02-A PHANTOM CAT

A PHANTOM CAT I looked at my watch. It was ten o'clock already! I had to get to the office right away. Oops, I almost forgot. I never introduced myself. My name is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton, I run The Rodent's Gazette. It is the most popular newspaper here on Mouse Island.

Now, let's see, where was I? Oh yes, I was on my way to the office. I decided to hail a taxi. When I arrived at the Gazette, I looked for my sister. Suddenly I heard the roar of a motorcycle. The door flew open and there she was. I groaned. "Thea, how many times do I have to tell you?" I squeaked. "Don't ride your bike into my office!" She just giggled. Then she parked her bike next to my desk. "Forget the bike, Gerry Berry," she ordered. "I've got bigger news. It seems there's a humongous cat in the subway. It may even be a ghost! We ab- so-late-ly have to beat The Daily Rat to the scoop!" I tried to tell Thea about the meowing in the subway. But she wasn't listening. Once my sister gets on a roll, there is no stopping

her. She's like the Apollo Swiss Cheese rocketing into space. Three... two... one... blast off! Now she raced to the COMPUTER and started surfing the Net. "Here it is!" she shrieked, making me jump. You should know another thing about my sister. She is VERY excitable. She began to read the latest news on the mysterious cat. It went something like this: On Monday, rodents reported smelling CAT pee-pee at the Cheese Rind Subway station. On Tuesday, someone found strange CAT like scratches at the Scurryhill station. On Wednesday, huge CAT prints were

found at the Nibble Drive station. On Thursday, horrified passengers spotted a CAT's shadow at the Curlyfur Court station. On Friday (that's today), an awful CAT's meowing was heard at the Singing Stone Plaza station. Rumor had it that the CAT was a ghost. Yes, an honest-to-goodmouse, horrible, horrifying, hideous ghost CAT! I chewed my whiskers. "Can you please stop using that word?" I begged Thea. "You know I am terribly afraid of CATS." My sister snorted. "Geronimoid," she smirked. "You are afraid of everything. In fact, if you weren't a mouse, I'd call you a 'fraidy CAT!" I felt faint with fear. My sister has no sympathy for a mouse of my delicate nature.