Description: Return of the Forgotten CHAPTER ONE THEY STOOD ON A LEDGE far above the city with Atlantia sparkling below. Sparkling and growing still, thought Hopper; the metropolis was improving and expanding, it seemed, every minute of every day. "Tell me again how Atlantia came to be," came a sweet voice from beside him. Hopper smiled and looked down into the snapping black eyes of his goddaughter, the princess Hope. "Well," he began, delighted by the tiny rat''s interest in learning her own history, "Atlantia was the dream of your grandfather, the late emperor Titus. He was an ambitious upland rat from Brooklyn, New York." Hope shuddered. "But he was nasty!" "He was misguided," Hopper corrected, but this was being generous. The truth was that as emperor, Titus had made a host of extremely poor choices, and countless innocent rodents had suffered because of his politics. It was also true that Titus had taken a forgotten subway platform deep beneath the borough of Brooklyn and transformed it into the spectacular city that lay before them now. But to maintain this prosperity, he had been forced to spend most of his reign sacrificing unsuspecting tunnel wanderers to the evil cat Queen Felina. Titus justified his own evil as being necessary to buy peace for Atlantia. In the end, he paid a much greater price. But Hopper did not like to discuss such gruesome details with his little friend. Instead he told her a far more palatable version of the story. "Long ago, Titus happened upon this abandoned platform and chose it as the site on which to build his dazzling city. Under Titus''s leadership, Atlantia bloomed into a great civilization." "But my grandfather was hiding a dark secret," Hope cried, knowing the story by heart. "Yes he was." Hopper gave her a solemn nod. "A secret that brought a great deal of pain to many . . . including himself. But thanks to your mother and father . . ." "And you! The Chosen One!" Hopper blushed slightly. "Right . . . thanks to all of us, and the rebels and the refugees, Titus was overthrown, and then, not long after, Felina, too, was defeated, putting an end to the brutality and the tyranny." "But in the aftermath of battle Atlantia fell to ruins," Hope gushed, her eyes brimming with intelligence and excitement. "Now you and the emperor and empress--" Hopper grinned. "Otherwise known as your mommy and daddy. You know they do not wish to be called by such titles anymore, now that Atlantia''s government is shifting away from a monarchy to something more democratic and fair." Hope rolled her eyes and pouted. "I know. I also know that that means they don''t want me to wear beautiful crowns and gowns and jewels, like my grandmamma, the empress Conselyea, did." "In the scheme of things, crowns and gowns don''t count for much," Hopper reminded her. "But I like being a princess." "I know, little one, but your parents would much rather you liked being a good and wise leader instead." Hopper patted her between the ears. "They are determined to see Atlantia rise again, so it can welcome all rodents and offer them protection within its walls. And without any dark secrets this time. Come along, now." As they started toward the palace, Hopper turned his attention back to the bustle of the city below. There he saw progress. Mice working beside rats working beside squirrels working beside chipmunks. Atlantia was on its way to once again becoming the magnificent place it had been the first time he''d seen it. After many long months of thrilling innovation and intensive labor, the underground urban masterpiece was nearly complete; the city was thriving again. But it was more than just structural and commercial changes that Emperor Zucker and Empress Firren were striving for. They had an entirely new vision of the way Atlantia should be governed, and to this end, their empire was in the midst of great political improvements as well. Citizens could now vote on civic decisions, and express their ideas at public hearings. Zucker had gotten the idea from a book in Titus''s library. He called it a "republic," and together he and Firren were determined to make it a reality for Atlantia. But they understood that even positive change took time, and they respected the fact that their subjects needed to get used to the idea. So they stopped wearing their opulent jewels and elegant clothing. Zucker wore the same workaday attire his subjects did (which he found far more comfortable than his royal garb), and Firren always donned her beloved Rangers tunic. They requested that the Atlantians call them by name, not title. Even still, the rodents insisted on bowing and curtsying to them and calling them His and Her Highness. The habit, it seemed, was difficult to break. It seemed strange to Hopper that the rodents needed to be convinced of something that was in their own best interests, but there it was. He wondered: Did they believe that outward finery and glitz represented ability and competence? That was exactly the kind of superficiality Titus had relied upon to justify his authority. And look how that turned out! In truth, when it came to governing, Hopper knew that it was what was inside a rodent that counted. The character, not the crown, was what defined a ruler. Sadly, little Hope did not yet understand this particular truth, but Hopper wasn''t worried. She was still very young and she had many things to learn. At the moment, his darling godchild might be easily dazzled by her empress grandmamma''s old tiaras and dresses (which she''d determinedly dug out of the palace basement and claimed for her own), but he truly believed she''d come to understand the value of invisible things like honesty, loyalty, and integrity. He was confident that she and her four littermates would one day step up to take part in the wonderful new government their parents were working so hard to set in motion. This gave Hopper great joy indeed. But mingled with his joy was the faintest prickle of sadness. It brought to mind his own littermates . . . his brother and sister. The last time he''d stood upon this ledge, he''d had no idea what his own future held and he''d been desperate to know what had become of Pinkie and Pup. He knew well enough where Pinkie was now--safe behind the gray wall of their ancestral village, ruling the Mus citizens with her newfound wisdom and benevolence. To Hopper''s great relief, Pinkie had undergone a change of heart after discovering that their father, the legendary rebel Dodger, was still alive. She was still given to grumbling and bossiness, but she was no longer angry or unkind. Dodger split his time between assisting Pinkie in ruling the Mus, and advising Zucker here in Atlantia. Hopper was thrilled about Pinkie''s new outlook. But Pup. Pup was another story entirely. Where in these vast tunnels their diminutive sibling had taken himself off to still remained a mystery. And what Pup might be up to was anybody''s guess. "Uncle Hopper! Look!" "What is it, Hope?" Hopper asked, shaking off his dark thoughts. "What do you see?" "Over there!" Hope leaned so far toward the rim of the ledge that Hopper had to lunge forward to grasp the hood of her tiny pink cloak (a gift from Pinkie, of course). "In the market square! That chipmunk is selling whirligigs! Can I please have a whirligig? I can, can''t I? I can have anything I want--after all, I am a crown princess of Atlantia!" "Hope," said Hopper, gently but firmly, "it''s wrong to demand things just because you happened to be born to Zucker and Firren. You should focus on earning the things you want." Hope gave him a pout. "But I didn''t demand. I asked politely." She gave a heavy sigh. "So . . . no whirligig, then?" Hopper chuckled. "I didn''t say that. I only meant that if you do get one, it won''t be because you are entitled to it as a princess. It will be because your parents and I like to see you happy and because you''ve earned it. But for now the whirligig will have to wait. You know you''re expected in the schoolroom." Hope let out a little snort. "Do I have to go? The tutor smells funny and my brothers and sisters pick on me. And there''s no one else to play with." Hopper smiled. "Well, I''m sorry to hear that, but you can take comfort in the fact that soon you''ll all be enrolled in the public school," he promised. "Your mama is determined to see that happen sooner than later. It''s just a matter of getting it built." "Well, it can''t happen soon enough for me!" she huffed. "My siblings all think they''re so smart!" "You''re just as smart as they are." She smiled at the compliment, then frowned again. "Not as smart as Brighton is. She''s a genius. They call her Bright-one. Of course, she never has any fun." Hopper laughed. "She is the serious one of the litter, isn''t she?" "Yes," Hope agreed. "And Verrazano is the great leader and talented swordsman. Fiske is the clown but also a philosopher, and Go-go is the one who all the little boy rats of the city fawn over and make goofy eyes at." She frowned. "Princess Gowanus, the royal heartbreaker." "Go-go has her good points," Hopper said, biting back another ch

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