“Dad should be able to ace this one,”
Creepella whispered to Shivereen.
Boris closed his eyes, thinking, as the
minute clicked away. Then Horatio gave him
the signal to start.
Oops!
47
stomach-turner
The arrow on the Shivers
Machine jumped nearly all the
way to the top, to the “
POSITIVELY
PETRIFYING
” level. Creepella and
Shivereen let out a cheer.
The audience liked the poem,
too.
Boris smiled, pleased. Then it was Vera
Versa’s turn. She chose number four, and
Crystal shouted her word:
“Phantom!”
“I wandered past a ghastly grave,
And saw the dirt had been moved about.
Before I could run, or even scream,
A bony skeleton jumped right out!”
“Frightfully
chilling!”
48
“
A
r
e
a
l
!
”
After a minute, Vera began:
The audience was silent at first.
Then they began to
laugh
. Then the
judges
laughed
. Crystal and Horatio
laughed
. The only rodents who weren’t
laughing
were Evelyn Dozer, who
was still asleep, and Vera Versa, who knew
that she had lost. The Shivers Machine arrow
was moving — but from laughter, not from
fright.
Crystal delivered the verdict.
“
eliminated!
” she cried.
“A phantom sat down to breakfast.
It was the meal he liked the most.
But he had no bread, so the phantom said,
‘I’m a ghost without any toast!’”
49
Poof!
Vera Versa’s booth disappeared
beneath the stage. Crystal dried her TEARS
(from laughing so hard) and then announced,
“The final two fright night contestants
are Brad Balladeer and Boris von Cacklefur!”
“Brad! Brad!”
cheered half the crowd.
“Boris! Boris!”
cheered the other half.
Crystal waved to the audience. “It’s time
for intermission! We’ll be back in twenty
minutes!”
Boris left the stage and joined Creepella
and Shivereen.
“You’re doing
GREAT, Father!”
Creepella said, giving him a hug.
51
“Thank you,” Boris replied. “But Brad is
going to be difficult to beat. And there’s
something
oddly
familiar about him. . . .”
He thoughtfully pulled his whiskers.
“You’d better start practicing your final
poem, Father,” Creepella reminded him.
“Yes, of course!” Boris agreed. Then he
walked off to his dressing room.
Geronimo slowly untied the
rope
from
his tail. Professor Dubloon was busy chatting
with Professor Cleverpaws. Evelyn Dozer
was snoring away next to him. It was the
perfect time to ESCAPE!
“They don’t really need me,” he reasoned.
“I need to get back to my writing.”
He slowly began to tiptoe away. Then
he scurried backstage, where he hoped he
wouldn’t be seen. To his surprise, he
found Brad Balladeer talking with the
Rattenbaum triplets. All four were clutching
long bandages in their paws.
three SuSpiCiouS
thingS
53
“He’s the perfect mummy!" Brad told the
triplets, laughing.
Geronimo forgot all about his escape plan.
There was something
suspicious
about this scene.
“What mummyare you talking about?”
he asked them. “And why do you need all
these bandages?”
mummy mood
“
C
reepella’s friend,
”
said Lilly.
“
Why do you hang around with
her?
” asked Milly.
“
We’re much more interesting,
”
said Tilly.
Before Geronimo could respond, Brad
stepped up to him. “I asked these lovely
ladies to help inspire me,” he said. “I
need a rhyme for my poem, ‘Ode to the
Mummy.’ The bandages help get me in a
.”
“Bandages? Really?” asked Geronimo.
Brad rolled his eyes impatiently.
Then he turned to the Rattenbaums.
“Let us go, my muses. Poetry
does not wait!”
Geronimo watched them head toward
Brad’s dressing room. He didn’t believe their
story, but he had other things to think about.
“I must go work on that encyclopedia!” he
said. “The faster I finish, the faster I can get
away from this
bizarre
valley!”
He was only a few steps away from the
back door when he heard Creepella’s
voice behind him.
“Here you are, Gerrykins!” she said.
“I’ve been looking for you!”
Geronimo turned and saw
Creepella holding a pot of
steaming
stew.
“Isn’t it wonderful? Chef
Stewrat and the whole von Cacklefur family
are here,” she said. “A pot of Chef’s stew is
just the thing to give Father the
ENERGY
he needs to win. Would you like some?”
56
Geronimo sniffed at the stinky stew and
then shook his head.
“Well, come anyway,” she said. “I’m sure
Father can use some encouragement.”
“B-but the encyclopedia . . .” Geronimo
stammered.
Then he felt a paw on his back.
It was Professor Dubloon. Geromino was
very CONFUSED.
“By the strings of my eyepatch, it was
you!” the angry professor went on. “You
thief!”
“What happened?” Creepella asked gently.
“Somebody STOLE my ship!” Dubloon
roared. “It was parked right outside the
arena. And now it’s GONE!”
“Your ship?” asked Geronimo.
57
“YoU
d
id it!
I
know you did
!
confess!”
“The professor has a
pirate ship on wheels,”
Creepella explained. “I
wonder who would want
to steal it?”
Dubloon pointed at
Geronimo.
“Don’t be
silly
,
Professor!” Creepella
said with a laugh.
“Geronimo is the
most
honest
rodent I know.
We’ll help you later.
We need to go see
my father!”
Creepella
grabbed
“
he stole it!
”
58
Geronimo by the elbow and led him to Boris’s
dressing room. But when she opened the
door, she was
SURPRISED
to find that
her father wasn’t there.
“Where could he be?” Creepella asked.
“Hmm,” muttered Geronimo to himself.
“A mysterious mummy. A missing vehicle.
And now this. It’s all very suspicious.”
Just then the Rattenbaum triplets walked
past the door, snickering.
When they saw Creepella, the triplets stopped
laughing.
“Look who’s here!” said Milly.
“It’s boring old Creepella,” added Tilly.
“I bet she’s looking for her daddy,” sneered
Lilly.
Creepella marched up to them.
“How do you know that?” she asked. “Have
you seen my father?”
“Your father is a SCAREDY-RAT,” Milly
said.
“He knew that Brad is going to win,”
said Tilly.
“So he RAN away!” Lilly finished.
60
where’S
BoriS?
never
“He would
do that!” Creepella insisted.
“Oh, no? That’s what he did in fourth
grade,” the triplets said together.
Creepella’s
green
eyes flashed with
anger. “How did you know that?”
But the triplets
HURRIED
away without
answering. Creepella started to go after
them, but Geronimo held her back.
“Calm down,” he said. “I have something
to tell you.”
“Not now, Geronimo,” Creepella said
impatiently. “We must find Father!”
Creepella ran so fast that Geronimo could
not keep up. She found her family in the
stands. They were enjoying Chef Stewrat’s
smelly stew.
“Father is
missing
!” Creepella
announced. “The Rattenbaum triplets said
he ran away, but I don’t believe them!”
62
“Well, he was nervous about the
contest,” Shivereen pointed out.
“True, but he is very proud of that
poem he wrote,” Creepella said. “I know he
wants to recite it in the final round.”
“Maybe that Brad Balladeer fellow knows
something,” muttered Grandma Crypt. “That
young rat looks quite familiar. . . .”
Geronimo finally caught up to Creepella.
“I have something to tell you,” he told her,
huffing and puffing. “It’s important!”
“Father is missing,” Creepella said. “That’s
more important!”
“But I think something suspicious
is going on,” Geronimo insisted. “Before
Boris went missing, I saw Brad with the
Rattenbaum triplets and a bunch of bandages.
They were acting very STRANGE.”
“That is suspicious,” Creepella said. “I
think you’re onto something, Gerrykins.
Let’s go solve this
mystery
!”
They headed back to Boris’s dressing room
to look for
CLUES
. Shivereen, who
always loved a good mystery, joined them. So
did Bitewing, but he went along for the
mosquito treats
in Creepella’s
pockets.
As they walked down the hall, they saw
Professor Cleverpaws examining the floor
with a huge magnifying glass.
64
“Professor, are you looking for my father,
too?” Creepella asked.
“Your father? I didn’t know he was
missing,” the professor replied. “No, I’m
trying to help Professor Dubloon find his
missing pirate ship.”
“That’s another
suspicious
disappearance,” Geronimo remarked.
Creepella nodded. “Exactly! And I have a
hunch that those two disappearances are
connected. If we find the pirate ship, we’ll
find Father!”
Professor Cleverpaws
pointed to the floor.
“See these? These are
tracks made by the
boat’s wheels. If we
follow them, we may
find the boat.”
Everyone eagerly followed Professor
Cleverpaws as she moved along the
tracks, but then she stopped at the
entrance to the
Horrorwood Studios
gate.
Beyond the gate were the sets for the movies
made at the studio.
“There are too many tracks beyond
the gate,” the professor said, shaking her
head. “I’ll have to STOP following them.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll take it from here!”
Creepella promised.
“But we don’t even know where to look,”
Geronimo protested. “This could take
forever.”
Creepella ignored him and
PUSHED
open the gate. Shivereen and Bitewing
followed her, and Geronimo reluctantly
joined them.
Next to the gate, three blonde heads poked
66
out of three large fake rocks.
“She’s getting too close,” said Milly
“We have to follow her!” added Lilly.
“She can’t
find out
what happened,”
warned Tilly.
The studio lot was
crowded
with rodents
scurrying between the
BUSY
movie sets.
As they began their search, Geronimo turned
to Creepella.
“What did those
triplets
mean before?”
he asked. “About your father in fourth
grade?”
Creepella told him the story of how Chester
Cheater
stole
young Boris’s poem. “He
never entered a contest again,” she explained.
“But that was a long time ago. I’m sure he
hasn’t run away!”
Then the Rattenbaum triplets strolled by,
carrying
suitcases
.
triplets
68
a BuSy
movie Set
“We’re carrying our costumes,” said
Milly.
“We’re going to be stars!” added
Lilly.
“Beauties of the big screen!” bragged
Tilly.
Then they
HURRIED
off.
Creepella’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t trust
those three.”
“What should we do now, Auntie?”
Shivereen asked.
“Let’s talk to my friend, the movie director
Sylvia Cinemouse,” Creepella
suggested. “Maybe she’s seen something.”
They found Sylvia on
the set of her new
film, forest of fur.
“Creepella, how good to see you!” she
cried. “Can I convince you to star
in my next film? I’ve got the
PERFECT part
for you.”
Creepella
shook her head.
“Thanks, but being
an
actress
isn’t
in my plans.”
70
“That’s too bad,” said Sylvia. “You’ve got a
GREAT
look, and a
GREAT
name,
too.”
“Name?” asked Shivereen.
“Sure,” said Sylvia. “Every
movie star
needs a great name. Take Johnny Depprat,
the FAMOUSE actor. His name used
to be Henry Squishyface. He never got any
work. Then he changed it, and now he’s a
star!”
While Creepella and her friend talked,
Geronimo looked around the set for clues.
He tripped over three bushes that
seemed to come out of nowhere.
“How dare you, you
clumsy
rodent!” said the bushes. Then they shuffled
away.
“
Quiet
, everyone!” Sylvia shouted through
her megaphone. “This is a movie set.”
71
“Sorry,” Geronimo said. “But we’re trying
to solve a
mystery
here. Creepella’s
father is missing.”
“Oh, dear,” said Sylvia. “How can I help?”
“We were wondering if you’ve seen a
pirate ship on wheels roll through here,”
Creepella said.
Sylvia shook her head. “Sorry, no. It’s been
crazy
around here all morning. But if
I see one, I’ll let you know.”
Then Shivereen cried out in a loud
voice.
“Auntie, come here! I think I’ve found
something!”
73
Creepella ran to Shivereen, who was holding
up a torn scrap of paper.
“I found it on the ground, and there are
some weird
tracks
right
next to it,” Shivereen reported. “It has one
word on it: ‘Once.’”
“Hmm. Once,” repeated Creepella.