14-SCARED OUT OF MY WITS!

SCARED OUT OF MY WITS! Finally, on the third day, it happened. The echo sounder picked up something big under our boat. Thea switched on the magnetometer. "Yep, there's something metallic down there, all right," she squeaked. We were all very excited. "Who is going to dive? asked Captain Skipper Paws. Thea couldn't get into her wetsuit and OXYGEN TANK fast enough. "I can't wait to get some pictures of the wreck!" she exclaimed. "Who wants to come with me?" Trap tried on a pair of flippers.

"Perfect! Just like me!" he declared. Then he waved a flipper in my direction. "What about you, Geronimoid? Want to join us?" he asked sarcastically. I CRINGED. Join them? Me? In the deep, dark, dangerous ocean? With the sharks and the poisonous jellyfish? Not on your life. "Ahem, well, I think it would be best if I stayed here to look after Aunt Sweetfur," I murmured. Of course, Aunt Sweetfur would not hear of it. "Yes, well... I've been meaning to help Benjamin with those notes," I tried. But my nephew grabbed my paw. "Don't worry about the notes, Uncle," he squeaked. "Anyway, I have a great idea.

You can talk into this walkie-talkie, and I'll record everything. You can tell us all about the sunken ship." what could I do? With shaky paws, I put on a diving suit, a mask, a pair of flippers, and an oxygen tank. I looked ridiculous. I'm much more of a suit-and-tie kind of mouse. "Good luck, Uncle!" Benjamin whispered Before I could reply, Trap pounded me on the back. Suddenly, I was tumbling snoutfirst into the water. SPLASH! I was scared out of my wits. But when I opened my eyes, I saw the most amazing sight. I felt as though I were floating in a glass of SPARKLING WATER! Schools of colorful fish swam all around us. Pink, blue, and red coral reached up from the ocean floor. A mother sea turtle passed by, carrying her babies on her back.

"Is everything all right, Uncle Geronimo?" I heard Benjamin's voice. "It's breathtaking!" I replied. And it was. Why had I been afraid of such a fabumouse place? Just then, I spotted something not so fabumouse. It was an enormous fish with whiskers. Slimy Swiss balls! It was the

same fish face I had seen in my Encyclopedia Ratannica. "Catfish!" I shrieked. I was so scared, my eyes nearly popped into my mask. Then I realized that someone was by my side. It was Trap. He shook a paw at the catfish. Then he steered me away from it. The fish watched us go with a strange look on its face. I couldn't quite tell what it meant. Can fish laugh? If they can, this one was definitely laughing at us. I didn't care. I was never so glad to see my cousin before. I would have hugged him if we didn't have so much diving gear on. Then I remembered he was the one who pushed me into the water in the first place. Oh, well. I guess now we were even. We continued swimming deeper and

deeper. The water turned COLD and dark. I was keeping an eye on Thea, who was surging ahead of us. All of a sudden, she began waving her paws. Then she pointed to something in front of her.