Gymnastics Mystery (5 page)

She gripped Henry’s arm, “Lucas is wearing blue sweatpants,” she told him. “Is he the guy who followed us last night? You were closer to him than any of us.”

“The guy—or girl—had on a coat,” Henry said. “I really couldn’t tell.”

Lucas walked straight over to the Aldens. “You kids are just who I need to talk to.”

“How can we help you?” Violet asked. Despite Lucas’s cheerful manner, she was wary of the young reporter.

He pushed his glasses up on his nose and checked his spiral notebook. “I was watching Al Stockton yesterday. I don’t think he works for any newspaper. He doesn’t seem to be on deadline like the rest of us.”

“On deadline?” quizzed Benny.

“Yes,” Lucas answered. “Reporters and photographers have to have their stories and pictures finished and in by a certain time. Then the newspaper can print them. Most of us rush out of here by late afternoon. Not Al.”

“Why would he tell us he’s working for a newspaper if he isn’t?” asked Jessie.

“Good question,” said Lucas.

“Is he here today?” Violet asked.

“I haven’t seen him yet,” Lucas replied. “But I’ll keep an eye out for him. Maybe you should, too.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d better get back to work.” He hurried off to where a boys’ team was practicing on the parallel bars.

Henry thought of something. “Maybe Al Stockton is only pretending to work for a newspaper so he can get in the arena.” He pointed to the press box.

Violet nodded. “Nobody questions why members of the press are here.”

“I just wish we could get all the sweatpants people sorted out!” Jessie said. “First that red-haired lady, then the person in the square, and then that guy in the park.”

“And now Lucas,” said Benny.

At that moment, a blond woman breezed past them. It was Denise’s mother, Mrs. Patterson.

Denise’s team and Katya’s team were both practicing on the vault. The two teams were lined up. Each girl ran, hit the board, and vaulted over the horse.

Mrs. Patterson stood to one side, frowning at Katya. When it was Katya’s turn, Mrs. Patterson said loudly, “That girl’s hair is a mess.”

The Aldens heard her and so did Katya.

It wasn’t much of a remark, but it was enough to rattle Katya’s concentration. Her double-twisting vault went well, but she stepped out of her landing.

Irina frowned. “Katya, I have told you, you must stick the landing,” Katya bit her lip.

Jessie turned to the others. “That wasn’t fair. Mrs. Patterson made Katya nervous.”

Katya’s next vault was perfect. So was Denise’s. The two girls seemed evenly matched in that event.

Benny wished he could sail over the padded horse. Gymnastics looked like so much fun! Then he saw a movement on the other side of the horse. A man was crouched at the edge of the mat, snapping pictures.

“It’s
him
again, our mystery man!” he exclaimed.

Henry saw him next. “So Al Stockton
is
here. And he seems to be taking pictures only of Katya. She was right.”

“I hope he doesn’t make her mess up,” said Jessie.

Just then Katya gave a wail. The Aldens rushed over. Jessie thought Katya had fallen and hurt herself.

But Katya was standing over her sports bag. Her warm-up suit spilled out of the zippered opening.

Irina reached her first. “What is it?”

“My music,” Katya cried. “It is not in my bag.”

“Not to worry,” said Irina. “We will use my copy.” The coach searched her own bag, pulling out several cassette tapes. But not the right one.

“What’s going on?” Violet asked, concerned.

Now Katya was sobbing. “The music for my floor routine is gone from my bag!”

“And the backup copy I keep is missing as well,” said the coach. “How very strange.”

The Aldens stared at one another. Two cassette tapes kept in two different bags were missing. It wasn’t just strange. It was downright suspicious.

The Aldens rushed forward to help. They searched under the bleachers and around the equipment. They even asked other gymnasts if they had seen two cassette tapes.

But the tapes had definitely disappeared.

“It’s like they walked away,” said Jessie, though she knew better. Tapes don’t walk off—someone had taken them.

Katya was still crying. The music was for her floor routine, her favorite event.

“We can get you another cassette,” Violet offered.

“Grandfather can buy it at the music store this afternoon,” added Henry.

Irina shook her head doubtfully. “Thank you. But the music for Katya’s floor routine is a Russian piece. You would not be able to find it in Greenfield.”

Jessie had an idea. “I bet Grandfather could find it in another city. He has friends all over.”

“Perhaps,” said Katya’s coach. “But the competition is tomorrow. We cannot take that chance.” She looked at Katya. “There is only one thing to do. We’ll make up a new routine to a new piece of music.”

Katya stopped crying. Her eyes widened. “How will I learn a new routine so fast?”

“Because you are the best gymnast on the team,” Irina declared. “Now dry your tears. We have much work to do.”

Irina flipped through the extra cassettes she had brought and selected one. “You will like this, Katya.”

They began designing a new program to the bouncy tune. Soon Katya had learned four tumbling passes. The last pass was a crowd-dazzler with a round-off, cartwheel, handsprings, and three
saltos,
or aerial somersaults.

Katya’s shiny red leotard was damp with sweat when Irina finally nodded with satisfaction.

“Remember to use the entire floor,” she coached. “And give those leaps good height. You cannot lose points on the floor routine. It is your best event.”

“We have a mat at home,” said Henry. “We’ll help Katya practice some more.”

Irina smiled. “Katya is lucky to have such good friends. Go back to the Aldens’ for a break, Katya. You do not want to become overtired.”

On the way home in Grandfather’s station wagon, Katya admitted her fears.

“Things happen at competitions. But I have never had to learn a new routine one day before the event! I spend months learning new routines. I hope I can remember it!”

“We’ll write down the moves,” Violet suggested. “And you tell us where that move is when the music is playing. When you practice tonight, we’ll keep saying the move.”

“Good idea,” said Grandfather as he pulled into the driveway. “Repetition is the key to remembering.”

Benny frowned. “Repe—what?”

“Repetition,” Henry answered, getting out of the car. “It’s another word for ‘repeat.’ If you keep doing something over and over, you’ll start to do it automatically. You won’t have to think about it so much.”

Katya nodded. “Henry is right. Irina always tells me, practice, practice, practice. Even if I think I can do it perfectly, I should practice anyway.”

Inside, Mrs. McGregor had lunch ready.

“You’re a little late today,” the housekeeper remarked.

Grandfather explained about the missing tapes. “Katya had to learn a brand-new routine from scratch this morning.”

“Well, I’ve made a nice hot lunch from scratch,” said Mrs. McGregor. “Shepherd’s pie and cranberry sauce.”

Everyone washed up and sat down at the table. Then Mrs. McGregor brought in a large glass dish. Grandfather served helpings of the hamburger, vegetable, and gravy pie topped with whipped potatoes. Cranberry sauce on the side added a pleasant tang to the meal.

Since she had worked so hard that morning, Katya didn’t have to return to the sports arena until late afternoon.

But when she was supposed to be napping, the children found her outside pacing around the boxcar.

“I could not lie still,” she said ruefully. “So I came out here. Is it all right?”

Benny hopped up on the steps. “You can go inside our boxcar anytime you want.”

Katya peeped through the doorway. “I cannot believe you really lived here.”

“We did,” Henry assured her. “As long as we were together, it didn’t matter where we lived.”

“Though Grandfather’s house is a lot better,” Benny said, making them all laugh.

Jessie realized that Katya had precompetition jitters. “Why don’t we take a walk? You haven’t seen much of our neighborhood except from the car.”

“That would be nice,” Katya said eagerly.

Everyone was already bundled in jackets and scarves against the chilly day. They strolled down the sidewalk, talking about everything but the competition. Benny pointed out a cat sitting on a doorstep.

“Do you have any pets?” he asked Katya.

She shook her head. “There is no room—I mean, no time to care for a pet. I am always training, you see.” She fell silent.

Violet knew Katya had started to say something about not having a cat because of no room. What did she mean by that? But she couldn’t question Katya farther. The gymnast was nervous enough over the upcoming competition.

They had wandered out of their neighborhood and into the local shopping district. Benny pointed out the grocery store, the dry cleaner’s, and the post office.

“Mrs. McGregor goes to all these places,” he explained. “Sometimes we go with her.”

They crossed the street and found themselves in front of a wide window. In arching gold letters, the words NEARLY NEW were painted on the glass.

“I’ve never noticed this store before,” said Jessie, pushing back her ponytail. “Has it always been here?”

Henry nodded. “A few years. It’s one of those places you never notice.”

Benny pressed his nose against the window. “
I
would. Look at that cool drum set!”

He pointed to a snare drum set on a platform in the middle of the display. Surrounding the drums were other musical instruments, silver teapots, china vases, bronze statues, and many other items.

“Just what Grandfather needs,” Jessie said, giggling. “You learning to play the drums!”

“Do they sell headphones here?” Violet joked.

“Looks like they sell just about everything,” Henry replied, scanning the contents of the crowded display.

Jessie was staring at a small golden box set up high on a velvet-draped shelf. She gasped.

“What is it?” Violet asked.

Jessie couldn’t take her eyes off the box. “That little box. I’d like a closer look at it. Let’s go in.”

Violet gave her older sister a meaningful glance, then led the others inside Nearly New.

A silver-haired man sat behind a counter filled with jewelry. He glanced up from the crossword puzzle he was working on and said, “Good afternoon. May I help you?”

Benny spoke first. “How much are the drums in the window?”

The man looked at Benny over the rims of his reading glasses. “Well, young man, those particular drums aren’t for sale. At least not yet.”

Benny frowned. “I don’t get it.”

Henry did. “This is a pawnshop. People who need money bring in things like that drum set and get cash for it.”

“That’s right,” agreed the owner. “I take the item and give them a claim ticket. The person needs to pay back the money within a certain time period. If he doesn’t, I keep the item and sell it.”

“So the person who pawned the drums still has time to pay you back,” Violet said, trying to understand the system.

The owner nodded.

Henry touched a saxophone. “You have so many musical instruments.”

“I get a lot of them,” said the owner. “And jewelry. Watches and class rings, mostly.”

Jessie whispered to Violet, “Can you take Katya over there so I can talk to the man?”

“Yes,” Violet whispered back. Louder, she said, “Katya, have you ever seen such pretty rings?” They moved down the display case, admiring the jewelry.

Jessie leaned closer to the owner. “That gold box in the window. What is it?”

“It’s the strangest thing,” said the man, scratching his chin. “I’m sure it’s a fine work of art. But the young fellow who sold it to me only wanted two hundred dollars!”

“Do you remember what he looked like?” Jessie inquired.

“Let’s see. He had light hair, blue eyes. And he wore blue sweatpants.”

Blue sweatpants again! Did everyone in town wear them? Jessie wondered. But the description sounded familiar.

Henry and Benny gathered around her.

“Why the interest in that gold box?” Henry asked.

Sneaking a glance at Katya, who was still with Violet, Jessie replied, “It looks like the one in the newspaper picture that was in Katya’s letter. Remember? She didn’t want us to see it.”

“I remember the picture,” said Benny

“How could a gold box in a Russian newspaper wind up in a pawnshop in Greenfield?” asked Henry.

Jessie shrugged. “I don’t know. But the person who pawned it sounds like Lucas Tripp! He has light hair and blue eyes.”

“A lot of people do,” Henry pointed out practically. “Lucas wears glasses. The owner didn’t mention glasses.”

Jessie didn’t want to give up the clue. “But Lucas is also interested in Katya. And she got the newspaper clipping in her letter. Maybe the printing on the clipping was a code!”

Benny was studying a small item in the display case. It was a tiny silver key with the number 11 stamped on it.