on the facts, myths and legends relating to smuggling, piracy and long-lost treasure. The facts, it had to be admitted, were few and far between, but no one much minded as it was naturally a glamorous affair and everyone was having an elegant time.
Along with Brant and Sabina Redfort, the guest list included Barbara and Ed Bartholomew, Mr and Mrs Gruemeister and their bothersome dog, Pookie. However, Mrs Crew had declined the invitation due to a horrible problem with seasickness and the Sibling waters were notorious for their restless currents.
Dora Shoering, a self-proclaimed intellectual who had almost attended Berklard as a student, gave a fascinating, if not entirely accurate, series of talks, but it was that Sunday afternoon’s lecture that sparked most chatter.
‘Fascinating,’ said Sabina. ‘I just love the story of the lost treasure of Twinford. Of course, much of it I knew already, because you see it was my ancestor’s treasure that was lost. Did you all know that?’
The others did know this, because Sabina had not stopped repeating it all through the lecture – how her great-great-great-grandmother Eliza Fairbank (she wasn’t sure how many greats) had been lost at sea off Twinford on the way to South America along with all her gems and rubies; only her little daughter Martha survived.
‘Utterly gripping,’ said Marjorie Humbert. ‘Wouldn’t it be divine if it were true?’
‘But there is every possibility that it is true,’ said Dora. ‘Though it has never been proved one way or the other.’
‘Why did no one look for it?’ asked Brant.
‘Well, of course they did,’ Dora replied. ‘But they never found a thing. Plus, they had a few other concerns.’
‘Such as?’ asked Ambassador Crew.
‘A giant sea monster,’ replied Dora. ‘It was said it guarded the treasure, sat on it, they say, and no one could ever retrieve the gems from its razor-sharp talons.’
‘Talons?’ spat the Ambassador. ‘You’re saying that this sea creature was an aquatic eagle-bird?’
Dora looked uneasy: she had made up the bit about the talons. ‘Or crab claws, no one knows,’ she said hurriedly.
Ambassador Crew couldn’t help but display his utter pity for anyone who would believe such total garbage, but the rest of the party was electric with excitement.
‘We should search for it!’ said Brant. ‘Imagine – Sabina coming face to face with her own ancestor’s jewels.’
‘Good luck to you,’ said Ambassador Crew. ‘It would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You’d have to search the whole ocean floor just to find the wreck and in these dangerous waters I wouldn’t fancy your chances.’
‘Gracious,’ said Sabina. ‘Sounds like quite a quest.’
‘Exactly!’ said Dora Shoering. ‘It’s no surprise no one’s ever found it.’
‘A nice fairy tale is what it is,’ said Ambassador Crew.
‘Hey, look at that boat on the horizon.’ Barbara Bartholomew was pointing to the south-west. ‘Doesn’t it look romantic against the setting sun?’
‘Yes,’ agreed Sabina, looking at the old-fashioned sailing ship. ‘One could almost imagine oneself back in pirate times.’
D for detention
THE NEXT MORNING WHEN RUBY REDFORT turned the corner of Amster Street, she walked on past the bus stop, crossed the road and headed for the Double Donut Diner – she figured there was plenty of time to grab a shake and still make the school bus.
It wasn’t that the Double Donut Diner particularly specialised in donuts – it was really because Marla, the owner, thought it was a catchy name and apparently it was because everyone in Twinford seemed to know the Double Donut.
The diner was popular with all sorts of locals and Ruby liked to hang out observing the comings and goings of Twinford folk. It also did particularly good French toast – something Ruby’s mother was very much against due to the quantity of maple syrup her daughter drowned it in.
Del and Mouse looked up as she came in. ‘Hey Rube, how you doing?’
‘Oh, you know, could complain, can’t be bothered.’ She looked around. ‘Clancy not here?’
‘He had to leave early,’ said Mouse. ‘Said he had to go and see Principal Levine, on account of flunking French, again – Madame Loup is furieux.’
‘How come he didn’t tell me about that last night?’ asked Ruby.
‘He only just found out. Mrs Bexenheath actually called the Crew household this morning,’ said Del. Del was the only person Ruby knew who could speak while at the very same time suck milkshake up a straw.
Ruby winced. ‘A little trip to the principal’s office, huh? That’s gonna get old Clancy’s dad in a stew.’
‘Lucky for Clance he’s off sailing the high seas with your folks,’ said Mouse.
Ruby nodded. Clancy’s dad wasn’t in the business of bringing up losers: at least that’s what he was constantly telling his children. Ambassador Crew liked to think of himself as a winner and that meant having children who were winners. Clancy, in this respect, often let the side down.
‘Poor old Clance,’ said Ruby, signalling to the waitress that she was ready to order.
Just then, in stumbled a girl with long copper hair, golden brown skin and grey eyes. It was the impossibly pretty but strikingly clumsy Red Monroe.
‘Hi Red, what happened to your leg?’ asked Del.
‘Oh yeah,’ replied Red, looking down at her scuffed knee. ‘I tripped over a dog.’
‘That reminds me,’ said Del. ‘My Uncle Charlie, you know, the one who’s with the coastguard? He was saying how this shipment of dog food ended up in Argentina when it was meant to be delivered to Mexico, and how this shipment of bananas was meant to arrive in San Francisco, but ended up in Chile. I mean how about that!’
‘So?’ said Mouse. ‘What’s the big deal? Mix-ups happen.’
‘Yeah, but my Uncle Charlie was saying it’s been happening a lot, I mean a lot.’
Del tried to emphasise what ‘a lot’ was by leaving her mouth hanging open when she had finished speaking.
‘Oh, how interesting,’ said Ruby, yawning an exaggerated yawn.
‘I’m telling you guys, this is a big deal,’ Del insisted.
‘Give us some examples then,’ said Mouse, who was concentrating hard on her milkshake.
‘Like a bunch of sneakers that ended up in Antigua instead of Seattle and a whole load of corncobs that showed up in Miami.’ She paused before adding, ‘Uncle Charlie told me a troupe of Indian elephants on their way to Baltimore still hasn’t shown up at all.’
Ruby looked at her with a tired expression. Del had quite a reputation for turning fiction into fact and this just sounded like the usual garbage that she regularly spouted.
‘For a start it isn’t a troupe of elephants, it’s a parade or herd,’ said Ruby, ‘and for seconds that has to be untrue.’
‘Ask anyone,’ said Del.
Ruby turned to Mouse. ‘So Mouse, did you hear about the shipment of elephants that went missing between India and Baltimore?’
‘Nope,’ said Mouse.
Del sighed – she knew when she was beaten. ‘Hey, how about some French toast? I mean there’s time, right? We just need to eat quick; we can still make the bus.’