22-THIS IS A JOKE, ISN'T IT？

THIS IS A JOKE, ISN'T IT? At last, we reached New Mouse City. I was so happy to be home. I couldn't wait to take a long, hot bath. I couldn't wait to sleep in my comfy bed. But mostly, I couldn't wait to see Stephanie oon Sugarfur. Still, there was no time to relax yet. As soon as we landed, we hurried to the office. We wanted to get the paper ready. It would be an amazing breaking story. We had found the Eighth Wonder of the World! I could hardly believe it myself.

Thea began to make lots of phone calls. "Yes, yes, darling. I've already written a thrilling article," she exclaimed. "Of course there will be pictures. Tons and tons of pictures. You'll see the stunning valley. You'll see the gorgeous butterflies. I've got the photos right here in the office." She turned to my cousin and winked. For some reason, Trap was looking A LITTLE PALE. He flopped onto a chair. Sweat was dripping down his fur. Maybe he was just overexcited. I was excited, too. It wasn't every day you became famouse! My sister hung up. Then she turned to Trap. "OK, Cousin, give me those pictures," she demanded. "We've got to get them developed right away!"

Trap sunk deeper into his chair. "Um, well, I, um, might have lost them," he said, then smiled nervously. My sister's jaw hit the ground. Her whiskers started to tremble. Steam poured from her ears. She narrowed her eyes at my cousin. "This is one of your silly jokes, right?" she shrieked. I stared at Trap. I had a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. For once, my prankster cousin was not joking. Trap managed to smile at my sister. "Well, I might have left them at the camp," he explained. "Or maybe I dropped them on the beach. Or I could have left them on the speedboat. Or maybe they fell out of the jeep. We did hit a lot of potholes, you know."

Thea tried to grab him by the throat. But he was too quick. So she CHASED him around the desk, squeaking at the top of her lungs. I tried to calm them down. "Take it easy, it's not that bad," I offered. Uh-oh. Wrong thing to say. Thea stopped RUNNING AFTER Trap. Now she was coming after me. One thing you should know about my sister— she has an awful TEMPER. Once I ran over her Furry Fieldmouse doll with my tricycle. It was an accident. I mean, I was only a mouslet at the time. Thea got so

mad she smashed my trike to pieces. The only thing left was the horn. Now she turned to me in a rage. "It's not that bad?" she shrieked. "How are we ever going to prove we found the Valley of the Cheesettes?" Before I could think, Benjamin piped up. "Wait a minute, Auntie!" he cried. "I've got an idea." He lifted his red hat. A small yellow butterfly FLEW OUT. It sat down on his shoulder. "She must have hidden under my hat when we were in the cave," Benjamin said, grinning. "Isn't she cute? I call her Cheesette." She was fascinating. She was bright yellow with holes like a slice of Swiss. A cheesy smell filled the air around her.

I watched the small butterfly fly around Benjamin. Thea broke into a wide smile. "That's it!" she shouted. "We don't need pictures to prove we found the Valley of the Cheesettes. We have our own Cheesette right here!"