Alexis

by Erica Rodgers

  “A real collector or historian wouldn’t want a replica. Deep down, it’s only a fake. Would a literature professor be content with a new version of Shakespeare, if there was a possibility she could hold the original? No. Anyone can walk into a bookstore and get a copy of Romeo and Juliet for less than five dollars. But the original? Priceless.”

  “So replicas are worthless?” asked Alexis.

  “Now, I didn’t say that,” said Grandma Windsor. “Take Michelangelo’s statue of David, for instance. If you walk up to the statue in the plaza, you will enjoy its beauty. You may take pictures and go on your merry way, but if that’s as far as you went, then you missed the truth. You have only seen a replica—a smaller shadow of the true art of Michelangelo. The real statue is inside, hidden away from the damaging elements. But the replica is not worthless, Alexis. It is still beautiful; it’s just not as beautiful. It does not have the same history.”

  The waitress was back, refilling Grandma Windsor’s glass of tea this time.

  “So, besides the fact that it is almost impossible to get the coach out of this building unnoticed, I simply don’t see why someone would want to steal it in the first place. That is why there isn’t much security around it. The hotel has never felt that it was threatened.”

  But it is threatened! Alexis wanted to scream. But after all Grandma Windsor had just said, she thought it would sound silly to voice her thoughts.

  After they finished eating, the girls left Grandma Windsor and walked toward Bill and Mary’s shop. The bridge was still crawling with engineers, and they would have to wait until night before looking for the rowboat again. So no matter how tempting the mystery surrounding the bridge was, Alexis was going to focus on the carriage for a while.

  Alexis knew Jerold and Jim were the same people she had overheard in the alley earlier in the week. But she was starting to have doubts about other things. Would it really be possible for Jerold and Jim, those silly-looking “float builders,” to steal the golden coach? There was no way they could remove it without someone noticing. As soon as it was missing, someone would sound the alarm. They wouldn’t make it very far.

  And why were they planning to steal it in the first place? They had said it was worth millions, but Grandma Windsor claimed the carriage wasn’t worth much at all. Sure, it was probably expensive to make, but you could always build another one. It wasn’t like the original coach back in London, which was covered with real gold.

  “There’s only one way to know for sure if they are going to steal the carriage,” said Alexis as they turned down the narrow street to Bill’s. “We have to investigate these two guys.”

  “You mean spy on them?” asked Elizabeth, smiling.

  “Well, yes,” laughed Alexis. “Investigating just sounds a lot better! We’ll work on the bed for a bit and then go back to the hotel. They’re making the float near the ballroom. It shouldn’t be too hard to find them.”

  In the back room of the antique shop, the girls admired their castle. It only needed a couple of touch-ups. Alexis was attaching fake fish to the bed-skirt moat when the bell on the front door jingled. She heard a girl’s voice say, “Hello, Uncle Bill.”

  The voice didn’t sound friendly.

  Alexis and Elizabeth poked their heads through the curtain and saw a slim brunette standing with her hands on her hips.

  “Hello, Emily,” said Bill. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

  “I heard you have someone driving your bed,” the girl said, ignoring his question. Her face was scrunched up, like she smelled something gross.

  “Yep, sure do,” said Bill. He sounded friendly, but his stiff shoulders told Alexis he had put his guard up. “What brings you down here? Need something for a costume?”

  “Eew, gross! Like I would use any of this junk for my costume!” Emily picked up a silver teaspoon with her forefinger and thumb, like it was covered in grime.

  “I don’t understand what makes you love other people’s old stuff so much. Like this spoon.” She held it up to the light and then looked around the table where it had been sitting. “It’s all dingy, and there’s only one. What on earth would anyone do with only one spoon?”

  “Actually, if you look at the handle—”

  But Emily didn’t. She rolled her eyes and tossed the spoon toward Bill. He fumbled, and it fell to the ground. Alexis stepped through the curtain to pick it up and hand it to him.

  “Who are you?” asked Bill’s demanding niece.

  “This is Alexis,” said Bill. “She’s the one racing my bed this Saturday.”

  Alexis smiled and waved. Emily’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits.

  “Well, she’d better be careful,” she said, stepping closer. “The driver who tried to beat me last year ended up in the hospital with a broken arm. And I don’t lose.”

  Emily turned and stormed out of the shop. Alexis was sure she would have slammed the door if it hadn’t been for the automatic spring that caught it and made it close gently.

  “What was that all about?” asked Elizabeth.

  “Oh, don’t mind Emily,” said Bill. “She’s just mad because I wouldn’t let her use my bed in the race. She thought I would for sure, because she’s family. My brother’s kid. Ever heard the term ‘spoiled rotten’? Well, that’s Emily for sure.”

  “Why wouldn’t you let her race it?” asked Alexis.

  “You heard her, didn’t you?” said Bill. “She put a guy in the hospital last year—slammed into his bed on the last turn and sent him flying into the crowd. You’re not supposed to touch anyone else’s bed. Emily told the judges it was an accident, and they believed her and gave her the prize.”

  “But you didn’t believe it was an accident?” asked Alexis.

  “Do you, Alexis? I can’t have anyone representing my shop doing risky things that might bring bad publicity.”

  Bill was right. Alexis had just met Emily, and she was pretty sure Emily would have broken someone’s arm to get what she wanted.

  “Well, she can have the prize for all I care,” said Alexis. “I just want to race!”

  “That’s right,” said Elizabeth. “It’s like Psalm 37:1 says, ‘Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong.’ No matter what happens, we’ll have a blast.”

  “And you’ll have the best bed out there!” said Bill. “That thing should be in the parade! It’ll be better than any other float!”

  Bill still held the small spoon that Emily had tossed at him. He placed it on the table, but Alexis picked it up.

  “What were you about to say about the spoon, Bill—before Emily interrupted you?” asked Alexis. Bill smiled. It reminded Alexis of her grandmother’s smile when she asked her about history.

  “Look at the handle,” he said. Alexis held the spoon up in the light, and Elizabeth came close to look as well. A small pink stone shaped like an oval was mounted on the end of the handle. Upon the oval stone, a face had been carved. It was the silhouette of a beautiful young woman.

  “Who is it?” asked Elizabeth.

  “Princess Amelia, the youngest daughter of—”

  “King George the Third!” gasped Alexis.

  “You’ve heard her story then?” asked Bill.

  “Pieces of it,” answered Alexis. “My grandmother told me some of the stories surrounding her. Something about Princess Amelia and a young man she was forbidden to marry.”

  “That’s what she is most known for,” said Bill. “They say the law would have allowed her to marry him after she turned twenty-six, but that was pretty old to be married back then. Her letters may have told him that she would wait. If she hid a letter to give him, no one knows if he ever found it. This spoon is a rare piece. Since Princess Amelia was never a queen, it is quite strange for silverware to have her picture on it. Maybe she really was her father’s favorite.”

  “Wow!” said Alexis. “That means this spoon is more than two hundred years old!”

  “Why do you keep that out on a
table?” asked Elizabeth. “Shouldn’t it be locked away somewhere?”

  Bill laughed.

  “Probably. A lot of the stuff in my store is more valuable than people think. Like Emily, many think it’s just junk—like an indoor yard sale.”

  “Well, I think it’s brilliant,” said Alexis. She looked at the spoon again. Was it just her imagination, or did the picture on the spoon look like the girl from her dream? Her imagination was running wild again.

  “Hey, look!” cried Elizabeth. Alexis followed her pointed finger toward the large window. Outside, three familiar figures were walking through the alley.

  “It’s Dr. Edwards—and those two workmen from the hotel!” Alexis looked at Elizabeth and lowered her voice so Bill couldn’t hear. “If we follow them, we might find out more about their plan for the carriage.”

  “They probably won’t talk about it with Dr. Edwards around,” said Elizabeth. “Maybe he’ll leave.”

  Alexis nodded. “See ya later,” she said to Bill. “It’s getting to be lunchtime.”

  “I’m getting hungry myself,” said the shop owner. “See you girls later.”

  Alexis and Elizabeth waved goodbye and left the shop. They were just in time to see the end of Dr. Edwards’s walking stick disappear around a corner. They followed, and after a couple of turns, their prey entered a small deli.

  “Well, it is lunchtime,” said Alexis. “Feel like a sandwich?” Elizabeth smiled. The girls allowed a couple more people to enter before they did. They didn’t want to be directly behind Dr. Edwards in line in case he recognized them.

  After ordering turkey sandwiches and grabbing a couple bags of chips, Alexis led Elizabeth to a booth that hid them from the three men but was still close enough so they could hear everything that was being said.

  “I thought you said this job was going to be easy,” said the taller of the two men.

  “I thought the job was going to be easy, Jerold,” said Dr. Edwards. “But circumstances have changed.”

  “Well, I hope we’re getting paid more,” said Jerold.

  “Yes, yes,” said Dr. Edwards testily. “Don’t worry about the money! It will come!”

  “I don’t know what you want with that thing anyway,” said another voice. It must have been Jim. “It’s a fake. How can it be worth much money?”

  Dr. Edwards sighed. Alexis was sure that if she could see him, his eyes would be bulging in exasperation.

  “It’s not the carriage itself that is priceless,” he said, dropping his voice to a whisper. Alexis had to stop chewing her chips so that she could still hear him. “It’s something hidden within it.”

  Alexis stared across the table at Elizabeth. She too had stopped chewing. They sat still, straining to hear every word.

  “I have reason to believe that an original document, hundreds of years old, has been hidden somewhere within the carriage. The document, my dear fellows, is what’s priceless. The carriage just happens to be the hiding place.”

  The thieves seemed to be happy with the doctor’s explanation, because all Alexis and Elizabeth heard after that was the chomping and slurping of the two men eating.

  The girls finished their food and slipped out the front.

  “So that’s why Dr. Edwards wants the carriage! He thinks something is hidden inside of it!” said Elizabeth.

  “Yeah,” said Alexis. “A priceless document. What if it was Princess Amelia’s letter?”

  “Why would Princess Amelia’s letter be hidden in a replica?” asked Elizabeth. “The real carriage, maybe, but there’s no reason for it to be in Arizona. Your imagination’s running away with you again, Alex.”

  “You’re right,” said Alexis. “But wouldn’t it be cool? No matter what the document is, it’s obviously worth a lot of money. And it has a rightful owner. I bet if Dr. Edwards were the rightful owner, he wouldn’t have to steal it.”

  “I know,” said Elizabeth. “We have to keep him from stealing it. But how are we supposed to do that when we don’t know where it is?”

  “Easy,” said Alexis, smiling wide. “We just have to find it before he does.”

  Encounter in the Costume Shop

  “How on earth are we supposed to do that?” asked Elizabeth. “You saw how that deputy guy reacted when we were just looking at the carriage. What do you think will happen if we actually try to touch the thing? Or search it for an ancient letter?”

  “We’ll just have to be careful,” said Alexis. “It might be difficult, but we don’t have a choice. If the document exists, it belongs in a museum—not in Dr. Edwards’s personal collection.”

  They walked toward the hotel, thinking about how best to search for the hidden paper. Alexis was so deep in thought that she ran right into a sidewalk display in front of the costume store. She and Elizabeth struggled to dust off the white, curly wigs and hang them back up before anyone noticed.

  “Let’s go in here,” said Alexis. “We need costumes for the bed race and parade, don’t we?”

  “Definitely!” squealed Elizabeth. They walked in and were immediately hidden in a maze of silk dresses, old-fashioned shoes, and jesters’ hats.

  “It looks like it’s almost all medieval,” said Elizabeth.

  “Good,” said Alexis. “We have to match our bed. It’s a castle. What do you think we should be?”

  “We could be knights,” said Elizabeth, walking over to a suit of armor. “This looks so real!”

  “It also looks like it weighs a hundred pounds!” laughed Alexis. They continued through the store, yelling back and forth whenever they found something interesting. Before long they were trying on everything they could reach, making each other collapse in fits of giggles. Alexis grabbed a garish jester’s hat with six floppy tentacles and jingle bells everywhere. She smashed it onto her head and spun around.

  “Classy, huh?” she asked Elizabeth. But the person behind her wasn’t Elizabeth.

  It was David Turner, the Arizona state swim champion.

  “Very classy,” he said, raising his eyebrows and giving her an amused smile. Alexis blushed. It was the first time she’d ever seen David smile. He was twice as cute when he did. She wondered why he never smiled at swim meets or in front of his school.

  Alexis yanked the hat off her head but was instantly aware of how messed up her hair must be.

  “Um, sorry,” she said. “I thought my friend was standing there.”

  She looked around frantically. Where was Elizabeth anyway?

  “Don’t apologize,” said David. “I wouldn’t expect any less of someone visiting a costume shop.” He was still smiling, as if whatever bothered him at other times was now forgotten.

  “I’m Alexis,” she said, holding out her hand. David had to rearrange the things he was holding to shake her hand. He dropped a large sword, and they banged heads as they both reached to pick it up.

  “Ow!” said Alexis.

  “Sorry!” he said, rubbing his head and wiping his long hair out of his eyes at the same time. “You look familiar. Have I met you before?”

  “No,” said Alexis. “My friend and I went to the swim meet the other day.”

  “No, that’s not it,” he said. “Dude! You’re the girl from the pep rally!”

  Alexis turned crimson. “That was an accident,” she said hastily. “My friend and I don’t even go to school here!”

  “Oh,” said the boy. “You don’t?” Was Alexis imagining things, or did he look disappointed?

  “It’s a long story,” she said. “We just ended up in the building by accident.”

  “Well, you’re a legend anyway. The whole school’s talking about you.”

  “Great,” said Alexis. They both laughed. Then there was an embarrassing silence. Alexis twisted the jester’s hat in her hands, and David placed the sword back in a display.

  “Not going to get it?” Alexis asked.

  “Nope,” he said. “I think I’m going to go with the dragon.” He held up the head of a costume that was pil
ed under his right arm.

  Just then a horrible screech came from outside, followed by a loud crash. Alexis turned and ran to the sidewalk with David just behind her. Elizabeth wasn’t far behind. Right in front of the store, two cars were stopped. Apparently one of the drivers hadn’t been paying attention and had slammed into the car ahead. Both bumpers were crushed, and the back car was smoking a bit.

  The drivers stumbled out of their vehicles and began yelling at each other. No one was hurt, but neither person wanted to take the blame. Within minutes two police cars showed up, and a sheriff approached the arguing drivers.

  Someone tapped Alexis on the shoulder.

  “Trespassing wasn’t enough?” a voice said. “Now you have to shoplift too?”

  Alexis spun around to see Deputy Dewayne inches from her face.

  “What? Shoplifting?” she stammered. The deputy pointed to her arms. Alexis was still carrying the jester’s hat. She looked side to side. David still had his dragon costume, and Elizabeth was holding a pink dress and had a matching crown on her head. None of the items had been paid for.

  “Oh this,” said Alexis. “We were just looking inside the store when the crash happened. We ran outside to see what happened and forgot we were holding it all.”

  Deputy Dewayne didn’t move.

  “Really, Deputy,” said David. “She’s telling the truth. We were just about to pay.”

  The officer’s eyes narrowed, and then he spun around as the sheriff called his name. Alexis, Elizabeth, and David took that opportunity to slide back into the store and head for the cash register.

  Elizabeth had found a great princess costume. Alexis found a crazy outfit that matched her jester’s hat. She had wanted to be a princess too, but she loved the hat too much to part with it. They paid and turned to go.

  “Uh, see you later?” said David from behind them. His dragon costume was on the counter.

  “Yeah, later,” said Alexis. She turned and led Elizabeth out the door.