The Great Mouse Mistake Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Tiana: The Grand Opening Preview

  “A trap?” Cinderella cried. “Why didn’t you say so?”

  In an instant, Cinderella ran out of her tiny bedroom, down the steep attic stairs, and through the long hallway of the fancy château in which she lived. A brown mouse, wearing an orange jacket and a pointy red hat, followed behind her as fast as his little paws could carry him. It wasn’t every day that a new mouse got caught in a trap, but when it happened, Cinderella was always there and ready to help!

  And that was just one of the reasons why all the little mice who lived in the big château loved her. Cinderella’s kind heart and warm smile made everyone happy!

  Everyone, that is, but Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s cruel stepmother, and Lady Tremaine’s horrible daughters, Drizella and Anastasia. Lady Tremaine and her daughters were very mean to Cinderella. They made her live in a cramped, drafty room in the attic. She had to do all the chores. And she had to wait on them hand and foot!

  But even though her stepmother and stepsisters were not nice to her, it was in Cinderella’s nature to treat everyone kindly. Especially anyone who needed her help, like the small mouse who was crying in the trap at the end of the hall.

  “Poor little thing,” Cinderella said in a gentle voice. She opened the trap so that the mouse could come out. He was shaking and very scared.

  “Don’t worry,” said Jaq, the mouse standing next to Cinderella. He smiled at the nervous little mouse. “She is our friend!”

  Cinderella looked at the mouse in the cage, who was still shaking. She placed her hand at the opening of the trap to help the mouse get out. She looked at him closely. “We have to give you a name,” she said. “How about Octavius? Gus for short!”

  Cinderella reached for a set of tiny mouse clothes that she had in her pocket. She pulled a yellow shirt over Gus’s round tummy. Then she put a pointy green cap on his head. He looks perfect, Cinderella thought happily.

  Gus smiled shyly. He was feeling better already!

  “Now I’ve got to get to work,” Cinderella said. “See that Gus keeps out of trouble, Jaq. And don’t forget to warn him about that pesky old cat!”

  Humming a pretty song, Cinderella hurried off toward the kitchen. She had a lot of chores to do. She had to feed the chickens; Bruno, the big old hound dog; and Lucifer, the mean old cat. And of course, she had to serve breakfast to Lady Tremaine, Drizella, and Anastasia. They would not be happy if she was late!

  Jaq grabbed Gus’s paw and led him downstairs. “Lotsa mice live here,” he told Gus. “Suzy, Perla, Mert, Bert, Luke—wait until you meet them. We have lots of fun together. They’ll be your new friends!”

  Gus looked over at Jaq. A big grin spread across his face.

  “And Cinderella is a friend to all the mice,” Jaq continued. “And the birds, and the dog, and even . . . the mean cat. Cinderella makes us clothes and gives us food! Like—breakfast!”

  Jaq and Gus scurried along the kitchen wall to the courtyard, where Cinderella was busy feeding the chickens. Then Cinderella noticed Jaq and Gus standing in the doorway. “Here you go, you two,” she said cheerfully. Then she tossed them a large handful of corn.

  Gus looked at all of the corn that was on the ground in front of him. He scurried about, picking up as much as he could carry. Soon he was holding a stack of corn that was almost as tall as he was!

  “Hurry up!” called Jaq. His little pockets were overflowing with corn. “Lucifer is coming!”

  “Lucifer?” repeated Gus. He looked very confused.

  “The cat!” Jaq cried. He grabbed Gus by the arm and ran toward the mouse hole in the wall.

  All of sudden, Gus understood why Jaq was in such a hurry. A big, black cat slowly walked into the courtyard. He was licking his lips and flicking his tail.

  Cinderella’s clear voice rang out across the courtyard. “Lucifer! Don’t bother those mice or you won’t get any cream for breakfast,” she warned the cat. Lucifer eyed the mice for a moment and then crept away.

  Jaq and Gus made it to the mouse hole and squeezed themselves inside. That was close! Gus thought.

  “Cinderella is so nice,” Jaq said with a big grin. “She always takes such very good care of us!”

  “I really like Cinderelly!” Gus agreed. He’d only known her for a little while, and already she had saved him from a trap, given him some clothes, served him breakfast, and protected him from Lucifer. She was the nicest lady he had ever met!

  Suddenly Gus had a great idea. He wanted to do something for Cinderella to show her how thankful he was. Something nice. Something special. Something big!

  “Let’s go,” Jaq said. He patted his pockets, which were full of corn. “All the other mice are going to want breakfast—and we can bring it to them!”

  Gus quickly nibbled a few pieces of corn, then handed the rest to Jaq. “You go,” he said. “I am going to surprise Cinderelly with a present!”

  “Okay, but make sure you watch out for Lucifer!” Jaq told Gus.

  “Okay!” Gus replied. Then he peeked out of the mouse hole and looked both ways. There was no sign of the big, mean cat. He scurried back out into the courtyard. Gus had the whole yard to himself to think up the perfect surprise for Cinderella!

  But what would that be? Gus’s tiny face scrunched up as he tried to think of a great idea. He could make Cinderella something to wear, like a pretty scarf. But he didn’t know how to sew. What about a beautiful painting? But he wasn’t an artist.

  Suddenly, Gus smelled something very delightful! What could it be? He put his nose in the air and sniffed again.

  Then he noticed a beautiful rosebush. It was covered with enormous pink roses. Gus knew that he’d found it—the perfect present for Cinderella!

  He scurried across the courtyard as fast as he could. He climbed up the rosebush and quickly began to gnaw on each branch, carefully avoiding the thorns. Gus filled his arms with the pretty roses. It would take several trips to carry all the flowers up to Cinderella’s room in the attic—and he couldn’t wait to get started! I hope she likes them, he thought happily.

  For the rest of the morning, Gus was very nervous. When would Cinderella go up to the attic and find the surprise? But Gus soon realized that she was much too busy to go to the attic during the day. She had to scrub the floors, sweep the halls, wash the clothes, clean the kitchen, do the mending—and, of course, cater to her stepmother and stepsisters. Phew! Gus was tired just thinking about it!

  Oh, well, Gus thought. Cinderelly’s gotta go to sleep at night. Then she’ll find the flowers and have sweet dreams! He closed his eyes as he imagined how surprised she would be when she found the roses. He really hoped that she would love them!

  But Gus’s daydream was interrupted by a loud shriek. “My roses! My beautiful, prize-winning roses! Gone!” he heard a woman suddenly scream.

  Gus’s eyes grew wide. Uh-oh, he thought. That doesn’t sound very good!

  The entire household rushed to the garden, including Gus. Cinderella was the first to arrive. There, she found Lady Tremaine staring at the bare rosebush. Her mouth had dropped open in shock.

  “Oh, no!” gasped Cinderella. “The pink pearl roses! Who would have done such a thing?”

  “I don’t know who would have done something like this,” Lady Tremaine replied coldly. “But I intend to find out. Look!” she suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the ground. “Some pink petals from my beautiful rosebush. It appears we have a clumsy thief o
n our hands! And I’m going to get to the bottom of this right now!”

  “Yeah!” sneered Anastasia. “Clumsy and foolish!” She laughed gleefully.

  “Are you saying that you stole the roses?” Drizella asked her sister nastily. “Because you’re the clumsiest fool I know!” She gave Anastasia a mean look.

  “Girls! Girls!” ordered Lady Tremaine. “That is not going to help us find the thief.” Then Lady Tremaine looked at Cinderella suspiciously.

  “Me? But how can you—” Cinderella began. “I would never—”

  “Follow the petals!” Lady Tremaine shouted angrily. “They will lead us to whoever is responsible for this!”

  Everyone quickly walked across the garden. The trail of rose petals led them through the garden, across the courtyard, into the château, and up the creaky, winding staircase that led to the attic.

  Gus’s heart started to pound wildly. They would find the roses in Cinderella’s room—and think that she had taken them! He didn’t want her to get in trouble.

  “This doesn’t make any sense!” Cinderella exclaimed as she followed Lady Tremaine up the attic stairs. “I didn’t cut the roses! I’ve been busy doing chores all day!”

  But Lady Tremaine didn’t even bother to answer her. With a loud slam, she flung open the door to Cinderella’s bedroom. It was filled with Lady Tremaine’s roses!

  “Then how do you explain this?” Cinderella’s stepmother asked her.

  Tears filled Cinderella’s eyes. “But I didn’t steal the roses!” she cried. “I would never do that. You must believe me!”

  “Oh, so I suppose someone else cut down my precious blooms and decided to hide them in your bedroom?” Lady Tremaine snapped.

  “But Stepmother—” Cinderella began.

  “Silence!” Lady Tremaine barked. “Not another word from you until you are ready to apologize. And until then, I’ll just have to find more chores for you to do.”

  “Wait! Stepmother, I didn’t—” Cinderella started.

  But with a swish of her silk gown, Lady Tremaine swept out of the attic. Anastasia and Drizella quickly followed behind her.

  Cinderella sat down on her bed and started to cry. “I would never steal Stepmother’s roses! Why won’t she believe me?” she said aloud.

  From the doorway, Gus gulped nervously. He crept across the room to Cinderella, then climbed up the wooden bedpost and sat next to her on the bed. “There, there, Cinderelly,” he said, patting her shoulder. “Don’t cry.

  Everything will be okay.”

  Cinderella looked down at Gus and smiled. “Thank you, Gus. What a kind mouse you are,” she said. But then she noticed how worried he looked.

  “What’s wrong, Gus?” she asked. “Do you know who stole the roses and then put them in my room?”

  Gus nodded miserably. “It was—it was—it was me,” he stuttered.

  “You?” Cinderella asked. “Oh, Gus, why did you do such a thing?”

  “Because I wanted to do something nice for you!” Gus exclaimed. “I didn’t know the roses belonged to anybody.”

  “It was very sweet of you to want to do something nice for me, Gus,” Cinderella told him. She looked at him kindly.

  Gus beamed up at Cinderella. He was so glad that she wasn’t mad at him!

  “But we must always be careful not to take something that belongs to someone else,” Cinderella continued. “Those roses were very special to Stepmother. In fact, every June she enters them into the village gardening competition. She’ll be so very disappointed when she can’t enter the contest this year. We have to do something.”

  Gus looked down sadly. He never wanted to cause such trouble.

  Cinderella stared into the distance. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “I know! We’ll go to the village and buy a new rosebush for Stepmother as a surprise!” Cinderella exclaimed. “She’ll be so happy to have her special roses growing in the garden again!”

  Gus’s eyes grew wide. “Village? What’s that, Cinderelly?” he asked.

  “Oh, Gus! The village is a wonderful place!” Cinderella exclaimed. “There are rows of shops and houses right next to one another. The streets are full of carts and carriages and people and horses!” Cinderella took one look at Gus’s excited face and smiled.

  Cinderella thought for a moment. “I know,” she said. “Since you’ve never been to a village before, you’ll have to come with me and help me pick out a new rosebush,” she told Gus.

  “Okay!” Gus said excitedly. He had just learned what a village was, and already he couldn’t wait to go!

  Cinderella hurried over to the table and picked up a small basket. She lined it with a pretty silk pillow and a soft handkerchief.

  “Here, Gus, hop in the basket,” she told him. “We should leave right away. The sooner we get back, the sooner we can surprise Stepmother with a beautiful new rosebush!”

  The warm sun shone down on Cinderella and Gus as they walked along the road to the village. It was a beautiful day.

  “Luckily, I ran out of silver polish just the other day,” Cinderella was telling Gus. “That’s why Lady Tremaine is letting me go to the village before my chores are finished.”

  But as Cinderella chatted, Gus could hardly pay any attention. He was too excited. What would the village look like? What kinds of things would he see? And most importantly, would there be yummy foods to eat there? He sure hoped so. Even though he had had breakfast earlier, he was starving again!

  Fortunately, Gus didn’t have to wait long to find out. Soon the buildings of the village appeared. Gus poked his head out of the basket as he tried to get a better view.

  Everything looked amazing! Gus hadn’t expected to see colorful banners fluttering in the breeze. He also was surprised by the jolly sounds of trumpets and drums. The little mouse smiled. This was even better than he had imagined!

  “Look, Gus!” Cinderella exclaimed. “I forgot that the annual village fair is today. Oh, it’s so much fun! There are games and music and a big parade and lots of delicious food. Even the Prince and the rest of the royal family come to the fair. Oh, it’s just absolutely wonderful!”

  Then Cinderella paused. “Gus, the village can be a very busy place,” she warned him. “Especially when the fair comes to town. So I think it might be best if you stay tucked in the basket, all right? You can still see everything that happens—just peek out the slats of the basket.”

  “Okay,” Gus promised, nodding his head eagerly. He didn’t want to cause any more trouble for Cinderella.

  “First stop, Madame Gilmore’s flower shop!” Cinderella announced. She walked over to a small building that was covered in dark green vines. When she opened the door, a little bell rang.

  Inside, the shop was quiet and dim and filled with all sorts of beautiful plants and flowers. Gus peeked his head out of the basket and cautiously looked around. “Cinderelly!” he squeaked. “These flowers are beautiful!” Gus took a deep breath as he smelled all the wonderful fragrances from the blooms.

  “I know!” Cinderella cried. “Isn’t it lovely?”

  Just then, a woman walked in carrying a large bouquet of daffodils. “Ah! Welcome,” she said, wiping dirt off her hands as she greeted Cinderella. Gus quickly dove back into the basket.

  “Hello, Madame Gilmore,” Cinderella said. “How are you today?”

  “Very well indeed, especially now that you’ve come to my shop,” Madame Gilmore replied. “Are you looking for something special today? Perhaps an orange tree for the orchard? A flowering shrub for a hedge? Or how about some plants or flowerpots for the terrace?”

  “I would like to buy a pink pearl rosebush, please,” Cinderella replied politely.

  “But of course,” Madame Gilmore said. “I just received a pink pearl rosebush last week. Look how magnificent it is!” she exclaimed, pointing to it.

  “It’s perfect!” cried Cinderella. “Stepmother will be absolutely delighted!” Cinderella smiled happily.

  “Ah, yes,” agreed Madame Gil
more. “This is her favorite flower, correct?”

  “It is,” Cinderella responded. “And I need it right away. Could you please deliver it to the château this afternoon?”

  “Of course,” Madame Gilmore said. “It will be my pleasure.”

  Cinderella reached into the basket for a gold coin to pay for the rosebush. Gus found one and handed it to her. Madame Gilmore never suspected that the little mouse was in the basket!

  “Thank you so much,” Cinderella said as she handed over the coin.

  “Thank you, my dear,” Madame Gilmore answered. “I will deliver the rosebush this afternoon.”

  With a little wave good-bye, Cinderella turned and left the flower shop. The village streets seemed to be even noisier and more crowded than when they had arrived. Everyone was thrilled about the fair!

  Cinderella opened the lid of the basket and peeked in at Gus. “How are you doing in there, little Gus?” she asked.

  “Very good, Cinderelly,” the mouse said. “I love the village!”

  “So do I,” Cinderella said. “But I really should hurry home and get back to my chores. Although the village fair does only come once a year . . . I suppose it wouldn’t do any harm to walk around for a little while. There are so many lovely things to see. Would you like that?”

  “Oh, yes!” Gus exclaimed.

  “Okay!” Cinderella laughed. Then she turned serious. “Now remember, Gus, stay in your basket and keep out of sight when there are people around. We’ve had quite enough trouble for one day, I think!”

  Gus jumped up and gave Cinderella a kiss on the cheek. Then he ducked back into the basket. He peeked through a crack so he could see what was happening.

  And what a lot there was to see! There were giant floats for the parade, and stands selling beautiful jewelry, fresh flowers, and brightly colored dresses.

  But Gus wasn’t interested in the fancy fabrics or sparkly jewels. He was interested in something else—something that made his nose twitch happily.

  Gus smelled his favorite food: cake! The sweet scent of vanilla and sugar drifted by in the breeze. His mouth started to water. What he wouldn’t do for just a bite—one little delicious bite!