Skylar Robbins: The Mystery of the Hidden Jewels - Carrie Cross (most popular novels of all time TXT) 📗

walked toward the side of the house opposite the canyon and backed up against the wall where the footsteps looked like they began.

Taking four steps, I curved to my left and took another three, then veered right for six. I hit the first tree marked on the map. I hunted around the base of the trunk and looked up carefully at every branch. No clues. I crossed behind the tree and went left five paces, then turned left for three and walked to the right four steps. The gazebo was right in front of me. The hexagon. I’d already searched the gazebo and found the partial map. Besides that it was clean. From the gazebo, I took three steps to my right, then walked forward six paces. I stopped at the doorway to the greenhouse, opened it, and stepped inside.

An array of empty clay pots and open cupboards faced me. Spider webs decorated with dead bugs hung in the corners. The greenhouse smelled like earthy soil and fertilizer. The sun rose over the ridge of the canyon, and shafts of light filtered through the tinted windows. A moth fluttered through the air and disappeared into a corner. My heart pounded in my chest. This felt right. Was I about to find Xandra’s jewelry box?

After checking the map, I walked sideways three steps, but all I saw were stains on the floor and new plants on the counter next to me. I started picking up pots one at a time and peeking underneath them, hoping to see a big X, but I didn’t find anything except stray bits of soil. I looked around in frustration. The greenhouse was really pretty empty.

Look for clues on the floor, all four walls, and the ceiling.

Getting down on my hands and knees, I took the mini-mag glass out of my Porta-detective kit and looked through it, searching the floor inch by inch. There was nothing on it but dirt. I looked at the map again. Three steps from the greenhouse door led to the X. A chunk of the map on the other side of the greenhouse was torn off. Had Smack found the missing piece?

I looked up at the ceiling, but just saw spider webs and mold. The cupboard next to me was empty and the drawer below it was gone. A gaping hole remained in its place. Kneeling on the ground, I bent over and peered through my magnifying glass. I examined one wooden strip of the floor at a time, looking for clues. When I got right up next to the cupboard, I brushed away the dirt that had collected near the edge. As I stared at it through my mag glass, my breath caught in my throat.

There was a tiny, faded x on one of the planks.

My heart started to pound. But what did the x mean? “Keep searching,” I answered myself. “The empty cupboard in my office had a clue inside it,” I reasoned, wishing I had my black light with me, “maybe there’s a clue in this one.” I stuck my head into the cupboard and looked all around, shining my penlight into the corners. Except for spider webs it was totally empty. Was there a secret message on the wall, written in invisible ink? I didn’t dare go inside to get my ultraviolet light. My mom could figure out what I was up to. And besides, there wasn’t time.

I stared at the faded x. It was written in black felt pen and matched the x on the back of Xandra’s picture: one line was squiggly and the other one was straight. I bet she drew the x on the back of her picture so I would know I was headed in the right direction when I found this one.

The morning sun started to heat up the greenhouse. The fertilizer stench was getting smellier. I ran my fingers around the edges of the old wooden plank and pressed on the corners. One of them wiggled! Xandra’s old gardening tools were still hanging from hooks on the wall, and I grabbed a rusty weed digger. Planks in the floor had gaps in between them for drainage. I stuck the tool between two planks and pried up the one with the x on it. There was a shadowy foot of space between the wood floor and the dirt below it.

From far away, at the bottom of the hill, I heard an engine rumble.

Bending down close to the opening, I shined my light into the cavity. There was nothing right below the missing plank, but when I aimed the penlight at the side opposite the cupboard, something metallic winked back at me.

The sound of the engine grew a little louder.

Flattening my body onto the greenhouse floor, I reached my arm in as far as it would go. My fingertips touched something. Wiggling closer to the cupboard and stretching a little more, I felt something square and hard. I squeezed my body as close to the cupboard as possible, thrust my arm in until it felt like it was about to break off, and wrapped my fingers around the object hiding in the shadows. I pulled out a rusty metal box.

Had I just found Xandra Collins’s jewels? I pressed the plank back into place, stood up and whirled around, ready to run up to my office to find out what the box contained.

And I came face to face with my mom and dad.

“What’s that, Skylar?” my dad asked.

My mouth went dry and my hands started to sweat. “Just a rusty metal box.”

“We can see that,” my mom said, reaching her hand forward. “What’s in it?”

“I don’t know. I was just about to go to up to my room and open it.” I shifted my weight onto my other foot as she looked at me, waiting to see what I might be hiding as the engine noise became unmistakable.

“Why don’t you open it right here?” my mom suggested, putting one hand on her hip. Smack’s truck roared to a stop in front of our house and I heard doors open and slam.

“Uh, OK,” I agreed. Like I had a choice. Balancing the box in one hand, I used the other one to pry open the lid. It came open with a squeak, and we all looked inside.

Inside the box there was a dead leaf with curvy edges, a metal buckle like you’d see on an airplane seatbelt, a dried flower, coiled twine, a packet of nasturtium seeds, and a broken measuring tape. “See, Mom, that’s it.” I held the open box for my parents to see, desperate to escape with it before Crew Gang clomped into the yard and caught me in the greenhouse holding Xandra’s box of clues.

“Just some old junk,” my dad said, squeezing my mom’s shoulder. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Breakfast is ready,” she said, turning around and heading for the door. I hurried after her, giddy with relief. She looked at me over her shoulder. “Don’t you want to leave that dirty box here?”

“Uh,” I stammered, “no—I’ll clean it up. I want to plant the nasturtium seeds,” I said, tucking the box under my arm.

They had no idea that this was the next batch of clues that would lead to the hidden jewels. And that Smack and Ignado were desperate to find them before I did.

I followed my parents out of the greenhouse right as Smack’s crew walked through the gate into the side yard. Trying to hide Xandra’s box under my hoodie, I looked up as they walked toward us. Ignado glared at me. Smack smirked like he had a big secret. The rest of the men gave me hard looks. Ignoring them, I skipped toward the house like the only thing on my mind was the strawberry Pop Tart I was about to eat for breakfast.

I had to figure out what these clues meant. Fast.

 

24

UN-invite

I was so anxious to work on the clues in the old metal box that I didn’t know how I’d be able to make it through school. But as soon as I walked into English, I knew I had a big problem, and promptly forgot about the mystery.

Emelyn Peters was leaning against my desk, waiting for me. Sharon Greenburg and Pat Whitehead stood next to Emelyn with their arms folded across their chests. Pat was one of the tallest girls in school, and definitely the meanest next to Emelyn. All three of them had nasty looks on their faces and they stared at me as I walked down the aisle. What a day for Alexa to be late.

“Excuse me, Emelyn, but that’s my desk.” I shifted my notebook onto my other arm. She didn’t move.

“So I’ve got something of yours, and you have something I want.” She stared at me and her bloodshot blue eyes didn’t blink.

“What?” I hoped they couldn’t see how terrified I was.

“You know what I mean,” she spat. “You were hiding in the bathroom stall yesterday. I saw you go in ahead of me, so don’t try to deny it.” She stood up and took a step toward me. “You heard me say I was going to ask Dustin Coles to go to the backwards dance and then you hurried up and asked him first.” Emelyn was more muscular than I was and Pat Whitehead looked like a giant.

Was I about to get into my first fistfight?

“I’d already asked—”

“LIAR!” Emelyn shouted, knocking the notebook out of my arms. It landed on the floor with a splat, and all of the handouts from my classes spilled across the aisle. Sharon looked at me gleefully and kicked some of the papers farther away. Everyone stopped talking and turned to stare at us. The black and white clock made a jarring click in the silent classroom. There were four minutes left until the bell rang. The teacher was nowhere in sight.

“I had already asked him. Ask Dustin if you don’t believe me.” I bent down and picked up my notebook. My friend Jamal Jackson scooped up the messy pile of handouts that Sharon had kicked under his desk, straightened the papers out, and handed me the stack. He gave Sharon and Pat a hard look as I stuffed the pages into my notebook pocket.

Emelyn lowered her voice to a threatening whisper. “Well I’m going to go to the dance with him, so if you know what’s good for you, you’re going to UN-invite him. Today.” She spun around and headed for her seat, just as Dustin and Brendan walked in. Emelyn didn’t see them since her back was turned.

My cheeks were burning. I took a deep breath. “Or else what?” I asked politely. I pictured my grandfather folding his arms across his chest and nodding his head. He always encouraged me to stick up for myself and never back down from bullies. Do what you know is right. I especially loved one of his favorite sayings. It sounded like something soldiers would chant while they marched: Don’t take any guff from the riffraff. I wished I had a whole army behind me while I waited for Emelyn’s answer.

She didn’t turn around. “Or you’re going to get your butt kicked when you least expect it, that’s what,” she spat, spinning into her chair. My face felt like it was on fire. The whole class was silent, watching. Dustin looked at her with a weird expression on his face, halfway between amused and disgusted.

“Why don’t you ask him who he wants to go with, since he just walked in and saw you make a fool of yourself,” I said under my breath, and the girl who sat next to me nodded. Emelyn had just become an even more dangerous enemy.

Mrs. Mintin walked into the room and everyone got quiet. I felt sick all through English, wondering what would happen to me after class. When the bell rang, Emelyn waited in the doorway until I got to it and then elbowed me roughly when I walked through. She grabbed my arm and got right in my face. “UN-invite,” she warned me. I smelled cigarettes on her bad breath. She stalked off toward her locker and I went the other way.

You’re going to get your butt kicked. When you least expect it.

Well, I expected it any second, so I figured Emelyn would give me a couple of days to un-invite Dustin before she and Pat beat me up. So I had to act fast. Like right now. At the ten o’clock break, I told Alexa about the un-vitation while we hurried through the