05-NEXT STOP, RAAATOFF!

NEXT STOP, RAAATOFF! Ten minutes later, the three of us were comfortably seated on the train. Grrr... So much for taking charge, I grumbled to myself. Maybe I shouldn't have dropped out of that Tough-talking Mouse class I had signed up for last summer. The teacher was this old gray rodent with one eye. He had picked on me so much the first day of class, I was afraid to go back! I sighed and settled back in my seat. My sister was happily reading aloud from a tourist's guide of Transratania. "Hidden in the foggy hills of Transratania sits the MYSTERIOUS Ratoff Castle..."

Meanwhile, Benjamin had snuggled under my coat. bURGER, IT'S COLD. but I don't mind! I'm so happy to be traveling with you, Uncle Geronimo!" he squeaked cheerfully. I stroked his tiny ears and smiled. Did I tell you that Benjamin is my favorite nephew? An hour later, I pressed my snout against the window. The landscape was getting gloomier and gloomier. At every stop, mice seemed to pour out of the train. But there was no pushing and shoving at our stop. That's because by the time we reached Ratoff, we were the only passengers left! "Ratoff! Next stop Ratoff!" echoed a lonely voice in the fog.