The Smelly Search (Geronimo Stilton Cavemice #13)

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by Geronimo Stilton

were deep in thought, Clarissa took the

  opportunity to douse us all with a triple

  dose of her lily of the valley perfume.

  Soaked in perfume, Trap cried, “Hey!

  SPRITZZZZ!

  Take that!

  Groan!

  What in the name of all things cheesy are

  you doing?”

  “

  Oh, quit your squeaking!

  ” she replied.

  Clarissa sniffed us again and exclaimed,

  “Ugh! You

  still

  stink, even with

  all that perfume! You smell like

  rotten Jurassic jack

  cheese

  !”

  ATTACK OF THE

  WIMPY JELLYFISH

  Ignoring Clarissa’s complaints, we read the

  riddle again. What did those words mean?

  “

  Tavern

  makes me think of the Rotten

  Tooth Tavern,” Trap mused.

  “

  Of course!

  ” exclaimed Hercule.

  “There’s a

  cavern

  on the cliff next to the

  tavern!”

  “And if there’s a

  lantern

  inside that

  cavern, then we solved the puzzle!” Clarissa

  added.

  Ah,

  Clarissa

  — what an intelligent mouse!

  “So here’s what the

  riddle

  means: Get

  the

  lantern

  that’s inside the

  cavern

  next

  to the

  tavern

  ,” Benjamin summed up.

  Puff! Pant!

  We raced to the tavern, then

  borrowed a

  raft

  so we could

  paddle out to the cavern.

  Trap was the STRONGEST,

  so he took the oars and

  began to row toward the

  cavern. But the current

  was strong, and our flimsy

  little raft began to rock

  back

  and

  forth

  and

  back

  and

  forth

  in

  the rapids. Petrified

  cheese — how

  Hey!

  Oops!

  prehistorically

  scary

  ! We

  almost flipped over, and I

  was sure we were goners,

  but then . . .

  “The lantern!” shouted Benjamin,

  pointing

  to the far end of the

  cave.

  “I see it!” I cried, reaching out a

  paw. But as soon as I grabbed the

  lantern, I got hit by an enormouse

  Help!

  wave

  and went tumbling into the

  water.

  Splash!

  Before I could twitch a whisker, a swarm

  of

  jellyfish

  stung me with their tentacles.

  Youch!

  What Paleolithic pain!

  This was

  not

  going well.

  “Don’t be scared, Uncle Geronimo!”

  Benjamin said. “These are

  wimpy

  jellyfish

  — I recognize them. They only

  sting because they’re frightened!”

  “That’s right!” exclaimed

  Hercule. “They’re not doing

  it on purpose —

  poor

  things

  !”

  “Poor things?!” I

  squeaked as a jellyfish

  stung

  me under my

  tail.

  “I know how we can get rid

  of those scared creatures without

  hurting them,” Clarissa said suddenly. “The

  fire

  from the lantern will scare them

  away!”

  Ah,

  Clarissa

  . . . she always comes up

  with such fabumouse ideas!

  Too bad I was the one holding the

  lantern — so I had to

  scare

  the jellyfish

  away! I gulped, gathered my courage, and

  began to swing the lantern above the

  waves

  .

  Got

  cha!

  Whoa!

  Yikes!

  The jellyfish

  fled

  in fear. Holey cheese, it

  was a miracle!

  Clarissa quickly extended an

  oar

  and

  fished me out of the water. I was soaking

  wet, I was in

  pain

  , and I was clinging to

  the oar like an octopusaurus — but at least

  I still had all my fur!

  COOL IT, GUYS!

  For the next riddle, go

  to the most charming,

  brilliant, mouserific

  reporter in the Stone

  Age: Sally Rockmousen!

  I had made a megalithic fool of myself

  in front of Clarissa, but at least I had the

  lantern

  ! Attached to the lantern, we

  found a little stone tablet that read:

  My friends and I

  dashed

  to Gossip

  Radio faster than saber-toothed tigers.

  For the next riddle, go

  to the most charming,

  brilliant, mouserific

  reporter in the Stone

  Age: Sally Rockmousen!

  “

  GRRRRRRR...”

  Grrrrrrr...

  “

  Ha, ha, ha!

  ” Sally cackled when she

  saw us. “Here comes the

  last

  team, led

  by the great riddlemaster, Trap Stiltonoot!

  Hee, hee, hee!

  ”

  Offended, Trap grumbled under his

  whiskers.

  “Here’s the lantern,”

  said Hercule, trying to

  stay on task. “Now

  fork over

  the

  next riddle, Sally!”

  “

  COOL IT,

  GUYS!

  ” Sally

  said, flashing

  a shifty little

  smile. “Do you

  seriously still think

  you can

  win

  ?”

  “Why not?” asked

  Clarissa

  .

  NUMBER OF RIDDLES SOLVED BY

  THE COMPETING TEAMS:

  Super

  Stiltonoots

  Megalithic

  Mice

  Jurassic

  Cheddarsnouts

  “Until the race is over, we’re in it to win it!”

  Sally snickered. “Keep in mind that the

  Jurassic Cheddarsnouts

  have

  already solved their third riddle, and the

  Megalithic Mice

  have solved their fourth!”

  Benjamin and I exchanged a

  disappointed

  He makes a saber-toothed

  tiger tremble.

  look. We were moving as slowly as a Stone

  Age snail!

  “We can still do it!” Clarissa squeaked

  with determination. She turned to Sally.

  “What’s the next

  riddle

  ?”

  “Massive meteorites, if you insist — here

  it is!” Sally said, hurling the stone tablet at

  my snout.

  Rats! I rubbed my sore snout and tried to


  stay focused. Chiseled on the tablet was this

  riddle:

  “That’s impawssible,” snorted Trap.

  Bonk!

  Let’s

  see...

  “A saber-toothed tiger isn’t

  afraid

  of

  anything!”

  “You’re wrong, Uncle Trap!” Benjamin

  said with a grin. “Saber-toothed tigers are

  afraid of

  water

  .”

  “

  Right!

  I was just about to say that,”

  Clarissa squeaked up. “But the riddle isn’t

  about something

  — it’s about someone!

  Read it again: ‘

  He

  makes a saber-toothed

  tiger tremble . . .’”

  “Hmm.”

  Benjamin

  LOOKED

  thoughtful.

  “If you were

  a saber-toothed

  tiger, who would you

  be

  afraid of

  ?”

  Trap tried to imagine he

  was a

  saber-toothed

  tiger

  . “Let’s see.

  I’d have menacing eyes, big

  teeth

  . . .”

  “Big teeth!” exclaimed Hercule. “With

  such large

  fangs

  , those flea-infested felines

  must be worried about cavities!”

  he was right! The thing that frightened

  saber-toothed tigers the most had to be . . .

  “The dentist!” exclaimed Trap. “The

  answer is the

  DENTIST!”

  “There’s no time to lose,”

  squeaked Clarissa. “Let’s

  hurry to the Club

  Clinic, home of

  Old

  Mouse City’s

  very

  best dentists and

  doctors!”

  BONES AND STONES,

  WHY, WHY,

  WHYYYY?!

  While our team

  celebrated

  solving the

  riddle, Hercule pulled me aside.

  “Geronimo, there’s something about this

  whole treasure hunt that

  stinks

  . Let’s

  start

  sniffing

  around! Listen — pssst

  . . .

  pssst . . . pssst . . .”

  My jaw dropped as I listened to Hercule’s

  whispers. “Petrified cheese!

  What

  are you

  squeaking about?”

  I hung back to talk more with Hercule

  while Trap, Benjamin, and Clarissa

  scampered to the dentist to look for the next

  riddle

  .

  As soon as they

  left

  , Hercule said, “I

  What’s the square in

  Old Mouse City?

  can tell that you’re confused, so I’ll try to

  explain the whole thing again.” He looked

  me in the eye. “You know

  why

  we’re dead

  last in the treasure hunt, right?”

  “Uh, because the other teams are better

  than we are?” I guessed.

  “

  Wrong

  , Geronimo!” he squeaked.

  “We’re last because Sally gave the

  easy-

  cheesy

  riddles to the other teams and the

  hard-as-boulders

  ones to us!”

  At that moment, we saw the

  Jurassic

  Cheddarsnouts

  darting toward us, led

  by Squeaks McStone.

  “Yoo-hoo, Squeaks!” Hercule called

  to him. “Would you please read us your

  riddle

  ?”

  Squeaks showed us the tablet. It said:

  Pretty

  tough,

  huh?

  “Pretty tough, huh?”

  said Squeaks. “But

  Marty Mozzarella, the

  brains of our team,

  thought

  about

  it for a looooong time

  and finally figured out the answer!”

  “Trumpeting triceratops!” I

  whispered

  to

  Hercule. “Any cheesebrain knows that it’s

  Singing Rock Square!”

  “

  Exactly!

  ” Hercule said with a nod.

  “Did you notice anything else?”

  I thought for a moment. “You mean that

  Squeaks

  stinks

  like Jurassic jack cheese

  left out in the sun?”

  “

  Wrong again!

  ” Hercule grimaced.

  “Massive meteorites, Geronimo, try using

  that head of yours!”

  “

  Hmmm . . . er, maybe . . .”

  “Do I have to explain everything?” he

  grumbled, throwing his paws in the air. “Not

  only did we get the most

  difficult

  riddles,

  but we’ve also had to run from one end of

  the city to the other, covering tails upon tails

  upon tails.”*

  I scratched my snout.

  Holey cheese

  , he was

  right! “Huh, I hadn’t thought of that . . .”

  “Wake up, Geronimo! Sally is making us

  run

  all over the place, which keeps us far

  away from our caves!” Hercule concluded.

  “But

  why

  ?”

  Suddenly, I had an idea about what that

  rat Sally was up to. But . . .

  noooo

  ! It

  couldn’t be!

  STONE AGE NOTE:

  *

  The basic unit of measurement in the Stone Age is

  based on the length of the tail of the village leader,

  Ernest Heftymouse.

  Map of the treasure hunt,

  marking the stops made by

  the Super Stiltonoot team

  LIBERTY

  ROCK

  3

  5

  4

  CAVE OF

  MEMORIES

  GOSSIP RADIO

  CLUB CLINIC

  CAVERN OF

  THE WIMPY

  JELLYFISH

  GERONIMO’S

  HOUSE

  FLIGHTPORT

  CHEDDAR

  VOLCANO

  SINGING ROCK

  SQUARE

  1

  2

  ARE YOU SURE

  YOU’RE SURE?

  FOSSILIZED FETA!

  Cheese niblets!

  Why

  hadn’t I realized it

  before?

  Sally wanted to steal my

  STONE AGE

  scoop — a scoop so big that I was keeping

  it a secret. So secret that I had completely

  forgotten about it! That had been Sally’s

  plan all along!

  “The

  interview

  !” I exclaimed. “The

  interview with maestro Samuel Songsnout!”

  Hercule looked puzzled.

  “

  SAMUEL

  SONGSNOUT

  is

  the most famouse

  musician in

  Old

  Mouse City

  ,”

  I reminded him.

  “In fact, he’s

  the most famouse

  musician in the Stone Age!”

  Hercule shrugged. “S
o what?”

  “He’s famouse for two reasons,” I said.

  “First, he invented the

  Clubiphone

  , a

  prehistoric instrument that is played by

  whacking clubs against horns, and second,

  he

  hates

  doing interviews. Songsnout has

  never — and I mean

  never

  — agreed to a

  single

  interview

  !”

  “Aha!” squeaked Hercule. “But, Geronimo,

  you’re not saying that . . .”

  “As sure as squeaking!” I exclaimed.

  “Three days ago, I finally convinced him

  to see me. I snagged the very first and only

  interview with

  SAMUEL SONGSNOUT

  !”

  “Did

  anybody

  else know about the

  interview?” Hercule asked.

  I shook my head. “Not a single rodent. I

  hid the interview transcript in a

  secret

  place only I know about!”

  “Where did you hide it?” Hercule looked

  worried. “You don’t have it with you now,

  do you,

  cheesebrain

  ?”

  “Don’t get your tail in a twist!” I said. “I

  left it in my cave, in a very

  safe

  place.”

  Hercule tugged on his whiskers. “Are

  you absolutely sure?

  One hundred

  percent sure?

  What if Sally found

  out about it from her shifty henchmice?”

  I hadn’t thought of that.

  “Um . . .”

  “And what if Sally organized this treasure

  hunt to keep you away from your cave and

  steal your interview transcript?”

  “Um . . .”

  “And what if we go to your cave and check

  things out right now?”

  “Um . . .”

  I turned as pale as a ball of mozzarella.

  Hercule was right! The

  interview

  transcript

  was no longer safe! What if Sally had gotten

  her

  paws

  on it? That would be

  unsqueakable!

  “We’d better check,” I said. We

  dashed

  to my cave as fast as our paws could take us.

  When we got there, we peeked through the

  window and — holey rolling boulders!

  “Sally’s henchmice are in there!” I

  squeaked, tying my tail in knots.

  Gulp!

  Two mean-looking rodents had snuck

  into my cave and were rummaging through

  everything I owned

  ! What a prehistoric

  disaster! We had to think of a way to stop

  them

  right away

  !

 

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