15-WE MARCH ON!

WE MARCH ON! Trap snatched the map from me. He studied it for a few seconds. Then he clapped his paws together. "FOLLOW ME!" he ordered, leading the way. We started marching. We marched for one hour. We marched for two hours. We marched for three hours. The sun began to set. We had been marching for at least five hours!

Soon it was dark. I could barely see my nose on the end of my snout. Did I mention I'm afraid of the dark? I'm also not the most in-shape mouse on the block. In fact, I guess you could say I'm in no shape. No shape for running or jogging or even fast walking. "Can't we take a break now?" I begged. But Trap insisted we were almost there. I groaned. My paws were covered in blisters. The backpack Thea had loaned me weighed more than my uncle Cheesebelly after Christmas dinner. I felt like I had been run over by A FIFTY-POUND BLOCK of Swiss. Even my whiskers were sweating. Just then, I had the most horrible thought. "Trap, are you sure you know where you're going?" I asked my cousin.

He whirled around, annoyed. "Of course I'm sure! We go forward!' squeaked Trap. I thought about that for a moment. "But where are we headed?" I inquired NERVOUSLY. My cousin stamped his paws. "Are your ears filled with cheese?!" he shrieked. "FORWARD means forward, doesn't it?!" He snorted in disgust. At that moment, my sister chimed in. "Where exactly are we headed, Trap?" she asked. My cousin waved his paw in the air. "Well, it looks like we are in the middle of a forest, right?" he said, pointing to all of the trees surrounding us. "And the sea is behind us, right? So I figure if we keep going forward we're bound to get somewhere, right?" My sister put her paws on her hips. "So basically you are telling us you have no idea

where we are???" she shrieked in a fit of anger. The two of them were soon at each other's throats.