The Trimoni Twins and the Shrunken Treasure (14 page)

“We were so worried,” Mimi said.

The rumbling sound of the rocking models stopped again. In her mind, Beezel imagined that Edwin and Slear were moving down to the next building, just that much nearer to where they were.

She listened to Wiliken and Mimi as they quickly tried to come up with a plan of action. Her eye caught sight of something on the fireplace mantel directly behind Wiliken. There, in the center of the shelf, was a glass case. Sitting inside it, on an ornately carved wooden stand, was what appeared to be a model of a ship.

There was something special about the model; it was so intricately made. Beezel tried to understand what it was about the ship that she found so fascinating. Then she knew. The reason she couldn't take her eyes off of it was because it was so …
realistic
.

For just a moment, Beezel couldn't talk. But her face must have shown her excitement, because Mimi immediately began to ask questions.

“What's wrong?” she said. “Are you okay?”

Beezel pointed to the fireplace. Was she right? It
did
fit the clue that Wiliken's father had left them.
Through walls like ice
… That could be the glass case.
Past wood and metal
… The ship itself.
Guarded by souls of sailors lost …
She supposed some sailors on both sides could have died when Koen Riebeeck's crew took over the Spanish ship.

“That's a happy look, right?” Mimi tried again.

Beezel managed to move her head up and down. Was it possible? Had Uncle Hoogaboom's relative shrunk the
entire
ship? Was
that
why it disappeared in the harbor all those years ago?

Maybe the treasure never left the very place the Spanish had put it!

She stared at the ship. It
looked
like a galleon. It
had the foremast at the front, and the mainmast behind it. A long raised deck went from the main-mast to the rear of the ship. At the stern of the ship, on top of this deck, was an even higher deck. Beezel knew from a report she had written in the fourth grade that it was called the poop deck.

But whether or not it was a Spanish galleon, and whether it was truly a shrunken treasure ship, she couldn't tell for sure.

Beezel moved around Wiliken and approached the glass box that held the ship. She gasped.

There, inscribed on a small silver plaque attached to the wooden stand that held the ship, was the word
Magdalena
.

It's safe in Magda's capable hands
, Beezel thought to herself.

Wiliken touched Beezel's shoulder. “There's no time for admiring Hoogaboom's trinkets, kiddo,” he said. “We've got to get out of here.”

For the first time since she had met him, the words tumbled out of her mouth without the least bit of effort on her part.

“Wiliken, it's the treasure,” she said as she pointed to the silver plaque. “There's
Magda
. It's the stand that's been holding the treasure ship. They
didn't sink her, they
shrank
her. That's the Spanish galleon they brought into Amsterdam.”

The rumbling of the models stopped and then started up again.

“Let's take a look,” Wiliken said as he reached up and carefully took down the glass case.

“Hurry, Wil!” Mimi said. “It sounds like they're getting closer.”

The box that held the ship was made from panels of glass that had been soldered together, just like a stained-glass window. Wiliken hurriedly made his way to a table on one side of the room and gently set the case down. Mimi and Beezel gathered around him.

“Here goes,” he said. A small latch held the hinged top closed. Wiliken undid the latch and raised the lid. He gingerly removed the ship from its case.

In Wiliken's hands, the ship was the size of a large loaf of bread. If Wiliken had been his normal size when they had found it, Beezel guessed it would have looked more like a matchstick in the palm of his hand.

Wiliken placed the little ship on the table, holding it upright with his hands. “Let's see if I can spot
anything inside the captain's cabin.” He leaned down close to the small wooden ship and peered inside. “There's lots of stuff in there.” He turned and stared at them in awe. “I think I see the captain's chest.” Wiliken stood up. “It
is
our ship, I'm sure of it.”

He positioned the ship back on the wooden stand inside the glass box. “She's a real beauty,” Wiliken said. “You know, I'll have to talk to Hoogaboom about donating her to a museum.” He closed and locked the glass case that held the little ship.

The loud boom of what sounded like a model being completely toppled startled the threesome. Beezel and Mimi clutched Wiliken's arms in fright.

“Okay, I don't know about you two,” Wiliken said, “but I've had it with those guys. I say we ka-poof those two creeps before they rattle this model and damage our treasure ship
and
us. Then we'll find Hector.” He looked at the bag on the floor. “I'll leave the coin here. That thing weighs a ton.”

They ran down the stairs to Uncle Hoogaboom's front door. “Oh,” Wiliken said, blocking the door. “Wait. I forgot to tell you something. Edwin has a trash can and Slear has a bucket. They want to catch
us and start their very own miniature person zoo. So, you know …” He waved his hand in the air.

“Ka-poof first, ask questions later?” Mimi guessed.

“Exactly.” Wiliken pointed at her.

As the twins followed Wiliken out of the shop, Beezel had only one thought in her head. She sure hoped both Slear and Edwin had bad aim.

Wiliken and the twins slinked along the edges of the models, toward the noise Edwin and Slear were making.

“Let's sneak back to the market square,” Wiliken said. “You two can hide in one of the shops. Then I'll go out in the square and call Slear and Edwin. When they come to get me, you two can ka-poof them.”

As they ran to the square, Beezel couldn't see Edwin or Slear anywhere, which made her very nervous indeed. She kept expecting to see a giant trash can or a bucket descend on her head at any moment. They dashed to the corner where the Westerstraat met the Prinsengracht.

They could see the market square, and the shell of the beautiful church Hoogaboom was building.

“In here,” Wiliken said as he opened the door to the model of the small corner bookstore the girls had been to earlier with Hector. He hurried them inside. He pulled back the curtains and opened the front windows. “A perfect view! You two hide in here, and I'll get them to come out there.” He pointed to the center of the square. “That will give you a clean shot at them.”

“Be careful,” Beezel said. Her heart was beating hard.

Wiliken turned to them. “Listen, if they get me, you two stay put. I'm sure they'll want to go right out and announce their big scoop to the world. Then you two, quick as you can, find Hector and free Hoogaboom.” He smiled and opened the door. “Okay, here goes nothing!”

The twins watched as Wiliken strolled out into the open.

“Slear!” Wiliken yelled at the top of his lungs. “Edwin!” Beezel and Mimi peeked up over the edge of the windowsill.

They could hear Slear yelling for Edwin to follow him as he trudged in their direction.

“He sounds like Godzilla,” Mimi said. The twins watched Wiliken's face through the window. He
was staring at the top of the building they were hiding in.

“Slear's getting closer,” Beezel whispered. “I think he's in back of us.”

Beezel and Mimi pointed out the window, ready to ka-poof the first person who set foot inside the square near Wiliken. But as they did, the walls and floor of the little bookstore began to shake violently. The front of the store lifted up.

“It's an earthquake!” Mimi shrieked as the shaking caused her to roll across the room and crash against the pine counter. The front door of the shop flew open and then slammed shut with a bang.

Beezel felt like she was in a storm at sea. The store tilted to the left and sent them tumbling. Then it tilted to the right, sending them sailing in the opposite direction. Beezel crawled to the window and peered out. They were off the ground! Beezel looked out into the square and saw that Slear had grabbed Wiliken. As she raised her hand to point at him, the store lurched to the right.

“Slear has Wiliken!” Beezel yelled as she tried to hold on to the windowsill. “And Edwin's picked up the bookstore! He's carrying us around!”

Books, magazines and the twins washed around inside the model as Edwin struggled to carry it.

“I've got the girls!” they heard Edwin yell at Slear. “I saw them! They're inside here. What should I do with them?”

Slear yelled back, “You'd better just lock the whole thing, kids and all, inside a closet! We'll figure out what to do with them later. And for Pete's sake, keep your hands away from the windows! You don't want those two pointing at you!”

The building settled into a rocking motion as Edwin edged his way across the studio, carrying the bookstore in his arms.

“Mimi!” Beezel called to her sister. “We'd better ka-poof Edwin soon, or we'll end up locked in Uncle Hoogaboom's closet!”

The girls grasped each other as they stumbled across the swaying room to the front window.

“Hold on to me!” Beezel said. Mimi grabbed Beezel around the waist and braced her feet against the wall under the window. Beezel leaned out onto a much higher panorama of Hoogaboom's models. It was as if they were in an Edwin-powered helicopter flying along at roof level.

“Oh, Beezel, I don't like this,” Mimi whined.

“Listen,” Beezel said. “Just hang on tight! I'm going to lean out a little farther and see if I can ka-poof him.”

“Into what, Beez?” Mimi yelled at her. “If you change him into something little, the model might land on him and kill him
and
us! I know he's a bad guy and all, but that's pretty gross!”

“Great ogres and omelettes!” Beezel said. “You're right. And we'll need something that can hold the model.”
Think
…
think
…
think
, she told herself. “Got it!” she said to her sister. “Here goes!”

Beezel leaned out the window as far as she could without falling out of the bookstore. She saw Edwin's knee and pointed. “Don't let go!” Ka-poof.

“Aaaah!” Beezel heard a terrified Slear scream. “Holy cow, Edwin! They've turned you into a gorilla!”

She could see Edwin's now hairy knee and one of his equally hairy feet. Beezel assumed he was still holding the model, since they hadn't crashed to the floor. That was a relief. And he was standing very still for the moment. But what would Edwin do next?

She turned to Mimi. “We'd better try to talk to him before he gets mad and smashes the bookstore, or gets scared and drops us.”

The girls ran to the side of the bookstore, where they thought they might catch sight of Edwin the gorilla's arm or chest, and he would be better able to hear them.

A low grunting noise came from the top of the building. Beezel had a picture in her mind of Edwin's big gorilla head looming over the bookstore's rooftop.

She opened up a side window and yelled up, “Edwin! Set the bookstore down, right now! If you do, we promise we'll change you back! So set it down now,
gently
!”

Another series of deep grunts came from above them. Beezel thought he sounded like he was getting angrier. The bookstore suddenly tilted sharply to one side, sending the girls rolling across the floor, as Edwin began to walk.

“He's not listening, Beez,” Mimi said as she helped Beezel up. The girls ran back to the window on the side of the building.

“Listen, Edwin!” Beezel yelled as loudly as she could. “If you don't put this bookstore down right now, we'll leave you like this
forever!
”

“That's right!” Mimi shouted as she leaned out the window next to Beezel. “And if you do anything
to us, there won't be anyone left on the whole planet who can change you back into a person!”

Edwin stopped.

Beezel heard Slear yell, “Get out of my way, Edwin! I'm getting out of here!”

The twins ran back to the front of the store and looked out the window. Edwin was turning around. They could see the Noordermarkt square as it came into view. Then they saw Slear, almost at eye level, standing in front of them with Wiliken in his hand.

“Let's get him, Beezel,” Mimi said quietly.

“Don't hurt me!” Slear spotted the twins glaring at him from the front window of the bookstore. “Listen, little girls …” His voice trembled as he held Wiliken out like some sort of talisman. “Just calm down now. Be good girls. Listen to reason. I've got your little friend here. We can work something out, right?” He laughed nervously and patted a kicking Wiliken on top of his head with a trembling hand. “After all, think of the headlines we could have with this one, right? We could all come out ahead with this story, am I right?”

Beezel cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled to Wiliken. “Wiliken! Hold on to Slear's hand! Hold on tight!”

Wiliken nodded.

“No!” screamed Slear. “Please,
please
, no more magic!”

Beezel pointed at Slear. Ka-poof. Slear was a Capuchin monkey.

Slear, now a twenty-inch-tall monkey, seemed genuinely surprised to see what appeared to him to be a much larger Wiliken in his hand. Wiliken pried the monkey's fingers off his waist and dropped to the floor. Then he took a few steps back, carefully watching Edwin the gorilla as he did so.

Noticing the fur covering his own hands and arms for the first time, Slear screeched in terror and headed for the shelter of the models.

Mimi tracked him with her finger as he ran. Ka-poof. Slear was a clam.

“Good one, Mimi,” Beezel said. The sisters exchanged a high five. “And remember!” Mimi shouted down at Slear. “You're a
clam
, not a rock!”