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
S
n
a
p
s
n
a
p
s
n
a
p
!
57
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.
60
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
S
t
r
a
n
g
e
y
e
s
g
l
o
w
e
d
i
n
t
h
e
t
r
e
e
s
.
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.
64
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
66
S
p
l
a
s
h
!
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
67
68
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.
C
r
u
n
c
h
c
r
u
n
c
h
c
r
u
n
c
h
!
H
a
-
h
a
-
h
a
a
a
!
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
69
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
72
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
75
I
w
a
s
g
o
i
n
g
t
o
f
a
l
l
!
M
y
h
e
a
d
b
e
g
a
n
t
o
76
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.
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?”
77
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
78
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,