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The Secret Of Cacklefur Castle

Page 4

by Geronimo Stilton

I didn’

  t believe them. But they were telling

  the truth.

  “It was

  Booey

  , sir,” explained Boneham.

  “He is the

  castle ghost

  . He loves to play

  jokes. He’s very playful.”

  BOOEY THE

  PO

  LTERGEIST

  Who Is He? The ghost of Cacklefur Castle. This

  young ghost is a poltergeist, which means he likes

  to play tricks on everyone.

  His Secret: He is afraid of scary movies -- but he

  watches them anyway!

  Just then, my water glass flo

  ated off the

  table. Then the water poured onto my lap!

  “Booey seems to like you a lot, sir,” said

  the butler.

  I shuddered. What would Booey do

  if he didn’t like me?

  Everyone began to eat their stew. I looked

  into my bowl and frowned. Inside the

  bubbling goo, I saw one of my

  own buttons! I saw a yellow

  canary feather, too. I pushed

  away the bowl in disgust.

  “Excuse me, Chef,” I asked. “May I have

  something else to eat? A salad, maybe?”

  Chef Stewrat looked angry. “Are you

  saying you don’

  t like my stew?”

  Everyone at the table stared at me.

  “That Geronimo Stilton is a strange

  mouse,” they murmured.

  The chef sighed. “I can make you a salad if

  you want. How about some poison ivy with

  slime dressing? Or sewer algae with moldy

  mushrooms and some nice pond scum on

  top?”

  T

  h

  a

  t

  G

  e

  r

  o

  n

  i

  m

  o

  S

  t

  i

  l

  t

  o

  n

  i

  s

  o

  n

  e

  s

  t

  r

  a

  n

  g

  e

  m

  o

  u

  s

  e

  !

  I turned as pale as a piece of mozzarella.

  “Um, how about some fruit instead?”

  “I have just the thing,” Chef Stewrat said.

  “How about a bowl of flesh-eating

  strawberries? Their teeth are nice and

  sharp.”

  I turned even pal

  er. “No, thank

  you,” I said weakly.

  “Well, what will it be?” asked the chef.

  “Some snake steak? Or some nice

  toxic

  tiger fi sh? It’s fresh from the moat.”

  “I think I’ll just skip supper,” I said. My

  poor stomach growled.

  “Have some toadstool

  tea, my little bat wing,”

  said Creepella. “It will

  make your tummy feel

  better!”

  H

  a

  v

  e

  s

  o

  m

  e

  t

  o

  a

  d

  s

  t

  o

  o

  l

  t

  e

  a

  .

  .

  .

  61

  THE THING HAS A

  TUMMY ACHE!

  I turned down the toadstool tea and left.

  I was walking down the hallway when,

  suddenly, the castle walls began to

  shake

  !

  Then I heard a strange rumbling sound.

  My fu

  r stood on end. “Putrid cheese puffs!”

  I crie

  d. “It’s

  an

  earth

  quake

  !

  ”

  Boneham the butler walked up to me. “It

  is not an earthquake, sir. It is The Thing.”

  Boneh

  am led me to the window. He

  point

  ed to the green, slimy moat that

  surro

  unded the castle. “The Thing has a

  tummy

  ache

  ,” he

  explained.

  “What

  thing?” I squeaked. I

  leaned

  out

  the w

  indow for a better look. The moat

  B

  u

  u

  r

  r

  r

  r

  r

  p

  p

  p

  p

  !

  !

  THE THING

  What Is It? Nobody knows. If they did, it wouldn’t be

  called The Thing! Nobody has ever seen it, but everyone

  knows it is enormouse. It lives in the moat and eats

  whatever crosses its path.

  Its Secret: The Thing is very shy. That is why nobody

  has ever seen it!

  63

  G

  U

  R

  G

  L

  E

  D

  and

  B

  U

  B

  B

  L

  E

  D

  belo

  w.

  Boneham pulled me back. “Be careful, sir.

  The Thing will eat anything it can. Don’t

  get too close to the moat. We’ve lost many

  guests that way.”

  “Th-thank you, Boneham,” I stammered.

  I scurried back to my room. My mind was

  r

  acing faster than a

  HAMSTER ON A WHEEL

  .

  Ca

  cklefur Castle was too much for me. The

  mouse-eating Thing in the moat was the last

  straw. There had to be some way to escape!

  I looked out the window. I am

  afraid of

  heights

  . But I was not

  too

  far from the

  ground. Maybe, just maybe, I could . . .

  I put

  my plan into action. I took the sheets

  off t

  he bed. I tied them together to make

  one

  long

  rope. I tied one end of the rope to

  the

  bedpost.

  Then I dropped the rest out

  the w

  indow.

  I took a deep breath and began to

  climb down.

  Sudde

  nly, the sheets began

  to

  swing back and forth

  !

  Above me,

  the

  window shutters began to

  rattle.

  Then the window — y

  es,

  t

  he

  window — b

  egan to tease me!

  “

  Nyah

  nyah

  nyah

  nyah

  nyah!

  ”

  the w

  indow sang.

  I gripped the sheets

  tightly. I did not want to

  fall!

  “

  I want to go

  H O M E

  !

  ”

 
I

  screa

  med.

  Below me, I saw Boneham

  driv ing up in a strange car. There

  was a big net attached to it.

  “Hold on, sir!” he called up.

  The sheets twisted once

  more. I lost my grip. I fell . . .

  Plop!

  . . .

  and I landed safely in Boneham’s net.

  The net dropped me on the grass. Kafka

  the cockroach ran up. He lifted his leg — a

  nd

  peed on my pants!

  “Why is this happening to me?” I sobbed.

  “I am a good mouse. I don’t deserve this!”

  I ran back up to my room and jumped

  in bed. I pulled the covers over my head.

  Maybe this was all just a bad dream!

  But it wasn’

  t. The mattress began to

  tickl

  e

  my tail!

  H

  o

  l

  d

  o

  n

  ,

  s

  i

  r

  !

  H

  o

  l

  d

  o

  n

  ,

  s

  i

  r

  !

  H

  o

  l

  d

  o

  n

  ,

  s

  i

  r

  !

  I jumped out of bed. I decided to take a hot

  bath instead, to calm my nerves. I turned on

  the water

  . Then I jumped back.

  The water was

  steaming hot

  ! I tried another

  knob. This time, the water was freezing!

  Actual ice cubes fl oated on the water!

  The bathtub laughed at me. “Ha-ha-ha!”

  I gave up on the bath. But there was one

  thing I really had to do. . . .

  I slowly walked up to the toilet. I had

  to go, but I was a little ner vous. What would

  the toilet be like? It looked scary. It was black

  with skulls and crossbones on the tank.

  Slowly, I lifted the lid. The toilet began to

  gurgle.

  “Use me if you dare.

  You’re in for quite a scare!

  Maybe I’ll flood the room.

  Or suck you to your doom!”

  66

  My whiskers

  quivered

  in fear

  . I backed

  away slowly.

  The t

  oilet kept singing. The window

  shutter

  s

  kept cla

  pping. The bed kept

  laugh

  ing

  . The

  n

  the c

  loset joined in. It began opening and

  shuttin

  g it s door.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Bang! Bang!

  I covered my ears and ran out of the

  GUEST ROOM

  .

  “

  I wan

  t to go

  HOOOOME

  !

  ”

  I wailed.

  g

  u

  r

  g

  l

  e

  !

  68

  THE ATTACK OF

  THE FLESH-EA

  TING

  STRAW

  BERRIES

  I bumped into the twins in the hall. “Where

  is the bathroom?” I asked them.

  Snip and Snap pointed to a nearby door.

  “It’s in there!”

  “Thank you!” I said. How polite.

  But when I opened the door, I saw I wasn’t

  in a bathroom. I was in a greenhouse. Clay

  pots with small green plants fi lled the room.

  For a moment, I thought I heard a noise.

  Munch! Munch! Munch!

  I moved closer to the plants. They looked

  so pretty! Each plant was loaded with red,

  sweet-smelling fruit.

  “Strawberries!” I said.

  “At last, something

  69

  normal to eat!” I reached out with my paw

  to pick a strawberry . . .

  and

  it bit me

  !

  “Ow!” I cried. I looked down. The little

  strawberry had a mouth and tiny teeth!

  “I want to go

  HOME

  !” I wailed.

  All at once, the strawberries jumped out

  of their pots. They began to chase me!

  Munch! Munch! Munch!

  Their little teeth

  chomped as they got closer and closer

  .

  . . .

  Luckily, at that moment Boneham ran

  in. He was carrying a can of sardines.

  “Dinnertime, my sweets!” he called out.

  The strawberries ran to Boneham. He fed

  them the sardines. They gobbled them up

  like a pack of cats at a mouse buffet.

  I sighed with relief and headed for the door.

  It was then that I noticed a sign on the wall.

  FLESH-EATING STRAWBERRIES

  ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.

  (BUT YOU DON’T REALLY WANT TO ENTER, DO YOU?)

  I ran from the flesh-eating strawberries.

  71

  Then I heard a giggle. I turned to see Snip

  and Snap.

  “

  You rotten little ratlets!

  ” I

  cried.

  The twins just laughed and ran away.

  I scurried down the hall, looking for a

  bathroom door. In the dim light, I saw a

  small yellow figure flying toward me.

  It was Madame Latomb’s were-canary!

  The little bird chomped on my finger with

  its sharp beak.

  “

  Ow!

  ” I squeaked.

  Madame Latomb stepped out of a door.

  “Come here, my little songbird,” she said.

  The were-canary flew to

  Madame

  Latomb

  and disappeared inside

  her huge hairdo. I wanted to tell

  her what I thought of her little

  terror, but I really

  , really had to

  find a bathroom now

  .

  I looked at the nearest

  door

  . It had a sign with

  teeny-weeny print on it.

  Boneham ran up to me.

  “Please don’t open this

  door, sir,” he said. “We

  have lost many guests

  this way.”

  “But what is inside?” I

  asked.

  Boneham’s whiskers

  twitched. “I do not know,

  sir,” he said. “But I am

  sure it is not very nice!”

  DO NOTOPEN THIS DOOR!

  DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

  REALLY! DON’T TRY IT!

  73

  A SURPRISE IN

  THE DARK

  I had had enough surprises for one day. I

  found another door. This one did not have

  any signs on it. I opened it.

  I stepped into a dark room. I felt on the

  wall for a light switch, but there was none.

  Then I made out a shape in the dark. A

  toilet

  !

  Relieved, I sat down and began to take care

  of business. When I was done, I reached out

  to grab the to
ilet paper. I touched something

  that felt like toilet paper. So I gave it a

  pull

  .

  I flushed

  the toilet. Then I remembered I

  had a small fla

  shlight in my pocket. I took it

  out, turned it on . . .

  74

  . . .

  and found myself face-to-face with a

  !

  “

  H

  eeeeel

  p

  !

  ” I shrieked. With

  horror,

  I realized I hadn’

  t found toilet paper at

  all. I had found the wrappings of a mouse

  mummy!

  My paws trembled. I dropped the fla

  shlight.

  The light went out.

  “Heeeeeeelp!” I screamed again.

  The door opened. Creepella stepped

  inside.

  75

  “There you are, my little ghostie-whostie,”

  she said. “What are you doing in the staff

  bathroom? This is where my grandfather

  kept his mummies. He was fix

  ing them. You

  didn’t hurt them, did you?”

  I was still in shock. “

  !”

  I s

  tammered.

  Suddenly, I felt someone step on my tail. I

  whirled around.

  Snip and Snap stood there, giggling.

  “He did it!” said Snip.

  “He did it!” said Snap.

  “I want to go

  H O M E

  !” I

  wailed.

  The Cacklefur family gathered in the

  hallway. They shook their heads.

  “That Geronimo Stilton is a strange

  mouse!” they cried.

  I WANT TO

  GO HOME!

  Still

  shaki

  ng

  , I mad

  e my way back to

  the

  guest

  room. At least there were no mummies

  there

  . But I got lost in the

  long hallways

  .

  As I searched for my door, I noticed

  something on the flo

  or. I reached down and

  picked it up. It was an

  old

  piece of paper.

  I raised it to my snout. It was a treasure

  map!

  Even though I was

  tired, and scared,

  and hungry, I had

  to follow the map. I

  was too

  curious

  to

  resist.

  I took three steps

  to the right. Then two steps to the left.

  Then one more step to the right. I found

 

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