Bollywood Burglary (Geronimo Stilton #65)

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Bollywood Burglary (Geronimo Stilton #65) Page 4

by Geronimo Stilton

!”

  I turned and saw

  a stunning mouselet.

  Her

  soft

  fur was

  a delicate hazelnut

  color, her eyes

  were as

  green

  as emeralds, and her

  lips were the color

  of

  coral

  . Her

  long

  hair

  reached to her

  My

  dear

  friends!

  waist like a curtain of

  shiny silk. She wore an

  embroidered

  golden sari and a

  sparkly

  diadem

  *

  on her forehead.

  “

  Ratna . . . it’s

  really you!

  ” I said.

  She glided toward me with the

  graceful

  motions of a born dancer. “

  Geronimo, my

  dear friend. Thank you for coming to my aid

  .

  ”

  Then she turned to Hercule. “Thank you,

  darling Hercule. It’s so lovely having you

  here with me!

  I feel safe

  knowing my

  two oldest friends are looking out for me.”

  Ratna put her paw on my shoulder.

  “

  Just

  follow me, Geronimo. That’s all you have to

  do. I’ll teach you to dance

  ,” she squeaked

  softly.

  *

  A diadem is an ornamental headband worn as a badge

  of royalty.

  “Bravo,

  Geronimo!

  Do

  it

  again!”

  Musicians began to play on the

  sitar

  , a traditional Indian

  stringed

  instrument.

  The

  gentleness of the

  melody

  washed over me. Ratna

  sang

  along sweetly. Soon I was

  completely relaxed.

  I followed Ratna’s lead,

  imitating

  her

  movements, first slowly and then more and

  more swiftly. And that’s how I learned

  to dance.

  Before long, I felt as if my paws

  were flying across the floor!

  The director and the cast and crew all

  clapped.

  Next, Ratna taught me to sing in Hindi.

  When I followed her

  SWEET

  and melodic

  squeak, the words of that

  unfamiliar

  Now you’re dancing

  like a star!

  That’s

  it!

  THE MORE I GOT

  TO KNOW INDIA,

  THE MORE I LIKED IT!

  language

  became easier to pronounce.

  Over the next few days,

  Ratna

  helped

  me discover many things about India.

  Good job!

  They’re

  fabumouse!

  Incredible!

  Hercule grinned gleefully. “

  See, Gerrykins

  ,

  what did I tell you? I knew you’d enjoy our

  trip to India! It’s positively banana-rific!”

  A Trip

  through

  india

  A

  TIGER?

  THUNDERING

  CAT

  TAILS!

  After a few days of rehearsal, the entire

  crew

  left

  to start shooting the movie. The

  director, Dev, gave me a map of all the places

  we’d visit.

  First

  , we had to go to Sundarbans

  National Park in West Bengal. Then we’d

  head to the

  jungle

  — my character had to

  explore until I found a tiger . . .

  Next I had to

  dive

  into the Ganges in

  Varanasi and swim in that enormouse, raging

  river!

  I hoped I’d be brave enough to do it!

  After that, I had to ride a horse to Jaipur.

  Gulp . . . did they expect me to

  gallop?

  Varanasi

  Sundarbans

  National

  Park

  Jaipur

  Agra

  Day 1: Sundarbans

  National Park

  Day 2: Varanasi

  Day 3: Jaipur

  Day 4: Agra

  Help!

  DECLARE

  MY

  LOVE

  A chill went down my tail. I have a horrible

  history of motion sickness!

  Finally, I had to go to the Taj Mahal in

  Agra and

  to Ratna. I chewed my whiskers nervously.

  Would I be able to play the part of a lovesick

  rodent? You see, I’m a very shy mouse

  !

  When we got to the jungle, I tried to hide

  in my

  trailer

  , but Hecule gave me a push.

  “Quiet on the set!” the

  director

  shouted.

  “Action! Mr. Stilton, please come

  in from the jungle LOOKING

  courageous — bold —

  daring. And smile as if

  you don’t know that this

  is a

  dangerous

  place,

  famouse for its

  wild

  tigers . . .”

  Take one!

  Action!

  “Oh, Mr. Stilton, wouldn’t it be

  moustastic if a big,

  hungry

  tiger

  jumped out of the

  jungle?!” the assistant director

  squealed

  . “If we’re lucky,

  you’ll run into one, Mr. Stilton!

  Um, just to double-check . . .

  you’ve written your will, right

  ?”

  My will? Squeak! I almost passed out

  from fright! You see, I am a total

  scaredy-

  rat

  .

  I tried to sneak away, but Hercule

  grabbed

  me by the tail.

  “Nuh-uh, Gerrykins. Don’t make me look

  like a cheeseface. Go on! Take a little stroll

  in the jungle and

  maybe you’ll run into

  a teensy little tiger

  !”

  That’s when I heard a growl.

  Grrrrrrrrr!

  It almost sounded like . . . no, actually,

  in fact — there was absomousely no doubt

  about it . . . it was

  the roar of a tiger

  !

  There was a real

  tiger

  right on my

  tail! I began to

  RUN

  as fast as my paws

  could carry me.

  For a moment, I slowed down as I thought

  about how happy the assistant director must

  be. Then I began scampering my tail off

  again!

  As I scurried away, a little

  monkey threw a banana at

  my snout.

  Boink!

  But an angry monkey was

  the least of my problems. My

  tail twitching with terror, I finally reached

  my trailer and

  locked

  myself in.

  The assistant director

  knocked

  at the

  door. “Mr. Stilton, we have to

 
; reshoot

  that entire scene

  . We were so

  excited about the tiger, we forgot to turn on

  the

  movie camera

  !

  So we need to take

  it from the top, from the moment the tiger

  begins chasing you. Are you

  ready

  ,

  Mr. Stilton?”

  Eek!

  First day of shooting:

  Sundarbans National

  Park! I was supposed

  to act like a

  courageous,

  fearless

  prince . . .

  . . . but a hungry

  tiger chased me

  all over the jungle!

  Moldy mozzarella!

  I was scared

  out of my fur!

  What Happened

  to My Bananas?

  Whose

  prints

  are

  those?

  Who’s

  been

  in

  my

  trailer?

  When we finished

  filming

  the

  scene with the tiger, I went back to my

  trailer

  and found my door wide

  open.

  Who had opened it?

  Someone had climbed on top of the trailer

  and left strange

  pawprints

  all over the

  roof . . .

  Strange!

  Who

  stole

  my

  bananas?

  Whoever it was stole the fake

  rings

  I kept in my jewelry

  case and

  devoured

  all of

  Hercule’s bananas. How strange!

  “If I find the

  thief

  who ate my bananas, I’ll

  make mousemeat of him!”

  Hercule

  shrieked

  . “You

  play with the rat, you get the tail!”

  Then we discovered that objects had

  disappeared from the other actors’ trailers,

  Who

  ate

  my

  bananas?

  Who

  stole

  my

  chocolates?

  Who

  stole

  my

  belt?

  too . . . especially objects that

  were

  SPARKLY

  !

  Fruit and

  treats

  were also

  missing. And wherever there

  was a theft, we found the same

  strange

  pawprints

  , not

  just on the floor and furniture,

  but also on the roof.

  “

  I hate to say it, but there’s a

  thief on the loose

  ,” I squeaked.

  “

  Rats!

  Well, the important

  thing is that this fur-face

  doesn’t steal the

  Heart

  of

  Fire

  ,” said Hercule.

  Just to be on the safe side, we

  doubled

  the surveillance

  on

  Ratna

  and her ruby.

  Anytime she went anywhere,

  we went with her. We were

  m

  y

  You’re safe

  with us!

  We won’t let

  the thief get

  his paws on the

  Heart of Fire!

  Thank you,

  my friends!

  determined to

  protect her

  .

  The next morning, we left for

  Varanasi

  at dawn. From there, we continued on to

  JAIPUR

  and then to

  Agra

  .

  When the time came to

  shoot

  the

  final

  scene

  , where the prince declares

  his love in front of the Taj Mahal, I was very

  nervous. I knelt before Ratna and squeaked,

  “

  Princess of Rajasthan, will you marry

  me?

  ”

  I’m comiiiiing!

  On our second day of

  shooting in Varanasi,

  I had to scoop up

  the waters of the

  Ganges River.

  Uh-oh . . .

  Plink,

  plink!

  But as the

  cameras rolled, a

  crab pinched my

  tail! Yeee-ouch!

  That hurt!

  Here I come!

  On our third day, we

  headed for Jaipur,

  Rajasthan, the site of

  the legendary Palace

  of the Winds. I

  almost fell off

  my horse!

  The fourth day was

  our final scene, in

  Agra in front of

  the beautiful

  Taj Mahal.

  What a thrill!

  My

  darling!

  Oh, my

  beloved prince!

  “Yes, oh, prince of Mysore, I

  will!” she

  whispered

  .

  The orchestra swelled, and all the

  dancers

  began to dance.

  This was our spectacular grand finale —

  and the

  end

  of the movie shoot!

  “How did I do?” I asked

  anxiously

  .

  The cast and crew applauded. “You were

  amazing, Mr. Stilton!

  Bravo!

  ”

  Great job!

  I went back to my trailer to take

  off my makeup and

  turban

  .

  Hercule

  followed me.

  Ratna joined us in the trailer a few minutes

  later. “You’ve been

  fabumouse

  , my

  friends!” she cried. “Because of you, I have

  felt so safe and secure these past few weeks.

  And thanks to you, no one has stolen the

  Heart

  of

  Fire

  !”

  Plink!

  Plink!

  Plink!

  I smiled. “We’re so happy we could help

  you,

  Ratna

  .”

  Hercule nodded. “Would you like a

  banana?”

  “No thanks, Hercule, but I would like to

  ask you one last favor,” she continued. “My

  fiancé and I have set our

  wedding

  date,

  and it’s to take place in Mumbai in a few days.

  Yes!

  Fabumouse!

  Of

  course!

  Will you

  come to

  my wedding?

  Since you are

  my oldest

  and dearest

  friends,

  guests of

  honor

  at our

  wedding!”

  BOLLYWOOD

  The word Bollywood

  comes from two words:

  Hollywood plus Bombay,

  the old name for Mumbai.

  Today Mumbai is the

  center of the Indian

  film industry. The music

  and dance that are a

  fundamental part of Indian

  culture are very important

  in Ratna’s movie.

  I

  would love
<
br />   for you

  to be

  We accepted

  happily

  . And then we

  packed

  our bags for Mumbai . . .

  the famouse

  movie

  capital of India

  !

  A Curious Clue

  Squeak!

  THE TWO MICE

  HUGGED JOYOUSLY.

  When we got to Mumbai,

  Vinay Ratingh

  ,

  Ratna’s fiancé, came to meet us.

  “Vinay, these are my oldest friends,” Ratna

  My darling!

  Aw, how

  sweet . ..

  They’re so

  happy

  together!

  squeaked.

  “

  Wow, a

  thousand guests?

  This reception

  is totally

  mouserageous!”

  He

  bowed

  . “Your friends are my friends,

  darling!” He kissed her

  paw

  . “Come, we

  have to scurry up! Everything’s ready for the

  wedding

  .”

  He escorted us to the most beautiful

  hotel in Mumbai. The preparations for the

  wedding reception were in full swing! Ratna

  and Vinay had invited

  a thousand

  guests

  .

  We saw a looooong table set

  up in the hall.

  Hercule exclaimed.

  Ratna

  scampered off for a quick ratnap.

  Tomorrow was a very big day —

  for her,

  and for all of us.

  Darling!

  Squeak!

  What a

  perfect pair!

  Yummy!

  Congrats!

  My love!

  Squeak!

  Squeak!

  So sweet!

  The following morning, Ratna

  married

  Vinay Ratingh.

  She looked

  absolutely radiant!

  The

  Heart

  of

  Fire

  sparkled from the front of her

  silk sari.

  After the ceremony, there was a fabumouse

  dinner

  with a thousand happy guests.

  The wedding

  cake

  was whisker-licking

  good. A statue of two miniature dancing

  mice twirled on top, but they didn’t distract

  Hercule. He couldn’t wait to taste a big bite!

  Yum, yum, yummy!

  We feasted all day, but

  DUSK

  came at

  last. The sun began slowly began to set,

  spreading its golden rays over the roofs of

  Mumbai.

  It was time for the bride and groom to

  dance

  their first dance. The ballroom

  quickly filled with

  elegant

 

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