The Trimoni Twins and the Shrunken Treasure (18 page)

“You're welcome. Open yours, Beezel,” Wiliken said.

Beezel opened her package. She got a gold box as well, but hers had a ruby inset on the top. She was glad hers was different from Mimi's. It meant more somehow. She smiled at Wiliken. “Thank you.” She was going to keep it her whole life and never, ever let it out of her sight.

“The stones are from the treasure ship,” Wiliken said. “I had them added on. And guess what?
They're puzzle boxes. I want you to figure them out on your flight.” He grinned at them. “Maybe it will keep you two out of trouble for ten minutes.”

With that, he kissed them both on the cheek and made them promise to call him regularly. Beezel knew that in Wiliken's mind, she and Mimi really were the kid sisters he'd never had. She smiled.
Wouldn't he be surprised to find out how we feel about him?

Uncle Hoogaboom and Wiliken were now both
very
rich men, because they had thoroughly searched the ship on the day they had unshrunk it and discovered several additional chests full of treasure.

Wiliken, although he no longer needed the money, decided that he liked acting enough to keep doing it.

Uncle Hoogaboom had other plans. With Gaidic's help, he was going to repair his damaged models and finish the model of the Noorderkerk. Then he was going to close his shop and go on a world tour.

Together, Uncle Hoogaboom and Wiliken decided that they wanted to turn Pieter Riebeeck's house into the Riebeeck Miniature Museum for children. And they wanted Gaidic to be its director.

“You still might have to zuuft a thing or two now and then for me,” Uncle Hoogaboom told Hector. “Gaidic might need something for the museum.”

Hector was distraught about leaving Gaidic. She had promised to come to the United States and visit him in a few short weeks, but it didn't cheer him up one bit. On the way to the airport, Beezel thought she saw actual tears in his eyes.

As the twins stood with Hector outside the airport gate on Monday morning waiting to board, Beezel thought about their visit.
Wiliken Riebeeck
. She still couldn't believe it; she and Mimi had a crush on the
same
boy. Beezel shook her head. Things certainly were going to get interesting as they got older.

Then she thought of something else. If she and Mimi moved to different places when they grew up, the magic of the Changing Coin would no longer work. Beezel cheered herself up by thinking of the fun they would have when they visited each other.

We'll make up for all that lost ka-poofing time
, she told herself as she imagined Mimi and herself as two old ladies having a ka-poofing contest aboard a cruise ship.

Mimi looked positively gloomy. Beezel put her
arm around her. The steward called their row on the plane for boarding.

“It's time to go,” Beezel said.

On the plane, the girls found their seats and sat down. Hector took his seat across the aisle from them.

Mimi slipped Gumdrop's plastic container out of her pocket and peeked inside it to check on Gumdrop.

While Mimi whispered to Gumdrop, Beezel stared out the window and thought about Wiliken. Her heart hurt in a scraped-knee way.
Maybe that's why they call it a crush
, she thought. She supposed it would go away in time. But then Wiliken's face floated in front of her.
Maybe not

She pulled her puzzle box out of her pocket and looked at it. Beezel thought about solving it and finding any hidden drawers it might have, but then she decided she wanted to save it for later. So instead, she stuffed it back down inside her pocket.

“Excuse me.”

Beezel and Mimi looked up. A boy about their age, with dark eyes and curly brown hair, stood grinning down at them.

“I think you're in my seat,” he said to Beezel. He
showed her his boarding pass. “But the window seat is open.” He pointed to the empty seat next to her. “That must be your seat. Do you want me to take it?”

“Ah … uh …” What was the matter with her? Was this going to happen every single time a boy talked to her?
Stupid throat
, she thought as she stood up and moved over to the window seat. “That's okay, I'll move over.” The boy sat down between them.

“Hi!” Mimi said cheerily. “I'm Mimi, and this is Beezel.” Mimi chatted to him while Beezel stole glimpses of him from the corner of her eye.

“Barend?” she heard her sister say. “That's a nice name, isn't it, Beez?”

Beezel nodded at Barend and actually managed a smile. She looked out the window and listened to Mimi's voice as she happily told Barend about life with the Trimoni Circus. Mimi wasted no time in inviting Barend to come see them perform sometime soon.

“Right, Beezel?” Mimi said. “We can give him a backstage pass.”

“Sure.” Beezel nodded. This was good, Mimi talking to some new boy. That was okay by her.
She hoped Mimi got a big crush on Barend. The more crushes the better.
Because that way, when we're eighteen, there's a very good chance she'll have a crush on somebody besides Wiliken
. Beezel smiled and pulled Wiliken's puzzle box out of her pocket. She fastened her seat belt and began inspecting her gift for hidden buttons or levers.

When she thought about it, she had plenty of things to look forward to.

THE LAST BURP
OF MAC McGERP

THE TRIMONI TWINS AND
THE CHANGING COIN

Copyright © 2005 by Pam Smallcomb

First published in the United States of America in 2005
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
E-book edition published in 2013
www.bloomsbury.com

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smallcomb, Pam.
The Trimoni Twins and the shrunken treasure / by Pam Smallcomb.—1st
U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Two magical twin sisters help a modelmaker and a handsome
young movie star find a lost treasure in Amsterdam.
[1. Magic—Fiction. 2. Buried treasure—Fiction. 3. Twins—Fiction
4. Sisters—Fiction. 5. Amsterdam (Netherlands)—Fiction. 6. Netherlands—
Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.S63914Trr 2004 [Fic]—dc22 2005013051

eISBN: 978-1-6196-3040-6 (e-book)

First U.S. Edition 2005