Have a Mice Flight!

by Lindsey Leavitt

  Charlie rolled out a piece of paper. Everyone brainstormed ideas. Some ideas were good. Some were very bad. Finally, they decided to go simple.

  “We came on this plane in a backpack,” Ava said. “So we just need to leave in something.”

  “Great, are you going back to Kansas to get the backpack?” Gregory asked.

  Dean rubbed his chin. “Can we make an emergency happen in Kansas, like a flood? So then the president has to fly back. And while they’re fixing the emergency, they can remember the backpack?”

  When you are brainstorming, you never say an idea is bad. But…that idea was bad.

  “We’re not going to Kansas again, and we are not going to see that backpack. At least not for a long time,” Charlie said.

  “Okay. Okay.” Dean tapped Ava on her elbow. “Come on, Ava. You’ve got this.”

  “We would…we would just have to leave on something they’re wearing.”

  “Good idea!” Gregory said. “Way to put on your thinking cap.”

  Ava and Dean jumped up at the same time. “That’s it!”

  “What’s it?” Gregory and Charlie looked confused.

  “A cap!” Dean said.

  “It’s perfect,” Ava agreed. “We get into a hat.”

  “But…neither of the kids are wearing a hat,” Charlie said.

  Dean hopped onto his other foot. “The kids aren’t wearing hats yet.”

  “Yet? Yet? How are you going to change the ‘yet’?” Gregory asked.

  Ava and Dean were already running down the hall. They slipped through a hole and came right into the cargo area. Gregory and Charlie ran after them. Ava slipped into the Treasure Rooms and grabbed…the aviator hat!

  “Found hat number one!” Ava said. “And look! It even has pockets in the flap!”

  “We can’t all fit in one hat,” Gregory reasoned.

  “Nope, that’s the tricky part.” Dean slapped Charlie on the back. “So, tell me, Charlie. How well do you know the pilot of the plane?”

  “Mice aren’t supposed to be seen or heard,” Charlie said. “The humans can’t know we’re on the plane.”

  “Well, we need to get a pilot’s hat,” Ava said. “So that’s the next part of the plan!”

  The next part of the plan, of course, was the hardest part of all.

  The good news:

  • Air Force One has two pilots.

  • Both pilots have a hat.

  • The pilots don’t always wear their hats.

  • So those hats don’t need to be borrowed from the top of their head.

  The not-so-good news:

  • The pilots didn’t have twenty hats! If a hat went missing, they would notice.

  • If the mice were lucky, the hats were kept in the pilot’s flight bag.

  • If the mice were not lucky, the pilots had left their hats at home.

  “None of this would have happened if Macey would stop losing her backpack,” Gregory muttered. “This whole plan could be a disaster!”

  “Do you remember what President Ronald Reagan said?” Dean asked.

  “Of course,” Gregory said. “I remember what all the presidents have said.”

  “Then you know this quote. ‘The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave.’ ”

  Gregory wiped at a tear. “Ronnie is right. Godspeed, soldier!”

  Dean saluted. “Charlie! Blanket me!”

  Charlie threw a blanket over the top of Dean. The plan was for Dean to very…very…very slowly move across the room under the blanket. If the hat was in the cockpit, Dean would take it.

  “How are we going to make the kids wear the hat?” Charlie asked.

  “We’ll write a note. A really smart note,” Ava said.

  “I have perfect handwriting!” Charlie said.

  “Great,” Ava said. “You write the note. Gregory and I will look for a hat too.”

  By this time, the plane had already taken off. The mice didn’t notice. A full meal was served to the kids. The mice didn’t notice. The kids watched a movie, and the president had an important meeting in her conference room. The mice didn’t notice.

  Each mouse was very busy doing their job. Let’s check on Dean first….

  It took Dean an hour to move across the floor. He waited until one of the pilots got up to take a break, leaving the other pilot alone to fly the plane. The pilot was a good pilot and very focused on his job. Gregory would like that about him, Dean thought.

  Dean peeked out from under the blanket. Dean did not like what he saw. There wasn’t one hat in the whole cockpit. Now what?

  Meanwhile, Ava and Gregory climbed through eight bags. They found an antique watch, a man’s shaving kit, an old box of crackers, and a worn stuffed elephant.

  “But not one hat!” Ava said.

  “So now what?” Gregory asked.

  Charlie chewed on his pen. Macey’s hair was very pretty that day. When a human does their hair a certain way, they don’t want to cover it with a hat.

  “What if she isn’t a hat type of girl?” Charlie asked himself. These children were new. He did not know them yet. Maybe one kid liked hats and the other one didn’t!

  “We need something bigger,” Charlie said. “Something like a…jacket.”

  Back in the cockpit, Dean noticed the captain had left a flight jacket on his seat.

  “We need something bigger than a hat,” Dean said. “Maybe this will work out better.”

  Mice are very strong. Probably the strongest animals you will ever meet. Most humans don’t know that, but that’s because mice don’t want them to know that.

  So Dean picked up that flight jacket. No problem. He shoved it under the blanket and hurried across the floor.

  The pilot walked into the room.

  “You ready to take your break before we land?” his copilot asked.

  The copilot yawned and stretched. “That’d be great. Hey, is that your blanket on the ground over there?”

  Dean froze.

  “No. Maybe it’s Jim’s.”

  Dean didn’t know who Jim was, but he sure liked Jim right then.

  “Hey,” the pilot said. “Have you seen my flight jacket?”

  “You probably left it in the kitchen again,” the copilot said.

  “Yeah,” the pilot agreed. “Probably.”

  Dean waited another five minutes, then hurried out of the room, the jacket dragging across the floor. He made it to the Treasure Room, where he waited for the other mice.

  Meanwhile, back in the baggage area, Gregory and Ava gave up on finding a hat.

  “I hope Dean found something,” Gregory said.

  “What about this?” Ava asked, holding up a beautiful scarf. Ava loved fashion and fabric. Scarves were her favorite.

  “What will we do with that? Swing from it?” Gregory asked.

  “I don’t know,” Ava said. “We can’t go back empty-handed. Let’s bring it just in case.”

  The mice met in the Treasure Room of Air Force One. When they saw the hat, the scarf, and the jacket together, they knew they had everything they needed to make their plan work. And there was still twenty minutes before they landed in D.C.!

  “Let’s go watch the plane fly!” Ava said.

  They snuck into the president’s office. Her spinning chair was one of the nicest ever. But the mice didn’t spin. Ava stuck her face up to the glass of the window. They were still above the clouds. The wing was long and pointy.

  “Charlie?” she asked.

  “Hey, we should go buckle up before landing,” he said.

  “But, Charlie?” she asked again. “Do you think I earned my wings?”

  “Oh, I think so.”

  Ava turned around to find Charlie, Gregory, and Dean holding a plastic pair of airplane wings. If flying was an ice-cream cone, this present was the cherry on top.

  “It was so good to meet you, Charlie,” Ava said.

  “Yeah, you’re really cool,” Dean agreed.

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nbsp; “Don’t worry, little mice.” Charlie gave them both a high five. “I have a feeling we’ll see each other again. Someday, somewhere.”

  “All right,” Gregory said. “Enough with the goodbyes. Let’s get off this plane. I miss the White House!”

  Macey and Banks woke up from their naps just as the plane touched the ground. What a fun day! They got to fly on the most important plane in the world. But even better, they went home to Kansas to see their friends. Maybe someday their friends could visit them in the White House. Movie theaters were way more fun when you shared them.

  The president hurried into the lounge. “Marine One is waiting for us. But first, come see this present.”

  Laid out on the president’s bed was a flight jacket, an aviator hat, and a scarf. Next to it was a mint and a handwritten note. It said:

  Thanks so much for flying with us today! So glad to have you on board! Here’s a little surprise for each of you to help you remember your first flight on Air Force One.

  Best,

  The crew

  “This is so nice!” Macey grabbed the jacket just as Banks grabbed the hat. They looked at each other and laughed. “Guess this is the perfect present. Now who gets the scarf?”

  The president wrapped the scarf around her neck. “You know, I have a scarf just like this one at home.”

  Or she had one in her flight bag. Or she did have that very same scarf in her flight bag.

  Photographers were waiting for the Abbeys at the entrance of the plane. The kids did not notice the three mice hidden in their hat or clothes. This was good, because Gregory was a big, heavy mouse.

  “Madam President, can I take some pictures of you with your children?”

  The family all beamed in their new clothes. The kids posed on the stairs. The pilots came out to shake their hands before the kids left. One pilot looked a little confused behind his smile.

  “Hey,” he whispered after the kids were off the plane, “was Macey Abbey wearing my flight jacket?”

  The other pilot patted him on the back. “I think they thought those were gifts. We’ll get you a new one. Wonder where Banks got that cool hat. President Bush used to have one just like it.”

  Marine One, the president’s helicopter, was waiting just outside the hangar. The kids had never been in a helicopter! So much excitement in one day.

  Ava and Dean squeezed hands in the chest pocket of the coat.

  Ava’s stomach flipped as the helicopter lifted into the air. The huge plane was smooth compared to this flight. Humans sometimes called helicopters choppers for a reason. Still, she was okay. She was more than okay. Her dream had just come true!

  “Hey, Dean?” she whispered. “Guess what I’m thinking.”

  “That tomorrow we’ll have to do something boring, like count the number of buttons in the Treasure Rooms.”

  “I’ve already done that. There’s forty-eight,” Ava said. “No. I think…I think I want to be in the Mouse Corps someday.”

  “Of course you do,” Dean said. “You’ll be great at it.”

  “You think so?”

  “The Mouse Corps solves problems. You’re a good problem solver. Do you want to know what I’m going to do?” Dean asked.

  “What?”

  Dean wished he could poke his head out of the pocket. He knew that they were flying over D.C., and there were so many cool buildings. He wanted to see them all, far away and up close. Someday he would visit the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol Building, and the Smithsonian. And someday after that, he wanted to go visit Charlie’s family in the Empire State Building!

  “I want to be an architect. And someday…I’m going to leave the White House and see all the beautiful buildings in the world.”

  “I can fly you there,” Ava said.

  “Sounds like a plan,” Dean said.

  “Hey, Dean? Let’s not tell Gregory this plan.”

  Dean laughed. “No way. When we get back, I’m sure he’ll have enough chores to keep us in the White House forever.”

  Sure enough, Dean and Ava had to memorize the favorite foods of seven presidents as punishment for their adventure.

  But even surer enough, they thought it was totally worth it.

  1. Presidents are soldiers! Zachary Taylor served in the military for forty-one years. His victories in the Mexican American War made him a national celebrity and earned him the nickname Old Rough and Ready.

  2. Presidents are architects! Thomas Jefferson said, “Architecture is my delight.” He drew plans for government buildings, houses, churches, and the University of Virginia. It took him forty years to build his house, Monticello, which appears on the back of the nickel.

  3. Presidents are pilots! George H. W. Bush was a naval aviator in World War II. He flew in fifty-eight combat missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

  ★ George Washington traveled by horseback during the Revolutionary War and his presidency. Along the way, he stayed in hundreds of houses and inns. “George Washington slept here” became a popular slogan for businesses.

  ★ When Lincoln was elected president, he took a twelve-day train ride from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington, D.C. This was called a whistle-stop tour because when the train stopped in many small towns, Lincoln gave speeches from train platforms, where trains blew their whistles.

  ★ William Taft was the first president to own a car in the White House. He changed the horse stables into a garage. His car was once hit by a trolley, causing the first presidential car accident.

  ★ Theodore Roosevelt became the first president to fly in 1910 when visiting an airfield in Kinloch, Missouri. A pilot, who had just landed, asked if the former president would like to be a passenger. Teddy hopped right into the plane!

  ★ The first presidential plane, Sacred Cow, was made for Franklin Roosevelt and included an elevator for his wheelchair.

  ★ In 1962, President John F. Kennedy became the first president to fly in a jet built only for presidential use.

  ★ Like any airplane, Air Force One sometimes experiences rough flying. President Clinton was flying over Texas in June 1996 when the plane hit turbulence. The dinner enchiladas ended up splattered around the kitchen during this bumpy presidential flight!

  ★ At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, you can tour the Air Force One Boeing 707 that flew presidents for twenty-eight years.

  ★ In 1947, President Truman replaced Sacred Cow with Independence, which was named after his hometown. The nose was painted to look like a bald eagle.

  ★ Marine One is the name of any helicopter flying the president. There are thirty-five helicopters in the Marine One fleet.

  ★ The president has his own doctor on the plane whenever he flies. There is also a medical room in Air Force One.

  ★ The two kitchens on Air Force One serve gourmet food specially prepared by Air Force One’s chef. The first meal President Obama ordered was a cheeseburger!

  ★ In case of emergency, Air Force One can be refueled by another plane in flight. No gas station stops needed!

  ★ The “beast” is the presidential limo, which drops him off and picks him up after flying. This car is transported on a separate cargo plane.

  ★ The next Air Force One is expected to cost roughly $3 billion to build and will be complete in 2023.

  Air Force One

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  Detail right

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  Mice don’t have a good history when it comes to surprises. Here’s a list of reasons why:

  1. Mousetraps

  2. Pest control

  3. Predators

  4. Fire

  Of course, these are all bad surprises. Sometimes mice have good surprises. Like when the baker makes a small mistake. Those treats go into the trash. This means it’s sugar time for the Squeakertons, a mouse family that has eaten White House food for over two hundred years.

  And birthdays! Birthdays are the best way to
surprise somebody. Mr. James F. Squeakerton, the sort-of mouse president, asked his wife, Vivian, to marry him on her birthday. She got to smash open a piñata. Inside, she found candy and a wedding ribbon. (Mice don’t wear rings on their claws. That would be weird.)

  The Squeakerton mice have a very special celebration planned on Presidents’ Day. Presidents’ Day falls on a different day every year, and this year, it happens to be on Gregory Squeakerton’s birthday. Gregory is the bodyguard for James F. Squeakerton’s children, Ava and Dean. Gregory makes sure those little mice stay out of trouble. Most of the time.

  Something else you should know about Gregory: he loves history. He is very proud to live in the White House. He can tell you anything you want to know about the White House. Probably even things you don’t want to know. Like, did you know it takes 570 gallons of paint to cover the White House. See? Not a very useful fact (unless you’re a painter).

  Yes, the Squeakerton family wanted to celebrate the wonderful leaders they’d watched throughout the years. But they also really wanted to make the day unforgettable for Gregory.

  There were just three problems:

  1. Mice like Gregory don’t like surprises. Gregory plans out his whole day, from his breakfast menu to his bathroom breaks. There’s no room for surprises in his schedule.

  2. C-a-t-s love surprises. They also love messing up surprises for other animals. C-a-t-s are evil. You probably already knew that, but mice think it’s important to remind you.

  3. Humans run the show in the White House. And sometimes human plans mess up mouse plans. Not that humans have any idea about that. Those guys really only pay attention to themselves.