04-GERONIMO, DO THIS! GERONIMO, DO THAT!

GERONIMO, Do THIS! GERONIMO, Do THAT! Grandfather William eyed us with pride. "My dear, dear family," he said, "Hold on to your tails. We're about to save more money than Scrooge Rat during the holidays! Let's see... first, Geronimo can sort the mail and sweep the floors starting at five in the morning. During the day, Geronimo can also WRITE THE ARTICLES, take them to the printer, answer the phone, make photocopies, go to the post office, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera." I held up my paw in protest. "Wait a minute. Geronimo, do this! Geronimo, do that! Why do I have to do it all?"

Grandfather William just shook his head sadly. "Well, cry me a river of cheese," he said. "Geronimo, I'm surprised at you! Why can't you be more like your unselfish little sister?" He then began to explain how Thea would be in charge of interviewing all of New Mouse City's VIRs (Very Important Rodents). She would be going to parties and hanging out with celebrity mice while I swept up mouse hairs! I was FUMING. But there was no sense squeaking about it. Thea was Grandfather's darling, and that was that. To prove my point, my sister twirled around the office, showing off her new designer fur jacket. "Do you like it, Grandfather?" she asked. "I charged it to the paper. After all, I need to look fashionable in my position."

Grandfather William beamed at her with pride. "Of course, my dear, sweet Thea!" he agreed. "You charge anything you want to the paper!" My sister threw me a smug smile. I bit my tongue. "So much for economize. economize. economize!" I muttered under my breath. Just then, Trap passed Grandfather a basket full of sandwiches. "They're your favorite, Grandfather, blue cheese with extra garlic and red-hot chili peppers!" Grandfather licked his whiskers and began nibbling away on a sandwich. "This really hits the spot!" he declared. "What would I do without you, my dear grandson?"

Trap winked at me and announced, "Grandfather has hired me to be his personal cook!" This was ridiculous! I was getting hotter than a bag of cheese popcorn in a microwave. Who would help me run the paper? At that moment, I felt a tug on the sleeve of my jacket. It was my young nephew Benjamin. "Uncle Geronimo, guess what?" he beamed. "Great-grandfather William has hired me to be his personal assistant!" Grandfather stroked Ben's tiny ears. "AH, THE FAMILY, THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THE FAMILY! THE STILTON FAMILY, THAT IS..." I snorted. I could see I was the workmouse of the family. nkledc. It looked like I would be the only one doing any work!

Suddenly, Grandfather whirled around toward me. Uh-oh. What next? Maybe he'd ask me to sharpen all of the pencils by paw. Or maybe he'd want me to chop up twigs to make our own paper. "Geronimo, it seems you are not happy with your duties," he began. Here it comes, I groaned silently. "Well, I've got a little Surprise for you, Grandson," he continued. He stuck a DC plane ticket under my snout. "Here you are! I'm sending you on a little trip. That's right. A trip far away from Mouse Island. You're going to Egypt to do a special report on the pyramids!" I could hardly believe it. I felt like a new mouse! I hate traveling, but I've always wanted to see the pyramids! It was a dream come true!

I stared at the tickets. "Thank you, Grandfather," I said, gasping. "When do I leave?" He put his snout right up to my ear. "NOW!" he screamed. My ear was ringing again. But this time I didn't care. I was off to Egypt!