Four Mice Deep Jungle Read online

  filled the air. It was Penelope, singing.

  “I AM A WILD RODENT,

  I HAVE A WILD HEART!

  NOTHING EVER SCARES ME,

  BECAUSE I’M TOUGH AND SMART!

  THIS COURSE IS REALLY SUPER,

  YOU LEARN TO BE A TROUPER!

  YOU LEARN TO MARCH AND SWEAT AND SING

  YOU LEARN TO DO MOST ANYTHING!”

  Sandy

  Silverfur

  I grumbled. That was the most ridiculous

  song I had ever heard.

  Who likes to march?

  But soon the rest of the group was singing

  along.

  Well, you wouldn’t catch me joining in. I

  wasn’t into singing. I was having enough

  trouble just breathing!

  Then, someone waved the contract under

  my snout. It was Penelope.

  “You signed it, Stilton. Now sing!” she

  demanded. “Sing or you’ll be sorry!”

  Her beady little eyes drilled right

  through me. I shivered. Then I

  sang at the top of my lungs.

  I was so busy singing I

  hardly noticed we had

  entered the forest.

  Trees as tall as

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  skyscrapers surrounded us. The foliage was

  so

  thick

  we couldn’t see any

  sunlight. The trees were home to all kinds of

  animals. They called to one another as we

  passed by. Monkeys, parrots, cheetahs, and

  snakes watched our every move. We were

  like rodent celebrities at an awards show.

  Only no one was snapping our picture.

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  Instead, they were snapping their teeth!

  This tropical jungle was a very scary place.

  One wrong pawstep and we’d all be history!

  WE MARCHED

  And then? WE MARCHED some more.

  We didn’t even stop for a meal. Instead,

  Penelope handed out sandwiches as we

  hiked. Unfortunately, they were not cheese

  sandwiches. They were made of mashed

  fleas. I had never seen anything so gross in

  my life. Some of the fleas were still kicking

  their tiny legs. I was so disgusted. But I was

  so hungry. I ate every bite.

  We were allowed to stop only to go to the

  bathroom. Penelope timed us. Fifteen seconds

  for each mouse. For any other emergency, we

  had to hand in a written request.

  I quickly jotted down a note. “Dear Ms.

  All kinds of animals...

  ...watched our every move.

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  A very scary place...

  Snap!

  ...we’d all be history!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Sn

  ap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Snap!

  Poisonfur,” it read. “Would it be possible to

  take a short break?”

  Penelope read the note out loud, then

  laughed. “You city rodents are spineless,”

  she smirked. “You’re as soft as a bowl of

  cheese with extra cream, Stilton!” She

  twirled her tail, deep in thought. “This may

  be harder than I thought,” she murmured.

  “But don’t worry. I’ll fix you. When you’re

  done with this course, you’ll be stronger than

  a maximum-strength glue trap. And best of

  all, you’ll be smarter than the sharpest street

  mouse in all of New Mouse City!”

  We marched for the rest of the day. When

  it turned dark, the jungle became even

  more terrifying. Spooky shadows were

  everywhere. Strange eyes glowed in the

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  trees. Night birds sang to one another. And

  I'm not talking happy jingles. These songs

  sounded more like creepy Halloween music.

  Worst of all, it was dark. Very dark.

  Did I mention . . .

  I'M A AFRAID OF THE DARK

  But I was forced to forget about it. I had

  to put one paw in front of the other. I had

  no choice. Finally, at midnight, we stopped.

  We were so tired.

  We sat down AROUND A FIRE

  "Come and get it!" shouted Penelope,

  banging on a pot with a spoon.

  I was starving. I grabbed my bowl and

  began to slurp up the reddish

  liquid. Seconds later, I

  started to gag. "Bleah!!!!

  What's this?" I cried.

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  Penelope sneered. “That’s red-

  ant soup, Stilton!” she squeaked.

  The rest of us looked at one

  another. We looked at the soup. Then we

  looked at Penelope. She glared at us, her

  paws planted firmly on her hips. The soup

  looked scary. But Penelope looked like a

  rabid cat about to go on a hunting spree.

  Like robots, we picked up our spoons and

  ate. I was so tired I could hardly chew.

  Later, I

  FELL ASLEEP with my snout

  in my bowl. Oh, well. At least no one was

  bothered by my snoring.

  “

  EAT IT OR

  YOU’LL BE

  SORRY!

  ”

  I fell asleep with my snout in my bowl.

  The next morning, Penelope woke me up

  with another bucketful of icy water. “LINE

  UP!” she yelled. Hadn’t she ever heard of

  an alarm clock?

  After a breakfast of grilled beetles, we

  continued our marching. We marched

  nonstop until noon. I was hoping Penelope

  had decided to give us a break. But instead,

  she gave us a crash

  course in first aid.

  I must admit, she

  taught us some

  pretty neat things.

  We even learned

  mouse-to-mouse

  resuscitation.

  DAY 2: TUESDAY

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  I guess we were all doing okay until

  lunch. That’s when Tubby lost it.

  After eating his snailburger, he

  decided TO DIG INTO his secret

  supply of cheese sandwiches. But

  before he could take a single bite,

  Penelope caught him. She threw all

  of the sandwiches into the river.

  Poor Tubby was beside himself. “ I WANT

  TO GO HOME!” he sobbed.


  But Penelope just waved the contract

  under his snout. “Too late, Tubster!” she

  shrieked. “You signed it!”

  In a sudden fit, Tubby snatched the paper

  from her paw. Then he shoved it in his

  mouth and chewed it up. He looked so

  pleased with himself.

  But Tubby’s excitement didn’t last long. In

  a flash, Penelope had pulled out another

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  contract from her backpack. “That was just

  a copy, Tubby Tails,” she chuckled. “I have

  the original in my office!”

  Tubby’s whiskers drooped. He hung his head.

  His tail dragged on the ground. I had never

  seen a mouse look so beaten. “Here, have

  my snailburger!” I insisted. “I’ll skip lunch.”

  Tubby thanked me with tears in his eyes.

  “Geronimo, you are a true friend. I will

  never forget you,” he cried.

  After lunch, it was back to marching. At

  last, we reached the Rio Mosquito.

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  A rope hung over the water, stretched

  between two trees. The river roared

  downstream, picking up anything in its

  path. I saw twigs. I saw tree trunks. I saw a

  houseboat filled with monkeys. Everything

  was swept away in the raging current.

  “I’m scared!” I squeaked.

  I'M AFRAID OF DROWNING!

  Penelope rolled her eyes. “Get moving or

  you’ll be sorry!” she demanded.

  We did as we were told. What choice did

  we have? I grabbed the rope and began

  to cross the river. One paw at a time, I

  told myself. Slowly we made our way to the

  other side. I was doing it!

  But suddenly, disaster struck. Someone

  was crying. “I’m so hungry! I’m going to

  faint!” Tubby wailed. Seconds later, the

  rope slipped from his paws. He hit the

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  water with a loud splash. What could I do?

  I dove in after him.

  Tubby’s snout was already underwater. I

  quickly grabbed hold of his tail. Groaning, I

  dragged him onto the bank. Then I gave him

  mouse-to-mouse resuscitation. It worked!

  “Thank you! You saved my life!”

  squeaked a grateful Tubby.

  I grinned. I felt like Supermouse when he

  does a good deed. Too bad I wasn’t really

  Supermouse. If I were, I could have flown

  right home! Still, I was proud of

  myself for facing another fear.

  I guess Penelope was proud of me, too.

  “You’re learning, Stilton!” she sniggered.

  “You’re learning!”

  “Today is a day of rest!” shouted Penelope

  the next morning. As usual, she had woken

  us up with a bucketful of icy water.

  “Today we will build a tree house,”

  Penelope continued. “Stilton, you’ll be the

  first one to climb that tree over there!”

  She pointed to a tree. It wasn’t just

  any old tree. It was the tallest tree I had

  ever seen in my life! Up, up, up it went.

  I got dizzy just looking at it.

  “I c-can’t climb that t-t-tree!” I stammered.

  "I'M AFRAID OF HEIGHTS!”

  Just then, a small paw tapped my

  shoulder. It was Suzie Squeakers.

  “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “I’m a

  friend of Pinky Pick. She sent me along

  DAY 3: WEDNESDAY

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  to help you.” Suzie

  handed me a pink

  envelope. It was a letter

  from Pinky.

  Have I told you about

  Pinky Pick? She’s a

  young assistant at my

  office. I’m sure you can

  guess Pinky’s favorite

  color. It’s pink, of course!

  Pinky has pink sneakers

  and rides a pink bicycle

  to work. She will only

  write on pink paper and

  loves squeaking on her

  pink cell phone. I guess

  Pinky Pick

  DEAR BOSS,

  You can trust Suzie Squeakers.

  She’s my best friend.

  Suzie is a Gerbil Scout. She got

  her wilderness badge last year.

  She spent one whole night in the

  woods outside her mouse hole!

  Good luck!

  Pinky Pick

  P.S. If you make it back alive, can I

  have a pink computer?

  Assistant to the Boss

  The Rodent’s Gazette

  17 Swiss Cheese Center

  New Mouse City, Mouse Island 13131

  www.geronimostilton.com

  you could say Pinky is sort of

  hung up on the color pink.

  One winter, she lost her

  favorite pink mittens. She

  had to wear blue ones

  instead. Poor Pinky cried for

  weeks!

  Now I bent over Pinky’s

  letter.

  Suzie winked at me. When Penelope

  wasn’t looking, she began to follow me up

  the tree. Immediately, I felt faint. “Don’t

  look down!” Suzie advised. It was good

  advice. If I didn’t look down, I couldn’t

  tell how high up we had climbed.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. This

  was no big deal. We were only a

  few feet off the ground. I probably

  could have jumped down if I’d

  Pinky Pick

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  wanted to. I pretended I was climbing up

  the steps to my mouse hole. Oh, it would be

  so nice to be home! Home with my cheese-

  filled fridge. Home with my treasured books.

  I glanced down at my paws. Big mistake.

  No, I wasn’t at home. Far from it. I was up

  so high even Penelope Poisonfur looked

  harmless.

  Newspaper headlines

  flashed before my eyes. Geronimo Stilton

  Killed in a Terrible Fall! Jungle Terrorizes

  Publisher! Stilton’s Last Squeak!

  Just then, someone grabbed my tail. It was

  Suzie. “It’s okay!” she shrieked. “I got you!”

  I was so happy I could have jumped for

  joy. Luckily, I remembered where I was just in

  time. I was happy, but I wasn’t a cheesehead.r />
  I wasn’t about to let go of that tree!

  At last, we came to a very long branch

  with thick leaves. “This is the perfect spot

  to build our shelter,” announced Suzie.

  Together we built a ladder out of some tree

  limbs. Before long, our tree house was

  looking great. I was so proud of

  myself and my new friends.

  And

  best of all, I realized being up so high wasn’t

  that scary after all.

  “Not bad for a bunch of city mice,”

  Penelope admitted when we were finished.

  “Not bad at all . . . ”

  That night I dreamed that Pinky Pick was

  winking at me. “What do you say, BOSS?”

  she squeaked. “Can I have that pink

  computer now? Can I, Boss?”

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  The next morning, I woke up to a pair of

  singing birds. The sun warmed my fur. I

  stretched. For the first time since I’d arrived

  in the jungle, I felt great. But what was

  different about today? I just couldn’t put my

  paw on it. Then it hit me—a bucketful of

  icy water

  right in my snout!

  Penelope Poisonfur snickered, then she

  barked out orders. “LINE UP! she

  squeaked. “Today you will learn to use a

  compass. Each of you must find your way to

  our next CAMPSITE before nightfall. And you

  must do it on your own!”

  I shuddered.

  “BUT I'M AFRAID TO BE LEFT ON MY OWN IN THE FOREST!"

  I cried. Too late. Everyone had already left.

  DAY 4: THURSDAY

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  I was alone in the forest. This was worse

  than the time I got separated from my

  uncle Nibbles at the Marvelous Mouse Tail

  Circus. At least that time, the rat clowns

  kept me laughing. Now there wasn’t a

  rodent in sight. Monkeys SHRIEKED at

  me from the trees. Snakes HISSED from

  behind rocks. Even the singing birds

  sounded SCARY. I jumped at every noise.

  I was like a furry rubber band ready to snap.

  I decided I’d better study the map. This

  will be as easy as cheesepie, I told myself.

  All I had to do was figure out how

  to get to the camp. “Um,