The Trimoni Twins and the Shrunken Treasure

by Pam Smallcomb

  Hector nodded slowly. “I’ll do my best to protect it, Uncle.”

  Uncle Hoogaboom rifled through his pockets and brought out a silver key. He went back to his desk, unlocked the top drawer and took out a small gold box. He brought it over to where they were sitting and held it out for them to admire.

  “It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it?” Uncle Hoogaboom said to Wiliken. “Your grandfather left it in his will to me, to give to you when it was time to pass on the magic of the Shrinking Coin.”

  Beezel looked at the box. It was about eight inches long and four inches wide, gold, with a pattern of flowers engraved over its surface. Across the opening of the box, someone had pressed a wax seal.

  “I know Pieter would have loved to give the Shrinking Coin to Hector according to our families’ tradition …” Uncle Hoogaboom’s voice caught and he cleared his throat. “But he would be so proud to know that you were here to do it for him.” He handed the box to Wiliken. “Pieter’s will didn’t say what was in the box, but I’m sure it is the location of the Shrinking Coin.”

  Wiliken ran his finger over the seal. “Should I open it now?” he asked. Uncle Hoogaboom nodded.

  The twins leaned forward as Wiliken broke the seal. He opened the box. It was empty.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I don’t get it,” Hector said. “Why would someone put a seal over an empty box?”

  “Maybe they wanted you to know it was empty on purpose,” Beezel said. “But that doesn’t make much sense either.”

  Uncle Hoogaboom had been so upset at the sight of the empty box that Wiliken had made him sit down. Mimi brought him a glass of water from his kitchen.

  “I don’t understand,” Uncle Hoogaboom said. “It was locked in that desk since Pieter’s lawyer gave it to me. Pieter was very clear in his instructions. He said to give it to Wiliken when it was time to pass on the coin.”

  He stared up at them. “I have no idea where the Shrinking Coin is. Did Pieter ever say anything to you, Wiliken? Or the lawyers?”

  Wiliken shook his head.

  Uncle Hoogaboom sighed. “The Riebeecks have always kept it hidden for us. Now the magic will die with me. I’m so sorry, Hector.” He buried his face in his hands.

  “Oh, now, Uncle,” Hector said as he walked over to his uncle and patted his back. “You’re not to worry on my account.”

  Beezel could swear Hector was relieved and was trying hard to hide it.

  “I’m sorry, Hoogaboom,” Wiliken said. “I wish there was something I could do. After all these years …” He didn’t finish.

  Uncle Hoogaboom tried to smile. “We’ll still find the treasure, Wiliken,” he said. “But you have to understand, I will be remembered as the Hoogaboom who didn’t pass on the Shrinking Coin.”

  After Wiliken had opened the box and seen that it was empty, he had set it on the coffee table. Mimi picked it up and inspected it.

  “It’s very pretty, isn’t it, Beez?” she said as she turned it in her hands. “It reminds me of something.” She thought for a minute. “Oh, I know! It looks like that puzzle box that Uncle Antonio brought Dad from Tajikistan, doesn’t it? Remember? You were the one who figured out how to open it.”

  Beezel’s heart skipped a beat. “Let me see that box, Mimi.” Mimi handed it to her.

  She examined the box. It was covered in a floral pattern. Each of the flowers had a tiny circular center. If it was a puzzle box, almost anything could be a button or a lever. Beezel carefully inspected each flower on the four sides of the box. Suddenly, she smiled. “Uncle Hoogaboom,” Beezel said, “do you have a straight pin?”

  Uncle Hoogaboom stood up and rummaged through his pockets. “Here’s a jeweler’s probe,” he said as he took off the top and handed it to her. “It has a sharp end—be careful.”

  Beezel took the metal probe, placed the tip in the center of the flower on the front lower left corner and pressed.

  A drawer, shaped exactly like one of the engraved flowers, popped out from the bottom of the box. Inside it were some small pieces of paper rolled into a scroll.

  “Uncle Hoogaboom!” Mimi yelled. “Beezel’s found something!”

  “Take them out, Beezel,” Wiliken said. “Let’s see what they are.”

  Beezel removed the papers and unrolled them. The top paper was a handwritten note. Beezel handed it to Wiliken.

  “It’s to me,” Wiliken said. “From my grandpa.” He read the note out loud.

  Dear Wiliken,

  If you are reading this, then something has happened to me. It now falls on your shoulders to retrieve the Shrinking Coin from its hiding place. The two other papers will lead the way. You’ll need Mathias to help you get the coin. Once you do, give the coin to my dear friend, and tell him to keep it forever.

  Uncle Hoogaboom smiled. “He offered to do that many times, Wiliken. But I always told him I wanted to find the treasure first.”

  Hector leaned over the twins. “What are the other papers?” he asked.

  Beezel carefully peeled off the next paper from the roll. It was a tiny map of a section of Amsterdam, drawn in the same hand as the note written to Wiliken.

  Uncle Hoogaboom examined the paper. “There’s my street,” he said.

  “There’s your house.” Beezel pointed to a tiny square along the Prinsengracht. “And there’s the Noordermarkt!”

  “That’s the walking tour you took us on!” Mimi said to Uncle Hoogaboom. “Do you suppose Wiliken’s grandpa hid the coin in one of the buildings?”

  Beezel studied the drawing. “But what’s this?” She pointed to the edge of the drawing where a canal or a wide street had been drawn straight across the map. “There’s no canal there, is there, Uncle Hoogaboom?”

  “No, there certainly isn’t.” While Uncle Hoogaboom studied the little map, Mimi unrolled the last paper.

  “It’s some kind of list,” she said to them. “It looks really old.”

  Uncle Hoogaboom took the paper from Mimi. “Left along the timber twenty paces, right at the first air duct, forty paces, right at the charred beam, down the rope ladder. Straight ahead. Behind the marked brick.”

  “No offense to your grandpa, Wiliken,” Hector said, “but these are pretty terrible clues. How are we supposed to find the Shrinking Coin with a map of Hoogaboom’s neighborhood and some weird hokey-pokey instructions?”

  Wiliken shrugged. “Beats me.”

  Beezel stood next to Uncle Hoogaboom and looked at the map. On one side of the nonexistent canal, the side that butted up against the neighborhood, Pieter had drawn a small arrow.

  “You know,” Beezel said, “that canal with the arrow reminds me of a fortress wall.”

  “A wall!” Uncle Hoogaboom said, slapping his forehead. “Domkop! How could I be so stupid! It is a wall. A big white wall, eight feet high. And I know just where it is.” He turned and marched out of his apartment. “Do you remember I said I had a surprise for you?” he called over his shoulder. “Come see!”

  “Uh,” Wiliken said, “am I the only one who hasn’t seen a big white wall at the end of the street?”

  Beezel and Mimi eyed each other and shrugged. “We haven’t seen one either,” Mimi said. “And we hiked all around there yesterday.”

  “Well, we’d better follow him,” Hector said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned on this trip, it’s that when it concerns my uncle, you don’t know what to expect.”

  “He’s going up the stairs,” Mimi whispered as she followed him.

  “He’s going to his studio!” Beezel said as they passed Wiliken’s landing and kept going up.

  Uncle Hoogaboom fished around in several of his pockets before bringing out the key that unlocked the studio door. He reached inside the door and flipped a switch. “This is what I wanted to show you.”

  Beezel couldn’t believe her eyes.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “It’s something Pieter and I worked on for years. I’ve been trying to put on the finishing touches,” Un
cle Hoogaboom said proudly. “Welcome to my favorite part of Amsterdam.”

  Uncle Hoogaboom’s large studio was filled from one end to the other, and from one side to the other, with models. Models that had been built directly onto the floor exactly as if they were on streets. A blue fiberglass canal ran along the side of one wall, all the way to the back.

  “That’s the Prinsengracht, isn’t it?” Beezel asked him, and he nodded.

  Beezel and Mimi gingerly stepped inside, over the canal and into the market square of the Noordermarkt.

  “There’s the church we went in!” Mimi said, pointing to a large building in front of them. They were giants; giants who could walk across the tiny inlaid square and touch the top of the Noorderkerk.

  “It’s just the shell of the church,” Uncle Hoogaboom said apologetically. “I was hoping to have it all finished before I showed it to anyone.” He closed the studio door behind them. “I don’t want to let my little cat inside right now. You’ll see why in a minute.”

  “Oh, Uncle Hoogaboom,” Mimi said. “It’s really beautiful.”

  Beezel was speechless. It was everything Uncle Hoogaboom had shown them on their walking tour. She gazed over the rooftops and saw the row houses that lined the wide Westerstraat. “It’s amazing,” she managed to say.

  “We positioned the canal to run along the long wall of the studio. Since we couldn’t put real water in our canal, we thought we might as well use it as a footpath to get back and forth to the houses,” Uncle Hoogaboom said, pointing to the far end of his studio. “Up there is the Westerstraat, then the Anjeliersstraat, and a tiny bit of the Tuinstraat.”

  He turned to the twins. “You girls remember all these streets, don’t you? The little café down from my house that we had dinner in? It’s all here.” He patted Wiliken on the back. “And so is your grandfather’s house … no, it’s your house now, Wiliken.”

  “Honestly, Hoogaboom,” Wiliken said to him, “you should go to work in Hollywood.”

  Uncle Hoogaboom laughed. “Your grandfather and I had many happy hours here, building and furnishing these models.”

  “But,” Hector said, “what has this got to do with the Shrinking Coin and the papers that the girls found?”

  “It’s the same section of Amsterdam that’s on the map, Hector,” Beezel said.

  “Pieter was sending us up here to get the coin,” Uncle Hoogaboom said. “And I think if we go down the Prinsengracht until we get to the Anjeliersstraat, then turn right and go to the far corner of the studio, we’ll find out what that arrow is.” He looked at Beezel and Mimi. “Wouldn’t you say?”

  The twins nodded in agreement. They filed down the canal, turned right at the second street and stopped as they reached the back corner.

  “Do you see anything?” Hector said from the rear of their single-file line.

  Beezel and Mimi peered around Uncle Hoogaboom. “There,” Beezel said, pointing to a support beam that ran from the ceiling to the floor. Attached to the bottom of the wooden beam was a six-inch-round metal medallion. The design on the front matched the flower on Wiliken’s puzzle box. “Push the center of the flower, Uncle Hoogaboom,” she said.

  Uncle Hoogaboom bent down and pushed the flower’s center. There was a click and the medallion popped away from the beam on one side, like a small door, revealing a tunnel behind it.

  “Let’s see,” Uncle Hoogaboom said as he wrestled with his pockets. “I usually keep a couple in here …” He held something up. “A flashlight.” He shone it inside the tunnel.

  “Can you see anything?” Mimi asked him.

  Uncle Hoogaboom stood up and turned to face them. “No. I think it’s time for the instructions you girls found.” He unrolled the other small paper that had been in the box and handed it to Wiliken. “You’ll have to go inside and get the Shrinking Coin, Wiliken.” He smiled. “And that is why Fieffie can’t be inside the studio right now.”

  “Seriously?” Wiliken broke into a grin. “You mean you’re going to shrink me?” He put his fist in the air. “Yes! This is better than any vacation I’ve been on.” He took the flashlight Uncle Hoogaboom handed him. “Shrink away!”

  “Uncle,” Hector said from behind Wiliken, “I think I should go, too.” He leaned around Wiliken’s tall frame. “He might need some help with those Dutch instructions.”

  “Well, then, take this,” Uncle Hoogaboom rummaged inside another pocket and took out another flashlight.

  “Oh, please, Hector,” Mimi said, her hands clenched under her chin. “Can we go, too? Please?”

  “We’d really like to,” Beezel said. “And we won’t get in the way …”

  “And we’ll mind you,” Mimi added.

  Hector turned to the girls. “Ah now, ducks, I don’t know about this …”

  “It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Hector,” Uncle Hoogaboom said. “There won’t be another chance for them to go inside this old house. And when you come back out, the girls can look around the models while we take care of transferring the Shrinking Coin.”

  “Yes!” Mimi squealed. “Please, please, please!”

  Beezel crossed the fingers on both of her hands. She had been ka-poofed hundreds of times, but this would be different. She would be herself, in her own body, just very little. She really did want to experience it.

  Hector relented. “Only if you do exactly what I say.”

  “We promise!” the twins shouted together.

  “I’ll help look out for them,” Wiliken said as he smiled at them. “Heck, these two are starting to feel like the little sisters I never had!”

  Beezel looked at Mimi. Mimi looked at Beezel. The two girls sighed sadly in unison.

  “Very good,” said Uncle Hoogaboom. “Now stand still until you have all been zuufted. We don’t want any accidents.”

  He pointed to Wiliken. Zuuft. He was about six inches tall.

  He pointed to Beezel. Zuuft. Hector. Zuuft.

  He was about to point to Mimi when she said. “Wait!”

  Uncle Hoogaboom lowered his hand. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m allergic to ka-poofing—it makes me itch like crazy,” Mimi said. “So after you zuuft me, if I itch, will you un-zuuft me really fast?”

  “I promise,” Uncle Hoogaboom said. Zuuft. Mimi shrank down to the same size as Beezel—about the size of a hamster standing on its hind legs.

  “Do you feel okay?” Uncle Hoogaboom asked her, his finger poised to unshrink her if needed.

  Mimi waited a minute, then a big grin crossed her face. “Hey, I feel fine.” She twirled. “Finally I get to experience the magic of a coin without itching!” Mimi hugged her sister. “Isn’t this great, Beez? We’re itsy-bitsy!”

  They walked around Uncle Hoogaboom to the opened tunnel.

  “Wait,” Uncle Hoogaboom said as he took something out of his top left pocket. “Take this with you. I’ll tie one end of it here to the medallion. Uncoil it as you go, so you won’t get lost.”

  “Just like bread crumbs,” Beezel said as she took the ball of string Uncle Hoogaboom’s giant hand set down on the floor in front of her.

  “I’ll wait for you in a chair by the studio door,” Uncle Hoogaboom said. “All this excitement has worn me out, I must say. Be careful and come back soon. I’d hate to take the house apart to find you, but I will if I have to.”

  Wiliken turned on the flashlight and hurried inside the tunnel. “Come on, you guys,” he said. “Let’s get that coin.”

  Beezel and Mimi unrolled the string behind them as Hector read the directions and Wiliken led the way. They went left along the timber for twenty paces and turned right at the first air duct. They walked forty paces and turned right at the charred beam. They came to a rope ladder that descended into a dark shaft in the wall.

  Wiliken pushed up his sleeves and stuck the flashlight in his back pocket. “Let me do this,” he said happily. “I live for this stuff.” He climbed down the ladder. Hector shone his flashlight down the shaft to light
his way. Beezel and Mimi leaned down and watched.

  “Do you see it?” Mimi shouted after him.

  “It’s right here behind a brick,” Wiliken said. “In some kind of canvas backpack. Man, this thing is really heavy. It will take me a minute to pull it out and put on the pack. Then I’ll be right up.”

  Beezel breathed a sigh of relief as Wiliken’s blond head appeared from the shaft. He climbed up onto the beam they were standing on and heaved the backpack onto the ground.

  “Well,” he said. “Let’s take a look at it.”

  Wiliken pulled a bronze coin out of the bag and propped it up. The coin was about the size of an extra-large pizza to them. “It’s solid,” Wiliken said. “It feels like about eighty, maybe ninety pounds. That’s a little more than I usually carry on my backpacking trips, but I can carry it out of here.”

  “Wow,” Mimi said softly. “It’s amazing.”

  “I wish Simon could be here,” Beezel said as she ran her hand across its surface.

  It was bronze, just like the Changing Coin. There were five words carved in a circle on one side. Wiliken turned the coin over. A design had been stamped into its surface. It was the image of two people standing side by side, one very small, the other larger. Around the outer edge of the coin were twelve tiny stars, each one with a ray that pointed to the image of the two people.

  “The shrinking rule of twelve,” Beezel said.

  “I bet Hoogaboom is going to be happy to see this again,” Wiliken said. “And think of it, Hector, the magic is going to be yours very soon now.”

  Hector made a kind of gulping sound. “Yes … I … I …,” he stuttered. “I’m very … excited.”

  Beezel and Mimi looked at each other and grinned. Hector was nervous, but Beezel knew that after he had used the magic a few hundred times, it would feel as normal to him as combing his hair or brushing his teeth. He just had the jitters.

  “Well, let’s get going then.” Wiliken wrestled the coin back into the canvas backpack and heaved it onto his back with Hector’s help. “Okay, girls, let’s follow that string!” He took the end from Mimi and began walking along its length.