The Yellow Yacht (4 page)

“Yes,” Josh said. “It was mixed in with some food wrappers and stuff. Whoever dug the tunnel must have dropped it.”

“I just can’t believe Riko and Lees would betray me like this,” the king said sadly. “They both seemed eager to have the new aquarium open.”

King Farhad sighed and reached for the phone. He called his police and told them to pick up Lees Baz immediately.

“Sammi, I’m sorry this had to happen on your special day,” his father said as he hung up. “But I’ll make it up to you later at your party.”

Just then there was a light knock on the door.

“Come in,” said the king.

“Your Highness,” came a deep voice from the doorway.

The kids looked up. The man standing there wore a long black cape, and his head was completely bald.

Dink recognized the face he had seen peeking from a room upstairs a few days ago.

The man stepped forward and bowed in front of King Farhad. “Yondo at your service,” he said.

The king nodded. “Kids, this is Yondo. He’s a magician I’ve hired for Sammi’s party tonight,” he said.

“Cool!” Sammi said. “What kind of tricks do you do?” he asked the man.

Yondo wiggled his long fingers to show that his hands were empty. Then he reached over and pulled a large gold coin from the king’s hair.

With a lightning-fast flick of his hand, Yondo flipped the coin at Dink. Dink raised his hands for the catch, but it never reached him.

The coin had disappeared into thin air.

The four kids entered the royal dining room at seven o’clock. The table was set with a white tablecloth that reached the floor. The queen’s best dishes sparkled under the candlelight.

The king and queen smiled at the kids. “This is your night, Sammi. There will be no discussion of the missing gold,” the king stated.

In the middle of the table sat three large pizzas.

“How did you know pizza is my favorite meal?” Josh asked, rubbing his stomach.

Sammi grinned. “It’s
my
favorite, too!” he said.

A half hour later, only pizza crusts were left. A servant cleared the table.

“Time to open your presents,” Sammi’s mother said. Stacked on a nearby table were the gifts Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose had brought in their luggage.

Dink’s present was a book about Connecticut. He showed Sammi a map inside and pointed out Green Lawn.

Josh gave Sammi a small wooden eagle. “I carved it myself,” Josh said, blushing.

“It’s awesome,” Sammi said. “Thanks, Josh!”

Ruth Rose brought a travel-size Monopoly game. “I thought we could play after dinner,” she said. “But watch out for Josh. He cheats!”

The king set a large, gold-foiled box
in front of Sammi. “This is from your mother and me,” he said. “Happy birthday son.”

Sammi tore off the paper to find a new computer. He gave his mother and father hugs. “Thank you, it’s just what I wanted!”

“Now we can e-mail each other!” Ruth Rose said.

“Excellent,” said the king. “And now, Yondo is going to entertain us.”

The king clapped his hands and the room lights dimmed. A door opened and everyone watched for the magician to enter. But there was no one there.

“Yondo at your service,” came a voice from the opposite side of the room. When they turned, Yondo stood at the end of the table, next to the queen. He was dressed entirely in white.

“How did you get in here?” Sammi said. “There’s only one door!”

Instead of answering, Yondo pulled a green bandanna out of Sammi’s ear.

For the next twenty minutes, Yondo amazed them with magic tricks, doing one right after the other.

He tied knots in colored hankies and let the kids check that the knots were tight. Then he ran his hand over the knots, and the hankies separated.

He turned normal eggs into rabbits
and rabbits into beautiful doves.

He wet two fingers and snuffed out a candle. Then he opened his mouth and breathed fire like a dragon.

“For my final illusion, I will make one of you disappear,” Yondo said to the small group. Then he pulled a large black cloth from a sleeve and shook it out, covering himself. When the cloth dropped, Yondo was gone. In his place stood a tall silver box about the size of an old-fashioned phone booth.

A door in the box opened, and Yondo stepped out. But now he was dressed from head to toe in red.

Yondo smiled at Ruth Rose. “Will you be my assistant?” he asked.

“Okay, but be sure to bring me back again,” Ruth Rose said.

Yondo led Ruth Rose into the box. He closed the door and draped the black cloth over it. Then he knocked on the cloth with his knuckle. “Are you still in
there, Ruth Rose?” he asked.

“No, I’m up here!” came Ruth Rose’s voice from above their heads.

Everyone looked up toward the ceiling. It was dark, so the king turned up the lights.

Ruth Rose was nowhere in sight.

Yondo knocked on the box again.

“Ruth Rose, are you in there?”

This time there was no answer.

Josh let out a giggle. “She really
did
disappear!” he whispered.

Yondo whisked the cloth away from the box and opened the door.

It was empty. The three boys leaped up and examined the box.

“What’re you all looking at?” Ruth Rose asked from behind them.

The boys whipped around. Ruth Rose was back in her seat at the table.

“How did you do that?” Josh asked Ruth Rose.

“I’ll never tell,” she said.

Just then a servant carried in a cake with ten lit candles on it.

Yondo started to leave.

“Please stay for some cake,” the king said with a smile. “As long as you don’t make it disappear!”

Yondo smiled. “Only my piece will disappear,” he said.

Sammi made a wish and blew out the candles, and they ate.

“I’m gonna bust open,” Josh said later as the servant cleared the table.

King Farhad and Queen Grace excused themselves. “You kids can sit up and play Monopoly if you wish,” the queen said. “But not too late, Sammi.”

The kids decided to play in Sammi’s room. As they climbed the stairs toward the bedroom wing, Dink was thinking about the missing gold. “Sammi, where did your father find Yondo?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Sammi said. “I was just as surprised to see him as you guys.”

“Does he live in Costra, or did he fly here, like we did?” Dink asked.

“Why? Does it matter?” asked Sammi.

“I’m not sure,” Dink said. “But don’t you think it’s strange that your father’s gold disappeared right after Yondo got here?”

“What, you think Yondo stole the gold?” Sammi asked.

“Well, he made a lot of
other
stuff disappear,” Dink said. “Like you, Ruth Rose.”

“He didn’t make me disappear,” Ruth Rose said. “It was a trick. While you guys were changing for the party, Yondo asked me to help him. See, he’s a ventriloquist, too. He threw my voice up to the ceiling. When you guys all looked up there, I scooted out of the box and crawled under the table. Then I just got up and sat back in my chair again.”

“If Yondo is the thief, where did he hide the gold?” Sammi asked Dink. “And how would he get it away from Nere? The guards check every car going through the gate. No one could get past them.”

“Except maybe a magician,” Dink mumbled.

“I think Riko and Mr. Baz are the crooks,” Ruth Rose said.

“I hate to admit it, but I agree with Ruth Rose,” Josh said. “I think Mr. Baz was on the other side of the wall with the getaway car, waiting for Riko to drop the gold over.”

“They both told the cops they had never seen that note,” Sammi said. “Mr. Baz said someone must have stolen that writing paper from his office.”

Just then a shadow fell over the kids. Yondo had appeared at the top of the stairs.

“We meet again,” the magician said. “What are you whispering about?”

“We’re just talking about the gold robbery,” Sammi said.

“Ah, yes, your parents told me about the bank manager and the job foreman,” Yondo said. “What a shame. Well, I leave early tomorrow morning, so I will say good night. And happy birthday, Sammi.”

Yondo walked past the kids and disappeared into his room. They all heard the door lock.

The next morning, the kids walked down to the aquarium pit. No one was working in it. Yellow crime-scene tape had been strung around the whole place. The backhoe stood right where it had been left.

The bank was locked up, with a big CLOSED sign on the door.

“I wonder if my father will ever get
the gold back,” Sammi said.

“Did Yondo leave yet?” Dink asked.

Sammi nodded. “I saw him drive away this morning,” he said.

“Hello!” the kids heard someone yell from behind them.

Dr. Skor had tied a yellow inflatable dinghy to the dock and was walking toward them.

“Any news on the robbery?” he asked when he reached the four kids.

Sammi brought him up to date on Riko and Mr. Baz.

Dr. Skor nodded. “Yes, I assumed it was an inside job,” he said. “At least the culprits are behind bars, where they belong. And how was your party, Sammi?”

“Cool! My dad hired a magician, and he was awesome!” Sammi said.

“A magician, how wonderful!”