Grim Hill: The Family Secret

by Linda DeMeulemeester

  Resentment burned in me as Sookie complained, “What kind of breakfast is this? It looks more like a lunch. Where are the frosty oats?”

  “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” I replied coolly.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked with a frown.

  “Forget about what you eat at home, and enjoy the bread and cheese.”

  “Not for breakfast!” she said stubbornly.

  I sighed.

  “Cat, did you get the last bit of instructions?” Mr. Morrows asked.

  He knew I hadn’t, and this was his way of putting me on the spot so everyone else would pay attention. A couple of tables down, Jasper pointed to our tourist passes and to an extremely long checklist of museum sites.

  “We’re only here for one day, and there’s a lot to cover, so no fooling around?” I figured that was an educated guess.

  Mr. Morrow’s eyes flashed in surprise, and then he quickly nodded, saying, “That’s right. We’ll explore medie val Stockholm first and then take a ferry to the main museum and tourist sites. For the old part of the city, you are going to meet some of the students from your Swedish sister school, who will be your tour guides. There will be an older student managing each team. I want Darkmont students to show them complete cooperation.”

  Everyone groaned. He was treating us as if we were primary students. We were too old for buddies.

  Hearing our dissatisfaction, Mr. Morrows added, “We can split up on the island at the amusement park, but you will have to check in with Ms. Dreeble and myself every two hours. Understood?”

  All of us nodded halfheartedly as we stared at that incredibly long itinerary. How many museums could a person absorb in one full day? After the teachers left the dining room, Zach and Mitch signaled us over to their table. I left my sister, who was still grumbling over a lack of frosty oats.

  “Check out our tourist passes,” Zach said excitedly. “Besides the museums, they give us free admission to Gröna Lund amusement park …” Mitch had spread a map out on their table. “… which happens to be on the same island as the museums we’re supposed to see.”

  “So we work in teams to cover the museum sites,” Zach continued. “Then we’ll have plenty of time to hit the amusement park.”

  Even Clive the history nut and Jasper the bookworm seemed impressed. All of us agreed.

  Now I just needed to get rid of Sookie.

  CHAPTER 10 - Bewitched

  WE HAD ALREADY divided ourselves into groups when Mr. Morrows said, “Not a chance. You’re not only socializing with your friends. This is supposed to be an educational activity.” Then he and Ms. Dreeble passed around a hat that was stuffed with cards and told us to choose one.

  Mia said, “If we all choose the same color, then we’ll still be in the same group anyways.”

  Amarjeet pulled a blue square out of the hat and examined it. “But they’re also numbered. This one’s a four.” “Rats,” said Mia. “So do we go for the number or the

  color?” Her hand hovered over the hat as she waffled.

  “Well, there’s always the totally random method,” I said, closing my eyes and reaching. I scooped out a red square. Turning it over, I saw the number five written on the other side.

  “Color … or number?” Mia muttered frantically as she looked at my red square and Amarjeet’s blue one. Mitch grabbed an orange square.

  “Mia, take a card. Now!” Mr. Morrows warned.

  With a gulp, Mia grabbed an orange square. The hat traveled down the line of kids, and then Mr. Morrows and Ms. Dreeble divided us into numbers, and then from that group into colors. In a way it was for the best, considering the embarrassment Sookie would cause.

  *

  “Is everything okay?” Our tour guide, Anne Britt, had stopped our group and was checking up on Sookie. Again.

  Anne Britt was a senior high school student. I’d been expecting someone just a little older than us, as I’d assumed our sister school was a junior high like ours. Her pale, freckled face twitched with a frown she was trying to hold back. I recognized that disappointed expression – she hadn’t anticipated being in charge of younger students, or someone as little as Sookie.

  With a toss of her reddish-blond hair, Anne Britt said, “We need to move a little faster to catch the Changing of the Guard at the palace.”

  “My feet hurt and I’m bored,” Sookie said. She had stopped walking of her own accord, and it was as if a huge anchor had been tied to my arm. We were in Gamla Stan, the old part of the city, and it was hard enough navigating through winding narrow streets crammed with tourists without dragging her around.

  We needed to cross off the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace from our list, so I kept pulling Sookie along while we crisscrossed cobblestone pathways. Sookie slowed down as we passed a café where a waiter carried a huge tray piled with pastries. “I’m hungry. I want to see Pippi Longstocking’s museum,” Sookie mentioned for the fourteenth time.

  “You should have eaten breakfast.” By now we were trailing far behind my group, and Anne Britt, waiting for us to catch up, was tapping her foot as her green eyes flashed impatiently. A sense of urgency rose inside me. I’d promised my teachers I’d be reliable and hard working on this trip, and responsible. But how can you be responsible for someone else? I thought as I glared at Sookie.

  “Cat, look at this place,” Sookie said with enthusiasm. “Can we go inside, please?”

  The peculiar shop had a black cat snoozing in the window. A huge stuffed witch sat in a rocking chair and figurines of elves and trolls crowded the window. We had to hurry; Anne Britt and our group had turned down a street and were out of sight. If we got separated, I’d never find them in this maze. I yanked Sookie’s arm and pulled her away from the shop window. By sheer luck we found our group and followed them through the flag-festooned medieval streets, catching the tail end of the guard change at the palace.

  “On to the Royal Library,” said Anne Britt, stifling a yawn. I could tell she really wanted to be with students her own age.

  Then a kid named Joey brought out a map of the library and showed us a route he’d scribbled. “If we stick to this route, we’ll be out of the library in twenty minutes – as long as we run.” Anne Britt frowned, but she shrugged her shoulders. Everyone took off, and when I turned to grab Sookie’s hand …

  She was gone.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t know where Sookie had gone, it was that I didn’t know how to get there. I’d followed the group without paying attention to landmarks. How was I supposed to find my sister in this maze of streets? And when I found the shop, there was no guarantee that I’d find her inside. I took off in a run.

  And I kept running for the next twenty minutes. A stitch clawed at my side. Ignoring it, I forced myself to pay close attention to bridges crossed, paths turned right or left, just so I wouldn’t run in circles. But I soon found myself hopelessly trapped inside the twists and turns of the island.

  I didn’t know what to do, so I pulled out my map again and looked at the street signs. But I hadn’t paid attention to the street name that the shop was on. Using the map, I navigated my way back to the palace hoping I’d see something to jog my memory. Relief rushed over me as I saw Jasper’s group.

  “How’s your list going?” asked Jasper. “We’re almost done, so we’ll be off to the amusement park for sure.”

  “I’ve lost Sookie,” I said fighting back tears, and I told Jasper what happened.

  “Think,” Jasper rubbed his head. “What else do you remember about the street the shop was on? Or can you remember something you saw just before that street?”

  I closed my eyes. Sookie had been complaining … about eating! There was a café. Actually, there had been a lot of cafés on that promenade. I remembered smelling delicious coffee everywhere.

  “The shop was near a promenade that had lots of cafés,” I said. We took off and as we ran I could hear Jasper’s group leader shouting for him to return.

&n
bsp; “Helga is going to kill me.” Jasper shrugged his shoulders. “Our group leader has a temper.” But he didn’t seem that worried.

  Jasper and I described the promenade to passersby. We’d greet them with “god dag” and then launch into English. Fortunately, a lot of people spoke English, and we were soon redirected to the promenade.

  A bell rang mournfully as we entered the shop. I didn’t know where to look first – strange books written in runes lined a shelf on one side of the shop, and along the other wall the shelf was crowded with little straw broomsticks, crystal balls, and mirrors with strange creatures carved into their wood frames. Tables were crammed with figurines made from felt and clay and porcelain.

  Sookie was holding a figurine of red and green felt and asked the shopkeeper, “Is this supposed to be one of Santa’s elves?”

  I wanted to explode. Here I was panicking through the streets of Stockholm while she was pleasantly passing the time. She was also sipping a cup of milk and munching a cookie at the pay counter.

  “Sookie,” I began menacingly.

  “Ah,” said the shopkeeper. She was a tall woman with long gray hair; the color of her hair matched her eyes exactly. Yet her skin was smooth and she didn’t look any older than Ms. Dreeble. “I’ve been worried about this little one. She said she was part of a school exchange, but I’ve never heard of such a young person left alone while on a school trip.”

  “I’m the exchange student. She’s just tagging along with us until we get to my aunt’s farm,” I explained, my face burning.

  The woman shook her head in disapproval. “I even called my friend for advice. She’s going to drop by.” The woman’s voice lowered to a whisper. “I also called the police, even though your little sister said she wasn’t lost. They’re on their way.”

  I could see it all now: the police, the teachers, my aunt … “Let’s go,” I said to Sookie. Then I turned to the shopkeeper and said, “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure,” said the woman. “Your sister is … very interesting.”

  Sookie kept ignoring me and asked again, “Are these elves?”

  The woman took the figurine into her hand and said, “These are tomtars. They come out at night in the countryside and watch over farms. Did you want to take one home? They’re supposed to be good luck.”

  Instead, Sookie grabbed a creepy figurine. “What about this? Can I buy this as a souvenir?”

  “You are the strange one,” said the shopkeeper with a smile. “Trolls aren’t lucky at all. They are quite evil.”

  “We should hurry,” urged Jasper. But Sookie insisted on making purchases while my blood boiled.

  “How did you find your way back here on your own?” I asked under my breath as the woman put the troll in a felt bag. The bell at the door trilled again.

  “That’s how,” Sookie said pointing to the bell. “I heard the bell and followed the sound.”

  “That’s impossible,” I said. “This shop is a twenty-minute walk from the palace.”

  Sookie just shrugged her shoulders and said with a snort, “The shopkeeper believed me.”

  “Cat, we better go,” Jasper said again. If Jasper the perfect student was worried about getting into trouble, I didn’t want to imagine what would happen to me.

  “Very impressive,” said a voice behind us. “So you followed the bell? I’m glad to hear you won’t need my services.” Thinking the police had arrived, I could feel my heart dive. Instead of the police, a woman who looked like a movie star stood in front of us in a black fur trimmed coat and matching boots. Her vivid blue eyes sparked against her shiny dark hair. We rushed past her as she joined the shopkeeper at the front of the shop. “So your little exchange student has been found.”

  “I was never lost,” corrected Sookie as we dragged her toward the door.

  “Thanks again for everything,” I said. We rushed out the door with Sookie in tow.

  “Are we going to see Pippi Longstocking now?” Sookie asked.

  Jasper and I said nothing. Grimly, we rushed through the streets. At least we got away before the police came so my teachers could be left in the dark. That is, if our group guides weren’t reporting us missing this minute.

  “There’s the dome-shaped building at the edge of the entertainment district,” said Jasper. “We’re close to the hotel.”

  We rejoined our groups in the lobby. Anne Britt and Helga from Jasper’s group seemed relieved to see us. I guess they didn’t want to admit we’d gone missing while they were in charge. I shot them a sympathetic look as I rolled my eyes at Sookie.

  The main thing was that we got away with it. We’d be able to go to Gröna Lund after all.

  Our teachers joined us for lunch in the dining room. After lunch Ms. Dreeble announced, “The headmistress of your sister school, Svartberg Academy, has come into the city to meet you. Please say hello to Ms. Grimmaar.”

  Sookie waved cheerfully, and the headmistress waved back. The bite of my sandwich stuck in my throat.

  It was the woman from the shop.

  CHAPTER 11 - Dark Amusement

  SWEAT BEADED INSIDE the collar of my jacket as Ms. Grimmaar made her introductions and announcements. Any second she would walk over and lecture Sookie, Jasper, and me about splitting up from the group. Then Mr. Morrows and Ms. Dreeble would give me their “We’re very disappointed in you, Cat” expressions again. Even Jasper looked crestfallen. We both pushed the rest of our lunch away, exchanging worried glances.

  But neither of my teachers beckoned me, not even when we gathered back into groups and prepared for the second half of the museum excursion. Then Ms. Grimmaar moved toward us. Here it comes, I thought. I grabbed Sookie’s hand.

  Sookie pulled her hand back. “Ouch,” she complained.

  Anne Britt paled, which wasn’t easy with her fair complexion. We were in deep. Ms. Grimmaar loomed over us, and a shadow crept over my heart. Then she smiled.

  Winking, she whispered like our coconspirator, “So, little one, let’s see your souvenir.”

  With a gleeful grin, Sookie yanked out the disgusting troll figurine. Ms. Grimmaar said, “Isn’t he lovely? You’ve chosen a good little helper.”

  “I thought the tomtars were good luck dolls.” Sookie looked upon her troll with eyes widened in delight, as if it was a glamorous fashion doll. “But I preferred something more … gruesome.”

  Ms. Grimmaar patted Sookie’s head and smiled at me. “The part about luck depends on your point of view. There are many ways to interpret Swedish legends.”

  “Are we going to see Pippi Longstocking?”

  I had to hand it to my sister: she never gave up.

  “We’ll see what we can arrange, little one,” said Ms. Grimmaar with another wink at me. “I have a desire to see that museum one more time myself.”

  I felt heady with relief. Could I possibly have solved my Sookie problem? With enthusiasm, I joined my group and we all caught the ferry to Djurgarden, an island with more museums and the amusement park. Sookie stuck with Ms. Grimmaar, Mr. Morrows, and Ms. Dreeble the whole time we were on the ferry.

  Finally, I could have some fun.

  *

  There was only so much my eyes could take in at the Nordic Museum. Even with our group splitting up on different floors so we could share information and check off Mr. Morrows’s endless list, my feet still began to ache. The outdoor museum had been fun, and the Maritime Museum with the old warship was cool, but I’d had enough of fashion through the ages.

  The problem was Mr. Morrows could go on forever; he was a history maniac. We were all beginning to complain, even the tour guides. Finally, Ms. Grimmaar had a short conference with our teachers, and then Mr. Morrows announced, “Ms. Grimmaar has pointed out we’ll be doing other museum excursions during the exchange. So we propose that you take the rest of the evening and enjoy the amusement park.”

  All of Stockholm must have heard us shout. Suddenly, my feet didn’t hurt a bit. Best of all, Ms. Dreeble and Ms. Grimmaar pr
omised Sookie they’d take her to the children’s fantasy land, and she could get her fill of Pippi Longstocking.

  We scuttled in all directions like beetles released from under a rock into the sun. Gröna Lund was perched on the edge of the island, and as dusk deepened, the old-fashioned rides lit up, and the colored lights flickered in the darkening shadows.

  I stuck with Jasper, Rabinder, Clive, and Amarjeet because it was easy to track their dark hair bobbing in a sea of blond heads. Mitch, Amanda, Mia, and Zach must have decided the same thing, and soon we were all roaming the park together.

  We dared each other to ride the Power Tower. It seemed like a cool idea, especially when we slowly rose to the top and could scan Stockholm’s archipelago. But that only lasted five seconds. Then my heart plummeted along with my stomach as we dropped almost 400 feet in free fall. I screamed so much my throat was raw and my ears rang. Talk about awesome!

  But nobody dared each other to go up again.

  Instead we rode bumper cars and Clive kept ramming mine until I was jammed into a corner while everyone else sped around us. I backed my car up and drove it forward with such force that I jarred Clive’s car, and it spun away. I got moving again only for the bell to ring and the ride to be over.

  Then we all ran and caught a ride on the towering Ferris wheel. Before I could do anything, Clive jumped into my cart. Amarjeet shot me a sympathetic glance when Zach climbed in beside Amanda. As if the fates were against me, the wheel stopped while our cart was near the top, and we swung over the water.

  “This is the best time I’ve ever had.” Clive leaned over, tilting our cart forward. Me too, I thought in surprise, even though Clive had been shadowing me the whole time. I joined in to see how hard we could swing it back and forth. Then Amanda and Zach’s cart directly above us started doing the same, then Mitch and Mia’s cart below. The ride manager yelled up in Swedish. We didn’t need a translator; we understood he was telling us, “Cut it out!”