by Mr.
“You’re right, that’s what we need. Sophie has to be here. We can’t do it without her,” Jack said. “Hide all this stuff so Dad doesn’t see it. I’ll mail Sophie and Lisa to tell them we’ve figured it out. When they get back on Sunday we’ll explain everything using these pages.”
Tom was jumping around the room with excitement.
“If they agree, we can try it out on Sunday,” Jack said.
“You think Lisa’s going to let an opportunity like this pass? It doesn’t matter what Sophie wants, nothing’s going to hold Lisa back. And I’m with her!” shouted Tom, who couldn’t stop jumping up and down. Unable to restrain himself any longer, Jack stood up and threw his arm around his brother and began jumping around with him, too.
Lisa was sitting up in her bed, feeling quite content. Wei-Wei was inspecting Sophie’s ear and nodding her head.
“Better now,” she said softly. “Must take pill.”
“Okay, I will,” said Sophie.
Wei-Wei had already reached the door. She gave them a swift nod and closed the door behind her. Sophie took her pill and then grabbed her phone when it vibrated underneath her pillow.
“Well? Tell me! Is it them?” Lisa asked.
“They know!” Sophie said, staring at her screen in disbelief. “Jack says that they’ve figured it out. The planetarium is the key, but they can’t operate it without us.”
Lisa’s eyes sparkled. “Can I safely assume now that you’re glad I gave them the key?”
Saturday, June 21st, morning
“Wake up sleepyhead.” Jack was standing next to his little brother’s bed. “We got a message from Paris. I just checked my email. We need to go pick out some clothes today!”
Tom looked inquiringly at his brother. It was the weekend and he still wasn’t entirely awake.
“Pick out clothes?” he asked sleepily.
“Yep. Lisa was clever enough to realize we can’t visit Leonardo wearing our normal clothes. If we did that, we’d probably be burned at the stake the moment we arrived.”
Tom raised his eyebrows. “And what reason would Dad have for suddenly wanting to buy us expensive costumes?” asked Tom.
“Who’s saying we have to buy anything?” said Jack. “I just searched the internet and found a place where we can hire costumes for next to nothing!”
“But what are we going to tell Dad? Why do we need those costumes?” Tom asked.
“Ehm… Sophie mailed us a story they made up about the twins in my class having a big fancy dress party next week. Brothers and sisters are invited. They’re going to search for their own outfits in Paris today, something that won’t look out of place in a castle, or wherever.” Jack had to laugh at his own words. “We need something too, so that we fit in.”
“Maybe they’re right,” said Tom, looking his brother up and down. “I’m pretty sure they didn’t have jeans or sneakers back then,” he joked. “More likely something cool like what Robin Hood wore. Have you already looked up what they used to wear back then? I mean, we’re going to visit Leonardo, right? When was that anyway?”
Jack showed his brother a couple of pictures he had printed out.
“What? Do we have to wear that? That’s nothing like Robin Hood!”
“Sorry man,” Jack laughed. “I’m afraid this is it. But we won’t be alone, look.” Jack showed him another picture. “This is what Sophie and Lisa have to wear.”
“Whoooaa!!” Tom sputtered when he saw the picture.
“Come on, get dressed,” Jack said. “I’m going to go tell Dad about the party, then hopefully we can hire something this afternoon.”
Tom nodded, jumped out of bed, and ran to the bathroom. “I can’t wait to see you dressed up in that gear,” he shouted, before slamming the bathroom door shut.
“Well, make yourselves at home,” Hans said to Sophie and Lisa’s parents with an extravagant wave of his arm. “If you want to use the Mini, Wei-Wei knows where the keys are.”
“What about you?” their father asked, surprised. “How are you and the girls getting into town?” turning his head towards his two daughters, who were eager to go.
“The Ferrari!” Lisa yelled.
Before their parents could say anything they were already running down the stairs towards the garage with Hans. “The Mini had a good kick to it yesterday, didn’t it? Well, this car is a little different,” Hans beamed.
The rich sound of the engine filled the garage. Hans calmly drove the car out of the garage and drove slowly to the end of the street until he reached the first set of traffic lights. Red. The car stalled. Lisa gave her sister a look of bewilderment. For a moment it seemed as if Hans had lost his nerve. Repaying Lisa’s look of bewilderment with one of her own, Sophie then saw the lights turn green out of the corner of her eye.
All of a sudden a wave of gastric acid rose up through her throat. Her stomach convulsed and was pushed back into her spine as Hans floored it. Lisa threw her arms up in the air and screamed, but her voice was completely drowned out by the roar of the engine. They recognized the sound from TV. Formula 1 cars made the same whining noise when they raced by at full throttle. After about thirty seconds Hans braked hard.
“Now that’s what you call acceleration!” he said, beaming.
Lisa had a blissful grin on her face. Sophie swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth and conjured up a smile as well.
“We need to go slower around here, wouldn’t want to have an accident,” Hans said. “The streets get narrower here. In a few minutes we’ll be at the store I was talking about. That party your friends have got planned seems like a lot of fun. Quite the coincidence…” he winked at them in the rearview mirror, “…isn’t it? You having a party that allows you to wear the same clothes as they wore in Leonardo’s time?”
Lisa looked at him as if she didn’t understand what he was getting at. Sophie deliberately stared out the window.
“Anyway, the store… seriously girls! They’ve got the most amazing costumes ever. It’s going to be one hell of an afternoon!”
While Sophie and Lisa were trying on different outfits, Hans went and kitted himself out in Middle Age attire.
“Take a picture of me, just for fun,” he chuckled.
Sophie grabbed her telephone. A red light was flickering on the screen.
“Battery empty,” she said, deflated.
Hans took the phone from her to see if it was really empty. “You can’t print photos with it anyway. Imagine how cool that would be!” he said. “Wait, I have an idea. I’ll be right back.”
Without waiting for a reaction, Hans ran towards the exit, tossing some money onto the counter as he did so, and shouted something incomprehensible in French at the store employee who looked at him in disbelief as he ran off.
“He’s now running through Paris like some kind of harlequin,” Sophie said, flummoxed.
“Oh, I really don’t think he cares one bit,” Lisa said. “But I’d like to know what he’s up to.”
They changed clothes again, inspected each other’s outfits, and then couldn’t stop laughing. They looked like ladies-in-waiting in their long ornate dresses.
“Ta-dah!” shouted Hans when he returned a few minutes later. He handed Sophie two small boxes.
“Just down the road is the best electronics store in Paris. What are you waiting for? Open up, pronto! That one is a solar charger so your phone always works. It’s already fully charged, so you can plug in your phone right away. The other one is a portable printer that you can use to print out photos instantly.
Sophie stood there perplexed, holding the items.
“Come on! Plug it in and take a picture! Do Uncle Hansy a favor.” Hans smiled broadly for the camera. After about a minute, a small photo popped out of the tiny printer.
“Cool! Okay, now let me take yours.” Hans grabbed the telephone and took a few pictures of the girls, and the prints popped out of the machine shortly after.
“That’s the coolest thing!” Lisa sai
d.
“Here, I’ve got you something too.” Hans handed Lisa a box she instantly recognized.
“Hans! Really? For me?”
“Yeah, otherwise you’ll have to wait another year. Now you both have smartphones. Just hide it from your parents for the time being. When you get home, tell them it was a present and all they need to do is get you a subscription. It’s the same as Sophie’s, and it’s already charged, so everything works. You just can’t call anyone yet.”
Sophie and Lisa threw their arms around Hans’ neck and thanked him.
After trying on a few more costumes, they each choose a beautiful dress.
As they were walking to the car, Hans leaned over and whispered into Lisa’s ear. “You two are smart girls, and I’m not worried about you at all, but do keep in mind that you’re still young. So do me a favor and hold onto this. Just in case you ever need it…” He dropped something into her bag.
Lisa looked at him in surprise and thrust her hand into her bag. At the bottom she felt a long, hard, cold object.
“Promise me you’ll always carry it with you when you…” Hans had never sounded so serious before.
“Are we going to rip up the road again?” Sophie asked enthusiastically when they reached the car.
Hans stared at Lisa and didn’t move his eyes until she had nodded her head affirmatively.
Monday, June 23rd, afternoon
After what seemed like the longest school day ever, the four of them walked up the gravel path chatting. Tom and Jack were both carrying large bags filled with clothes they had quickly picked up from home.
Lisa couldn’t help but make fun of them. “I saw that you both have to wear pantyhose? Maybe you want to use some of our makeup as well?”
“Hmm. Did your father look at the sketch when you got home last night? He shouldn’t have noticed anything,” Jack said.
“No, luckily he hasn’t looked at it yet. He will tonight though, when he gets home from work,” Sophie said. “But first you’ll have to tell us how that thing works and why you couldn’t do it without us.”
“Yeah, okay, just hurry up. Go and get your stuff,” Jack said.
While the boys walked straight to the study, the girls went upstairs to get their own costumes. When they came back down, packed and dressed, the bookcase had already been moved aside. A light was burning in the secret room and they heard the boys speaking quietly. Lisa walked in and put her bag down on the floor.
Sophie stopped at the desk and studied the sketch. “The gap in the frame is a little bit wider than it was, but you can’t really see it. I don’t think it’s that obvious.”
“See, I told you,” she heard someone say from behind the bookcase.
“Come on, we don’t have any time to lose before your parents get home,” said Tom. When Sophie walked in he stood up and immediately closed the bookcase behind her. A worried look crossed Sophie’s face.
“What if it doesn’t open from the inside?”
“Don’t worry, Jack and I tested it on Friday. I shut him in just for fun to see if he could get back out on his own.”
“And I did,” Jack replied venomously.
“Did you bring your phone?” Jack asked.
Sophie turned halfway around and showed him her green backpack as proof.
“We’re going to need it, otherwise it won’t work.”
“So it’s not us you need then, just my phone? That’s what you were after?”
“Uhm, well… yes. Without your phone we’re not going anywhere,” Tom said.
Sophie put down her bag of clothes and opened her backpack. She looked inside and realized she hadn’t emptied it since Paris. The antibiotics, the painkillers, the solar charger, and the small printer Hans had given her, and even her geography book were still inside. She took her phone from the bag and gave it to Jack. “I want to know what you’re going to do with it.”
Jack took the phone but said nothing.
“Jack, seriously, whatever you’re planning, don’t break my phone. If you break it, I’ll be in big trouble with my parents.”
While Jack studied her smartphone and placed it next to the planetarium, Sophie took out all the loose papers and candy wrappers from her backpack. “Disgusting” she mumbled. Lost in her own world as she reorganized her bag, she hadn’t noticed that the others had already changed clothes. When she looked up she couldn’t keep herself from laughing.
“You guys look… fabulous!” Sophie cried.
“And now your turn,” Jack laughed, before moving the planetarium to the middle of the room. Tom picked up a few things that were still lying here and there on the floor.
“Look at this,” Jack rotated the planetarium so that everyone could see the cogwheels.
“What are those for?” Lisa asked.
“The pages we have say that you can use them to set the year you want to travel to,” Tom said.
Lisa couldn’t stop laughing. “Guys, seriously, look at us. We’re dressed up like monkeys, standing around this crazy thing, and actually thinking we can just beam ourselves off for a quick rendezvous with Leonardo da Vinci?” She stared at her friends waiting for them to react.
“It’s going to work,” Jack said, deadly serious. “It has to.” He indicated to his brother to spread the pages out on the ground. Sophie admired the structured way in which he had numbered everything. At least this way they had a clear idea of what to do. They all leaned over to look.
“Don’t get me wrong. It’s just that… you guys are suddenly so serious. What do we do if nothing happens?” Lisa said.
“The book is still real and the sketch is too. Okay, together they make up one book, but that alone is worth millions,” said Sophie with an enormous grin.
“Yeah, if it doesn’t work, then so what. We’ll still be richer than rich!” said Tom, equally excited. He threw his arm around Lisa. “But Lisa, believe me, this is going to work. After reading everything, it has to!”
“This bottle here, we thought it contained ordinary water, but it’s actually seawater, and not just any old seawater. It’s a mixture of the water from the seven seas,” Jack said.
“The magic of the seven seas,” Sophie said quietly to herself. “But wait a minute… the seven seas? That’s not really possible, is it? I mean, he didn’t have an airplane to fly around the world in. How did he pull that off?”
“Wrong,” Jack said. “The seven seas in Leonardo’s time weren’t the seven seas as we know them today. I looked it up.” Jack had anticipated Sophie’s comment and proudly pulled a map of the world from his back pocket.
“These were the seven seas in Leonardo’s day.” As he spoke he pointed to the different seas. “The Mediterranean, the Adriatic Sea, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, The Persian Gulf, and the Caspian Sea. It’s still a pretty long drive,” he laughed, “but in those days there were enough people who traveled all over the region. And that’s probably how he collected the water from all the seas.”
Jack knelt down next to the planetarium and viewed the planets from the side. He pushed the metal rods gently with his finger until all the spheres were lined up on the same horizontal.
“If I’m not mistaken…” He maneuvered the last sphere into place.
“Holy Moly!” he exclaimed in surprise. “Check this out! If you look here… try to look through the spheres.”
“Through the spheres?” Sophie asked.
Jack stood up to make room for her, but before Sophie could take his place Lisa moved in and squatted on her heels, looking at the first sphere. She moved her head slightly up and down.
“Yeah, I see it too! Huh? All the spheres have tiny holes you can see through.” She stood up so that her sister could look as well.
“Jack and I read about that on the missing pages. Each sphere has a tiny little tube going from top to bottom and also one going from one side to the other,” Tom said. “That stuff about the cogwheels was on those pages as well.”
“Okay, and
now what?” asked Lisa.
Jack twisted open the bottle and poured a few drops into each sphere. They all watched breathlessly.
“The water’s not running out at the bottom!” Sophie said surprised.
“That’s right, too,” Tom said pointing to the page he had referred to. “It says here that adhesion keeps the water from running through. That means the water sticks to the inside of the little tunnels, instead of running through.”
Everyone looked anxiously at Jack, waiting for whatever came next. “It says on the missing pages that the planets – these spheres – have to be aligned with each other in one straight line and that you then have to pour a few drops of water from the seven seas into each one. Now we need to adjust the cogwheels on the back to the year we want to visit.” Jack leaned over the planetarium and started turning the wheels.
“And what year would that be?” Sophie asked.
“1475,” said Jack.
“That’s when he was working on his first great masterpiece,” Lisa said.
Everyone looked at her in surprise.
“What? That’s what Dad told us in the car, isn’t it? That’s when he was painting the annussia… ehm, something like Announcement, or whatever it’s called.”
Sophie clapped and bowed theatrically. They all had to laugh because she looked a bit ridiculous in her flamboyant dress.
“So, what now?” asked Lisa, who still wasn’t taking it all very seriously.
“I think we’re almost there,” Tom said. He checked the last missing page together with his brother. “There’s a piece of chalk in the side panel, now we just need to write down our destination.”
“Where?” Sophie asked.
“There’s a small wooden plank made of poplar next to the cogwheels.”
“Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa on the same type of wood! And before you all get too excited, Dad told us that as well. I do actually listen sometimes,” Lisa grinned.