Commander in Cheese Super Special #1

by Lindsey Leavitt

  “We’re going to get a disease from these animals! I’m leaving.” Dan ran out of the Hall of Records, screaming.

  Lyla slid Gregory back to the floor. “If the man hates animals, what is he doing being a park ranger? And what does he think Australia has? There are sharks! Snakes! Spiders!”

  She shook her head and wandered outside.

  “No gold in there,” Ranger Dan huffed to the other searchers. “Did anyone else find anything?”

  “Not one beep.”

  “Nothing.”

  “All we found was a gerbil who maybe had a gold tooth,” Ranger Lyla said. “And it was dark, but I think he was wearing a suit.”

  “You saw his tooth?” Ranger Dan asked.

  “It was a joke, Dan. Let’s get you back to the Sculptor’s Studio. Get you an aspirin and a nap.”

  Finally, the humans climbed back down the side of the mountain. The mice were left alone. Sort of.

  “Stay close to the wall, little mice,” Gregory called.

  The bird chirped again. This chirp seemed friendly.

  “We still have a visitor in here, and I want to figure out who it is.” Mrs. Squeakerton cleared her throat. Then she chirped.

  Some animals are able to speak a language of other animals. Apparently, Mrs. Squeakerton could speak Bird.

  The bird chirped back. Mrs. Squeakerton chirped again.

  “This bird is a friend. Come along,” Mrs. Squeakerton said.

  “How did you learn to do that?” Ava asked, amazed.

  “Working in the garden. We help each other find what we need—seeds, worms, whatever. And this bird…she needs some help.”

  At the edge of the tunnel waited a round brown bird that was not much bigger than Gregory.

  Mrs. Squeakerton stepped forward. She carefully ran her hand along the bird’s wing.

  “She’s hurt,” she said. “She broke her wing two weeks ago and couldn’t fly anywhere to get food for her babies. She hopped into the Treasure Rooms so she could find a few items for her nest. She said she took some of the candy too. I guess the Testermans didn’t notice that.”

  “I should have taken more candy!” Dean said under his breath.

  The bird chirped again. “She tried to talk to the mice, but the sword in the Expensive Stuff Collection scared her off. She thought the mice might hurt her. So she took the gold nugget and threw it down the mountain.”

  “That makes no sense,” Gregory said.

  “Yes, it does,” Mrs. Squeakerton said. “It got Jamaal’s attention. It got ours. She just wanted someone to come up and help her with her babies until she could fly again.”

  “Well, mystery solved!” Gregory brushed off his suit. “Now let’s head back to the Sculptor’s Studio so we can find the Abbey children and go home.”

  Ava rolled her eyes. “Gregory, we have to help her!”

  Gregory moaned. “But she almost got us killed!”

  “And then she saved us,” Dean said. “Mom, ask the bird her name.”

  Mrs. Squeakerton chirped. The bird chirped.

  “Her name is Zitkala. She’s a Townsend’s solitaire. Let’s go see her nest.”

  “Where is it?” Gregory asked.

  “In Theodore Roosevelt’s mustache,” Mrs. Squeakerton said.

  There were lots of things the Squeakerton mice had never thought they would do, like:

  1. Leave the White House

  2. Set a booby trap

  3. Meet a huge colony of South Dakotan mice

  4. Solve a mystery

  5. Climb a mountain

  “What if I fall?” Gregory asked as he very, very carefully climbed the rocks.

  “What if you fly?” Ava asked.

  “That makes no sense,” Gregory said.

  “Maybe,” Ava said. “But look. We made it to the mustache.”

  Teddy Roosevelt did have a very full mustache. It was an excellent perch for Zitkala’s nest.

  The chicks chirped to their mother. Zitkala chirped to Mrs. Squeakerton.

  “She says her chicks are very hungry. We could get her food from the Treasure Rooms, but what if the humans come back in? Or we can’t move the stone?”

  Dean sighed. “Fine. They can have my butterscotch.”

  “One butterscotch isn’t going to do much.”

  “I might have borrowed more than one,” Dean said. He reached into his backpack and pulled out two candies. He also pulled out the raspberries left over from the Jamaal adventure.

  “How did you pack so much in there?” Gregory asked.

  “I take food very seriously,” Dean said.

  “The raspberries will be much better for the birds than butterscotch,” Gregory said. “Keep the candy.”

  “Yes, sir!” Dean saluted Gregory.

  “The berries are enough for right now, but Zitkala will need to find another way to get food,” Mrs. Squeakerton said.

  Gregory squinted at the sun. “What time is it?”

  Mrs. Squeakerton squeaked. “I didn’t even think about that! It’s got to be close to nine. We need to meet the Abbey children at ten o’clock.”

  “Can Zitkala come with us?” Ava asked. “Just to the studio. We can write a note, and she can take it back to the Testermans in the slide-o-vator. They’ll help her once they know what happened.”

  “Excellent idea!” Gregory peered over the mustache. “Now how are we going to get down?”

  Mrs. Squeakerton smiled. “They don’t call them rockslides for nothing.”

  So the Squeakerton mice and Zitkala slid down the side of Theodore Roosevelt’s face. They scurried to a tree underneath Thomas Jefferson. The tram was still there.

  “How are we going to fit?” Dean asked. Zitkala wasn’t a big bird, but she wasn’t exactly small either.

  “Squeeze,” Mrs. Squeakerton said. “And hurry. We might be too late already.”

  Four mice and one bird stuffed themselves into the cart. This ride down the mountain was not quite as fun as last time. Worrying about catching a flight can be very stressful, even for mice.

  “I wish we could go back ourselves and tell Mina what happened,” Dean said.

  “So she can help Zitkala? Me too,” Ava said.

  “No, so we can get credit for solving the mystery.” Dean sighed. “Being a detective is hard work.”

  The tram lurched to a stop.

  “Run, little mice!” Mrs. Squeakerton said. “Run like you’ve never run before.”

  Gregory carried Zitkala on his back. Mice are so strong.

  After more running, hiding, scurrying, and hurrying, the group made it to the Sculptor’s Studio. The Abbey kids were already being photographed in front of the Rushmore model.

  “We did it!” Dean huffed.

  “Yay! I’ll just write a note explaining everything.” Ava pulled out a piece of paper from her pack. “Wait, I don’t have a pencil. How will the Testermans know Zitkala was with us and needs help?”

  So close! The plan was almost perfect, but now Zitkala wouldn’t be able to get help from the Testermans. She was still in trouble.

  “Give her these.” Gregory held out the cuff links to Zitkala. “Then they’ll know you were with us.”

  “But, Gregory!” Mrs. Squeakerton said.

  Gregory looked away. One tear slipped down his cheek. “Calvin Coolidge went fishing in South Dakota and loved it. That’s how Mount Rushmore got its funding. It was worth it to…understand how Calvin felt.”

  “Keep one cuff link,” Ava said. “They don’t need both.”

  Now more tears spilled down Gregory’s face, but they were tears of joy.

  That mouse really loves presidents.

  Zitkala chirped quickly.

  Mrs. Squeakerton patted her good wing. “She says thank you.”

  Dean grabbed a stick and scratched on the paper, Bird is good. Get her food. The words were faint, but hopefully Mina would figure out what happened.

  The Abbey children waved at the last camera. Banks checked hi
s watch. They had to leave even if the mice didn’t show up soon.

  Dr. Abbey led his children to the door.

  “They’re going!” Ava said.

  “Gregory, let’s show Zitkala the tunnel,” Mrs. Squeakerton said. “Get to the bench, little mice.”

  Ava and Dean ran to their meeting place. They jumped up and down and waved their arms.

  Finally, Macey spotted the mice. She hurried over. Unfortunately, her dad followed. Parents are so nosy sometimes!

  “Did you forget something?” Dr. Abbey asked. “We need to go.”

  “I know. I know.” Macey set her backpack on the ground. She tapped the bench. Ava hurried into the backpack. Dean waited.

  “Dean,” she hissed. “What are you doing?”

  “Waiting for Mom. Macey will leave as soon as I’m in there.”

  Ava’s head hurt. If they ever got back to the White House, she was going to nap for a week.

  “I sure hope there’s good food on the flight.” Dr. Abbey scooped up his daughter’s backpack.

  “Dad!” Macey cried out.

  “What?” Dr. Abbey almost dropped the backpack in surprise.

  She grabbed for the backpack. “Please…that’s my private stuff.”

  “What do you have in here—gold?” He laughed.

  Ava felt like she might throw up.

  Macey set the backpack on the ground again and tapped the bench with her foot. Dean glanced at the staff room door. How far was that tunnel anyway?

  Finally, Mrs. Squeakerton and Gregory popped their heads through the doorway. Dean waved to them. Dr. Abbey was looking at his phone. Ava and Dean couldn’t worry much about Macey seeing their mom and Gregory. The adult mice ran over to the bench.

  “Ava’s in there,” Dean said. “Are you ready?”

  They held hands as they slipped into the backpack. The Squeakertons all sighed so loudly they were sure Dr. Abbey could hear it.

  Macey smiled at her dad. “Let’s go. I miss home.”

  The Abbeys walked down the trail to the parking lot. The cars in the presidential motorcade would take them to Air Force One.

  Ava couldn’t wait to give her friend a gift. She tapped Macey on the shoulder.

  “What did you find, little mouse?” Macey stood in front of their car, taking in one more view of Mount Rushmore.

  Ava held up her souvenir.

  “Where on earth did you get a cat brooch?” Macey asked. She turned the brooch around in her hand. “It looks like Clover!”

  Ava smiled. This was the best way she could think of to say thank you to her friend.

  “Banks, look at this.” Macey held up the jewelry in the sunlight.

  “Is that real gold?” Banks whistled.

  “How did she get this?” Macey asked. “They were gone for one day! This thing did not come from a gift shop. And did you notice? More mice ran into my backpack. The big one that looks like a gerbil was with them. Do you really think they visited family? How do mice in the White House even talk to mice in South Dakota?”

  Banks threw his arm around his sister. “What did I tell you? Mice are smart.”

  So true. This might have been the Squeakertons’ first mystery, but it wouldn’t be their last.

  Mount Rushmore is a national memorial. Memorials are structures built in remembrance of people who have died. The idea to carve famous people into the mountain came from South Dakota historian Doane Robinson. He wanted to carve American West heroes like Lewis and Clark, Red Cloud, and Buffalo Bill Cody. The sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, thought four famous presidents would bring more tourists to the Black Hills. He believed these presidents made a significant difference in United States history. The presidents are honored in other ways too: the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

  1. The faces of Mount Rushmore are sixty feet high. That’s as tall as a six-story building!

  2. George Washington’s nose is the longest! Our first president’s nose is twenty-one feet long, while the other presidential noses are twenty feet.

  3. The eyes of each president are eleven feet wide, and their mouths are approximately eighteen feet wide.

  4. Though the workers had to climb 700 stairs every day and work was dangerous, no one died during the carving of Mount Rushmore.

  Many American Indians disagree with the carving of Mount Rushmore, a mountain they called the Six Grandfathers. Rushmore is part of the Paha Sapa, or the Black Hills, which is sacred land to the Lakota Sioux. In 1868, the US government signed a treaty with the Sioux people promising the Black Hills to the Great Sioux Reservation. Gold was soon found, and the government took back the land and ignored the treaty.

  American Indians have tried to preserve their culture. Chief Henry Standing Bear invited sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to carve the Crazy Horse Memorial. This Black Hills statue of the great Sioux chief has been under construction since 1948.

  In 2004, an American Indian, Gerard Baker, became superintendent of Mount Rushmore. He introduced American Indian culture to the park’s daily activities and exhibits.

  Theodore Roosevelt first visited North Dakota in 1883. It was during this time that Theodore saw how our country’s resources were being ruined. Land was destroyed, and animals and vegetation died out.

  When he became president, Theodore Roosevelt decided to conserve our beautiful wildlife and public lands. He created the Forest Service. He passed a law that established national monuments. During his time as president, five national parks were dedicated. He helped to protect around 230 million acres of land!

  Today, you can take your family on a great American road trip! Turn the page to see a map of just a few of the amazing monuments and national parks you can visit in the great U.S. of A.!

  Follow the steps below to draw Ava and Dean.

  Step 1: Draw rectangles for their bodies and triangles for their heads.

  Step 2: Add circles for their ears. Then draw small rectangles for their arms and legs.

  Step 3: Add a triangle to the side of each head to help make a mouse-shaped snout and add a triangle to be the tip of the nose. Then add circles to make eyes and hands. For Ava, add triangles to make the shape of her skirt.

  Step 4: Now that you have the shape in place, start adding curves to your drawing to make it look smoother. Then add details like whiskers, mouse packs, buttons, and more!

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