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Creepella Von Cacklefur #6: Ride for Your Life!

Page 3

by Geronimo Stilton

it’S our

  turN!

  “Ugh! It’s that

  dreadful Creepella!”

  groaned Tilly.

  “Grandfather told

  us —” Lilly began.

  “— that you ruined his

  exhibit!” finished Milly.

  “It was an accident!” Creepella protested.

  “It’s true,” confirmed Geronimo. “I

  stumbled and fell on your grandfather’s flea

  theater, but I didn’t do it on purpose. You

  see, I am an extremely clumsy rodent. I

  apologized profusely.”

  “But . . . aren’t you the one —” said Lilly,

  dumbfounded.

  “— who went to climb —” continued

  Milly.

  “— Scream Peak?” asked Tilly.

  Geronimo blushed from the tip of his

  ZIGSLURP!

  tail to the tips of his whiskers.

  Creepella cut them short. “I absolutely

  must ride this roller coaster to figure out

  what happened to Mimi. Let me pass!”

  The triplets blocked the entrance.

  “Don't even think about it!"

  “How dare you cut in front of us!"

  “It's our turn!"

  Stop right there!

  It’s an emergency!

  An empty coffin pulled up in front of

  them. The Rattenbaums scurried onboard

  with a triumphant

  yelp

  . Ziggy tried to

  drag his feet, but the triplets yanked him in.

  They buckled their seat belts, and the coffin

  shot off like a

  rocket

  , zipping toward

  the big skull.

  First the coffin zoomed

  into the skull. It disappeared into the right

  eye, then came through the nose.

  Creepella kept her eyes locked on her

  three archenemies as they screamed with

  delight.

  In the coffin’s backseat, Ziggy had many

  of his little feet over his eyes. “my poor

  little bug bite!

  ” said Shivereen, shaking

  her snout.

  The last part of the ride was invisible

  from the ground. The little coffin entered

  h

  i

  g

  h

  u

  p

  d

  o

  w

  n

  the left eye, did t

  h

  r

  ee very fast loops,

  and began the

  toward the

  exit.

  Creepella waited patiently for the coffin

  to reemerge from the tunnel.

  “Ghastly gravestones!” she exclaimed as

  soon as it appeared. “It’s just as I feared. . . .”

  Inside the coffin was only poor Ziggy the

  millipede, his trembling feet still over

  his eyes.

  Lilly, Milly, and Tilly had disappeared!

  * Translation:

  Where’d they go?

  Whee! We’re flying!

  Ziggi zigigi?!?

  *

  Creepella helped Ziggy scramble

  out of the coffin. The little

  millipede had a bad case of

  the shakes, and Shivereen

  stroked his head to calm him.

  Creepella wanted to know

  more, so she talked to Ziggy in Millipedese.

  Ziggy replied,

  ,” concluded Creepella.

  Geronimo looked at them impatiently.

  tWiStS aNd

  turNS

  “So, what did he say?”

  “It’s past time you learned to squeak

  Millipedese!” Creepella scolded him.

  “Ziggy said that he didn’t see anything

  because his eyes were shut tight. But when

  they entered the skull’s left eye, he felt a

  freezing gust, like the breath of a phantom.”

  “A phantom?” whispered Geronimo. “Are

  you saying there’s a phantom inside the eye

  of the roller coaster?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Creepella. “But I

  intend to FIND OUT!”

  Creepella leaped into the coffin, and

  Shivereen jumped in beside her.

  “No! Creepella, you and Shivereen can’t go

  in there alone, it’s far too dangerous!”

  Geronimo cried.

  He Pulled her by the paw, trying to make

  her climb out.

  “You’re right, you rotten little pumpkin,”

  Creepella agreed. “We shouldn’t go in there

  alone.” Faster than the smell of rancid

  stew travels, she pulled out a short rope

  and tied his paw to her own.

  “Creepella? What are you doing?”

  sputtered Geronimo.

  “We’ll be safe as long as you’re with us!”

  Now let’s go!

  Creepella said sweetly. “Now LET’S GO!”

  The coffin was just starting to move when

  Shamley made his way through the crowd,

  shrieking like a vampire who’s just

  met his first garlic clove.

  “You!” he squeaked at Creepella. “Tell

  me what happened to my adorable

  granddaughters

  !”

  Creepella looked up at him calmly. “I

  don’t know, but I’m about

  to find out!”

  At that moment,

  the coffin

  like a hyperactive

  hamster on a treadmill.

  Shivereen clapped her

  paws in excitement.

  zoomed

  away

  she cried as the coffin zigzagged down the

  tracks at a supersonic speed.

  “Wow! This is better than a trip to the

  cemetery!” squealed Creepella. “Don’t

  you just love it?”

  Geronimo didn’t respond. He had fainted

  again.

  Shivereen quickly brought him

  around with some smelling

  salts from her purse. “Look,

  Auntie,” she said. “Geronimo

  changed colors again.

  First he was green, now he’s

  YELLOW

  !”

  “Just like Chef Stewrat’s

  famouse Moldy Cheddar

  Surprise!” laughed Creepella.

  But a moment later, she was serious again.

  “We must pay attention! In a couple

  seconds, we’ll enter the skull’s

  left eye.”

  As the coffin whizzed into

  the dark tunnel, Geronimo

  exclaimed, “It’s so dark in

  here, I can hardly see my whiskers

  in front of my snout!”

  Suddenly, Shivereen and Creepella felt

  an icy gust pulling on their fur. A

  moment later, they’d been sucked into

  an enormouse vortex!

  And because Creepella and Geronimo

  were attached at the wrist, he was Pulled

  into the darkness along with her!

  trapped!

  Creepella, Geronimo, and Shivereen were

  suspended in midair for a moment. Then

  they fell into something soft.

  “But where are we?” asked Shivereen,

  trying to scramble up but

  slipping

  back down.

  “I don’t know. It seems to be . . . a net.

  Like the kind trapeze mice use,” exclaimed

  Creepella, peering into the darkness around

  the
m.

  “How is Geronimo?” asked Shivereen.

  She began to bounce up and down in

  the net.

  “He

  fainted

  . . . again. But I know just

  how to wake him up!”

  Creepella leaned over her

  unconscious friend and untied

  the little rope from their paws.

  Then she stuck Grandpa

  Frankenstein’s box under his snout.

  A moment later, Geronimo woke

  up with a series of sneezes. Little

  colored clouds lit up the space

  around them.

  In the light of the clouds, Creepella and

  Shivereen could see where they’d landed.

  There was a net strung in the center of

  the structure supporting the roller

  coaster’s gigantic skull.

  After Geronimo’s fifth and final

  sneeze, darkness fell once

  more. It was so still, the only

  sound was Geronimo’s teeth

  chattering in fear.

  “H-how do we get down from

  here?” he stammered.

  Before Creepella could respond, they

  heard a loud

  C

  LICK

  , and the net closed

  around them!

  “

  ACHOO!

  ACHOO!

  ACHOO!”

  “Tattered tarantulas, now we’re really

  trapped

  !” exclaimed Shivereen. She

  sounded rather excited about it.

  “Shh!” said Creepella. They fell silent,

  and then they all heard it: a soft, rhythmic

  flutter. The noise seemed to be getting

  closer and closer, until it was right next to

  the net.

  “Wh-who’s there?” squeaked Geronimo.

  “Oh, I’d recognize the beat of those wings

  anywhere. It’s Bitewing!” said Creepella.

  “Hi, Creepella! Hi, Shivereen!” their pet

  bat

  greeted them.

  “Bitewing, how did you find us?” asked

  Shivereen.

  Bitewing fluttered around the net.

  Flap!

  Flap!

  Flap!

  “I didn’t see you come out of the skull, so I

  came to find you. I flew into the left eye,

  and then I heard your squeaking and saw

  the bright clouds. . . .”

  “What a good little batty-watty you are!”

  cooed Creepella.

  But Bitewing wasn’t finished yet. “I have a

  surprise for you.”

  Creepella reached through the net’s

  webbing, and Bitewing dropped something

  into her paw.

  “Aha! It’s Gasher, the scorpion who

  can cut through anything!”

  she exclaimed. “He’s one

  of Grandpa Frankenstein’s

  pesky little monsters.

  Gasher can slice through

  any cord,” she explained

  to Geronimo.

  The little monster quickly snipped

  through the links of the net. A minute later,

  Creepella, Shivereen, and Geronimo landed

  on the ground with a thud. Creepella stored

  Gasher in her pocket.

  While Creepella was brushing off her

  dress, Bitewing screeched, “Don’t you have

  something for me, Creepella?”

  “Of course I do, my darling! I always have

  some of your favorite spicy worm candies

  with me,” said Creepella, tossing them

  into the air. “Here’s a reward for a

  job well done.”

  Bitewing caught them in

  midair.

  “

  Y

  u

  m

  !

  M

  y

  f

  a

  v

  o

  r

  i

  t

  e

  !

  ”

  Creepella, Geronimo, Shivereen, and

  Bitewing inspected every inch of the

  black tent that covered the skull’s base,

  looking for a way out.

  After a few minutes, Shivereen

  said, “Auntie, look! There’s a

  rip

  here!”

  The little group scurried

  through the hole till they

  reached the outside of the tent.

  “Finally!” sighed Geronimo.

  “But . . . where are we?”

  “At the back of the Misguided

  the SearCh

  for

  ClueS

  Ride,” replied Creepella. “Let’s take a look.”

  “OUCHIE!” Geronimo cried,

  hopping on one paw. “Something

  poked me!”

  Creepella hurried over to

  him. Stuck in her friend’s

  paw was a

  fur-pin

  engraved with a cockroach

  and the initials

  T

  .R.

  “Wh-what?” asked Geronimo.

  “We’ve found traces of the triplets!”

  Creepella said triumphantly.

  “What does this have to do with the

  triplets?” Geronimo asked.

  Creepella rolled her eyes. “Geronimo-mo!

  These

  initials

  don’t tell you anything?”

  Geronimo tugged at his whiskers.

  “Hmm. ‘T.R.’ Does it mean Thomas

  Rattola, the famouse poet?”

  Creepella shook her snout.

  “Hmmmm . . . how about Theodora

  Rattolucci, the great film director?

  “Try again, you silly scatterbrain!”

  snickered Bitewing.

  “I’ve got it

  !

  ” said Geronimo. “Timothy

  Ratting, the notorious horror novelist!”

  “Geronimo, you’re more clueless than a

  baby kitten! It stands for Tilly Rattenbaum,

  of course!” Shivereen yelled in exasperation.

  “Of course! Why didn’t I think of it

  before?” Geronimo said, smacking his

  snout. “But what in the name of string cheese

  is Tilly’s

  fur-pin

  doing here?”

  “The triplets must have passed through

  here,” said Creepella. “We must scour this

  area for clues!”

  They turned their snouts to the ground

  around them. A few feet away, Creepella

  spotted a shiny object. It was a barrette with

  the initials L.R. “Lily Rattenbaum! We

  are on the right track!”

  “Look there! Near the

  mousehole

  !”

  Creepella picked up a ribbon labeled M.R.

  “It’s Milly's. Very good. Let’s go down!

  “Go down? In what sense?” asked

  Geronimo, looking worried.

  “In the sense of underground,” replied

  Creepella decisively. “We all have to go

  down this mousehole!”

  On the mousehole were the words

  DO

  NOT OPEN!

  “The triplets must have gone down

  here. We have to follow them,” exclaimed

  Creepella. “Bitewing, you go

  first

  . You

  can lead us through the dark .”

  Bitewing zoomed into the hole. “Come

  on! There’s a !”

  Creepella and Shivereen descended one


  after the other. Geronimo glanced at the

  dark passage and gulped. He was afraid

  to follow, but on the other paw, he didn’t

  want to be left alone.

  ladder

  a trim?

  Geronimo finally followed them into the

  mousehole.

  The ladder led to a damp and narrow

  corridor. The three rodents groped their

  way along it, following a faint light in the

  distance. It was coming from a door that

  stood ajar. Without any hesitation, Creepella

  threw it open wide.

  “Where are we?” asked Geronimo.

  The walls of the room were covered with

  mirrors of every size and shape.

  It looked like an abandoned

  funhouse.

  “Wow! This is

  fabumouse!” exclaimed

  Shivereen, admiring

  herself in a mirror

  that warped her

  reflection.

  While she and Geronimo had fun

  MAKING FACES at each other,

  Creepella inspected their surroundings

  more closely.

  She picked up a bottle of fur

  dye and a curler from the ground.

  “Hmm . . . interesting.”

  At that moment Geronimo, who

  was hopping up and

  down in front of a

  mirror

  , lost his balance

  and bumped into the wall.

  “Yee-ouch!” he

  exclaimed.

  The mirror covering

  that part of the wall

  turned with a click,

  revealing a

  hi

  d

  d

  e

  n

  door.

  “Well done! You did something right

  for a change!” cheered Creepella, hurrying

  to open the door.

  Behind it, they found a

  room

  full of boxes,

  mannequins, armchairs, and newspapers. In

  the center, on a pile of magazines, stood an

  enormouse glass jar.

  “Hey, there’s something inside it!”

  Shivereen pointed out.

  Lying on a bed of algae inside of the jar

  was a mysterious crab with big red claws,

  sleeping soundly.

  “But why is there a crab in a jar in this

  abandoned storeroom?” asked Geronimo.

 

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