The difficulty was in what to tell Benjamin the Mouse. Having just had one discussion with Benjamin earlier, John sensed that it might be inviting conflict to tell Benjamin too much too early. Since John’s mind was already made up, he didn’t want to waste time arguing with Benjamin about it if he didn’t have to. It was better for Benjamin to find out that Princess Kolet was joining them on their journey once it had already begun. John was perfectly happy to justify it to Benjamin after the fact, but he didn’t want to argue with Benjamin beforehand.
But, how then to let Benjamin know that they would be leaving at midnight?
Benjamin had been given a room in the mushroom palace that was next to John’s room. John felt that he couldn’t just leave in the middle of the night and leave Benjamin all alone in the palace. So he decided on a sort of middle ground. He would wake Benjamin up exactly at midnight.
John went into the Princess bedchambers first. The lady-in-waiting, Aurora, had arranged for the door to be open, just as Kolet had promised.
Kolet and her Aurora had escaped out the window first by climbing down the bedsheets. As Kolet had predicted, the guards were not watching the window, and they were able to slip out undetected easily.
John then at this moment went to wake up Benjamin and explained what was happening.
Benjamin was initially groggy from sleep, and understood little of what John was telling him. But once he was able to shake off the sleep, and became fully awake, he was furious when he realized what John was saying. But, just as John had planned it, there was little that Benjamin the Mouse could do about it now. Kolet and Aurora were already outside of the palace walls and escaping out into the woods. Whatever happened next, John and Benjamin both agreed that they did not want to be still in this palace when the Mushroom King woke up. So they both agreed to leave.
John was able to climb down the wall using the bed sheets. Benjamin, being a mouse, attempted to climb down the same way he would climb up or down a tree trunk--by using his claws. But he was unable to get a grip on the stone walls of the palace, and ended up falling when he was halfway down. Fortunately, however, it was not a long way to fall--it was, after all, only a Mushroom sized palace. And even though Benjamin was a small creature himself, the laws of gravity dictated that he would fall no faster than someone of greater size making the same fall. And so Benjamin landed on the forest floor unhurt aside from a minor bruise.
Benjamin was, however, still furious at John over the situation, and as they were running into the forest, he started chiding him again. “I still can’t believe you would be this stupid,” said Benjamin. “After I specifically warned you not to get entangled with this princess.”
John knew that it was pointless to argue with Benjamin in the heat of the moment. Once Benjamin calmed down, it may be possible that a rational discussion could be had. But John recognized that Benjamin was way too upset to try to talk to him now. So John just kept quiet.
There was a large tree whose trunk was visible from the princess’s window, just a little way into the forest, and John and Benjamin the Mouse met Princess Kolet and her Aurora by the tree trunk as John had agreed with them previously.
They all greeted each other. John, feeling the exhilaration of the night air, and the excitement of the escape, impulsively hugged the princess. She, just as impulsively, returned his embrace. They both felt a new shiver of excitement.
“Well, where to?” asked Kolet.
“It’s lucky for me that mice can see well in the dark,” said Benjamin. “I feel sorry for you for having to stumble around without any light. But you’re the ones who planned the midnight escape. We can’t wait here, that’s for certain. We need to get as far away from this palace as quickly as possible before light dawns. So you’ll have to stumble through it one way or the other.”
“He’s in a bad mood,” John said apologetically to Kolet. “But he’s right. We can’t wait until the morning. We’re going to have to try to find some path through the forest.”
“There should be some sort of path around here somewhere,” said Benjamin. “I mean, a path for the smaller animals. The larger animals don’t take any notice of it, but if you look closely through the forest, the forest is filled with trails that small animals have made. We just need to find one. Keep close by me, and I’ll see what I can find.”
And so, Benjamin the Mouse started exploring around the ground, while the others followed them.
John decided that now was as good as time as any to introduce himself to Aurora. “I don’t believe we’ve had a chance to speak before,” he said. “But I know that Kolet is very fond of you. My name is John.”
“Kolet has told me all about you,” said Aurora.
“Aurora has been one of my dearest companions since I was a little girl,” Kolet said, “And she agreed to leave her life in the castle for me.”
Aurora nodded, as if to signify that what the princess said was all true. (John could make out the nodding of a head in the moonlight.)
“And my name is Benjamin,” Benjamin said from the front of the line. “I suppose I’ll introduce myself since no one else is going to.”
“Forgive me,” said John. “In all the excitement, I forgot to…”
“Greetings Benjamin. I am Princess Kolet.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” said Benjamin. “I wish I could have met you under different circumstances, but it’s good to meet you nonetheless.” Then Benjamin added in a slightly different tone, “Hold on, what is this here?”
“What?” asked John and the Princess together.
“I think I may have found a trail,” said Benjamin. “We can follow it together. Follow me.”
“Are you doing okay, Kolet?” John asked.
“I think so,” said Princess Kolet. “Although it’s very difficult to see in the dark.”
“Follow me,” said Benjamin. “Just keep to the center of the trail, and you should be okay. And don’t talk too loudly either. We don’t want to attract any attention from nocturnal predators.”
“Nocturnal predators?” Kolet asked.
“Yes,” said Benjamin. “As John can tell you, the law of the forest--that is, the ancient law that forbids animals from eating each other, is often not followed at least when it comes to big animals meeting small animals. We small animals always have to be on our guard, even in the daytime. But at night, under the secrecy of darkness, those predators which are inclined to hunting are even more fearless. Owls, foxes, cats, large spiders--there is much for a mouse to fear at night. As well as a tiny human, or a walking mushroom. But because you have chosen this time to escape, we have to keep walking.”
“I am sorry,” John said yet again. He had apologized to Benjamin many times, but he was still feeling remorseful.
Benjamin just grunted.
A thought suddenly struck John. “Hey, speaking of predators, what about our dragon rabbit friends?”
“What about them?” said Benjamin. “I’m the one who suggested sneaking off without them, and you were the one who said that would be dishonorable to do. And yet, here we are now sneaking off.”
“I completely forgot about them in the moment,” said John. “This whole escape was planned in such a rushed way.”
“Well, they should be around this part of the forest somewhere,” said Benjamin. “I don’t think they’ve left this area yet. Maybe in the morning we can start asking around, see if anyone has heard about them.”
“Who are you talking about?” asked Princess Kolet.
“Oh, did I not tell you about the dragon rabbits yet?” asked John. “Well, this is another interesting thing that has happened to me since entering the forest.”
And John proceeded to tell them the story as they walked down the forest trail.
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