A Mammoth Mystery (Geronimo Stilton Cavemice #15)

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A Mammoth Mystery (Geronimo Stilton Cavemice #15) Page 2

by Geronimo Stilton


  whisker twitch.

  “Last night’s storm caused

  some very serious damage

  to the mammoth milkshake

  reserves,” Ernest continued.

  “No!” we all squeaked

  at once.

  “Water and mud seeped into the stone

  containers, and the mammoth milkshakes

  have turned into sticky, stinky, undrinkable

  sludge!”

  “No!”

  “Needless to squeak . . . our reserves are

  The mammoth milkshake

  reserves are ruined!

  completely ruined.”

  “No!”

  I couldn’t believe

  my ears!

  “So what now?”

  one rodent asked in

  despair.

  “Let’s go to the

  mammoths!” another

  suggested. “We can ask

  for more milk!”

  Ernest frowned.

  “Speaking of the

  mammoths . . . during the storm, our

  pachyderm friends ran away!”

  The crowd was in a full-fledged Paleozoic

  panic!

  “We need an emergency plan!”

  healer Bluster Conjurat exclaimed. “I propose that we split into teams.

  Each team can look for the

  mammoths on a different

  part of the island.”

  Massive meteorites,

  Bluster was right! We needed

  We need an emergency plan!

  to find the mammoths and

  bring them home. It was

  the only way to get more of our

  beloved mammoth milkshakes!

  I already knew what to do: I would team

  up with Thea, my cousin Trap, and my

  BLUSTER

  CONJURAT

  27

  friend Hercule Poirat, the best detective in

  all of prehistory.

  Ernest Heftymouse assigned us to look

  for the mammoths around the Cheddar

  Volcano.

  Bones and stones — that was the

  most dangerous volcano in the cavemouse

  world!

  28

  We need to leave right away!

  We can do it!

  IT’S RAINING . . .

  HUSKS!

  Our team was excited and energized, like mice on a cheese hunt. We needed to find our mammoth friends, and we needed to do it FAST!

  Squish!

  Slush!

  Splash!

  But with every step, our paws sunk into

  the mud left over from the storm. Petrified

  provolone, it was like walking through a

  swamp!

  After what seemed like a whole

  geological era, we arrived at the foot

  of the Cheddar Volcano. We ducked into the chestnut forest to rest our aching paws.

  30

  “Puff . . . pant . . .

  huff . . . I can’t go any

  farther!” I collapsed, leaning on the

  trunk of a tree.

  “You’re softer than Jurassic

  mozzarella, Geronimo!” Hercule

  teased me, nibbling on a banana.

  Before I could respond —

  BONK!

  Something hit me square on the

  snout.

  “Ow! What was that?” I

  squeaked.

  I looked up toward the tree

  branches just in time to see

  a storm of big, thorny

  You’re softer than

  Jurassic mozzarella!

  chestnut husks raining down on us!

  POcK

  POcK

  POcK

  POcK

  But who . . . what . . . where?!

  POcK!

  “Oh no — the flying squirrels!”

  Thea exclaimed, covering her head with her

  paws.

  FLYING

  SQUIRRELS

  Classification: rodents of

  the Sneer Sneer species

  Habitat: Chestnut woods

  Characteristics: speed,

  agility, and great aim. They fly

  from one branch to another,

  nibbling on Paleozoic

  chestnuts and playing pranks

  on anyone who crosses their

  path. They can be grouchy, so

  be careful not to make them

  mad!

  You may not know this, but flying squirrels

  are the rudest animals in all of prehistory.

  They spend their time flying from one prehistoric tree to the next, thinking up jokes and pranks to pull on whoever crosses their path. In this case, the unlucky target was . . . us!

  “Careful! Incominnng!” Trap warned,

  dodging a chestnut husk.

  The squirrels did some incredible leaps

  from one branch to the next. Holey boulders,

  it really seemed like they were flying!

  But we didn’t have time to admire their

  acrobatics. We had to avoid the hailstorm

  of husks!

  OUCH!

  AHHH!

  ACK!

  WHAT

  A

  PALEOZOIC

  PAIN!

  33

  Thea thought fast and came up with a

  solution. She pointed at the empty trunk of

  a fallen tree. “Let’s HIDE in there!”

  We all ducked inside the trunk as quickly

  as our paws would take us. Whew!

  “Great rocky boulders, why do those

  squirrels have it out for us?” I asked,

  massaging my aching head.

  “What a silly question, Geronimo!”

  Hercule said. “Those nice little animals don’t have it out for us — they’re just defending their territory.”

  “Nice little animals?” I cried. “They turned

  me into a Paleozoic pincushion!”

  “Come on, Cousin,” Trap said, rolling his

  eyes. “How about instead of complaining,

  you think of a way to get us out of here?

  Aren’t you the brains of the family?”

  “Yeah!” Hercule squeaked, elbowing me.

  “What’s your genius idea?”

  Bones and stones, what was I supposed to

  say now?

  35

  SHRIEEEEEK!

  SHRIEEEEEK!

  I didn’t have a single coconut of an idea what to do next!

  SHRIEEEEK!

  SHRIEEEEEK!

  A sudden sharp, piercing sound made us

  all jump out of our fur.

  “What was that noise?” I yelped.

  “Quiet, you Jurassic fool!” Hercule said.

  “You mean to tell me you don’t recognize

  it?”

  Had I lost my cheese? What was

  Hercule squeaking about? “Should I be

  worried?” I mumbled.

  36

  “Of course you should!” Thea said. “That’s

  the call of one of the most dangerous

  and cunning predators of the Stone Age!”

  Boulders of Brie, just what we needed! My

  whiskers began wobbling in fright.

  “It’s a Fiery Falcon,” my sister continued,

  “the flying squirrels’ number one enemy!

  And it must be verrrry hungry,

  based on how loudly it’s shrieking . . .”

  Sure enough, hearing the falcon’s distinct

  cry, the squirrels darted off to hide in

  Fiery Falcon

  Classification: A predator of

  the Fangoot Falconoot family

  Habitat: Anywhere there’s food!

  Characteristics: Falcon face, falcon beak, falcon

  talons, falcon feathers . . . but as hungry as a wolf!
>
  the tree branches. That falcon was definitely

  looking for a snack!

  We stayed still and quiet in our hiding

  place. After what seemed like a geological

  era, I felt an annoying tingling in my

  paw. Petrified provolone, I really needed to

  sit down!

  I changed positions and — squeak!

  I had accidentally sat right on top of a

  chestnut husk!

  I leaped up and popped right through

  the hollow tree trunk with my head.

  Ouch, what megalithic pain! But even

  worse . . .

  GULP!

  Now I was face-to-face with the Fiery

  Falcon!

  I let out a prehistoric squeak — a

  mixture of pain and terror. This was it! I was

  38

  1

  I burst through the top

  of the hollow trunk . . .

  really extinct now!

  Squeak!

  My squeak was so

  loud that I actually

  scared the falcon —

  and he

  flew away!

  Jurassic Jack cheese,

  I couldn’t believe it!

  But then I fell, as

  heavy as a boulder,

  and landed on my

  poor undertail again.

  BONK!

  Oh, for all the

  thorns on a cactus!

  I was sore all over

  and shaking from

  the ends of my

  Came face-to-face

  with the falcon . . .

  3

  2

  And landed smack on

  my undertail! Youch!

  whiskers to the tip of my tail — but I was

  safe. Whew!

  Thea, Trap, and Hercule rushed out of

  their hiding place in the empty trunk.

  “FABUMOUSE job, little brother!” Thea

  cheered.

  “Taking off like that was a marvemouse

  Fabumouse

  job,

  Geronimo!

  Umm

  .

  .

  .

  40

  idea,” Trap agreed, looking shocked. “How

  did you do that?”

  “Umm, well . . . I’ve been exercising . . .”

  I stammered, rubbing my sore tail.

  “SEE?” Hercule said, putting a paw

  around my shoulders. “You’ve learned a

  thing or two from spending so much time

  with me!”

  “Well, actually —” I said.

  “Quick!” Thea interrupted. “Let’s get our

  tails in gear before the flying squirrels come

  out of HIDING.”

  Together, we left the woods as fast as our

  paws would take us. We had to find those

  missing mammoths!

  41

  YUCK!

  We crossed a large, flat area. Unfortunately,

  the rain had made the ground really sticky,

  really muddy, and really squishy.

  YUCK!

  Walking was megalithically exhausting!

  Plus, we didn’t spot a single trace of the

  mammoths.

  Just when I thought things couldn’t

  possibly get worse, we found ourselves

  facing a stretch of quicksand!

  Hercule put up a paw. “STOP and hush!

  Something’s not right . . .”

  “You’re telling me,” I said. “I’m not going

  42

  through that quicksand!”

  “No, Geronimo, that’s not what I mean!

  Don’t you smell that horrific STENCH?”

  Hercule is the best detective in all of

  prehistory (plus, he’s the only one!) and he

  almost never makes a mistake.

  “Let’s see . . . how strange!” he went

  on, sniffing the air with a concerned

  Dinosaur

  expression on his snout. “I can’t

  droppings?

  figure out what type of stench it

  is.”

  Umm

  . . .

  Rotten

  bananas?

  Is it Trap’s

  paws?

  “I don’t smell a thing!” Trap said,

  sniffing with his snout in the air.

  “I believe that,” I said. “You haven’t taken

  a bath in at least five geological eras!

  You have such a strong stench, you can’t

  smell anything else . . .”

  “Hey, I just bathed two months ago!” Trap

  protested.

  Hercule suddenly squeaked and clapped

  his paws over our mouths. “Hush! I figured

  it out — I smell the stench

  of the saber-toothed

  tigers!”

  Holey rolling

  boulders! Saber-

  toothed tigers?

  The ENEMIES

  of us cavemice?

  The sharp-fanged

  44

  clan of Tiger Khan? We were in enormouse

  trouble!

  We couldn’t go back, because we would

  end up in Tiger Khan’s clutches. But we

  couldn’t go forward, either, because the

  path was covered with quicksand.

  We were trapped! Doomed! Extinct!

  Mousemeat!

  I was about to etch out my last will and

  Follow me!

  testament, when Hercule led us into a grove

  of reeds. He grabbed a hollow reed and said

  seriously, “Follow me!”

  Hercule darted out from behind the reeds

  and jumped into an enormouse muddy

  pond next to the path.

  SPLOOSH!

  A moment later, Hercule’s reed popped

  out of the mud.

  Bones and stones, now I understood!

  We would hide in that super-stinky

  muddy pond, using the hollow reeds as

  snorkels for breathing.

  “Fabumouse idea!” Thea cried.

  A moment later, she and Trap each

  grabbed a reed and leaped into the mud

  and muck. Petrified provolone, what choice

  did I have but to follow them? With a reed

  46

  in my paw, I stepped up to the edge of the

  horrifyingly

  muddy

  swamp.

  Fossilized feta, what a horrible stench!

  Before heading in, I noticed something big

  and round floating nearby.

  “Guys, I found a . . . a . . .”

  I had no idea what I had found!

  “Well, I found something that we can hold

  on to while we’re in the mud!”

  Hercule stuck his snout up out of the

  mud. “Wow, Geronimo, you’re right! That

  will work perfectly — we can grab on to

  this so that we don’t get pulled away by the

  current.”

  On Hercule’s signal, all four of us held

  on and ducked under the mud. We stayed

  pawsitively still as four saber-toothed

  tigers passed by.

  I was as petrified as an ancient fossil!

  Thankfully, the nasty cats didn’t notice

  anything unusual and disappeared out of

  sight.

  “Phew!” I squeaked, popping up out of

  the mud. “That was close!”

  “Yeah, but where were those fanged felines

  headed?” Thea asked.

  Trap shrugged. “Hopefully FAR, FAR

  AWAY from here!”

  Once the coast was clear, we climbed out

  48

  of the mud puddle, dragging that
strange

  megalithic floating mass behind us.

  Hercule pulled out his magnifying glass to

  take a closer look at it.

  “Holey boulders — this is a fossilized

  dinosaur dropping!” he squeaked.

  Thea, Trap, and I looked at one another

  with horrified expressions on our snouts.

  While we were submerged in that stinky

  mud, we’d been holding on to . . .

  DINOSAUR

  POO?

  How prehistorically

  gross!

  49

  A TERRIBLE

  SURPRISE!

  We continued our search, but we didn’t spot

  even the shadow of a mammoth!

  With our tails between our legs, we

  decided to turn back. Unfortunately, a truly

  terrible

  surprise awaited us in Old Mouse

  City . . .

  The fence that protected the city was

  surrounded by fierce saber-toothed tigers,

  led by Tiger Khan himself.

  I clapped my paws over my eyes. “Petrified

  provolone, we’re finished!” I squeaked.

  This was where the nasty cats we’d hidden

  from had been heading! They wanted to turn

  the citizens of Old Mouse City into rodent

  50

  kabobs! And without our mammoth friends

  to defend us, we were in a megalithic ton

  of trouble.

  We spied on the tigers from a safe distance.

  “Now what?” I whispered.

  I couldn’t help the Paleozoic panic rising

  inside me. My beloved nephew Benjamin

  was inside the village. I had to protect

  him!

  Thea looked more determined

  than ever. “Never give up.

  We’ll figure something

  out!”

  Meanwhile, the tigers

  were building wooden

  ladders that they could

  use to scale the wall.

  Just then Hercule pointed a paw.

  “LOOK!”

  Never

  give

  up!

  51

  Take

  this!

  Bring

  this!

  Move

  the

  other

  one!

  The

  tigers!

  Jurassic

  Jack

  cheese!

 

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