Have a Mice Flight! Read online

  Read all the Commander in Cheese adventures!

  #1 The Big Move

  #2 Oval Office Escape

  #3 Have a Mice Flight!

  #4 The Birthday Suit

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2016 by Lindsey Leavitt, LLC

  Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2016 by AG Ford

  Photo permissions: this page–this page, this page, this page from the collection of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division online at loc.gov; this page from the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum; this page, this page, this page from the collection of the Federal Government at wikimedia.org

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Leavitt, Lindsey, author. | Ford, AG, illustrator.

  Title: Have a mice flight! / Lindsey Leavitt ; illustrated by Ag Ford.

  Description: New York : Random House, [2016] | Series: Commander in Cheese ; #3 | “A Stepping Stone Book.” | Summary: Ava and Dean Squeakerton, mouse siblings who live in the White House, hatch a plan to fulfill Ava’s dream of flying by sneaking aboard Air Force One, the president’s airplane.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2015038759 | ISBN 978-1-101-93118-9 (paperback) | ISBN 978-1-101-93119-6 (hardcover library binding) | ISBN 978-1-10193120-2 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCSH: Air Force One (Presidential aircraft)—Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Air Force One (Presidential aircraft)—Fiction. | Flight—Fiction. | Mice—Fiction. | Brothers and sisters—Fiction. | Presidents—Family—Fiction. | White House (Washington, D.C.)—Fiction. | Humorous stories. |

  BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, etc. | JUVENILE FICTION / People & Places United States General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.L46553 Hav 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  Ebook ISBN 9781101931202

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

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  Contents

  Cover

  Read All the Commander in Cheese Adventures!

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  The Presidents of the United States

  Mice Are Smart!

  By Horse, Train, or Car— These Presidents Went Far!

  Air Force One: Past

  Air Force One: Present

  Air Force One

  Excerpt from Commander in Cheese: The Birthday Suit

  To MacKay, Emilia, and Miles

  Dream big, small, and all the spaces in between

  Humans think they’re the only dreamers in the animal kingdom. This is not true. All animals dream. And not just nighttime dreams—day dreams too. Yes, humans dream about bigger things. They want to ride unicorns or find pots of gold.

  Animals are much simpler. Here are some common animal dreams:

  1. Dogs dream about fetching a stick.

  2. Chickens dream about crossing a road without humans making jokes about it.

  3. C-a-t-s dream about ruling the world because they are evil.

  4. Pandas dream about bamboo. And more bamboo. And more bamboo.

  5. Sloths dream about…nothing. Well, they dream about more sleep. Sloths can be pretty boring.

  Mice are smart animals, and so they have smart dreams. Ava Squeakerton wanted to do more than just look for cheese all day. Ava wanted to fly in the air. For many mice, making this dream come true would be very hard—mice don’t have wings or money to buy airline tickets.

  The Squeakerton family had lived in the White House for over two hundred years. Ava and her brother, Dean, knew they were very lucky to live in such an important building. There was always food. They had Gregory, their Secret Service mouse, to look after them. And they were a part of history!

  Ava and Dean were happy little mice.

  Still, Ava would sit on the White House roof and dream her big dream. She could watch the birds fly overhead, but she never talked to them. Some birds ate mice. She didn’t want her first time flying to be in a bird’s mouth.

  Ava tried to brainstorm ideas with her brother.

  “What if we parachuted?” she asked Dean.

  “What if we made a trampoline blanket?” she asked Dean.

  “What if we rolled around in feathers?” she asked Dean.

  What if, what if, what if. None of Ava’s plans ever seemed to work. But Ava just wasn’t thinking big enough. She didn’t need to jump off a building. The most important plane in the world was within her reach.

  Air Force One. The president’s plane.

  This is the story of how Ava and Dean got on that plane. The big question is, would they ever get off?

  Ava and Dean had lived in the White House for a very long time—their whole lives actually. They’d seen all sorts of important people walking around their house. Royalty, actors, and athletes all wore very fancy shoes. There weren’t a lot of kids walking in the halls, though. Adults did all the important human jobs, and the White House invited all the important humans.

  President Caroline Abbey had two children, Macey and Banks. Macey was nine, and Banks was seven. The president’s kids were very excited about their new home. They wanted to explore everything! This might not seem like a problem, but it was.

  “Where are Macey and Banks today?” Ava asked Gregory.

  Gregory looked at a clipboard. “The better question is, where aren’t they? They’ve been in the bowling alley, the movie theater, the pool, and the kitchen.”

  “So we can’t go anywhere?” Dean flopped onto a couch. They were in the common room, a very large room hidden in the walls of the White House. This was where the mice came to relax or play. Dean and Ava liked exploring better.

  “You can’t go in a room when the kids are there,” Gregory said. “Your aunt Agnes has tried to create a pattern of their movements, but human kids can be very wild.”

  Ava twirled her tail. “Yesterday, the kids played hide-and-seek around the whole house, and we couldn’t go anywhere.”

  “So?” Gregory said. “One hundred years ago, your ancestors didn’t even have electricity!”

  “Mice have bad eyesight. We use our whiskers. So what do we need electricity for?” Dean asked.

  Ava sighed. “Look, Gregory. We just want to go in the movie theater for a little while.”

  “See! You want to use electricity.” Gregory glared at Dean before checking his clipboard. “Movie time is at five today. You can go in there then.”

  Dean pouted. “But I’m bored.”

  “Bored? BORED?” Gregory roared.

  Bored was not a w
ord you used around Gregory. He tried to erase boredom. How did he do that? By doing more boring things.

  “If you’re bored, you can clean the common room. You can organize the Treasure Rooms. You can read history books and learn that little mice used to have to work around here!”

  “I’ll go do my homework,” Dean said. “Come on, Ava.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Gregory said. “BORED? You live in the White House!”

  Ava and Dean hurried out of the room and down a tunnel. If they didn’t get away from Gregory, he might go on all day.

  “Let’s just peek into the movie room,” Dean said. “If the president’s kids aren’t in there, we can stay.”

  “But that room isn’t on the mouse schedule right now,” Ava said. “It’s out of bounds.”

  “When has that stopped us before?” Dean hopped through a mouse hole.

  It was true. Ava and Dean loved adventure. They would stay safe. If they didn’t, Gregory would find them.

  Someone had left a movie playing. It was a cartoon about talking animals. What a great surprise! Ava and Dean ran around the room looking for treats. They found hard candy and popcorn on the floor.

  “Jackpot!” Ava said.

  Dean nibbled on a kernel. “And Gregory thought this wasn’t safe.”

  The door to the theater room opened. Ava and Dean ran into a mouse hole.

  The mice could see feet. Kids’ feet.

  “Oops. We left the movie on,” Banks said.

  “Where are the lights in here?” His sister, Macey, turned on the lights. “I need to find my backpack so we can go.”

  Ava and Dean paused. The kids were just stopping in the room for a little while.

  “Let’s wait a bit,” Dean said. “We can grab those snacks after they leave.”

  “Okay,” Ava agreed. “Too bad they’re turning off the movie. It looks like a good one.”

  “Ugh, my backpack isn’t in here!” Macey threw up her hands. “I bet it’s in my bedroom.”

  “You leave that backpack everywhere,” Banks said. “We have to hurry.”

  Macey smiled. “I know. It’s our first time on Air Force One. I can’t wait to tour the airplane!”

  The kids left, and Dean hurried back into the room. “I wonder if there’s any chocolate left over. They keep the White House so clean, it’s hard to find good floor snacks.”

  Ava did not follow her brother. Ava did not move. She could not believe what she had just heard. Macey was going to tour Air Force One. The president’s plane! This was Ava’s chance. Finally.

  “Uh…I gotta go. Bye!” Ava was too excited to tell Dean what she was thinking. Plus, she didn’t want him to say no to her plan.

  “Wait…Ava!” Dean ran after his sister. He followed her down the tunnel. He followed her right into the kids’ bedroom. Ava and Dean had been in there once before, but it was not a room mice usually visited.

  “Ava! Where are you going?” Dean asked.

  Ava jogged around the room. She looked under a bed. She climbed onto a chair. Finally, she smiled and hopped down.

  “Macey is looking for her backpack. Macey is also getting on Air Force One.”

  “But…what does that have to do with you?” Dean asked.

  Ava rolled her eyes. “Obviously, I’m getting in that backpack so I can go too. I’ve always wanted to see a real plane. This is my big chance!”

  Get on an airplane? Had his sister gone crazy? Wasn’t living in the White House a big enough deal? Now she wanted to leave?

  “Ava, let’s think about this,” Dean said.

  “I’ve thought about this a lot,” Ava said. “I’ve thought about this my whole life! I’ve waited and wished and wished and waited. Now this is my chance.”

  “But…but…”

  Ava pushed past her brother. Macey’s red backpack was in the corner of the room. Ava unzipped the zipper and wiggled into the front pocket. No one ever really uses the front pocket, so it was a good place to hitch a ride.

  “You can get in trouble.” Dean twisted his tail. “Like serious trouble. Not just Gregory trouble. Like being-lost-forever trouble.”

  “Did someone say trouble?” Gregory ran into the room. He didn’t look happy. Surprise, surprise. “Kids. Come on. If you’re going to run through the tunnels, don’t be so loud! I thought you were doing homework.”

  Ava waved at Gregory from the backpack. “Sorry, Gregory. I’m going on a mission.”

  “What kind of mission?” Gregory asked.

  Before she could answer, the door clicked open. Gregory and Dean ran inside a shoe. Mice have to hide all the time. Sometimes they get sick of it.

  “Oof, this shoe smells,” Dean whispered.

  “Oh good. My backpack is in here,” Macey said. “Banks, go tell Mom I’m on my way. I need to brush my hair first.”

  Banks stomped out of the room. “Sisters are so bossy!”

  As soon as Macey and Banks were out of the room, Dean and Gregory ran over to the backpack. “Ava! Ava! Come on. Get out.”

  “No way!” came Ava’s muffled reply. “I’m getting on a plane. And you can’t stop me!”

  The bathroom door opened. Gregory and Dean took one look at each other and jumped into the backpack. Gregory had just zipped them in when Macey picked up her bag and started walking.

  The mice squished together in the little pocket.

  “I can’t breathe,” Dean whispered.

  Ava tugged the zipper open a bit for air. “You didn’t have to come. I would have been fine.”

  “Fine?” Gregory sputtered. “Do you know how dangerous this is? What kind of risk you just took?”

  “No, but I bet you’ll tell me.” Ava rolled her eyes.

  “I sure will,” Gregory said. “We can get dropped. Smashed. Thrown in with the cargo. Eaten by traveling pets. Die from no air, food, water…”

  Dean squeezed his sister’s tail. “I don’t think this is the smartest thing you’ve ever done, but I’m excited.”

  Ava clapped her claws. “Me too!”

  They bumped against each other as Macey ran down the White House steps. They stayed quiet as they heard car doors open and Macey slid into the car.

  “Ready to go?” the president asked her daughter.

  “Yes! I’m so happy. How long is the drive?”

  “We have a presidential motorcade, honey,” the president said. “That’s a whole line of cars. It shouldn’t take long. We’ll take Marine One back to the White House from Base Andrews.”

  Macey slid her backpack onto the floor of the limo. The three mice slid into each other.

  “Your foot is on my face,” Dean said to Gregory.

  “Quiet!” Gregory hissed. “What do you think will happen if they find three mice in the car with the president of the United States?”

  “They’re taking a Marine One back!” Ava said. “That’s the name of the president’s helicopters. So a car, then a plane, then a helicopter. It’s perfect.”

  The mice were not as comfortable as the humans on the drive, but they were used to dark and cramped spaces. Ava counted fourteen bumps in the road. After what felt like days but was probably only an hour, the car stopped.

  “Here we are!” the president said. “Welcome to Andrews Air Force Base!”

  “Andrews Air Force Base,” Ava said. “This is very official. Very important.”

  “You live in the White House.” Gregory straightened his tie. “Isn’t that big enough for you? Why do you have to go on a plane too?”

  “Because I’m a big dreamer,” Ava said firmly. “We’re already here, Gregory. You might as well learn to like it.”

  Macey lifted her backpack from the floor of the car. Ava waited until Macey had strapped it onto her shoulders before undoing the zipper a little bit so the mice could peek outside.

  In front of them was a huge stretch of road. Dean and Ava had seen roads from the roof of the White House but not something that went on forever like this. Ava had read eno
ugh books about flight to guess that this was a runway.

  Macey turned around to say something to her mom. This gave the mice a chance to view the other direction. They were by an airplane hangar, which is where airplanes are kept. Of course. This was a very large building because Air Force One was a very large plane. The white building was shaped like a hexagon with six sides and large columns on each corner.

  “Don’t we have to go through security?” Macey asked.

  “There is lots of security,” Banks said. “Graham said they even have a trained army dog sniff all the bags.”

  The mice did not like the idea of a dog sniffing them. Who does?

  “The Abbey family won’t have the same rules,” the president said. “So I’m not sure if a dog sniffs us. My staff, the reporters, and the flight crew do have to go through a lot of security. Not just anyone gets to fly on here. Airplane safety is very important.”

  The president’s family walked into the hangar. The air was cool, and everything was clean. The floor was shiny. The ceilings were so high you could hardly see the top. It was one of the most amazing sights the kids had ever seen.

  “This is huge!” Banks said.

  “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore,” Macey said.

  Banks and Macey lived in Kansas before they moved to the White House. Their mom was the governor there before she became president. Kansas was very far away. Kansas was never this fancy either.

  Two identical airplanes were parked inside, one with an open door and stairs. Both airplanes were white on the top and blue on the bottom, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA written on the side in bold letters. The presidential seal was also painted on the side.

  Dean tugged on Ava’s tail and pointed at the second plane. “Why are there two planes?” Dean asked.

  “Air Force One is the name of any plane flying the president,” Ava said. “There are two planes used as Air Force One.”

  “Huh. We should have two White Houses,” Dean said.

  Gregory snorted. “Two White Houses. Ridiculous.”

  The children wandered over to the front of the airplane. Macey ran her hands along the wheel. A group of men in suits stood behind them. When you’re the president’s kid, there are always men in suits around you.