Bless this Mouse Read Online Free PDF Page A

he said.
    "
What
won't?"
    Roderick hiccuped again, excused himself politely, then said in a determined voice, "We must eat his telephone book."
    ***
    It was certainly not going to be easy. Hildegarde and Roderick quickly gathered a group of stealthy, strong helpers. Frederick and Marvin were well known for having once gnawed through the base of the pantry door. They made an opening small enough that it went unnoticed by the humans, but large enough that during the night several regiments of mice entered and removed a great many peanut butter crackers that had been stored there for use on a Sunday School hiking trip.
    Jeremiah was famous in the church mouse community for having chewed access, once, through the base of a heavy polyurethane trash can at a time when a Youth Group pizza get-together had deposited many leftover crusts still daubed with cheese—quite a find.
    There were twelve of them altogether, most selected on the basis of their proven chewing ability, and a few, such as Norma and Charles, picked because of tidying skills. It was important not to leave any evidence, and so some mice had been chosen to be the cleanup squad.
    Now, knowing that Father Murphy, next door at the rectory, was watching a football game on television and drinking a beer, which would make him very sleepy very soon, the team of mice, all twelve, gathered in the narthex. The church was empty and silent. There was no need to sneak, for a change. So, boldly, they marched, two by two, led by Hildegarde and Roderick, down the center aisle, singing "Onward Christian Soldiers" as loudly as their squeaky little voices could manage.

    Then, after they had turned right at the chancel and passed through the south transept into a hallway, they stopped singing. At the end of the hall they entered Father Murphy's office silently in single file. The room was tidy, with everything neatly arranged. His cache of candy was well hidden, and the solitaire game was gone from the table, the playing cards neatly in their box. Magazines were stacked and the newspaper was folded.
    Good. Hildegarde had worried that it might be in a drawer, but the thick telephone book was right there on his desk.
    "It's huge," squeaked Frederick.
    "Humungous," Jeremiah agreed, "and it won't even taste good."
    One by one, Hildegarde leading the way, they jumped first onto Father Murphy's chair and then to the desktop. They surrounded the thick book, eyeing it with apprehension. "I have a thought," Hildegarde said suddenly.
    They waited, listening.
    "If we could open it..." she began.
    "I think we can!" Marvin said. Marvin was the strongest of all the mice. He moved forward and put his front paws on the side of the book. He riffled the edges of the pages. "If we all push at once, it will open, I think."

    "Well," Hildegarde explained, "if we can push it open to the Xs—"
    "Brilliant!" interrupted Roderick. "Why bother eating the As or
Bs
or Cs? We just need to find—"
    "THE GREAT X!" the mice shouted in unison.
    They lined up along the edge of the book. "Count of three," Frederick said. "One, two..."
    "Three!" Everyone shouted squeakily, and pushed. The thick book opened slightly at the middle.
    "Hop inside and keep pushing!" Frederick directed. Huffing and puffing, the mice scrambled up the side and into the opening. "I'm too old for this," Hildegarde complained. But she held her own.
    "Now push!" Frederick commanded. "Really, really hard!"
    Grunting with the effort, they all pushed and the book opened wider. "Don't let go, or we'll be squashed!" called Jeremiah. Determinedly they pushed and pushed, and finally the book fell completely open on the desk.

    "Whew!" Hildegarde fell back in exhaustion. Around her, the eleven others all collapsed on the open pages, panting but triumphant.
    "Uh-oh," Roderick muttered, looking down. "We opened to the
Ps.
"
    "How far is that from X?" asked Norma. "I can never remember the alphabet."
    "Quite a distance, I'm afraid," Hildegarde said.