Thea Stilton and the Legend of the Fire Flowers (Thea Stilton Graphic Novels Book 15)

by Thea Stilton

  and the other

  contestants left the Hilo airport together.

  The Thea Sisters were already bonding

  with the other competitors — everyone

  except for the Ruby Crew, that is. Ruby and

  her friends trailed after the rest of the

  rodents. They only seemed interested in

  chatting with one another.

  As they were all boarding the bus that

  would take them to the resort,* a squeak

  rang out: “Look! A white dog!”

  Colette, Nicky, Pamela, Paulina, and Violet

  turned around. A Hawaiian

  mouselet

  was pointing at something in the distance.

  She seemed very worried.

  Tails trembling, her friends surrounded

  THE WHITE DOG

  * A resort is a fancy hotel that offers services like swimming

  pools, a spa, meeting rooms, and even concerts.

  her. They all shared the same

  fearful

  expression.

  The Thea Sisters followed their gaze

  and saw a white dog passing about twenty

  feet away.

  Colette, Nicky, Pam, Paulina, and Violet

  exchanged puzzled looks: What was so

  scary about a white dog?

  “Let’s do a little research when we get to

  the hotel,” Violet whispered to Paulina, who

  nodded.

  After a short drive, the bus stopped

  in front of a flashy new building. The

  sign outside read Fire Flowers resort. It

  looked very exclusive!

  “Holey cheese!” cried Pamela as she

  scrambled off the bus. “What a fancy-

  schmancy hotel! The owners must have

  Why were the local mouselets so upset by the sight of

  an ordinary white dog?

  C

  L

  U

  E

  !

  money to burn. . . .”

  “You said it, sis!” chirped Colette, her eyes

  sparkling. “I’ll bet there’s a spa inside!”

  Paulina and Nicky looked at her in

  confusion. “A what?”

  “A spa is a beauty treatment center,”

  Colette explained. “A place where they help

  you relax with massages, snout masks,

  compresses, saunas —”

  “We get it, Colette,” interrupted Pam. “It’s

  your ultimate fantasy made reality!”

  Nicky and Paulina burst into giggles.

  SPA

  The word

  spa

  comes from the town

  of Spa in Belgium, where people used

  to visit for the healing properties of its

  mineral springs. Today the term is used

  to refer to centers that offer restorative

  hot baths, body well-being services, and

  beauty treatments.

  sweet

  “It sounds wonderful, Colette,” said Violet

  gently. “But I don’t know if there will be

  time

  for beauty treatments. We’re here

  to represent Mouseford Academy in the

  hula championship. We’ve got to stay

  focused on our performance tomorrow!”

  A high-pitched squeak

  interrupted her. “You said it, sweet

  cheese

  ! I’ll bet you a pound of fresh Swiss

  that Mouseford will win the hula

  competition!”

  It was Ruby squeaking. She, Connie, Zoe,

  and Alicia sashayed past the Thea Sisters.

  “That’s right, Ruby!” added Zoe. “But

  let me clear something up: Since the Ruby

  Crew

  is also here to represent Mouseford,

  the academy’s got this competition in the

  palms of our paws. I can’t imagine what a

  bad impression

  Mouseford would

  make if it were just the

  Thea Sisters representing

  our school!”

  Pam was furious. “How

  dare you?! Just wait. We’ll

  show you, you . . .”

  Violet put a paw on her

  back to calm her down.

  RUBY’S CHALLENGE

  “Let it go, Pam! It’s not worth getting upset

  about. At the end of the championship, the

  results will squeak for themselves!”

  Ruby stuck her snout in the air and said,

  “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Then she shook

  her

  FIERY

  red fur and strode away,

  with her friends trailing after her.

  That was when something bizarre

  happened: The mysterious white dog

  appeared again!

  While everyone was entering the resort, an

  old mouse leaning on a wooden cane

  approached the group. He looked very

  upset.

  “Get out of here!” he shouted.

  Everyone looked at him apprehensively. No

  one had any idea who this rodent was or why

  he was yelling at them.

  “You must LEAVE immediately!” he

  insisted. “Leave this hotel before

  Mauna Loa erupts!”

  The Thea Sisters exchanged

  alarmed

  glances. They were

  about to ask the old gentlemouse

  for an explanation when Ruby

  butted in impatiently.

  “Just ignore him. Obviously he

  doesn’t know what he’s talking

  about. Everything is so new here,

  there certainly can’t be any danger!”

  The other mice whispered a bit, but they

  reassured one another and agreed to ignore

  him.

  “Come on, everyone,” Ruby continued.

  “Let’s relax and enjoy this classy hotel!”

  At that moment, two police officers came

  and grabbed the old gentlemouse.

  “

  Come on, move along,

  ” the first officer

  crazier

  ordered him, dragging him away. “How

  many times have we told you not to scare the

  guests with your ridiculous stories?”

  “Don’t mind him,” the other officer told

  the contestants. “He’s CRAZIERthan a

  cat chasing his own tail!”

  Violet observed the two

  officers carefully. They

  were dressed in official-looking uniforms,

  but they didn’t look like any

  policemice she’d ever seen.

  The two officers nodded at

  a mysterious mouse standing

  at the entrance to the resort.

  He nodded back at them.

  While the officers pulled the

  old gentlemouse away, he pointed his

  paw at the Thea Sisters, who were the

  only ones left looking at him.

  They turned to see what he

  was indicating and finally noticed the view.

  Looming over the resort was an enormouse

  mountain: the Mauna Loa volcano!

  How strange! An elderly gentlemouse warned

  everyone to leave the resort, and two suspicious

  policemice dragged him away. Why? And who was

  that mysterious mouse watching over everything?

  C

  L

  U

  E

  !

  MAUNA LOA

  Mauna Loa is the world’s largest volcano. At its peak, it

  is 13,677 feet above sea level. Mauna Loa means “long

  mountain,” and that is
a good description of this volcano —

  it takes up half the area of the island of Hawaii, with a dome

  75 miles long and 64 miles wide.

  Mauna Loa has been an active volcano for over 100,000

  years! It has erupted 33 times since its first documented

  explosion in 1843. The last eruption was in 1984.

  The Thea Sisters got settled in their room,

  which was more like a deluxe suite!

  There were five canopy beds, each draped

  with a white curtain; an enormouse

  hot

  tub

  in the middle of the room; and a wall

  of windows that looked onto a pool of crystal

  clear water. Mauna Loa stood

  imposingly in the background. What an

  awe-inspiring

  view!

  The five mouselets lingered by the windows

  for a while, admiring the landscape. After a

  few moments, Colette broke the silence with

  an excited yelp: “Moldy Brie, there’s a

  hoootttt tuuuubbb!”

  WELCOME TO THE

  FIRE FLOWERS

  RESORT!

  Nicky, Pam, Paulina, and Violet laughed.

  Colette could be a little overly enthusiastic!

  After unpacking their bags, the mouselets

  got ready to attend the welcome

  party downstairs. When they entered

  the banquet room, they immediately caught

  their

  breath

  : It had a magnificent terrace

  with an amazing view of Hilo Bay, which

  was lit up all the way out to sea.

  “This place is swankier than soft cheese!”

  commented Paulina,

  impressed

  .

  The terrace was packed with young mice.

  Nicky noticed a

  ratlet

  gazing at her.

  She turned red and looked away,

  embarrassed

  .

  The Ruby Crew was there, too, dressed in

  their fanciest duds.

  After a few moments, a mouse scurried

  onto a small platform at the end of the terrace

  and picked up a microphone.

  “Hello, everyone!” he exclaimed. “Welcome

  to the hula championship!”

  “Isn’t that the same rodent who

  knew

  the two police officers this afternoon?”

  whispered Violet. Her friends nodded in

  agreement.

  “My name is Sammy Sharkfur, and I am

  the owner of this marvemouse resort!”

  the mouse continued pleasantly.

  “One of the owners, that is,” said another

  mouse, smiling, as he joined Sammy

  onstage. “Or are we not partners?”

  Sharkfur turned redder than a tomato.

  “Oh, er, yes, yes, of course! I didn’t mean to

  imply . . .” Turning back to the audience, he

  said: “It is with great pleasure that I introduce

  to you Ekana Kahanamoku, my

  partner and co-owner of this

  splendid resort.”

  Everyone in the room

  applauded.

  “Sharkfur doesn’t seem too

  enthusiastic about having a

  partner, does he?” Paulina whispered.

  “You can squeak that again,” agreed

  Nicky.

  While Ekana told everyone about the hula

  competition, Sharkfur climbed down from

  the platform and headed for a scraggy rodent

  with a pair of glasses perched on his snout.

  The rodent was holding a folder filled with

  papers under his paw. The two immediately

  began squeaking nonstop.

  Paulina shook her snout

  suspiciously

  .

  “I don’t know about you, but there’s

  something about Sammy Sharkfur that

  rubs my fur the wrong way. . . .”

  As the Thea Sisters were TALKING,

  Sharkfur and the strange mouse slipped out

  of the room.

  chatting

  Ekana soon concluded his remarks. He

  climbed off the

  platform

  and began

  with the guests. The Thea

  Sisters decided to go introduce themselves.

  “Hi!” said Colette. “My name is Colette,

  and these are my friends Violet, Paulina,

  Nicky, and Pamela. We are here representing

  Mouseford Academy.”

  “Welcome to Hawaii!”

  Ekana replied. “I hope you

  enjoy

  your stay, and

  most of all that you like

  our resort!”

  “Are you kidding?!”

  responded Colette. “This

  place is just fabumouse!

  EKANA KAHANAMOKU

  Especially that

  HOT TUB

  in our room ...”

  Nicky jokingly put her paw

  over Colette’s mouth, and

  Ekana laughed. “Well,

  I’m thrilled to meet such a

  BIG fan! We paid

  through the snout to

  get this hotel just right.”

  “Tell us a little about

  how the resort

  got started,” Paulina

  jumped in. “Its location is amazing — right

  near Mauna Loa. But isn’t it dangerous?”

  Ekana smiled calmly. “Absolutely not.

  The volcano has been dormant for years, and

  the island’s observatory surveyed the

  land before we began construction on the

  resort. There is no danger at all!” Then he

  continued PROUDLY, “The land the

  hotel is built on has belonged to my family

  for generations. When Sammy arrived here,

  he asked me to be partners. We used my

  property to BUILD the resort.”

  Suddenly, Ekana’s cell phone rang, and

  he excused himself.

  The Thea Sisters exchanged glances. They

  had all noted the same thing: Sammy

  Sharkfur was the one who’d wanted to get

  into business with Ekana! Interesting . . .

  Before returning to their room, the

  mouselets went onto the terrace, where some

  Hawaiian students were playing the ukulele

  under the gorgeous NIGHT sky.

  “Isn’t this place fantastic?”

  Paulina sighed dreamily. “It’s

  more

  magical

  than

  Mouseyland!”

  The Thea Sisters wanted to get some rest

  before the competition began. They were

  heading backto their room when they ran

  into Ruby, Alicia, Zoe, and Connie in the

  corridor.

  AN URGENT CALL

  FROM WHALE

  ISLAND!

  “You mouselings look a little tired,”

  observed Ruby, pretending to worry. “You

  better get some shut-eye, sleepysnouts!

  Otherwise your performance tomorrow will

  be even worse than usual! Ha ha ha!”

  Before the Thea Sisters could respond,

  Ruby and her friends turned tail and

  disappeared into their room.

  Then Paulina’s MousePhone rang. She

  quickly answered it. To her surprise,

  it was Professor Van Kraken, their science

  teacher at Mouseford Academy.

  The

  mouselets

  hurried into their

  room, and Paulina put the call on

  squeakerphon
e. “I’m so glad

  that I reached you!” began

  the professor. “I’m calling

  because there is an emergency,

  and only you can help me.”

  “You need us?!” exclaimed Pam,

  dumbfounded. “But, Professor,

  we are in Hawaii!”

  “Exactly!” responded

  the professor. “That’s why

  I’m asking for your help!”

  “Sure, Professor,” Pam said.

  “We are at your service. What’s up?”

  “I’ve been working with an international

  team of scientists, monitoring volcanoes

  around the world using the most modern

  research technology,” explained the professor.

  “In the last few hours, we’ve collected some

  disturbing data about one of the volcanoes.

  An eruption is close at paw. I’m

  squeaking about Mauna Loa!”

  The mouselets jumped.

  “But that’s the

  VOLCANO

  right

  next to our resort!” exclaimed Nicky as the

  others

  turned

  to look out the window.

  Professor Van Kraken sent them a

  graph showing the data, and the mouselets

  gathered around to look at it. It was so quiet,

  you could hear a cheese slice drop.

  “This data shows that Mauna Loa will

  ERUPT within the next two days!”

  the professor cried in alarm.

  Paulina studied the

  chart carefully. “But

  just this evening, we

  talked to one of the

  two owners of the

  resort, and he assured

  us that Mauna Loa

  has been

  dormant

  for years. According

  to him, there are no RISKS of any kind....”

  “That worries me,” said the professor. “I

  contacted scientists from the research

  42

  observatory on Mauna Loa, but they say they

  haven’t seen any warning signs.

  That’s impossible — the equipment our team

  placed there is the most recent technology

  and can’t be wrong. There’s something

  going on that I don’t understand. . . .”

  “You’re right, that is really strange!”

  agreed Violet.