29-BLACK CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON

BLACK CLOUDS ON THE HORIZON The following morning, I found Bouncer and Trap in the kitchen. Trap was cooking and Bouncer was eating. Well, I guess you could call it eating. He looked more like a food processor stuck on HIGH SPEED. Bouncer was shoveling food into his mouth so fast, his paws were a blur. "Yo, Mousey Mouse," he called to me. "Your cousin and I have decided to open a seafood restaurant when we get home." He held up a soupspoon with what looked like some oysters in it. "Want to taste?" he asked. I shook my head. The last time I ate seafood cooked by my cousin, I got horribly sick. I was in the bathroom half the night.

And I wasn't reading the newspaper, if you know what I mean. I left the kitchen and found Thea in Silverpaw's cabin. She was busy studying ancient nautical charts to plot out our route. Just then, Benjamin ran into the room. "Uncle Geronimo, black clouds on the horizon!"

We raced up to the deck. Thea shook her head worriedly. "Looks like a real storm is brewing!" she confirmed. We lowered the sails and substituted them with smaller ones. Now if the wind blew really hard, the ship would not pick up too much speed. We closed the portholes to prevent WATER from seeping in. Then we tied ourselves to the side of the ship to keep from being blown overboard. Did I mention I hate bad weather? It can be so wild. It can be so crazy. It can be so hard on your fur. Once I got caught in a downpour before I was about to give a speech. I was so embarrassed. What a bad fur day. To keep our spirits up, Bouncer and Trap told us some sailor jokes. I must have been delirious because I thought they were funny.

SAILOR JOKES Captain: "Throw out the anchor!" Sailor: "But, sir, it's still new!" A leak springs on board a ship. The captain arrives. Unfortunately, it is already too late. The ship is about to sink. The captain shouts at the cabin boy, "Cabin boy! When you saw that the water was coming in, you should have called me, fool!" The cabin boy looks surprised. "But, Captain," he protests. "It's not right to be rude. I would never call you fool."