The Kidnapped King (6 page)

Pal grabbed the shoe in his mouth and dropped it at Josh’s feet.

“I WAS RIGHT!” Ruth Rose yelled. She picked up the shoe and held it upside down.

On the sole, stuck to a wad of gum, was a piece of shiny yellow glass.

“The dog was after a nasty piece of gum?” Mr. Linkletter asked.

“No,” Dink said. “That piece of glass is from Sammi’s kaleidoscope! This means the kidnappers brought Sammi here, to the hotel!”

“Donald, you’re giving me a headache,” Mr. Linkletter said, taking his shoe back. He pulled the gum off and slipped the loafer back on his foot. “Who is Sammi?
What
kidnappers?”

Dink told Mr. Linkletter about Sammi’s disappearing from his bed. Then he explained about Joan Klinker’s
French lesson, Sammi’s kaleidoscope, and the trail of yellow glass.

“Now my mom’s missing, too,” Dink said. “And I think Joan Klinker kidnapped them both! She might be keeping them up in her room!”

“Um, Dink?” Josh said. “Officer Fallon said Sammi was taken away in a boat. How could he be in the hotel and in a boat at the same time?”

“I don’t know,” Dink said. “But I still want to check out Joan Klinker’s room. That piece of glass on your shoe proves Sammi was here!”

Mr. Linkletter sighed and set down his half-eaten doughnut. “Very well,” he said. “Ms. Klinker has room 301. I’ll take you up there, but you must be very quiet. Our guests don’t expect crowds of children parading about the halls.” He looked down at Pal. “But the hound has to stay down here. The Shangri-la
does
not
permit animals upstairs!”

“But he can smell stuff,” Josh said. “We need him!”

Mr. Linkletter looked at Pal’s big brown eyes. “Oh, all right. What’s one more broken rule?”

The kids and Pal followed Mr. Linkletter into the elevator.

When it stopped on the third floor, they all walked quickly to room 301. A man in a white uniform was pushing a cart full of linens down the hall and around the corner.

Mr. Linkletter unlocked the door and pushed it open.

Joan Klinker’s bed was made and two suitcases stood on the floor.

“Do your thing,” Josh whispered into Pal’s ear.

Pal walked in a wide circle, sniffing the carpet. Suddenly, he made a beeline for the closet and began scratching at the door.

Josh opened the closet door and Pal rushed in.

Dink noticed that the closet was empty. Joan Klinker had packed everything.

“What’s in there, boy?” Josh asked, getting down on his hands and knees.

While Pal and Josh searched the closet floor, Dink and Ruth Rose looked under the bed and in the bathroom.

Suddenly, Josh backed out of the closet. “Look what Pal found!” he cried. In his hand, he held a small piece of yellow glass.

“You were right, Dink,” Ruth Rose said. “Sammi must have been in this room!”

Just then, Pal raced from the room with his nose to the floor. The next thing they heard was Pal barking and growling.

Everyone followed him, just in time to see Pal attack the white linen cart.
He bit at the side of the cart and tried to pull it back along the floor.

The man in the white uniform pushed the cart in the other direction.

“Get outta here, mutt!” the man yelled, kicking at the dog.

That wasn’t a good idea. Pal grabbed the man’s pants cuff in his teeth and began thrashing and growling.

“Pal, no!” Josh shouted. He pulled Pal away, but the hound was still barking at the man.

Mr. Linkletter looked at the man. “Who are you?” he asked.

“Just collectin’ the laundry,” the man said, glaring at Pal.

Mr. Linkletter pointed to the words stitched into the man’s shirt. “But we don’t use Ace Laundry Service,” he said.

Suddenly, the man bolted for the
elevator. But he tripped over Pal’s leash and fell on his face.

Mr. Linkletter moved spryly and sat on the man’s back. “What are you doing in this building?” he demanded.

“I ain’t talkin’!” the man mumbled with his face in the carpet.

“Help me, guys,” Dink said, grabbing the side of the cart. With a solid yank, the kids toppled it over.

A mountain of sheets and towels piled out onto the floor.

In the bottom of the cart lay Sammi, tied and gagged.

The three kids slid Sammi out of the cart and laid him gently on the floor. While Dink and Josh worked on the knots, Ruth Rose pulled away his gag.

Before Sammi could speak, Pal waddled over and covered his face with wet dog kisses.

Sammi gave Pal a big hug. Then he sneezed.

They all jumped when the elevator door slid open and Joan Klinker stepped
out. When she saw Sammi and the man on the floor, her face turned as white as the sheets.

“You—you’ve found Sammi!” Joan said, rushing to his side.

“Ain’t that cute!” the man on the floor said. “Well, I ain’t taking this rap alone! She’s the one planned the whole thing! We done it together.”

“What are you talking about?” Joan said. “I—I’ve never seen this man in my life!”

The man let out a cackle. “What a
lousy thing to say about your own husband!” he said.

Just then, the elevator door slid open again. Dink’s mother and Officer Fallon stepped into the hallway.

“Well, well,” Officer Fallon said. “Good thing I brought two pairs of handcuffs!”

An hour later, Joan Klinker and her husband, Nick, were in jail.

Mr. Linkletter went back to finish eating his doughnut.

Dink, Josh and Pal, Ruth Rose, Sammi, and Dink’s mom joined Officer Fallon in the police station.

“You were pretty clever to leave that trail of yellow glass,” Officer Fallon told Sammi.

“Thank you,” Sammi said. “I hoped Dink would remember that the French word for yellow sounds like ‘Joan.’ ”

“I did remember,” Dink said. “But Josh’s dog was the one who found most of the glass.”

Josh beamed and patted Pal’s head. “Good dog,” he said.

“Well, Ms. Klinker and her husband sang like little birds,” Officer Fallon said. “They planned this thing carefully. After they stashed Sammi in the closet upstairs, they brought one of his slipper tassels to the river to throw us off the trail.”

“I heard them talking in the car,” Sammi said. “They were going to take me back to Costra. I would have disappeared, just like my parents. Then my father’s enemies would have taken over our country.”

Dink looked at his mom. “How did you know we were at the hotel?” he asked.

“Well, I met Joan outside Ellie’s,”
Dink’s mother said. “She said she was happy to be out of the hotel and suggested we go for a walk. Naturally, we talked about the kidnapping, and she mentioned Sammi’s slipper tassel being found at the river.”

“Which she shouldn’t have known about, right?” said Ruth Rose.

Dink’s mother smiled. “Right. And when I happened to mention the trail of yellow glass, she suddenly hurried away. She said she had something important to do at the hotel. So I came right here to see Officer Fallon.”

Officer Fallon smiled at the three kids. “But by the time we got to the hotel, you three had everything under control.”

Just then, Officer Fallon’s computer said, “You’ve got mail!”

“Ah, I’ve been waiting for this e-mail,” he said.

He moved his computer mouse,
clicked twice, and smiled. “You should all hear this, so I’ll read it aloud.

“The king and queen of Costra have been found, thanks to your tip. They are alive and well. Both send love to their son. Want him to come home immediately.”

Everyone in the office cheered. Sammi looked shocked, and then he beamed.

“But how did you find them?” he asked Officer Fallon.

“Your kidnappers spilled the beans,” he said. “They were hired by the same guys who kidnapped your parents. They gave me names and places, so I just e-mailed the Costran police.”

The next day, Dink, Josh, Pal, and Ruth Rose said good-bye to Sammi. Each of the kids gave him a wrapped gift. Pal’s gift for Sammi was a big, wet lick on the cheek.

Sammi smiled, then sneezed.

Three weeks later, a large package arrived at Dink’s house. It was from Costra and addressed to all three kids.

“Dibs on the cool stamps!” Josh said.

Dink opened the parcel and found four smaller packages labelled
DINK, JOSH, RUTH ROSE
, and
PAL
.

Dink and Josh found small gold kaleidoscopes in their packages. Their names were spelled on the sides with tiny rubies.

“What’d he send you?” Josh asked Ruth Rose.

“OH, MY GOSH!” she screamed and held up a dark blue robe just like Sammi’s.

“Here’s a picture and a note,” Dink said. He read the note aloud.

The picture showed Sammi wearing the gifts the kids had given him—Ruth Rose’s sweatshirt, Josh’s jeans, and Dink’s baseball cap.

Suddenly, Pal let out a woof. “He wants us to open his package,” Josh said.

He helped Pal rip off the paper. Inside, they found a purple velvet doggy sweater,
GOOD DOG
had been stitched into the velvet with gold thread.

I hope you enjoyed reading
The Kidnapped King
. In this book, Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose have a new friend. He is a basset hound, and you first met him in
The Invisible Island
. I didn’t know what to name Josh’s new dog, so I asked for your help. Boy, did you come through for me! I received plenty of great ideas. It was a hard decision, but I finally chose Pal for the dog’s new name. Pal will be a pal for Josh and his friends. Thanks to all of you who sent in names.

Dorian Ponds suggested Pal as the dog’s name. Dorian attends Belleair School in Clearwater, Florida. Thank you, Dorian! I’m sure that Josh thinks Pal is a fine name for his pooch.

Please visit my Web site at

www.ronroy.com
or send your letters to: