The New Year Dragon Dilemma (8 page)

“Well, thanks a lot,” Dink said to the two men. “My dad is waiting outside, so we’d better get going. He gets really mad when I’m late!”

Dink hustled Josh and Ruth Rose out the door.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Josh asked. “Your dad doesn’t even know where we are. And he never gets mad!”

“Follow me!” Dink said. He hurried toward the water, hoping the guy in the harbormaster shed wasn’t watching. Dink stopped when they reached a short
dock. He stepped behind a row of tall blue recycling bins.

“That’s the sailboat!” he said, pointing.

Josh and Ruth Rose just looked at him.

“The one I saw on that guy’s laptop in the aquarium!” Dink added.

“How did you know it was here?” asked Ruth Rose.

“I caught that guy Burk sneaking a peek at it,” Dink said. “After he told us he didn’t recognize Josh’s drawing, he looked right out the window at the boat.”

The boat was moored about fifty yards out into the water. It was painted green, but some of the paint was chipped away. The sails were down, but Dink could see that they were dirty. Someone’s T-shirt was pinned to a rope, flapping in the breeze. A rubber dinghy was tied to the aft end of the boat.

“I wonder if the laptop guy is out there,” Josh said.

“I don’t know,” Dink said, wishing he had binoculars.

Just then they heard a door slam behind them. They looked and saw a man leaving the harbormaster shed. He was hurrying toward the dock.

“Duck!” Ruth Rose said. All three of them scrunched down behind the recycling bins.

The man called Burk rushed past them and hurried out onto the dock. He was wearing a light-colored fisherman’s sweater. They watched him stop at the end of the dock.

Less than a minute later, a man on the sailboat stepped into the dinghy, untied the rope, and started the motor. It took only a minute or two to reach the end of the dock. He and Burk began talking. The dinghy driver remained seated in his boat with the motor running. Burk
stood on the dock, looking down at him. They both looked angry.

“The guy in the boat is Laptop Man!” Josh whispered to his two friends.

“I know,” Dink answered, keeping his voice low. “And I think Burk is the man I saw last night, running toward the swan float.”

“He’s small enough to climb that little ladder,” Ruth Rose said. “And I’ll bet anything that piece of yarn you found came from his sweater!”

“Right,” Dink said. “And when we saw the guy with the laptop at the aquarium, he was telling Burk to go to the swan float during the second fireworks. He even drew a picture for him. I’ll bet you he emailed it.”

“So let’s arrest them!” Josh said.

“We can’t prove they stole anything,” Dink said. “And even if we could, we have to tell the police.”

“Why don’t we call them right now?” Ruth Rose asked. “You’ve got your cell phone, right?”

Dink looked at Ruth Rose. “What would we say?” he asked.

“We could tell them we found a guy wearing a sweater that matches that piece of yarn,” Ruth Rose suggested.

“Guys, something is happening!” Josh whispered.

The man in the boat stood up. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out something small enough to conceal in one hand. He passed the object to Burk, who looked at it, then slipped it into his own pocket.

“What did he give him?” Josh asked.

“Could it be the ruby?” Ruth Rose asked. “There’s our proof!”

“No, the ruby was bigger,” Dink said. “It’s about the size of an apple. And if Burk stole the ruby last night and gave it
to Laptop Guy, why would he be giving it back to Burk now?”

The man in the dinghy shoved off, heading out toward his sailboat. Burk turned and walked back the way he’d come. He passed within two feet of
the recycling bins where the kids were hiding.

“He doesn’t look happy,” Ruth Rose said.

They watched him approach the harbormaster shed. But he didn’t go in. He kept walking toward the street.

“Where’s he going?” Josh asked.

“I don’t know, but wherever it is, we’re going, too!” Dink said.

The kids let Burk get about a hundred yards ahead of them, then they followed. Away from the water, the fog was thicker, making it difficult to see him.

Burk stopped at a street corner. He glanced at his watch, then looked around as if waiting for someone.

“What’s he doing?” Josh asked.

The kids were huddled next to a small food store that sold sandwiches. Delicious smells came through the open window.

Burk looked at his watch again, then leaned against a sign.

“Oh my gosh, look!” Ruth Rose said.

The sign Burk was leaning on said
CABLE CAR STOP
.

“He’s gonna get on a cable car!” Josh said.

Just then they heard a rattling noise. A cable car was headed down the street, slowing. Burk raised an arm, and the car stopped. They saw him leap on.

“We have to get on, too!” Dink said. “Let’s go!”

“But he’ll see us!” Josh said.

“Not if we get on the back,” Dink said. “See, there’s a little platform. Run!”

The kids sprinted and jumped onto the cable car just as it began moving. The car was crowded, and they hid behind a bunch of tourists with cameras and maps clutched in their hands.

“Can you see him, Josh?” Dink asked.

Josh was the tallest of the three. Standing on tiptoes, he peeked from
behind his sketchbook over the heads of the tourists. “He’s standing right by the front door,” he said.

The car sped along, swerving and clattering as the underground cable pulled it up the hill along its route. It stopped twice for new passengers. When
the car stopped a third time, the group of tourists clambered off, talking in a language the kids didn’t understand.

“He’s getting off, too!” Josh whispered.

The kids hopped off the rear of the car, keeping their eyes on Burk’s back as he headed into the fog.

“Where the heck are we?” Josh asked.

“I think I know,” Ruth Rose said. She bent over and picked up something. “Look at this.” She was holding a flower blossom.

“This is where the parade was last night!” Dink said.

“Look at the ground,” Ruth Rose said. “There are blossoms everywhere. They fell off the floats.”

Burk walked slowly through the fog. The kids followed him, their footsteps muffled by the dampness.

He stopped in front of a building the
size of Dink’s school back home—it was the warehouse where they’d seen the dragon!

“What’s he doing?” Dink asked.

Burk had walked up to the door. The kids watched him pull something from his pocket. They heard a click, then a rattling noise.

“That sounded like a lock,” Ruth Rose said.

“Yeah, and I’ll bet Dink’s Laptop Guy gave him the key,” Josh said.

Burk disappeared inside the building.

“Come on,” Dink said.

Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose scurried quietly to the door. An open padlock dangled from a hasp.

The kids peered into the building. The floats sat in the darkness like sleeping giants. On top of the closest truck bed, Dink saw an oversized tiger, crouching in a jungle setting. He could smell the
flowers that made up the tiger’s orange and black body.

“This is where they keep the floats,” Josh whispered.

Along one wall lay the dragon. Its two-hundred-foot length was only partly visible in the dim light. Dink thought it looked asleep. He had liked the dragon better when it was dancing along in the parade.

“This place is creeping me out,” Josh said.

The three kids stepped inside. Josh pulled the door partly closed behind them. He folded his sketchbook and used it to wedge the door open a couple of inches.

“What’re you doing?” Dink whispered.

“I hate dark places,” Josh said. “My pad will let in a little light.”

They stood to let their eyes adjust. Looking around, Dink saw no windows. Then he felt a hand grab his arm. Ruth
Rose pulled Dink down and whispered in his ear, “Look over by the dragon. I think I saw a light.”

Tiptoeing, the kids headed toward that side of the massive space. As they drew closer, they could see Burk crouched by the dragon’s head. In one hand, he held a flashlight. The other hand was inside the dragon’s mouth.

“What’s he—”

Dink stopped Josh from speaking. As quietly as possible, he drew his cell phone from his pocket. Getting down on his knees, Dink crawled toward the dragon. When he was as close as he dared go, he aimed the phone’s camera lens at Burk’s back.

Burk pulled something from the dragon’s mouth. It was a round object, the size of a tennis ball. He turned his light on the object and it blazed red. It was the ruby.

Grinning, Dink pushed the button on his cell-phone camera. It made a quiet clicking noise.

Burk lurched around. “What the …” Leaping to his feet, he bolted toward Dink.

“Run!” Ruth Rose screamed.

“Split up!” Josh yelled.

Dink raced for the nearest float, shoving his cell phone into a pocket. He nearly bumped into the float. Looking up, he saw the tiger leering down at him. Dink crawled under the truck bed and made himself as small as he could behind one of the rear tires.

Some of the flowers and vines that made the tiger’s “jungle” hung down over the sides of the truck. Dink felt hidden, but he knew Burk could find him with his flashlight. He wondered where Josh and Ruth Rose were hiding.