England is welcomed into the new day by the break of the light of the dawn. A blue tint in the skies begins to glow over the city, still asleep in most parts. Big Ben chimes the hour, and it rings all through-out the land, echoing in street corners and homes.

Especially the home of the world’s greatest detective and his assistants, Ernest Penfold and the new arrival, Laura Maydren. They rise with the sun with a warm cup of tea and crumpets to start off the day. At least Danger Mouse and Penfold, anyway. Laura has yet to adjust to the daily routine.

We find our heroes at the table, waiting for Laura to spring forth her presence.

“May I please have a spot of tea, Chief?” Penfold asked.

“Not yet, Penfold. We’re waiting for Laura.”

“Ah, ‘eck! I’m ‘ungry!!”

“Good, morning guys. Hope you slept better than I did,” Laura mumbled as she came in through the hall.

“Why, Laura. It’s about time you got up. Didn’t you set your alarm?” DM asked.

“What alarm?”

“Never mind. What would you like for breakfast.”

“Oh...... coffee will be fine,” she said with a yawn, “Make it a triple mocha, I hate black.”

“Huh?”

Laura paused and looked at him with wide eyes, “Please don’t tell me you don’t have COFFEE!! You say you Englishmen are civilized! What’s a world without coffee!!”

“Relax, Laura. We have coffee here and there in the city, so don’t get all upset. But can you settle with tea for today, cause we don’t have any coffee grounds here at HQ.”

“Tea? Oh, well tea is just fine. Yes please.”

Laura sat down in an empty chair and scooted up to the table. DM poured tea from the porclyn kettle into Laura’s cup. Streams of steam rose from the rich, brown liquid, and Laura wafted it in, and it penetrated her hungry stomach.

“Mmmm! I smell that sweet stuff!”

“Just how old are you anyway, Laura?” Ernest asked.

“I’m 21 years old. How ‘bout you, Ernest?”

“I’m ten, and he’s 25.” Penfold gave DM a funny look.

“Penfold. What’s so funny?” DM asked, seeing his face.

Penfold just looked back at his plate of scrambled eggs with a grin, “Nothing, Chief, tee hee!”

“If it’s one of your annoying jokes, yes, you better not say anything.”

“Cor’!! Hea’!”

“So,” Laura cut in, “What’s the Colonel got for us today?”

“Actually, he hasn’t called in yet, so I don’t know if we’re on a mission today. Green Back must be on some sort of trip.”

“Yeah, to a FAT FARM!!” Laura hilariously joked. She whipped her head back and laughed in the air.

“Coa’ hahahahahah!!” Ernest joined in the laughter.

DM was amused, but only smiled and laughed in a quick whispery way.

Although Danger Mouse felt it worth a laugh, something inside him couldn’t find such a strength. Because he became troubled with the colonel not homing in. “I better try to call Colonel ‘K’.”

Danger Mouse promptly stood up and walked to the living room. He pressed the far right button on the panel and the image of CK’s office appeared, but with no colonel.

“That’s funny. The colonel works, eats, and sleeps at that desk. He’s not there.”

“Maybe he finally realized he needed to get out more, if a desk job like that is for him!”

“No.....” DM spoke on the speaker, “I say, Colonel! What are your whereabouts?!”

But no reply came back for the three agents. DM nervously tapped his foot on the floor and fidgeted with his fingers tapping on the wall while he leaned up against it.

“Strange. Even if he is absent at his office, he always carries his pager with him.”

“Cor’..... you don’t think.....?” Penfold asked.

“Yes. I think so, Penfold.”

“What?! He needs new batteries for his pager......?”

Penfold and Danger Mouse glared at Laura.

“What?!”

“He’s been kidnapped.”

“Oh...... OH!! NO!!!” Laura cried.

“Follow, me Laura.”

“What?!”

Danger Mouse hopped onto a portion of the round couch, along with Penfold, and then Laura.

“This is no time to sit on our buuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!” Laura exclaimed as the seat fell from beneath them, sinking to the garage of DM’s car.

All the way down, Lara’s hollering echoed. When it dropped them into the car, Danger Mouse stomped on the accelerator and they cruised swiftly out of the garage. Laura didn’t even have a chance to comment on the lift when Danger Mouse set it into flight mode and sent them flying to the skies.

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!” Laura continued to holler all the way up.

When they were finally level in the air, and settled, Laura took a moment to breathe. She panted and looked at Danger Mouse shockingly.

“Heh. That was fun!! But goodness, where did you get your license? The Develation Derby?!?”

“No, in fact. I got it at the E.A.S.. Came along with my administration.”

“Holy moo moo..... no wonder you drive like this," Laura paused and spoke again, "So, do you know where we’re going?”

“I have an idea of where he might be.”

“Oh?”

“Green Back’s HQ.”

“Green Back? Hey, I know he’s an evil old toad, but how can we be sure he is the one who kidnapped the colonel? We should be looking for evidence.”

“Take a look at this...”

Danger Mouse had a fax printed out on the passenger’s side of the car. Laura grabbed it before it was carried by the gusts of wind.

“What’s this?”

“I took a microscopic view on the colonel’s desktop and chair. The finger prints match those of Green Back’s in his records.”

“Well I’ll be....”

DM grinned suavely and his eyes dulled in content.

“How are you tracking Green Back? I didn’t think he’d stay in his old hide out after you found it a couple weeks back.”

“Yes, well..... wait. You weren’t here a couple weeks back. How do you know about that.”

Laura twiddled her fingers and looked off to the side, bashfully: “Eagle-Eye Corp spoke of you and your deeds many times. And I listened attentively.”

DM blushed silently, grinning again in a suave way with his gentle eyes darting from Laura to the direction ahead.

“Oh ‘eck!” Penfold mumbled.

“What, Penfold?”

“Nothing chief.”

After two hours, Danger Mouse received a signal on the monitor, blinking like crazy. Laura, who had fallen asleep with her head on the side, awoke to the high pitch sound.

“Wooo! School bell! We go home!” She exclaimed, half asleep.

“No, Laura. It’s the monitor. We’re on to the Baron.”

“Eh? Oh.... wow! How long’s it been?”

“About two hours.”

“Man, we’re you driving all over London, or what?”

“No. We’re in Edinburgh right now. And it appears that the homing device is pointing me to..... Blair Castle?!?!”

“What! Not the sacred Blair Castle! Ancient home of the Murrays!!”

“That appears so.”

“Grrr!”

Danger Mouse landed the Mark III onto the fresh green grass in the depths of the woods where the Baron’s monitoring cameras cannot catch.

“You have a plan of getting in with no one seeing us?” Penfold asked.

“Well.....” Danger Mouse began to think.

“I know,” Laura began, “The river water runs through the castle somewhere. Perhaps if we swim through the moat, we can find the underground part of the castle!”

Danger Mouse smiled and one of his eyebrows rose, “Well. That is an idea.”

“No. I can’t swim.” Penfold whispered.

“Oh, come on, Penfold! I’ll help you!”

Laura took Penfold into her arms like a baby and followed DM to the river.

Danger Mouse, Laura, and Penfold quietly sank into the water, trying not to exclaim about the coldness. They walked slowly with the current into the castle, with lilies and riverweed on their heads for camouflage. When through the archway, and finally into the castle, they sprang from the river and stood on the stone floor.

“Oyi. That was so cold! And it smells like..... something smelly.” Laura said. She set Penfold down and shook the water off of her.

“Cor’ haha!” Penfold laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

Laura had three small fish dangling on her tail like a fishing line. She whipped her tail to shake them off, and they dropped back into the river. But Penfold still laughed.

“Okay, Penfold. It was funny,” She said in a low tone, “Ha ha! Now hush up.”

“Yes, Penfold,” DM whispered, “I’m not aware of where the Baron is keeping the Colonel, and I need full silence in order to find the colonel before the baron finds us.”

Through the semi-darkness, enough light was allowed to show a long flight of stairs. At the end of the stairway, at the arch, there was candle light. Danger Mouse caught glimpse of a shadow dancing about. He gestured the two to follow him. Lightly, they scaled the steps to see into the first floor room. It was vast living room, lit by candles and a fireplace.

The three cautiously darted their eyes around the room for traps and possible ambush. But there was nothing.

“Hey!” Laura whispered in DM’s ear, pointing to a hallway across the living room.

“What?”

“Look! There’s someone in that hallway.”

Indeed, there was a dark figure, holding in it’s hand a candle. What appeared to be it’s head, rose up to look at the trio. It turned away and darted into the hallway. “Let’s go!” Laura cried.

They ran across the room and into the hallway, following the candle light through many dark corners.

“Will we be able to find our way back out of this maze?!” Penfold cried.

“That’s not our concern right now!” Laura replied.

Finally, they stopped when they found the colonel in the prisoner cell, shackled to the wall and blind folded. He seemed asleep, the way his head was limp on his chest.

“Colonel!!” Danger Mouse cried.

“Wuh.... Danger Mouse.... is that you? I can’t see.”

“It’s me! Penfold and Laura, too!”

“We’ll getcha out of that mess right away, sir.” Laura said with a grin.

When they handled the shackles of the Colonel’s, their ears lowered. “Great! We need a key.”

“You mean, this key?” An old familiar cracked voice that chuckled from behind them.

“Baron!” DM hollered.

“Who else?”

“You big dolt,” Laura blared, “How dare you bring your presence into this majestic and sacred castle!”

“If you want the Colonel so much, you’ll have to get the key through me!”

“Ah,” DM rolled up his sleeves, “Then we’ll make this quick.”

“Get them!” Green Back called to his minions.

Danger Mouse saw dark, robed figures leaping in front of them. Laura called to DM: “I’ll take care of them! You get the key from the Baron!”

Laura took out a retractable whip and lashed it around one of the minions. She mightily tugged him back with her strong grip and swung him in a circle to knock the surrounding henchmen out completely cold. Danger Mouse dodged through Green Back’s henchmen and chased Green Back down the hall.

“No use running, you tub of lard!” Danger Mouse angrily blasted.

But one of the henchmen were ready to block DM from getting to Green Back. He leaped from the stairway and in front of DM. He was distracted when battling the creature, and it seemed Green Back escaped with ease. But the Baron didn’t get more than twenty feet further when a strange presence stopped him.

When Danger Mouse knocked the henchman out, he heard Green Back scream. It’s eerie, blood curtailing echo spread through out the castle. Danger Mouse ran to follow the scream, seeing Green Back cowering in a corner with shackles on his wrists and ankles.

At his feet as the keys for Colonel “K”. He had a paranoid look on his face, almost as if he.... saw a ghost?

Instead of stopping and wondering why, DM took Green Back by the shackles and dragged him to the room where the Colonel was held hostage.

“Ah! You got him!” Laura said with a smile.

“Yeah! But what’s wrong with him?” Penfold added.

“I don’t know.” DM replied.

On the way out to the car, with the colonel, Danger Mouse just happened to look up to the castle roof to see a shiloette of a woman in a long caped dress, standing as still as the night. Her hair and dress swayed in the cold wind. She rose her arm up to wave the three on.

Danger Mouse thought he was seeing things. Perhaps it was only a tree in the background. But when he looked again, the figure had faded.

“Come on, DM! Let’s go and turn ol’Green Butt in before he comes to.”

“Yes. Right with you.”