I’m alive!
Ha, ha, ha!
For now!
figure out the route to Easter Island,” he
squeaked. “And then read this travel
guidebook!”
I was about to protest, but he stared at me
with his PIERCING eyes.
“Don’t you want to find Thea?” Wild
Willie asked. “Come on! Help me with the
map. And don’t make any mistakes, or we’ll
have to make an emergency landing in
the middle of a stormy ocean or on top
of a craggy mountain peak . . .”
EMERGENCY LANDING?! I quickly agreed to
help. But when I opened the map, what I saw
gave me chills from the top of my head to
the tip of my tail. Easter Island was far
away and in the middle of nowhere!
And when I read the travel guide, I realized
there were many, many MYSTERIES
surrounding the island . . .
This remote island is part of Chile.
It lies more than two thousand
miles west of South America and
more than one thousand miles
from its nearest island neighbor.
The island was once home to the
Rapa Nui people, who are famous
for building incredible moai —
volcanic rock statues that depict
huge human heads. Easter Island
has a mysterious charm that
attracts many tourists.
Pukatikei
Volcano
Poike
Ahu Tongariki
PACIFIC OCEAN
CHILEAN SEA
Hotu-iti
Oroi
Vaihu
Ahu Vinapu
Rano Kau
Volcano
Orongo
Mataveri
International
Airport
Hanga Roa
Ahu Akivi
Terevaka
Volcano
Easter Island
That’s Easter
Island!
We flew for hours and hours. Wild Willie
kept his GAZE fixed on the flight
instruments. He never moved away from
the controls.
I, on the other paw, couldn’t take my eyes
off the foam-topped blue waves churning
Is thAt It?
no WAy!
Land!
and crashing below us. The ocean seemed
endless. According to my guidebook, the
Polynesian people who had once explored
the area navigated the ocean in simple
outrigger canoes! How terrifying!
Susie took photo after photo.
“Does this plane do stunts?” she asked
Wild Willie as she snapped a shot of him at
the controls.
He raised his left eyebrow. “Obviously,”
he replied coolly.
“Pff! I doubt it,” Trap muttered.
To prove himself, Wild Willie immediately
leaned on the controls, sending the plane
into a wild corkscrew.
I screeched.
“Is that it?” Trap scoffed. “No way! You
can’t do anything better?”
With a sudden lurch, the plane dove into
“
Heeeelp!”
Ahhhhhh!
Heeeelp!
a death-defying spiral.
“Ahhhhhh!” I squeaked, terrified. “I
don’t want to lose my fur!”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” Trap teased Willie.
“If I were behind the controls . . .”
Before Trap could finish his sentence,
Wild Willie took the tiny plane through one
breathtaking
stunt after another.
During all these daredevil moves, I
gripped the seat of the plane for dear life.
My whiskers twisted with terror, and
I was so airsick I thought I might toss my
cheese! Luckily, Susie’s kindness saved me.
She rummaged through her equipment
bag and found a bottle of bubbly seltzer
water. “Here,” she said. “This will help settle
your stomach, Geronimo.”
Thank goodmouse for her!
“Is that enough stunts, or do you want
some more?” Wild Willie shouted to Trap
over the ROAR of the plane’s engine.
“Please tell him that’s enough!” I begged
Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!
Trap. “I can’t take another second of these
loop
-
dee
-
loops!”
Trap scratched his snout and thought about
it for what seemed like an eternity.
“Well, I have to admit those were some
pretty
impressive
stunts,” he conceded.
Only then did Wild Willie finally return
the plane to a horizontal position. He
grinned proudly.
A moment later, an island shaped like a
TRIANGLE appeared on the horizon.
“We’ve arrived on Easter Island!” Susie
squeaked excitedly.
“Yes, here we are, in the middle of
NOWHERE,” Wild Willie remarked
darkly. “Did you remember to update your
will, Geronimo?”
I shook my snout. When would I have had
the TIME?
“Don’t worry, Geronimo,” Susie chirped.
“I’ll help you do it now. To whom would you
like to leave The Rodent’s Gazette?”
Trap tugged on my tail.
“Geronimo, my friend and favorite
cousin,” he said sweetly — a little too
sweetly, if you ask me! “You’re going to
leave the paper to me, right? I know all
about running a newspaper, unlike
you. I think you should also leave me your
antique cheese rind collection. And don’t
worry about your tombstone —
I’ll write something nice! How about: Here
lies Geronimo Stilton, a real scaredy-mouse!
He met his end on Easter Island when he
suffered an attack of uncontrollable fear.”
That was something nice ?!
“
That’s
enough!
” I squeaked.
“Why does everyone keep asking if I’ve
updated my will, anyway?”
The three of them exchanged an
understanding look. What were they keeping
from me?
“He’s a really jittery mouse, isn’t he?”
Wild Willie said.
That’s
enough!
Here lies
Geronimo Stilton,
a real scaredy-
mouse! He met
his end on Easter
Island when he
suffered an attack
of uncontrollable
fear.
“You’re the ones who are making me
jittery!” I said impatiently.
I put on my seat belt and closed my eyes.
What kind of DANGER awaited me? My
heart beat faster just thinking about it. But
my desire to help Thea was stronger than
any fear I felt. I opened my WALLET
and took out a photo of my sister.
“I’ll save you, little sister!” I whispered.
MY SISTER,
THEA
STILTON!
Before I knew it, the plane was landing at
Mataveri International Airport
. A friendly-
looking rodent with golden fur and long
black hair met us at the gate.
“Welcome to Rapa Nui!” she greeted us.
“My name is Vaitea, and I will be your
guide.”
She presented each of us with a garland of
multicolored flowers.
“We’re not like other tourists,” Trap
boasted. I could tell he was trying to make
a good impression on Vaitea. “We’re here
hunting for treas —”
Susie clapped her paw over Trap’s snout
before he could finish.
Welcome to rApA
nuI!
Welcome!
Ahem . . .
We’re here hunting
for treas —
“Ahem, we’re here on vacation, just like
all these other tourists,” Susie squeaked
confidently. “We would love to see the
island’s most interesting sights!”
Susie showed Vaitea a PHOTO of Thea.
“This is our friend who was recently on
the island,” she said. “Have you ever seen
her?”
“No, I’m sorry,” Vaitea replied, shaking
her head. “She doesn’t look familiar.”
We were all hungry from our long flight,
so Vaitea took us to a great restaurant in
the harbor. We ate huge grilled shrimp,
fish soup, and mahi mahi, a fish that is
often served on the island. During dinner,
Vaitea told us some of the history of Easter
Island.
“Rapa Nui is the other name for Easter
Island,” she began. “It’s also the name of the
people who live here, and I’m proud
MAHI
MAHI
AHU: a structure or platform
HARE PA‘ENGA: a traditional home that resembles an upside-
down boat
‘IORANA: hello or good-bye; a greeting
MATU‘A: ancestor; father
MOAI: large statue
POKI: baby
RONGORONGO: wooden tablets with ancient carved writing
TOKI: tool used to carve stone
TOTORA: type of reed used to build rafts; a reed boat
VAI KAVA: ocean
Many inhabitants of Easter Island speak Rapanui,
a Polynesian dialect. However, Chilean Spanish is
the island’s official language.
Rongorongo are ancient wooden tablets that
feature carved symbols. These tablets have only
been partially translated, so this written language
is still a mystery!
Short Dictionary of the
rapanui Language
to be one of them. My people speak two
languages, Rapanui and Spanish.”
Then she taught us a few words and
phrases. I began taking notes: Rapanui was
a very interesting language! At the
end of dinner I showed off my knowledge
and said to Vaitea: “Mauru-uru! (Thank
you!)”
“Rivariva! (Very good!)” Vaitea replied,
smiling. “Now, would you like to see a typical
dance?” she asked. “A performance is
about to begin!”
The lights dimmed. Many young rodents
appeared on the stage and began to sing.
The musicians played ukuleles and drums,
and a few people began to dance.
Their movements mimicked the daily
activities of the Rapa Nui people, including
swimming, fishing, and rowing a boat.
Then they danced a ritual dance showing
warriors intimidating their enemies. Finally,
they concluded with a dance in which a
fishermouse and a maiden declared their
love for each other. It was truly fabumouse!
Susie snapped a lot of PHOTOS.
“We’ll leave here with lots of very
Fabumouse!
It’s a local
dance!
interesting material for The Rodent’s
Gazette. Thea will be very happy with my
work!”
Hearing Thea’s name brought me back to
reality. We were here on a mission!
Where was my sister, Thea? And was she in
DANGER? We had to find out soon.
The next morning we gathered to
decide what to do next. Wild Willie reread
the riddle on the map:
FIND THE BIGGEST AHU AND
ITS FIFTEEN PROTECTORS.
TURN WEST AND SEARCH FOR THE
GREAT WATER THAT IS AND ISN’T.
AT THE END OF THE DAY, FOLLOW
THE SUN AND YOU’LL FIND
THE SEVEN YOUNG EXPLORERS.
TAKE SEVEN GIGANTIC STEPS TO
THE RIGHT, THREE WARRIOR STEPS
TO THE LEFT, AND ONE BABY STEP
FORWARD.
look for the
bIggest Ahu . . .
THE SIGH OF THE WIND WILL
TAKE YOU FAR AWAY TO THE
BIG BLACK BUBBLE.
THERE, THE SEA HIDES
AN ANCIENT SECRET . . .
THE TREASURE OF
EASTER ISLAND!
“The first thing we need to do is to find
an AHU,” he concluded. “In fact, we need
to find the biggest one on the
island.”
I checked my Easter
Island GUIDEBOOK.
“The ahu are stone
platforms that were used as
inhabitants of Easter
Island,” I explained.
Hmm, let’s
see . . .
At that moment, Vaitea came in.
“Perfect timing!” Susie squeaked. “We
were just talking about where we’d like to
go first. We’d like to see some of the
island’s AHU. Can you tell us which one is
the BIGGEST?”
“That would be Ahu Tongariki,” Vaitea
replied with a smile. “It’s one of the most
AHU TONGARIKI
Ahu Tongariki is the biggest
ahu on Easter Island. The
moai there face inland with
their backs to the sea.
SPECTACULAR places on the island!”
When we got to Ahu Tongariki, the
most MAJESTIC sight awaited us. The
enormouse statues lined the shore, their
backs to the ocean waves. Vaitea explained
that the statues — called moai — were built
to guard and PROTECT the island.
“Get your CAMERA ready, Susie!”
They’re
amazing!
Trap shouted as he ran toward a moai. “I’m
going to climb to the top.”
“
STOP!
” Vaitea squeaked in
dismay. “You can’t climb a moai! Please,
you shouldn’t even touch it! This is my
ancestors’ sacred burial ground.”
Susie grabbed Trap by the TAIL a second
before he began to climb.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” she
scolded him.
Stop!
Paws off!
Argh!
During this whole mess, I was busy
counting the moai on the stone platforms.
“One, two, three, four, five . . . thirteen,
fourteen, fifteen!” I counted. “These
are the fifteen protectors the riddle talks
about. We figured out the first CLUE!”
“Now we have to turn west and find the
Great Water,” whispered Wild Willie.
“But I don’t understand why it ‘is and isn’t.’
What do you think that means?”
We headed west with Vaitea, but we didn’t
see even a drop of water anywhere!
“Is there any water on Easter Island?”
Susie asked her. “I haven’t seen any so far.”
“Well, there is and isn’t much water
on the island,” Vaitea replied mysteriously.
“There are three crater lakes. But during the
dry season, there isn’t much water in them.
During the RAINY season, though,
it’s another story . . .”
My tail twisted with excitement. Vaitea
had referred to water that “is and isn’t”!
“Is one of these crater lakes near here?” I
asked eagerly.
She nodded and motioned for us to follow
seArchIng for the
greAt WAter
her up a steep path. We turned a corner,
and there before us was a rocky crater
etched deep into the ground.
“This is where the Great Water
flows . . . when there is any!”
This is where
the Great Water
flows?
Wild Willie smiled with satisfaction and
immediately checked the MAP.
“The map says, ‘At the end of the day,
follow the sun,’” he said. “So we should
head west, since that’s where the sun sets.”
I scratched my
SNOUT
.
“Yes, but what are the Seven Young
Explorers?”
We got back in Vaitea’s SUV and headed
toward the western shore of the island. As
we mused over the riddle, we were as quiet
as mice.
Night had already fallen, and Vaitea stared
at the dark sky. A silvery moon shone
brightly.
seven young
explorers
“In the olden days, it was
precisely on nights like
these that our ancestors
performed
SACRED
ceremonies near the moai
by the sea,” she told us.
“Those ceremonies recalled