My Name Is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton Read online

  down. Right below us, I saw an enormouse

  ship. As we got closer, I saw it was an

  icebreaker. It pushed its way through

  the frozen seas.

  “Here we are!” Thea yelled. She aimed the

  helicopter at the ship’s wide deck. A cold

  wind blew across the water, but we landed

  safely. When the helicopter blades stopped

  spinning, we walked onto the deck.

  A rat in a captain’s uniform greeted us.

  “YOU MUST BE STILTON, GERONIMO

  STILTON

  ,” he said in acrisp voice. “I AM

  NELSON, CAPTAIN OCEANUS NELSON

  .

  It is a pleasure to meet you.”

  I shook his paw. Then he turned to my

  sister, Thea. His whiskers began to quiver.

  “What a

  beautful landing!

  ” he

  gushed. He took her paw and kissed it. “You

  should have joined the navy, my dear lady. They

  could use a talented and lovely rat like you!”

  68

  I groaned quietly. Everywhere Thea went,

  rats tripped over their tails to get her attention.

  It looked like Captain Nelson was no

  different!

  Pinky stepped forward. She took out her

  diary and began to flip through the pages.

  “Let’s get busy, crew!” she shouted. “New

  Year’s Eve is the day after tomorrow.”

  The captain took his eyes off Thea and

  turned to me with a serious look.

  “MY SHIPPING COMPANY TOLD ME

  YOU NEEDED THIS SHIP FOR AN

  IMPORTANT MISSION

  ,” he said. “EXACTLY

  WHAT KIND OF MISSION IS IT?

  ”

  “Oh, just wait and see,” Thea piped up.

  “Y

  e

  s,

  f

  u

  n

  ,” Pinky agreed. But she didn’t

  give any details, either.

  Captain Nelson didn’t seem to like that.

  “

  I

  t

  ’

  s

  g

  o

  i

  n

  g

  t

  o

  b

  e

  f

  u

  n

  .

  ”

  69

  He pulled me aside.

  “LISTEN HERE, STILTON,” he said. “I HAVE

  TWO VERY IMPORTANT QUE

  STIONS FOR

  YOU. ONE: WHAT KIND

  OF MISSION ARE

  YOU PLANNING? AND TWO: DOES YOUR

  SIST

  ER HAVE A BOYFRIEND?

  ”

  I sighed. I might as well tell Captain Nelson

  the truth. “I think the special mission is some

  kind of party,” I said.

  Captain Nelson raised his furry eyebrows

  in surprise. “A PARTY? THIS IS A REAL

  SHIP! YOU CANNOT HAVE A

  PARTY HERE!

  ” he squeaked.

  I decided to change the

  subject. “As for my sister,” I

  said, “she does not have a

  boyfriend. In fact, I am sure

  she would love to go to the

  party with you!”

  70

  A SPOOKY SHAPE

  IN THE

  FOG

  Captain Nelson and I were interrupted by

  the sound of excited squeaks.

  Pinky and Thea were exploring the ship.

  “We should have the partyin here,” Thea

  was saying, walking around the large galley.

  “Right,” said Pinky. She began pointing

  around the ship. “The food tables will be

  here. We’ll need a lot,because I’m expecting

  about five hundred guests. Maybe a

  thousand

  ,even.”

  Then Pinky walked over to a door with a

  plate that read, captain nelson's

  OFFICE. “Perfect!” she said. “The rock band

  can go in here !”

  Captain Nelson turned pale. I felt sorry

  71

  for him. I knew just how he felt!

  I decided to leave Pinky and Thea to their

  plans. I walked up on deck.

  The air was bitter cold. I was glad to be

  wearing my parka, even if it was pink. I

  leaned over the railing and gazed out across

  the water.

  White foam capped the waves like fluffy

  whiskers. It was rather beautiful. The sun

  was setting, streaking the sky a lovely shade

  of cheddar gold. Maybe this trip would not

  be so bad after all!

  Then things suddenly grew dark. The ship

  had sailed into a misty gray fog.

  Boooo- eeeeee. The ship’s fog signal rang

  out in the night. But then something

  caught my eye.

  There was a big, dark shape

  looming in front of us in the fog.

  Was I seeing THINGS ?

  I cleaned my glasses so I could see better.

  Then I put them on again.

  The shape was still there. Right in front of

  the ship. It was getting closer.

  I gulped. It looked just like . . .

  “An

  iceberg

  !” I squeaked.

  We were about to crash into an enormouse

  iceberg ! I had to do something.

  “

  Help!

  ” I screamed. “Help!”

  I ran around the deck, trying to find my

  way back inside the ship. But the fog was

  too thick. I could not see a thing.

  “Help!” I screamed again. “Is there anyone

  out there?”

  No one answered.

  74

  LOST AT SEA

  Then I heard a shout. It sounded like

  Captain Nelson. The ship made a loud

  groaning noise. It sounded like it was trying

  to stop.

  But the iceberg was getting closer and

  closer! I had to warn my family.

  I ran across the ship, feeling my way with

  my paws. Finally, I found a door. I ran

  inside.

  The ship’s crew was running around in a

  panic. I did not see my family anywhere.

  “Thea, Benjamin, where are you?” I yelled.

  They didn’t answer me. Instead, I heard

  Captain Nelson shout, “LOWER THE

  LIFEBOATS!

  ”

  I knew that could not be good!

  The next moment, I heard a terrible noise.

  It sounded like two mountains crashing into

  each other. The ship lurched.

  I lost my balance and tumbled across the

  floor. The ship rocked again. This time, I

  rolled out of the open door onto the deck.

  “

  Help!

  ” I screamed. I tried to grab on

  to something. Anything.

  76

  Suddenly, a huge WAVE crashed

  over the railing. I struggled against

  it, but it was no use. The wave

  carried me off the boat and

  into the sea!

  I gasped. The water

  was freezing cold.

  Then I felt a firm

  paw on my tail.

  Someone

  pulled me

  out of the

  water.

  “I’ve got

  you, Geronimo!” It was Trap! He must have

  found his wa
y to one of the lifeboats.

  Trap pulled me up next to him. I looked

  around, dazed. We were not on a lifeboat.

  We were on an

  iceberg!

  The very same

  77

  iceberg that had crashed into the ship!

  I struggled to my feet, shivering. Trap

  was not alone. Thea, Benjamin, Pinky, and

  Merry were all on the iceberg. I was happy to

  see them safe.

  But I was not happy for long.

  There was no sign of the ship. The

  thick fog did not lift. It wrapped

  around us like a cold, wet blanket.

  “Let’s dig a shelter in the ice,” Thea

  suggested. We dug for hours. Then we

  huddled

  inside, trying to keep warm. But we

  were still cold. Icicles dripped from my

  whiskers.

  Besides being cold, we were hungry, too.

  And Trap kept making things worse.

  “Wouldn’ta

  hot cheese

  pizza be delicious

  right now?” he said, licking his snout. “Or

  maybe a grilled

  cheddar

  sandwich.

  78

  Or a triple-decker creamy cheesecake. Or

  maybe...”

  Trap went on and on for hours. I was so

  hungry, I wanted to eat my socks.

  We were lost at sea all night. The next

  morning, I was shivering and daydreaming

  about CHEDDAR CHEESE when I heard

  Benjamin shout.

  “Uncle, look! It’s a helicopter!”

  We crawled out of the shelter. Benjamin

  was right. A helicopter flew in the distance.

  The writing on it read MouseTV.

  As the helicopter got closer, we heard the

  loud whir of its blades. Then we heard

  another sound: music.

  “

  I

  t

  ’s

  a

  s

  h

  i

  p

  !

  ” Benjamin cried.

  It was a ship—-and it was coming to rescue

  us!

  Thea, Pinky, and Merry let out a cheer.

  Then they began to dance.

  “Dance with us, Boss,” Pinky said. “You’ll

  get warm!”

  80

  POOR NELSON

  Captain Nelson greeted us as we boarded

  the ship.

  “We thought we had lost you,” he said. “My

  crew and I survived the shipwreck. We didn’t

  lose a single rat.”

  The ship’s crew cheeed and clapped.

  Captain Nelson turned to Thea. He fell to

  his knees.

  “MY DARLING, I HAD LOST ALL

  HOPE OF EVER SEEING YOU AGAIN!”

  he said.

  Thea giggled. She held out her paw for him

  to kiss.

  “I’m so glad you found us,” she said.

  I shook my snout. Poor Captain Nelson! I

  had seen this before.Even the toughest rodent

  81

  will melt like cream cheese in the sun

  when my sister is around. It’s too bad she is

  such a heartbreaker!

  O

  h

  ,

  m

  y

  d

  a

  r

  l

  i

  n

  g

  !

  82

  A MASS OF MEDALS

  Thea and Pinky spent all day

  getting the new ship ready for the

  New Year’s Eve party. It started

  at ten o’clock. MouseTV ’s

  camera mice roamed around,

  filming everything.

  A loud rockband started off

  the party inside the ship. I went out on deck

  to get away from the noise.

  Captain Nelson walked up to me. He was

  wearing his dress uniform. It was as white

  and shiny as a fresh ball of mozzarella. A mass

  of shiny medals was pinned to his chest.

  “HOW IS EVERYTHING GOING,

  STILTON?

  ” he barked loudly.

  “Just fine,” I said. I sighed. Is a little peace

  83

  and quiet too much to ask for?

  Nelson looked around the ship, smoothing

  his whiskers.

  “THIS SHIP IS QUITE NICE,” he said.

  “NOT AS NICE AS MINE, THOUGH.”

  “It must be hard to lose your ship,” I

  remarked.

  Captain Nelson shrugged. “I HAD

  INSURANCE

  ,” he said.

  Then Thea walked up to us.Captain

  Nelson’s voice suddenly became

  “MY DARLING, YOU LOOK

  BEAUTIFULL,”he said. “EVEN MORE

  BEAUTIFUL THAN THE MOON IN

  TH E SKY! ”

  “Why, thank you, Captain,” Thea said.

  “You look very smart yourself.”

  Captain Nelson beamed.“DO YOU THINK

  a

  s

  s

  w

  e

  e

  t

  a

  s

  a

  c

  h

  e

  e

  s

  e

  l

  o

  l

  l

  i

  p

  o

  p

  .

  SO? ” he asked, puffing out his chest. “I DO

  HAVE A FEW MEDALS. I GOT THIS ONE

  FOR SAVING A SUBMARINE DURING

  THE CHEDDAR WARS. THIS ONE IS

  FOR BRAVERY IN BATTLE. AND THIS

  ONE ...”

  Thea squeaked with delight.

  “How fascinating!” she

  said. “You must tell me

  e

  v

  e

  r

  yt

  h

  ing!

  ”

  I groaned. I could

  not wait for the

  party to be over !

  84

  85

  NEW YEAR’S EVE AT

  THE

  NORTH POLE

  I could not decide what was worse: Listening

  to Captain Nelson sweet-talk Thea, or

  listening to the loud rock band.

  I do not like noise.

  I do not like loud music.

  But above all, I do not like New

  Year’s Eve. Every year, I get dragged to a

  noisy, crowded party. All I really want to do

  is to spend a quiet evening at home. I like to

  curl up in my pawchair, watching aromantic

  movie and nibbling on cheese crisps.

  But I was far from home. I decided to go

  back inside and see what was happening.

  Pinky stood close to the band ,squeaking,

  “

  LOUDER ! LOUDER !

  ”

  86

  Thea and Captain Nelson

  came in and began to dance.

  Pinky started dancing with

  Benjamin. Everyone looked

  very h ap p y.

  Then I heard a small voice

  behind me.

  “Happy New Year, Boss.”

  I turned around. It was Merry.

  She looked a little bit sad.

  “Why aren’t you dancing

  with the others?” I asked.

  Merry looked down at the floor. “No one

  has asked me to dance yet,” she squeaked

  softly.

  �
��Really?” I said.“A charming little mouse

  like you?”

  Merry brightened. “Do you really think I’m

  charming, Boss?” she shrieked. “Really?”

  87

  “Of course you are charming,” I said. “You

  are very charming . . . but a little too loud at

  times.”

  Poor Merry looked so unhappy now. I knew

  what I had to do.

  “May I have this dance ?” I asked.

  Merry squealed with

  delight

  . Then

  we scurried onto the dance floor.

  88

  THE DAWNING OF A

  NEW DAY

  I like to thinkI am an honest mouse.

  So I will be honest with you now.

  I was sure I would have a terrible time at

  the party. I thought the loud music would

  burst my eardrums. Or that I would sprain

  my paws dancing. But I had a wonderful

  time! I really let my fur down.

  Merry and Pinky taught me all kinds of

  dances. We danced to hip-hopand disco

  music.We swayed to salsa and did the

  merengue. We even slam- danced to

  LOUD

  r o ck m u sic !

  I discovered that potato chips dunked in

  ketchup are delicious. And that temporary

  tattoos can look very stylish.

  89

  Pinky did want me to get my tail pierced,

  but I refused. I do have my limits!

  The mice from MouseTV had organized

  a tango dance competition: The last couple

  to leave the dance floor would win. Merry

  and I entered the contest together. We danced

  the tango for eight hours straight! In the end,

  we were the only mice left standing. We won

  first prize— a trophy carved out of a block of

  sharp cheddar! Can you believe that?

  The party lasted until the morning. Waiters

  walked around, handing out hot chocolate

  and cheese Danish. We all walked out on

  deck to watch the sunrise.

  It was very moving. For me, it felt like the

  dawn of a new day, a new year . . .

  m

  a

  y

  b

  e

  e

  v

  e

  n

  a

  n

  e

  w

  l

  i

  f

  e

  !

  BACK AT THE OFFICE

  When we got back home, I felt like a new