“Benny, that’s so smart!” Jessie said. “You’re right. We can use each stamp more than once. That’s what they’d have to do when they were printing in the old days. They wouldn’t have had lots of stamps for the same letter.” She moved the stamps around. “Yes, they do spell Beijing. We’re going to the capital city of China!”
Emilio came out of the cockpit, and the children told him their destination.
“I’ll let the Reddimus Society know so they can make arrangements for someone to meet you when we land,” Emilio said. Mrs. Silverton’s granddaughter, Trudy, handled all the arrangements for their travel from her office at the Reddimus Society headquarters. She was very good at making sure the Aldens managed to get to everywhere they needed to go. And once they had arrived at a destination, she made sure they had places to stay and people to drive them around.
“We’ll have to stop partway to get the right paperwork to go to China,” Emilio added, “and for fuel and some sleep, so buckle up and settle in.”
“I’m excited to go to China,” Violet said. “The Argents won’t be able to follow us there. They won’t know where we’ve gone.”
“I hope not,” Jessie said, “though they did manage to follow us to our other stops.”
Emilio and Mr. Ganert took turns flying the plane. Mr. Ganert never talked to them. When he wasn’t flying, he went to a seat right behind the cockpit and napped. Benny thought Mr. Ganert had a mean look on his face even when he was sleeping.
Violet played with the wooden stamps, trying to see how many words she could make. Emilio came out of the cockpit, sat down, and picked up the dragon stamp. “Nice,” he said. “Say, would you like to hear a joke?”
Jessie knew even if they said no, he’d tell one anyway. Emilio loved jokes, and the sillier the joke, the better. Benny thought they were all funny.
“What do peas and dragons have in common?” Emilio asked. He had a grin on his face.
Benny thought for moment. “I don’t know. Are they both green?”
Emilio’s grin grew bigger. “Good answer, but that’s not the one I’m thinking of. Peas and dragons are alike because you can’t balance either one on a fork!” Emilio burst out laughing. He always laughed at his own jokes.
Everyone else laughed too, mainly because it was funny to see Emilio so excited about his joke.
They read, played games, and watched a movie on the flight. Emilio came out of the cockpit at different points to help them make meals and to talk. The plane had a small galley in the back stocked with all sorts of good food and snacks. After several hours, they landed in a country called Kazakhstan to collect the paperwork they needed and so the pilots could rest. They spent the night in a hotel at the airport, leaving very early the next morning.
The rest of the flight was bumpy and not very much fun. Everyone buckled their seat belts and sat back to watch another movie to take their minds off the rough air. When the plane rose up and then moved down all of the sudden, a bowl of popcorn on the table tipped over and some of the popcorn spilled out. They waited until Mr. Ganert said they could move around again before they cleaned up the mess.
Emilio helped them. “Even spilled popcorn has a use,” he said. “Would you like to see a game?”
“Sure!” Benny said.
“Jessie, there are some small red plastic cups in the galley. Would you get them?” Emilio asked.
Jessie brought Emilio the cups. He set them out on the table upside down. “This is called a shell game. It’s a good game to practice your skills at observing,” he told them. “Reddimus agents have to stay sharp, so anything you can do to practice helps. The shell game is very old. Some people think it first became popular in ancient Greece. But they didn’t play it with cups and popcorn. They probably used nut shells and dried peas.”
“I’ve seen this,” Henry said. “It’s called sleight of hand.”
“That’s right,” Emilio said.
“What does that mean?” Benny asked.
“Sleight can mean to trick someone by being good at moving your hands very quickly,” Henry explained. “It’s what magicians do with a lot of their tricks.”
“Yes,” Emilio said. “That’s how many of them start out. You start this trick by putting an object under the middle cup.” He lifted up the cup and put a piece of popcorn under it. “Now, pay attention. See if you can keep track of where it goes.” He slid the cups into different positions so fast it was hard to keep track of them. Then he did it several more times, each time moving the cups very quickly.
“I lost track,” Jessie said.
“Me too,” Henry said.
“I think it’s under that one.” Benny pointed at the one on the right.
“No, it’s back under the middle one,” Violet said. “I’m sure of it.”
Emilio picked up the cup on the right. There was nothing under it. He picked up the one on the left. There was nothing under that one either. His hand hovered over the middle cup.
“It’s under there!” Violet said. “I was watching it.”
Emilio picked up the cup. The piece of popcorn was back where it had started.
“Good job, Violet,” Henry said.
“Now I’ll do it again.” Emilio moved the cups closer to the edge of the table and started the trick again. When he was finished, all the Aldens were sure the popcorn was under the cup on the left. Emilio picked up that cup. Nothing was there. “See which one it’s under, Benny.”
Benny picked up the other two. There was no popcorn! “Where did it go?” Benny cried.
Emilio bent down and picked up the piece of popcorn off the floor. “I moved the cups closer to the edge of the table so I could slide it all the way off. The audience is convinced it has to be under one of the cups. They don’t think about looking for it somewhere else.”
“That’s a good trick!” Violet said.
“It is,” Henry said. It gave him the beginning of an idea. He sat back to ponder.
By the time the plane was ready to land in Beijing, everyone was ready to get off and start the next part of their mission. Once the plane had landed and arrived at an airport gate, Emilio came out of the cockpit. “I’ve talked to Mrs. Silverton. You are in for a surprise,” he said.
“Are you going to tell us what it is?” Violet asked.
Emilio smiled. “No, you will have to wait.” He looked out one of the windows. “Trudy has arranged for a man named Mr. Shen who works at the airport to take you to get your passports checked and to direct you to the main terminal. I see a man waiting. I’m sure that’s him.”
They collected all their things and went down the plane’s staircase to meet Mr. Shen.
He greeted them and took them into the terminal. After they were through the customs line, Mr. Shen said, “We are meeting the rest of your party in the Imperial Garden Pavilion. Come this way, please.”
“Who is the rest of our party?” Jessie asked.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know their names,” Mr. Shen said. “You will see them very soon.”
“There is a garden inside the airport?” Henry asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Shen replied, “it is built to look like one of the gardens at the Imperial Palace. Of course, it is much smaller. It’s right over here.”
“There are buildings inside this building!” Benny said. “Except they don’t have any walls.” Ahead of them were some small buildings with roofs held up by red pillars. The buildings were surrounded by rocks and looked out over a small pond.
“The buildings are called pavilions,” Mr. Shen explained. “I see the members of your party.” Three people stood in one of the pavilions waving at them.
A Riddle over Dumplings
Benny saw them first. “It’s Cousin Alice and Cousin Joe and Soo Lee!” he cried. He was very excited to see Soo Lee. She was the same age as he was, and they had been good friends ever since Cousin Joe and Cousin Alice had adopted her from Korea.
Cousin Alice hugged all of them when they got to
the pavilion, and she thanked Mr. Shen for bringing them. After Mr. Shen said good-bye, Cousin Joe said, “We arrived just a little while ago. We have been all packed for a few days and were just waiting for a call from the Silvertons about your next destination. They made all the arrangements for us.”
“We got to fly on a really big plane where the seats got turned into beds!” Soo Lee told them. “It was really fun.”
“How did you get here before us?” Violet asked. “China is a long way from Connecticut, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Cousin Alice said. “But the planes take what you could call a shortcut. They fly right over the North Pole, so it isn’t as far as you think.”
“And remember, we stopped halfway and spent the night,” Henry said. “They didn’t have to stop.”
“You arrived just at the right time. We’re so glad you’re here,” Jessie said.
“It sounds like you have had a very exciting time,” Cousin Alice said, hugging Benny again.
“I hope we get to have more exciting times now that we’re here too,” Soo Lee said.
“What’s this I hear about one of the Silvertons who has gone missing?” Cousin Joe asked. “We heard the FBI thinks she’s been stealing items instead of returning them.”
“We don’t believe it,” Henry said. “It’s Tricia Silverton, who is Trudy’s sister. She was seen in Paris at the same time a valuable ring was stolen, but we don’t think she took it. She’s been leaving us clues to where we are supposed to deliver the artifacts.”
“It doesn’t make sense that Tricia would be stealing art and jewelry at the same time she is helping us return valuable things,” Jessie said. “We’ve been in contact with Mr. Carter from the FBI about our latest clues. We are supposed to contact him when we get more.” The Aldens had first met Mr. Carter back when he helped investigate a mystery at their aunt’s ranch. They had been surprised to learn he was investigating some recent art and jewelry thefts in Europe and Africa.
“I don’t understand why she doesn’t just call you and explain where you are supposed to go,” Cousin Joe said.
“We don’t understand it either,” Violet said. “It’s a big mystery.”
“We just know she’s not a bad person,” Benny added.
“I hope it all gets straightened out soon,” Cousin Alice said. “I don’t know where we are going now that we are in Beijing, but the Silvertons arranged a driver for us. She won’t be here for another hour. They thought you wouldn’t be arriving until a little later.”
“Good,” Henry said. “We need some time before we leave the airport to figure out a better way to keep the artifacts safe.” He told Cousin Joe, Cousin Alice, and Soo Lee about the attempt to steal the duffel bag in Egypt. “I have an idea,” he continued. “The Argents know the artifacts are in the duffel bag. So they aren’t safe there anymore. We need to move them into something else, but we don’t want the Argents to know exactly where they are. I had an idea we could do something like the shell game Emilio showed us.” He explained Emilio’s trick and then continued. “If we divide up the artifacts into other bags but still carry the duffel bag, the Argents will think the artifacts are still in there. If they try to steal the artifacts again, they’ll try to take the duffel bag. It will be like a decoy.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jessie said. “There are four boxes left. We can each carry one.”
“We could put them with our clothes in our backpacks,” Violet suggested.
“We could, but I had another idea,” Henry said. “We don’t want to carry our heavy backpacks with us all the time.”
“Where will we put them?” Benny asked.
“We need to look like tourists, and tourists often carry cameras. We can get camera cases. We’ll get them for Cousin Alice, Cousin Joe, and Soo Lee too. Their cases will be empty, but no one will know. Even if the Argents figure out the artifacts aren’t in the duffel bag, they won’t know exactly where they are.”
“Mine just might have a real camera in it,” Cousin Joe said. He pulled a camera out of another bag. “I’ve been meaning to get a case for it.”
“Where can we get camera cases?” Benny asked.
“Large airports usually have a big variety of stores,” Cousin Alice said, “especially for items that tourists want to buy, like cameras. Let’s ask at the information desk.”
In the camera store, they picked out seven identical camera cases. Jessie asked if they had any small empty boxes they didn’t need anymore. The owner found boxes that were almost exactly the same size as the artifact boxes. They thanked the store owner. Then they went back to the terminal and found a quiet spot to sit down.
When Jessie pulled a wooden box out of the duffel bag, Cousin Joe said, “That doesn’t look like a safe way to carry a valuable artifact.” Cousin Joe and Cousin Alice both loved studying and preserving historical objects.
“It’s not supposed to look like there is anything special in it.” She opened the lid of the box so Cousin Joe could see the case inside. “The artifact is inside this plastic case. It’s all padded inside and, see, there is a keypad lock on it. We don’t know the combinations. Each time we go somewhere to deliver an artifact, we’re given a riddle and we have to figure it out to get the code.”
“That makes more sense,” Cousin Alice said. “I was wondering how you were keeping the artifacts from getting damaged.”
They divided up the remaining artifacts and then took the paper they’d taken off the wooden boxes and wrapped the pieces around the empty cardboard boxes. “Maybe we can get some tape at our next hotel,” Jessie said. “But for now this is good enough. We may not run into any Argents at all.”
“I hope not,” Violet said. “I’d be happy if I never saw the Argents again.”
Cousin Joe checked his watch. “It’s time to meet the driver. She is supposed to be right outside Exit B with a blue van. She’ll have a sign that says Aldens on it.”
They easily found the driver. She was a young woman who introduced herself as Mary Burke. When she greeted them, she spoke with an American accent that sounded like she was from the South. “Hello there,” she said. “Welcome to Beijing!”
Once they were in the van, Mary kept up a steady stream of chatter, telling them all about how she had come to China to study art and then had stayed after she got married. “I’m so glad you are able to visit the city. I wish you had time for me to show you all the historical sites and beautiful gardens, but I understand you have important work to do. I’ve been given an address where I am to take you.” She smiled. “Do you like dumplings?”
“We love dumplings,” Henry replied.
“Yes,” Benny said. “And we think much better when we aren’t hungry.”
“Wonderful. I was informed I should take you to Mr. Li’s Dumpling restaurant. There are many dumpling restaurants in Beijing, but Mr. Li’s is popular with some foreign visitors. You can watch dumplings being made there. They are also very good.”
“I’d like that,” Jessie said. “I’ve tried to make them, but I’m not very good at it.”
As they drove to the restaurant, Violet noticed how many people were on bicycles. When she said she was surprised to see so many, Mary explained, “It’s an easy way to get around. You don’t get stuck in so many traffic jams.”
Mary pulled up in front of a restaurant. She handed Jessie a card with a phone number written on it. “Call me when you are ready for more rides. The lady who hired me, Mrs. Silverton, paid me to drive you anywhere you want for the next few days. You can leave whatever luggage you want in the van. Enjoy your meal.”
They left their backpacks but took the camera bags and the duffel bag and got out of the car.
“I can already smell the dumplings!” Benny said. He could hardly wait to try them.
The door to the restaurant had bells on it that jingled when Cousin Alice opened the door. The restaurant wasn’t very big, but it was crowded with people. Long tables filled the room and colorful travel poste
rs covered the walls. Red paper lanterns hung from the ceiling. At the back of the restaurant, two women were busy filling the dumpling wrappers and sealing them shut, then passing them on to be cooked in large pans.
A man came up to them. “Welcome to our restaurant. You must be the Aldens. I am Mr. Li. We’ve been expecting you.” He showed them to a table, and after they were seated, he said, “I’m afraid my daughter was supposed to be here to meet you, but she telephoned to say she’d be late. While you are waiting for her, if you’d like, I’ll bring you an assortment of dumplings so you can taste several kinds.”
“Yes, that would be terrific,” Jessie said. “Thank you. Can we watch the cooks make the dumplings?”
“Of course,” Mr. Li said. “Many visitors like to do that.”
The children joined the other customers who were gathered in front of the preparation and cooking stations. The cooks worked very quickly.
“I’m going to practice more when I get home,” Jessie said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be that fast though!”
When the dumplings were ready, they went back to their table, and a waitress brought the Aldens a big platter of dumplings. Everyone was so hungry it didn’t take long for the dumplings to disappear.
“Jessie, when we get home, you have to practice a lot,” Benny said. “I could eat these every day.”
“Me too!” Soo Lee said. “I’ll help you practice too.”
Jessie laughed. “That will be fun,” she said.
Mr. Li came back to their table. “My daughter called again. She will be here soon, and she asked me to give you this.” He handed Henry an envelope and then went to greet some other customers.
The envelope had a tiny drawing of an owl on it. Henry opened it. “It’s another riddle. Wait, there’s a second page. There are two riddles. Both of them have owl symbols on them.”
“Why owls?” Soo Lee asked.
Violet explained about the Reddimus Society logo and then asked Henry, “What does the first page say?”