by Eliza Teoh
“Why are you always watching them anyway?” another voice said.
Ellie jumped in shock. She recognised that voice too!
“Gabby?” she said out loud. She clamped her hand over her mouth. Oops! Hopefully they hadn’t heard.
No such luck.
“Ellie!? What are you doing in there? No one is allowed in there!” Gabby whispered loudly. She ducked under the rope running across the entrance and raced into the hall. What had her sister gotten into this time! She was really worried. If any of the teachers found Ellie in there, she was going to get into serious trouble.
Gabby would have said, “Get out, now!” had she not been overcome by surprise when she got to Ellie. There was Ellie and Cammy, both kneeling on the floor by the wall, surrounded by a whole bunch of mice, all standing on their hind legs staring at her, noses twitching. Curled around Cammy’s hand was something that looked like a belt. At the end of the belt was a little toy basket.
“Eee. Eee. Eee!” Gabby squealed, pointing at the mice. “Eeeek!”
Ellie giggled. Gabby sounded like a mouse. Hetty bounded up to Gabby and tugged at her shoelace. “Hello, Gabby! Don’t be scared. We are just mice,” she said.
Gabby didn’t understand a word she said, of course, but she loved animals too and couldn’t resist kneeling down to take a better look at the mouse. Hetty opened her eyes wide and made herself as cute as she could.
“Oh my goodness. You are so cute!” Gabby said, reaching out to pat the mouse on the head. To Ellie, she asked, “What’s going on?”
“There is a whole family of mice trapped down there. We have to get them out!” Cammy replied.
“How did you know they were trapped there?”
“Erm, we heard them,” Ellie said. “Are you going to help us or not?
“There are eight more inside because three mice managed to squeeze into the basket the last time! That’s why it felt so heavy,” Cammy said, counting the mice to be sure.
“Okay!” Gabby said straightaway. She wasn’t going to try to figure out how her sister always got herself into these strange situations. She just knew that she had to help the mice. “Hurry, then!”
Within five minutes, all 15 of the trapped mice were out! They, together with the six baby mice, celebrated and hugged each other when the last basket was lifted out of the hole.
Ellie, Cammy and Gabby each grabbed a few mice and raced to the entrance of the hall, only to be met by a very fierce-looking Megan. She held her hand out like a traffic warden and shouted, “Stop right there!”
Chapter 12
Ellie, Cammy and Gabby froze. “You are not allowed to go inside! Miss Lau said so! ” Megan bellowed. “You-You-You…”
Megan’s eyes widened with surprise. There were mice all over Ellie, Cammy and Gabby! “M-m-m-mices! I m-m-mean mouses! I m-m-mean mice!” she stammered.
Gabby took charge of the situation. She had heard all about the bossy Megan from Ellie and Cammy.
“Megan, calm down. They were not doing anything bad. They were just rescuing these mice that were stuck down a hole,” she explained.
“But they broke the rules!” Megan said.
“Yes, but they only did it to save these mice. Aren’t they cute?” Gabby said.
“I don’t care. It’s not allowed,” Megan said. “I’m going to tell.”
“Do you want us to put these mice back? And let them die?” Gabby said.
“No! That’s not what I said,” Megan said, taken aback. She looked at the mice scampering up and down their heads and across their shoulders. They were adorable! She wanted to touch them. “I didn’t say I wanted them to die!”
“But they would have died,” Ellie said.
“If we didn’t rescue them,” Cammy added.
Megan thought hard. She was confused. They broke the rules. That was wrong. But they saved the mice. That wasn’t wrong. Should she tell on them? What would happen to the mice if she told Miss Lau about them?
“Can I hold that chubby one?” Megan said finally. She pointed to Hipster.
“Hey, I’m not chubby,” Hipster said indignantly, but he hopped onto Megan’s outstretched hand anyway. He stood up on his hind legs and twitched his nose at her.
“Oh, he’s so adorable,” Megan said. “What are you going to do with them?”
“We are going to let them go in the garden,” Ellie said.
“Are you going to help us?” Gabby said.
“Okay,” Megan said.
The four girls trooped towards the garden. On the way, they saw Miss Lau walking towards them.
“Oh no! The principal!” Gabby said.
She let the mice scamper into her hand, which she held behind her back. Cammy did the same with the mice on her. The mice on Ellie simply burrowed into her hair.
Ellie and Cammy looked at Megan. Was she going to tell? They saw her put Hipster carefully into her pocket.
“You, girls! Why are you not in the assembly area?” Miss Lau said.
“I needed the toilet.” It was Megan who spoke up.
“Why do you need so many people to go with you?”
“B-because I’m afraid of the dark,” Megan said.
Ellie and Cammy looked at each other in surprise. Megan was covering up for them?
“Hurry up and get back to the assembly area!” Miss Lau said.
They ran off, making a detour to the small garden at the back of their classroom block. They placed the mice down at the foot of the tree.
“I hope you will be okay here!” Ellie said.
“Bye bye, little mice!” Cammy said.
The mice stood on their hind legs. They looked like they were waving too. “Bye, Ellie, Cammy, Gabby and Megan. Thank you for saving us!” Papa mouse said.
“They look like they are waving,” Megan said.
“How strange,” Gabby said.
Ellie and Cammy smiled at each other. They had done it again! They had saved animals in trouble! This time, with the help of Gabby and Megan.
“Thanks for helping us, jie jie,” Ellie said to her sister, hugging her.
“Thanks for helping us, Megan,” Cammy said to Megan.
Megan smiled uncertainly and looked a little embarrassed. She remained quiet all the way back to the assembly area. She didn’t once ask her classmates to line up properly. She didn’t even ask any of the girls to shut up when flag-raising was over. She didn’t once tell Ellie and Cammy to behave themselves in class while they were waiting for Mrs Goh to arrive.
When Mrs Goh came into class with a tall stack of worksheets, Megan didn’t volunteer to help her distribute them. She groaned together with the rest of the class when they got not one, but two, extra worksheets. The first worksheet was on the past tense of irregular verbs and the second was on the plural form of irregular nouns.
Megan, however, did smile when she saw the table on irregular nouns:
NOUN SINGULAR PLURAL
Foot Foot Feet
Tooth Tooth Teeth
Goose Goose Geese
“Hey, Ellie,” Megan whispered.
Ellie turned around in surprise. Megan was talking in class? “What?”
“One foot, many what?” Megan said.
Ellie looked at Cammy uncertainly. What was going on? Cammy shrugged.
“Feet,” Ellie replied.
Megan continued. “One foot, many feet. So, one boot, many…?”
“Beet?” Ellie replied.
They all burst out laughing.
“Ellie and Cammy! And Megan?! Finish your worksheets quietly!” Mrs Goh scolded.
“Okay, Mrs Goh,” they replied.
Epilogue
“Ssh!” It was Megan.
“Why? Why must we keep quiet?” Ellie asked.
“Yah, it is recess time. There’s no need to be quiet,” Cammy pointed out.
Megan paused for a moment. They were right. There was no reason to be quiet. But she felt the need to be stealthy because what they were doing felt sneaky. They w
ere headed to the garden where they had last seen the family of mice. They were hoping to find them, and maybe even play with them.
They crept slowly towards the garden and peeked around the corner of the building. There was already someone there! Sitting under the tree! They crept closer.
“Gabby!” Ellie called out. “What are you doing there?”
They ran to Gabby.
“Stop!” Gabby cried out. “Watch out for the mice! They are in the grass!”
And sure enough, one by one, little heads started popping out of the grass right at their feet. Twenty-one pairs of small beady eyes stared at Ellie, Cammy and Megan. Henry ran up to Ellie.
“Hello, Ellie!” he said.
“Oh, hello, Henry!” Ellie said. She could still understand them!
“Henry? What a silly name for a mouse,” Gabby said.
“It’s not silly at all. There’s Hoppy and Hetty,” Ellie pointed out.
“And there’s Higgie, Harry and Hipster!” Cammy said.
“Hipster is the chubby one that I like!” Megan said.
“I am NOT chubby!” Hipster said. He twitched his nose once and ran up to Megan because she was holding out a small piece of apple to him. He grabbed it and swallowed it in one gulp.
They all laughed at how greedy he was. Gabby opened her lunch box and took out a cherry tomato. She gave it to one of the mice. Ellie opened her lunch box as well and grimaced when she saw that Mama had given her cherry tomatoes as well. Cherry tomatoes!? Oh, yuck! She poured the whole lot out into the grass.
“There you go! You can have them all!” Ellie said.
Ellie, Cammy, Megan and Gabby watched and laughed as all the mice took turns to bite into the tomatoes, coming away with juice all over their whiskers and faces.
“Yummy!” said Hoppy. He had one whole tomato to himself, refusing to share. His little hands hugged the tomato, which was as big as his little body. “This is all mine!” he said, lifting the tomato up and standing on his hind legs. “Wh-whoa!”
Hoppy toppled over backwards, still holding on to the tomato. He rolled on his back comically. Refusing to loosen his grip on the tomato, he couldn’t get up. “Help?” he squeaked.
“Let go of the tomato, fatso!” Harry yelled.
“No!” Hoppy said.
Gabby stopped laughing and used a finger to roll him up into a sitting position.
“Thanks, Gabby!” Hoppy said. He took a huge bite out of the tomato. Hipster scurried over and took a bite out of Hoppy’s tomato.
“Hey!” Hoppy swiped Hipster on the head with a paw.
“I’m just helping you make it lighter!” Hipster said.
When the tomatoes were eaten, the mice cleaned themselves carefully by licking their paws. They seemed to be very fussy about keeping clean. Mama mouse even helped to clean her six little children.
Using their hands and legs, Ellie and Cammy made an obstacle course for the mice to run and jump over. Gabby lay down on the grass and let the mice jump on her tummy. Megan, not to be left out, carried two mice in her hands and spun around like a human merry-go-round.
All the mice – even the adult ones – had fun.
When the bell rang, they all placed the mice gently back onto the grass.
“Will they be alright here, I wonder,” Gabby said.
“Tell them we will be fine,” Papa mouse told Ellie.
“They will be fine,” Ellie told Cammy, Gabby and Megan.
“How do you know?” Megan asked.
“I just know,” Ellie said.
Gabby looked at her sister thoughtfully. She always seemed to know what animals were thinking. Was it possible her sister could talk to animals? This was something she should look into. But now, it was time to say goodbye to the animals.
“Bye bye, little mice!” she said.
“Bye!” the mice squeaked. “Thanks for everything!”
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Praise for the Ellie Belly series
Ellie Belly’s adventures are unpredictable and very funny!
June Loh, 12
I like Ellie Belly for her cheekiness and funny character.
Glenice Kweh, 10
I love reading Ellie Belly books because they are sooooo interesting! Once I start, I don’t want to stop!! And the books have taught me so many new words and meanings.
Tara Goh Enqi, 7
Ellie Belly’s adventures are funny and interesting.
She likes to help animals and can talk to them.
Angel Astriana, 10
Ellie Belly books are some of the most interesting books I have read!
Laetitia Abigail Purawinata, 8
Ellie Belly’s adventures are hilarious and interesting.
The stories remind us to take care of pets and include facts about different animals.
Goh Mei Rui, 11
Ellie Belly’s adventures are funny and they always make me laugh.
Elvina Lee Jia Ping, 10
I like Ellie Belly as she is mischievous and cheeky.
Sometimes, I behave like her too!
I also love the pictures in Ellie Belly books!
Ng Shi Ting, 10
My sister and I love to read
Ellie Belly books together and laugh.
Audrey Tay, 6
A BIG thank you to all the young writers who contributed diary entries to this book:
Wee Xin Hui, 10, Ang Mo Kio Primary School
Grace Yee, 12, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary School
Scott Lim, 8, St Hilda’s Primary School
Neo Iching, 9, Nan Hua Primary School
Elodie Tan, 10, Raffles Girls’ Primary School
Faith Tan, 8, Raffles Girls’ Primary School
Julia Ho, 8, Raffles Girls’ Primary School
About the Author
Eliza Teoh, a Singapore Press Holdings scholar, is a former journalist and sub-editor with The Straits Times. She tells everyone that the character Ellie Belly is inspired by her rambunctious and irrepressible daughter, but truth be told, Ellie Belly is also a reflection of Eliza. As a child, she used to be so boisterous her mother told everyone that she was a boy and everyone believed it. In real life, Eliza has a rabbit adopted from the SPCA named Taffy and a little white dog named Snowy. She also has two daughters named Ellie and Gabby. They enjoy going to the beach, watching Dance Moms and taking silly neoprints.
About the Editor
Kelly Pang is a former Straits Times journalist and founder of Dotted Line, an editorial consultancy. Her sometimes unhealthy obssession with words (and now, word games!) can be traced to many solitary childhood hours spent at the Queenstown Library. A mother to two girls, she is also the co-editor of a candid collection of essays by first-time parents titled Muddlehood: What Not To Expect When You Are Expecting.
About the Illustrators
When he is not illustrating Ellie Belly and her adventures, Wolfe is David Liew. Apart from being an illustrator, he is also a cartoonist, animator and sculptor. His illustrations have appeared in work for the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Defence, the National Library Board, the National University of Singapore museums and the former Children’s Gallery of the National Museum. He remembers all the family dogs and cats he had growing up and always wonders what they would have said if they could talk. He is currently writing a children’s book of his own.
Rachel Liam grew up with two sisters, a mini schnauzer and a huge box of markers, paints and crayons that quite possibly changed her life. The 17-year-old art and photography lover sees the world through a burst of colours and patterns that never fails to be reflected in her own work. S
he hopes to be an architect one day.
COPYRIGHT
First published in 2013 by Bubbly Books Pte Ltd
26 Sin Ming Lane, Midview City #06-121, Singapore 573971
First published in digital form in 2014 by Monsoon Books ISBN (ebook): 978-981-4423-79-3
Text Copyright © 2013 Bubbly Books Pte Ltd
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons is entirely coincidental.
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