It was easy to see that Ernie and Ponsi were having a really hard time not rolling on the sidewalk laughing. They could see that dastardly Vinnie had gotten his way! Ernie took the picture. Which took a long time. Because each of the musketeers had to fix the feathers on his or her hat. Slowly. One at a time.
Which gave even more time for Gran’s minivan to speed away from the back door of the bakery with the real cake. The musketeers needed to keep the two bullies with them for a bit longer. To give Gran the time to reach the community center.
“We’re dropping this off at Musketeer Steph’s house,” Dom said to Ponsi. “You know where that is, right?” The reason Steph was one of the musketeers was that Dom and Pancho had rescued her from Ponsi’s pestering.
Ponsi grunted.
“Her Gran is taking us to L’Hotel de Ville to pick up the order we told you about yesterday,” Pancho said. “Wanna come? We could use the help.”
“There’s no such place!” Ponsi yelled. “We looked and looked but couldn’t—”
“You looked!” Dom’s eyes said Gotcha!
“No, no,” Ernie said. “We didn’t go nowhere.”
“That means that you went somewhere, my man. Why would you be visiting that far place?” Dom said.
“Mayhap you should come with us now and we’ll show you where it is,” Steph said.
“We have better things to do,” Ernie said.
“There’s no way you’ll be able to stop everything we’ve planned to ruin your little party,” Ponsi added.
“Oh, we’re so worried.” Dom pretended to shiver.
“Have fun!” Pancho added.
“Spend all the time you want,” Steph finished.
* * *
Gran texted to say the cake arrived safely at the community center. All of Leni’s food, including three suckling pigs, picked up the day before, was safe and cooking at Yuca, Yuca. The dastardly ones couldn’t do any damage there. The musketeers also knew that Ernie and Ponsi were both braggarts, so they would say they had big plans just to scare them.
But still.
The brothers said they had plans.…
Which sent shivers through the musketeers’ spines.
But Franklin Desmond was about to be at Mundytown Blooms. An hour and a half after that, the florist would deliver Leni’s flowers to the community center.
Since the florist didn’t want the musketeers to help her, they were still unsure what to do when they reached her shop. Especially Musketeer Steph.
“We should not do things on our own,” Steph said.
“But we proved Desmond’s in cahoots with the dastardly Bublassis,” Pancho said.
“And they have big plans!” Dom added.
“But still.” Steph wasn’t so sure. “She’s the owner. We should do what she wants.”
Dom knew she had to make the decision. “When Leni’s flowers end up in pieces on the sidewalk, we’ll be wishing we’d tried. We talk to Desmond. If nothing happens, then we hope the florist is right. But we must try.”
* * *
They waited on the bench outside the florist, and when they saw a man park his car and head toward the florist’s door, they doffed their hats and bowed low in greeting.
“Forgive me, kind sir,” Pancho said. “But would you be the honorable Franklin Desmond?”
The man nodded with a how-did-you-know look in his eyes.
“Certain happenings have been happening, kind sir,” Steph explained. “That are far from being nice happenings. Very, very far.”
“You may be involved in a dastardly plot even if you don’t know it,” Dom explained.
Desmond wouldn’t let himself be confused. “But if I don’t know it, why would it matter?”
“Because you can stop it. Even if you don’t know it. If the dastardly plan succeeds, a quinceañera party will be ruined.”
“But how am I involved, and how can I stop it if I don’t know?”
“Your phone, kind sir.” Pancho pointed to the man’s phone, which they could all see in his pocket. “Your phone is at fault.”
“The Bublassi brothers commandeered it.” Dom knew this was the moment of truth. “You know the Bublassi brothers, of course.”
Desmond was slow to admit it. “I do,” he finally said. “But what of it?”
“You know them well!” Dom pressed.
Desmond took a few seconds to answer. As if he was afraid of what the musketeers would tell him.
“Their mother’s my partner,” he said slowly. “We live in the same house. Why do you want to know?”
“Kind sir, let me tell you what’s what.”
* * *
“I see,” Franklin Desmond said when the musketeers finished their story.
All three musketeers waited. They couldn’t even breathe.
“And what would you like me to do? She’s my partner, but they’re not my children.”
“You could call a council,” Dom suggested.
“Today,” Steph added.
“Now,” Pancho said.
“And keep them away until the florist delivers the flowers,” Dom said. “Later if possible. They plan to ruin the quinceañera!”
“Don’t you know a tower where you could keep all of them together until the party’s over?” Pancho wondered.
“A tower?” Desmond asked, his eyebrows arched.
“A colossally high tower. Out in the country would be perfect.” In The Three Musketeers, the villain had been jailed in a tower for days and days to prevent her from hurting the queen.
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do.” Desmond grabbed the door handle. “I’ll talk to the florist. If what you said is true, I’ll call them. Right here. In front of you. And ask them to meet me and their mother.”
“And later?”
“We’ll see,” the man said, and he went through the door.
Five minutes later, Desmond came out of the florist balancing two large vases of flowers. He stowed them in his car and beckoned the musketeers. He punched in a number, and through the speakerphone, Vinnie Bublassi answered.
“I need all of you to meet your mother and me at my warehouse at twelve thirty. We need your help with the party.”
There was silence at the other end of the line.
“Vinnie, your mother’s already meeting me. I need your help.”
“I told you I had an appointment. And all of us can’t come. Rico’s working.”
“Okay. Rico’s excused. But I’m telling you I need you.”
The musketeers could hear an annoyed sigh from the other side of the phone. “Okay, okay. My appointment’s in half an hour,” Vinnie said. “Ernie and Ponsi are helping me. But we should be able to make it by twelve thirty.”
“Fine,” Desmond said. “I’ll see you then.”
Desmond turned to the musketeers. “It’s the best I can do. They have to leave before twelve thirty to get to my warehouse. The flower delivery should be safe. I’ll keep them busy after that with my party. That should take care of everything you need, right?”
Dom barely nodded. She was trying to work things out in her head. What appointment? Vinnie Bublassi must be planning to ruin something else.
“Kind sir,” she said. “Would you mayhap know what the appointment might be?”
“I heard him talking about a jewelry store,” Desmond said. “Probably getting a present for his mother or something. Her birthday is this week.”
A jewelry store! The three musketeers exchanged panicked glances. Abuela said quinceañeras often got jewelry for a present. The Bublassis planned to ruin that, too!
Dom wanted to tell Desmond that he should ask the dastardly ones to come to the warehouse right now. So they couldn’t go to the jeweler. But Desmond stopped her.
“I see you’re wearing one of my plungers. I must say, I’ve never seen them used like that.”
“Plungers?” The musketeers were still trying to figure out how the Bublassis knew about the jewels.
“Ye
s. You’re wearing my most expensive model. My company sold the highest number of plungers in the country last year. We found out yesterday. I decided to give a party for my employees, and Vinnie found me three suckling pigs. It seemed as if they came from heaven. Actually, he ordered everything for me, the flowers, the cake. He made everything fall into place.”
Desmond turned back toward his car, leaving the musketeers with their jaws almost to their knees. “I hope everything goes well for your party,” he said as he got into his car. “I’m sure it will.”
“The jewelry!” Dom said when Desmond backed his car away. “It’s the jewelry we need to worry about now!” How did Vinnie Bublassi know about the jewelry? He had to have a spy somewhere.
11 The Queen’s Diamonds
Dom punched the speaker on the phone. “Rafi!” She could barely get her breath, her heart was pounding so fast. “The queen’s diamonds. Vinnie Bublassi has an appointment at a jeweler right now.”
“Jeweler?”
Pancho got close to the phone. “Is el Señor Fuentes giving Leni a piece of jewelry that has to be picked up now?”
“Yes… yes…”
“Rafi!” Dom yelled. “Where are you? This is serious. The Bublassis tried to ruin everything this morning. We know we protected the cake. We think we protected the flowers. But now—now they’re heading for the jewelers! What shop? What kind of jewelry is it? Who’s going to pick it up?”
“You’re right! They could do something. It’s her mother’s earrings. From when she got married. They’re being cleaned and reset at Shiny Baubles. It’s the only jeweler in town.”
“Who’s picking them up, Rafi?”
“I am… I was leaving in a few minutes.”
“The queen’s diamonds,” Pancho repeated. “We’ll meet you at Yuca, Yuca. Print four copies of the receipt. We’ll be there in minutes.”
The three musketeers knew about rescuing the queen’s diamonds. Steph had seen the movie. Pancho and Dom had read the book—a few times. They took every shortcut they knew and made it to Yuca, Yuca in record time. And Pancho had a plan. He explained it on the way. And it was a good thing they had a plan. Because not far behind them, about a block away, Ernie Bublassi followed.
It was a simple plan. In the book, the boss of the musketeers told them that all four of them should set out to pick up the queen’s diamonds in England and bring them back to France. The three musketeers and their friend D’Artagnan set out. Each time bad guys attacked, one musketeer stayed and fought. The others went on. In the end, D’Artagnan was the only one left. He saved the queen’s diamonds.
At Yuca, Yuca they told Rafi their plan. Rafi agreed.
Pancho picked up a large bag of long, skinny balloons in his uncle’s office, as well as a plastic hand pump. He blew up a few balloons and pocketed the rest, along with the hand pump. He handed Steph a huge bag of wrapped sugar candies from a shelf under the cashier’s desk.
Dom, Steph, Pancho, and Rafi started out from Yuca, Yuca. Each with a copy of the Shiny Baubles receipt and directions to the jewelry store. It wasn’t all that far, but not that close, either. Like in The Three Musketeers, if the Bublassis caught one of them, the others could keep going. In the end, there was a good chance one of the musketeers could get to Shiny Baubles ahead of the meanies.
It worked. The minute they stepped out of Yuca, Yuca, Ernie joined them.
“Whatcha doin’ loser-keteers?” the meanie said in a singsong right behind them.
“You didn’t know?” Pancho said. “I thought that’s why you were here! I’m doing a gig for Yuca, Yuca. Giving away balloon animals to little kids. I do this about once a month.” It was the truth.
The musketeers and Rafi surrounded Ernie so he couldn’t escape. Dom handed Pancho some of the already inflated balloons. In less than a minute, Pancho and Dom twisted red balloons around Ernie’s ankles to hold them together, orange ones around his knees, and yellow ones in between. Steph wrapped elaborate handcuffs around his hands and wrists. Then she made them even more secure when she tied an uninflated balloon around his wrists. Tight.
The balloons were surprisingly strong. Now Ernie couldn’t move without bursting them. Which would make a lot of noise. The musketeers bet Ernie wouldn’t want that kind of attention.
As the musketeers worked, Rafi blew up a few more balloons. Pancho wove them and mixed them to make a fantastical multicolored helmet. Rafi plopped it on Ernie’s head, almost covering his eyes. For a finishing touch, Pancho twisted two balloons together to make a guard to cover Ernie’s mouth.
“Thanks for helping me,” he said. “You can just stand here.” Then he called out to everyone on the street. “Step right up! Free balloon animals! A gift from Yuca, Yuca, the best Cuban restaurant in Mundytown. Step right up!”
“SWehogpktft!” Ernie said. But he couldn’t move his feet without bursting the balloons, and the balloons in his hands and wrists didn’t let him take off the guard over his mouth.
Pancho tucked a dog balloon under Ernie’s arm. “Here—hold this puppy dog. Everybody loves this one.”
Little kids began to line up, and Pancho got going with his show.
After Dom took a picture of the balloon man, she, Steph, and Rafi continued on to Shiny Baubles.
* * *
Ponsi joined them two blocks after they left Pancho and Ernie. Had the Bublassis stationed themselves along the route to the jewelers?
The two musketeers, Rafi, and Ponsi walked in silence for about half a block. Which was when Steph decided to pull the jumbo bag of candy from her shoulder bag.
“Forsooth!” she told Ponsi. “Look at all this candy. Mayhap we should give it to these worthy citizens. Please, kind sir, help me.”
“Me?” Ponsi pointed to his chest.
“You owe me!” Steph whispered. “Remember my leg brace? Now is your chance to do right. You don’t help me, I’ll let everyone know how you took it away and Dom and Pancho had to rescue me when we were on our knightly adventure.”
“Right!” Ponsi said, trying to get away. “Who’s everyone?”
“Kind lady.” Dom ignored Ponsi’s question and stepped toward a woman on the street. “The musketeer is trying to distribute these gifts to all the passersby, but this young knave won’t help her.”
“He is most dastardly,” Rafi added.
People stopped out of curiosity.
Ponsi tried to get around them.
Dom quickly pulled her phone out of her pocket. “You may not care about these other people, but I bet you’ll care if Mr. Franklin Desmond gets wind of it. And I bet that kind gentleman would be only too happy to tell your mother,” she said. “They talk to each other often, right? They live in the same abode?”
Ponsi stopped. He sighed. “Okay, okay, okay. I’ll help you already. But it won’t be for long.”
“Tell Mr. Desmond and your mother ‘Hi’ for us.” Dom and Rafi left Steph and Ponsi handing out candy and continued on their way to Shiny Baubles.
* * *
Dom and Rafi walked and talked like brother and sister, which of course, they were.
“If it isn’t the two Melendez losers.” It was Vinnie Bublassi.
“Vinnie,” Dom said. “How nice to see you.”
“Hey, Vinnie,” Rafi said. “What’s up?”
“I heard you’d be going to the jewelry store. I figured I’d join you and keep you company on your way,” the dastardly Bublassi said.
“Jewelry store?” Rafi said. “Are you going to a jewelry store, Musketeer? I’m delivering this envelope to one of Mom’s clients. I promised her I’d do it before I went home to get dressed for the party.”
“Yeah, right!”
“I’m not going to a jewelry store either,” Dom said. “I’m heading to a craft store to buy beads to decorate my hat. I want it even more special for the party tonight,” she said, even though she wasn’t invited.
“You guys really think I believe you?”
Dom and Rafi both shrugg
ed. At the end of the block, they turned in opposite directions. “See you at home, Dom,” Rafi said.
Dom doffed her hat in salute.
Vinnie Bublassi hesitated. It was easy to see he didn’t know who to follow. Neither of them was going in the direction of the jewelry store.
After a few seconds, he followed Rafi.
It would have worked either way. If Vinnie had followed Dom, she would go to the craft store and waste some time—Rafi, then, would go to the jeweler. Since Vinnie followed Rafi, Dom hurried to the jewelry store. She came out about half an hour later, carrying a small glittery bag with a velvet box nestled in silver tissue paper.
The three Bublassi brothers waited for her on the sidewalk. All winded. As if each had run a long race.
“I’ll take that bag now,” Vinnie told Dom. “Tell Leni she can come get this at my house after her party.”
Dom’s hands trembled. She tried to move her hands, which held the bag, away from the meanies. But the Bublassis were everywhere. Her eyes filled. There was nothing she could do. “Leni doesn’t know anything about this. It’s a surprise from her grandfather. They belonged to her mother. Can’t you have pity on the poor girl?”
“Pity? No time for pity. Her grandfather didn’t have pity for me when he told my mother why he fired me.” Vinnie swiped the bag out of Dom’s hands. “We need to go now,” he said. “We have an appointment at twelve thirty.”
“You know—” Dom sniffed. “You know—this is stealing. I’m going to call the police about this.”
“You won’t,” Vinnie said. “Especially if Leni doesn’t know. You don’t want to upset her, do you? And I told you, I’m just borrowing it. She can have it back after the party.” Then he snarled, “And this isn’t the last you’ll see of us.”
Ponsi and Ernie stuck their tongues out at her, as if they were still in kindergarten. “See you at the community center, loser-keteer!”
All for One Page 5
