Maddy West and the Tongue Taker

by Brian Falkner

  So Dimitar was a wrestler — and a famous one, if this poster was any indication.

  A minibus from the hotel picked them up from the bus station in Sozopol, and the driver told them lots of interesting stories and facts about the city as they drove through the streets.

  Maddy drew in her breath when they came around a sweeping corner, and there before them was a sparkling expanse of blue. The sun was low in the sky behind them shining out over the sea. It was one of the most beautiful things Maddy had ever seen.

  “That’s the Black Sea,” Professor Coateloch told her.

  “But it’s blue!” Maddy said.

  “I know,” the professor said.

  “That’s silly,” Maddy said.

  “South of here is another sea called the Red Sea,” Professor Coateloch said. “And that’s blue too.”

  “What were they thinking?” Maddy said.

  Not far from the shore, she spotted an island: the large lump of green-covered rock made a hole in the glittering surface of the sea. The setting sun caught the island, making it glow like a beacon. Maddy pointed to it, and the professor nodded. That was the island they were going to visit.

  As she watched, it seemed to shimmer on the surface of the water, like a mirage, like some place that wasn’t actually real but existed only in your imagination.

  Maddy felt herself drawn to the island, pulled toward it by a gentle hand, and yet . . . and yet at the same time, there was something dark about the island, something about the way it faded in and out with the tricks of the light from the setting sun — something a little unsettling.

  She was no longer sure if she wanted to visit the island at all. No longer sure if the gentle urging that drew her in that direction was the attraction of something warm and wonderful, or something bad . . . like a spider luring prey into its web.

  Those were silly thoughts, she knew. She thought it must just her imagination playing tricks on her because she was tired from all the traveling.

  ***

  The hotel was in the old part of the town. All the houses and buildings looked like they had been there for hundreds of years.

  Near the hotel they passed a house with a miniature windmill at the front, the sails turning slowly in a light breeze. Below it was an old-fashioned cart with big wooden wheels. It made Maddy think of times long ago and what life must have been like in those days. Before science and technology, cell phones, and nonstick frying pans, like Dimitar’s father had said.

  The driver took them right to the front door of the hotel and double-parked in the narrow street, then unloaded Professor Coateloch’s suitcase from the back of the minibus.

  Maddy had not let go of her backpack for a moment. It had been on her knee the whole way. She hadn’t wanted Mr. Chester to get bounced around in the luggage compartment.

  “This is where we’ll be staying,” Professor Coateloch said. “It’s too late to go to the island tonight, so we’ll get a good night’s sleep and catch the boat out in the morning.”

  Maddy had no objections to that. She was quite tired, and she could see that it was going to be dark before too long. She decided she would rather face whatever was waiting for her on the island in the bright light of day.

  A concierge in a red uniform showed them to their room. Maddy and the professor each had their own bedroom with a lounge in between them. In the lounge were two sofas and a tiny refrigerator that was full of chocolate bars and granola bars and soft drinks and beer and tiny bottles of wine.

  “Mom wanted me to call her when we got to Sozopol,” Maddy said after she had put her backpack safely in her bedroom.

  “Okay, certainly,” the professor said, nodding her head. “But it will be a very expensive call on a hotel phone. How about we get a phone card in the morning? That way it will be almost free.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Maddy said.

  The professor ordered some sandwiches for dinner. They were chicken with salad in between thick, crunchy slices of brown bread, and they were delicious.

  Right after dinner, Maddy asked if she could go to bed and the professor nodded. “Of course. You must be exhausted.”

  But Maddy really just wanted to let Mr. Chester out of the backpack before he pooped all over her clothes.

  She shut her door first, in case the professor walked past, and then opened her backpack. Mr. Chester looked up at her. He had taken off his hat and was wearing a pair of Maddy’s underwear on his head.

  “Mr. Chester!” Maddy whispered so Professor Coateloch couldn’t hear. “You naughty monkey!” She snatched her underwear away.

  Mr. Chester grinned up at her, then put his hat back on, hopped out of the backpack, and sat up on the bed, looking at her expectantly.

  With a quick glance at the door, Maddy brought out a sandwich quarter that she had wrapped in a napkin, hiding it in her pocket during dinner.

  Mr. Chester tore chunks off the bread and ate it quickly, but he didn’t touch the chicken or the salad.

  “Eat your greens,” Maddy said, but Mr. Chester ignored her and started exploring the room instead.

  He ran up one of the curtains by the window and walked along the curtain rod at the top. He disappeared under the bed for a moment and reemerged chewing on something he had found under there.

  “Eww,” Maddy said.

  Maddy watched in amazement as Mr. Chester climbed up things and down things using his hands and feet (which were just like little hands) and his tail to climb, hang, and swing all around the room. She guessed that he was using up some energy after being cooped up in the bag for so long, and she didn’t blame him. But he was so quick and so boisterous, a little monkey whirlwind, that he began to knock things over. Maddy ran around after him, trying to catch things before they could crash to the floor. It was all she could do to keep up with him.

  “Stop it, Mr. Chester,” she whispered, but he paid her no attention. “Stop it, or the professor will come in to see what all the noise is about!”

  After a few minutes, he began to get tired of his monkey gym and sat down next to Maddy on the bed. She went around the room straightening things up and putting them back where they belonged. On the nightstand, Mr. Chester found the remote for the TV and turned it on.

  “Clever boy!” Maddy said. He must have been trained to do that for Dimitar’s dad.

  Mr. Chester flipped through all the channels. He didn’t seem interested in any of the cartoons or the other kids’ shows that Maddy would have liked, and when he found a nature channel with a documentary about African animals, he covered his eyes with one hand while he quickly changed stations.

  He eventually settled on a cooking show where the presenter was showing how to make a cold soup called tarator.

  Maddy thought that her dad would have been interested in the show, although he didn’t speak Bulgarian, of course, so he wouldn’t have understood a word of it. She was surprised that Mr. Chester was interested in cooking, but he seemed to be watching and listening with great interest, so she left him to it.

  She was lying on the bed, not really watching the TV, when there was a small sound from Mr. Chester, and a moment later a strong smell wafted up from that direction.

  “Mr. Chester, did you fart?” Maddy asked.

  Mr. Chester gave her a grin, and saluted like a soldier on a parade ground.

  “Yuck! That stinks!” Maddy said. Maybe he was a little bit magic, and maybe he wasn’t, but whatever he was, he was still a monkey.

  Just then there were two short taps on the door, and Professor Coateloch asked, “May I come in?”

  Mr. Chester scrambled under one of the pillows on the bed and lay very still as Maddy said, “Yes, of course.”

  Professor Coateloch popped her head around the door, and said, “I’m off to bed myself. I was just checking to make sure you were okay and to see if you neede
d anything.”

  “I’m fine, thank you,” Maddy said.

  “Good night,” said the professor.

  “Sweet dreams,” Maddy said, and the professor closed the door.

  Mr. Chester crawled out from under the pillow.

  Maddy found that she was getting quite tired so she turned off the TV and the light.

  Mr. Chester immediately turned the TV back on.

  “No, Mr. Chester,” she whispered. “It’s bedtime.” She turned the TV off again and put the remote under her pillow so he couldn’t turn it on again.

  “Good night, Mr. Chester,” she said.

  He took off his hat and laid it on the nightstand, then took off his jacket and folded it neatly, placing it next to the hat. Then he leaned over and gave Maddy a quick peck on the cheek.

  “Eww!” Maddy said. “Monkey kiss!” But she didn’t mind, really.

  Mr. Chester curled up into a tight ball on the pillow next to her head and shut his eyes.

  “Good night, Mr. Chester,” Maddy said again in a slow, tired voice. “No more farting.”

  He didn’t move, and Maddy snuggled down into the bed and drifted off to sleep.

  After a while, her breathing settled into a regular rhythm, with just the occasional little snore. The only light in the room came from the moon, which shined brightly through the thin gauze curtains over the windows.

  In that gentle glow, anyone watching would have seen that Mr. Chester wasn’t really asleep at all. As soon as he was sure that Maddy was asleep, he propped himself up on the pillow and gazed around the room. He kept watch with eyes that were far too wise for a little capuchin monkey.

  It was as if he, and he alone, had some idea of the terrors that the next day would bring.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  GOING HOME

  IN THE MORNING, MADDY found herself wondering how Kazuki was doing. She bet his parents were angry with him, but maybe they also would be so relieved to have him back safely that they wouldn’t be too angry.

  Professor Coateloch ordered a light breakfast of toast and cereal, and they ate it together. The professor kept looking out the window at the island, barely visible through a light mist across the water. She seemed excited and even a little nervous.

  “The island doesn’t look very far away,” said Maddy.

  “No, we’re close now,” the professor said. “Very close.”

  She seemed fidgety.

  After breakfast, they got dressed in their hiking clothes. The professor took two water bottles from the fridge and put them in a small daypack. Then they went down to reception, where a lady in a brightly colored dress was seated behind the desk.

  “I’d like to book tickets on the boat to the island,” the professor said.

  “Professor Coateloch?” the lady asked.

  “That’s right,” the professor said.

  “There’s someone here to see you,” the lady said.

  A police officer rose out of a comfortable armchair in the lobby. He had clearly been waiting for them. His uniform was immaculate with sharp creases at the corners of his dark trousers but none at all in his shirt. His collar and tie were precise. His uniform hat was in his hand, and his hair was neatly combed with a part in the center. He put his hat on as he walked over to them.

  “I am Inspector Teodorov of the National Police Service,” he said in good, but accented English. “It has taken us a while to track you down.”

  He extended a hand, which the professor shook warily as if she was worried he might bite.

  “I need to ask you if you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of Kazuki Takamori.”

  “Kazuki!” Maddy said. “What do you mean?”

  “I thought he had been sent back to England,” the professor said.

  The inspector looked grim. “Unfortunately not. Kazuki disappeared while our officers were trying to sort out his return flight. No one has seen him since.”

  Maddy gasped.

  “Why didn’t anyone let us know?” the professor asked.

  “As I said,” Inspector Teodorov continued, “we have been trying to locate you. So have Maddy’s parents.”

  The professor looked uncomfortable. “We had to change hotels,” she said. “There was a mistake with our booking. I was going to call Maddy’s parents this morning with the new details.”

  Maddy hadn’t known any of that, but she was much more concerned about her friend, lost and alone in another new country where he didn’t speak any of the language. “Poor Kazuki!” she said.

  “His parents are flying over as we speak,” Inspector Teodorov said. “Believe me, we are doing everything we can to find him before they get here.”

  “That might not be easy,” Maddy said.

  “Why is that?” Inspector Teodorov asked.

  Maddy noticed the professor looking at her closely.

  “He’s very good at not being seen if he doesn’t want to be,” Maddy said. “It’s almost like he’s invisible.”

  The policeman smiled briefly, creasing the lines at the corners of his eyes. “Well, in any case, your parents want you home, I’m afraid. They’ve asked if you can return home immediately.”

  “Yes, of course,” Maddy said. “But . . .”

  “But what?” the inspector asked.

  “But we’ve come such a long way,” Maddy said. “To see the scrolls.”

  Inspector Teodorov looked at the professor, who nodded. “I’ve brought Maddy to visit the old monastery. Might we be permitted to do that before we leave?”

  The inspector shook his head. “If it was up to me, yes. But I have strict instructions from my commander. He has been getting phone calls from the British Embassy. The disappearance of this boy has been somewhat of an embarrassment to us.”

  “I understand,” the professor said. “But we are here now. So close. So very close.”

  “I’m sorry,” the inspector said.

  Professor Coateloch does not seem to be taking this news very well, Maddy thought. Her face was starting to get red, and her voice began to rise like Maddy’s did when she lost her temper.

  “Young man,” she said, “I have been waiting years for the opportunity to read these scrolls. Scrolls that nobody has read in hundreds — maybe thousands — of years. This may be our only chance to find out what they say. I am sure you can bend the rules.” She had pulled herself up to her full height. Maddy hadn’t realized until that moment just how tall she was. She was a good head taller than the inspector and she stared down at him with narrowed eyes.

  He seemed unperturbed. “Madam, I cannot change my orders.”

  Now the professor’s face was bright red, and there was a fire in her eyes, which were mere slits. She started to argue some more, but then she caught Maddy’s gaze. She shut her mouth and also her eyes, and when she reopened them, they were calmer. “Of course,” she said. “Of course. We must do what we are told.”

  “As must we all,” Inspector Teodorov said. “I will give you a ride to the Burgas train station. Colleagues of mine will meet you in Sofia and escort you to the airport.

  “I hope Kazuki is all right,” Maddy said.

  “We’ll do our best to find him and get him home safely,” the inspector said.

  The inspector waited in the reception area while they went back to their room and packed their bags. It didn’t take long.

  Maddy went to use the toilet before the long ride and when she came out, the professor was hanging up the phone.

  “I tried to get through to the British Embassy,” she said a little too quickly. “To see if they could persuade the police to change their minds. But no luck.”

  Maddy had a strange feeling that the professor was lying.

  ***

  Sitting in the back of the police car, Maddy felt sad and worried. She was worried
about Kazuki. What had happened to him?

  And she was worried about Mr. Chester. What was she going to do with him? She couldn’t take him back to England on the plane.

  She was sad for the professor who had been so excited about maybe being the first person to read the scrolls in hundreds of years. They had come on such a long journey, by plane, train, and bus, only to miss out on the very thing they had come here for.

  At the train station in Burgas, they made a little pile of their luggage in front of a seat, and Maddy sat down while the professor and the inspector went over to the ticket window. Maddy opened her backpack to check on Mr. Chester. He looked snug and sound, and he winked at her. What was she going to do with him?

  The train station was crowded. It was much busier than when they had arrived the night before. There were people everywhere, scurrying in different directions. Maddy was looking around, watching all the different types of people, wondering where they were all off to in such a hurry. Then she saw a strange thing. Two girls dressed all in black with black hair and black makeup. Two goth girls. One taller than the other. Maddy was quite sure they were the same two girls she had seen at the airport in London.

  And they were walking straight toward Maddy as if they knew her. Now that they were closer, Maddy could see them more clearly. They both had black hair pulled back into long braids. The smaller one had lots of pimples, including a huge one in the middle of her forehead. She had a tight, pinched mouth and a constant frown. The other — a big, awkward, and gangly girl — had bright blue eyes and looked nervous.

  “There you are!” the spotty one said loudly in Bulgarian. “Mother has been looking everywhere for you!”

  “Me?” Maddy said. “I don’t think . . .”

  “Mother has been looking everywhere,” repeated the big girl.