by Brenda Elser
Just then, like her fall from the Halloween vine, a bright blue hole opened up, exposing the sky, and Eva was abruptly hurtled through it to the soft ground below. She tumbled head over heels across clover-filled grass, and when her acrobatic roll finally stopped, the colors were gone and she was lying face down in the greenest field she had ever seen... Or tasted… Her stomach told her that she still felt the effects of the tornado, so she decided to remain still until her dizziness subsided.
“Are you dead, Eva?” she heard from the bush beside her. She held her head and sat up just as Robert leapt from behind the shrub and shouted, “Finally!”
Eva screamed and crab-walked backward.
“What!” Robert laughed, crossing his arms, “It’s just me, silly. Welcome to The Land of Luck!” He threw his arms out and gestured around them with an ear-splitting grin.
3. Reese
“How would I have known it was you?” Eva gasped, “Have you seen yourself?” She looked down at her clothes, “Correction – have you seen us?”
The children looked like they had been painted with Gold. It coated their bodies from head to toe making them look like living statues. “What is this stuff?” Eva asked staggering to her feet and trying to wipe some of it off.
“Oh, don’t bother trying to get it off. I’ve been trying for the last five minutes, waiting for you, and it’s stuck. I mean really stuck! It must be from that crazy Golden tornado. See?” He showed her the method he’d been using unsuccessfully, when suddenly he stopped. “Hey, great! You remembered our packs! Let’s try taking it off with some of the water I brought.” Robert unzipped his pack, and Halloween candy spilled out onto the clover as he rummaged.
“You brought candy?” Eva said with a smirk, crossing her arms. “Is that a part of our emergency equipment?”
“Uh, if you’ll recall, it came in pretty handy for our Dungeon escape.” He poured water into his hands and scrubbed them together.
And scrubbed some more. And then just a little more.
Eva stood up and rubbed her hands together to show Robert how a real professional did things.
She grimaced and tried a little harder. Still nothing came off. “Well, this is completely ridiculous! It must come off somehow.” Eva looked at her Golden hands and trailed off, “Unless… Do you think everyone here is this color?”
“How would I know?” Robert shrugged. “I’ve only been here five minutes longer than you.” He grinned, “But hey! If we’re in trouble we can pretend we’re statues. No one will even notice us!” He struck an Egyptian pose by sticking his hands out in either direction with one foot up in the air.
Eva giggled. It wasn’t a very Junior Detective-like thing to do but she couldn’t help herself. He did look like a statue covered in all that Gold.
“Look Eva, I’m a fountain,” he said sucking some water into his mouth and blowing it in a stream into the air.
Not to be outdone, Eva leapt up and tried to show off her own pose. “Hey, do I look like an angel?” she asked putting her hands together as if she were in prayer.
“Hardly,” Robert answered. “It’s more like this,” he demonstrated with his hands outstretched. “You have to put your hands out wide, like you’re hugging the whole world. Or bringing some kind of news or something.”
The children were having so much fun they didn’t notice another person had joined them.
“Actually, it’s probably closer to this,” said a blond girl about their age. She held her hands up and made her mouth a perfect little ‘O.’ “They’re always singing about something, and they’re super proud about it so they raise their hands like ‘Hey, look at me. I’m singing here.’”
Robert choked on a sip of water, and Eva let out a ‘yip’ and spun around wielding the karate-chop hands she’d learned in her martial arts class. (She had convinced her mother that learning self-defense was “absolutely essential” to being a detective.)
The girl stood a few feet away, her hands still in mid-air. Her long blond hair was curly underneath her Peter Pan style hat, and the children could plainly see the tips of her pointed ears. Her long skirt and leather boots would probably have been as forest green as her tunic if they weren’t covered with Gold dust. Her rosy cheeks reminded Eva of Lauren.
“What are you doing? My name’s Reese. What’s yours? How long did it take you to collect all of that Luck? I’ve never seen anyone with as much Luck as you two. You must have started collecting before the shortage. Are you here for the Tournament?”
The children gawked at the girl, who asked as many questions as Robert, and whose bright blue eyes watched them intently. When Reese smiled at them, dimples appeared in both cheeks. Eva was silent for a moment before she finally remembered she was in charge and she should probably say something.
“Uh, hi... I’m Eva and that’s Robert.” Robert, who had fallen to the ground coughing as he choked on his sip of water, greeted Reese with a wave of one hand, pounding his chest with his other.
Reese continued to smile, as the children stared at her mutely. Each seemed to be waiting for the other to speak.
Finally Reese said, “What’s up with your hands there?”
Eva looked down at her self-defense pose and quickly put her hands on her hips.
“Uh, karate. You should be more careful startling people… I could have hurt you.” Reese threw her head back and laughed, and Eva felt her face redden as Robert snickered also.
She shot him a withering look and crossed her arms over her chest. “Anyway, we’re sort of new here.”
Robert stood up and fake karate chopped in Eva’s direction, still snorting. “What do you mean how did we collect all of the Luck?”
Reese had grown serious trying to imitate the way Eva had positioned her hands. She looked up and smiled broadly at her new friends. “If you’re so new here how did you collect so much? With as much Gold as you’re wearing, it looks like you’ve been saving it up forever.”
Robert and Eva looked down at themselves. Was that what that Gold stuff was? Luck? “I, uh, I don’t know,” Eva stammered, unsure if they should tell Reese about the cyclone or not.
“You do know they’d never let an outsider win the Golden Coin and become our leader, right?” Reese dropped her hands and tilted her head.
“Did you just say Golden Coin?”
“Yes. You win a Golden Coin in the Tournament if you make it to the end of the course without using all your Luck. Then, after you’re presented with the Golden Coin, you become a Leader of the Land for the next ten years.” Reese stopped. “Is he okay?” she nodded her head toward Robert who was chopping the air and whispering, “Hah! Hiiiiyah! Hah!”
“Yeah, sometimes his funny bone acts up and it makes him weird,” Eva said, kicking a little dirt at him with her shoe to make him stop.
“What?” he demanded dropping his hands and pushing Eva gently. “We don’t know about any Tournament, Reese. We’re here on an urgent case to save our friend and the world at large from a kray kray ex-tooth fairy!” He rotated a finger around one of his ears. “Crazy,” he whispered.
“I don’t understand. How could you not hear about the Tournament? Everyone in the known universe has heard of it. How far out of town do you live? What do you mean kray kray tooth fairy?” Reese paused her battery of questions and looked at them closely. “Who are you again? And why are your ears round?”
4. Danger’s My Middle Name
“Robert, as usual you skipped over everything!” Eva scolded. “Reese, I’m sorry my friend is being so ruuude.”
“Hey!” Robert scowled at her.
“I can explain everything,” she said walking toward Reese with her hand extended to shake. “But we could really use some directions. Do you think you can help us?”
“I suppose,” Reese said grasping Eva’s hand. “Are you walking to the main village? That’s where the starting line is. It isn’t as far away as it looks. We can talk on the way ‘cause the Tournament starts soon. Grab y
our backpacks.”
Eva and Robert hurried behind Reese as she led them to a road spanning two rolling hills in more shades of green than they ever thought existed. Off in the distance, nestled in a valley, they could see a medieval castle sitting in the middle of a small town.
“It’s beautiful,” Eva breathed, stopping to stare at the castle. “I can’t believe I’m actually seeing this.”
“Whoooah,” Robert’s mouth hung open.
“You two are new if you’ve never seen the capitol of The Land of Luck before,” Reese guided them along the smooth cobbled stones. “But you really must tell me how you have so much Golden Luck all over you. Especially since we’ve had a massive shortage recently.”
“A massive Luck shortage?” Eva asked.
“It started a couple of days ago and we don’t know why. Normally my people can collect Luck by letting the Golden Dust build up the way it’s collected on you.” She pointed to the Gold Dust on Eva’s hands. “Everyone here uses the magic of Luck every day to… well, to do everything, so we don’t usually have much of it on us unless we’re preparing for a Tournament.”
“I don’t get it,” Robert said. “And this stuff doesn’t feel very Lucky to me! Actually, it feels a bit sticky…”
“Of course it’s sticky! You wouldn’t want it falling off before you had a chance to use it would you?” Reese laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who doesn’t know about Luck. Every land uses it!”
“We can use this Luck?” Robert said examining his hands and arms.
“Sure, but I’d hold onto it if I were you… I mean, if you still plan to join the Tournament now that you know you can’t be our leader.”
“Oh, no, no – we don’t need to be in the Tournament. We’re not here to be leaders. We just need a Golden Coin to save our friend,” Eva said. “Can you tell us where we can get one of those? Then we’ll just head back home and leave you to your pick-a-leader thingy.”
“You can’t just get a Golden Coin!” Reese laughed, stopping to lean over for a good knee-slapping chuckle. “Golden Coins are special. It’s the only thing we make with the help of everyone in our society. We don’t normally use teamwork to get things done.” Here Reese shook her head before continuing. “They’re so special that if any extra Coins are made they’re collected in a Pot attached to a rainbow. We save them for emergencies. You can make any wish with them, you know. But the rainbow’s protected by a spell that never allows anyone to get close unless you’re a Leader of the Land.”
“Yes! We know about rainbows! Oh, my gosh, Eva – we were taught something about magic in school!” Robert hooted. “So, what’s the big deal with making it all the way through to the end still covered in this sticky Luck stuff?” Robert reached up and tried to rub his face clean with his shirt sleeve when Reese stopped him.
“The big deal is that if someone has the most ‘sticky stuff’ at the end, they prove they can solve problems with their wit and not by Luck alone. I competed in the last Tournament but I didn’t make it to the end. This time I know what I’m up against, and I’m ready! This year I will earn a Golden Coin and join the other leaders. Then I’ll be able to teach my people the value of teamwork!”
“The Tournament is the only way to get a Coin?” Eva asked, scribbling in her notebook as they walked.
“Yup. I think I mentioned they’re very special, right?”
“Hey, if you tried out for this Tournament before, and they only hold these contests every ten years, how old are you?” Robert stepped in front of Reese and looked at her more closely. He put his hands on his hips and said, “I’m nine!”
Reese watched him stand to his full height and try to look down his nose at her (even though she was just the tiniest bit taller than him). Trying not to giggle, she said, “We age differently here. I am fairly young to compete, but I’m not as young as you are!” She stepped forward, almost touching Robert’s nose, and stared back at him. “In The Land of Luck I’m ten.”
Robert blushed and said, “Well, I’ll be ten in a couple of months!”
“Robert! You’re always taking us off track,” Eva sighed. “I’m sorry, Reese, but we really have to figure out how to get a Golden Coin and save our friend. Can you help us?”
Reese side-stepped Robert so she could keep walking. “Why don’t you tell me what happened to your friend and then I’ll be able to tell you if I can help.”
“’In The Land of Luck I’m ten’…” Robert sneered to himself as trudged behind the girls.
Eva began to share with Reese their adventure in Fairy Land. As they walked through fields and thickets, she told her of Lauren’s bravery and how the three of them had solved the case of the Halloween candy stolen from their neighborhood.
By the time Eva was finished telling their tale, the three children had arrived at the edge of the quaint town surrounding the castle. Reese paused so Eva and Robert could take in their surroundings. Pubs, tea shops and pea patches dotted the landscape. Stone and wood structures with thatched roofs lined cobbled streets just like all the medieval towns they had read about in story books. Off in the distance they could hear the sounds of music and a large gathering muted by the sloping hillside.
“Of course, we must rescue your friend! I’ll do everything I can to help. This is my mission! It’s what I want to teach my people when I’m a leader. We must hold friendship above Luck and work together as a society! Unfortunately, I can only think of one way to get the Golden Coin you’ll need to wish your friend to safety and all of you back home.” She grabbed Eva’s hand and said, “You’ll have to join me in the Tournament.” The children nodded at her, not entirely certain what they were agreeing with. “I should warn you,” she continued. “It’s dangerous. Contestants have died trying to make it through some of the obstacles.”
“A good detective always completes her case. No matter what,” Eva said with only the slightest tremble in her voice. “Besides, we have to save Lauren.”
“Yeah. And Danger is my middle name,” Robert agreed.
“Your middle name is Hugo,” Eva said.
“Hugo?” Reese asked.
“She meant Hero. My middle name is Hero.” He glared at Eva.
“Wow,” Reese said. “That’s good news. We’ll certainly need a hero to get past the obstacles and win the Golden Coin. But you’re both going to need to cover up a bit. My people will be suspicious of how much Luck you have during the shortage. It could cause a riot. And now we’d better hurry. The Tournament will be starting soon.”
5. The Weight of Luck
The children held hands tightly as they made their way through the throng. It had grown warm as they walked through the crowd, and Eva wished they could ditch their coats, but Reese had encouraged them to stay covered or someone would notice how much Luck the children had, and the crowd could become dangerous. Everywhere they turned, men and women were proudly cloaked in various amounts of Gold and green.
“Hey!” Robert hooted. “I’m taller than everyone here… Practically!”
Eva nodded, looking around as they walked.
At last they came to a large rainbow-colored balloon arch spanning the wide cobbled street. The banner read “Leader’s Tournament Starting Line.”
“Come on! We register over there. It’s going to start any minute and we still need a plan to get across the acid river and past the troll.” Reese motioned them toward some long tables assembled along the side of the street.
Eva and Robert gave her the thumbs-up and two gigantic fake smiles, determined not to let her see how the words “acid river” and “troll” had terrified them. Still holding hands, (though now more tightly), Eva marched faster, feeling Robert’s arm growing stiffer as they walked. Finally, when it felt like she was dragging a small tree stump behind her she stopped and glared at him.
“Robert! Stop pulling! A second ago, you said you were a hero.”
“I’m not scared if that’s what you think,” his voice quivered. “I’m
just… Well, aren’t you a little concerned about acid? And a troll? A troll, Eva!”
Reese shouted again, waving her hands to let them know she’d saved them a place in line. People bumped around the children, trying to ensure they had a good starting spot.
“Listen,” Eva said as softly as she could over the din. “Trolls are… well, they’re like the Rot Guards from Fairy Land, right?” Robert nodded, brightening just a bit.
“And how many times have we put the couch cushions and pillows on the floor and made a trail to the kitchen?”
Robert interrupted, “…So we don’t get eaten by the alligators!”
Eva nodded. Although they were much wiser and more mature now that they were detectives, she felt it was necessary to remind him about the game they used to play when they were young.
“We have plenty of training for this!” she encouraged him. “Even though we knew that if we stepped on the floor it was just the floor – not real alligators – we played the game like we might lose a leg if we messed up. This is just the same. Geesh, for all we know, the acid river here is some kind of soda or something.”
“Yeah, yeah! Soda!” Robert nodded. “I think you’re right, Eva.” He stood taller and nodded again. “I mean, I would have probably figured that out on my own, but thanks for your, uh, assistance.”
Eva rolled her eyes at him. She was still terrified but she knew her little speech had calmed him down when he grabbed her hand even tighter and began to hustle her to the spot where Reese waited for them.
“Finally!” Reese said, exasperated. “You took so long, I thought you might have decided your friend wasn’t important enough to rescue!” Eva looked hurt and Robert looked indignant. But before either of them could protest, Reese continued, “Now let’s get this show on the road! The contest is going to start any minute and there’s a long line for Luck Weight!”
