“But do you have any idea what it might mean?”
“I really wouldn’t know.”
“But it might have something to do with who made it, right?”
Ardankin glanced at his watch, appeared lost in thought, then bounced his head back up. “Yes, of course that’s probably it.” He stood up. “I am most sorry, Mr. Diggs, but I just remembered I have another meeting, was that everything?”
“Yeah, unfortunately. I was just hoping.”
Ardankin put a hand on his shoulder. “For answers?” He sighed. “Sometimes we never find what we’re looking for.”
“So what would your advice be? Where should I go next?”
“Have you been to St. Petersburg before?”
Curial shook his head.
“Then you should start with a tour.”
Chapter Eleven – Dina Ardankin
Ardankin escorted Curial out of the building and toward the street, where Mike was leaning against the car, examining his food map. As they walked, a beautiful blond girl came directly toward them. She stopped, folded her arms, and glared at Ardankin. Then her face melted into a smile and she threw her arms around the old professor’s neck and squeezed tight.
She said something in Russian.
Ardankin squeezed her back, said something else in Russian and then nodded his head at Curial. “In English, little bird, for our guest’s sake.”
The girl let go of Ardankin, went back to folding her arms, and gave Curial what seemed like an evil eye.
Ardankin stepped back. “Curial Diggs, forgive me, but this is my granddaughter Dina. Dina, this is—”
She stepped past her grandfather and stuck her hand out to Curial. He took it and she squeezed hard like she was trying to crush his hand. Finally she let go, adjusted her ponytail and took a step back.
“You’re shorter than I expected.”
“Excuse me?”
“Grandfather said he would be meeting the son of a great American, so I googled you.” She cocked her head. “Yes, definitely shorter than I expected.”
“Is that a good or bad thing?”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you ready, Grandfather?”
He frowned and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, little bird, but something unexpected has come up, and I need to make some calls.”
Her face went blank and her shoulders fell. “But, you—you promised.”
“I know, and I’ll make it up to you, but it can’t be helped today.”
“But I thought today was the day.”
He squeezed her by the shoulders. “And there will be another day, I promise.”
Dina breathed through her nose, her nostrils flaring.
Ardankin looked sideways at Curial and then his eyes twinkled as he touched his chin. “But maybe… Curial, would you like to learn more about the Romanovs?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then you need to see St. Petersburg, really see it, with an expert guide who can show you all the sights.”
Ardankin turned back to Dina and smiled.
Her face went from blank to confused as she looked first at Curial then back to her grandfather. Then all of a sudden, her eyes grew big as saucers and she started shaking her head.
“This is not happening,” she said, taking a step backward.
“What’s not happening?” Curial asked, still not understanding.
“Nobody is more qualified to give you a tour of St. Petersburg than my Dina,” said Ardankin. “She’s brilliant. And normally”—he arched his eyebrows—“a pleasure to be around.”
“Oh,” Curial said, looking at the beautiful Russian girl who clearly didn’t want any part of this. He felt his face get warm and his palms get sweaty. “Oh! I, er, I totally understand. Don’t worry about me at all, Professor, I’ll get by fine on my own.”
Ardankin put one arm around his granddaughter and laid his other arm around Curial.
“Nonsense. Russians are known for our hospitality—particularly those Russians whose last name is Ardankin.” He spit those last words out as if to drive home the point to his granddaughter. “Dina will be happy to help you out, and you will be glad to receive her wisdom.”
Curial swallowed hard. “Yes, sir.”
Ardankin pulled a handful of Russian paper money from his wallet and handed it to Dina. “This should cover your afternoon. Thank you, little bird.” He took her once again into his arms. “And remember, I’ll make it up to you.”
Ardankin shook Curial’s hand, then turned around and walked back into the college, leaving Dina and Curial alone and fidgeting awkwardly for lack of something to say. Dina was looking away from Curial, breathing through her nose so that her nostrils flared. Finally she gave her head an angry shake.
“Yeah,” Curial said, not entirely sure how to respond. “Listen, Dina, I’ve got my driver here. I’m happy you were willing, but I really don’t need a tour guide, so you’re off the hook, okay?”
“Oh no you don’t. If my grandfather found out I let you go off on your own, he’d be furious. Better to just get this over with.”
She started walking away from the college. Curial looked over at Mike, who had put down the map and was watching all of this with interest.
“Dina, slow down. I have a driver who can take us. Just tell him where.”
She rolled her eyes again. “Typical lazy American. You want to see St. Petersburg? Then for now, you walk. Got it?”
Curial looked to Mike, who just shrugged his shoulders. “Text me if you need something, okay?” Mike said while folding up his map. “I think my stomach’s ready for round three.”
Curial looked over to Dina, but she was already half a block away. He ran to catch up, and when he did, she just walked faster. They walked like this in silence for ten minutes when Curial finally stopped.
“Hold up, okay?”
Dina turned and shook her head, then kept going.
“Just hold up,” Curial said again. “Why are you in such a hurry?”
She put her hands on her hips. “So I can get this over with, okay?”
“Why do you hate doing this so much?”
Her face tensed up, her jaw muscles twitching. “Because I should be with my grandfather. And instead,” she waved a hand at Curial, “he makes me babysit a dumb American.”
“I’m not dumb, okay?”
“Every American is dumb.”
“That’s not actually true.”
“Wanna bet?”
“Fine.”
She pursed her lips and squinted her eyes in a particularly smug look. “Please say something in Russian. Anything you want.”
“I don’t know any Russian.”
A cocky grin crossed her face. “And have you noticed how I’ve been speaking to you in perfect English this entire time?”
“Well, um—”
“Like I said: dumb American.”
She took off again, and Curial hustled to catch up. “Fine, you know my language and I don’t know yours. You got me. That doesn’t make me dumb.”
“Then say something in German, Italian, French. How about Spanish? Surely you must know Spanish?”
“I watched Dora the Explorer when I was little; I picked up a few words.”
She ran her a hand over her head and tugged on her ponytail. “I know all of those languages, and you don’t know any. Not one. Maybe you’re not dumb, but like most Americans, you act dumb because you are arrogant and lazy.”
“Wait a second: you know six languages? How is that even possible?”
“My grandfather and mother are both university professors. They expect me to follow them in their path. I know languages because I work hard. You should try it.”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“Like I said, I googled you. You rich kids are all the same. Grandfather told me he had to take a meeting with you because of a generous donation to his department. That’s what rich kids do: you throw your money around and think people will do whate
ver you want.”
“I’m not like other rich kids you’ve known.”
“How so?”
“I’m black.”
She shook her head. “I don’t need the reminder, okay?”
Curial couldn’t believe it. “That’s pretty racist, don’t you think?”
Dina waved her arm around. “Look around, Curial Diggs. Take a good long look. We could walk for the next two hours and never see another black person. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“Like a racist?”
Dina’s expression didn’t change.
This girl was making Curial nuts. “So you want me to feel sorry for you because you have to be seen with me? Listen, at the end of the day, you can go home and never see me again. But I can’t change my skin color.”
Dina made a strange face. “So the rich American wants me to feel sorry for him because of the color of his skin.”
“I was hoping.”
“So you make up for being dumb by trying to be funny.”
“I can name the starting quarterback for every team in the National Football League. How’s that for dumb?”
Dina looked off to her right and for the first time relaxed her face a little. “I do think Tom Brady’s pretty cute.”
“You know about Tom Brady?”
A little smile crossed her lips and she nodded. “Boy do I ever.”
“Wait a second—so you follow American football?”
“Correction: I follow hot American quarterbacks.”
“You know who Peyton Manning is?”
“Never heard of him.”
She really did only follow the hot quarterbacks. “Okay, I’ll make a deal with you. If I promise to talk about Tom Brady a lot, will you agree not to refer to me as a dumb American?”
“I can only agree not to call you ‘the dumbest American of all time.’ I reserve the right to call you idiot, moron, or any other applicable term.” She gave a slight tilt of her head. “A Russian girl must keep her principles, you know. Now, if you can keep up, maybe this won’t be the worst day of my life.”
She jogged away and Curial yelled after her. “Got a real gift for flattery, you know that?”
Chapter Twelve – Gunshot
Dina gave Curial a tour of the Winter Palace, St. Isaac’s Square, and St. Isaac’s Cathedral. By the twentieth dumb American joke, Curial was starting to get accustomed to Dina’s brand of humor. And one thing was very clear: Dina was not dumb. She appeared to know everything about St. Petersburg’s most famous sights.
But Curial hadn’t yet shared with Dina the real reason for his visit. He was still trying to puzzle it out for himself. Professor Ardankin had only confirmed what little was really known about the Romanov dolls. Curial had hoped that something from the tour would make the picture clearer. Instead, he was as confused as ever.
As they reached a corner, Dina moved ahead of Curial and took a quick right. As Curial came around the corner after her, she grabbed him and pulled him into a small crevice in the wall.
“What the—?”
Dina put a hand on his mouth and held a finger up to her own. Then she pointed out toward the square while the two of them sank deeper into the crevice.
Five seconds later a large man came past wearing a long dark coat, a black derby hat, and carrying a rolled-up newspaper. Dina made eyes at Curial. When the man finally passed, she poked her head out, looked both ways, then grabbed Curial’s hand and yanked him out. She hustled away from the man in the dark coat and around the corner, back the way they originally came. One minute of jogging and weaving through cars later, Dina stopped and looked around.
“You ever seen that guy before?” she finally asked.
Curial shook his head. “No, I thought you knew him or something.”
Dina stuck her hands in her pockets and scrunched her brow. “He’s been following us for the last hour.”
Curial gave her a suspicious look.
“I took a few weird detours just to make sure.”
“So the exhibit on the Tooth Care of the Romanov Family wasn’t really your favorite part of the museum?”
She cracked a smile. “I don’t like being followed. Must be FSB.”
Curial gave her a blank look. “I don’t know the FSB.”
“Right, your knowledge of Russia comes from bad American movies. You’ve probably heard of the KGB.”
Curial lit up. “Yeah, Russian spies. Kind of like our CIA.”
Dina rolled her eyes for the thousandth time. “When the Soviet Union broke up, so did the KGB. Officially. But it reorganized as the FSB. Their people are everywhere.”
“And you get followed regularly?”
She frowned and tapped her foot. “Not normally, but my grandfather has taught me to be careful. It must have something to do with you.”
“Me?”
She squinted her eyes and rubbed her chin. “They probably think you are an American spy come to steal state secrets.”
“How did they even find us?”
“Oh, I don’t know. How about asking anybody in St. Petersburg, ‘Have you seen a black American kid walking around anywhere?’”
“Is it that obvious I’m American?” Curial asked in fake shock.
Dina laughed, then looked past Curial. Her eyes grew big. “Are you fast?”
Curial spun around. The same man in the dark coat and derby hat was fifty yards away walking quickly their way. Curial turned back; Dina had already taken off.
Curial caught up to Dina and together they jogged for the next ten minutes, ducking into alleys, weaving in and out of traffic. At one point they even entered a restaurant, walked through the kitchen, and came out the back alley. Eventually they found a taxi and had him take a circuitous route back to the Four Seasons Hotel, where they both got out.
“Okay then,” Dina said.
“Yeah,” said Curial. “Hey, I’m sorry you didn’t get to hang out with your grandfather today.”
Her face turned serious again. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t horrible. Except for the being followed by the scary man part.”
Curial felt bad. He put his hands in his pockets and shifted nervously. “Yeah, about that.”
Dina tilted her head and pursed her lips together. “What?”
“It’s probably nothing.”
“If it was nothing, you wouldn’t be acting like this.”
“The real reason I’m in Russia…”
“Is not to visit your father’s banks.”
Curial shook his head. “I’m trying to find something. Something that was very important to my mother.” Dina shrugged, and Curial took a deep breath. “The Romanov Dolls.”
Dina’s eyes lit up and she thrust her head out like an ostrich. “The Romanov Dolls? Oh my God, you’re a treasure hunter.” She looked up and shook her head. “Now it all makes sense. Why you made a donation to the college to get a meeting with my grandfather. Why you’re so fascinated by the Romanovs.” She shook her head, her face falling into a frown. “I should have known.” She turned around and started walking away.
Curial was confused. He hustled after her and grabbed her by the shoulder. “Wait a minute.”
She spun around and knocked his hand away. “You rich Americans are all the same. You come here, throw your money around, and try to take whatever you want. So arrogant—and so predictable. And you know what? The least you could have done was tell me.”
She was breathing through her nostrils again, then she turned and walked away.
Curial had no idea what he’d done. Not really. He took the elevator to the fifth floor, walked past three rooms and pulled his key card out.
That’s when he noticed it.
The door was cracked open and noise was coming from his room.
Nobody else had a key card to his room.
He thought of the man who followed them around town and he swallowed. He inched toward the door and listened more carefully.
That’s when he heard the gunshot.
He pushed the door open and looked into the room. At who was in the room.
Somebody was about to die.
Chapter Thirteen – Lergo My Ergo
The person was small, a video game controller clutched in both hands, grin plastered across his face.
“Hey dude!” Maurice yelled.
“What, where, how—”
Maurice waved Curial off with his left hand.
“Not now, it took me two hours to get to this level.”
Curial looked at the television. Maurice was playing a first person shooter game. Two hours? Curial scanned the room. Empty pop bottles lay on the floor. Several empty food plates were spread across the bed. The remote control lay on the floor, sitting in the middle of a not quite empty plate of something brown and gooey.
Curial hit the red button and the TV turned off.
“What?!” Maurice screamed at the TV, his fingers and thumbs still pounding against the controller. Then he looked at Curial “How could you?”
Curial picked up a plate with what looked like half a hamburger swimming inside of a bowl of mustard. “What the heck is this?”
“Yeah, not nearly as tasty as it looks. I bet myself I couldn’t eat a burger completely submerged in mustard. I won that bet. But the good news, with you paying the bill for all this room service, I was actually able to test what I call the lollipop pancake theory.”
“Stop talking now. Why are you in Russia?”
“To help you of course,” said Maurice.
“I told you not to come.”
“And apparently,” Maurice winked, “I didn’t listen.”
“But Matthew let you come anyway?” asked Curial.
Maurice scrunched his face up and looked away.
“Matthew doesn’t know? Unbelievable. I don’t understand, if Matthew doesn’t know, then how did you get here?”
“You really do need a partner because you’re kind of slow on the uptake. I came with you of course.”
Curial shook his head. “Our jet isn’t that big. I think I would have seen an annoying eleven year-old riding next to me.”
Maurice shrugged. “Then maybe your driver needs to check the luggage more carefully.”
Teenage Treasure Hunter Page 7
