The Mysterious Message (Geronimo Stilton Micekings #5) Page 3
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.