The Treasure of Easter Island (Geronimo Stilton #60) Read online

  I’m alive!

  Ha, ha, ha!

  For now!

  figure out the route to Easter Island,” he

  squeaked. “And then read this travel

  guidebook!”

  I was about to protest, but he stared at me

  with his PIERCING eyes.

  “Don’t you want to find Thea?” Wild

  Willie asked. “Come on! Help me with the

  map. And don’t make any mistakes, or we’ll

  have to make an emergency landing in

  the middle of a stormy ocean or on top

  of a craggy mountain peak . . .”

  EMERGENCY LANDING?! I quickly agreed to

  help. But when I opened the map, what I saw

  gave me chills from the top of my head to

  the tip of my tail. Easter Island was far

  away and in the middle of nowhere!

  And when I read the travel guide, I realized

  there were many, many MYSTERIES

  surrounding the island . . .

  This remote island is part of Chile.

  It lies more than two thousand

  miles west of South America and

  more than one thousand miles

  from its nearest island neighbor.

  The island was once home to the

  Rapa Nui people, who are famous

  for building incredible moai —

  volcanic rock statues that depict

  huge human heads. Easter Island

  has a mysterious charm that

  attracts many tourists.

  Pukatikei

  Volcano

  Poike

  Ahu Tongariki

  PACIFIC OCEAN

  CHILEAN SEA

  Hotu-iti

  Oroi

  Vaihu

  Ahu Vinapu

  Rano Kau

  Volcano

  Orongo

  Mataveri

  International

  Airport

  Hanga Roa

  Ahu Akivi

  Terevaka

  Volcano

  Easter Island

  That’s Easter

  Island!

  We flew for hours and hours. Wild Willie

  kept his GAZE fixed on the flight

  instruments. He never moved away from

  the controls.

  I, on the other paw, couldn’t take my eyes

  off the foam-topped blue waves churning

  Is thAt It?

  no WAy!

  Land!

  and crashing below us. The ocean seemed

  endless. According to my guidebook, the

  Polynesian people who had once explored

  the area navigated the ocean in simple

  outrigger canoes! How terrifying!

  Susie took photo after photo.

  “Does this plane do stunts?” she asked

  Wild Willie as she snapped a shot of him at

  the controls.

  He raised his left eyebrow. “Obviously,”

  he replied coolly.

  “Pff! I doubt it,” Trap muttered.

  To prove himself, Wild Willie immediately

  leaned on the controls, sending the plane

  into a wild corkscrew.

  I screeched.

  “Is that it?” Trap scoffed. “No way! You

  can’t do anything better?”

  With a sudden lurch, the plane dove into

  “

  Heeeelp!”

  Ahhhhhh!

  Heeeelp!

  a death-defying spiral.

  “Ahhhhhh!” I squeaked, terrified. “I

  don’t want to lose my fur!”

  “Oh, that’s nothing,” Trap teased Willie.

  “If I were behind the controls . . .”

  Before Trap could finish his sentence,

  Wild Willie took the tiny plane through one

  breathtaking

  stunt after another.

  During all these daredevil moves, I

  gripped the seat of the plane for dear life.

  My whiskers twisted with terror, and

  I was so airsick I thought I might toss my

  cheese! Luckily, Susie’s kindness saved me.

  She rummaged through her equipment

  bag and found a bottle of bubbly seltzer

  water. “Here,” she said. “This will help settle

  your stomach, Geronimo.”

  Thank goodmouse for her!

  “Is that enough stunts, or do you want

  some more?” Wild Willie shouted to Trap

  over the ROAR of the plane’s engine.

  “Please tell him that’s enough!” I begged

  Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

  Trap. “I can’t take another second of these

  loop

  -

  dee

  -

  loops!”

  Trap scratched his snout and thought about

  it for what seemed like an eternity.

  “Well, I have to admit those were some

  pretty

  impressive

  stunts,” he conceded.

  Only then did Wild Willie finally return

  the plane to a horizontal position. He

  grinned proudly.

  A moment later, an island shaped like a

  TRIANGLE appeared on the horizon.

  “We’ve arrived on Easter Island!” Susie

  squeaked excitedly.

  “Yes, here we are, in the middle of

  NOWHERE,” Wild Willie remarked

  darkly. “Did you remember to update your

  will, Geronimo?”

  I shook my snout. When would I have had

  the TIME?

  “Don’t worry, Geronimo,” Susie chirped.

  “I’ll help you do it now. To whom would you

  like to leave The Rodent’s Gazette?”

  Trap tugged on my tail.

  “Geronimo, my friend and favorite

  cousin,” he said sweetly — a little too

  sweetly, if you ask me! “You’re going to

  leave the paper to me, right? I know all

  about running a newspaper, unlike

  you. I think you should also leave me your

  antique cheese rind collection. And don’t

  worry about your tombstone —

  I’ll write something nice! How about: Here

  lies Geronimo Stilton, a real scaredy-mouse!

  He met his end on Easter Island when he

  suffered an attack of uncontrollable fear.”

  That was something nice ?!

  “

  That’s

  enough!

  ” I squeaked.

  “Why does everyone keep asking if I’ve

  updated my will, anyway?”

  The three of them exchanged an

  understanding look. What were they keeping

  from me?

  “He’s a really jittery mouse, isn’t he?”

  Wild Willie said.

  That’s

  enough!

  Here lies

  Geronimo Stilton,

  a real scaredy-

  mouse! He met

  his end on Easter

  Island when he

  suffered an attack

  of uncontrollable

  fear.

  “You’re the ones who are making me

  jittery!” I said impatiently.

  I put on my seat belt and closed my eyes.

  What kind of DANGER awaited me? My

  heart beat faster just thinking about it. But

  my desire to help Thea was stronger than

  any fear I felt. I opened my WALLET

  and took out a photo of my sister.

  “I’ll save you, little sister!” I whispered.

  MY SISTER,

  THEA

  STILTON!

  Before I knew it, the plane was landing at

  Mataveri International Airport
. A friendly-

  looking rodent with golden fur and long

  black hair met us at the gate.

  “Welcome to Rapa Nui!” she greeted us.

  “My name is Vaitea, and I will be your

  guide.”

  She presented each of us with a garland of

  multicolored flowers.

  “We’re not like other tourists,” Trap

  boasted. I could tell he was trying to make

  a good impression on Vaitea. “We’re here

  hunting for treas —”

  Susie clapped her paw over Trap’s snout

  before he could finish.

  Welcome to rApA

  nuI!

  Welcome!

  Ahem . . .

  We’re here hunting

  for treas —

  “Ahem, we’re here on vacation, just like

  all these other tourists,” Susie squeaked

  confidently. “We would love to see the

  island’s most interesting sights!”

  Susie showed Vaitea a PHOTO of Thea.

  “This is our friend who was recently on

  the island,” she said. “Have you ever seen

  her?”

  “No, I’m sorry,” Vaitea replied, shaking

  her head. “She doesn’t look familiar.”

  We were all hungry from our long flight,

  so Vaitea took us to a great restaurant in

  the harbor. We ate huge grilled shrimp,

  fish soup, and mahi mahi, a fish that is

  often served on the island. During dinner,

  Vaitea told us some of the history of Easter

  Island.

  “Rapa Nui is the other name for Easter

  Island,” she began. “It’s also the name of the

  people who live here, and I’m proud

  MAHI

  MAHI

  AHU: a structure or platform

  HARE PA‘ENGA: a traditional home that resembles an upside-

  down boat

  ‘IORANA: hello or good-bye; a greeting

  MATU‘A: ancestor; father

  MOAI: large statue

  POKI: baby

  RONGORONGO: wooden tablets with ancient carved writing

  TOKI: tool used to carve stone

  TOTORA: type of reed used to build rafts; a reed boat

  VAI KAVA: ocean

  Many inhabitants of Easter Island speak Rapanui,

  a Polynesian dialect. However, Chilean Spanish is

  the island’s official language.

  Rongorongo are ancient wooden tablets that

  feature carved symbols. These tablets have only

  been partially translated, so this written language

  is still a mystery!

  Short Dictionary of the

  rapanui Language

  to be one of them. My people speak two

  languages, Rapanui and Spanish.”

  Then she taught us a few words and

  phrases. I began taking notes: Rapanui was

  a very interesting language! At the

  end of dinner I showed off my knowledge

  and said to Vaitea: “Mauru-uru! (Thank

  you!)”

  “Rivariva! (Very good!)” Vaitea replied,

  smiling. “Now, would you like to see a typical

  dance?” she asked. “A performance is

  about to begin!”

  The lights dimmed. Many young rodents

  appeared on the stage and began to sing.

  The musicians played ukuleles and drums,

  and a few people began to dance.

  Their movements mimicked the daily

  activities of the Rapa Nui people, including

  swimming, fishing, and rowing a boat.

  Then they danced a ritual dance showing

  warriors intimidating their enemies. Finally,

  they concluded with a dance in which a

  fishermouse and a maiden declared their

  love for each other. It was truly fabumouse!

  Susie snapped a lot of PHOTOS.

  “We’ll leave here with lots of very

  Fabumouse!

  It’s a local

  dance!

  interesting material for The Rodent’s

  Gazette. Thea will be very happy with my

  work!”

  Hearing Thea’s name brought me back to

  reality. We were here on a mission!

  Where was my sister, Thea? And was she in

  DANGER? We had to find out soon.

  The next morning we gathered to

  decide what to do next. Wild Willie reread

  the riddle on the map:

  FIND THE BIGGEST AHU AND

  ITS FIFTEEN PROTECTORS.

  TURN WEST AND SEARCH FOR THE

  GREAT WATER THAT IS AND ISN’T.

  AT THE END OF THE DAY, FOLLOW

  THE SUN AND YOU’LL FIND

  THE SEVEN YOUNG EXPLORERS.

  TAKE SEVEN GIGANTIC STEPS TO

  THE RIGHT, THREE WARRIOR STEPS

  TO THE LEFT, AND ONE BABY STEP

  FORWARD.

  look for the

  bIggest Ahu . . .

  THE SIGH OF THE WIND WILL

  TAKE YOU FAR AWAY TO THE

  BIG BLACK BUBBLE.

  THERE, THE SEA HIDES

  AN ANCIENT SECRET . . .

  THE TREASURE OF

  EASTER ISLAND!

  “The first thing we need to do is to find

  an AHU,” he concluded. “In fact, we need

  to find the biggest one on the

  island.”

  I checked my Easter

  Island GUIDEBOOK.

  “The ahu are stone

  platforms that were used as

  burial sites by the ancient

  inhabitants of Easter

  Island,” I explained.

  Hmm, let’s

  see . . .

  At that moment, Vaitea came in.

  “Perfect timing!” Susie squeaked. “We

  were just talking about where we’d like to

  go first. We’d like to see some of the

  island’s AHU. Can you tell us which one is

  the BIGGEST?”

  “That would be Ahu Tongariki,” Vaitea

  replied with a smile. “It’s one of the most

  AHU TONGARIKI

  Ahu Tongariki is the biggest

  ahu on Easter Island. The

  moai there face inland with

  their backs to the sea.

  SPECTACULAR places on the island!”

  When we got to Ahu Tongariki, the

  most MAJESTIC sight awaited us. The

  enormouse statues lined the shore, their

  backs to the ocean waves. Vaitea explained

  that the statues — called moai — were built

  to guard and PROTECT the island.

  “Get your CAMERA ready, Susie!”

  They’re

  amazing!

  Trap shouted as he ran toward a moai. “I’m

  going to climb to the top.”

  “

  STOP!

  ” Vaitea squeaked in

  dismay. “You can’t climb a moai! Please,

  you shouldn’t even touch it! This is my

  ancestors’ sacred burial ground.”

  Susie grabbed Trap by the TAIL a second

  before he began to climb.

  “What do you think you’re doing?!” she

  scolded him.

  Stop!

  Paws off!

  Argh!

  During this whole mess, I was busy

  counting the moai on the stone platforms.

  “One, two, three, four, five . . . thirteen,

  fourteen, fifteen!” I counted. “These

  are the fifteen protectors the riddle talks

  about. We figured out the first CLUE!”

  “Now we have to turn west and find the

/>   Great Water,” whispered Wild Willie.

  “But I don’t understand why it ‘is and isn’t.’

  What do you think that means?”

  We headed west with Vaitea, but we didn’t

  see even a drop of water anywhere!

  “Is there any water on Easter Island?”

  Susie asked her. “I haven’t seen any so far.”

  “Well, there is and isn’t much water

  on the island,” Vaitea replied mysteriously.

  “There are three crater lakes. But during the

  dry season, there isn’t much water in them.

  During the RAINY season, though,

  it’s another story . . .”

  My tail twisted with excitement. Vaitea

  had referred to water that “is and isn’t”!

  “Is one of these crater lakes near here?” I

  asked eagerly.

  She nodded and motioned for us to follow

  seArchIng for the

  greAt WAter

  her up a steep path. We turned a corner,

  and there before us was a rocky crater

  etched deep into the ground.

  “This is where the Great Water

  flows . . . when there is any!”

  This is where

  the Great Water

  flows?

  Wild Willie smiled with satisfaction and

  immediately checked the MAP.

  “The map says, ‘At the end of the day,

  follow the sun,’” he said. “So we should

  head west, since that’s where the sun sets.”

  I scratched my

  SNOUT

  .

  “Yes, but what are the Seven Young

  Explorers?”

  We got back in Vaitea’s SUV and headed

  toward the western shore of the island. As

  we mused over the riddle, we were as quiet

  as mice.

  Night had already fallen, and Vaitea stared

  at the dark sky. A silvery moon shone

  brightly.

  seven young

  explorers

  “In the olden days, it was

  precisely on nights like

  these that our ancestors

  performed

  SACRED

  ceremonies near the moai

  by the sea,” she told us.

  “Those ceremonies recalled