by Thea Stilton
“I wanted to
the final verse
of the song I wrote for her
on the handle. I’d bring it to
my trusty jeweler, here in
Granada. He could do it
right away, and I didn’t
think she’d miss the fan. I
never meant to make such a mess of things!”
“Carlos, I don’t think you understand how
NEW CLUES!
exactly
precious that fan is to our family. It
belonged to Rosita. It was part of our
inheritance,” Anita explained.
“What?! If I had known that, I would never
have taken it!” Carlos cried.
“What matters now is that we find it,”
Joaquin said. “Any idea who might have
stolen it from you?”
“Let me think for a minute,” Carlos replied.
“I put it in my backpack when I went into the
travel agency to buy a train ticket for
Seville. . . .”
“Did you meet anyone?” Violet asked him.
“No . . . Wait a sec, yes, I did,” Carlos said.
“A tourist stopped me to ask for directions to
the Alhambra. Do you think she might
have stolen it?”
“It’s possible!” Anita declared. “Tell us
what happened.”
“It was a young mouselet. She came up
behind me and asked for directions. I turned
to show her which street to take, but when I
turned around again, she had disappeared!”
“That seems suspicious,” Colette
murmured.
Who is the mysterious mouselet who stopped Carlos?
paper
“After the mouselet disappeared, I found
this piece of
on the ground,” Carlos
said. “I was going to throw it away, but . . .”
“Read it to us,” Anita said.
“Plaza Santa Teresa . . . that
address
sounds familiar,” Joaquin murmured.
“Of course it’s familiar!” Anita exclaimed.
The Thea Sisters were surprised. “Do you
know someone who lives there?” Violet
asked.
“Yes, that’s the address for Rosita’s house,”
Anita explained.
“You’re a GENIUS, sis! How could I
have forgotten?” Joaquin cried.
“These are the train schedules for
Seville, Granada, and Córdoba,”
Carlos observed. “Something smells funnier
than feta cheese. That tourist didn’t say
anything about Córdoba. She asked me for
directions to the Alhambra!”
“Maybe that was just an excuse to distract
you and take the fan,” Paulina suggested.
“Hmm . . .” Violet said. “It looks like there’s
another train trip in our future.”
Pam nodded. “Let’s go, mouselets! Córdoba
is calling!”
“I’ll come with you,” offered Carlos.
“Actually, we have another job for you,”
Joaquin said. “Someone needs to go back to
Seville to explain things to Julieta. Will
you go?”
Carlos nodded. “Of course. But stay in
touch and be careful!”
•
The stolen fan is an important Vega family
heirloom. It belonged to Joaquin and Anita’s
ancestor Rosita.
•
Carlos took the fan to create a surprise for Julieta.
He didn’t realize that it was Rosita’s fan.
•
The only rodent he ran into was a mysterious
tourist. Could she be the one who took the fan?
•
The tourist asked for information
about the Alhambra, but she
dropped the schedule for trains to
Córdoba.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING ON?
LET’S REVIEW THE CLUES!
wink
Half an hour later, the Thea Sisters, Joaquin,
and Anita were on board a train, this time
bound for Córdoba. Pam threw herself
onto a seat in their compartment. “Back on
the TRAIN again! By tonight we’ll have
seen all of Spain through this window.”
“And without a wink of sleep,” murmured
Violet. Her eyelids were starting to droop. A
moment later, she had drifted off,
hugging
her backpack tight to her chest.
“Whoa, what a sleeysnout!” Anita
exclaimed. “Should we wake her?”
“No, no, no, no! Don’t even think
about it!” Colette said, grabbing her friend’s
paw. “Violet gets
grouchier
than a
A REVEALING
RATNAP!
groundhog if she doesn’t get her z’s. . . .”
“And you don’t want to be the one to wake
her,” Paulina added, giggling.
“That’s too bad. We could use her help
reviewing the clues,” Anita said.
“Let’s start WITHOUT her,” Joaquin
suggested. “Okay, so Carlos took the fan
from Julieta’s purse, but then someone
took it from him!”
“Probably someone who followed him
from Seville . . .” Nicky observed.
“. . . and who knew it wasn’t just any fan!”
Colette concluded.
“It’s Rosita’s fan, and the
thief seems to be headed for her
HOUSE,” Anita added. “She
must be looking for something . . .
but what?”
“THE TREASURE!”
Violet exclaimed, waking suddenly.
Her friends stared at her in surprise.
“What treasure?!” Pam asked.
“You’re not going to believe this, but I just
dreamed about Rosita, who told me to pay
attention to her treasure,” Violet said.
“You mean the song?” Joaquin asked.
“Yes, but I have a feeling it’s more than
that. Can you ask Julieta to send us a few
pictures
of Rosita and her house?”
“Of course, but why?” asked Anita.
“I have an idea, but I need to make sure
I’m not leading us on a wild-cat chase!”
A few moments later, Julieta texted Anita
scans of old photographs of Rosita. The first
showed her during a performance. It
looked like a snapshot from an audience
member. The second was a portrait of the
DANCER in a classic pose, wearing a
gorgeous red dance costume and with a
proud look on her snout.
In the third, a much younger Rosita sat on
a chair in her living room in the house in
Granada. She was
SMILING
at the
photographer.
“There!” Violet exclaimed, pointing at a
detail in the LAST photo. “That’s it!
Mouselets . . . and Joaquin . . . I think my
unconscious is onto something!”
The friends
LOOKED
at Violet in amazement.
“Do you think Vi is squeaking in her
sleep?” Pam whispered in Nicky’s ear, which
made her friend giggle.
But the confident voice of their friend
silenced them. “Now we could use
a little
help
from Rodrigo. Could you call him?”
“Of course . . .” Joaquin replied, dialing his
brother’s
number
.
“Bro, we need your help!” he said, passing
the phone to Violet.
She made a strange request: “Could you
sing Rosita’s song for us?”
“You mean right now? On the phone?”
Rodrigo replied hesitantly. Colette, Nicky,
THE SECRET
OF THE SONG
Pam, Paulina, Anita, and Joaquin looked at
one another, perplexed.
“Yes, please. It’s very important!”
Rodrigo cleared his throat. Violet put him
on
SQUEAKERPHONE
, and he began to sing.
“My treasure is hidden
In a garden of rose.
The way to its heart
Is something no one knows.”
“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Violet said,
interrupting him. “Did you hear that? A
garden of rose! Don’t you get it? The
answer is right in front of us!”
Pam looked around, CONFUSED. “Uh,
all I see is an old train compartment. . . .
There’s no TRACE of roses here!”
It was Nicky’s turn to whisper in her
friend’s ear: “Don’t argue with
her! Maybe she just needs more
time for her ratnap. . . .”
Violet rolled her eyes.
“I heard that! I’m wide-
AWAKE. Don’t you
understand WHAT I’m
suggesting? The
treasure
in the song really does exist,
and Rosita is telling us how to
FIND it!”
“You’re saying there really is a rose
garden?” Colette asked.
“Yes . . . no! It’s not a real
garden. LOOK at this last
picture. Behind Rosita,
there’s a wooden sideboard
with a very particular
carving. . . .”
“
Roses!
” Anita
exclaimed.
“Exactly! The treasure
is in its heart . . . that is,
in the sideboard!” Violet exclaimed.
Joaquin was skeptical. “But how do you
know that’s true? It might just be a
coincidence
!”
Violet smiled. “Maybe . . . but who knows?
Rodrigo, please, could you continue with the
song?”
Rodrigo’s deep squeak echoed through the
compartment once more.
“My treasure is known only to me.
It can never be taken apart.
Its key commands the wind,
And it stays always near my heart.”
“Of course! She’s talking about her fan!”
Anita exclaimed. “The fan commands the
wind. And Rosita always kept it CLOSE
to her heart!”
“But what does that mean?” Pam asked.
“There must be a hiding place inside the
sideboard, and the key to opening it is the
fan,” Violet explained.
“The key? That’s interesting . . . I’ve always
wondered why the handle has such a strange
shape. It’s very
different
from most
traditional fans,” Anita said.
“That explains why it was
stolen!” her brother said. “The
thief understood that the song
was a map to find the treasure!”
“So what do you think the treasure
is?” Nicky asked.
“Let’s listen to the end of the song. I bet it
will give us more clues!” Paulina
suggested.
Rodrigo cleared his throat and sang.
“My treasure remains hidden.
It does not easily come out.
It waits for the brightest star
To shine down on my snout.
“Where are you, my treasure?
Far and wide will I roam,
Though the place where I’ll find you
Is close to my home.”
When Rodrigo stopped singing, the
compartment was so quiet, you could hear a
cheese slice drop. The mouselets looked at
one another, their minds racing.
Finally, Pam broke the silence. “
Sisters
,
I have to admit something. I’m more lost
than a rat in a maze!”
“Me, too!” Violet confessed unhappily.
When the Thea Sisters, Anita, and Joaquin
got off the TRAIN at Córdoba, the sky was
bright pink, and the sun had already sunk
behind the hills.
Anita quickly hailed two taxis. “It’s a
bit of a hike from here,” she said.
AT ROSITA’S HOUSE
She directed the drivers to Plaza Santa
Teresa. “That’s where the museum is,” she
explained.
“Great!” Pamela replied. “Um . . . what
museum are you talking about? We’re here
to go to Rosita’s house, not to go sightseeing....”
Joaquin laughed. “So sorry, we should have
explained! Rosita’s house has been turned
into a museum.”
“That’s right,” Anita said. “Every room has
been
just as it was back then,
and there are clothes, GUITARS, and
Córdoba
You can see the ancient history
of Córdoba in what remains
of its ancient walls, bridges,
towers, and palaces. This
walled city once served as
both the Roman and Moorish
capital of Spain.
Of all Córdoba’s monuments, the splendid
MEZQUITA, or mosque, stands out. It has more
than 850 columns made of jasper, onyx, marble,
and granite.
Córdoba is famous for its craftsmen creating high-
quality jewelry, pottery, and fans!
CÓRDOBA
Madrid
Granada
Seville
PHOTOGRAPHS on display. There’s even
a section about the history of flamenco.”
The taxis rushed through the city streets
and crossed the river Guadalquivir. Its
calm water shimmered below the city lights,
and the breeze blowing into the car
windows carried the sweet scent of flowers.
“When we’ve solved the mystery of the fan,
Anita and I would love to take you all on a
tour of the city of our ancestors,” Joaquin
said.
“That would be lovely. It’s so beautiful,”
Colette murmured, admiring a majestic
bridge in the distance.
The taxis stopped in front of an ancient
building. The friends thanked the drivers
and hurried to the museum’s entrance.
“It’s closed!” Pam exclaimed, disappointed.
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t reopen until
filtered
stacked
tomorrow morning,” Violet said, reading the
hours posted on the
locked
door.
“So now what do we do?” Anita asked,
worried. “We can’t wait till tomorrow!”
“WAIT, WAIT, WAIT . . . look up
there!” Colette exclaimed, point
ing to a small
balcony on the second floor. Dim light
out of the window.
“There’s a light on. There must be someone
inside. Let’s go up there!” Nicky suggested.
“But how?” asked Anita.
Paulina noticed that one of the glass doors
to the balcony was slightly open, and she
pointed to a few large boxes that were
up on the sidewalk. “We can
make a pile out of those!”
The mouselets quickly hoisted themselves
up onto the balcony, one after the other.
All the mouselets and their friends had to do
was push open the window, which someone
had already forced open. Colette, Nicky,
Pam, Paulina, Violet, Joaquin, and Anita
found themselves in a dark room that smelled
of roses.
“Be careful where you put your . . .”
BAM!
“
Yee-ouch!
” Pam cried,
rubbing her head.
Paulina turned on her
MousePhone. Its light shone
onto the columns of a four-
poster bed. Pam had walked
right into it.
“We’re in Rosita’s bedroom,”
YOU?!
Anita said. “Follow me. The
living room is through there!”
Just then, they heard the sound
of an object falling. Someone was
squeaking softly.
“The thieves! This is our chance
to see who they are,” said Nicky,
moving toward the noise.
“Wait!” Paulina stopped her.
“Let’s be ready to call the police in case
we need them.”
As the seven friends entered the living
room, they saw two figures with their
backs turned. They were fiddling with a
sideboard decorated with
carved
roses.
“Stop right there! We’ve caught you!”
Joaquin shouted.
The two mysterious thieves turned
around. “YOU?!” everyone gasped.
Who do you think the mysterious thieves are?
Lola and Pedro Navarro looked every bit as
surprised as the Thea Sisters and
their friends!