The Trimoni Twins and the Shrunken Treasure (3 page)

Hector laughed nervously. “Don't worry. He's always done that.”

“I know, I know.” Gaidic leaned in conspiratorially. “But now he's acting like someone is
answering
him.” She touched her forefinger to the side of her head and tapped it once. “I just wanted you to know this … how do you Americans say it? Giving a heads-up?”

While Hector assured Gaidic that Uncle Hoogaboom had always been eccentric, Beezel and Mimi wandered around the room and looked at the dollhouse details.

“Look at him,” Mimi whispered. “I think he's in love.”

“Hmm?” Beezel was thinking about what Gaidic had told them. Talking to yourself was no big deal, but answering someone who wasn't there sure could be. She glanced at Gaidic and Hector. “She looks very nice. I hope she likes him.”

After a few minutes, Hector beckoned to the girls to come over.

“I forgot to ask, did you get to see inside Mathias's dollhouses?” Gaidic asked them. “Did you know they open up?”

“They're amazing,” Beezel said.

“Beezel thought she saw a leprechaun,” Mimi added.

Beezel felt her cheeks get hot. “I didn't say it was a
leprechaun.”

“Oh, it's not a leprechaun,” Gaidic said with a twinkle in her eye. “
They
live in Ireland. Here in Holland we have little people called
kabouters.”
She smiled at Beezel. “But not to worry, they're friendly. Many people who come to see these models have said they too have seen a
kabouter
. Me, I think he likes living where everything …” She paused for a moment before continuing. “Where everything is the right
size
for him.”

Gaidic elbowed Hector in the arm and whispered,
“Perhaps this is who your uncle has been talking to, eh?”

Hector laughed. “I wouldn't put it past him.” “Have you ever seen a
kabouter?
” Beezel asked her.

Gaidic nodded. “One night, when I was locking up, I thought I saw a tiny man running through the models.” She laughed. “You want to know what else I thought I saw?”

“Yes,” the twins said together.

“I thought I saw him carrying a flashlight!”

Hector, Gaidic and Mimi laughed and carried on for a while about a tiny man
needing
a tiny flashlight after dark, but Beezel's mind was somewhere else. She was remembering the tiny man who had run up the stairs of the dollhouse.

Was it really a
kabouter? she thought to herself.
Because I
know
I saw something
.

“Move over, I can't see out the window!” Mimi shoved against her twin.

Hector had called a cab from Hoogaboom's shop. “After this,” he said, “we'll use the buses and trams. It'll save money.” Once they had piled their luggage in the trunk, they were on their way to their hotel.

It was late afternoon and the busy streets were full of people, many on bicycles, heading home after a day's work.

“There it is!” Mimi slid across the seat to the other window, pinning Hector against the taxi door.

Beezel leaned across the seat to see. She let out a long whistle. “Walloping wizard whiskers,” she said. “The Merlin Hotel.” She grabbed Mimi's arm. “And we're going to perform our magic act there!”

The girls squealed and then began to bounce up and down on the taxi seat.

“Listen, ducks,” Hector said. “Can we sit still for a few more minutes? I have a lot on my mind.”

“Sorry, Hector,” Mimi said.

As the taxi drew nearer to the hotel, Hector reminded the twins for the tenth time that day that even though they were in Amsterdam, and even though they had never set one big toe outside the United States in all their eleven years of life, they would still have to study and do homework.

Beezel knew Hector was trying his best to take over for Mr. Whaffle, the girls' previous tutor.

“Sure, Hector, sure,” Mimi said, patting Hector's shoulder. She pointed at the front of the hotel. “Look at the flags, Beezel!”

“Come along now,” Hector said as he got out of the taxi. The girls followed him into a grand hotel lobby with marble floors and cut crystal chandeliers.

“Professor Finkleroy can decorate my house anytime,” Mimi said as they stepped inside their hotel room. A lush ruby red bedspread was on the bed. Gold and red brocade curtains hung at the window.

“You don't have a house,” Beezel reminded her. The girls lived in a trailer with their parents, the owners of the Trimoni Circus.

“I will when I'm a famous artist,” Mimi said as she whirled around the room and fell across the double bed on her back. “If you're nice to me, I'll let you come visit.”

“And if you're nice to me,” Beezel said as she heaved their suitcases onto the luggage rack in the closet, “I'll stop by on my world tour.”

Hector opened the door that connected the two suites. “Well, I'll be,” he said. His room was just as opulent, done in shades of blue and gold, with a big four-poster bed covered in a satin bedspread.

“Your bed is
huge
!” Mimi hopped up from their bed, ran across their room, took a running leap and jumped on Hector's.

“I'll get lost in that.” Hector smiled and set his suitcase down. “Now you girls get cleaned up. We'll have dinner with Uncle Hoogaboom and turn in early. Tomorrow is a big day. You'll have to rehearse for your show and get used to the stage.”

Back in their room, Mimi and Beezel unpacked. Ten days. Right now it seemed like forever to Beezel. But she knew it would go by quickly.

“Tomorrow I want to go sightseeing,” she told Mimi. “I hope Hector will take us.”

“Me, too,” Mimi said. “We don't need to practice much for our show, do we?”

“Well,” Beezel said. “Not too much. Just so we'll know where everything is. And we have to make sure all our props got here. And the animals we hired.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Mimi reached inside her backpack and took out a small plastic container. Beezel noticed it had tiny holes punched in the lid.

Mimi popped off the lid and poured the contents into her palm. “There you are, sweetie,” she said to the ladybug that crawled across her hand. She carefully set the bug on the carpet.

“Mimi,” Beezel said. “Exactly
what
are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Mimi pointed at the little bug on the floor. Ka-poof. A five-foot-long boa constrictor appeared in its place.

“Great suffering sawdust! Not
Gumdrop!”
Beezel moaned. Gumdrop was Mimi's favorite pet. She took the snake with her everywhere. Beezel wasn't going to tell Mimi, because it would hurt her feelings, but she had been looking forward to some
time without the big snake. The care and feeding of boa constrictors was something Beezel could live without. She shook her finger at her sister. “Mom said you couldn't take a snake on an airplane.”

“Well…” Mimi smiled mischievously. “I didn't take a
snake
on the plane, now, did I?” She reached down and picked up Gumdrop. “Besides, I couldn't leave her at home.” She petted the boa on her head.

“Oh, heavens no,” Beezel muttered as she put her clothes in the dresser. “And exactly how do you plan on keeping a snake in a five-star hotel? You'll give the maid a heart attack and we'll get kicked out.”

“I've figured it all out, smarty.”

“Well, all I can say is you'd better not let Hector see her.” Beezel zipped her empty suitcase shut and shoved it to the back of the closet. “Because he'll box her up and ship her home.”

“Hector won't see her.” Mimi set the snake on the corner of their bed. “I'll just ka-poof her into something more …” She struggled for the right word. “More
manageable
when he comes in.”

Beezel tilted her head to listen at their shared door. “Then you'd better ka-poof her right now,” she whispered, “because I think I hear Hector coming.”

Mimi pointed at the snake. Ka-poof. Gumdrop was a ladybug again just in time, because Hector tapped once on the door and opened it. Mimi nervously eyed the ladybug as it edged along the bedspread toward the corner of the bed.

“Listen, ducks,” Hector said as he entered the room. “I've been thinking. Before we go out, I need to talk to you about my uncle.”

Beezel looked at his face. He seemed worried about something.

“Is he okay?” she asked. “Did something happen?”

“No, no,” Hector said. “But I had the strangest conversation while we were in his apartment today. My uncle talked to me about Pieter, his good friend that Gaidic mentioned, the one who died a few months ago. Pieter owned the building that Uncle Hoogaboom lives in. He lived on the second floor, above Uncle Hoogaboom. They spent a lot of time building models together in Uncle Hoogaboom's studio, he told me.”

Hector coughed. “But here's the thing. Uncle Mathias said they were on a treasure hunt.” Hector ran his hand over his face. “And this is the weird part.” He stared at the twins. “He said it's the treasure from some Spanish galleon.
And
he said
that all the treasure from that ship is still hidden somewhere in Pieter's house. In the very house my uncle lives in.”

“Well, maybe it is,” Mimi said. “Maybe it's in an old chest up in the attic or something.”

“It is possible, Hector,” Beezel said. “Isn't it?”

“Wait, it gets worse,” Hector said sadly. “He said he and Pieter had been looking for the treasure for twenty years.”

“Twenty
years
?” Mimi said. “Heck, they should have found
something
by now! A gold coin at least.”

“That is a long time,” Beezel agreed.

Hector sighed. “I'm wondering if having his best friend die hasn't been too great a blow. Maybe it's confused things in his head. So tonight, if Uncle Hoogaboom starts prattling on about treasure, just humor him and change the subject.” He nodded and smiled at the girls. “Well, enough of that. Let me see you two.”

Hector leaned against the bed and eyed the twins from head to toe. “Aren't you going to change for dinner?”

Beezel nodded as she tried hard not to stare at the bed. Where was Gumdrop? Hector was almost
sitting
on the corner of their bed.

Mimi's eyes widened as they darted back and forth from Hector to the bedspread.

“Well,” Hector said, “let's get a move on. I'm starving. My uncle said he is taking us to a nice café right around the corner.” He pushed off the mattress and stood up. “I'll meet you girls down in the lobby.”

“Okay,” Beezel managed to say.

Mimi had covered her mouth in horror.

As soon as the door to their room closed, the girls rushed to the corner of the bed.

“Gumdrop!” Mimi cried as she searched for her.

“Did he?” Beezel couldn't bring herself to say it. What if Hector had smashed Gumdrop when he leaned against the bed?

“Here she is!” Mimi sighed with relief. The little bug had begun to crawl down the foot of the bed toward the floor.

“Whew, that was a close call,” Beezel said.

After they had changed, Mimi put the bug inside the plastic container and popped the lid back on. “I think I'll leave her in here until we get back from dinner.”

“I think that's a good idea,” Beezel said as she grabbed two sweaters, one for her and one for her sister.

The girls went down the stairs to the hotel lobby. Beezel saw Uncle Hoogaboom and Hector sitting across from each other by the fireplace. When Hector saw them, he stood up and waved.

“Hello there,” Hector said to them. “You both look very nice.”

Mrs. Trimoni had sewn the girls new dresses for their trip. The one Mimi had picked to wear to dinner was made from a bolt of silk Siyan the Snake Charmer had sent the circus from China. Her dress was green with a flowing skirt that swirled when Mimi turned.

Beezel's dress was made from a sari covered in a pattern of lush red and brown flowers. Her dress fit her like a glove.

“Good and hungry, I hope?” Hector asked.

“You'll need to put on those sweaters,” Uncle Hoogaboom said. “It's chilly outside.” Beezel noticed that he had dressed up for their dinner as well. Gone was the long lab coat. It had been replaced by a tweed jacket over a shirt and tie. His pockets, however, were still packed to bulging. A pair of pliers peeked out from one.

On the way to the café, Uncle Hoogaboom said, “I've invited a young friend of mine to join us. I hope you don't mind. We're working on finding the treasure together.” He put his finger to his lips and said to the girls. “Just between us, mind you!” Then he winked.

Beezel started to ask Uncle Hoogaboom what he meant, but she remembered what Hector had told them back in their room.

“Any friend of yours is a friend of mine, Uncle,” Hector said quickly.

“You'll like Wiliken—he's a fine young man,” Uncle Hoogaboom continued. “My friend Pieter, the one I told you about, Hector? Well, his son was Wiliken's father. He died a few years back. And then Pieter died not too long ago.”

“Oh, that's sad,” Beezel said.

Uncle Hoogaboom nodded in agreement. “Young Wiliken grew up in the States with his mother. He's come home to Amsterdam to settle things. I promised his mother I'd keep an eye on him while he's here.” He shook his head sadly. “He didn't see much of Pieter, his grandfather.” He sighed. “The boy doesn't even speak Dutch, except for
hallo
and
dag.”
He looked at the girls. “Hello and good-bye.”

They approached a café and Uncle Hoogaboom opened the door. “Here we are,” he said. “Let's see if Wiliken has secured a table for us.”

The small dark restaurant was lit by the warm glow of amber table lamps. Against the sides of the room, upholstered benches flanked oak tables, creating cozy nooks for talking and eating.