Catch Us If You Can (9780545539487)

by Mclean, Hope

  “Well, there are lots of dresses in the museum,” Lili pointed out.

  “It’s too bad there isn’t a Martha Washington dress. Now, that would be obvious!” Jasmine joked.

  “But there is!” Lili said, her voice rising with excitement. “There’s a First Ladies exhibit at the history museum. I’ve seen it a few times. There is definitely a Martha Washington dress there.”

  Willow took out her phone and started typing. “You’re right,” she said after a minute. “There’s a Martha Washington dress. And here’s something interesting. The exhibit is closing down next Friday because they’re going to be sending it on tour!”

  “That’s got to be what the Rivals were talking about,” Jasmine realized. “Ryan said the exhibit was going on tour! He must have meant this exhibit.”

  “So they’ve got to get the ruby necklace back before next Friday,” Lili said, putting the pieces together.

  Erin’s blue eyes were on fire. “No, we’ve got to get the ruby back,” she said. “It’s the only way to clear our names.”

  The girls were quiet for a moment as they thought about what this meant.

  “It could be another trick,” Jasmine warned.

  “Maybe,” Willow agreed. “But it couldn’t hurt to check it out.”

  Erin grinned. “I think it’s time for another field trip!”

  “Honestly, girls, these field trips are getting to be a bit much,” Ms. Keatley complained as they climbed up the steps to the third floor of the National Museum of American History.

  Willow and the other girls were already a few steps ahead, eager to get to the First Ladies exhibit. Willow turned back to answer her. “I just read an article that says that immersion learning is fifteen percent more effective than other methods when you’re studying for quiz bowl,” she said. It wasn’t exactly true, but she knew Ms. Keatley would like the idea.

  “Immersion learning?” Lili asked, and Erin nudged her.

  “It’s learning from experiences, instead of just reading books,” Willow explained. “Like going to museums.”

  “I understand the benefits,” Ms. Keatley said as they reached the top of the stairs. “But it does take up a lot of — oh look, Eleanor Roosevelt’s gown!”

  She drifted away to examine the dress, leaving the girls to themselves.

  “I know where the Martha dress is,” Lili said, leading them to it.

  The First Ladies exhibit was arranged along the wall of the museum, with a separate display area for each of the first ladies that were included. At the start of each display were glass-protected shelves that held personal items owned by each president’s wife, topped with a portrait. To the right of that was a dress owned by each woman, along with a plaque that told about the dress.

  “Here’s Martha,” Willow said, pointing up to the portrait, which showed Martha in her younger days, with a graceful long neck and her short hair held back by a jeweled headband. “And here’s the dress.”

  The pale peach dress had a long, full skirt with a white lace collar and cuffs.

  “Isn’t it beautiful? The fabric seems painted,” Lili said. “Those look like butterflies and flowers. So pretty!”

  “It says the dress is painted silk,” Jasmine said, reading the plaque.

  “Um, hello,” Erin hissed. “Necklace, remember?”

  A glittering ruby necklace sat on top of a tall, thin pedestal right next to the dress.

  “Oh my gosh, that’s it!” Lili cried, and Willow shushed her.

  “Maybe, or maybe it’s a reproduction, like the plaque says,” Willow pointed out. “Jasmine, do you recognize it?”

  Jasmine frowned. “Well, it looks like the necklace,” she said. “The color is deep, and the luster, or shine, is good. But I can’t really be sure.”

  “So if this is the real necklace, then the Rivals switched it with the reproduction?” Lili asked.

  Willow nodded. “It’s perfect. Nobody would ever think this was the real one.”

  “It’s too bad I can’t compare this to the reproduction,” Jasmine remarked. “I might have been able to notice some differences.”

  Erin’s eyes lit up. “But you can!” she cried. “Be right back!”

  The girls exchanged puzzled glances as their friend hurried out of the exhibit. They stood there for a moment, not sure what to do, when a security guard in a blue uniform walked past them. He was a small man with a bushy gray mustache and a cap pulled over his eyes. He nodded to the girls as he passed.

  “Let’s move around a little,” Jasmine whispered to Lili and Willow. “So we don’t look suspicious.”

  They nervously wandered around the exhibit until Erin came back a few minutes later, breathless. She handed Jasmine a program for the First Ladies exhibit.

  “Look on page thirty-five,” she said.

  Jasmine leafed through the program and smiled. “I get it. There’s a great photo of the reproduction necklace right here.”

  Erin nodded. “I hope it helps. I spent my whole allowance on it.”

  The girls casually walked back to the exhibit, and Jasmine studied the necklace, comparing it with the photo in the book. After a few minutes she broke out into a huge grin.

  “Got it!” she whispered. “See the setting around the main ruby? In the reproduction, it has six prongs, right? Now count the prongs on the necklace that’s here.”

  The girls silently counted.

  “Five!” Erin said.

  Jasmine nodded. “The real necklace was missing one of the prongs, but it was kept in its original condition. In the reproduction, they used all six prongs. The necklace we’re looking at now is the real one!”

  The girls were quiet for a moment as they realized what a big deal this was.

  “So what do we do now?” Erin asked finally. “Reach in and grab it?”

  “No way,” Lili said, looking around nervously. “Someone would see us.”

  Willow looked thoughtful. “So how did the Rivals make the switch?”

  Erin shrugged. “Who knows? But I just thought of one good thing. At least they haven’t stolen it back yet!”

  Willow turned to Jasmine. “What do you think? Is this enough proof?”

  “Maybe,” Jasmine said hesitantly. “Just maybe.”

  “Then let’s tell Principal Frederickson tomorrow,” Willow suggested. “Let’s see what she wants to do.”

  “Absolutely not, girls,” Principal Frederickson said before school began the next morning. “I will not pursue this matter any further. The idea that our necklace is in a national museum display is completely preposterous!”

  “But we have proof!” Willow protested. “The prongs!”

  Principal Frederickson sighed. “To my knowledge, the necklace setting was never missing a prong.”

  “But I know it was,” Jasmine interjected. “I sketched it so many times!”

  Principal Frederickson slid a white envelope across her desk. “Arthur Atkinson has requested that you four make a formal apology for making false accusations. I am very saddened by the theft. But I strongly suggest that you girls stop accusing the Atkinson students. I know Arthur Atkinson well, and he’ll sue you for slander.”

  “That’s not fair! He can’t sue us if what we say is true,” Erin protested. “And the exhibit is closing soon, and the Rivals know it. They’re going to get the ruby back, and then we’ll never be able to prove it.”

  The first bell of the morning rang, and Principal Frederickson stood up.

  “Please go to class, girls,” she said sternly. “This matter is over. And, I have to say, I’m disappointed in you four.”

  The girls left the office and walked outside the main building.

  “So, I guess that’s that,” Willow said with a sigh.

  “This is not over,” Jasmine said, surprising everyone. “A formal apology? How dare they! We have got to clear our names.”

  “But how?” Lili asked. “That’s what we’ve been trying to do all this time!”

&nb
sp; Jasmine lowered her voice. “I don’t know. But we’ve got to do something.”

  Erin grinned. “Let’s do what the Rivals did. Let’s just take it.”

  “And then what?” Willow asked. “We’ll get arrested for jewelry theft!”

  “No, we won’t,” Erin pointed out. “Because they can easily test to see if the rubies are real. And we’re only taking what’s rightfully ours as Martha Washington students.”

  Willow shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Let’s meet at my house tonight,” Lili suggested. “Maybe Eli can help us.”

  * * *

  “All those displays are protected by alarms,” Eli said, typing on his laptop. “It’s like an invisible fence. Once you cross the front of the display, an alarm goes off.”

  Eli sat on a pile of clothes on the edge of Lili’s bed while his sister and the rest of the Jewels sat on the fluffy purple rug on the floor. Lili’s messy bedroom was a lot like her personality: colorful and fun. Almost every inch of wall space was covered with posters, Lili’s sketches, stickers, and pictures of clothes cut out from magazines.

  “So, we could grab it and run really fast,” Erin suggested.

  Eli shook his head. “There are guards everywhere. And when the alarms go off, I think the exits automatically lock or something. At least, I saw that in a movie.”

  Erin frowned and went back to the book in her lap.

  “Anything in there that can help us?” Willow asked.

  Erin patted the stack of old books she had taken out from the school library. “Not really. I guess I thought if I knew more about Martha Washington we could find a way into the exhibit. But I should have taken out books about jewel thieves instead!”

  “We’re not the thieves,” Jasmine corrected her. “The Rivals are. We’re just taking back what they stole.”

  “Only if we have a plan,” Erin reminded her. “Lili, maybe you need to turn upside down again. That worked last time.”

  “Why not?” Lili replied. She climbed up on her bed, lay down on her back, and hung her head over the edge of the bed.

  “Anything?” Erin asked after a minute.

  “Not yet,” Lili admitted. “Mostly I’ve got a headache. But I — help! I’m slipping!”

  Even though Eli was right next to her, he was typing on his laptop and couldn’t grab his sister’s legs. The girls rushed over to catch Lili before she fell, but bumped into her instead. They ended up giggling in a heap on the floor.

  “What is all that commotion up there?” Lili’s grandmother yelled from downstairs.

  “Sorry,” Lili apologized, sitting up. “Guess that didn’t work.”

  “Maybe it did work,” Erin said. “A commotion could be just what we need!”

  “What do you mean?” Jasmine asked.

  “I think I get it,” Willow said. “If the alarm goes off on another display, then nobody will notice if we reach into the Martha Washington one.”

  Erin nodded. “Exactly. So if we cause a commotion at one display, Willow can reach in and grab the necklace.”

  Willow’s eyes got big. “Me? Why me?”

  “Because you’re the fastest,” Erin pointed out.

  Eli nodded. “True.”

  “Don’t worry,” Erin said. “I’ll stand in front of the display to block what you’re doing.”

  Willow sighed. “I guess. So what kind of commotion can we cause?”

  Lili waved her hand wildly. “Oh, I could do that part! Like, I could be sketching one of the other dresses all the way at the end of the exhibit, and then I’ll, like, lean in close to get a good look, and then … bam! I’ll fall right over.”

  “And one of us could try to help her up, and then trip over her or something,” Jasmine suggested.

  “And maybe some screaming,” Erin added. “Screaming is always good.”

  Eli closed his laptop. “You know, that just might work.”

  “And then we can take the necklace to the police, and they’ll test it and prove it’s the real one,” Willow said.

  “What if they think we’re the ones who took it?” Jasmine asked nervously.

  “We’ll show them all our proof,” Willow said. “They’ll have to believe us.”

  The room was silent again.

  “So we’re really doing this,” Jasmine said, as though she was trying to convince herself.

  “Well, we can do this, or we can make a formal apology to the Rivals,” Erin said.

  Jasmine’s hazel eyes narrowed. “I’ll ask my mom to drive us.”

  The next day seemed to drag on forever. The Jewels sat in class, worrying if their plan would work or not. Jasmine’s foot tapped nervously all day, until her math teacher begged her to stop. Erin dropped her food tray at lunch, dousing Willow with ketchup. Lili found herself daydreaming so much she didn’t notice when her teachers called on her. And Willow, usually the star of gym class, drifted aimlessly around the basketball court, unable to follow the game. When the last bell of the day rang, the girls packed up and made it outside in record speed to meet Jasmine’s mom.

  Willow exhaled as they walked to the parking lot. “Finally. I thought we’d never get out of there!”

  “Me, too!” Lili said as her phone beeped. She took it out of her bag and read a text message. “Eli says the Rivals are on the move. He overheard them talking and thinks they are going to the history museum today, too!”

  “We’ve got to hurry!” Erin cried. They raced toward the car and piled in furiously.

  “Whoa! Where’s the fire?” Mrs. Johnson asked, surprised.

  Jasmine caught her breath. “We’re just really excited to get to the museum, Mom!”

  It seemed like an eternity, but they made it to the National Museum of American History quickly.

  “Are you sure no one wants to come to the Music and the American Experience exhibit with me?” Mrs. Johnson asked.

  “No thanks, Mom,” Jasmine said hurriedly. “We’ll meet you in an hour at the café, like we planned.” The girls started running toward the steps leading to the third floor.

  “No running in the museum, please,” a security guard told them. He was the same short man with the bushy mustache they had seen the other day.

  “Oops, sorry,” Lili said as the girls slowed their pace to a fast walk.

  “We need to keep our eyes out for the Rivals,” Willow said in a low voice as they walked up the stairs. “If they are here, then we know they’re trying to steal the ruby back!”

  “And it’s up to us to stop them!” Jasmine said.

  The girls reached the First Ladies exhibit quickly. Erin began rushing toward the ruby, when Willow put her hand up to stop her.

  “We’ve got to act like everything’s normal,” she whispered to her friends. “Let’s get into position. Remember, it’s up to Lili and Jasmine to cause a distraction nearby. Then while Erin covers me, I’ll grab the ruby. But we’ve got to keep our cool.”

  Willow and Erin pretended to stroll leisurely toward the Martha Washington section, but their eyes were carefully searching the crowd. It was a busy day. A lot of tour groups were visiting, and the exhibit was crowded with noisy kids and their harried teachers. But there was no sign of any of the Rivals. They reached the Martha Washington display and stared at the ruby. Erin counted the prongs and gave a thumbs-up to Willow. The real ruby was still there!

  Meanwhile, Lili and Jasmine made their way to the display of Sarah Polk, wife of the eleventh president of the United States, James Polk. It was a few displays down from the Martha Washington dress and ruby. Lili sat on a bench in front of the dress and pulled out her sketch pad. Jasmine pretended to be entranced by the dress as well, but she was really searching the crowd.

  Lili took out a pencil and began to sketch the light blue brocaded silk dress. It was woven with a design of poinsettias, and the front of the gown had elaborate pleating and large bows. Lili’s brow puckered as she concentrated on getting the shape onto paper when her phone once again le
t out a beep.

  She quickly read the message and looked up at Jasmine, alarmed.

  “Eli said he forgot about the cameras!” she whispered frantically. “There are several here, aimed at the displays.”

  Jasmine looked up. A video camera sat in the corner of the ceiling, its red light blinking as it slowly turned around the room.

  “It’s moving slowly,” Jasmine said. “If we time it just right, we should be okay. I’ll go let Willow know.”

  Jasmine moved through the crowd as Lili resumed her sketching. Suddenly, Lili felt a tap on her shoulder. She almost hit the ceiling when she turned and saw her grandmother!

  “Obaasan!” Lili cried, shocked.

  “Why, Lili, you almost jumped off of that bench,” her grandmother, Mrs. Takahashi, replied with a clicking of her tongue. “I bet you’ve been drinking soda. All of that caffeine and sugar is no good for you. I keep telling you that.”

  “No, Obaasan, I haven’t …” Lili almost began to argue but changed her mind. “What are you doing here?”

  “The community center organized a trip for the seniors. And I’m so glad I bumped into you. I saw the most beautiful necklace in the gift shop and was thinking of getting it for your mother, but I am not sure if she has something similar,” Mrs. Takahashi explained. “Come with me. You’ve got a great eye for these types of things. I know you’ll remember.”

  “The gift shop is on the first floor! I’m waiting for my friends,” Lili said, the panic creeping into her voice. How was she going to get out of this? Her eyes swept the room, and she spotted Jasmine talking to Willow.

  Jasmine had quickly explained Eli’s text. Willow looked at the cameras and thought it over.

  “I agree with you,” she said to Jasmine. “If we time it just right, we should be fine. Start the distraction right after the camera sweeps by.”

  Jasmine nodded and made her way back to the Polk dress, just in time to see Lili being dragged away by her grandmother!

  “Friends, friends, you’re always with your friends!” Mrs. Takahashi was saying. “It will only take a second.”

  Lili locked eyes with Jasmine helplessly. Jasmine stood stunned as her friend left the room, taking all their hopes with her.