The Show Must Go On

by Courtney Sheinmel

  “Oh no. Did our parents call you?” Molly asked. But wasn’t it still the middle of the night back home in Harvey Falls? That’s how the magic worked when PET had whisked them off to Colorado. Maybe their mom had woken up to get a drink and discovered their empty beds. Oh, poor Mom, thought Molly. She must be so worried. Dad, too.

  “No, your parents didn’t call,” Officer Rodriguez said. “But you need to head back to your limo if you want to avoid breaking the law.”

  “My brother and I didn’t break any laws,” Molly said. “We actually love laws.”

  “That’s right,” Finn agreed. “We never met a law we didn’t love.”

  “Is that so?” Officer Rodriguez asked. “Then you won’t mind having your driver move your limo. Now.”

  “Our driver?” Finn asked, as the officer pushed them out the door of the Freedom Tower. Hallie Hampton’s limo was right out front. “Oh, you mean Lou!”

  “He’s double-parked,” Officer Rodriguez said. “You two better get in there and get on your way, or I’ll have to issue a ticket.” He pulled out a pink pad.

  “No!” Molly cried. “We’ll get in right now and tell him to move.”

  The twins jumped into the limo. Finn told Lou to “step on it,” which was something he’d heard in a movie. He turned to look out the back window and breathed a sigh of relief as Officer Rodriguez became smaller and smaller in the distance.

  Then Molly pointed out that they still had a problem. “We escaped the police,” she said, “but we didn’t make it to the top of the building.”

  “I’ll just drive around in circles until you figure out what you want to do next,” Lou said. “Hope it’s soon. Miss Hampton keeps texting.”

  Molly’s heart was beating fast. She couldn’t let Hallie down. But she was afraid she already had.

  “Listen,” Finn said. “I have an idea. What if the Freedom Tower was the wrong building? There are lots of skyscrapers here that probably get struck by lightning. The clue didn’t say it had to be the tallest.”

  “Yeah,” Molly said. “But does that mean we have to go to all the tall buildings until we find the right one? We don’t have time for that.” She paused. “There’s got to be something else in that clue to give us the answer.”

  She pulled it out and read it aloud to Finn. “They say lightning never strikes twice, but it strikes me an average of one hundred times a year! That hasn’t stopped a giant ape from climbing up my back.”

  “Hmm…,” Molly said. “A giant ape…but I don’t think apes live in New York.”

  “I have a video game where an ape climbs the Umpire State Building,” Finn said. “I always wanted to go there to meet all the umpires.”

  “Wait, Finn. What did you say was the name of the building?”

  “The Umpire State Building,” he repeated. “An umpire is an official who calls the plays at a baseball game. I think all the umpires must have their headquarters there.”

  Molly looked at her brother strangely for a moment, and then broke into a huge grin. “Finn, you’re a genius!”

  “I am?” he asked.

  “Yes! Well, sort of. You’re wrong about the Umpire State Building, because that’s the wrong name. The clue has to be about the Empire State Building—it’s the second-tallest building in New York City!”

  “So it’s not the headquarters of all the umpires?” Finn asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Molly said. “But it does have over a hundred floors. I bet it gets hit by lots of lightning.”

  “Empire State Building, please,” the twins called to Lou.

  “You got it,” Lou said.

  “Look, over there!” Finn exclaimed. He pointed to a woman standing by a hot dog stand, wearing a yellow POP Magazine T-shirt.

  The twins ran up to her. “Do you have our next clue?” Molly asked, panting.

  “No,” the woman said. “You have to go to the top for that. But I do have complimentary hot dogs for you if you need some fuel.”

  “Wow, thanks!” Finn said.

  “Yeah, thanks,” Molly said. “But look at that line to get to the top. It’s gonna take hours.”

  “That’s why I’m here to give you passes to the express elevator.” The woman handed over two red tickets. “Go through that revolving door and make a right.”

  The twins ran through the lobby. They were nearly stopped by a security guard, telling them to get back in line. But when they flashed their passes, he led them to a special elevator. The doors closed, and they shot up.

  “Ah, my ears are popping!” Finn said.

  “Mine too,” Molly said. “I’ve never been up this high in my life!”

  The elevator doors opened, and the first thing the twins saw was…a stairwell. After all that time in the elevator, there were still a few more steps to go! They got to the top of the stairs and walked through a set of double doors. Molly’s heart was thumping hard. Standing on the observation deck, she could see all of New York City. She looked over the railing. One hundred and two floors below them, there were cars, buses, cabs, people, and even Lou in Hallie Hampton’s limo. Everything looked teeny tiny, like pieces in a game and not real things.

  “I hope there’s someone from POP Magazine up here,” Finn said.

  “There should be,” Molly said. “Let’s go find them.”

  They walked around, looking for someone from the magazine. But they couldn’t help noticing other sights, too. “I think that’s the Freedom Tower!” Finn cried, pointing. “And the Statue of Liberty!”

  “Oh, look over there,” Molly said. “All those trees. I bet that’s Central Park!”

  “Indeed it is,” a woman in a yellow shirt said. “You get a bird’s-eye view up here.”

  Wait a second. A yellow shirt.

  “You’re from POP! Do you have our next clue?” Molly asked.

  “Right here,” she said. She presented the twins with a sealed envelope.

  Finn held out the form for a stamp. “Has Cleo Feather’s team been here already?” he asked.

  “I’m not supposed to give out that information,” the woman told them. “But I will say that you just missed a group of particularly rude girls. If I were you, I’d hurry.”

  The twins sprinted for the elevator. There wasn’t a second to lose.

  The elevator doors had barely closed on the crowded car when they ripped open the envelope. Quickly, Molly glanced around to make sure no other teams were there, then she whispered the clue to Finn.

  “I’m a warship parked on a highway since 1982, and so far I haven’t gotten any tickets!”

  Finn looked at her blankly. Maybe he’d hit a home run on the Umpire State Building (er, Empire), but he had no idea what this clue was referring to. It did sound really cool, though.

  “A warship parked on a highway for more than thirty years,” Molly said to herself. “But ships belong in the sea. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Hey, Dad,” a girl in the elevator said. “Look at that. I want an I NY shirt like the one she’s wearing.” She nodded toward Molly.

  “We got you a T-shirt yesterday,” the girl’s dad said. “You’re wearing it. What do you think, kids?”

  “Are you talking to us?” Finn asked.

  “I sure am.”

  “Oh, I like it,” Finn said.

  Molly looked at the girl’s T-shirt—it was navy blue, and under the words “USS Intrepid” was a picture of a long gray ship. “Is that by any chance a warship?” she asked.

  “It’s a warship turned into a military and maritime museum,” the man said.

  The elevator doors opened. Molly and Finn knew exactly where they had to go. They called goodbye to the girl and her dad, then raced out to Fifth Avenue, where Lou was waiting.

  The Intrepid was as big as a building (if a building were lying down on its
side), and it wasn’t exactly parked on a highway. It was docked in the Hudson River, which was right next to the highway.

  “You know, I’ve lived in New York City my whole life, and I’ve never been here,” Lou said. “Would you mind if I come in with you?”

  “Well…” Molly hesitated.

  “Well, what?” Finn asked. “It’s a free country. Lou can come in if he wants to. Plus, he’s been so nice driving us around all day.”

  Lou blushed. “It’s my job,” he said.

  “But we do appreciate it,” Molly said. “Honest, we do. I should have already told you thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  “You’re welcome,” Lou said.

  “It’s just,” Molly continued, “the rules that Hallie Hampton read were very clear. We’re not allowed to have any help from grown-ups, except for transportation.”

  “What if he comes in to look around but doesn’t help us with the next clue?” Finn suggested.

  “I think that would be okay,” Molly said.

  “Great,” said Lou. “Ooh! Would you look at that!”

  “What?” the twins asked.

  “A parking space on Twelfth Avenue. I know the two of you have seen a lot of exciting things today, but trust me when I tell you this free spot is the most exciting one!”

  Lou pulled in, and soon the three of them were walking through an entrance marked INTREPID WELCOME CENTER. Just inside was a man in a familiar bright yellow shirt—a POP Magazine shirt!

  “Hi!” Molly greeted him. “We are Molly and Finn Parker, aka Team Hallie Hampton. Do you have our next clue? Don’t worry about this grown-up with us. He’s helping us with transportation, but he’s not helping us figure out anything else.”

  “Good to know,” the man said. “And no, I don’t have your next clue. But I do have your tickets and a map, which should help you find it.” He handed them over. The map had twists and turns, and a big red “X” in the middle.

  “Did Cleo Feather get here already?” Molly asked.

  The man nodded. “She picked up her map quite a while ago.”

  “This place is huge,” Finn said, his fingers tracing the different levels and rooms. “It’s like a whole city on the water.”

  Lou’s phone began pinging. “It’s Miss Hampton. She says to tell you that you’re taking too long.”

  “I know!” Molly cried. “We don’t have time to see a whole city. Cleo Feather is already here. C’mon!” She called “Thanks” over her shoulder to the man from POP Magazine and led her brother and Lou down into one of the tunnels of the warship. There were signs along the walls explaining all sorts of interesting things—that bomber planes had taken off from the Intrepid’s flight deck, that there was a giant forty-foot submarine on the ship, and how the forty-thousand-ton ship was able to stay afloat.

  They turned a corner. “Would you look at that,” Lou said. “A barbershop!”

  “Why would anyone come here for a haircut?” Molly asked.

  “I think it’d be cool to have your hair cut on a warship,” Finn said.

  “I agree,” said Lou. “But I suspect it’s not the kind of place that’s open to the public. People who lived on warships like this one had to be here for weeks at a time, months even, and during that time, they’d probably need a trim or two.”

  “If I ever move to New York, I’d like to live here,” Finn said. “The rest of the city is so loud and crowded. But this ship has everything I could ever need, and not so many people.”

  They followed the twists and turns of the map—down one corridor and up another. “I think we go—” Lou started.

  “No, don’t help us!” Molly said. “We go up those stairs, I think. The ‘X’ is right at the top.”

  They raced up the stairs, pushed open a heavy metal door, and then…

  “Holy guacamole!” Finn said. “We’re in an airport! How’d we get to an airport?”

  Lou chuckled. “We’re still on the ship,” he said, patting Finn’s head.

  The ship deck was a runway, just like an airport. The sides of the runway were lined with all different types of airplanes: spy planes, bomber planes, blue planes, green planes. There was even a space shuttle from NASA! “This is so awesome,” Finn said. “Do you think we could go up in one?”

  “No!” Molly said. “We need to get our next clue.”

  “I don’t think these are active planes,” Lou said. “There aren’t any missions being launched off the USS Intrepid these days.”

  “Ah, man,” Finn said.

  “We have bigger problems,” his sister informed him. “I can’t find the person from POP Magazine. The map said to come here, but if we can’t find the next clue, it doesn’t even matter.”

  “LOUIS!” someone shouted. “LOUIS BRICKMAN, IS THAT YOU?” A man in a blue Intrepid shirt stepped out from behind a helicopter, shading his eyes with his hand.

  “HOMER HOLBROOK, I DON’T BELIEVE IT!” Lou shouted back. “Kids, this is my old pal from flight school, Homer.”

  “You went to flight school?” Finn asked.

  “I did, indeed. I used to give helicopter tours of New York City before Miss Hampton hired me. I tend to keep both feet on the ground these days, but boy, do I miss it.”

  Just then, the metal door to the roof swung open, and a woman in a yellow POP Magazine shirt stepped out. “Sorry, I had to use the restroom,” she said. “The last team told me you’d dropped out, but I’m glad I double-checked.”

  “The last team…you don’t mean Cleo Feather, do you?” Molly asked.

  “I can’t say,” the woman said. “Anyway, you’re here now. Since you made it this far, you get a complimentary subscription to POP Magazine for one year, just for participating! Isn’t that great?”

  Molly gulped. “Does that mean we lost?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” the woman said, stamping the form Finn held out. Then she handed over the next clue.

  “Why is this one on blue paper?” Finn asked. “The others were yellow.”

  “Blue means it’s the final clue,” she said.

  “We’re not giving up,” Molly said firmly, and she read the clue out loud. “For twenty seasons this was my home. My number may be two, but I’m number one in the record books.” She paused. “Ugh. I have no idea. Maybe we should give up.”

  “No way!” Finn said. “It’s the easiest clue yet! I totally know it!”

  “You do?”

  Finn spun around, revealing the back of his pinstriped baseball jersey.

  JETER

  2

  “Yankee Stadium!” he cried.

  “Lou, we’ve got to get to Yankee Stadium, and fast!” Molly said.

  “Wait, aren’t you going to tell me what a genius I am?” Finn asked.

  Molly yanked his baseball cap down. “Yeah, yeah, you’re a genius,” she said.

  The twins were grinning. But there was bad news. “It’s four o’clock,” Lou said. “Traffic is going to be at a standstill. I hate to say it, but we may have missed the boat on this one.”

  “What are you talking about?” Finn asked. “We’re on the boat right now. We need to get to Yankee Stadium.”

  “It’s an expression,” Molly said sadly. “He means it’ll take too long to get there.”

  “I’m sorry,” Lou said. “But you’re already in last place. I just don’t see us getting there in time.”

  Molly bit her bottom lip. Her eyes began to well up.

  “Aw, don’t cry, kid. That’ll make me cry,” Homer said.

  “I’m sorry,” Molly said. “I just wish the limo could fly over the other cars.”

  “I can take you in my helicopter,” Homer offered.

  “We’re only allowed one grown-up to help with transportation.”

  Homer and Lou shared a long look, and then
Lou started chuckling. “Hey, Homer,” he said, “might I suggest a temporary transportation trade?”

  Lou was in the pilot seat of a helicopter. WHOP! WHOP! WHOP! The propellers started up, and pretty soon they were turning so fast it was all a blur.

  “Okay, kids,” Homer said, shouting over the noise. “It’s time for you to board.”

  “Oh no!” Finn cried. “My baseball cap!”

  The wind from the propellers had lifted it straight off his head. When he ducked back to reach for it, he was blocked by Homer. “No! You must never, ever walk toward the back of a helicopter. Those blades are going three hundred RPM right now.”

  Finn didn’t know what “RPM” meant, but he gathered it was very fast.

  “But it’s my most prized possession. It’s practically—” Finn cut himself off. He knew it sounded silly, but his hat felt like a body part. Being without it made him feel strange and empty.

  “Sorry, pal,” Homer said, patting Finn’s now naked head. “It’s time to go.”

  Finn nodded. At least he’d get to ride in a helicopter. Though, from the looks of it, Molly wasn’t excited. Her face had turned as white as a piece of paper. But letting Hallie Hampton down was much more frightening than a helicopter ride. She gritted her teeth and stepped up into her seat.

  Helicopter seat belts were different than car seat belts. There were straps that came down over each of their shoulders and more straps that went around their legs, all buckling into a big middle piece. Homer made sure they were secure before he gave the kids enormous earphones to wear.

  “Now you’re all set,” Homer said.

  “What?” Finn asked.

  Homer lifted one of Finn’s earphones and one of Molly’s, too. “I’ll meet you at the stadium!” he shouted. “It’ll take me a bit longer given traffic at this hour, but you’re in good hands with Lou. Safe travels!”

  He hopped out, and pretty soon they could feel the helicopter lifting off the ground. It was like an elevator—a very fast, very loud elevator, rising straight up in the air. Molly’s stomach felt like it had dropped to her sneakers. She was too scared to notice the popping in her ears, and Finn was too excited. They moved forward, flying over the Hudson River. Out the window, New York City looked like a Lego set.