Lola Benko, Treasure Hunter

by Beth McMullen

  “Don’t freak out about sharks,” Hannah gurgles, as if reading my mind. “If you want to freak out, do it about ships. We are much more likely to get run over than to be eaten.”

  “Or we’ll die of exposure,” Jin adds. Aren’t we just a jolly bunch! I can’t imagine how much Hannah and Jin hate me right now for getting them into this. I’d hate me. In truth, I do hate me.

  “What really stinks,” Jin continues, “is we have a magic stone and we are still going to die out here.”

  “It’s the wrong kind of magic,” Hannah points out. “What we need is that Star Trek thing, where you can just beam your body places, like out of the water.”

  “That would be a good magic to have,” Jin agrees. “But we’d need someone to do the beaming. And pretty much no one knows we’re here.”

  “True,” says Hannah thoughtfully.

  We are likely going to drown. I’m about to apologize for getting them into this when something bumps me. Sharks! I knew it! This is the end! I paddle frantically, my cast splashing up bits of plaster and water into my face. But why are these two grinning? Do they hate me so much they want me to be torn to bits by sharks right in front of them?

  “Boat!” Jin croaks. If I had to choose between getting run over by a boat or eaten by a shark, I think I’d take the boat. But it looks like I’m going to get both because I am just that lucky.

  “Lola, behind you.” I spin to discover our creaky little boat, floating just over my shoulder. I have never been so happy in my life and I’m including the time I got a private tour of King Tut’s tomb, which was all sorts of amazing. We hoist ourselves, bedraggled and breathless, into the boat and collapse in a heap on its dirty bottom.

  “Are you guys okay?” I ask, but my lips are frozen and the words sound funny.

  “Who cares about that?” Hannah gasps. “You still have it?”

  Oh yeah. I hold up the stone triumphantly. It glimmers despite the fact that there is no sunlight, only gray.

  “We’re a good team,” Jin says.

  “We are,” agrees Hannah.

  And it’s true. Last week we were three people alone, but now we’re a team, at least for right now. In a minute we will have to get up and start paddling, but for now we lie in the bottom of the boat, shoulder to shoulder, and relish our unexpected success.

  CHAPTER 29 WHEN IN DOUBT, BLAME THE SPRINKLERS.

  GREAT-AUNT IRMA IS MAD AT me for not reporting in on my whereabouts earlier. “It’s dinnertime! Remember I gave you a phone so I could call you. I had no idea where you were! It was highly upsetting.”

  I apologize all over myself and promise not to be late again, but honestly, this is exactly the reason I don’t carry the phone. I could just see her pinpointing my location and finding me in the middle of the bay. How exactly would I explain that? But that’s not the worst of it. She’s also highly skeptical of my sprinkler malfunction story. “If a sprinkler malfunction destroyed your cast,” she asks, “why do you smell of ocean?”

  “It was a geyser of water,” I explain. “Everything got wet. And you know Redwood is practically on the bay. The whole place stinks like salt. I just absorbed the smell.”

  “Stink!” Zeus screeches. He lofts from Irma’s shoulder to mine and begins to peck furiously at my hair. After a moment, he triumphantly produces a piece of seaweed, waving it around in his sharp little beak. Traitor! See if I ever give you any more kale bits.

  “Grass,” I say preemptively.

  Great-Aunt Irma narrows her gaze. “Did you go somewhere you were not supposed to be?”

  “No.” Yes.

  “Did you take anything that didn’t belong to you?”

  “No.” Well, not exactly. The stone was in the captain’s possession, but that doesn’t really count. Dad had it first, so, by proxy, it kind of belongs to me. Right?

  “Okay, then,” Irma says. “You’re going to have to blow-dry that cast before it totally falls off. And take a shower. It’s like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in here.”

  Zeus finds this hilarious and starts squawking, accidentally swallowing the seaweed. Serves him right, the little brat. Gagging, he upchucks it into Irma’s hair. Gross! Irma grabs him. “Naughty bird! Keep it up and I will pluck you like a chicken!”

  “Chicken! Chicken!”

  Grateful to be forgotten among the chaos, I dash for the shower. As the hot water washes away the chill, I think about how we giggled all the way home from Oakland, reliving the highlights of our adventure and absorbing serious side-eye from rush-hour passengers as we dripped puddles on the train. It was like we were in a bubble, our own world, and I found myself wondering if this is what having real friends felt like. But I shouldn’t get ahead of myself, right? We’re just on a mission together, a quest—me, to find my father; Jin, because he made a deal; and Hannah, to make sure we don’t win the STEM fair by magical means. We are not exactly friends.

  It takes me over an hour to blow-dry my cast. Next time I’ll get a waterproof cast.

  According to Jin’s plan, we need to see if the stone is really magic, so the following day we agree to meet after school with the stone and the notebook and test it out. If it works, we can use the magic on the Shadow and free my father, and if it doesn’t, we hand it over and get him back anyway. Win-win, as Jin said.

  Despite the experience in the captain’s quarters, with the stone shimmering and glimmering and showing off, I’m still skeptical. Sure, it’s pretty, but so is a cherry tree in bloom or a perfect rose. And pretty is not magic.

  I intended to hide the stone in my locker, but after what we went through to get it, I’m feeling weirdly protective. I don’t really want to let it out of my sight. It remains in my pocket, banging against my thigh with every step I take. I spend social studies daydreaming about the reunion I will have with my father. It seems so close now I can almost reach out and grab it. I have so much to tell him! About my bedroom at Irma’s, my new school, Jin and Hannah. When Mr. Kind calls on me and I don’t know the answer or even the question, he moves straight to humiliation.

  “Miss Benko,” he says, his sharp eyes studying me. “Why don’t you share your thoughts on last night’s reading?”

  I did read the material. I swear I did. But it was hard to concentrate with the stone sitting on my desk. I was mostly staring at it, waiting for it to perform some magic and at the same time knowing how crazy that was. But nothing happened and it got late and I had to go to bed. In short, I have no memory of what the reading was about.

  “It was… um… historical,” I mutter. The stone glows warm against my thigh. My fingers graze it, as if for comfort or maybe strength when dealing with the exceptionally nasty Mr. Kind.

  “Brilliant,” he says. The class snickers. “Tell us more. Spare no details. We want a glimpse into that cesspool of a head.”

  Oh, I wish he’d shut up! Go harass someone else! Can’t you see I’m dealing with a lot of stuff right now?

  Suddenly, Mr. Kind begins absentmindedly patting his pockets for the glasses lodged on his head. “On second thought,” he says. “Andrew, please read section 28.2 aloud. Pay attention now, class. This is important.”

  My fingers wrap around the stone. Andrew reads, my transgression all but forgotten. When the bell finally rings, I flee to my locker. Hannah is already there, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Jin is next, flicking his bangs repeatedly. They are anxious. And excited.

  “That cast has seen better days.” Jin smirks. “Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be.” Let’s get this done. The clock is ticking. We head to the Redwood library, bypassing the doughnuts because we don’t have a lot of time. I clutch the stone, the notebook tucked securely in my backpack. I’m jumpy, sure Lipstick is going to leap out from behind a tree and snatch our precious cargo.

  Finally, tucked into the rainbow beanbags, I place the stone on the floor in the center of our tight circle. I pull out the notebook and read.

  “ ‘The village elders speak of how the stone
chooses a person and whispers to them. It feels like a shiver, as if a spirit is floating nearby. The stone calls out to you, quiet but persistent. At first it makes you feel good, powerful, but soon you are overwhelmed and willingly perpetrate great evil on its behalf.’ ”

  Silence settles over us. Dad’s words feel much heavier now that we have the stone. “I don’t know if this is a good idea,” I whisper. I know I agreed to Jin’s plan to try to access the stone’s power, but are we just asking for trouble?

  “We can handle it,” Jin responds, waving me off. He’s completely focused on the stone, determined even. So is Hannah. There is no turning back.

  “Okay then. Here we go. We are supposed to feel its presence. Everyone try.”

  We close our eyes and concentrate, just as we did on the Nebula. But on the ship the stone was far away and now it’s right here. Jin fidgets beside me. I can hear Hannah’s steady breathing. A decent interval passes. “Anything?”

  Jin shakes his head. “Crickets.” Hannah agrees. Nothing. This is starting to feel silly.

  “It has to work.” Jin frowns. “We almost drowned trying to save it. It owes us. Do you hear that, stone? You owe us.”

  “Maybe it wanted to go to Brazil?” I suggest.

  “Oh,” Jin replies. “I didn’t think about that. Maybe the reason it’s not doing anything is because it’s mad we screwed up its travel plans.”

  “I was joking,” I say flatly.

  “Let’s try one more time,” Hannah interrupts. “Really concentrate this time. Like no thinking about Fortnite or doughnuts or homework or anything. Just think about the stone.” I can’t be sure if Jin doesn’t think just a little about Fortnite, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing changes. We stare at the stone. Hannah gives it a little kick.

  “Come on,” she whines. “Do something, you stupid thing.” But insulting the stone’s pride doesn’t motivate it to burst out in magic, spreading fairy dust and unicorns all over the place.

  Turns out, at the end of the day, it’s just a rock.

  CHAPTER 30 DOUBLE CROSS

  OUR REACTIONS ARE, NOT SURPRISINGLY, all over the place. “I was so sure it would work,” Jin says, crestfallen. His entire body sags with disappointment. He really believed.

  On the other hand, Hannah is just angry. “We almost died,” she says with a huff. “I want a refund.”

  “This is the worst day ever,” Jin complains.

  But the truth is, I’m relieved. I have what the Shadow wants. I can hand over the stone without worrying about potential world-ending consequences and get my father back. Magic, while undeniably cool, really would just complicate things. I glance at my watch. It’s time to head to the Embarcadero.

  But before we go, I make an offer. “You guys have done enough. I can do this part by myself. If you want out. I mean, I almost got you killed and stuff.” Jin needed help with winning the STEM fair and Hannah didn’t want Jin to get a leg up with a magic stone, but now we’re talking about actual bad guys. Things have changed. But even as my exit offer hangs in the air, I hate the idea of going it alone.

  Without missing a beat, Jin shakes his head. “We had a deal. You help me. I help you. I’m not going back on a deal.”

  “And I don’t have anything better to do,” Hannah says with a shrug. “I might as well come along and see what kind of mess you get into next. You’ll probably need rescuing at some point anyway.”

  I hide my smile behind a hand, faking a yawn. “Then we’d better get going.”

  As we race to the bus stop outside school, Hannah wonders aloud if the real Shadow will actually appear and if he does, will he be transparent, like an actual shadow? Jin says that’s ridiculous, but that does not stop them from arguing about it for ten minutes. The bus stop is crowded with kids ready for the weekend. Conversations float around about meet-ups and hangouts. Someone asks if there is a better puke emoji than the regular one with the green vomit.

  A lengthy conversation ensues over the value of purple puke. What does it mean? Hannah and Jin have strong opinions, but all I can think about is the Embarcadero. My palms are glossy with sweat. Am I a bus ride away from finally seeing my father again? Is this nightmare almost over? I could be back to my regular life in a couple of weeks, on the road hunting treasures with my dad. This should fill me with excitement, but right now, watching a bunch of Redwood kids argue about which color puke means what, I feel a pang of regret. Or something? Go away, you stupid confused feeling! I need to focus.

  When the bus finally drops us at the Embarcadero, we make our way through the throngs of tourists to Pier 15, home of probably the best science museum ever. It has all sorts of hands-on experiments with electricity and it’s hard not to love a museum that encourages guests to semi-electrocute themselves in the pursuit of knowledge. We have twenty minutes to kill until five o’clock, but that’s not enough time to go inside. Outside the museum’s entryway is the metallic sculpture of an atom. Standing off to one side, I scan the crowd, my heart banging hard against my ribs. What if no one comes? What if this is all a setup? What if the Shadow never had my father to begin with? Why am I thinking this now? We stand in silence and watch the tourists stream by. The minutes feel like hours.

  “Lola Benko, how nice to see you again.” But here is Lipstick. Right on time. Today’s lip color is a shade of bright orange that should never be applied to one’s face on purpose. Lipstick grins, revealing a smudge of orange on her sharp incisors. She could be a vampire with those teeth. That would certainly complicate things.

  “Stop staring,” she says defensively.

  “Not staring.” I cast my eyes down at my shoes. Lipstick stands too close and I catch a whiff of something citrusy and harsh, like moldy oranges.

  “Do you have the stone?” Her eyes are alive with anticipation and she licks her lips hungrily, like she plans on eating it or something.

  “I do,” I squeak.

  “Show me,” she commands.

  “Where’s Professor Benko?” Hannah steps in front of me, arms crossed. “No way we hand over that stone until we see him.”

  “I’d ask who you are,” snaps Lipstick, “but I get the feeling that we’d be here all day.” She speaks into her watch. “Bring him over.”

  Two men emerge from a crowd. One is short and wiry, with black hair buzzed close to his scalp. The other wears a plaid shirt that barely holds back his belly. Between Buzz and Plaid is a man. I can’t see his face, but I’d know that ratty leather jacket anywhere. My father.

  “Here he is,” says Buzz.

  “The brilliant professor,” adds Plaid, his voice dripping with disdain.

  My knees buckle. Jin grabs me just before I collapse. Hannah rushes to help. Dad is too skinny and his face is gray and drawn. When our eyes meet, he smiles weakly. I want to run to him, but Lipstick sets me straight. “Don’t take a step in that direction until you hand over the stone.”

  I dig it out of my backpack. A cluster of people blocks my view of Dad. Lipstick’s eyes lock on to the stone as I place it in her outstretched hand. She practically drools. It’s not very dignified.

  “Let him go,” I croak, my stomach tightening like a fist. “You have the stone.”

  As Lipstick’s long fingers close around the stone, she grins. Not a nice-doing-business-with-you grin but more of an evil power-hungry grin. It’s just a rock. There is nothing to worry about. I haven’t done anything wrong except free my father. “Silly little girl.” Lipstick’s frosty tone gives me an instant ice-cream headache. “I thought kids today were smart. Well, here’s the deal. There’s been a change of plans. The Shadow needs your father for a wee bit longer. He’s the one who knows all the stone’s secrets. Otherwise, it’s just an expensive paperweight.”

  I am trying to process what she’s saying, but my brain is arguing that it cannot be true. I brought her what she wanted! “You promised,” I bleat, just as pathetic as can be.

  “Are you double-crossing us?” Jin asks.

  “I kne
w it!” Hannah yells.

  “Look how quickly you catch on! Bravo!” My skin itches with tension. I want to spring on Lipstick and push her over and take back my stone, but I’m frozen. “Oh, come on. Such faces. Don’t despair. If your father helps us access the power of the stone, he gets to go. The Shadow is not unreasonable. It could still work out.”

  This fills me with horror. The stone isn’t magic, and nothing my father says or does will change that. It’s like the Salem witch trials’ ordeal by water. If a witch sank, she was innocent but drowned anyway. And if she floated, she was a witch and they burned her at the stake. Lose-lose. Just like this.

  “It’s just a rock,” I whisper. “It’s not magic.”

  “It had better be magic if he wants to live. And don’t think about going to the police. Remember those consequences we talked about? They have only gotten more extreme.” It’s the perfect walkaway line. She tucks the stone into her pocket and gives a nod to Buzz and Plaid, who push my father in front of them, not even allowing him a glance back in my direction. And there I stand with no stone and no Dad.

  How could I be so dumb?

  CHAPTER 31 MY FEATHERED FRIEND

  I ACT ALL NORMAL AT home, but I’m hollow inside. If someone bumps me, I will likely shatter. What will happen to my father when he can’t wring magic from an ordinary rock?

  Irma asks me about school, but I can’t remember anything beyond the Lipstick debacle. I blither about math class and pottery, and if Irma suspects anything is wrong, she doesn’t let on. I barely taste the pizza we have for dinner even though it’s from my favorite place, the one generous with the pepperoni. Irma tells me she spent her day on a virtual visit to the Louvre Museum in Paris. She’s making a “Ten Cities in Nine Days” virtual tour app for seniors. They can travel the world and never leave their living rooms.

  “I actually stood on top of Michelangelo’s David statue,” she says casually. “Right on his head! There’s a whole different perspective from up there.”