Crisis in Crittertown Read Online Free PDF Page A

corner drawing. Miss Davis showed him a shelf full of comic books, which were stories told mostly with pictures.
    Nilla pointed at Jane and Ian. “What happened to their fur?”
    Grayson chuckled. “Nothing. They’re just redheads.”
    I explained, “Some humans have fire-colored hair.”
    Nilla stared. “They are all so strange!”
    â€œYou get used to them,” I said.
    Nilla looked skeptical. “Why would you want to get used to humans?”
    I felt too ashamed to answer. Was it wrong to like humans? Was I a traitor to mousekind?
    When the kids boarded their bus, I wanted to go with them! I wanted to see what Javier had been drawing. I wondered which books shy April had chosen, why Jane wanted to learn about ecology, and so much more. But we had a chance to explore the library, and that meant staying until closing time.

Chapter 5   The Cat’s Game
    The afternoon passed quickly. Grayson and I recognized some library patrons from the post office.
    I wondered if the library clan would let us spend the night, or if Grayson would get to stay under the stars—with the predators?
    Finally, only one car remained in the lot. Miss Davis opened a can of food for the cat. Then she turned off the lights and shut the door.
    We knew this must be closing time. General History’s voice called out of the darkness, “This way.” We followed him to a tunnel that opened into the basement. Red buttons on the water heater and furnace provided the only light. In their dim glow, we saw a neat row of mice.
    The first had dark brown fur like General History’s. But she seemed so sweet and gentle, and I liked her instantly. “I am Poetry. You met my brother, General History.”

    Poetry introduced us to a smart-looking mouse named Biographies; a chubby mouse known as Cookbooks; a sly, dark mouse named Mysteries; and a giggly white mouse named Humor.
    Many stood behind them, staring with friendly curiosity. Several called out names such as Computer Studies, Natural Sciences, and Local History. They seemed glad to meet us.
    At the end of the line, Poetry presented her grandfather, Nonfiction. His muzzle was as white as Brownback’s. He said, “Welcome! I hope you’ll join us for food and bring us news from beyond these walls.”
    At the word “news,” I glanced at Grayson. He’d also noticed how much Nonfiction resembled Brownback. This gave me hope. Could our colonies merge peacefully? If Dot were content with her canned food, maybe living in the library wouldn’t be too bad. I’d miss the cheese crackers, Mike, and the radio, but still…
    Cookbooks led us to a table made from several volumes of an encyclopedia. Nilla asked, “What’s an encyclopedia?” And then, “What’s alphabetical order?”
    Nonfiction patiently answered her questions. An encyclopedia was a set of books full of facts arranged in alphabetical order. I knew about alphabetical order from the phone books and files at the post office. Things were easier to find if you put the As together, then the Bs, Cs, and so on. I always felt kind of sorry for the Zs. Who wants to be last all the time?
    While Nilla struggled to learn to pronounce “alphabetical,” Cookbooks heaped the encyclopedia with acorns that smelled wonderful. She explained, “We remove the shells, sprinkle them with salty crumbs from the bottom of Miss Davis’s potato chip bag, then toast them over a light bulb.”
    Grayson took a bite. “That’s delicious!”
    Cookbooks beamed. “I might be the first mouse to invent a recipe.”
    Nonfiction put down his acorn and asked, “May I assume your visit relates to learning human language?”
    Grayson said, “We call it The Change.”
    Nonfiction nodded. “It certainly was a big change! We’ve spent the past six months learning about it.”
    â€œSix months?” I blurted