The Crystal Diary - Me (best book club books for discussion .TXT) 📗

any idea of where Minet was headed. I told him how Minet was planning to rob the state treasury and then try to rob every state treasury in America and then the treasury in Washington D.C. But I left out the part about how she wanted to kidnap dad. Somehow I had a gut feeling that not even the police of this country knew about the force on which dad worked and felt that if I mentioned it I would be betraying dad.

“That will do, now Mrs. Oxford would you mind answering a few questions.” The policeman questioned mom for a longer period of time allowing me to limp about the house. I limped down the stairway again; I wondered what I would find in the rooms below the ground. My imagination ran wild as I opened each door expecting to find a hiding sidekick busy cleaning a pistol or a bloody knife. Or a roomful of captives Minet had forgotten about that had gone absolutely crazy and would pounce on me once I opened the door. Usually though I only found rooms full of treasure, priceless antique furniture that had collected many years worth of dust or rooms full of gun and other horrible weapons that were in need of repair.

At last I began to feel like my legs would give out on me and decided to just open one last door. (The rooms downstairs were all right next to each other although some were bigger than others.) The last door though was unlike the others and I heard a loud echoing thud and clinking banging against the door. I wondered what I would find behind the door, then a feeling that I shouldn’t open the door raced through my mind. The two sides of me began to fight again and at last I decided to ignore the horrible feeling that something creepy was behind that door.

I turned the knob and saw only darkness. After I turned on the light and I saw a football field sized room filled with objects that were covered with white sheets. I gathered up the old fashioned sheets and when I pulled a sheet off an article that was close by me I got a surprise that would change my entire life. There in front of me stood my nightstand in Minet’s house!

Chapter 15
Minet’s Revenge

I heard Mom calling out to me from the hall.

“I’m in the last door down mom!” I shouted and I heard her walk quickly down the hall and poke her head inside. She explained that she had heard me scream and was afraid that I had fallen down the stairs or found an apprentice of Minet’s. Then she saw what I had found and her jaw dropped and she cantered inside.

“ Is that?” she began and I nodded. We pulled the rest of the sheets off the covered pieces and discovered that everything from our apartment had been taken and stuffed into this room. From the furniture and everything in them: like toys, pictures, and clothes, to things from the kitchen: pots and pans, and dishes, utensils, and other things mom kept in the kitchen. The police came inside soon afterward and took note of our discovery.

“ But if I know Minet,” One policeman said aloud, “she wouldn’t have cleaned an apartment out to the rafters unless………”

“ Unless what?” Mom demanded as tensely as if she knew what he was about to say.

“ Unless she was going to burn it or was very short on cash.” The man said looking down at his feet. Everyone else in the room looked at him as if to say: “Please say you’re just joking!” Finally the young man spoke again.

“ She also is very vengeful and when she puts her mind to something really bad like: murder, kidnapping, or burning a building down she will do it.” I felt, as though I had seen a man grow two noses, I couldn’t believe that Minet would be that risky. But it made perfect sense; once we were homeless we would be easy to catch again. And we would open the diary for her, and dad would let her in right to the state treasury. I couldn’t let that happen! Mom and I had to reach dad before Minet caught us.

“ It ‘s only a theory though,” one of the policemen assured me. “ Until it can be proven right you guys need to stay somewhere where Minet can’t get you.” We trooped up to the living room I took an extra amount of time so that I wouldn’t hurt my legs again. Mom walked behind helping me up each horrible step.

“ We are going to keep guards posted in the house in case Minet comes back.” The chief told mom, “I suggest that you two take as many portable things with you and take the quickest form of transportation out of this area.”

“We will, don’t worry officer.”

“ And, for the last time are you going to let me buy that crystal?” He asked half begging and half insisting.

“ No!” Mom practically yelled, worn out by his persistent entreaty

“ Alright, fine” he surrendered. “Do you need any money?”

“Oh no, we have plenty,” Mom replied and I knew that she knew that Minet’s henchmen probably stole it, but mom was too proud to accept charity from strangers. I then thought about dad, what was U.S.E.G.F. like? I then saw a tired cop sit down and turn on the TV. The news then was blaring and he hastily turned it down, wincing at the chief’s dirty look. But it soon melted away into a look of disappointment and not being surprised. Mom was the last to turn around her eyes welled up in tears after she heard and saw this bit of horrible news:

“Firefighters and police are thin enough on the ground as it is, but now they are even thinner because just an hour ago this apartment building burst into flames. No matches were found lit and the swat team could pick up no signs of bomb fumes. None of the residents whom lived in this building got out alive except for the desk manager who said that two residents were absent at the time that the building burst into flames.”

Then the news reporters showed a film of our apartment building, but looked so different now that I could barely recognize it. The once white building was now nearly black from ash, fire, and smoke. The roof was no longer existent and all the windows were gone and the door had nearly fallen out. Two walls began to fall head over heels into the blocked off street. Fire sirens went off constantly and several fire trucks were gathered in front of what was once my home. I saw ten fire fighters gathered in front of what was once my home hosing like they were insane, but I knew that it wouldn’t do any good.

How did Minet get to New York City in two hours when it took me a day to get out of it? Then I remembered how I saw the television on and a hand was watching the TV. Minet can turn anything she sees on fire. We live very close to the Twin Towers, maybe Live Copter Three showed our house by chance on it’s way to show the Twin Towers. Then Minet saw it on her way out of the house and set it on fire through the television. I told my theory to my companions. They all said that it was possible and I believed that Minet wasn’t far away but perhaps going through town as someone of her own creation gathering new recruits not caring that she had killed her old ones in cold blood. I turned my attention to my Mom who was crying silently and whispered through her tears:

“ This is all my fault! If I hadn’t been so kind and thoughtful and let Minet (or Thelma as I knew her at the time) move in with Gwen and I; she wouldn’t have been able to escape so easily and those people would still be alive.” I tried not to join in on the crying opera and leaned my head against her back. I stroked her shoulder trying to comfort her.

“ It is not your fault mom, if it’s anyone’s it is my fault.” I realized as I spoke, “ if I had went down to police station in New York City and reported Minet to the authorities when I had a chance they probably would have caught her. And besides,” I looked into mom’s eyes, “if you hadn’t invited Minet over to live with us, you wouldn’t be alive!” Mom dried her tears and hugged me. It was useless to dwell on the past when we couldn’t go back and correct it. The main thing now was to get what we needed out of this house and get out of here to the U. S. E.G. F. Minet thankfully knew nothing yet about where dad worked. If we made it to dad’s, then we would be safe unless Minet, by some miracle, discovered where we were.

“ Mrs. Oxford, I didn’t realize how late it was, you guys only have time to grab one or two things and leave. We need you to go before Minet’s other henchmen army gets here.” We didn’t know how the chief knew anything about Minet’s plans but we were in too much of a hurry to care. I had to sit down on account of sore stitches, and Mom ran downstairs to get essentials. Suddenly a loud thump on the front door grabbed every room occupant’s attention. After about two minutes the chief ordered one of the deputies to investigate. The deputy came back through the door with a note in his right hand and a baffled expression on his face. He gave the note to his chief and sat down next to me. The chief read it quickly and then looked up at me tensely

“ You and your Mom are going to have to leave right now, young lady. The henchmen are almost here!” the chief practically ordered