Field Trip to Niagara Falls

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Field Trip to Niagara Falls Page 5

by Geronimo Stilton


  —

  shortcut

  through the

  woods.

  red, orange, brown, gold.

  If I were an artist, I would have painted

  a picture. But I’m not. In fact, I was the

  only mouselet at Little Tails Academy to

  ever fail paw painting.

  I trudged along, breathing in the fresh,

  crisp air. I really am a nature lover at

  heart.

  “Isn’t it magnificent, Geronimo?”

  Miss Angel Paws said.

  Benjamin and his friends were

  running ahead. At last, I was alone

  with the teacher. I decided now was my

  chance. I had to find out more about this

  beautiful mouse. Maybe we could go out to

  dinner sometime. I wondered if she would

  like Le Squeakery. It’s my favorite French

  restaurant.

  “So, um, Miss Angel Paws,” I began

  shyly. “Are you married?”

  Miss Angel Paws shook her head. A big

  tear rolled down her fur. Then she collapsed

  in a fit of sobs.

  Oh, why did I have such rotten luck with

  female mice? If they weren’t crying, they

  were running away from me.

  The teacher pulled herself together.

  “Sorry,” she

  sniffed

  . “I am not married.

  But I was

  in love

  once, a long, long time

  ago. . . .”

  Carefully, she opened a locket that she wore

  around her neck. Inside was a whisker.

  “This is his whisker,” Miss Angel Paws

  explained. “It is all I have left of him. The

  last time I saw him, he was being chased by

  an angry cat. I swore I would never fall in

  love again

  .”

  I sighed. What a sad, sad story. I felt bad

  for the whiskerless mouse. I felt bad for Miss

  Angel Paws

  . Right then, it began to rain.

  The water poured down in buckets.

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  75

  Love Under a

  Cheese-CoLored

  UmbreLLa

  Suddenly, a mouse appeared out of

  nowhere. He was carrying a large CHEESE-

  COLORED umbrella.

  “Please, allow me,” he said softly to Miss

  Angel Paws. He held the umbrella over her

  head and smiled.

  The two rodents stared at each other.

  They stared and stared. I wondered what the

  staring contest was all about. Then I noticed

  something. The mouse with the umbrella was

  missing a whisker. Could it be? I wondered.

  Just then, the two mice clasped paws. “It’s

  you!” they squeaked together.

  Well, that answered that question. It was

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  all pretty amazing. I mean, what were the

  chances Miss Angel Paws would find

  her lost love at Niagara Falls? That’s like

  finding a cheese cracker in an overflowing

  garbage can. It takes more than just digging.

  It takes luck!

  I was happy for the teacher. At least

  someone was having a lucky day. I, on the

  other paw, was not. The rain seeped into

  poured into my ears. I was getting soaked.

  I could see the little mice huddled together

  in a dry cave up ahead.

  Meanwhile, the two love mice had the

  cheese-colored umbrella to protect them.

  Not that they seemed to notice it was

  my whiskers. It

  my fur. It

  dribbled down

  Miss Angel Paws

  Gentle Mouse

  rainstorm

  raining. They looked like they were under

  some kind of magic spell. The kind that

  makes you forget where you are.

  I sighed. I wished I were under a

  Then I could forget I was standing

  outside in the middle of a torrential

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  79

  A reAl

  gentle Mouse

  That night, we sat around a

  crackling campfire. It turned

  out Miss Angel Paws’s friend

  was a forest ranger. His name

  was Gentle Mouse. I

  wanted not to like him.

  After all, I came on this

  trip just to spend more

  time with Miss Angel Paws.

  But how could I hate a rodent

  with a name like that?

  Gentle Mouse knew a

  lot about nature. He

  showed us a maple leaf.

  The sap from maple trees can be boiled

  down and made into maple sugar or

  maple syrup. When winter turned into

  spring, Native Americans would make V-

  shaped slashes in a maple tree trunk and

  collect the sap in a vessel. Then they

  would boil the sap down into sugar.

  The early European settlers

  learned this way of getting

  maple sugar from the

  Native Americans.

  “From this

  tree

  , we get maple syrup,”

  Gentle Mouse explained. He told the class

  how they could start their own collection of

  dried leaves.

  maple syrup

  Gather some leaves that have fallen to the ground.

  Take care to choose the most beautiful ones — with

  lots of different colors, shapes, and dimensions.

  As soon as you get home, clean the leaves well. To

  dry them, place them between two sheets of paper

  inside a thick book.

  When the leaves are dry and flat, glue them in a

  notebook or put them in a photo album.

  Next to each leaf, write its name and the date it

  was collected.

  Near each leaf’s common name, you can write

  its botanical name, which can be found in an

  encyclopedia or field guide.

  How To Make a Collection

  of Dried Leaves

  Elm

  (Ulmus

  americana)

  Paper Birch

  (Betula

  papyrifera)

  American

  Beech

  (Fagus

  grandifolia)

  American

  Chestnut

  (Castanea

  dentata)

  cheeP . . . cheeP . . .

  cheeP . . . cheeP . . .

  The next morning, we

  went for a hike through the woods. I tried to

  keep up with the group, but I kept tripping

  over rocks and twigs. Did I mention I’m not

  much of a sports mouse?

  Gentle Mouse pointed out the different

  plants along the way.

  “This is a sugar maple. Its leaf is on the

  Canadian flag,” he explained. “This

  is a chestnut tree. Has anyone ever

  tried a chestnut?”r />
  Just then, I saw two beady eyes blinking

  behind the bushes. “Look, a fox,” Gentle

  Mouse whispered excitedly.

  I gulped. I was okay with plants, but wild

  animals weren’t exactly my cup of cheddar.

  They can be a little scary. No, make that

  downright terrifying!

  I scampered past the fox.

  Gentle Mouse was busy pointing out other

  6. American Chestnut

  Castanea dentata

  5. Paper Birch

  Betula papyrifera

  4. Vine Maple

  Acer circinatum

  1. Sugar Maple

  Acer saccharum

  2. Norway Maple

  Acer platanoides

  3. Red Maple

  Acer rubrum

  trees and their

  leaves

  9. Red Oak

  Quercus rubra

  7. American Beech

  Fagus grandifolia

  8. American Elm

  Ulmus americana

  10. Pitch Pine

  Pinus rigida

  11. Red Pine

  Pinus resinosa

  12. Balsam Fir

  Abies balsamea

  evergreens

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  11

  WOODLAND ANIMALS

  OF NORTH AMERICA

  1. Opossum

  2. Northern Cardinal

  3. Moose

  4. Flying Squirrel

  5. Woodpecker

  6. Wolf

  7. Cottontail Rabbit

  8. Raccoon

  9. Skunk

  10. Beaver

  11. River Otter

  12. Deer

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  3

  animals. We saw a beaver, a raccoon, and

  even a moose with huge antlers.

  I couldn’t believe how many wild animals

  we came across. Suddenly, I heard a loud

  chirping. Cheep! Cheep!

  I followed the chirping to an oak tree. A

  little bird was lying on the ground.

  “Help! It’s fallen and it can’t get up!” I

  told Gentle Mouse. “What should we do?”

  1. When you find a little bird fallen to the ground, look

  for its nest around that area. Leave the bird alone and

  wait a little while ... Its parents could come to claim it.

  2. If there is no nest, pick the bird up from the ground gently.

  3. If the bird is very small and still without feathers, you need to

  feed it, using a dropper.

  4. If the bird has feathers, take a look at its beak. If it’s short and

  strong, feed it grain seeds. If it’s long and thin, feed it insects.

  5. Keep the bird in a warm place that is similar to

  its nest, like a box with a woolen cloth.

  6. As soon as the bird is able to fly, set it free.

  And remember, ask a parent or adult before

  touching any wild animal!

  H

  ow

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  Bird

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  90

  the Forest is

  on Fire!

  Gentle Mouse showed us how to make a

  nest using a box and a towel. We found some

  seeds and fed them to the bird. It let out a

  happy chirp. Then it started smoking.

  Holey cheese! What was in those seeds?

  Then I realized the smoke wasn’t coming

  from the bird. It was filling the air around

  us!

  “FIRE!” someone screamed.

  Gentle Mouse called for help on his cell

  phone. “

  Hurry! The forest is on fire

  !” he

  cried. “Someone must have left a campfire

  burning. Send a plane right away!”

  Gentle Mouse told everyone to stay calm.

  He divided us up into two teams.

  91

  The first team dug fire trenches.

  “If we cut down all of the plants, the

  fire

  will have nothing to burn,”

  Gentle Mouse explained.

  The second team formed a long chain that

  ended at a nearby brook. The first mouse

  in line filled a pail with

  water

  . Then he

  passed it down the line. The last mouse in

  line threw the water on the flames.

  We worked like pack rats, but

  the heat was becoming unbearable.

  My fur was scorched. The

  smoke was making me choke.

  Suddenly, a miracle happened. We heard

  the sound of engines. It was a plane

  carrying an enormouse tank filled with

  water! The plane dumped the water onto

  the flames and then left to pick up more

  water from the lake. We were saved! But

  before we could celebrate, Gentle Mouse

  began shouting. “Has anyone seen

  Miss Angel Paws?”

  “I saw her running toward those bushes.

  I think she was trying to help a wounded

  fawn,” Kay cried.

  Gentle Mouse yelled. “

  ’ll save you!”

  He disappeared in a cloud of smoke. A few

  minutes later, he returned. He was carrying

  the teacher in his paws. “My hero,” giggled

  Miss Angel Paws. “He saved the fawn, too!”

  I felt a twinge of jealousy. Why couldn’t

  I be someone’s hero?

  Still, I had to admit,

  Miss Angel Paws and

  Gentle Mouse were a

  match made in mouse

  heaven.

  “

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  94

  hAve i got A

  surPrise For you!

  That night, the two love mice made an

  announcement. Can you guess what it was?

  Yes, they had decided to get married.

  “hooray!” cried the class. Everyone

  was so excited. But they were even more

  excited when they heard that Miss Angel Paws

  and Gentle Mouse wanted to get married

  immediately. They had been

  missing each other for

  years. They didn’t
want

  to wait any longer.

  “We can do it

  right here in Niagara

  Falls!” Miss Angel

  Paws squeaked.

  95

  We put our heads together to plan the

  ceremony. It would have to be pretty

  simple. There would be no wedding

  gown or fancy wedding cake. After all,

  where could we get a dress and a cake in the

  middle of the wilderness?

  I called my sister to ask for her advice. As

  I said, that mouse just loves a challenge.

  An hour later, my cell phone rang. It

  was Thea. “Hey, Gerry Berry, have I got a

  surprise for you!” she squeaked.

  I

  gulped

  . A surprise? From my sister?

  The last time she surprised me, she carpeted

  my whole apartment in

  pink cat fur

  !

  96

  F

  l

  a

  p

  ,

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  l

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  ,

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  m

  m

  m

  !

  Flap, Flap, Flap . . .

  Vroooooommmmm!

  Right at that instant, I heard a strange

  noise over my head.

  I looked up and screamed.

  A pink helicopter was circling above me.

  Pink

  sugar-coated almonds rained down

  all around me.

  Pink

  invitations with the bride’s and

  groom’s names on them flew through the

  air.

  A bunch of thorny pink roses hit me in

  the snout. Youch!

  So this was my sister’s surprise. I was

  97

  relieved. I’d take a thorn in

  the snout over that awful pink

  carpeting any day.

  I told everyone who the nutty

 

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