Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit

by Octavia Spencer

  As the fake agents closed in, Randi leaped forward in a gravity-defying jump kick, connecting with the first foe’s abdomen. It was so powerful, it sent him reeling backward and into another bad guy.

  D.C. took down an agent with a combination head butt and hand attack, then smacked another with a side kick. He spun on his heels to face two more bad guys as they advanced on Randi. But she was ready. She backflipped over the goons and landed behind them on her feet, like a cat. Her movements were graceful. Fluid. Like water.

  By the time the agents realized what had happened, Randi was already spinning and kicking low to the ground, smashing ankles, kicking up dust, and exhibiting textbook form on a tornado kick. Pudge rammed the bad guys from behind, and they were down for the count.

  The few remaining agents tried to form a human wall around the kids.

  Just as one agent was about to strike, D.C. performed an impressive rising kick, catching the guy smack on the chin. Now that D.C. knew how to keep his knees bent, his kicks were precise and hard.

  When the dust finally settled, only three people were standing: Randi, D.C., and Pudge.

  * * *

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  * * *

  THE FUGITIVE

  Getting injured Angus McCarthy out of the cave was no easy feat. According to Randi’s watch, it was three o’clock in the morning when they reached the entrance of the cave and began making their way down the mountainside.

  “Hey, what’s that?” Pudge said, pointing at the valley below. A line of lights seemed to be snaking down the road from Deer Creek to Rock Hollow.

  “Beats me,” Randi said. “Fireflies?”

  “No—flashlights,” D.C. said. “A lot of flashlights.”

  “You kids tell anyone where you were going?” Angus asked. “Looks to me like there are a bunch of folks out looking for you.”

  “But there’s gotta be a hundred lights down there,” Pudge said. “If that’s a search party, everyone in town must have joined it.”

  ~ ~ ~ ~

  When they arrived in the Hollow, the first thing they saw was Mrs. Prufrock dressed in a long white nightgown, her face covered by a cold-cream mask. She was trampling through the brush, looking for clues while the other citizens of Deer Creek were busy searching the old cabin and its grounds for signs of the three missing kids. Most were dressed only in pajamas and slippers.

  “Found ’em,” Mrs. Prufrock called out. “And Angus McCarthy, too!”

  “Miranda!” her father shouted the second he caught sight of her.

  “Dario!” yelled Mrs. Cruz.

  “Pudge!” bellowed Colonel Taylor.

  The relieved hugs came first, and then the lectures began.

  “What in heaven’s name have you been doing out here?” Herb Rhodes barked. “You are in a lot of trouble, young lady!”

  “Dario!” Randi heard Mrs. Cruz screech. “You’re a sick little boy! You can’t be running around like this!”

  “And I am very disappointed in you, young man,” said Colonel Taylor.

  “Pardon me,” Angus McCarthy spoke up. “I know y’all must be pretty angry at your young folks right now, but I think it’s only fair to point out that these three saved my life tonight.”

  “What?” gasped Mrs. Cruz.

  “Is this some kind of joke, Angus?” demanded Colonel Taylor.

  “Nope. Nothing funny at all ’bout the things these kids did up there in that cave.”

  “You were in the caves!” Herb Rhodes glowered. “Do you have any idea how dangerous they are?”

  “Dangerous for the eight full-grown thugs that these kids left lying on the ground,” Angus said with a chuckle.

  “You were attacked?” Colonel Taylor asked his son. “Are you injured?”

  “Who would attack three little kids?” Mrs. Cruz gasped.

  “And what were you doing in those caves?” Herb Rhodes repeated.

  “It’s a long story,” Angus McCarthy said. “And I’ll get to it in just a minute. But I think it might be a good idea if somebody here got in touch with the sheriff. I’m afraid there’s a fugitive on the loose in Deer Creek.”

  “A fugitive?” Mrs. Prufrock asked with wide eyes.

  “I phoned Sheriff Ogle before we reached the Hollow,” Randi’s father said. “She told me she’d be here as soon as she was finished making an arrest.”

  “Who’s she arresting?” Mrs. Prufrock asked, her eyes even wider.

  They suddenly heard the sound of a police siren. It grew louder and louder as the cruiser approached the Hollow. Sheriff Ogle drove up. When she hopped out, two figures remained in the back of her car.

  “I’m glad y’all are here. Since I’m the only police official in town, looks like I’m gonna need to deputize a few of you,” she told the crowd. “There are men up on that mountain who need to be brought down in handcuffs.”

  “Who’s that you got in your car, Sheriff?” Mrs. Prufrock asked.

  “The mayor,” Sheriff Ogle replied. “Knew he was up to something big. Been staking out his house for the past few nights, and I finally caught the sucker red-handed.”

  “Red-handed?” someone asked. “What did Cameron do?”

  “Well, for starters, he’s the one who took the capsule.”

  “When did you figure out that Mayor Landers was the thief?” Randi marveled.

  “Same day the capsule disappeared. I saw those phony Secret Service agents running from a little old skunk, and I knew they couldn’t be the president’s men. The mayor was the reason they were in Deer Creek, so I figured they had to be working for him. And I had a hunch that one of them had snatched the capsule. Of course, I let everyone think Angus was my prime suspect. . . .”

  “Wait a second, Mildred. You’ve known where the capsule was all this time?”

  “Sure have. Cameron Landers’s house.”

  “And you didn’t tell us?” Mrs. Prufrock gasped.

  “I couldn’t, Betty. I’m aware I can be a bit of a gossip at times, but this was OPB. Official police business. Had to find out why Cameron was going around stealing time capsules.”

  “Well, now that you’ve got the capsule, does that mean that the festival won’t have to be postponed?” someone asked.

  “No, the festival will be held as scheduled,” the sheriff said. “But I’m afraid Mayor Landers lied about inviting the president. Those Secret Service agents are just a bunch of thugs he hired to help him steal the Deer Creek treasure.”

  “How can you steal something that doesn’t exist?” Mrs. Prufrock scoffed.

  “Oh, it exists, Betty,” Sheriff Ogle assured her. She went back to her squad car, and when she returned to the crowd, she was holding a small metal box. “Found this when I searched the mayor’s house just now.”

  Her fingers fumbled with the box’s latch. When the top opened, Randi saw two apple-size stones.

  “Rocks?” D.C. mumbled.

  “Is that the time capsule?” someone else asked.

  “Nope. This isn’t the time capsule, and these aren’t just rocks. You’re looking at the Deer Creek treasure.”

  They watched as the sheriff lifted one of the stones and held it up to the beam from a flashlight. For a moment it glowed a dark bloodred.

  “They’re rubies!” Randi exclaimed. “I should have known that the treasure would be rubies! The Smokies are famous for them. People used to come to the mountains to pan for rubies in the creeks and rivers.”

  “How much do you think a couple of rocks that size would be worth?” someone asked.

  “Dunno,” the sheriff admitted. “Enough to buy a whole town, I’d imagine. That was Cameron’s plan. Steal the capsule and bankrupt the town—then use the treasure to buy it himself.”

  “If Mayor Landers found the treasure, don’t the rubies belong to him now?” Herb Rhodes asked.

  “He and his men dug them up, all right. But the cave where they found them is on Angus McCarthy’s land. In fact, Toot was the one who figured out where th
e founders had hidden them.” The sheriff pulled a sheet of paper from the pocket of her uniform. “Mayor Landers had this in his pocket when I nabbed him. Looks like Toot drew a map to the treasure, so we have proof that the mayor found them on McCarthy property. Now I suppose the Deer Creek treasure belongs to Toot’s son.”

  The crowd gasped.

  “What are you going to do with your fortune, Angus?” Herb Rhodes asked the old man.

  “First thing, I’m gonna fix up the old Bait ’n’ Tackle shop. Then I figure I’ll buy my dog Bunny a few nice bones. And then I’m going to sign the rest of the money over to the town. Make sure nobody loses their homes or businesses.”

  “I’m sorry. Did you just say I won’t lose the parlor—” Mrs. Prufrock started to ask right before she fainted and fell in a happy heap on the ground.

  While everyone rushed to Mrs. Prufrock’s aid, Randi noticed a small, silver-haired figure standing at the edge of the crowd. Mei-Ling Cooper had been quietly observing the scene.

  “You found the note I left under my pillow.”

  “Yes.”

  “You checked on me again, didn’t you?” Randi asked the nanny. “You’ve been coming into my room at night.”

  “The thunderstorm was so loud,” the woman tried to explain. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t scared and . . .”

  “You got me into a lot of trouble,” Randi noted. “My dad still looks pretty mad. I’ll probably be grounded for the next six months.”

  “I’m so sorry, Miranda, but . . .”

  Randi put a hand on the woman’s arm to stop her. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m glad you’ve been watching over me. Things came pretty close to going seriously wrong tonight. By the way, how did you get the whole town to join in the search?”

  “I just asked,” Mei-Ling said. “I come from a big city too, Miranda. I missed Hong Kong when I first moved to America with my husband. But now I would never go back. In big cities, you can only depend on yourself. In small towns like Deer Creek, we all watch out for one another.” Her eyes fell on Herb Rhodes, who was making his way toward them through the crowd. “I’m going to walk home now. You need to talk to your father, Miranda. He was worried sick when we found out you were missing.”

  “He’s always been overprotective,” Randi said.

  “If there was one thing you loved more than anything else in the world, wouldn’t you try to protect it too?”

  The small woman left Randi standing in the driveway.

  “I know. I know,” she said when her father caught up with her. “I’m grounded.”

  “You certainly are.” Herb bent down and took Randi’s face into his hands, taking in every freckle on her face. “Do you realize you could have been killed? Do you know what would happen to me if I lost you, too?” His eyes filled with tears. “Every day you look more and more like . . .”

  “Mom?”

  Randi’s father wrapped her up in a hug. He slowly rocked back and forth, and his body seemed to swell with each breath. It was as if he were taking in the entire world. Could it be? Was he crying?

  “It’s okay, Dad. I miss her too,” Randi whispered.

  * * *

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  * * *

  QUEEN OF THE CATFISH

  Randi adjusted her new white dobok and made sure her black belt was nice and tight.

  “Does it look all right?” she asked D.C.

  “It’s perfect!” he told her. “How about mine?”

  Randi’s hands shook as she adjusted the boy’s yellow belt.

  “What are you so nervous about, Randi?” Pudge asked. “This is just a demonstration. A couple of days ago, you took down a bunch of guys twice your size.”

  “Yeah,” Randi said. “But a couple of days ago, my dad wasn’t watching.”

  They heard a round of polite applause coming from the audience on the other side of the curtain. The last contestant had just finished, and it was almost time for Randi to take the stage

  “Look who’s here!” snarled a familiar voice. “Which one of these losers do you suppose is the girl?”

  The three ninja detectives turned. Amber-Grace Sutton had finished her ballet routine and appeared backstage with Stevie Rogers. Her blond hair was pinned up in a bun, and she wore a fluttery pink tutu, a pink leotard, and a sparkling rhinestone tiara. She looked like a ballerina from a music box.

  “You know this is a beauty pageant, right?” Amber asked Randi. “You’re not supposed to be wearing your pajamas, you redheaded freak.”

  Randi replied with a smile. Suddenly her mind was as smooth and still as water. Her calmness seemed to infuriate Amber-Grace.

  “My dad lost his bank because of you,” she growled. “Today I’m going to give you the beating you deserve.”

  “Your father broke the law,” D.C. pointed out, his voice calm and confident. “He tried to foreclose on my mom’s orchard before he had any right. Just because he didn’t know what Mayor Landers had planned doesn’t mean he was totally innocent.”

  Amber-Grace turned to Stevie. “You’re going to let that little deaf runt speak to me like that?” she demanded.

  “Cool down,” Stevie ordered the furious ballerina. “There’s no need to get nasty. I’m not here to start any fights today.”

  “Then what good are you?” screeched Amber-Grace, stomping off.

  “Sorry about that,” Stevie told D.C. once the girl was gone. “She’s always had a terrible temper. Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask—do you think you guys could teach me some of the tricks you used on those guys up at the cave?”

  D.C. glanced over at Randi.

  “Sure,” she said. “As long as you promise to use your powers for good instead of evil.”

  “Deal!” Stevie said, just as a voice came over the loudspeaker.

  “And our next contestant is Miranda Rhodes! She’ll be giving us a Tae Kwon Do demonstration with the help of her friends Dario Cruz and Pudge Taylor!”

  The crowd went wild as Randi and D.C. appeared on the stage and bowed toward each other. A glimpse of her father and Mei-Ling sitting in the front row set hundreds of butterflies loose in Randi’s belly.

  “Make your mind like water,” D.C. whispered as he lifted a Ping-Pong paddle high above his head.

  Randi jumped two feet into the air and slammed the paddle with a reverse hook kick. The audience gasped when she landed in a perfect fighting stance and instantly pummeled the paddle with a crescent kick. As she and D.C. sparred, showcasing an impressive range of hand attacks, Pudge hauled two concrete blocks onto the stage and placed a thick slab of wood on top.

  A hush fell over the crowd as Randi approached it. She lifted her right arm, and brought it down in a knife-hand strike. The wood broke into two perfect halves. Everyone in Deer Creek leaped to their feet, cheering and whistling. Randi bowed to the audience and then bowed to her sparring partner.

  “That was awesome!” D.C. yelled as soon as they were backstage. “Let’s do it again!”

  “Hush!” Pudge ordered. “They’re about to make the announcement!”

  “And the winner of this year’s Deer Creek Miss Catfish pageant, by unanimous decree, is . . . Miss Miranda Rhodes!”

  Randi threw her arms around her two best friends, and together they jumped up and down. Then Randi returned to the stage to collect her prize. Deer Creek’s interim mayor, Angus McCarthy, placed the catfish crown on top of Randi’s unruly red curls and draped a sash over her snow-white dobok.

  But Randi hardly noticed. Her eyes never left the two people in the audience who were clapping, hooting, and whistling the loudest. She was proud to call both of them family. And there was no doubt in her mind that today, they were just as proud of her.

  * * *

  Go to Appendix H to complete the Ninja Task!

  * * *

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  * * *

  THE TOWN TREASURE

  “I’ve never seen anyone make a catfish crown look so good!” Herb R
hodes was beaming. “And that performance! I knew you had a black belt, but I had no idea you were so talented!”

  Randi smiled. “So are you going to worry a little bit less about me from now on?”

  “Absolutely not,” said Herb Rhodes. “I’m your dad. That’s my job.”

  “What about your other job?” Randi asked. “How’s the writing going?”

  “Pretty darn well,” he told her. “I guess I just needed some inspiration.”

  “Time to spill the beans. Are you penning another Glenn Street book?” Randi asked eagerly.

  “Nope,” Herb Rhodes replied. “I think it’s best if we both leave Glenn Street in Brooklyn where she belongs. I’ve heard a new neighborhood watchdog has taken up where you left off.”

  Randi raised an eyebrow. “So you found out I used to be . . .”

  “Yes, I finally put two and two together and unmasked the Brooklyn vigilante,” Herb Rhodes said. “But if you don’t want me to worry about you so much, I think it’s best if we leave it at that, okay?”

  “Okay,” Randi said with a laugh. “So is your new book a detective novel?”

  “It is.”

  “And what’s your new heroine like?”

  “She’s tough, smart,” Herb Rhodes said with a wink, “and . . .”

  Randi could barely contain her excitement. “And what?”

  “That’s all you get for now.”

  “Aw, Dad. You’re killing me.”

  Herb Rhodes smiled and brushed a curl away from his daughter’s brow. “The galleys will be in soon. I could use a proofreader.”

  “But that was Mom’s job.” Randi threw her arms around her dad. There was absolutely nothing that would ever compare to the honor she’d just been given.

  “Don’t think this means you’re not grounded anymore,” Herb said with a grin. “And keep in mind, you learned all those detective skills from me. So don’t think I don’t know that Mei-Ling’s been letting you slip out while I’m working.”