Maddy West and the Tongue Taker

by Brian Falkner

  “What’s your name?” Maddy asked, but the monkey only made some little chirping noises.

  The big man must have heard Maddy, but he didn’t say anything, so after a few more seconds of making faces at the monkey and it making funny faces back at her, she caught up with Professor Coateloch, who was waiting patiently for her.

  “What a funny monkey,” Maddy said.

  “I think he liked you,” the professor said.

  Kazuki and his mom were waiting for them at the departure gate to say goodbye. Kazuki had insisted on coming to see Maddy off. Maddy’s dad was working, and her mom hadn’t come because she didn’t like airports, so Maddy was glad that Kazuki came.

  All the other people seemed to have someone to say goodbye to them. There were lots of people hugging and crying and kissing.

  But Maddy didn’t hug Kazuki or cry, and she certainly didn’t kiss him. She just said goodbye and Kazuki said, “Have a nice flight.” Then they both waved, and Maddy and Professor Coateloch went through the gate that said, “Departures.”

  They stood in line at a place called “Customs” with all the other people who were flying out of the country that day. A friendly man in a blue jacket checked Maddy’s brand-new passport, and it must have been all right because he let her through with a wink.

  They went through a security check after that where a large X-ray machine looked inside Maddy’s bag without even opening it, and she had to walk through a metal detector.

  Then they walked past a lot of shops selling perfumes and electronics and finally into the gate area to wait for the airplane.

  “That’s her,” a voice said in front of them, and Maddy looked up to see a security guard in a white shirt and black pants walking up to them with a lady in an airline uniform. “I saw her on television,” the guard said.

  The lady with him was a kind-looking lady with long brown hair and a name badge that said “Stephanie Day.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked the guard.

  “Positive,” the guard said.

  Stephanie walked up to Professor Coateloch and said, “Excuse me, ma’am, are you this girl’s mother?”

  The professor shook her head. “No, just her guardian for a few days.”

  “Oh,” Stephanie said. “Would it be okay if I spoke to her for a moment?”

  “You’ll have to ask her.” Professor Coateloch smiled. “It’s fine with me.”

  Stephanie kneeled down in front of Maddy and said, “Excuse me, is your name Maddy?”

  “Yes,” Maddy said.

  “Tony here,” she looked at the guard, “told me that you were on television and that you speak many languages. Is that true?”

  “Which part?” Maddy said. “That I was on TV or that I speak lots of languages?”

  “Oh, I mean . . .”

  “It’s okay.” Maddy grinned. “Yes, both of those things are true.”

  “Good,” Stephanie said. “Do you by any chance speak Bulgarian?”

  “I don’t know until I try,” Maddy said. “But I expect I can.”

  Stephanie looked confused by that but smiled anyway. To Professor Coateloch she said, “Would it be all right if Maddy came with us for a few minutes?”

  Professor Coateloch didn’t look very happy and said, “Do we have time? We’re boarding soon.”

  “We’ll only be a few minutes,” Stephanie said.

  “Please, Professor Coateloch,” Maddy said.

  “I’ll make sure she is back in plenty of time for boarding,” Stephanie said.

  “I’d better come too,” the professor said, standing up.

  “We have to go back out through security and customs,” Stephanie said. “It’s going to be difficult enough to get Maddy through. I promise I won’t let her out of my sight.”

  The professor sat back down. She still didn’t look happy, but she was probably just being protective, Maddy thought. She was responsible for Maddy on this trip.

  Stephanie took Maddy’s hand, and they walked back through the security area into the customs area.

  As they walked, Stephanie explained. “We have a Bulgarian passenger who doesn’t speak much English. We do have a Bulgarian translator, but we can’t get through to him. We’re trying to find somebody else at the moment, but Tony seemed convinced that you could help.”

  “I’ll try,” Maddy said.

  They walked toward the customs counters.

  The big man with the monkey was standing in front of one of the counters, the monkey perched on his shoulder, talking to the same customs man who had winked at Maddy. Two more security guards were standing around him, although their heads didn’t even come up to the big man’s shoulders. They both had hands held up toward the big man as if they were trying to stop traffic.

  The big man was trying to explain something, but his English was very poor.

  “Me. Me fly. You me fly. Yesterday, today,” he said, waving a ticket in the air.

  “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down,” one of the guards said.

  “Me fly. You me fly. Yesterday, today,” the man said again. He was angry about something, Maddy could see, and that was making everybody else nervous.

  “Excuse me, sir,” Stephanie said to the man. “This young lady may be able to help.”

  “Mr. Chester fly,” the man said.

  Two police officers were approaching now from the other direction. Maddy thought that the man might end up in a lot of trouble if somebody didn’t do something — and soon.

  “Mr. Chester fly!” He was shouting now.

  The guards were shouting at him too, but he wasn’t listening to them. The whole customs area was in disarray with people moving and milling about everywhere. Some of the other customs officers were trying to process travelers but it was getting harder and harder with all the fuss.

  “Excuse me,” Maddy said.

  The big man ignored her, or perhaps just didn’t hear her with all the shouting going on.

  She tried in French. “Excusez-moi, monsieur.” Then in Polish, Spanish, Icelandic, Zulu, and even Navajo. Each time, he glanced at her briefly before roaring again with his few words of broken English. The monkey was jumping up and down on his shoulder, screeching.

  Maddy didn’t know how to speak to him because she didn’t know what kind of words he used. As long as he kept trying to speak English, she couldn’t help.

  “No luck?” Stephanie asked, very nicely, as though it was her fault, not Maddy’s.

  “Can you ask him to say something in his own language?” Maddy said.

  “I really don’t know how,” Stephanie said, looking up at the mountain of a man.

  Maddy looked around at all the people. “Excuse me, would everybody please be quiet?” Maddy said.

  Everybody ignored her, including the giant in front of her. They all kept shouting at each other.

  “Excuse me,” she said. Then louder, “Excuse me!”

  But it was clear they were all far too busy to listen to a small girl.

  “Please, everybody stop talking!” Maddy said much more loudly, starting to go quite red in the cheeks.

  Still they ignored her.

  “Everybody just shut up!” she yelled, feeling as though her hair was standing on end and steam was coming out of her ears.

  When that had no effect, Maddy marched right up to the big man and before Stephanie could stop her, she kicked him in the shin as hard as she could.

  The man stopped shouting and waving the ticket. The guards stopped shouting. The police officers stood still. Everybody went silent.

  The big bearded man turned, and his deep-set eyes dropped lower and lower until they rested on Maddy. She shrank back. The man towered over her. The police officers stepped forward rather nervously.

  Then a strange thing happened.

/>   The big man sank slowly to his knees. Maddy had to take a couple of steps back to move out of his way. He sat on his haunches and frowned. Deep wrinkles like folded paper opened up across his forehead and around his eyes.

  Then he began to cry.

  His sobs were almost as big as he was. They welled up inside him and rippled up through his chest before bursting out through his nose and mouth.

  Everybody stood there, and nobody did anything and nobody said anything — they all just let the big man cry, tears pouring down his face, splashing off like a miniature waterfall to the floor.

  “I didn’t think I kicked him that hard,” Maddy said.

  Stephanie shrugged. She seemed as confused as Maddy.

  “Sorry,” Maddy said, and although the man didn’t understand her, the sobs shuddered to a halt.

  He looked at her then asked in a voice that was so deep it must have come from the bottom of the ocean, “Why did you kick me?”

  So that was Bulgarian, Maddy thought, listening to the sound of the words.

  “I wanted to get your attention,” she said, in the same language.

  “You speak Bulgarian!” the man realized.

  “I’m sorry if I hurt you,” Maddy said. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

  The big man looked at her for a long moment, then for no reason that Maddy could see, he began to laugh — a big belly laugh that shook his whole body.

  “You didn’t hurt me,” he said. “A little flea like you, hurt Dimitar the Giant? That is a joke to tell my friends!”

  “Then why did you cry?” Maddy asked.

  Dimitar’s face became sad again. “My father died a few days ago,” he said. “I came here for the funeral.”

  “Oh,” Maddy said, not sure what to say next. “Why did he die?”

  “He died because he was very old,” Dimitar said. “But I still miss him very much.”

  “I’m sorry,” Maddy said. She reached out and hugged the big man to make him feel better. She had to stand up on his knees to do it, and even then she could only just reach up around his neck.

  “Remarkable,” Tony the guard said.

  Maddy climbed back down off the big man’s knees and stood in front of him.

  “Do you know this man?” Stephanie asked.

  “No. I just thought that he needed a hug,” Maddy said. “His dad died.”

  “I can’t believe I cried,” Dimitar said. “That took me a bit by surprise. I didn’t even cry at the funeral.”

  “Maybe you should have,” Maddy said.

  Maddy put out a hand and took one of his. Her fingers could barely wrap around his thumb, but still it made him smile a little bit. She thought she should introduce herself and said, “My name is Maddy West.”

  “I’m Dimitar Slavinski,” Dimitar said.

  “Dimitar the Giant,” Maddy said.

  “Ah, you’ve heard of me,” the big man beamed.

  “Not till a minute ago,” Maddy said truthfully. “Is this your monkey?”

  “No. Yes,” Dimitar said. “It is the monkey of my father, but I suppose he is mine now. His name is Mr. Chester.”

  That made Maddy laugh, but she couldn’t explain why.

  “Why did your father have a monkey?” she asked.

  “Because he was very old and sick,” Dimitar said. “Mr. Chester is a trained monkey. He has been trained to do simple things like opening bottles and even dialing numbers on the telephone.”

  “Excuse me.” It was Stephanie speaking. She kneeled beside Maddy. “Do you think you could explain some things to him for us?”

  “Of course,” Maddy said.

  “He wants to take the monkey on the airplane,” Stephanie said. “But we don’t allow animals in the cabin. Some airlines do, but that is not our policy.”

  Maddy explained that to Dimitar, who held up a plane ticket. “But I bought him a ticket,” he said.

  “Even with a ticket, he can’t go in the cabin,” Stephanie said. “He has to go in the luggage compartment in a cage.”

  Maddy translated.

  “He can go on the plane?” Dimitar said.

  “Yes, in a cage,” Maddy said. “Would that be okay?”

  “I don’t think he’ll like it much,” Dimitar said. “But it’s better than nothing. Why didn’t they tell me that before?”

  “I think they were trying to,” Maddy said.

  Stephanie stood up and went to the customs counter where she started talking on a phone.

  Mr. Chester leaped down off Dimitar’s shoulder at that and landed on top of Maddy’s head. “Mr. Chester!” Dimitar said.

  “It’s okay,” Maddy said. “I think he’s sweet.”

  Mr. Chester climbed down onto Maddy’s shoulder and started rubbing his tiny fingers through her hair. “What’s he doing?” Maddy asked, giggling.

  “That means he likes you,” Dimitar said. He got up off the floor and sat in a nearby chair, which groaned under his weight.

  “I like him too,” Maddy said. “And I’m very sorry for kicking you.”

  Dimitar smiled. “I think you probably did the right thing. What a wonderful girl you are.”

  Stephanie kneeled down again. “I have arranged a cage for the monkey,” she said.

  “Mr. Chester,” Maddy said.

  “Okay. They will be here in a few minutes, and then Mr. Chester will have to go to the cargo people.”

  Maddy told Dimitar that.

  “Would you like to see a few of his tricks while we wait?” Dimitar asked.

  “Do we have time to see some tricks?” Maddy asked Stephanie, who checked her watch then nodded.

  First, Dimitar got Mr. Chester to sit down, which he did with his legs crossed and his arms folded, just like the younger kids at school. Next, he got Mr. Chester to do a backflip, then to salute.

  “Watch this,” Dimitar said.

  He began to make beatbox drum sounds with his mouth. Mr. Chester started hip-hop dancing. He was breaking and locking and popping. He did the running man and the cabbage patch, and he even stood on his head and spun himself around.

  Maddy laughed with delight, and before she could help herself, she found herself dancing along with him, copying his movements — except for standing on her head and spinning around!

  When they had finished, everyone laughed and clapped.

  “What a funny monkey!” Tony said.

  “What a delightful girl,” Stephanie said.

  Then the man with the cage came, and it was time to say goodbye. Maddy was sad because she thought she would never see Dimitar or Mr. Chester again.

  And then the strangest thing happened.

  Mr. Chester reached inside Dimitar’s jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, which he handed to Maddy.

  “Mr. Chester!” Maddy said. “You naughty monkey.” She handed the paper back to Dimitar without looking at it. Dimitar took it, but his face had turned sad again. Mr. Chester jumped up and snatched it out of his hand and handed it back to Maddy. “Mr. Chester!” Maddy said again.

  This time she looked at the paper, which was folded in half. At the top were the words “Funeral Service” and a name: “Aleksandar Boris Slavinski.”

  “It is the program for the funeral of my father,” Dimitar said.

  “Time to go,” Stephanie said.

  Maddy tried to hand the program back.

  “It’s all right,” Dimitar said. “You take it.”

  “Maddy, you don’t want to miss your flight,” Stephanie said.

  “Bye, Dimitar,” Maddy said, tucking the program in a pocket and giving him a quick hug. “Bye, Mr. Chester.” She held out her hand to the little monkey, who grabbed it in both of his hands and kissed it like an old-fashioned gentleman.

  They went back through security and were
walking down a long corridor toward the gate lounge when Maddy remembered the program and took it out, wondering why Mr. Chester had been so insistent that she have it. She unfolded it and got such a shock that she stopped walking.

  “Are you all right, Maddy?” Stephanie asked, turning back.

  Maddy looked at her with wide eyes. There was a picture of Dimitar’s father on the front of the program. At first she thought she was imagining it. Then she thought she must be mistaken. But there was no doubt. The face in the photograph was too distinctive to be anyone else.

  “Dimitar’s father was the old man I met!” she exclaimed.

  “What old man?” Stephanie asked.

  “On the train!” Maddy said.

  “What train?” Stephanie asked.

  CHAPTER TEN

  TWO SURPRISE VISITORS

  THERE WAS A BIG ROAR from the engines, a whooshing sound, and Maddy was pressed right back in her seat as if by an invisible hand. The plane zoomed faster and faster down the runway, then up into the sky.

  Maddy was in the window seat, and the professor was sitting by the aisle. In between them was an empty seat.

  Maddy looked at the professor. “Are we really flying?” she asked.

  “Yes, we are,” the professor said.

  Maddy looked out of the window at the streets and cars getting smaller and smaller below them.

  “It’s like magic,” she said.

  Professor Coateloch laughed. “It’s not magic,” she said. “It’s science.”

  Maddy knew that, but it still seemed magical to her to be up so high in the sky on their way to a completely different country.

  That made her think again about the old man on the train: Dimitar’s father. What a strange thing to happen. And then to meet Dimitar at the airport. It couldn’t just be a coincidence . . . could it? It was too much to think about, so Maddy put it out of her mind and decided to think about it later when she wasn’t so confused and flabbergasted by the whole thing.

  She toyed with the funeral program, which was still in her pocket, neatly folded. She considered talking to the professor about it, but something made her hesitate. Dimitar’s father had told her to be wary of magic, and suddenly Professor Coateloch had shown up asking Maddy to help her with the scrolls. She seemed nice, but it was still a strange coincidence. Maddy decided not to tell the professor for now. She could always talk to her about it later.