Fashion Frenzy (12 page)

She managed to swing her bag onto her shoulder in a momentarily comfortable position. “Okay, let’s go!” she said, but when she looked up, Katani was far ahead of her.

“Hey, Kgirl! Wait up!”

Katani did not turn around, and the crowds seemed to get thicker and thicker as Maeve got closer to the stairs. She made a beeline for the staircase in the center, where she had seen Katani go. She clung to the sturdy metal railing as she tottered up the stone steps in her high-heeled boots. The bag was miraculously in the right position for once, and she found the pin that was sticking in to her shoulder and closed it. But now she could feel the blisters on her feet growing with each step.
Tonight
, she promised herself grimly,
I’ll put away these dumb boots and wear my sneakers for the rest of the weekend
!

As she approached the top of the steps, Maeve saw the young woman from the train carrying the baby she’d noticed. It looked so sweet, with its head lying on its mother’s shoulder, its little fists still clenched, looking completely relaxed and trusting. Maeve smiled as the young woman went swiftly past her.

And then as she looked to the top of the stairs again, she thought her heart would stop.

Katani was no longer in sight.

She’d been right there a second ago! Right at the top of the stairs—Maeve had been watching! Suddenly, there was no sign of her!

Panicked, Maeve pounded up the last few steps and emerged into the heart of Times Square. There had to be a million people around her. Her chance of finding Katani was about as good as finding a needle in a haystack.

Maeve looked around in horror. Everyone in New York moved so
fast
! They all seemed to know exactly where they
were going and wasted no time in getting there. Maeve had never seen anyone, other than Olympic athletes, move faster! She was completely overwhelmed.

She looked in all directions as quickly as she could. It was almost impossible to spot any one person because the crowds were so dense. And she felt paralyzed.
This is like one of those nightmares where you want to move but can’t
, she thought to herself. With her heavy bag and pinching boots Maeve slowly tromped on, craning her neck for any sign of Katani.

Then it dawned on her: she was actually in Times Square. For years she had imagined standing in the middle of Times Square as a famous actress, waving graciously to crowds, completely confident in the spotlight, relishing the long theatrical history of Broadway…The Great White Way.

Now she was not so confident. Across the street there was a man with a boa constrictor writhing around his body. Next to him a lady wearing a cardboard sign was trying to talk to anyone who passed by. “Toto, it looks like we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Maeve said to herself. What would she do if she couldn’t find Katani? With no directions, Maeve didn’t think she could find the
Teen Beat
offices if her life depended on it. She was ready to burst into tears.

Then a glint of gold caught her eye. It was Katani’s hand-painted golden scarf. And above the scarf, thank goodness, was the back of Katani’s head. Katani was just stepping onto a curb across the street.

Oh, what a relief! Maeve didn’t even feel her feet
aching or the strap of her bag cutting into her shoulder. She ran frantically across the street keeping her eyes glued to Katani. “BEEEP!” Suddenly Maeve heard the screech of tires and the shriek of car horns. She looked to her left. Yellow cabs all around were jerking to a halt, and the drivers were leaning out the windows, their faces snarling. At her.

“What the heck are you doing?” shouted one guy. “Are ya tryin’ to cause an accident…or get yerself killed?!”

Maeve, horrified, just gaped at him. She couldn’t think what to say.

“Hey, doofus! Get outta the street already!” shouted another angry cab driver.

A third was rolling down the driver’s-side window. Maeve noticed that this one was a tough-looking woman, but she hoped the woman understood how terrified she was. Maybe she’d even stick up for her and tell those guys to stop mouthing off.

Not exactly. The woman rolled down the window and shouted, “Move it or lose it, kid, I ain’t got all day!”

Maeve’s heart, which had been pounding hard before, now felt like it was going to explode. She thought she was going to collapse right in the middle of Times Square. Maeve took a deep breath and called, “Sorry. I’m sorry!” to the cabbies as she ran across the street.

She was furious at Katani and wondered what she would say when she reached her.
How could she have left me alone like that
? Maeve asked herself.

She followed Katani’s distinctive duffle coat up one more block and then finally caught up. Maeve grabbed
her shoulder and cried, “Hey! Why did you ditch me, Katani?”

“Excuse me?” The girl in the duffle coat turned around. “Do I know you?” She was at least ten years older than Maeve and Katani.

The puzzled girl stared at Maeve, who shrank back, frightened. She didn’t know what New Yorkers did to strange young girls who yanked them by the shoulder—even if it was an honest mistake.

“I’m so sorry,” Maeve mumbled. “I thought you were my friend.”

The girl nodded and her face stopped looking so grim. “You lost?”

“Yes,” Maeve choked back.

“You need help?” the girl asked.

Maeve wasn’t sure how her father would feel about her getting help from a stranger. She shook her head and walked away, leaving the girl looking confused behind her. Maeve thought she really would die right there. How could she find this place if she couldn’t ask strangers for help? This was a terrible, terrible moment. Maeve felt her eyes begin to fill up.

She knew that in an instant the dab of mascara she had put on would be in two long streaks down her face. Maeve reached in her pocket to grab a tissue and something incredible happened. There was no tissue! The only thing in her pocket was the slip of paper Katani had given her with
Teen Beat
’s office address and phone number written on it. Hallelujah! This would save her. Now at least she knew where she was supposed to go.

Then Maeve remembered that her father had given her his cell phone last night. She could call her mom and ask her to look up directions on the Internet. That would help. It couldn’t be far, since Katani had made them get off the subway in Times Square.
It’s probably not more than a block or two away
, Maeve told herself. Like Michelle’s apartment last night.
Everything in New York is sort of compressed. I’ll just call Mom and find out. Maybe Katani’s even there by now
.

She opened her enormous tapestry bag to get the phone and then froze. She knew she forgot something in the apartment that morning, but Katani had rushed her out so quickly! The cell phone was still on the charger in the study, exactly where she’d left it last night.
Big
help.

H
ey, Izzy has been gone a while,” Avery noticed, looking around the Mummy Room. She’d gotten so absorbed in the sarcophaguses and mummies and reading about the embalming process that she’d completely forgotten about Isabel and her mummy-phobia.

“Where
did
she go?” Charlotte looked around, puzzled. “I could have sworn she was right back there sketching.”

“Me too.” Avery inspected the gallery. “Hey, Char, check it out!” Behind a large column, at the other end of the room, stuck out a snippet of a red shirt. They crept over to find Isabel hunched over her sketchpad, looking like she wished she could disappear.

Charlotte and Avery looked at each other. “What is she doing?” Avery asked. “Hey, Izzy! Rejoin the living, will you?”

Isabel, startled, quickly put a finger on her lips to shush Avery, but it was too late. Danny’s head spun around at the mention of Isabel’s name. Isabel knew it was only a matter
of time before he’d corner her with more mind-numbing Egyptian trivia, speckled with Spanish phrases. Maybe he really liked her, or maybe he just wanted to be her friend, but one more minute with Danny and she was sure she would scream. Crouched behind the column, she tilted her head to warn Charlotte and Avery of Danny’s impending approach.

“Uh-oh,” Avery said, turning around. “Trouble.”

Charlotte saw it too.

Isabel motioned for the girls to lean in closer and whispered, “It’s been like this all day!” Isabel looked like she didn’t know if she was going to burst out laughing or crying. She whispered a little louder. “Danny won’t leave me alone. It’s like he can’t wait to tell me everything he knows about everything.” Isabel beckoned them to circle in front of her. “You can be my shield.”

Avery glanced at Charlotte and grinned. “Looks like it’s time for Operation BSG Rescue,” she whispered. “Follow me!”

Avery did a 180-degree jump and landed directly between Isabel and Danny. “Oh, hi, Danny,” she said, trying to sound casual. “How are you liking the museum?”

Danny looked flustered as he tried to catch a glimpse over Avery’s shoulder. “Umm, it’s good…,” he stuttered.

In a minute, Charlotte was crowding in next to Avery so Danny was completely blocked off from his favorite person in the world. Isabel gave her friends her most grateful smile.

“Okay, well, have a nice day!” Avery told him, then exclaimed, “Hey, Isabel! What a surprise!” She grabbed
Isabel’s arm. “I’ve been looking all over for you! I really, really need to um, go to the ladies’ room, don’t you?”

“Oh, totally!” Isabel managed. “
Excellent
idea!” She stuffed her sketchbook in her bag. Before Danny was able to say more than, “Hey Isabel, did you know that…?” the girls were off. In a minute, they had made it to the ladies’ room at the end of the hall and piled in.

“This isn’t far enough,” Isabel said. “I bet you anything he’ll come after me!” She opened the door of the ladies’ room a crack and moaned. “Oh, no. He’s already there waiting for us!”

The other girls looked out too. Sure enough, Danny was sauntering down the hall at a casual but deliberate pace about a hundred yards away. He pretended to be looking at the pictures but the girls could see him stealing glances at the ladies’ room door.

“He’d make an excellent bodyguard!” Avery giggled.

“I think we should keep going,” Isabel said in a low voice. “Past those glass cabinets. Quick!” The girls slinked out of the bathroom one by one, and—pressed to the wall
Mission Impossible
style—shuffled past some old-looking glass cabinets called “vitrines.”

“There!” Charlotte pointed. They rounded the corner and found themselves in a nice long hallway with doors on either side. Isabel breathed a sigh of relief. It was soothingly quiet in the empty hallway.

Charlotte peered out around the corner. “Hey guys, I think we lost him. He must think we’re still in the ladies’ room.”

Isabel leaned gratefully against one of the tall columns,
tilting her head back to look up at the high ceiling. “You guys saved my life,” she said. “He’s been following me all day long.”

“And doing what?” Charlotte asked.

Isabel groaned. “Telling me absolutely everything he knows about ancient Egypt. I mean, some of it was interesting, but he just wouldn’t stop. It’s like he drank ten cups of coffee or something. Oh! And get this! He keeps randomly using Spanish words that don’t always make sense, like what a ‘
bonita
idea’!” Isabel complained. “And he says my name with a Spanish accent.”

Charlotte covered her mouth to keep from laughing. “Oh geesh!” Avery said, rolling her eyes.

“Tell me about it!” Isabel agreed. “He was completely in my way when I was trying to sketch. There are so many cool things to draw here, and I haven’t been able to finish even one!” She threw down her bag, totally exasperated.

“Well, did you tell him to bug off?” Avery asked.

Isabel sighed. “I would have, but I was afraid I might hurt his feelings. I’d hate to do that. I tried to give him hints, but boy, he just doesn’t get it! And to think, I was looking forward to this trip so much.”

“So wait, he really spoke Spanish?” Charlotte asked.

Isabel closed her eyes and shook her head. “Oh you should have heard him. There are American ducks who speak better Spanish than him.”

Avery started to giggle, and soon Charlotte and Isabel joined in. The thought of Danny trying to impress Isabel by speaking bad Spanish to her was hilarious. Soon Isabel felt herself slowly regaining her usual upbeat attitude…now
that her friends were nearby and Danny wasn’t.

“We probably shouldn’t stay here for too much longer,” Charlotte said when they’d finally stopped laughing. “We need to get back to our group.”

Avery flattened herself against the wall and peeked cautiously around the corner. “Uh-oh,” she reported. “Danny’s pretending to look at the dioramas with scenes of the Nile and pyramids.”

“And he’ll keep looking at them until Isabel shows up again,” Charlotte said grimly. “Well, we can’t stay here forever. And what about our teachers? Ms. R and Ms. Weston will be worried about us.”

Avery cracked up again. “I’ll bet Ms. Rodriguez won’t even notice we’re gone…she’s probably too busy trying to find Ms. Weston!” The other two girls burst into laughter again. Poor Ms. Weston was never going to live down her reputation for being “lost in space.”

Avery peeked around the corner again, but this time her eyes widened. “Okay, bad news! Danny’s left the diorama and he’s coming down the hall, right toward us! Abort mission!”

“We need to get out of here,” Isabel said nervously.

Avery looked down the long corridor. “Hey, there’s an open door,” she said. “Come on, let’s hide in there!”

Before the other girls could protest, she’d seized each one by the arm and hurried them into the dim room. Avery quickly pulled the door in behind them, leaving it open a crack.

“Whoa!” Charlotte said in a delighted voice, when her eyes adjusted to the low light.

Isabel looked around and her face erupted into a smile. There must have been some kind of storage room, because it was big, but crammed full of neat Egyptian objects. In the center of the room was a long wooden table, and on top of it were parts of various mummy cases and a number of small items with paper tags on them—hand mirrors, gold-plated combs, and tiny spoons. There were also charms made of glass and others of semi-precious stones. Earlier that day, the docent had told them that the charms were called amulets.

“Look at all this!” Isabel exclaimed. “These must be new additions to the collection or maybe things that need to be repaired. This is better than being in the main rooms! I’ll bet no one except the museum personnel ever gets to see this. Oh, I’ve got to sketch
that
!”

“What?” Charlotte asked.

Isabel pointed at a funny-looking charm in the shape of a bug. “It’s perfect. It’s so tiny and unique. I think they call it a
scarab
. Danny told me the Egyptians were very fond of scarab jewelry.”

“See Izzy, Danny did have some useful information,” said a grinning Charlotte.

“Let’s invite him in,” joked Avery.

“Don’t you dare,” warned Isabel. “This’ll just take a minute and then I’ll have something to submit to
The Sentinel
.” She leaned her sketchbook against the edge of the table and turned the charm just so to capture the light. Isabel quickly flipped to a blank page and began drawing.

“Um, Izzy, I don’t want to make you nervous, but…”
Charlotte slowly tilted her head in the direction of a large mummy case resting against the wall.

Isabel’s eyes widened. “I really don’t think we should be in here,” she said. “Come on, let’s just go.”

“Okay, don’t panic,” Charlotte said as she inspected the mummy. “It’s sealed shut! We have nothing to worry about.”

“Besides, Danny’s still out there,” Avery reminded her. “Wouldn’t leaving kind of defeat the purpose?” Avery had made one circle around the storage room and now was on her knees by the door peering through the keyhole. “Don’t worry. Danny will get bored in no time. There’s barely any art in this hallway! I’m sure he’ll leave soon.”

She pulled over a straight wooden chair and sat down next to the keyhole. “I’ll be on Danny patrol. Go ahead and draw, Iz, but make it quick. I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.”

So Isabel drew, Charlotte paced, and Avery stood guard. They definitely had NOT planned on spending their field trip hidden in a dim, dusty storage room! The real question was, when would Danny disappear?