Winning BIG, a little love story for all ages

by Judith Keim

  Lila and Theodore scampered silently behind Cynthia, who led them into a bedroom much larger than Zanna’s. Standing in the shadows at the doorway, Theodore quickly sized up the situation. Fully dressed, Juliet lay sprawled atop the sheets on a king-size bed. She was groaning softly. A bedside table sat on either side of the bed. He paused. They’d have to split up to find the pills.

  “You two take the table on the left. I’ll take the one on the right. We need to get hold of the headache pills. I suspect those pills might be making her ill.”

  Keeping an eye on Juliet, Theodore made his way to the table on the right. He paused to study her. The skin on her face had a greenish tone to it. Was it food poisoning? Or did it have something to do with the pills like he’d first suspected? Either way, from the look of her, she had to feel miserable.

  Juliet suddenly sat up in bed, her blue eyes as big as the Frisbees young guests sometimes carried into the hotel. A terrible rumbling noise came from her middle. She gazed around the room wildly.

  In terror, he stood frozen.

  “Oh, no! I’m going to be sick again,” whimpered Juliet. She covered her mouth with her hand. One foot, then another hit the floor near Theodore with such force he felt the air stir around him. He barely had time to jump out of the way of her feet as she dashed out of the room.

  With Juliet out of the room, Theodore scampered up onto the bed and onto the bedside table. He searched for the pills, but he found nothing but a box of tissues. He looked across the bed at Lila and Cynthia. They’d managed to open the drawer to the bedside table and were peering inside it.

  “It’s here!” said Lila.

  “In the drawer,” added Cynthia.

  Juliet raced back into the room, threw herself down on the bed, lifted her head groggily and reached for the glass of water on the table beside Lila and Cynthia.

  With barely concealed squeaks, Lila and Cynthia dove into the drawer.

  Theodore watched helplessly as Juliet mumbled something, slammed the drawer shut, and replaced the glass on the table. Laying her head back on her pillow, she closed her eyes. After several tense moments of waiting, Theodore heard snores coming from Juliet’s mouth.

  Balancing carefully on the narrow wooden headboard, Theodore cautiously began to make his way across the top of the bed’s headboard. Trying to keep his balance, he teetered back and forth, like a tight- wire walker in a circus act. He stopped and took a deep breath. One slip and he’d land on Juliet’s head.

  “Theodore! Help us!” Lila squeaked, pounding on the front of the drawer.

  “Shhh! I’m coming,” he said, barely catching himself from falling.

  “Hurry!” called Cynthia. “I don’t like being trapped in here.” Her voice was muffled, but it was clear she was panicking.

  He’d just made it to the far side of the bed when Juliet cried out in her sleep and swung a hand out, shaking the headboard. Theodore clung to the bedpost, hiding as best he could behind it as Juliet’s eyes flipped open. She stared glassily around the room and closed her eyes again.

  Theodore waited a few moments for her to settle down, and then he scurried onto the table top, coming to a skidding stop atop the smooth surface.

  “Open up,” said Cynthia. “I feel as if I can’t breathe.”

  “Hurry, Theodore,” Lila implored him.

  Theodore stretched out atop the table, leaned over the edge, and tugged on the knob of the drawer as

  hard as he could. It barely moved.

  “You’re going to have to help!” he whispered. “At the count of three, push as hard as you can, using all your weight against the drawer. I’ll pull. Ready? One ... two ... three!”

  The drawer flew open so fast, it almost threw the two mice inside it onto the floor.

  “Hang on!” cried Theodore. “Now give me that bottle. We’ve got to move fast!”

  A knock sounded at the door. “Juliet? Are you all right?” called a familiar voice.

  Cynthia pushed the bottle of pills onto the floor and raced down the leg of the night table. Lila followed her.

  The door opened a crack.

  Theodore jumped from the table to the floor, bracing himself for a hard fall. Thick carpeting helped to soften his landing, but the breath was knocked out of him. He lay on the dark carpet, gasping for air.

  Cynthia and Lila rolled the bottle of pills under the bed.

  Still fighting for breath, Theodore quickly followed them into the shadows.

  Footsteps came closer to the bed. “Juliet? It’s Sam. What’s happened to you? Did you eat something bad?”

  The mattress creaked. Juliet’s feet appeared at the side of the bed. “I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve never been sicker.”

  “What will I tell the people at the television studio? You were supposed to do an interview this evening.”

  “I don’t care what you tell them, I can’t do it. Understand?” she snarled angrily.

  Sam let out a long sigh. “This week was supposed to produce a lot of support for the new movie—financial support I need. Instead, it’s been one problem after another.”

  The actress moaned. “Just leave. I think I’m going to be sick again.” In a split second, Juliet was on her feet and sprinting for the bathroom.

  “Ugh, you really are sick. I’ll send up someone to help you.” Sam left the room, slamming the door behind him.

  Beneath the bed, the mice went into action, tugging on the cap of the pill bottle. “Hurry! Let’s see what’s inside, and then we have to get out of here,” said Theodore.

  White capsules spilled onto the carpet beside the bed.

  “They all look the same,” said Cynthia. “You were wrong, Theodore. There’s no problem with them.”

  “Don’t be too sure.” Theodore held up a capsule. A tiny X was marked on it. Looking through the stash of pills, he found a few others marked the same way. “I bet these have something inside that shouldn’t be there.”

  He pulled open the capsule. Orange powder fell out.

  Lila handed him one without an X on it. The powder that tumbled out of it was a pale purple.

  Theodore nodded. “Just as I thought. Someone has tampered with Juliet’s medicine. I bet they put the bad ones right on top.”

  Lila shook his arm for attention. “Uh, oh. Juliet’s coming back.”

  They waited until Juliet was lying down again before they scampered to the door and out of the room. In the small, private bathroom where they’d entered the suite, they huddled together.

  “Something serious is going on, and I think I know who might be at the bottom of this,” Cynthia said.

  Lila clasped her paws together. “Who?”

  Cynthia’s features formed an angry scowl. “Who do you think? Simone!”

  Theodore stroked his chin thoughtfully. “It makes sense. With the other two stars out of the way, she’d get the starring role in the movie.”

  “What can we do about it?” asked Lila.

  “I know exactly what to do,” said Cynthia. “We’ll write her a note warning her to cease and desist, as lawyers might say.”

  Lila and Theodore looked at each other.

  “You can write?” said Theodore, impressed in spite of himself.

  “Of course I can,” scoffed Cynthia. “Can’t you?”

  Theodore ignored the mocking look on Cynthia’s face. “It’s a good plan. Once she knows we’re onto her, she’ll have to stop.”

  They hurried back to the living room in the suite and went right over to the desk.

  “Help me drag a piece of stationery downstairs. I’ll work on the note tonight,” Cynthia commanded.

  “Okay,” said Lila, “but don’t give it to her before Theodore and I have a chance to see it.”

  Cynthia rolled her eyes.

  “We’re in this together. Remember?” said Theodore, trying to hide his irritation. It was sometimes hard to like Cynthia very much.

  Between the three of them, they were able to drag the sheet of pape
r to the bathroom, where they folded it neatly so it could go through the small hole in the wall.

  They jiggled and juggled the piece of paper through the system of pipes. By the time they entered the mouse hotel, Theodore wasn’t at all sure how they’d get it back up to Simone’s room.

  Leaving Lila and Cynthia in the small conference room, he rushed to his home. His brothers and sisters would be waiting for him. Thursday night was storytelling time.

  As soon as he entered the extended nest he called home, his mother gave him an inquiring glance. He nodded to her, but said nothing. He was breaking the rules, but it was for a good cause. If he told her that attempted murders were taking place in the hotel, she’d want to take his siblings and leave. Then what would happen to them? He couldn’t take a chance on his family being destitute, or out in the cold, or, heaven forbid, caught in the alley.

  “Hi, Theodore!” said one of his brothers. “Are you ready to read us a story? How about The Littlest Mousekin?”

  Theodore grinned. This particular brother never got tired of the story about a tiny mouse that saves his family from a gigantic tomcat.

  Long after the little ones were sound asleep and his mother and grandfather had retired for the night, Theodore lay awake. Simone wasn’t a pleasant person, but was she a murderer?

  CHAPTER NINE

  At his post the next morning, Theodore stifled a yawn. A pair of familiar, highly polished shoes appeared outside the entry. The general manager greeted the doorman for the humans without his usual jovial voice. “How are things going here, Pete?”

  “We’re not as busy as we usually are.” Pete replied. “I don’t know what the problem is. What do you think?”

  The GM hesitated then said, “Well, the publicity over Zanna Loverly’s illness couldn’t have helped us. And now Juliet Jasper is claiming she got food poisoning here.”

  “Movie stars! Who needs them,” snorted the doorman.

  The GM shook a finger at him. “We don’t want any of our guests to have a bad experience here. Remember that. The ownership isn’t above selling this hotel if they don’t get the financial returns they want every month.”

  Pete straightened. “Yes, Sir, I’ll remember that. Selling this hotel wouldn’t be good for any of us.”

  Sell the hotel? Theodore felt his knees go weak. Selling this hotel would be disastrous for his family and all the other mice that lived and worked there. He and Lila and Cynthia would have to put a stop to all the bad publicity.

  Theodore checked his watch. It was almost time for coffee break—time for Cynthia to show him the note she’d written.

  Grandfather came to relieve him. “How’s it going, Theodore?”

  “O-o-okay,” Theodore stuttered, unsure how to answer. If he couldn’t find the culprit causing trouble, they might all be out in the alley.

  ###

  Theodore hurried into the crowded cafeteria, searching for Cynthia. Lila caught his eye, but Cynthia was nowhere to be found. At his signal, Lila got up and walked out of the room. Theodore waited a moment and then followed her to the small conference room. He opened the door to the room and gaped at the mess inside.

  Lila rushed forward. “My stars! What happened?”

  Cynthia was sprawled facedown at the table. The notepaper in front of her was empty of words.

  Lila shook her. “Cynthia, wake up! Wake up!”

  Cynthia opened her eyes and blinked at them, confused. “Wha ... happened?”

  “Look,” said Theodore. “She’s been hurt.”

  A bump welled out from the back of Cynthia’s furry head. She raised a paw to it. “Ouch!”

  “Who hit you?” Lila clasped her paws, looking around nervously.

  “I don’t know,” wailed Cynthia. “I saw a shadow coming at me. That’s all I remember.”

  Theodore’s lips thinned with anger. “No humans could fit in this tiny room. It has to have been another mouse.”

  “But why would a mouse go after Cynthia?” asked Lila.

  Theodore’s thoughts whirled. Had someone found out about their secret investigation? But why would a mouse care? They’d want to be able to stay in the hotel too. No one wanted to end up in the alley. There had to be another reason for such an attack, but he couldn’t think of any.

  Cynthia’s eyes rounded. “If we continue our investigation, maybe all of us will be in danger.”

  “We’re in danger if we don’t,” said Theodore, his expression grim. “I overheard the GM talking. If there are any more bad reports of people getting sick or poisoned at the hotel, it might be sold out from under us.”

  “Oh, no!” said Lila. “Where would everyone go?”

  “We’d all be out on the streets. And you know how dangerous that can be.”

  At the enormity of the problem, silence filled the room. No matter what danger they might be in, their detective work had to continue.

  CHAPTER TEN

  After making sure Cynthia was all right, Theodore left Lila guarding the door to the conference room. The note was important, and Cynthia, with her small paws, would need time to safely write it.

  Grandfather was checking his watch as Theodore raced up to him at the doorman’s post. He nodded and smiled when Theodore went right to work by bobbing his head to a new guest and saying, “Welcome to The Winston, sir.”

  The brown loafers swept by him. Theodore waited, but no mouse followed those shoes.

  “It’s been a slow morning,” sighed Grandfather. “That’s not good.”

  Theodore hesitated, then blurted out, “The hotel might be sold, Grandfather!”

  “What? What are you talking about?”

  Theodore took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. “I overheard the GM talking about it. If they get more bad publicity with stars being sick, the owners may have to sell the hotel.”

  Grandfather shook his head back and forth with dismay. “That would be horrible. Simply horrible.”

  Theodore blinked away a threatening tear. “Where would we go, Grandfather? What would happen to all my brothers and sisters? How would I be able to help Mama?”

  Grandfather placed a paw on Theodore’s shoulder. “Let’s take it one day at a time. Let’s make sure none of the humans sees us—not when a mouse arrives or leaves or any time in between. Understand? It’s more important now than ever.”

  Theodore nodded. His stomach clenched. Getting the note to Simone would be difficult at best. But with the threat of the hotel being closed, he’d have to make sure it was done very, very carefully.

  For the rest of the day, Theodore felt as if he’d swallowed a huge hunk of rotten cheese. He couldn’t tell his Grandfather or anyone else what he, Lila, and Cynthia were doing, especially now when he knew a mouse, not a human, had hurt Cynthia, and they still didn’t know why.

  After work, Theodore snuck his way to the conference room and softly knocked on the door.

  “Theodore?” whispered Lila from the other side of the wooden door.

  “Yes, it’s me. Open up!”

  Lila open the door a crack. “C’mon in. The note is ready! Take a look!”

  Theodore went over to the table and read:

  We know what yur up to, Simone! Stop it! Evel deeds will not get you the role in the muvie!

  Theodore sighed. Apparently Cynthia was a better writer than speller. However, they’d have to use the note as it was; the pressure to find the killer was too great for them to take the time to write another.

  “We changed the wording a bit. We thought it sounded more threatening this way. What do you think?” said Lila.

  “I think we’d better be very careful about delivering this note. Grandfather said it was more important than ever that none of us mice are seen in or around the hotel.”

  “Fine, but let’s get something to eat first,” said Cynthia. “I’m hungry.”

  They left the conference room, locking the door behind them.

  “Remember, we each go separate ways so no one will see us togethe
r,” warned Theodore. He waited until Lila and Cynthia were situated inside the cafeteria. Then he strolled into it as if he didn’t have a care in the world. When he noticed Bandit seated at Lila’s table, talking to her, Theodore’s heart sank.

  Cynthia was sitting at a table with the elderly female mouse he’d helped inside earlier in the week. He was headed in their direction when one of his sisters dashed over to him.

  “Will you come sit with us?” She looked up at him with shining eyes.

  “Sure.” Theodore smiled at her. His family was the reason he was at The Winston. No matter what else was going on in his life, he’d always try his best to take care of them and to make them happy.

  After forcing food into his whirling stomach, Theodore pushed away from the table.

  “Off on another secret mission of yours, Theodore?” His mother gave him a teasing smile.

  Theodore blinked in surprise. How did she know?

  She waved a paw. “I’m just teasing you.”

  Theodore played along. “Yes! I’m off to save the world.”

  She laughed. “Have fun!”

  Theodore hurried away, relieved his mother had no idea what he was up to.

  ###

  When Theodore arrived at the conference room, Lila and Cynthia were busy, folding the note into a small rectangle.

  “We thought this would make it easier for you to carry,” said Cynthia. “I’ll go first to make sure the coast is clear.”

  Theodore hefted the note in his arms and followed her out the door. The three of them hurried behind the hotel walls. In the plumbing system, it took the three of them to push, pull, and shove the note along the outside of the pipes leading to Simone’s room. Theodore worried about what would happen when they got there. He and Lila had been caught unawares by one of the hotel maids checking rooms. If that happened again, it might ruin everything.

  Outside the walls of Simone’s room, the three of them came to an abrupt stop.

  Cynthia faced Theodore with a wrinkled brow. “I don’t see any of the usual cracks or open spaces between the floor and walls. How are we going to get inside?”