Greta and Oliver: Escaping Fortuna: Greta and Oliver, #1

By John Haeberle

Greta and Oliver: Escaping Fortuna is the first in a series of books about the mouse family of Greta and Oliver.  Their home in very near the redwood coast of northern California, in the beautiful village of Ferndale.  The time is 1932.  Times are tough in their burrough beneath the farmer's house. Due to a sortage of living space, they must relocate...a decision which leads them on an extraordinary journey.  With their six tiny, young children, they embark into danger and peril from sources they could not have imagined.  Staying alive and keeping the family together become their highest priorities.

In the telling of their story, the narrative goes to great lengths to allow the reader to "see" the world through the eyes and minds of these small, defenseless creatures.  Kindergarten teachers find it a captivating book for their students to listen to.  Readers of all ages relate to and come to care about these furry little characters, though the book is within reach of a strong third-grade reader.  Middle shool and even younger high school readers enjoy it as well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Haeberle
• Release date: Mar 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9780998377124

John Haeberle

John Haeberle is a recovering middle school and high school band and choir director.  He taught in northern California for many years, then returned to his home of earlier years, Idaho.  He enjoys writing about life and its challenges and rewards.  He and his wife, Annie, make their home in Twin Falls, in Idaho's Magic Valley.

Book preview

Greta and Oliver

Escaping  Fortuna

By

John Haeberle

Introduction

Jane and Jenni were safe.  Their father, Oliver, had concealed them in a clump of grass.  They had been told to wait for his return. 

The lights of the oncoming train grew brighter as the rumble and vibration grew more powerful.  Oliver knew that his mate, Greta, and the other four of their six children were trapped between the railroad tracks with no chance of escaping before the huge machine reached them. Being a mouse from the country, he had never seen anything like a train.  Oliver watched helplessly as it passed over the spot where he knew his family lay. The great, steel monster was moving faster than anything he had ever seen. The sound was terrible, especially to his small, sensitive mouse ears. The vibration of the ground was so violent that he couldn’t control his tiny mouse legs enough to even try to stand. He just lay there and watched as the long train continued to pass in front of him. He saw the sparks coming from beneath the train as the steel wheels charged along the tracks, the fight for traction producing bright, flying pieces of metal, made brighter by the dark of night. He wondered what this must be like for Greta and the children trapped with her. After what seemed like several lifetimes, the last car sped past and disappeared into the night. Within seconds the terrible rumbling ceased.

He ran to the spot alongside the tracks where he had helped Greta and the other four children up onto the top of the rail. Overcome with fear, he yelled as loudly as he could.

Greta! Greta!

He waited.  No answer came.

Greta! Jimmy! Hanna!

Still, there was no answer in response to his frantic cries.  Oliver lowered his head and then slumped to the ground. He lay there for several minutes. His breathing was rapid, his heart pounding. He wasn’t feeling the fatigue that comes from physical exertion. His exhaustion was brought on by despair. He felt that his heart would simply quit beating. He wouldn’t have cared if it did.

Papa!  Papa!

The sound of children’s voices close by snapped him back to reality. He turned to see what Jane and Jenni needed, upset that they had not stayed where he had hidden them. But when he ran to where he had left them, fifteen feet away, they were still right where they should have been. 

He wondered to himself why their voices sounded as if they were only two or three feet away. He sniffed and licked at Jane and Jenni, making sure they were okay. Then he turned and walked back to the tracks. As he got within three or four feet he again heard children’s voices.

Papa!!  Papa!!  Come help us!

He shook his head.  He turned once more in the direction of Jane and Jenni.  They were watching him but showed no sign of having called to him.

Then, a third time, Papa!  Papa!  Please! Please come get us!!

Stunned, Oliver turned, ran to the tracks, and jumped to the top of the rail. As his paws touched the rails he was instantly and painfully aware that the rails were still very hot from the friction of the train’s metal wheels. He quickly sprang away from the heat and into the air again. As he flew, he looked down into the dark space between the rail he had been momentarily touched and the one a few feet away. There, covered in dirt and dust, he saw five little creatures, one a little larger than the other four. After landing between the tracks, he gathered his wits and gave a closer look to his surroundings. He saw that only two of the smaller bodies were moving. The other two little ones and the larger one were motionless. 

Oliver turned back toward Jane and Jenni and yelled to them to stay hidden in the grass. He then ran to the two bodies which were moving. He could see that it was Jimmy and Hanna. He nuzzled and sniffed and licked them. Oliver was overjoyed that these members of his family were alive and unhurt.  

The two small bodies which were not moving were those of Jocie and Jake. He knew he had to take a closer look at them, and at his mate, Greta. Before he could work up the courage to do so, Hanna touched her father’s arm and said, "Papa, they are asleep.

Shouldn’t we wake them up?"

Oliver’s tiny mouse heart broke. He didn’t have any idea what he should say to his sweet little daughter. What words could he say that would not shatter her happiness and her life? But he was the Papa, and it was his job. 

Hanna, he began. I’m not sure they are really....

At that very moment, he heard a muffled moaning sound coming from one of the three motionless bodies. His head snapped around and his eyes began searching the three to find out which one had made the sound. He walked over to them and....

Ooooohh! The sound had come from the smallest of the three bodies. Oliver began to lick the face of the dirt-covered little form.  It was Jake! He was alive! Oliver checked Jake thoroughly from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. He licked and sniffed until Jake said, Papa, take it easy! I’m alright. I’m just a little dirty, that’s all.

Oliver said, Jake, you’re going to be sore for a few days, you are a very....

Papa! What did you say?  I can’t hear you.

In a louder voice, he said, I said, you are very lucky to be alive!  Just lie still and rest!

Papa.  Really? This is no time to joke. Don’t pretend to be talking and only move your lips.  Not very funny!

Oliver realized that Jake could not hear him.  His sensitive ears had been so pounded by the sound and vibration of the train, trapped beneath it and between the high rails, that his hearing had been stunned.

This gave Oliver an idea. He ran to Jocie and nudged her gently with his nose.  She stirred ever so slightly.  He checked closer. She was breathing! Oliver did a back flip, landing on all four paws. He nudged her again and began licking at the dirt and grease that covered her face. Her eyes had been completely caked in dirt. It took him several seconds to clear her eyes so that she could open them.

Upon further inspection, Oliver found that Jocie was uninjured, but, like her brother, had been stunned by the violence of the experience and had been unconscious a little longer than Jake.  She, too, had been made deaf by the terrible experience.  Mice have very good hearing. The closeness and brutal power of the train’s sound was simply too much for their little ears.

Jocie.  Jake. You two need to lie still and rest.

He knew that they could not hear him, but he felt they understood what he was saying. He was right. They snuggled down together and lay perfectly still.

Now Oliver was faced with the most terrifying moment of the entire experience. He approached his dear little mate, Greta. He was afraid to touch her, to nudge her. He knew instinctively that, as the huge train had thundered above them, she had used her body to try to shield her children. He feared that she had given her life in protecting them. He was grateful that all of the children were alive, but how was he going to raise and care for them without her?  

Again, the thought came to his head, I am the Papa and I must do this.

He very gently moved next to her and softly touched his nose to her side. There was no response. He tried again,

this time touching her shoulder. Still nothing. He walked around to where he was facing her, nose to nose. He got very close and inhaled her smell. His heart broke once more as he breathed in the scent of his beloved mate.

1

The Dairy Farm

SEVERAL MONTHS EARLIER

THE JOURNEY WHICH BROUGHT Oliver and Greta to that terrible moment had begun only a couple of days before. However, their journey together as mates had begun several months before that.

Oliver! You can’t waste even a crumb.

Oliver listened to his grandmother. He knew that she wasn’t angry with him. She was concerned about the shortage of food.  Times were tough, even living underneath a farmhouse in Ferndale, California. It was the 1930s. 

Listen, honey. The humans upstairs don’t make as much money as they used to. They are getting to be much more careful about the way they handle their food.

He knew she was right. Even at his young age, he

had noticed that there were fewer spills and fewer crumbs. 

Grandma, are we going to be okay? Will there be enough food?

Oh, yes, my boy. Don’t you worry. Your ma and pa have to work a little harder, but they always put food on the table.

Emma, Oliver’s big sister, joined in.

Oliver, have you noticed that the humans don’t leave as many leftovers anymore?

Yes. It’s just like Grandma says. Things are not as easy for the humans. I guess that passes on down to us mice.

A few days before, Emma had watched with fascination from under a cabinet in the humans’ kitchen, as they brought in a large box with four short legs. It had a door on the front and a shiny, silver handle, which clicked very loudly whenever the door was opened or closed. Inside there were shelves, just like a regular cabinet. 

Emma then saw two men come into the kitchen with a huge block of ice. They opened the new cabinet and placed the ice inside. After they left, she continued to watch as the wife of the farmer began placing milk, eggs, cheese, meat, and vegetables inside the cabinet. 

Emma heard the farmer coming through the door. She backed further into the shadows, making sure she was not visible.

Is the fine Lady of the Castle at home? the farmer called. 

His wife chuckled at his silliness. 

That depends on which handsome prince is calling.

There’s more than one?

They both laughed.

How does it look? he said.

What? The icebox?

Is that what they call it?

Yep. It’s called an icebox. You put a big block of ice inside, right there. See? And look how thick the walls are!

The farmer bent down and looked inside. He knocked on the side of the icebox with his big, rugged hand. He liked the sound it made and nodded his approval.

That oughta make our leftovers last a lot longer, don’t ya’ think? he said.

That’s right, honey. This icebox will keep our food a lot colder than the root cellar ever did. It’ll keep food from spoiling so quickly.

That thing’s gonna pay for itself in no time!

Emma ran down to the crawl space beneath the farmhouse and found her mother.

Mama!  Mama! The humans have a new cabinet called an icebox!  They put big pieces of ice in it and then they fill it up with their food and it keeps their food cold. They say it will make their food last longer.

Her mother turned to her mate and said, I’m afraid that will mean even less food being thrown away by the humans. They’re going to use every little bit. What will we do?  

Emma and Oliver’s Pa said, Well, we’ll just have to do what the humans are doing...be more careful about our food. Can’t let anything go to waste.

Emma and Oliver exchanged worried looks, but said nothing.

Oliver had been a carefree young mouse, living just north of the beautiful village of Ferndale, California, and a few miles south of  Red Robin Island, near the mouth of the Eel River. Most of the homes and businesses had been built in the 1910s and 1920s. They were designed in the Victorian style. There was lots of beautiful trim around windows and along rooftops. The color schemes of each of the buildings made them look like gingerbread houses.    The climate was quite mild, though the area did have clearly differing seasons. 

Oliver’s father and mother had built a nice burrow or home for them, in the crawl space under the house where the farmer and his wife lived. The human children had grown up and moved away. Now it was just the two of them. They owned a small dairy, but times became tough for humans, and so for mice as well.  Oliver could see that his father was having difficulty providing for his family. 

As the eldest of his twenty-two siblings, Oliver felt it was his duty to help his father in his daily search for food for the ever-growing family. When he volunteered to help, his parents were very proud of him and grateful that their son was so responsible and willing to work alongside his parents. He could see the happy look in his mother’s eyes when she saw him come in with something for the family to eat. He liked the way he felt inside, knowing he was helping take care of the needs of his younger brothers and sisters. It made him feel that he was becoming one of the adults. 

Then, one night, Oliver saw Greta. She impressed him very much. He had seen her a few times, but only from a distance. Now that he was out and about, helping search for food, he found that he was seeing and meeting more and more mice. He enjoyed this. He hadn’t realized that there were so many mice besides his own family. He was still hoping to be introduced to Greta, though he didn’t yet know that was her name.

Greta, like Oliver, was one of the eldest children in her family. She had also volunteered to join in the nightly hunt for food. Because of this, Greta and Oliver saw each other often. At first, they just smiled and nodded a greeting to each other. Then, after about the third time doing that, Oliver decided to actually speak to this beautiful young mouse.

As he saw her coming, he tried to look relaxed and cleared his throat, before saying, Hello. However, his anxiety showed up in his voice. Halfway through the word, his voice jumped quite high, as if someone had pinched him. This, of course, embarrassed him. 

Though Greta was amused by his vocal gymnastics, she was a kind and sensitive girl and didn’t allow herself to giggle until Oliver was far away. Still, she was very pleased that he had spoken to her.

After a few weeks of being involved in the nightly search for food, Oliver had figured out Greta’s routine and had gotten pretty good at being in the right place at the right time.  He always made sure he was busy when she came by. He didn’t want her to jump to the wrong conclusion if she happened to see him standing around joking with his buddies.

Gradually he got better and better at greeting her.  He managed to make Hello sound less like a panic attack. Next, he began to make it sound kind of casual, even cool.  After that, he began to add words, like, "Well, hello there. Each time she would very softly and quietly respond with a simple, Hello." 

Greta was actually even shier than Oliver. She always lowered her eyes and then her nose and ears would turn a little pink.

One night, he and the boys were having an especially good time, joking around and teasing each other. Oliver got so caught up in it that he forgot that it was almost time for Greta’s arrival.  He was doubled over laughing at a friend’s joke when all the guys suddenly got quiet. Oliver turned to see what they were looking at and there she was. He had blown it. He knew that now she would think he was a lazy goof-off.   

Before he knew it though, one of his buddies called out, Hey, Greta! How’s it going? A couple of the other mice also shouted greetings to her. She shyly replied, Hi, boys, and continued on her way.

So, he thought to himself, that’s her name! Greta. He was sure he had never heard anything more beautiful in his life. Later, when the sun was just about to rise, he fell asleep with her name on his lips and her face on his mind.

Oliver now had a name and a plan. The name was Greta. It was constantly on his mind. The plan was to offer to help her with whatever she was carrying the next time they met. He didn’t have long to wait for that opportunity. 

The very next night, after dropping off some crumbs of bread for his family, he was on his way back to where he had found the bread when he saw Greta struggling with a piece of green bean that was almost as long as her tail. 

Oliver worked up his courage