The Case of the Feathered Mask

by Holly Webb

  “I do not.” Daniel shook his head. “But I cannot give the mask to him. I have to take it back home with me.”

  “Why?” George demanded. “I thought it was your grandad who gave him the mask in the first place. Suddenly he wants it back?”

  “Yes.”

  Maisie and George stared at him, and Daniel sighed. “The mask is very old, and it’s been worn by many of our tribe. We wear it for the dances – when we honour the trees, and the animals we hunt. But then my grandad gave the mask to the professor, to honour him, you see. He was very brave, rescuing my grandad from the snake.”

  Maisie nodded, smiling proudly.

  “But in the time since the professor left, and the mask went with him, our tribe has had bad luck. My brother and sister are very sick. And two of my cousins were killed by a black jaguar when they were hunting. Our tribe met together and decided that we should not have given away the mask. So I was sent to bring it back, because the professor had taught me your language.”

  Maisie frowned. “But it’s such a long journey!”

  Daniel shrugged. “I know. I have been many months away from my home.”

  “What are you doing here then?” George demanded. “In the show?”

  “I ran out of things to trade,” Daniel explained. “I had some furs, but that was all. And the boat passage was very costly. By the time I arrived here, I had nothing. Albert – the giant, you know – he found me at the docks. I was very hungry, and he gave me food and told me he had somewhere I could stay. He used to work on a ship as a boy, before he grew too tall. He was visiting an old shipmate on the Invincible. So for the last two months I’ve been performing here. When I could get out, I searched for the mask. But Mr Dacre, he does not like me to leave the theatre in case I run away.”

  He ducked his head, his cheeks reddening. “I did not know how big a city this was, and how difficult it would be to find the mask. I did not know what to do. My people had sent me on this sacred journey. How could I go back and tell them I had failed?”

  Maisie nodded. “Let me guess. Then you saw the articles in the newspaper about the professor giving his treasures to the museum.”

  “There was a photograph of the professor with the mask, Albert showed it to me. And then I recognized Professor Tobin’s name when Albert read me the story. I cannot read English, I can only speak it.”

  “Your English is very good. The professor must have taught you a lot,” Maisie said.

  “I had practice on the ship as well,” Daniel agreed solemnly. “The sailors talked to me. And since I have been here, I listen to all the things people say.”

  “What I don’t understand,” Maisie said thoughtfully, sitting down on the iron staircase again, “is why you didn’t just go to the professor and explain about all your relatives being sick and getting eaten by jaguars. I bet he would have just given you the mask! He would have been so happy to see you again.”

  Daniel shook his head. “But no! The mask was to go to a museum, the newspaper said so. A place like this, where people would come and stare at it, and point, and throw things.” He shuddered. “I could not let that happen. It would be wrong. And it made me sad that the professor would give the mask to that sort of place. He must not understand how special it is.”

  “People throw things at you?” Maisie whispered.

  “All the time,” Daniel told her grimly. “Peanuts. Rotten fruit. Do you not see? I had to take the mask back.”

  Maisie frowned. She could see that the boy was upset, but from the way the professor had talked about the British Museum, people certainly wouldn’t be allowed to throw anything. Then she understood. The Museum of Curiosities – it was the only museum Daniel had ever seen. Of course he thought that the mask would be going somewhere just as horrible.

  “The museum that the mask was going to isn’t like this one,” she tried to explain. “It’s huge, the professor told me. He’s going to take me there, one day. It has all sorts of beautiful things in it, very special and important things. Not – well – monsters. I don’t mean you’re a monster,” she added hurriedly. “But this is a show – the British Museum is different…” She could see that Daniel didn’t really believe her, though, and she could understand why.

  “Did you pick the lock?” George asked suddenly.

  “Albert did,” Daniel explained. “He said you learn all sorts of things in a place like this. A conjuror taught him how to do it, years ago. And Albert took the mask for me, too. I felt wrong, creeping into the house and stealing it. The mask is too special, you see…” He glanced worriedly at Maisie. “Albert was very sorry that he knocked you down. He did not mean to hurt you.”

  Maisie nodded. “It’s all right.”

  George gave a disapproving snort. “Her gran was really worried about her,” he told the boy. “And anyway, what are you still doing here? Shouldn’t you be off back to your jungle with the mask?”

  “I have no money for the ship.” Daniel hung his head. “Mr Dacre will not give it to me. He says I owe it to him for my food and these clothes.”

  “That isn’t fair!” Maisie cried. “Listen, I promise that the professor loves the mask, almost as much as you do. If you explain, I’m sure he’ll say you should keep it. And I think he might be able to help you get back home.”

  George scowled. “He’s a thief!” he said under his breath, but Maisie elbowed him. “You were accused of stealing once, remember?”

  Daniel stared at her, with a little hopeful frown. “I will fetch the mask,” he suggested. “To show the professor that it is safe.” He glanced nervously back at the door. “I must be quick – Mr Dacre will be coming, to start the evening show. Shall I get it now?”

  “Yes!” Maisie nodded, and Daniel vanished back into the theatre.

  It was very odd, Maisie thought, as she sat on the steps, patting Eddie and trying to ignore George’s disapproving look. She had solved the mystery. But everything was still so complicated…

  Maisie and George hurried back to Albion Street with Daniel between them, the mask in his arms, wrapped up in a piece of cloth.

  “You are sure that the professor will not be angry?” Daniel murmured, as they turned into Albion Street.

  “I don’t think he will be angry at all,” Maisie assured him. “I think he’ll be so happy to see you. He told me that he wished he could have brought you back to England with him before. I’m sure he’ll want to help you get home,” she added, crossing her fingers hopefully behind her back. “Unless you decide to send the mask home, and stay here.”

  Daniel shook his head. “No, I like my own home – here everything is too crowded. Too busy.”

  “Huh,” George sniffed. “At least we don’t get eaten by jaguars.”

  Maisie led them both across the yard to the back door. It was late afternoon now, which meant that Gran and Sally would be busy preparing the evening meal – extra-busy, as Maisie wasn’t there to help.

  “And just where have you been, miss?” Gran asked, as they came in. She was bent over the stove, stirring ferociously at pans, and she didn’t see who Maisie had with her.

  “Goodness gracious!” Sally gasped, staring at the boy, and Gran turned round, peering through the steam.

  Maisie could see why they were surprised. Daniel did seem very out of place in the kitchen, with his red-brown skin and jet-black hair. Even though he was wearing perfectly normal trousers and a worn jacket over a grubby shirt, he still looked most unusual.

  “Who on earth are you?” Gran snapped.

  “He’s brought the professor’s mask back, Gran,” Maisie explained. “George helped me find him.”

  “Told you where to find him, more like,” George muttered. “Er, evening, Mrs Hitchins,” he added hastily, whipping off his flat cap.

  “So please can we just go and tell the professor?” Maisie begged. “Then I’ll come down and help with the dinner.”

  “You’ve found it? This mask that he’s been fussing about?”

>   “Yes, Gran.”

  “For heaven’s sake, Maisie, take it to him at once! It’s more than I can stand, having him moping round the house. He looks like he’s been slapped in the face with a wet fish. I can’t be doing with it.”

  “Yes, Gran!” Maisie dashed upstairs with George and Eddie and Daniel following her, and knocked loudly on the door of the professor’s rooms.

  “Hello?” Even through the door, the professor sounded downhearted.

  Maisie flung it open and pushed the boy in front of her. “Professor, look who we’ve found!”

  “Daniel!” The professor jumped out of his armchair as though he had seen a ghost, and the boy stared back at him guiltily. “It’s so wonderful to see you – but what are you doing in London? However did you get here?” Then he frowned a little – he was a very, very clever man, after all, and it didn’t take him long to work things out. “Daniel, did you come all this way for the mask?”

  Daniel nodded. “The hunting was so bad – we didn’t have enough food. Then the black jaguar killed my cousins, when they were out after monkeys. And little Pachiri and Tuia are very ill. They were when I left, I mean. By now…” He shrugged sadly.

  “But this is dreadful!” The professor caught his hands, pressing them worriedly. “My poor boy!”

  “It was the mask! We should never have given it away, Professor, the spirits did not like it. I was coming to ask if we could have it back, but I did not know how to find you. And then I saw that you were giving it to a museum. This girl, she says it is a good place, but I did not understand. So – I took it.”

  Daniel held out the mask, pulling away the cloth wrapping so that the face shone out in the dim room, surrounded by the blazing feathers.

  George stepped back, shuddering, and even Maisie, who had seen it so many times before, let out a little gasp. Seeing it like that, suddenly, it was easy to believe that the spirits of the forest were looking through those gaping eyes. She could see why Daniel’s people were so desperate to have it back.

  The professor sighed happily and ran a loving hand down the side of the feathers. Maisie was almost sure the mask’s face changed as he did it, so that it was smiling.

  “I’m so sorry, Daniel. I never meant to carry away something so special. And I hadn’t realized it would be wrong to send it to a museum. How stupid of me. Of course you must take it home with you.”

  “Professor, the tribe didn’t have money to send him here…” Maisie said, trying to be tactful. “They sent him with goods to trade, but not enough. Daniel’s been working at a … a show to earn enough money to live on. It’s a horrible place.”

  “Goodness. We must make sure that your passage home is organized, and on a good ship, with a trustworthy crew.” The professor nodded firmly. “I shall see to it tomorrow morning, first thing.” He bustled around the room, digging into corners. “I’m sure I have another of those boxes, somewhere, or perhaps a strong canvas carrying bag. You won’t want it to go in the hold, will you?”

  Maisie and George grinned at each other in relief, and Maisie perched herself on the arm of a chair with a little sigh. Now that everything was organized, she felt so tired.

  It was then that they heard a furious banging on the front door.

  Maisie jumped up with a squeak. “Oh! I’d better go and answer it. Gran and Sally are busy with the dinner.”

  She ran down the stairs, wondering who on earth it could be. “I’m getting it, Gran!” she called. “I’m just coming, stop banging like that!”

  She flung the door open and glared at the three men on the front steps. “You didn’t have to break the door down…” Then her voice trailed off as she realized that the men at the door had black uniforms on, shining with silver buttons, and tall hats.

  Just at the worst possible time, the police had arrived…

  “Er, yes?” Maisie asked politely.

  “Excuse me, miss, but one of our plain-clothes men has been keeping watch on the house…” the oldest of the policemen said. He had a lot more silver braid round the sleeves of his tunic, and Maisie reckoned he was probably an inspector.

  “Has he?” Maisie asked, feeling shocked. Why on earth hadn’t she seen him? Still, she had been quite occupied, what with all the fake mask people and worrying about the professor.

  “Yes, miss. At the request of Mr Danvers, from the museum. He thought that the thief might try and return for more of the professor’s collection. So he asked for someone to be on watch.”

  “Oh…” Maisie swallowed nervously. Had they seen her and George bringing Daniel back? Did they think he was suspicious? “And, er, is there a problem?” she asked. “We’ve had ever so many people coming with fake masks, trying to claim the reward. It’s quite a nuisance.”

  “Yes, miss. But the plain-clothes officer reported in a few minutes ago, saying that he’d seen a young boy of foreign appearance with a parcel, miss. Mr Danvers was of the opinion that the mask was in the parcel. He happened to be at the Yard – er – visiting. He’s very interested in the case” The policeman coughed politely, and one of the others smirked.

  Maisie had a suspicion that Mr Danvers had been at Scotland Yard rather a lot.

  “Mr Danvers is on his way now…” The policeman glanced down the street. “Would we be able to come in, miss, and speak to the professor? My name is Inspector Morris, if you could tell him.”

  Maisie nodded. She was desperately trying to think. She couldn’t let the police go upstairs and find the mask, and Daniel.

  Mr Danvers wanted that mask. A lot. What had he called it? The pride of the collection? He was never going to agree that it should go back to the Amazon with Daniel, even though it was really up to the professor who he gave it to. And now the police were involved, as well, and the theft of the mask had been reported as a crime. They would probably decide to put Daniel in prison, whether the professor wanted him arrested or not.

  Maisie was fairly sure that being in prison would be even more awful for Daniel than it would be for anybody else, as he was such a person of the outdoors and the forest. And he was only a little older than she was. Even if the professor managed to get him out quickly, it would still be terrible. She couldn’t let it happen, she decided. She stepped back into the hallway, opening the door wider and beckoning the policemen in after her.

  “I’m ever so sorry, sir,” she explained politely to Inspector Morris, turning a little, so that she was facing more towards the stairs, and raising her voice. She was quite sure she had left the door to the professor’s rooms open when she came down to answer the door. She hoped so, anyway. “But I’m afraid Mr Danvers is quite wrong. The boy – his name is Daniel – is an old acquaintance of the professor’s, from his travels in the Amazon, you know. He’s living in London now and performing at Dacre’s Museum of Curiosities. I went to visit the museum today with one of my friends, and happened to meet him, so I told him that the mask had been stolen. He was very sorry to hear it, so he decided to give another mask to the professor, one that he had brought with him from the Amazon.”

  Maisie paused for breath, hoping that the professor and Daniel and George had heard all this from upstairs. If they had any sense, they would hide the feathered mask, and get out the rather battered one with the ratty fur trim that the professor had decided the museum didn’t need. They could pretend Daniel had brought that one round. She hoped the inspector couldn’t tell she was making all this up. He had very bright eyes and foxy-coloured hair, and he looked decidedly too clever.

  “How kind of him,” the inspector replied, just as politely. “Perhaps we could see it? And Mr Danvers as well, when he arrives?”

  Maisie gulped, and tried to smile. “Of course. I’ll show you up.”

  She led the procession of policemen slowly up the stairs, with her crossed fingers hidden in the folds of her skirt, and then knocked at the half-open door to Professor Tobin’s rooms.

  “Good afternoon, sir. Some policemen to see you.”

  The pr
ofessor, who was showing George and Daniel something in a book, looked up in surprise. Pretend surprise, Maisie realized in relief. The battered fur-trimmed mask was lying on his desk, and there was no sign of the feathered one at all.

  “Ah! Wonderful! Is there some news of my mask?” the professor asked hopefully. He really was a very good actor, Maisie thought.

  “I’m afraid not, sir.” Inspector Morris stared at him thoughtfully. “As I was explaining to this young lady, our plain-clothes officer saw a young boy arriving, with what could have been the mask. Mr Danvers is convinced that the mask has been returned, by the thief.” Here he glanced at Daniel, who was staring at him in horror. “Although he couldn’t explain why…” Inspector Morris glanced out of the professor’s window and sighed. “Here he is now, I’m afraid. Perhaps one of my constables could let him in?”

  One of the younger policemen went off downstairs, and as soon as he opened the front door, everyone could hear Mr Danvers ranting about the mask and the shameless thief. “It’s quite obvious! The thief’s brought it back to try and claim the reward!” he shouted, as he came dashing up the stairs.

  “No one would be that stupid,” Maisie muttered, and saw Inspector Morris looking at her curiously. She shuffled over to George and breathed, “Where’s the mask?” into his ear.

  “Hidden in that old blanket chest on the landing,” George whispered back. “I crept out and did it when we heard you talking.”

  Maisie tried hard to keep a relieved smile off her face as Mr Danvers burst into the room. Eddie growled at him, which just showed what sort of horrible person he was.

  “Where is it? Where is it? Get away, you dratted creature!”

  The professor looked at him, with a confused frown. “I’m so sorry, my dear fellow, I don’t quite understand. Daniel here has been kind enough to bring me a replacement mask, that’s all. The feathered mask is still missing.”