02-MY FIFTEENTH-CENTURY RINDS!

MY FIFTEENTH- CENTURY RINDS! A greasy hand moved the curtain aside. Mouse bumps broke out all over my body. I was about to be snout-to-snout with the intruder! And it was... my cousin Trap?! "Hi, there!" he shouted. "Aren't you happy to see me, Cousinkins?" Happy? I had been SCARED out of my wits. "Y-y-you sneaked into my house!" I squeaked. "Don't get your fur frazzled, Geronimoid," Trap said. He had crumbs all over his shirt and a piece of pie in one paw. "I was passing by and saw that one of the windows was open. So I said to myself, why not pay good old Germeister a surprise visit?"

"Surprise visit!" I cried. "You almost gave me a heart attack!" Trap chuckled. "You need to relax, Gerry Berry," he said. "You're as nervous as a rat at a cat convention." Trap wiped his snout on my velvet curtain. "I must say, this cheese-and-pickle pie is scrumptious. It melts in the mouth!" "PAWS OFF!" I shrieked. "That is a very old curtain." "I don't mind if it's old. Any rag will do," Trap smirked, wiping his snout again. Then, before I could stop him, Trap parked his chubby body in an expensive antique chair.

It had cost me as much as a year's worth of cheddar. "NO!" I screamed. Too late. The chair smashed into a dozen pieces. Trap crashed to the floor. "My chair!" I yelled. As he fell, Trap knocked down a glass display cabinet. It held my treasured collection of antique cheese rinds. They spilled out onto the floor. "My fifteenth-century rinds!" I moaned. Trap bit off another piece of pie. "Don't you want to know why I'm here?" he asked, spraying crumbs all over me. I couldn't take it anymore. "I don't want to know," I said. "GET OUT! And do me a favor eat with your snout shut!"

"Tsk, tsk. You really are too fond of your antiques," Trap said. "Shouldn't you be more worried about me? After all, I am your own fur and blood. Well, never mind. I'll tell you my news anyway." Trap winked at me. Then he leaned over and whispered in my ear. "I have a great story for you. For that little news rag you put out." I was insulted. "You mean my newspaper, The Rodent's Gazette? The most respected newspaper on Mouse Island?" "Whatever," Trap said. "I've got a scoop for you that will make everyone's whiskers stand on end. I can tell you this much. It's about Mouse Island's most famouse painting... the Mona Mousa!"