around the table, giving Orville time to examine the mounds of scientific volumes.

  “I like the cover on that one, it’s a lovely shade of green. It reminds me of the color of new leaves in the springtime. I think that’s my favorite time of year. It’s really pretty out, but I still have the whole summer to look forward to. What’s your favorite season?”

  The beautiful mouse stared at Orville with unblinking eyes.

  On their second turn around the enormous circular table Orville noticed the green book which reminded him of budding leaves in the springtime was gone, replaced by a tattered square yellow book.

  “That’s weird, what happened to the green book?”

  He watched closely, realizing the books he had already seen were transforming into new ones as he stepped around the table.

  “Oh, I get it, each time I walk around the table the books change. Clever. That way you can fit a lot more books on one table. Master Marloh would love a table like this for his shop. You don’t know who makes them, do you?”

  The beautiful mouse did not reply, motioning for Orville to follow her.

  On the fourth turn around the table Orville picked up a small red book which had caught his eye.

  “This one looks interesting, it’s just the right size and color. Reminds me of fresh red snapberries.” He flipped it open. “It’s in a weird language but it does have a lot of mathematical symbols and diagrams and stuff. I have a good feeling about this one, I think Sophia will like it. It’s small and really old so it shouldn’t cost too much.”

  Orville tucked the red book under his arm, following the beautiful mouse in the flowing white robe.

  On the eighth turn around the table Orville noticed the number of books was decreasing, retreating from the outer edge of the table like snow melting in the springtime.

  “I hope I can find that book Ebenezer wanted. I wish I could remember the title, I’m not even sure if it was a science book.”

  On the tenth turn around the table there was only a six foot wide pile of books remaining.

  On the eleventh turn around the table there was only one book left, a huge one with a gleaming silver cover.

  “That’s it! That’s the one, I’m sure of it. That’s definitely the book Ebenezer wanted me to find. It’s big though, three feet across, I’m not sure how I’ll get it back to Muridaan Falls. It looks really expensive with that silver cover.”

  Orville hopped up onto the table and stepped over to the silver book.

  “Whoa, this is going to cost a lot, it has gold embossed lettering and little inlaid gemstones.” He turned to the beautiful mouse. “I want this one, but I’m not sure I can afford it. How much is it?”

  Orville gave a sudden yelp, covering his ears.

  “Why is that scratching sound so loud?”

  The beautiful mouse’s face had transformed to a mask of fear. She turned, pointing to the shimmering, undulating far wall, the dreadful scratching sound now roaring and pounding in Orville’s ears. When the great black smoldering stick creature scuttled through the ghostly wall Orville let out an involuntary scream. The beast stood over fifteen feet tall, constructed of long black irregular sticks of smoking glowing charcoal, a cloud of sparking orange embers trailing behind it. Orville couldn’t tell how many legs the creature had, but it moved faster than it should be able to, like some nightmarish jumping spider.

  The beautiful mouse pointed to the silver book, gesturing wildly for Orville to open it.

  “You want me to open the book? Will it stop that thing?”

  The horrific glowing charcoal stick creature sprang across the room, grabbing the beautiful mouse with something that vaguely resembled claws, her mouth opening in a silent scream. She pointed again to the great silver book.

  Waves of overwhelming formless fear thundered through Orville. This was the most terrifying monstrosity he had ever set eyes on. For a moment he thought his legs would collapse, but managed to regain his focus, scrunching down and flipping the silver book open. The book contained no pages, but opening the front cover had revealed a square shaft leading down into inky blackness.

  Orville looked up at the beautiful mouse. “What’s down there?”

  The captive wriggling mouse motioned desperately for Orville to jump into the silver book.

  Orville was peering into the eerie shaft when the smoldering charcoal stick creature sprang onto the table, scrabbling madly toward him, its horrible sharp legs scratching and scraping against the wooden surface. One of its burning black arms lashed out, clawing at the red book in Orville’s paws, trying to rip it from his grasp. Orville yanked the book away, but in the process lost his balance, tumbling backwards into the silver book, into the infinite nothingness below. He shrieked as he plummeted through the heavy darkness, shrieked until he remembered he wasn’t really falling, he was only dream falling.

  “This isn’t so bad. Sophia always says you can’t get hurt in a dream. I guess I’ll wait and see what happens. I’ll probably wake up in a few minutes.”

  His eyes were just getting accustomed to the dark when the black glowing stick arm shot out from the shadows, grabbing at the red book. With a shriek Orville wrenched it back from the hideous abomination, pushing its arm away, sending a shower of sparking embers into the air. Two things happened in rapid succession. First, the stick creature vanished, and second, Orville noticed he was drifting down toward a small white rectangle far below him.

  “So tired, this dream was exhausting, that burning charcoal creature was so much worse than Mendacium the Dark Wizard. I wonder who that beautiful mouse was? She looked really sad and really tired.”

  Orville gazed down at the approaching white rectangle, recognizing it for what it was, his own snuggly bed.

  “So sleepy.”

  He rolled over onto his back, landing gently on his comfy feather mattress.

  “Mmmm… so soft.”

  A
moment later Orville Wellington Mouse was lost in the world of dreams.

  Chapter 2

  The Ghost

  Orville peered through half closed eyes at the morning light filtering in through his faded blue curtains.

  “Too early. So tired.”

  He groaned and rolled over, yelping when an unknown object jabbed him sharply in the ribs.

  “Ow! What is that?”

  He grabbed the offending object, pulling it out from under the covers. It was a small red book. A rush of images flashed through his mind; a book fair, a beautiful mouse, a horrifying smoldering stick creature, the strange deserted village, the great silver book.

  “Did I bring this back from the book fair? I know I was holding it when I fell into the silver book, and I remember that crazy creature trying to grab it. I couldn’t have, Sophia says you can’t bring physical objects back from a dream. I must have shaped it in my sleep, just like when I shaped the orange and the coiled brass serpent. In my dream the book was for Sophia, that’s probably important. I’ll show it to her at lunch.”

  Orville opened the small red book, flipping through a few pages.

  “It’s in a weird language, not one I recognize. I’ve never seen glyphs like this before. Maybe Sophia will know what it is, she’s pretty good with weird languages.”

  Orville hopped out of bed and grabbed his clothes. “Whenever I shape something in my sleep it’s always important, and usually leads to some crazy adventure. Last time it was that creepy Mendacium the Dark Wizard. This is way worse though.” Orville shivered, his thoughts churning with dark visions of the terrifying smoldering black charcoal stick figure.

  “What was that thing? So scary. It didn’t even have a face.”

  He threw his clothes on, grabbed the red book and ran downstairs. Proto was humming softly in the kitchen.

  “Morning, Proto. What’s for breakfast?”

  “And a lovely good morning to you. We’re having warm oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, and crunchy roasted beezle nuts. Mum thinks you need more protein in your diet.”