The Mysterious Message (Geronimo Stilton Micekings #5) Read online

The villager yawned in response. Then

  he closed his eyes and fell asleep stand-

  ing up!

  We kept walking until we got

  to Snoozy Square,

  the village center. Sven

  walked up to another

  Oofa Oofa.

  “Tell me where I

  can find your village

  chief!” he barked.

  But this Oofa Oofa

  was sleeping, too, and

  didn’t wake up.

  Furious, Sven

  stomped to a small

  building in the middle of the

  Zzzz!

  57

  Zzzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzzz!

  square. I read the runes above the window:

  Oof Oof Oof. That stands for The

  Official Tourist Office of

  Oofadale.

  Sven pounded his fist on the coun-

  ter. “SHIVERING SQUIDS, do

  you know who I am?” he shouted at the

  sleeping rodent working there. “I ORDER

  you to tell me right now where I can find

  Yan the Yawner, or I’ll have

  your fur!”

  I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the

  place of that Oofa Oofa, When Sven gets

  angry, his loud voice can curl your

  whiskers!

  The rodent opened his eyes very, very

  slowly.

  Then he opened his mouth very, very ,

  slowly, as though he were going to speak . . .

  58

  Zzzz Zzzz . . .

  Zzzz . . .

  Zzzz . . .

  I need an answer!

  Zzzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzzz!

  Zzzz!

  Zzzz!

  But he only snored.

  Then I

  noticed

  something on the wall

  of the office.

  “Chief, take a look at this sign!” I told Sven.

  FOG

  ASLEEP

  SUN

  AWAKE

  Zzzzzzzzzzz! Zzzzzzzzzzz!

  It suddenly made sense. When there’s

  FOG

  in Oofadale (which is most of the

  time), the villagers take a miceking nap!

  “There’s NO TIME to waste!” Sven

  shouted. “As soon as the fog lifts, the dragons

  will attack.

  We must wake up these

  cheeseheads!”

  We

  must

  wake

  them

  up!

  They’re

  all

  asleep!

  Wake Up! Wake

  Up!

  Wake Uuuuup!

  Sven began to

  shout

  orders at all of the

  micekings from Mouseborg.

  “Geronimo and Trap! Go FIND Yan the

  Yawner!”

  Prepare for

  battle!

  Zzzz . . .

  Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Uuuuup!

  “Wh-wh-why us?”

  I stammered.

  Sven gave me a stern look. “Would

  you rather stay here and fight the dragons,

  smarty-mouseking?” he asked.

  I didn’t

  wait

  for him to change his mind.

  I grabbed my cousin and dragged him back

  toward the tourist office. We had to find out

  where

  Yan the Yawner

  was!

  We must

  find

  their

  chief!

  Zzzz!

  Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Uuuuup!

  Behind us, Sven continued to

  shout

  orders.

  “You, wake up the sleeping Oofa Oofa!

  You, take the young micekings in

  this village to safety! The others, come with

  me!”

  Meanwhile, I stared at the

  sleeping

  Oofa Oofa at the counter of the tourist

  office. I had no idea how to wake him up!

  “I’ve got this, cousin,”

  Trap said.

  Then he clapped his paws right next to

  one of the ears of the napping rodent!

  Clap! Clap! Clap!

  The rodent opened his eyes.

  “Oofa! Didn’t you (yawn) read the sign

  (yawn)? When there is fog in (yawn)

  Oofadale, it’s time for a (yawn) miceking

  nap,” he slowly complained.

  64

  HOW TO WAKE A

  SLEEPING OOFA OOFA

  Whenever the fog rolls in, the Oofa Oofa start napping wherever

  they happen to be: on the street, at the market, or even in the

  bathroom. There are only three ways to wake them:

  1

  With a loud noise!

  2

  With a dose of fresh

  fruit to the head!

  BONK!

  HA

  HA

  HA

  HA!

  3

  By tickling their

  feet!

  WAKR UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UUUUUP!

  “Please excuse my cousin’s manners,” I

  said. “But this a super-miceking

  emergency!”

  The Oofa Oofa did not move a whisker at

  this news.

  “We must find Yan the Yawner

  immediately!” I shrieked.

  The rodent very, very slowly opened

  his mouth again.

  “Take Oofwood Road (yawn) to Oofson

  Way and make a right (yawn),” he said. “Then take the second right (yawn), cross the bridge, and turn onto the first street (yawn) on the left. The (yawn) fifth house on the right is Yan’s. Got it?”

  “Um . . . we hope so!” Trap and I

  replied.

  “You won’t (yawn) find him awake,” the

  Oofa Oofa told us. “It’s nap time.”

  66

  WAKR UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UUUUUP!

  “He has to wake up! It’s an emergency!”

  I exclaimed.

  Trap nudged me. “Hey, do you think we

  should ask this rodent about the mysterious

  letter

  we found in the amphora?”

  Yaawn!

  WAKR UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UUUUUP!

  When the Oofa Oofa heard this, he

  suddenly

  lit up.

  “Did you say letter?

  Hidden in an amphora?”

  But I was already pulling Trap away.

  “We’ll worry about that later! Right now,

  we have to save your village from an army

  of ferocious dragons!”

  As we

  RAN OFF

  to find Yan, we heard

  a strange alarm ring through

  the village.

  Yaaawn!

  Yaaawn!

  Yaaawn!

  It was Oofadale’s dragon

  alarm!

  That meant the dragons were close by. Trap

  and I had to hurry, or else . . .

  68

  WAKR UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UUUUUP!

  . . .

  we

  could

  become

  a

  dragon’s

  dinner!

  Run,

  run,

  run!

  Hurry!

  Ruuuuuun!

  The fog was lifting and the dragons had

  spotted Oofadale! Hungry for miceking

  meat, they SPED toward the village. There

  was no time to lose!

  Sven pointed to one of the napping

  Oofa Oofa. “Wake up, lazybones! Tell us

  where the catapults

  are, quick, or

  we’ll all be

  toasted like

  gri
lled cheese

  sandwiches!”

  Without

  opening his

  eyes, the rodent

  pointed to a large

  70

  Ruuuuuun!

  building on the other side of the square.

  Sven and the micekings raced inside.

  “By my beard! These catapults are

  dusty,

  RUSTY, and covered in cobwebs!”

  Sven exclaimed.

  Then he frowned. “Let’s move them

  out! We have to at least try.”

  RUUUUUUN!

  The micekings of Mouseborg dragged

  the h eavy catapults out into the square.

  By that time, the dragons were overhead.

  “Now is the moment, my bold and

  brave micekings,” Sven shouted.

  “GET READY TO ATTACK!”

  “Chief, we need rocks!” one of the

  micekings said.

  “You mean the catapults

  Zzzz

  zzzz!

  Zzzz!

  Zzzz . . .

  RUUUUUUN!

  aren’t loaded?” Sven asked. “Oofa Oofa,

  where are your rocks?”

  Zzzzzzzz. The Oofa Oofa were still

  all napping!

  By now the dragons were so close, the

  micekings could smell their horrible breath.

  “There’s only one thing to do,” Sven said.

  To

  the

  catapults!

  Run!

  RUUUUUUN!

  “Ruuuuuuun!”

  The dragons looked down on the village,

  confused. Some of the micekings (from

  Mouseborg) were

  RUNNING

  back and

  forth, looking for rocks. But other micekings

  (from Oofadale) were fast asleep!

  “Why are they sssleeping?” a green dragon

  asked. “Don’t they fear usss?”

  74

  They’re

  sssleeping!

  They’re

  sssnoring!

  How

  ssstrange!

  Saved by

  Invention!

  While Sven and our fellow miceking warriors

  faced the dragons’ attack, Trap and I

  searched for the house of Yan the

  Yawner.

  We made a right on Oofa Road. Or was

  it Oofa Way? Then we made two lefts . . .

  and one right . . . and soon we were as

  lost as two anchovies in the big sea!

  “We were supposed to go left back

  there, Cousin!” Trap said.

  “No, I’m sure we were supposed to go

  right after the bridge!” I argued. “And

  then make another right? Or was it a

  left?”

  Great moldy mussels, I

  76

  couldn’t remember!

  And while Trap

  and I stood there,

  scratching

  our

  heads, a threatening

  shadow crept up

  over us. We looked up and

  gasped!

  Purple Beard and Blue Tail, those two

  hungry dragons, had found us!

  “Sssniff, sssniff,” Purple Beard hissed.

  “Do you sssmell the tasssty aroma of fresh

  micekings? It

  sssmellsss

  familiar . . .”

  I’ll

  go

  this

  way!

  “Yesss! Look!” Blue Tail exclaimed. “It’s

  that SHRIMPY mouseking who

  sssailed

  away from usss before!”

  “Run, Cousin!” Trap shouted.

  I darted after him. He looked over his

  shoulder.

  “Let’s split up to confuse them!” he

  yelled.

  “Wh-why? I don’t want to be alone!” I

  yelled back.

  78

  I’ll

  go

  this

  way!

  But Trap was already heading in the

  opposite direction.

  “That mouseking is mine!” Purple Beard

  shouted, and he flew after Trap.

  But the dragon wasn’t used to flying so

  low. When he turned the corner to follow

  Trap, he didn’t see the big wooden and

  iron sign for the Oofadale blacksmith.

  Baaaaam!

  79

  Saved by Invention!

  He flew into it, smashing his face as flat

  as a flounder!

  Meanwhile, I was running as fast as I

  could. But I ran right into a dead end! When

  I turned, I saw Blue Tail flying right at me,

  with his jaws open wide!

  Shivering squids, I was as good as fried! I

  closed my eyes, waiting for the worst.

  All of a sudden

  I heard

  Ow!

  80

  SAVED BY INVENTION!

  Trap’s voice. “Hey, Cousin! Check this out!”

  I opened my eyes and saw that Trap had

  strange springs attached to his feet. He was

  wearing spring steppers!

  “HURRY, jump on!” he urged.

  “I don’t think so, Trap! Are

  you sure those things are

  S-S-SAFE?” I stuttered.

  Then Blue Tail

  launched a

  Trust

  me!

  Squeak!

  81

  SAVED BY INVENTION!

  fireball

  at me, and I didn’t wait for

  Trap’s answer. I jumped on, and Trap quickly

  bounced away.

  Boing!

  Boing!

  Boing!

  SPRING STEPPERS

  This invention adds a bounce

  to your step! Thanks to the springs

  on the bottoms of these shoes, it’s

  possible to jump as high as ten

  miceking tails.

  These are not

  recommended for micekings

  who are afraid of heights!

  No Time for Tea!

  Many bounces later (SQUEAK! I was

  getting motion sick!), we arrived

  at the home of Yan the

  Yawner, the village chief.

  Inside we saw two Oofa

  Oofa,

  dozing

  in

  armchairs.

  “Greetings,

  Oofa friends,” I

  said. “My name

  is Geronimo

  Stiltonord, and this

  is my cousin Trap.”

  Zzzzzzzzz.

  “We are sorry

  to wake you, but

  Help!

  How fun!

  Fen is the official

  inventor in the village of

  Oofa Oofa. He attended

  the Young Miceking

  School for Inventors with

  Trap. The contraptions he

  invents are inspired by

  the dreams he has while

  napping!

  we have come all the

  way from Mouseborg

  on an IMPORTANT

  matter,” I continued,

  but Trap interrupted

  me.

  “Fen Whiskersson, is

  that you?” he cried.

  He clapped his

  paws next to one of

  the sleeping rodents.

  The mouse’s eyes

  fluttered open. “Trap,

  my old inventing

  buddy, is that really

  you?”

  “It sure is!” Trap

  replied. The two old

  friends hugged.

  No Time for Tea!

  “What good n
orth wind brings you to

  Oofadale?” Fen asked.

  “As my cousin said, we’re here on an

  IMPORTANT matter,” Trap explained. “We

  need to see Yan the Yawner right away!”

  The rodent in the other armchair began to

  stir. “Oofa! What’s with all this racket?

  Don’t you know it’s nap time? Who is

  disturbing my slumber?”

  At that moment, a third rodent entered the

  room, carrying a tray. “Who wants a cup of

  tea?”

  “There is no time for tea!” I cried, but

  then I stopped. “Hey, aren’t you the Oofa

  Oofa from the tourist office?”

  “Correct!” he replied. “My name is Bronk

  Snorborg.”

  Then Bronk whispered in my ear. “I’m

  glad you finally got here,” he said. “We

  85

  Who wants tea?

  Fen, old friend!

  What a surprise!

  There’s a

  dragon attack!

  No Time for Tea!

  really need to talk about that letter you told

  me about earlier. The one you found in the

  amphora.”

  “We can talk about the letter later!” I

  blurted out. “Right now, we have important

  news! Dragons are attacking

  Oofadale!”

  The other Oofa straightened up in his

  chair. “Holey cheese! Why didn’t you

  say that IMMEDIATELY?” he cried.

  “Are you Yan the Yawner?” I asked.

  “Yes, I am!” he said, squinting at me.

  “And are you sure you’re from Mouseborg?

  Micekings there are usually very tall and

  strong. You seem very short and softer than

  a jellyfish.”

  “And where is your miceking helmet?”

  Fen asked me.

  So many unnecessary questions! These two

  87

  No Time for Tea!

  rodents were really getting under my fur!

  “Great salty sardines!” I shrieked in

  exasperation. “There is no time to explain!

  The dragons are attacking.

  DON’T YOU HAVE A

  DRAGON DEFENSE PLAN

  IN OOFADALE?”

  88

  Essence of Sea

  Jasmine

  Fen the inventor and Yan the Yawner talked

  privately for a few minutes. Then Fen

  motioned for Trap and me to follow him.