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Thea Stilton and the Spanish Dance Mission (Thea Stilton Graphic Novels Book 16)

Page 5

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!

 

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