Stay Strong Geronimo! (Geronimo Stilton Micekings #4) Read online

  rope

  challenge.

  Miceking ships need good, strong ropes

  to set their

  powerful

  sails. The

  contestants had to

  quickly

  braid ropes

  to see who could make the longest rope at

  the fastest

  SPEED

  .

  My job was to measure to see who braided

  Done!

  This is fun!

  I’m going

  to win!

  the

  longest

  rope. I tried

  my best, but I got all

  tangled

  up

  ! I nearly tripped and fell flat

  on my snout!

  Finally, I untangled myself and

  measured the long braids. And the

  WINNER

  of the rope challenge

  was . . .

  2

  1

  Algae and mussels

  Moldy moss from

  Saltwater Valley

  . . .

  Karina

  ! Her rope was three hundred

  tails long!

  Next up was the

  cooking challenge

  .

  Every mouseking worth his or her helmet

  needs to know how to make

  hearty

  food

  out of whatever is handy. Miceking food has

  to be

  delicious

  and

  nutritious

  enough

  to build big miceking muscles!

  “This is my

  favorite

  challenge,” Trap

  said, rubbing his belly.

  5

  3

  3

  4

  5

  1

  2

  Rancid

  codfish

  fat

  100-year-old

  smoked herring

  Logi pepper

  cheese

  4

  The contestants had to

  cook

  a dish out

  of these common ingredients:

  Algae

  and

  mussels

  Moldy

  moss

  from Saltwater Valley

  100-year-old smoked

  HERRING

  Rancid

  codfish

  fat

  Logi pepper

  cheese

  The three judges had to

  taste

  each

  dish and rate it on how

  nutritious

  and

  Yuck! How

  gross!

  delicious

  it was. Thea presented her dish

  first. It smelled

  awful

  !

  Now, I know my sister well. She is brave,

  athletic, and great with animals. But she is a

  terrible

  cook!

  “Um, I’m

  not hungry

  ,” I said, pushing

  it away.

  Thea frowned. “

  Are you going to

  judge it or not, Geronimo?

  ”

  Trap slapped my back.

  “Eat up, Cousin! What

  are you

  afraid

  of?”

  I had to eat the

  dish in order to

  fairly judge

  the contest.

  My stomach hurt so

  much . . .

  I WAS AFRAID I MIGHT

  TOSS MY CHEESE!

  I took one bite of deep-fried aged herring in

  stinky cheese sauce

  and swallowed.

  My stomach went

  up

  and

  down

  ,

  up

  and

  down

  ,

  up

  and

  down

  !

  “You look a little

  green

  , Geronimo,” Trap

  remarked. “Did you eat too much? No

  problem. Ratilde and I will take care of the

  rest.”

  I was very

  lucky

  that Trap and Ratilde

  had

  cast-iron

  stomachs! They declared

  Thora

  the winner. I wanted to congratulate

  her, but I couldn’t.

  so, Who is the

  Winner?

  1

  1

  Spin!

  Spin!

  Squeak!

  The next event was the

  cauldron

  challenge

  , a test of

  strength

  and

  balance

  . Each Shield Mouselet had to

  perform a complicated dance while balancing

  a heavy cauldron full of

  swamp

  water

  on her head.

  Thea

  dragged me from

  the judges’ table to

  dance with her.

  She

  spun

  me around and

  around like a

  top!

  3

  2

  2

  3

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  A

  H

  !

  Faster!

  Stop!

  Oh no!

  Aaaah!

  HELGA

  kept the

  cauldron on her

  head the longest,

  and she

  won

  the

  challenge.

  We

  TWIRLED

  and twirled in circles.

  I got dizzy and fell

  against Thea . . .

  bam!

  I knocked into

  the cauldron, and

  all the swamp water

  dumped

  on my

  head!

  I found a shell!

  The four contestants were tied. Everything

  depended on the final event: the

  camouflage

  challenge

  . Camouflage is an important skill

  when facing an

  enemy

  or hiding from

  miceking-eating

  dragons

  . For this

  event, the Shield Mouselets had to create an

  outfit that would work as camouflage in the

  ocean

  .

  Thora dove into the sea and found a big

  shell

  for her outfit.

  The four contestants put

  together their camouflage

  and stood onstage.

  Everyone cheered for

  them loudly.

  “THORA IS THE BEST!”

  “HOORAY FOR KARINA!”

  “Go, Thea!”

  “HELGA SHOULD WIN!”

  “This is

  fantastic

  camouflage!” Trap

  said. “It will be tough to pick a winner.”

  Trap was right! All four contestants had

  done a

  great job

  . I wanted to vote for

  Thora

  , my crush, but how could I choose

  her when the others looked just as good?

  Sven marched up to us. “

  So, who is

  the winner?

  ”

  It’s your vote,

  Geronimo!

  Who is the winner?


  I . . . I . . .

  Great job!

  Go, mouselets!

  Trap and Ratilde shrugged. “We

  can’t decide.”

  “Then it’s up to

  YOU

  , Geronimo!”

  Sven shouted.

  the crowd roared.

  “So says sven the shouter!”

  Tell us!

  Well?

  Who wins?

  Hurry!

  Well done!

  hiding From the

  drAgons

  “

  Who

  wins

  the

  Mega

  Challenge?

  ”

  “Yeah,

  which

  Shield

  Mouselet

  wins?

  ”

  “

  Well,

  smarty-mouse?

  ”

  All the contestants

  GLARED

  at me,

  waiting for me to name the winner. Holey

  cheese, how could I choose?

  So I just sat there, as

  quiet

  as a clam. The

  micekings quickly got annoyed.

  I began to stutter. “Well . . . I-I-I don’t

  know . . .

  m-m-m-maybe

  . . .”

  “Hurry up and decide, Geronimo!” Sven

  thundered, shaking his paw.

  ”

  too-tooot!

  Too-

  Toooooooot!

  Just then the dragon alarm sounded.

  A moment later, three

  dragons

  appeared in the sky, breathing fire. They

  swooped

  down over the village.

  “Do you

  sss

  ee what I

  sss

  ee?” asked the

  first dragon.

  “I

  sss

  ee a bunch of fresh meat, Red Fang,”

  answered the second dragon. “How about

  you,

  Sss

  lither?”

  “Me too, Broiler,” said the third. “They

  sss

  eem juicy! Let’s eat them up fa

  sss

  t!”

  Red Fang, the

  red

  dragon, landed right

  next to me and

  snapped

  at my tail. “What

  ta

  sss

  ty miceking flesh! It’

  sss

  mine! I

  sss

  aw

  it fir

  sss

  t!”

  Oh no!

  Ahhh!

  Let’s hide!

  Hurry!

  Take cover!

  Run!

  Dragons!

  Help!

  1

  2

  I ran away and

  ducked

  behind the

  straw target.

  “

  Sss

  o you want to

  play hide-and-

  sss

  eek,

  little mou

  sss

  eking?”

  Red Fang asked.

  WHOOSH!

  He shot

  flames

  at

  the target, reducing it

  to ashes and revealing

  my hiding place!

  So I

  DASHED

  under the cooking

  challenge table,

  taking refuge there.

  WHOOSH

  !

  Red Fang unleashed

  his hot breath, and

  Red Fang

  Red Fang is a dragon

  in the Devourer

  family. Devourers like

  to quickly barbecue

  micekings and eat

  them. For some

  reason, Red Fang

  seems to always be

  hungry for me!

  1

  2

  Squeak!

  Ouch!

  melted cheese

  flowed down on me like lava!

  Finally, I

  crawled

  under

  the judges’ table . . . but

  Red Fang found me there,

  too!

  3

  I’m doomed!

  3

  He

  sniffed

  the air, noticing the

  smell of the

  Logi pepper

  garland

  strung across the table. Then he smiled.

  “What luck!” he cried. “With a

  sss

  ingle

  flame, I’ll have miceking meat with roa

  sss

  ted

  sss

  picy pepper

  sss

  !”

  He inhaled, getting ready to

  blast

  me

  with flames again.

  This was it. I was going to be

  cooked

  ,

  fried

  ,

  done

  !

  “

  Heeeelp!

  ” I screamed. “I don’t want

  to become dinner for a dragon!”

  We’ll Be Back!

  “Load the catapults!

  Release!

  ” Sven the

  Shouter commanded.

  Just in time, something

  slimy

  hit Red

  Fang’s head.

  Plop! Plop!

  Plop!

  Bales of

  mud

  mixed with hay rained down

  on the three dragons.

  Slither swallowed one by mistake and spit

  Yikes!

  it out. “Let’

  sss

  get out of

  here!”

  Red Fang

  grabbed the Logi

  peppers. “For now, I’ll take these!”

  he growled.

  Then he

  flew

  off. “I

  will be back with

  King Gobbler

  and his

  army!” he

  promised.

  “Gather around,

  micekings

  !” Sven

  the Shouter yelled. “We must prepare for —”

  Bonk!

  His wife, Mousehilde,

  bopped

  him on the head with her rolling pin.

  “This is

  YOUR FAULT

  !” she said. “I told you

  to leave one mouseking

  guarding

  the catapults during the competition. That

  What do we do?

  We can’t fight the

  dragons!

  is how the

  dragons

  were able to get so

  close to us!”

  The villagers were

  scared

  .

  “What do we do now,

  brave

  Sven?”

  one rodent asked.

  “Yes,

  courageous

  Sven, we don’t have

  much time,” said another.

  I told you so!

  Ow!

  Thora spoke up. “The

  dragons

  will

  be returning soon. We must

  organize

  our

  defense.”

  Sven nodded. “Well said, Thora. All the

  micekings must prepare for

  battle

  !

  Copper, bring out the weapons.”

  Then Sven looked at me, and I tiptoed

  backward. I had a

  bad feeling

  all of a sudden.

  “You c
ome with me,

  smarty-mouseking

  ,”

  he said, grabbing me

  by the shoulders.

  “Who? M-m-me?” I

  stuttered.

  “Yes!” Sven replied.

  “We will go find

  Loki

  Longsight

  , the village

  soothsayer, and we’ll ask

  Come with me!

  for advice. He can look in his book of

  Dragon

  Lore and Legends

  and tell us the best

  way to defeat them.”

  It wasn’t a bad

  idea

  , actually.

  Sven and I headed to the

  soothsayer’s

  CAVE

  , followed

  by all the micekings in the

  village.

  They Took Loki

  Longsight!

  Sven stopped in front of the cave door. “

  Loki

  Longsight, open up!

  ” he shouted.

  “Sven the Shouter commands you!”

  The micekings all cried out,

  “so says sven the shouter!”

  But Loki didn’t answer.

  Sven shouted even louder. “Hey, open up,

  soothsayer

  !”

  I tugged on Sven’s cloak. “Chief, the door

  to the cave is

  half

  -

  open

  ,” I told him.

  “Why didn’t you say that in the first place,

  blubber brain

  ?” Sven asked. “Quick,

  get in there!”

  It’s already open!

  Open the door!

  Let us in!

  1

  2

  1

  Oops!

  I slowly pushed open the door. “

  L-Loki,

  are you there?

  ” I asked.

  Loki still didn’t answer.

  “Are you waiting for

  groundhogs

  to wake from their hibernation, smarty-

  mouseking? I said get in there!” Sven barked.

  I stepped inside the cave, but I didn’t see

  Loki. “He’s not here!” I said.

  I

  RAN

  back out and slipped on

  something

  slimy

  .

  “Squeak!”

  When I

  tried to get up, I

  SLIPPED

  a second time

  and fell right

  on my tail!

  “

  OWWWW!

  ”

  3

  2

  3

  Help!

  Yikes!

  Well?

  I

  slid

  right up to

  Sven’s feet. He stared

  at me. “What do you

  mean he’s

  not

  here

  ? Where is

  he, then?”

  I had no idea!

  “I don’t know!” I

  replied. “He didn’t

  leave a

  note

  .”