THOUGHTS
MY
IN
LOST
SOON
WAS
I
been through. Some sailors believe that
ships have a soul. I bet this ship’s soul was
as rotten as a sewer rat.
Keeping an eye on the waves,
I
wondered if anyone had taken the time to
dust my aged cheese collection. Or my
priceless set of the Encyclopaedia Ratannica.
I patted the notebook in my pocket. All
my book needed now was an ending. I
hoped it would be a happy one.
“Laaaaaaaaaand hoooooo!”
came Trap’s shout.
I snapped to attention.
“Land?” asked Thea,
racing across the deck.
red-and-white-striped
“Land, land, laaand!” sang Benjamin,
kicking up his paws.
Thea twirled around in circles. “Home
sweet home!” she sang. Trap played air
guitar with his tail.
I guess we all looked
pretty silly. We were
dressed in the pirate cats’ clothing. My
sister had used her sewing skills to make
them
smaller
.
Trap was wearing a big lacy shirt with
lots of ruffles. He looked like the mouse
from the high-wire act at the Big Cheese
Circus.
Thea had on a yellow silk vest and the
pearls she had found. Benjamin’s oversized
shirt made
him look like a jailmouse.
As for me, I was wearing one of the
99
Black Bandit's coats. It was
so long I swept the floor as I
walked.
I tried to untangle my knotted
whiskers. It was no use. They were
wound up tighter than a spring. Next, I tried
to smooth out my shirt. It was still a
wrinkled mess.
“Don’t worry about the look,
Cousinkins!
” squeaked Trap. He
strutted around, puffing up his fur. “We’re
too good for any dress code!
After
all
, it’s not every mouse who can say he
fought against pirates. Giant pirate catsas
big as buildings!”
Thea giggled. “Let’s not overdo it. I was
there, too, you know,” she replied.
“Are you calling me a liar?” Trap
demanded, paws on his hips. “They WERE
100
humongous cats. Don’t you remember their
claws? They were sharp enough to slice ten
mice in half!” he insisted.
101
Thea made a
face at him.
“Well, maybe
not ten mice,”
Trap added. “Maybe
just
two
.
”
My sister rolled her eyes.
“OK, OK, maybe they
could just chop off some
fur,” Trap admitted.
“But they were still the
BIGGEST
cats
I have ever seen!”
Thea burst out laughing. “Why, of course
they were, Cousin,” she said. “They were
also the only cats you have ever seen!”
102
WIDE
SO
WERE
SMILES
OUR
Can a land be sweet? I don’t
mean sweet like sugar on a cream-cheese
doughnut. I mean sweet as in “melt your
heart sweet.” Yes, there was no other place
like sweet, sweet Mouse Island. We sailed
toward land, grinning from ear to ear. Our
we could have been poster mice for Flossy,
my dental rat.
It felt so good to be home at last! By now
you know how much I HATE traveling!
We sailed by the statue that stands at the
entrance to New Mouse City Harbor. It is the
Statue of Liberty, holding
up
a big piece of
104
Sweet, Sweet
MouSe ISland!
cheese. Mice come from all
over just to see her. Today a
crowd of rodents had
gathered at her feet.
They all gave us
puzzled stares as we
sailed by.
“Let’s show those
mice a real pirate’s
homecoming!” Trap
shOUTed.
We bowed low. Then
we waved our hats and
cheered, “Hooray for
New Mouse City!
”
Next, before we could
stop him, Trap fired a
round from our ship’s one
hundred cannons. Luckily,
the mice below knew it was only meant as a
greeting. Leave it to my cousin to come in
with a bang!
The other ships in the water quickly let
us pass. Then they followed behind us in a
line. It was like we were leading a floating
mouse parade.
“We are going to be famous,
ratlets!
” cried Trap. He was waving to
the mice below
as if he were a famouse
rock star or a big-time movie mouse. “Look
at them!” he squeaked excitedly. “They’re
practically drooling over us! Wait until they
see the treasure!”
We lowered the sails. The Silver
Claw
dropped anchor right in the middle
of the harbor.
The four of us climbed
into a rowboat and reached the
shore. The crowd was extra
noisy.
They had enough
questions to sink our ship!
“Where do you come from? And
where does that enormouse ship come
from?”
“Why the cannons? And what about that
flag with the skull?”
“Look at their clothing! Hey, isn’t that
Geronimo Stilton, the newspaper
mouse? You know, the one who published
the YELLOW PAGES? Remember all those
wrong numbers?”
I had forgotten all about
the phone book disaster.
108
YELLOW
PAGES
all is forgiven!
Fortunately, I didn’t
have to worry about the
phone books. Now
everyone just wanted
to hear about our
adventure. We told
our tale on the
WRAT radio program. We even appeared
on Ben Squeaker’s
TV
talk show.
We had become the island’s national
heroes! Not only because we had beaten the
pirate cats and sent them to Ho-hum
Island, but also because of that famouse
silver quarter. It had been stolen by the
pirates at the time of the Great Cat War!
109
PAGES
As for the pirate ship, we finally agreed to
give it to the city. The mayor ended up
turning it into a mouseum dedicated to the
history of rodents.
Now that we were
famouse, my little mix-up with
the YELLOW PAGES was
>
forgiven. Once in a while,
a rodent would call the
office to place an order
for some Furry
Tails
toilet paper.
But I didn’t mind.
I was too busy
working on my
own paper. The
paper in my
notebook, that is. I
buried myself behind
PAGES
my desk and began writing my book. I wrote
about our crazy balloon ride. I wrote about
our capture by the Black Bandit. I
wrote about our daring escape. I even
wrote about Chef Slobbertooth and the
snails!
The book was ready in less than a month.
I had already chosen the title: Attack
of the Bandit Cats
. I had a
bestseller in the making. I could smell it! It
was as strong as my great-
grandma Scamper’s garlic cheese
rolls!
islands, Pizzas,
and suiTCases
Now, you are probably wondering what
happened to all of the treasure. Well, each
one of us used it in a different way. My sister
bought a small island north of New Mouse
City. She called it Thea’s Wild Paradise.
She goes there to vacation and to get away
from the rat race. My sister also managed to
sell the pirate
cats’ song
to
a big-time record company. Believe it or not,
that meow music is now at the
TOP
OF THE
CHARTS!
My
sister still can’t carry a tune, but she’s
singing all the way to the bank!
What did my cousin Trap do with his
share of the treasure? Well, he built an
enormouse pizza restaurant
shaped just like a pirate’s ship. The waiters
dress as pirates and serve hot, steaming
pizzas with evil names like the THIN
CRUST SCREAM SUPREME
. The place
is a huge success. Mice are just scurrying
to get in. Plus, they all want to meet Trap.
Yes, my cousin is famouse — and not just
because of our adventure. He’s the star
of his own television commercial.
He swings back and forth on a rope with a
hot slice of pizza between his teeth. “Come
113
BESTSELLER
NEXT
MY
and see me at The
Pirate’s Ship for the very
best pizzas in town!” he
squeaks.
As for me and Benjamin,
we came up with a different
plan. A special plan. An
unbelievably exciting plan! Right now, I
am packing my suitcases for our trip. That’s
right, Benjamin and I have decided to travel
around the world!
Yes, I have discovered that traveling
really isn’t so bad after all. In fact, I think
every mouse should try it. Maybe my next
book will be a travel guide: Geronimo
Stilton’s Travel Tips for Tails of All Ages.
Hmm . . . that’s not bad. I think I just might
smell
Benjamin and I have decided
to travel around the world.
Born in New Mouse City, Mouse
Island,
Geronimo Stilton
is
Rattus Emeritus of Mousomorphic
Literature and of Neo-Ratonic
Comparative Philosophy. For the
past twenty years, he has been
running The Rodent’s Gazette, New Mouse City’s
most widely read daily newspaper.
Stilton was awarded the Ratitzer Prize for his
scoops on The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid and
The Search for Sunken Treasure. He has also
received the Andersen 2000 Prize for Personality of
the Year. One of his bestsellers won the 2002 eBook
Award for world’s best ratlings’ electronic book. His
works have been published all over the globe.
In his spare time, Mr. Stilton collects antique
cheese rinds and plays golf. But what he most
enjoys is telling stories to his nephew Benjamin.
A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR
1. Main entrance
2. Printing presses (where the books
and newspaper are printed)
3. Accounts department
4. Editorial room (where the editors,
illustrators, and designers work)
5. Geronimo Stilton’s office
6. Helicopter landing pad
The RodenT’s
GazeTTe
6
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
41
42
38
37
35
36
39
30
29
34
27
28
31
32
33
40
44
43
46
45
R
O
D
E
N
T
R
I
V
E
R
B
e
a
c
h
1. Industrial Zone
2. Cheese Factories
3. Angorat International
Airport
4. WRAT Radio and
Television Station
5. Cheese Market
6. Fish Market
7. Town Hall
8. Snotnose Castle
9. The Seven Hills of
Mouse Island
10. Mouse Central Station
11. Trade Center
12. Movie Theater
13. Gym
14. Catnegie Hall
15. Singing Stone Plaza
16. The Gouda Theater
17. Grand Hotel
18. Mouse General Hospital
19. Botanical Gardens
20. Cheap Junk for Less
(Trap’s store)
21. Aunt Sweetfur and
Benjamin’s House
22. Mouseum of
Modern Art
23. University and Library
24. The Daily Rat
25. The Rodent’s Gazette
26. Trap’s House
27. Fashion District
28. The Mouse House
Restaurant
29. Environmental
Protection Center
30. Harbor Office
31. Mousidon Square
Garden
32. Golf Course
33. Swimming Pool
34. Tennis Courts
35. Curlyfur Island
Amousement Park
36. Geronimo’s House
37. Historic District
38. Public Library
39. Shipyard
40. Thea’s House
41. New Mouse Harbor
42. Luna Lighthouse
43. The Statue of Liberty
44. Hercule Poirat’s Office
45. Petunia Pretty Paws’s
House
46. Grandfather William’s
House
Map of New Mouse City
1
35
37
36
34
4
33
32
31
29
28
27
24
23
22
25
21
20
19
18
16
15
14
13
12
10
9
8
7
6
5
3
2
Cat’s
Claw
Bay
17
This way
to the Mousific
Ocean
This way
to the
Ratlantic Ocean
This way to the Sea of Mice
This way to the Rodent Straits
Stray
Cat
Harbor
Furflung Island
Hamster Islands
C
o
r
a
l
R
e
e
f
s
Brigand’s Isle
Tomcat Island
Panther
Archipelago
Blue Dolphin
Bay
Mousefort Beach
New Mouse City
San Mouscisco
Swissville
Mouseport
Cheddarton
11
26
30
P
i
r
a
t
e
S
h
i
p
o
f
C
a
t
s
M
o
u
s
e
I
s
l
a
n
d
1. Big Ice Lake
2. Frozen Fur Peak
3. Slipperyslopes Glacier
4. Coldcreeps Peak
5. Ratzikistan
6. Transratania
7. Mount Vamp
8. Roastedrat Volcano
9. Brimstone Lake
10. Poopedcat Pass
11. Stinko Peak
12. Dark Forest
13. Vain Vampires Valley
Attack Of The Bandit Cats Page 5