A Boy Called M.O.U.S.E.

Summary: Mouse (Marcus Octavius Ulysses Septimus Epton): Mouses story starts out as a little boy of five, cared for by a nursemaid while his parents (Albert and Adeline Epton) were away on an expedition. His grandfather (Epsilon Epton) was content to ignore the infant although he was asked to make sure that Mouse would be comfortable. Hanny (the nursemaid) saw Mouse upon the windowsill of an open window, with Mouses uncle, Scrope, standing behind with a hand to push little Mouse. The reason for such drastic measures is that Scrope, being the second son, will not inherit anything from his father while Mouse, first son of the first son, will inherit everything now that his parents ship has crashed and they are missing. Hanny takes little Mouse to a farm, Roseberry farm, and tries to bring him up with a man called Isaac. Scropes assistant (Mr. Button, whom he owes many debts to) found Hanny and Mouse, and sent Mouse off to school. Hanny had given Mouse a small medallion shaped like a mouse and had M.O.U.S.E. engraved on the back and told him to keep it safe and not tell anyone about it. The place Mouse was sent to was called Murkstone Hall, and the education given there was not worthy of calling the building a school. There, Mouse made friends, like Niddle and Pyeberry; as well as foes, like Grindle Bulloughby and his father, Headmaster Bulloughby. The teachers were terrible at their jobs, and only cared enough to teach the children long lists of words and numbers. Soon, one of the older teachers (Madam Claudine) died, and was replaced by a new teacher, Jarvey. He taught the children about virtues and he told them stories instead of trying to force them to memorize long lists of numbers, letters and words. Jarvey did his best to make all boys better with what they did, but Mouse was sent down to the kitchen to work instead of having a, education. He met the cook, Shankbone, and they became friends in their terrible situations. Mouse soon escaped Murkstone Hall and proceeded back to Roseberry farm. There he found the burnt skeleton of the farm. The Tramp had come, and settled in a small corner near where the stables had been. The tramp takes Mouse to a friend of his, Punchman, a small-scale puppet performer who took Mouse under his wing. When they arrived at the city, Mouse was desperate to find Hanny and Isaac. He was walking through the streets at night when he saw two little girls being invited into a carriage. He slammed the carriage door shut to stop the person inside, and shoved the two girls away. He did not, in turn, know that there was someone else to protect the girls. Their older sister hooded Mouse with a laundry bag and started to hit him, to supposedly stop him from hurting the two. Her name was Kitty, and her sisters were called Dora and Flora. They brought him to their house and he met the Aunts. They were the guardians of Flora, Dora and Kitty. The sisters told Mouse about the theatre, called the Albion, and how they got to star in the show, A midnight summers dream. Meanwhile, Albert and Adeline were found on a remote island near where the ship had crashed. They both had gotten back and immediately preceded to Epton Towers, the home of old Epsilon Epton, Scrope, Albert, Adeline, and the little Mouse. Mouse, Vanya (the bodyguard of the Albion) and Nick Tick had invented a machine that could fly over the audience and make the Albion the best theatre in the city. Mouse was asked to act as Puck (a small, impish man) and fly the new invention for the play. Since Kitty was not allowed to act (Kitty argued with La Bellina [the famous actress of the Albion] about the late timings and was put off the show by her adversary) Mouse decided to let Kitty do one flying part and the final line. On the second night of the show, Kitty was abducted by Mr. Button, due to a case of false identification when Button tried to take Mouse. Mouse and Vanya got Kitty back, and put Button in jail. This proved ineffective for Button escaped and tried to shoot Mouse in mid-flight. The bullet hit Mouses medallion crushing it but saving him. Scrope tackled Button, and they both fell to their deaths. His parents were present at the

show to try to get him to come back, and rushed backstage to be with him. It seemed that Scrope also survived his ordeal. Soon after recovering, Mouse went to Epton Towers and met Epsilon, and decided to live there, with Albert, Adeline, Scrope, Hanny and Isaac. He dreams of where he is (and of pineapples).