!”
I turned and saw
a stunning mouselet.
Her
soft
fur was
a delicate hazelnut
color, her eyes
were as
green
as emeralds, and her
lips were the color
of
coral
. Her
long
hair
reached to her
My
dear
friends!
waist like a curtain of
shiny silk. She wore an
embroidered
golden sari and a
sparkly
diadem
*
on her forehead.
“
Ratna . . . it’s
really you!
” I said.
She glided toward me with the
graceful
motions of a born dancer. “
Geronimo, my
dear friend. Thank you for coming to my aid
.
”
Then she turned to Hercule. “Thank you,
darling Hercule. It’s so lovely having you
here with me!
I feel safe
knowing my
two oldest friends are looking out for me.”
Ratna put her paw on my shoulder.
“
Just
follow me, Geronimo. That’s all you have to
do. I’ll teach you to dance
,” she squeaked
softly.
*
A diadem is an ornamental headband worn as a badge
of royalty.
“Bravo,
Geronimo!
Do
it
again!”
Musicians began to play on the
sitar
, a traditional Indian
stringed
instrument.
The
gentleness of the
melody
washed over me. Ratna
sang
along sweetly. Soon I was
completely relaxed.
I followed Ratna’s lead,
imitating
her
movements, first slowly and then more and
more swiftly. And that’s how I learned
to dance.
Before long, I felt as if my paws
were flying across the floor!
The director and the cast and crew all
clapped.
Next, Ratna taught me to sing in Hindi.
When I followed her
SWEET
and melodic
squeak, the words of that
unfamiliar
Now you’re dancing
like a star!
That’s
it!
THE MORE I GOT
TO KNOW INDIA,
THE MORE I LIKED IT!
language
became easier to pronounce.
Over the next few days,
Ratna
helped
me discover many things about India.
Good job!
They’re
fabumouse!
Incredible!
Hercule grinned gleefully. “
See, Gerrykins
,
what did I tell you? I knew you’d enjoy our
trip to India! It’s positively banana-rific!”
A Trip
through
india
A
TIGER?
THUNDERING
CAT
TAILS!
After a few days of rehearsal, the entire
crew
left
to start shooting the movie. The
director, Dev, gave me a map of all the places
we’d visit.
First
, we had to go to Sundarbans
National Park in West Bengal. Then we’d
head to the
jungle
— my character had to
explore until I found a tiger . . .
Next I had to
dive
into the Ganges in
Varanasi and swim in that enormouse, raging
river!
I hoped I’d be brave enough to do it!
After that, I had to ride a horse to Jaipur.
Gulp . . . did they expect me to
gallop?
Varanasi
Sundarbans
National
Park
Jaipur
Agra
Day 1: Sundarbans
National Park
Day 2: Varanasi
Day 3: Jaipur
Day 4: Agra
Help!
DECLARE
MY
LOVE
A chill went down my tail. I have a horrible
history of motion sickness!
Finally, I had to go to the Taj Mahal in
Agra and
to Ratna. I chewed my whiskers nervously.
Would I be able to play the part of a lovesick
rodent? You see, I’m a very shy mouse
!
When we got to the jungle, I tried to hide
in my
trailer
, but Hecule gave me a push.
“Quiet on the set!” the
director
shouted.
“Action! Mr. Stilton, please come
in from the jungle LOOKING
courageous — bold —
daring. And smile as if
you don’t know that this
is a
dangerous
place,
famouse for its
wild
tigers . . .”
Take one!
Action!
“Oh, Mr. Stilton, wouldn’t it be
moustastic if a big,
hungry
tiger
jumped out of the
jungle?!” the assistant director
squealed
. “If we’re lucky,
you’ll run into one, Mr. Stilton!
Um, just to double-check . . .
you’ve written your will, right
?”
My will? Squeak! I almost passed out
from fright! You see, I am a total
scaredy-
rat
.
I tried to sneak away, but Hercule
grabbed
me by the tail.
“Nuh-uh, Gerrykins. Don’t make me look
like a cheeseface. Go on! Take a little stroll
in the jungle and
maybe you’ll run into
a teensy little tiger
!”
That’s when I heard a growl.
Grrrrrrrrr!
It almost sounded like . . . no, actually,
in fact — there was absomousely no doubt
about it . . . it was
the roar of a tiger
!
There was a real
tiger
right on my
tail! I began to
RUN
as fast as my paws
could carry me.
For a moment, I slowed down as I thought
about how happy the assistant director must
be. Then I began scampering my tail off
again!
As I scurried away, a little
monkey threw a banana at
my snout.
Boink!
But an angry monkey was
the least of my problems. My
tail twitching with terror, I finally reached
my trailer and
locked
myself in.
The assistant director
knocked
at the
door. “Mr. Stilton, we have to
; reshoot
that entire scene
. We were so
excited about the tiger, we forgot to turn on
the
movie camera
!
So we need to take
it from the top, from the moment the tiger
begins chasing you. Are you
ready
,
Mr. Stilton?”
Eek!
First day of shooting:
Sundarbans National
Park! I was supposed
to act like a
courageous,
fearless
prince . . .
. . . but a hungry
tiger chased me
all over the jungle!
Moldy mozzarella!
I was scared
out of my fur!
What Happened
to My Bananas?
Whose
prints
are
those?
Who’s
been
in
my
trailer?
When we finished
filming
the
scene with the tiger, I went back to my
trailer
and found my door wide
open.
Who had opened it?
Someone had climbed on top of the trailer
and left strange
pawprints
all over the
roof . . .
Strange!
Who
stole
my
bananas?
Whoever it was stole the fake
rings
I kept in my jewelry
case and
devoured
all of
Hercule’s bananas. How strange!
“If I find the
thief
who ate my bananas, I’ll
make mousemeat of him!”
Hercule
shrieked
. “You
play with the rat, you get the tail!”
Then we discovered that objects had
disappeared from the other actors’ trailers,
Who
ate
my
bananas?
Who
stole
my
chocolates?
Who
stole
my
belt?
too . . . especially objects that
were
SPARKLY
!
Fruit and
treats
were also
missing. And wherever there
was a theft, we found the same
strange
pawprints
, not
just on the floor and furniture,
but also on the roof.
“
I hate to say it, but there’s a
thief on the loose
,” I squeaked.
“
Rats!
Well, the important
thing is that this fur-face
doesn’t steal the
Heart
of
Fire
,” said Hercule.
Just to be on the safe side, we
doubled
the surveillance
on
Ratna
and her ruby.
Anytime she went anywhere,
we went with her. We were
m
y
You’re safe
with us!
We won’t let
the thief get
his paws on the
Heart of Fire!
Thank you,
my friends!
determined to
protect her
.
The next morning, we left for
Varanasi
at dawn. From there, we continued on to
JAIPUR
and then to
Agra
.
When the time came to
shoot
the
final
scene
, where the prince declares
his love in front of the Taj Mahal, I was very
nervous. I knelt before Ratna and squeaked,
“
Princess of Rajasthan, will you marry
me?
”
I’m comiiiiing!
On our second day of
shooting in Varanasi,
I had to scoop up
the waters of the
Ganges River.
Uh-oh . . .
Plink,
plink!
But as the
cameras rolled, a
crab pinched my
tail! Yeee-ouch!
That hurt!
Here I come!
On our third day, we
headed for Jaipur,
Rajasthan, the site of
the legendary Palace
of the Winds. I
almost fell off
my horse!
The fourth day was
our final scene, in
Agra in front of
the beautiful
Taj Mahal.
What a thrill!
My
darling!
Oh, my
beloved prince!
“Yes, oh, prince of Mysore, I
will!” she
whispered
.
The orchestra swelled, and all the
dancers
began to dance.
This was our spectacular grand finale —
and the
end
of the movie shoot!
“How did I do?” I asked
anxiously
.
The cast and crew applauded. “You were
amazing, Mr. Stilton!
Bravo!
”
Great job!
I went back to my trailer to take
off my makeup and
turban
.
Hercule
followed me.
Ratna joined us in the trailer a few minutes
later. “You’ve been
fabumouse
, my
friends!” she cried. “Because of you, I have
felt so safe and secure these past few weeks.
And thanks to you, no one has stolen the
Heart
of
Fire
!”
Plink!
Plink!
Plink!
I smiled. “We’re so happy we could help
you,
Ratna
.”
Hercule nodded. “Would you like a
banana?”
“No thanks, Hercule, but I would like to
ask you one last favor,” she continued. “My
fiancé and I have set our
wedding
date,
and it’s to take place in Mumbai in a few days.
Yes!
Fabumouse!
Of
course!
Will you
come to
my wedding?
Since you are
my oldest
and dearest
friends,
guests of
honor
at our
wedding!”
BOLLYWOOD
The word Bollywood
comes from two words:
Hollywood plus Bombay,
the old name for Mumbai.
Today Mumbai is the
center of the Indian
film industry. The music
and dance that are a
fundamental part of Indian
culture are very important
in Ratna’s movie.
I
would love
<
br /> for you
to be
We accepted
happily
. And then we
packed
our bags for Mumbai . . .
the famouse
movie
capital of India
!
A Curious Clue
Squeak!
THE TWO MICE
HUGGED JOYOUSLY.
When we got to Mumbai,
Vinay Ratingh
,
Ratna’s fiancé, came to meet us.
“Vinay, these are my oldest friends,” Ratna
My darling!
Aw, how
sweet . ..
They’re so
happy
together!
squeaked.
“
Wow, a
thousand guests?
This reception
is totally
mouserageous!”
He
bowed
. “Your friends are my friends,
darling!” He kissed her
paw
. “Come, we
have to scurry up! Everything’s ready for the
wedding
.”
He escorted us to the most beautiful
hotel in Mumbai. The preparations for the
wedding reception were in full swing! Ratna
and Vinay had invited
a thousand
guests
.
We saw a looooong table set
up in the hall.
Hercule exclaimed.
Ratna
scampered off for a quick ratnap.
Tomorrow was a very big day —
for her,
and for all of us.
Darling!
Squeak!
What a
perfect pair!
Yummy!
Congrats!
My love!
Squeak!
Squeak!
So sweet!
The following morning, Ratna
married
Vinay Ratingh.
She looked
absolutely radiant!
The
Heart
of
Fire
sparkled from the front of her
silk sari.
After the ceremony, there was a fabumouse
dinner
with a thousand happy guests.
The wedding
cake
was whisker-licking
good. A statue of two miniature dancing
mice twirled on top, but they didn’t distract
Hercule. He couldn’t wait to taste a big bite!
Yum, yum, yummy!
We feasted all day, but
DUSK
came at
last. The sun began slowly began to set,
spreading its golden rays over the roofs of
Mumbai.
It was time for the bride and groom to
dance
their first dance. The ballroom
quickly filled with
elegant
Bollywood Burglary (Geronimo Stilton #65) Page 4