by Thea Stilton
station in Paris. That’s where
they were scheduled to board
the Orient Express.
But when the mouselets
arrived, the station was
practically deserted. They
were so early the conductor
gave them a funny look.
Luc ily, a young porter with
lively
blue eyes came to their rescue. “I’m Claude,
at your service. The train is still empty,”
he explained. Then he winked. “So this is
the perfect time to explore. Follow me!”
Claude moved confidently through the
luxurious train. First he took the mouselets
to the café car, where he served them cups of
HOT
cheese and croissants.
15
“It really feels like an old bistro from the
1920s!” Colette sighed, glancing at the piano
and small tables that filled the café car.
Claude nodded. “That’s exactly the feel
we’re going for! You see, the Orient
Express is the only train that travels through
time.”
Once the mouselets had finished eating,
Claude continued their
tour
. He led the
Thea Sisters through a whirlwind of soft
velvets,
precious
wood, French silverware,
Bohemian crystal, and Flemish linen.
After they’d explored the length and width
of the train, Claude stopped in front of a
closed door. Then he held his paw to
his snout and looked around stealthily.
“This area is supposed to be off-limits, but
for you I’ll make an exception,” he whispered
mysteriously, taking a key out of
16
his pocket. “This car was set up specifically
as a showroom for the Veil of Light.”
“
Smokin’ Swiss cheese!
”
Pam said loudly, making everyone jump.
“
SSSSSSSSHHH, PAM!
” the
other mouselets shushed her. Claude stifled a
giggle
and invited his guests to enter.
It was dark, but Colette, Nicky, Pamela,
Paulina, and Violet could make out a glass
display case in the center of the train car.
Inside the case, looking as though it were
suspended in time, the Veil of Light
shone
brightly!
MALIK RATT
ııı
The Thea Sisters stared at the gorgeous
wedding gown. They were wide-eyed
in wonder. Until . . .
“What are you doing here?!” thundered an
unfamiliar grumpy squeak.
The mouselets all jumped. Behind
them stood a strange, pudgy little
rodent. His mustache, waistcoat,
and elegant bow tie gave him
the look of a gentlemouse
from another time. He
looked completely at home
aboard the Orient Express.
But the suspicious look on
his snout did not bode well
for the Thea Sisters.
Claude hurried to introduce the newcomer
to the mouselets. “This is Chief Inspector
Malik Ratt the Third, who is officially in
charge of
protecting
the Veil of Light.”
“You shouldn’t be here!” the inspector
squeaked sharply. “You’ll have to leave at
once. Please don’t get any closer to the display
case!”
The mouselets quickly turned away. All
except Nicky, who timidly stepped
forward. “Excuse us, Inspector. We are
students at Mouseford Academy,
and we’re here in place of Thea Stilton.”
“I’m quite familiar with the
identity
of
all the passengers,” Ratt replied haughtily.
He shot Claude a dirty look. “And none of
them are allowed to be in here.”
Embarrassed, Claude hurried the Thea
Sisters out of the compartment.
Why did Inspector Ratt warn the Thea Sisters
not to get too close to the Veil of Light?
“Inspector Ratt is famouse in his field,” he
explained. “He’s the one who found the Veil
of Light after years of
searching
. But
he can’t relax with the threat of the Cat
Burglar hanging over his snout. . . .”
“The
Cat Burglar
?” Paulina repeated,
intrigued. But there was no time to ask
questions, because Claude had just thrown
open three doors. “Here are your cabins!
Two doubles and a single that
CONNECT
.”
Then he scurried off, leaving the mouselets
to admire their swanky rooms. Colette and
Pam took the first cabin, while Nicky and
Paulina chose the next one, and Violet took
the single.
A moment later, Claude reappeared. “You
have a visitor.”
A mouse with short blonde fur was standing
behind him.
20
“Julie!” the Thea Sisters exclaimed.
“Mouselets!” she greeted them, beaming.
Immediately, the cabin was filled with
happy squeaking and the smack of kisses.
JULIE!
SMACK!
SMACK
SMACK
SMACK
SMACK!
22
“Lucky you!” Julie exclaimed, looking around
the cabin enviously. “A trip on board the
Orient Express . . . and in period costume!
It’s a fashionista’s
dream
come
true.”
Claude pushed a large trunk into the cabin.
Julie opened it
solemnly
. “And because this
dream must be très chic . . . voilà!”
The Thea Sisters gathered around the
trunk. “Our clothes!” Colette
exclaimed, clapping her paws
in
excitement
.
The trunk was brimming
over with clothes in the style
of the 1920s.
“Hey, sister! Did you
THE AMAZING JULIE
23
rob Isaac Mousrahi’s
showroom
or
something?” Pam joked, turning
over
a veiled hat in her paws.
“Hee hee hee!” Julie giggled. “Colette
didn’t tell you? I work part-time at the
Olympia Theater as an assistant costume
designer. These are theater costumes, and
my boss agreed to loan them to me. I had to
promise they’d be well taken care of. But no
worries — I trust you all completely.”
In the twitch of a whisker, the Thea Sisters
had transformed themselves from modern-
day mouselets into roaring rodents from the
1920s. Colette, Nicky, Pam, Paulina, and
Violet tried on one lovely outfit after
another until each found the one best suited
to her.
Violet wore a simple lilac shift with an
26
elegant bel
t around her hips. Pam put on a
pair of unusual knee-length pants: They
fit her like a glove! Paulina opted for an
orange sailor dress with a pleated
skirt
.
Nicky decided on a pair of pants and a jacket
with a horseback-riding feel. As for Colette,
she couldn’t resist a light, swishy pink
chiffon dress.
“Colette, that is simply gorgeous on
you!” Julie said admiringly.
The rest of the mouselets agreed. “You’ve
certainly found the perfect way to indulge
your passion for fashion,” Paulina noted.
Just then, they were interrupted by a noisy
DISTURBANCE outside on the platform.
Curious, the mouselets crowded around the
window.
FIVE TRUNKS,
OR SIX?
The Thea Sisters and Julie leaned out the
cabin’s windows to see what was going on.
Soon they’d spotted the cause of all the
commotion: The famouse guests had begun
to arrive! A crowd of enthusiastic
admirers had followed them.
28
“Look! It’s
Jack Nickmouse
and
Raty Perry, the ultimate power couple!”
Julie squeaked with excitement.
A moment later, another rodent made her
way
triumphantly through the crowd,
accompanied by thunderous applause.
“
IT’S HER!
” cried Violet, rushing
out of the train. The other Thea Sisters
looked at one another, bewildered. It was
rare to see Violet so
excited
, especially
about a celebrity.
“Huh?” Pam said. “Her who?!” She and
the rest of the mouselets scurried after
Violet.
The moment they stepped on the platform,
the mouselets were caught in an endless
procession of trunks and hatboxes, which
a team of porters was transporting on
enormouse luggage carts. A
young
29
rodent with red fur was
counting the bags by paw
as they were loaded onto
the train.
“Everything in order,
Dimitri?” asked a fluttering
voice, which made all the mouselets look in
the same direction. That was the
squeak of Zelda Mitoff! The famouse
ballerina was tiny, but she scampered
along in such a regal fashion that she seemed
much taller than everyone around her. She
was wearing a gorgeous green velvet wrap
paired with a long,
ELEGANT
period
gown.
“Five trunks and twelve hatboxes!” Dimitri
responded immediately, bowing. “Nothing is
missing, madame.”
Zelda took the paw the young rodent
The other mouselets were distracted by Zelda Mitoff’s arrival, but
Paulina noticed that there were six trunks, not five! Is it possible
that the famouse ballerina’s assistant miscounted?
C
L
U
E
!
32
offered her and stepped onto the train.
She disappeared into a first-class car, leaving
a trail of delicate
perfume
behind her.
“What an elegant rodent . . .” Violet
sighed, entranced.
Paulina twirled her whiskers thoughtfully.
“Yes, but what a cheesebrain that
assistant is. There were six trunks, not five!”
“Zelda Mitoff walked right by and you
were counting trunks?!” Violet blinked in
disbelief. “Don’t you know who she is? She’s
the greatest ballerina of all time! A legend of
the dance world!”
“She’s retired from the stage, right?”
Colette asked
curiously
.
“Yes,” Violet confirmed. “She was already
a prima ballerina when my mother was a
mouselet. But she’s still beautiful!”
“Did you see the amazing Jack
33
Nickmouse?” Nicky interrupted, her eyes
shining. “I can’t wait to interview him!”
“Looks like you better get in line, sister!”
Pam said, pointing to a group of journalists
getting onto the train. “We certainly won’t
be the only ones who want to squeak with
the VIRs — Very Important Rodents. . . .”
Just then, there was a deafening whistle,
and the conductor stepped onto the train. It
was time to get back on board: The Orient
Express was departing!
34
The Thea Sisters said good-bye to Julie,
waving to her from the windows of
the train.
“We’ll keep you updated on everything, we
promise!” Colette shouted as the train
slowly pulled away from the station.
No sooner had the train departed than it
was time for the mouselets’ first official
business appointment: Inspector Ratt’s
press conference.
The inspector waited until everyone had
assembled. All of the journalists were
hungrier for news than a mouseling
is for a cheesicle, and it was hard for them to
keep quiet.
Finally, the inspector cleared his throat.
ALL ABOARD!
35
“We are returning the Veil of Light to
its homeland,” he squeaked sternly. “No one
will be allowed to take it from Turkey again!”
“How do you know that the Cat Burglar
won’t succeed in stealing it?” asked
Priscilla Pawson, one of the journalists.
At the mention of the Cat Burglar, Paulina
became
intrigued
. “Him again . . . ,”
she murmured.
Ratt smiled enigmatically. “I cannot
reveal our secret methods to the public,
ma’am. But I can guarantee you that the
gown is safe. It is secured in an
indestructible case, which not even I can
open! Only the director of the Topkapi Palace
Museum will be able to do so when I pass it
safely into his paws.”
“A highly publicized voyage on the Orient
Express, and a dangerous thief on the
36
loose . . . ,” Nicky muttered to the others.
“Inspector Ratt has a big job on his paws!”
Paulina nodded, pointing to the train’s
itinerary. “We’ll cross six borders, with stops
in Budapest, Sinaia, and Bucharest. At each
stop, the gown will be shown to the public.”
“It’s sure to attract attention from all kinds
of criminals!” Colette concluded.
Once the press conference had ended, the
Thea Sisters and the other passengers
returned to their cabins while the Orient
Express sped along its course to Istanbul.
The mouselets gathered in Colette and Pam’s
compartment to CHAT.
“All the reporters are waiting to see the
Cat Burgla
r in
action
,” Violet remarked.
“I noticed that, too, Vivi!” Paulina agreed.
She switched on her
laptop
to look up
more information about the Cat Burglar.
“Mouselets, Thea asked us to take her
place on this trip. That means we can’t let
anything get past us!” Pam noted. “So
let’s review what we know while Paulina
looks for news on this Rat Burglar. . . .”
“Not the Rat Burglar, Pam! It’s the Cat
Burglar!” Colette corrected her, laughing.
“I did a little research before we
LEFT
,
and I learned that the Veil of Light was a gift
from the sultan Mustafa Shah to his favorite
DAUGHTER, Siren. The gown was made
38
of silk, woven with pure gold thread,
and studded with pearls and diamonds. It
was so splendid and fine that it appeared to
be woven of light! That’s where its
name comes from.”
“Oh, here’s something useful!” Paulina
suddenly exclaimed. She’d been busy
searching the Internet. “Hmm, it
seems that the Veil of Light has a rather
complicated
history. . . . ,” she
continued, clicking around. “It was one of
the most precious pieces in the Topkapi
Palace Museum. On New Year’s Eve 1922,
the infamouse thief Rattamouche dropped
down from a skylight and stole it!”
“Cheesecake!” exclaimed Pam. “And he
pulled off the heist in spite of all the
security
in the museum?”
Paulina nodded. “
No one
has ever
39
discovered how someone
managed to pull off this
job, especially because the
museum was swarming
with guards! The theft
caused a huge uproar, and
the name Rattamouche
became famouse all over
the world.”
“So is he the Cat
Burglar?” Violet asked.
“No, Vivi,” Paulina
replied. “But this is
where the story
gets really interesting!
Listen to this. . . .”
A DOUBLE