Who Was That Masked Man Anyway?

by Avi

  “I guess.”

  “Can you make it any louder?”

  “Don’t think so.”

  “Mario, you know something? You really are an actual genius. I mean, if you ever became an evil genius, the whole world would be in trouble. Only thing is, we have to give it a name.”

  “What about Radio Sender?”

  “Has to be better than that. I know! We’ll call it an Atomic Radio Remote Relay.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “It sends radio voices.”

  “What’s the atomic part?”

  “That’s just a way of saying it’s in the future.”

  “There is a problem: it works only one way. How am I going to know when you want me to turn the radio on?”

  “We can use my Silver Fox Junior G-man Walkie-talkie set.”

  “When’s it coming?”

  “Soon.”

  “You’ve been saying that….”

  “Don’t worry. It’ll get here. Come on. There’s a ton of wire down in my basement. If we can set this up before your ma gets back, I can listen to ‘Sky King.’ ”

  “And now, ‘Sky King.’!

  “You remember what happened, don’t you? Sky King, Penny, Clipper, Martha, and Jim Bell had managed to get across the river with the yelling, shouting giants close at their heels. Sky tried to cut down the bridge, but the blade of his knife broke. Then, with long deadly spears whistling through the air, with the giants screaming at their backs, Sky and our friends ran into the forest. There they heard the bridge go down, heard the giants as they fell into the river, saw ahead of them — an army of blue men!

  “Now, with the frenzied howls of the giants echoing in their ears and the blue men coming toward them too, Sky King speaks.”

  “Quick, behind these bushes.”

  “Sky, what are we going to do? There’re hundreds of those blue guys!”

  “They might not be looking for us, but for those giants yelling down there. Maybe they’ll go down to the river to investigate. If they don’t, they ain’t human.”

  “But look at them, Sky. All blue! Even their hands and their hair.”

  “Me, I ain’t caring what color they are. Long as they stay away from us.”

  “Hey! They’re going down the banks. They’re going down to the river. Sky!”

  “Wish we could hear what they were saying. We might find out what gives with those blue boys. If they’re looking for us….”

  “Gosh. How could they be, Sky? How could they know we’re here?”

  “Maybe King Ramses has been able to keep a close track on our movements.”

  “Are we in his country, Sky? Is this the Land of the Diamond Scarab?”

  “That’s how I’m betting it, Penny.”

  “Where we going now, Sky?”

  “Find a better place to hide in, honey. Around here, between those giants and the blue boys. It’s more crowded than a department store two days before Christmas. How about it, Jim? See anybody on that hill?”

  “The whole no-good lot of them are down at the river.”

  “For me, I don’t wish them bad luck or nothing, but I kind of hope a big crocodile takes a nip out of a couple of ’em.”

  “You might get your wish, Martha.”

  “Let’s make it to the top of this hill. From there we can at least see those birds if they come up this way. Everybody ready?”

  “Yes, Sky, I sure am.”

  “All right. Easy does it now. No running. Stay in the brush as much as possible. That’s the way. We’re getting to the top here.”

  “Phew! I’m hot!”

  “Better loosen your tie, Clipper.”

  “Hey, Sky. Look below!”

  “What?”

  “Down the hill!”

  “Wha … A city. A great big city!”

  “With streets.”

  “And buildings.”

  “And fountains.”

  “Look how them fountains glitter.”

  “Gosh!”

  “They’re just like diamonds.”

  “Oh, Sky, do you think they really are diamonds?”

  “Yes, Penny, I do.”

  “Them’s as big as your head. Bigger!”

  “And there’s the palace, Sky. It’s bigger than all those other buildings. And it’s got a big scarab on its roof.”

  “Well, Clipper, in a little while we’re going down there and see if we can find Nancy Campbell.”

  “We’ll never get past all those guards, Sky. They’re everywhere.”

  “But that’s why we came to Ecuador, you know, to get Nancy Campbell and Joe Butler out of this place. So try to catch some rest, all of you, because as soon as it gets dark we’re going down there.”

  “Evening wanders across the heavens now. The quick, tropic twilight slides its way over the forest. Night, like a black velvet cloak, wraps itself around the jungle. Sky King and our friends stand on a hill and look down on the lights of a fabulous city, down on the Land of the Diamond Scarab.”

  “HEY, MARIO!”

  “What?”

  “Look!”

  “What is it?”

  “It came!”

  “What is it?”

  “My Silver Fox Junior G-man Walkie-talkie.”

  “That?”

  “All you have to do is put it together.”

  “What’s it made of?”

  “Cardboard.”

  “That’s no good.”

  “It’s special cardboard.”

  “Looks regular to me.”

  “You’ll see. Here. Put it together. Then we can talk two ways.”

  “Why don’t you put it together?”

  “Because I’m always putting tab A in slot B instead of C.”

  “It’s easy.”

  “Well, you’re a better speller than I am.”

  “HELLO, SKIPPER! Hello! This is Chet Barker calling Skipper O’Malley on the Silver Fox Junior G-man Walkie-talkie. Come in, please. Come in. Use your Atomic Radio Remote Relay to reply. Over and out.”

  “What?”

  “Did you hear me?”

  “Louder!”

  “Mario, pull the string tighter! The thing won’t work unless the string’s really tight!”

  “Okay!”

  “Oh, great, now you snapped the string!”

  “HELLO, SKIPPER! Come in, please! This is Chet! Roger?”

  “Who’s Roger?”

  “Mario, roger means ‘I hear you.’ ”

  “Frankie, I can hear you, but it’s too faint. Can’t we just talk regular?”

  “No!”

  “Why?”

  “Because when you use the Atomic Remote Relay Radio, I don’t want to have to run outside to answer each time.”

  “We could just meet out front, you know.”

  “People would hear.”

  “Nobody cares.”

  “What about our enemies?”

  “What enemies?”

  “Public enemies, like Mr. Swerdlow.”

  “Oh, him.”

  “Come on. Let’s get it right.”

  “THIS IS Chet Barker calling Skipper O’Malley on the walkie-talkie! The string is in place! Repeat! The string is in place! Would you come in, please! Over and roger?”

  “What did you say?”

  “It works, Mario! We can talk both ways!”

  “Great! What’s the message?”

  “Meet me on the stoop.”

  “Why?”

  “I need your English homework.”

  “SAY, TOM … ?”

  “What’s that, Pop?”

  “How about, right after dinner, we take in a movie? There’s a new Bob Hope comedy over at the Majestic Theater. Supposed to be good.”

  “Can I go?”

  “Frankie, you have homework to do.”

  “Aw, Ma, it’s Saturday.”

  “What do you say, Tom? Be good to get out. We can make a night of it. Even take in a beer or two.”

  “
You and Ma go.”

  “If I did my homework, could I go then?”

  “Frankie, you are not going!”

  “How about it, Tom? Might see some of your old buddies and gals….”

  “If Tom goes out, can I listen to the radio in his room?”

  “Frankie, keep out of this!”

  “Ma!”

  “Thanks for the invite, Pop, but I’m not feeling so great. Some other time. I’d just as soon go lie down.”

  “I wish I understood what was eating that boy up.”

  “Ma, I know what it is.”

  “What?”

  “It’s the music he listens to. It’s so dopey. If he listened to adventures, he’d have a lot more pep and energy to be wide awake and husky.”

  “Frankie, do me a favor?”

  “What?”

  “Go down to your room and just turn yourself off.”

  “FRANKIE, you know what? That walkie-talkie thing doesn’t work too well.”

  “If you held the string tighter, it would.”

  “From my radio down your coal chute is too far.”

  “Mario, you know something? You give up too easy.”

  “My ma says all that stuff is junk. She’s right too.”

  “We need it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because somebody has to lead the fight for law and order around here. And you want to get on the pages of history, don’t you?”

  “I guess. How’s your brother?”

  “Okay.”

  “Still in bed?”

  “Sort of.”

  “Will he see anyone yet?”

  “Nope.”

  “What is he, sick?”

  “I think it’s the room.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Being in my room is sort of not being really home yet. So he can’t do anything but lie around. Before he went into the army, he’d sit out on the stoop, like we’re doing, talking with his friends. Now he won’t see anyone or hardly listen to the radio either. And when he does listen, it’s all sappy love music.”

  “My mother gets like that sometimes. It scares me. She just stares at the wall. Like she was reading some message on it.”

  “Hey, maybe there is a message.”

  “No, there isn’t. I looked.”

  “Oh, hi, Mr. Swerdlow.”

  “Excuse me, boys. Can I get out?”

  “Oh, sure. Hey, Mr. Swerdlow, you going to operate on anybody today?”

  “I think not.”

  “So long.”

  “Bye….”

  “You know what?”

  “What?”

  “Maybe he’s the one made my uncle Charley disappear.”

  “You said that was years ago.”

  “I know. Well, anyway, I just got an important clue: Mr. Swerdlow’s in the big-time rackets.”

  “How can you know?”

  “The way he talks.”

  “Talks?”

  “You heard him. ‘I think not.’ That’s fancy stuff. Small-time racketeers talk like people from Jersey. Big-time ones sound like England. Hey, come on. Let’s follow him.”

  “Are you nuts?”

  “We can match wits with him. See where he goes! I’ll get my mask.”

  “HEY! Where’d you get that?”

  “Pearlman’s Candy. Nickel a mask.”

  “Why you wearing your glasses on the outside?”

  “So I can see, stupid!”

  “You’re going to trip on your father’s coat, you know. It’s too long. That his hat?”

  “Yeah. Think anyone will recognize me?”

  “Naw. You look more like a walking mushroom than a spy. But what if your father sees you?”

  “Have to chance it, Skipper. Now, which way did he go?”

  “That way.”

  “Okay. We’re in a South American jungle. It’s evening. The very fast twilight zips its way overhead. Night, like a black scarab, settles down. Trees are everywhere. So are these blue, frenzied sloths. And great orange giants are chasing us with huge, slobbering — really hungry — mouths. I say, ‘Okay, Skipper, I don’t fancy being eaten. Better keep your eyes peeled.’ You say, ‘Count on me, Chet.’ ”

  “Count on me, Chet. That’s disgusting — peeled eyes.”

  “Mario!”

  “Just saying….”

  “I say, ‘He’s right up ahead, Skipper. He thinks we can’t see him.’ You say, ‘Doesn’t know what a great tracker you are, Chet.’ ”

  “Doesn’t know what a great tracker you are, Chet.”

  “Learned it from my uncle Charley.”

  “Thought you said he was an eccentric scientist.”

  “But first he was a daring World War One flying ace. Part of the Lost Squadron. Anyway, I’m only trying to do my job, Skip. Now, we slip past the quicksand pools, then swim through this alligator-infested river. Suddenly I see this gigantic man-eating crocodile. Da-dum!”

  “Thought you said alligators.”

  “They got all kinds. That’s how bad it is. I cry, ‘Help! Skipper! He has me by the leg. Arrg!’ In a flash you pull the teeth out of your knife and stab him right in his double heart.”

  “Don’t you mean ‘pull the knife out of your teeth’?”

  “I said that.”

  “No, you didn’t. You said ‘teeth out of your knife’!”

  “I did not.”

  “You did!”

  “Would you just do the second thing.”

  “I forgot what the second thing was.”

  “Okay. Skip it. I say, ‘Thanks, pardner. Once again you saved my life.’ You say, ‘ ’Twerent’t nothing.’ Come on, Mario…. Stop laughing!”

  “You really did.”

  “Oh, shut up! Where’s Mr. Swerdlow?”

  “There.”

  “Right, Skipper. Keep your eyes peeled.”

  “I wish you’d just say open.”

  “If you don’t say it right, it won’t work.”

  “But you keep repeating the same things over and over. It’s dumb.”

  “Mario, are you going to make up the words, or me?”

  “I can’t do it real like you.”

  “Well?”

  “Okay. My eyes are open. Peeled.”

  “Mario, did you see what I saw?”

  “What?”

  “Mr. Swerdlow got into a car!”

  “So what?”

  “He got into the backseat! That’s where the gang leaders always ride.”

  “Frankie, people were sitting up front. There was no room!”

  “By gumption, Skipper, once again the racketeer is saved by the Dark Hand Gang. And so we come to another end of another Chet Barker, Master Spy, adventure.”

  “With his faithful sidekick, Skipper O’Malley.”

  “Tune in tomorrow for excitement!”

  “Thrills!”

  “And adventure! Yes, radio fans, find out tomorrow what happens when Chet Barker and his sidekick, Skipper O’Malley, learn more about the evil Doctor Swerdlow.”

  “Hey, there goes Miss Gomez.”

  “Where?”

  “There. Down Montague Street.”

  “Come on! We’ll follow her. We’re on a secret mission. It’s Berlin. Midnight. Sirens are screeching. The artillery has opened up on the advancing Americans. Miss Gomez is a lovely young spy with crucial information for the Allies. The situation is so bad it’s desperate. The fate of the entire universe depends on her. Meanwhile, we’ve parachuted down from a B-17 to protect her!”

  “Frankie, can’t we just do something normal for once?”

  “Come on, Mario! I say, ‘Skipper, my heart goes out to her because she’s mighty young and innocent for this kind of operation.’ You say, ‘Well, Chet, a pretty face is a mighty weapon.’ ”

  “Well, Chet, a pretty face is a mighty weapon.”

  “Then I say, ‘Right, Skipper. The look of innocence oft snares the stripling youth.’ ”

  “I don’t know w
hat that means.”

  “Mario, can’t you understand anything?”

  “I know science. I figured how to get the Atomic Radio Remote Relay to work, didn’t I? And put the Silver Fox Junior G-man Walkie-talkie together, right?”

  “Yeah, but those things were real. This is an adventure. Hey, I bet she’s heading toward Penny Bridge Park. Come on!”

  “Wait a minute. The stoplight’s going to change.”

  “Mario, heroes don’t wait for lights to change! There, see, I told you. She went into the park.”

  “Frankie, there’s nothing else but park.”

  “It’s a perfect ron-day-voo place. I say, ‘Keep your head down, Skipper. We may be in for it.’ You say, ‘I read you, Chet.’ ”

  “I read you, Chet. Frankie, she’s just sitting there.”

  “Right. She’s waiting.”

  “Waiting for what?”

  “An Allied double agent.”

  “No, she’s not. Frankie, she’s … she’s crying.”

  “Oh, wow….”

  “Yeah.”

  “Must be about …”

  “I don’t like this…. I’m going home.”

  “Mario!”

  “MISS GOMEZ? Miss Gomez!”

  “Yes … ?”

  “Miss Gomez?”

  “I …”

  “You are Miss Gomez, aren’t you?”

  “Yes…. Who are you? Why are you wearing that ridiculous costume? How do you know my name?”

  “It’s all right, Miss Gomez. Don’t despair. The Lost Foreign Force of Forgotten Free French Heroes — the LFFFFH — is watching. Don’t despair!”

  “I don’t understand. What are you trying to spell?”

  “Until we meet again …”

  “Come back here! Who are you? What were you saying?”

  “COME IN, Skipper. Come in! Chet Barker calling Skipper. Over and out.”

  “What?”

  “Can you hear me at all?”

  “What?”

  “Keep the string tight, Mario!”

  “I’m trying. What happened with you and Miss Gomez?”

  “I spoke to her.”

  “You did?”

  “Sure.”

  “Meet me out front.”

  “WERE YOU really wearing your mask and all?”

  “Chet Barker never reveals his true identity.”

  “No fins?”

  “No fins.”

  “No crossed veins?”