18-THE HOUSE OF THE HOWLING SPIRITS

THE HOUSE OF THE HOWLING SPIRITS We decided to leave in the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. We crept on tippy paws out of our hut. Monkeyfur met us on the PATH. She led us deep into the forest. Even though it was nighttime, it was HOT. Terribly hot. Sweat dripped off my tail. And my whiskers. And my eyelashes. Cheese niblets! I felt like I was locked in the sauna at the Muscle Mouse. Have you ever been there? It's a popular health club in New Mouse City. I went in once just to check it out. I got my tail stuck in the treadmill. I dropped a pink dumbbell on my paw. Then I fell off the bicycle. How embarrassing! Oh, well. You may have

already guessed, I'm not very athletic. I was getting to be a good observer, though. Monkeyfur had taught me how. I looked around. I saw all of the details I had never noticed before. I saw an insect hidden in a flower. I saw a snake underneath a mossy TREE trunk. I saw a caiman sunk into the MUD. I pulled Benjamin aside. I showed him all of these things. Now he, too, could learn the difference between looking and seeing. In the meantime, Thea was busy snapping pictures right and left. Trap tried to get in all of her shots. "Cheese!" he squeaked,

HANGING FROM A VINE. All of a sudden, we heard another squeak. No, it wasn't really a squeak. It was more like a scream. "Wh-wh-wh-at is th-th-th- at?" I stammered. Monkeyfur motioned for us to stay quiet. "That is the scream of the HOWLING SPIRITS. We must be close to their house," she whispered.

I gulped. I was scared silly. I mean, who wants to meet a bunch of spirits? Especially howling ones. I wondered what they were howling about. Maybe they were hungry. Maybe they were cold. Or maybe they wanted to scare us living rodents to death. Then they'd take over our bodies, move into our homes, and rearrange our furniture. What a NIGHTMARE! Oh, how I hate these scary adventures!