“I think someone wanted to make sure these were never, ever stolen,” said Curial. “Go ahead.”
Claude accepted the cloth bag like it was the baby Jesus, and slowly—a lump clearly forming in his throat—began to untie the bag. Curial peered inside as Claude opened the bag. The object inside was gold, shiny, and lined with jewels.
A beautiful matryoshka doll. And it had been hidden away for over forty years, undisturbed, just waiting to be found.
“Oh my God,” Claude said, tears in his eyes as he pulled the Romanov Dolls out and started to un-nest them, turning so the crowd could see.
The crowd reacted with amazement, oohing and ahhing. The entire exhibition hall was suddenly filled with a hubbub of excitement.
Curial felt a hand slide down his arm and interlace its fingers with his and then squeeze. He turned to look at Dina, her eyes were wet with tears.
She sounded like she’d lost her breath. “Curial, they’re….”
“Perfect,” he said.
Chapter Thirty-Three – Well Done
At the insistence of the thirteen-year-old kid with the famous last name who had discovered the Romanov Dolls, the board decided to keep Claude Von Kerstens on in his position as the Director of the Manhattan Art Collective. And the next month was quite busy for Claude as he planned another grand reopening for the MAC, this time inviting the entire art world to see their glorious rediscovered treasure.
Claude was also busy with some delicate negotiations with the Russian art community, negotiations that resulted in a compromise which pleased his young treasure-hunting friend. For four months each year, the Romanov Dolls would be held at Winter Palace Museum in St. Petersburg—and in exchange, during this time, an assortment of Russian art would be featured at the MAC.
Claude also had to find an artist to put together an extremely important piece very quickly.
The night of the grand opening was incredible. Curial had never seen so many people, and much of the night was embarrassing to him. It was hard to have all those people looking at him. He didn’t find the Romanov Dolls to gain their accolades; he did it for much more personal reasons. So when all the talking was done and the schmoozing began, Curial escaped from the crowd and found a quiet empty corner of the museum, where he sat on a bench in front of a painting of a beautiful woman. A new painting.
He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Claude sitting down next to him.
“You did a great job,” Curial said, nodding at the painting. “It looks just like her.”
Claude smiled. “I told the artist I needed the finest painting in the world for the finest woman I’ve ever known. And I told him he had only two weeks to paint it.”
“She’d be embarrassed by it,” said Curial.
Claude nodded, then pointed his index finger at the painting. “Yes, but I think she’d like that little trace of a smile.”
“Kind of like she knew something the rest of us didn’t.”
“Exactly. Well, duty calls. Thank you again, Curial, for everything. I can’t possibly—”
“You’re welcome, Claude.”
Curial sat there, quietly looking at the painting of his mother. He had done all this for her. And, incredibly, his dad was none the wiser. Two days after he found the dolls in the wall of the MAC, he took Getty’s impossible test. He hoped he did well enough to avoid Haverfield, but he had no idea.
But right now, he didn’t much care. He had done it. He had fulfilled his mom’s last wish and no matter what happened with Getty or with Haverfield, Curial knew for certain that he would find a way to follow his true ambition in life.
To be a treasure hunter.
Curial saw Mike Douglas walking toward him with his wife. The two of them looked incredible together. And somehow, Mike looked skinny.
“Doesn’t my husband look fabulous?” Mrs. Douglas said as she patted her husband’s belly. “Mike hasn’t been able to button this jacket in five years. I’m so proud of him. Well, Curial, enjoy the evening.” Mrs. Douglas walked off and Mike bent down.
“I didn’t actually lose any weight,” Mike whispered.
“Didn’t think you would, on the unlimited hot dog diet,” said Curial.
“I’ve wrapped my belly with four rolls of duct tape.”
“And she has no idea?”
“She thinks I got on a fitness kick when I was in Russia.”
“And how much pain are you in right now?”
Mike grimaced. “After I take my wife home I’ll be checking myself into the hospital.”
“You’re a strange man, Mike Douglas.”
Mike smiled and winced at the same time. “Anything for love, Curial. Anything for love.”
Mike left to follow his wife, and Curial had just returned his attention to the painting when he heard footsteps behind him, and figured Mike was back to say something else. But when he turned, standing behind him was a tall black man wearing a grey suit and holding a long white walking stick.
“Matthew!” Curial said as he stood up. “You made it.”
“I wouldn’t miss it. What are you doing over here all alone?”
Matthew maneuvered around the bench and then sat down next to Curial.
“I’m looking at a painting of my mother that Claude recently had commissioned.”
“Ahhhh.” Matthew stared at the painting then smiled a big toothy grin. “It’s beautiful.”
“How can you tell?”
“Because your mom was beautiful.”
“And how could you know that? You’re blind.”
“But I’m also a man. And a man knows when he’s in the presence of a beautiful lady. What’s the painting called?”
“I told Claude to leave it untitled,” said Curial, “but I know what I call it. Portrait of a Woman Who Knew Almost Everything.”
Matthew laughed. “I like that very much.”
The two continued to look at the painting—a thirteen-year-old treasure hunter and a seventy-year-old blind ex-thief. After a couple minutes, Matthew got up.
“Curial, I still can’t believe all the clues you tracked down. Your mother told me you were smart, but I think it’s more than that. It takes more than smarts to schedule a meeting with the very man who was behind the whole thing. Nope, Curial, I think you’ve got a gift for this kind of thing.”
“Matthew, I gotta be honest. Maurice did a ton to help and he deserves as much credit as me.”
Matthew made a face. “Maybe. By the way, where is my nephew? I thought he’d be appearing tonight.”
Curial looked over his shoulder at the short bearded security guard in the corner. “He’s been pretending to be a security guard tonight.”
“Well, I’ll be,” said Matthew thoughtfully. “Usually I can smell his sneaky stench a mile away.”
Curial laughed. “I think he might have used an entire bottle of Axe body spray to mask his usual smell.”
Matthew made a face. “Did you say body spray?”
“Sure, why?”
Matthew started fidgeting for his pockets. Finally, he shook his head. “Well I’ll be. That little stinker.”
The short bearded security guard was moving towards them now, a brown leather wallet in his hand. “That’s right Matthew, I got you. I got you and you didn’t even see, hear, or smell me coming.”
Curial laughed. “Don’t tell me, did he get you with the Old Ruby?”
Matthew frowned. “Worse, he got me with a young Ruby. Some young lady bumped into me, and all I could smell was her perfume along with the overpowering scent of male body spray. I didn’t think anything of it.”
“Admit it Uncle Matthew,” said Maurice, “I’m the best.”
“Well, I guess every dog has his day,” said Matthew.
“Was that a compliment?” asked Maurice.
Matthew rolled his eyes. “It’s the closest you’re gonna get from me.”
“Then I’ll take it.”
Matthew laughed. “You know, Curial—back bef
ore all this started, I believe you said you’d been looking into a treasure down in Peru?”
“Yeah,” said Curial, “what about it?”
“I may have found some information that could be helpful.”
“Really? What is it?”
Matthew laughed. “Not tonight. You and Maurice come by my office in the park, let an old man school you at chess, and then we’ll talk. Tonight is a celebration—and you need to get back in there and have some fun.”
“No offense, but hanging out with a bunch of old people is not my idea of fun.”
Matthew laughed. “Too bad. That young lady I ran into while Maurice pulled the young Ruby? Just so happened she said she was looking for you. And she was beautiful.”
“How could you know she was beautiful?” asked Curial.
Matthew tapped his walking stick against the tile. “A man always knows. Plus, her English was layered with a Russian accent.”
Curial popped up. She said she couldn’t make it. “Did you say Russian?”
Matthew laughed. “She may have even offered her name. Now what was that?”
Curial got up and sprinted away. “Her name is Dina!” he yelled as he ran past.
“That’s one heckuva guess,” said Matthew with a laugh. “Like I said kid, you’ve got a gift.”
When Curial found Dina wandering the hallway, he just about lost his breath. She wore a long white dress, had on gold earrings, and her hair fell in a long braid. Matthew was right. She was beautiful.
When she saw Curial, at first she smiled. Then she stuck one hand against her hip and glared at him.
“You didn’t really think I would miss this did you?” she said.
“Well, when you said ‘I’m going to miss this’ I thought that might be a clue.”
She laughed. “What can I say, my mom wanted to visit New York.”
Curial noticed a woman who looked like a larger version of Dina hovering about twenty feet away. Dina saw him looking.
“Yes, that’s my mother. Speaking of the truth, I figured that if Grandfather could tell me what he had done, I could come clean with my mother.”
“About ballet?” said Curial.
Dina nodded. “I told her. She wasn’t happy, but compared to learning her father killed a man, it actually went over pretty well. She decided the two of us need to spend more time together. We agreed that a trip to New York might do us some good.” Dina smiled and raised up on her tiptoes. “I’m going to the ballet tonight and need an escort.” She held up three tickets.
“Oh,” Curial said, pointing his thumb at his chest. “You mean me? At the ballet? With you and your mom?”
Dina grabbed Curial by the hand and dragged him toward her mother. Curial’s throat went dry. “But I’ve never been to the ballet before,” he said.
Dina smiled. “You’d also never been to Russia before, and look how that turned out.”
She was right, of course. Dina Ardankin was beautiful and brilliant, just like another woman Curial had known. He turned and took one last look into the quiet gallery where the MAC’s newest painting hung. He gazed at the beautiful woman with the tiny smile. He smiled back.
I love you, Mom.
Dina spun around. “And we’re not going to the ballet with my mother. She hates ballet. I figured Maurice would want to come with us. I assume he’s around here somewhere.”
The short security guard rolled up alongside them. “Hey Dina.”
Dina looked, then laughed. “I think I preferred you when you were blind. Well, are you boys ready?” She charged ahead but Maurice tugged on Curial’s tuxedo coat.
“Come on Dude, you gotta tell me how you keep recognizing me in my disguises.”
Curial rolled his eyes.
“Come on man,” said Maurice, “you promised.”
Curial stopped. “Fine, I’ll explain. But once, and only once, so pay attention.”
“Got it.”
“The way I keep recognizing you? Well I guess…” Curial hesitated.
“Just spill it okay, I’ve got street cred riding on this.”
“Well I guess a guy just knows when his best friend is around,” said Curial.
Maurice’s mouth fell open. “Did you just say?”
“Best friend? Yeah, and it’s the last time I’ll say it.”
“I think I feel a hug coming on.”
“No you don’t,” said Curial, “that’s just gas. Now come on, we can’t be late to our first ballet.”
Curial and Maurice followed Dina out of the museum, down the steps, and then took a right. That’s when Curial noticed the long black Lincoln pull up. Not the Lincoln Mike usually drove.
This was his father’s car.
The door opened, and the always distinguished figure of Robert Mercury Diggs stepped out. Curial froze.
“Father?”
“Hi Curial.”
“But I thought you had a trip?”
“I’m headed to the airport now.”
His father shifted from side to side. Something was wrong.
“Getty went over the scores from your most recent test.”
Curial tensed up.
“They weren’t great,” said Mr. Diggs.
“But I can—”
“But they weren’t terrible either,” his father continued. “I told Getty that you’re smart, you’re a hard worker, and you’ll do better in the future.”
Curial exchanged looks with Maurice and Dina and then turned back to his father.
“Yes, sir, I will. You can count on that.”
Mr. Diggs shifted in his stance. “And there was something else.”
Curial felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. “Something else?” he replied.
“I talked with Hank earlier today.”
Oh no.
“Father, I can explain.”
“He told me that you had something to do with finding The Romanov Dolls in the walls of the museum.”
“He told you that?” Curial said.
Mr. Diggs nodded. “Pretty clever how you pieced all of that together from nothing more than a comment your mother made and a hunch.”
Curial held his breath.
“Well, whatever it was, I just wanted to say, I know…well, I know your mother is very proud of you.”
“She is?”
Robert Diggs nodded. Then he walked back to the Lincoln and opened up the door. But before getting back in, he turned back around. “And Curial?”
“Yes sir?”
“Well done.”
Curial’s throat tightened as he looked at his father. His father returned the look then began to climb back into the car. Finally, Curial managed to say something.
“Thanks, Dad.”
Robert Diggs hesitated, his hand on the door, then smiled just a little and climbed back in. The car pulled away and into the late night New York traffic towards the airport and whatever city his father had business in next. Then Curial Diggs took a deep breath, laughed, and followed a Russian and a pickpocket to the ballet.
THE END
VISIT MY AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION
ABOUT THE AUTHOR—DANIEL KENNEY
Daniel Kenney and his wife Teresa live in Omaha, Nebraska with zero cats, zero dogs, one gecko, and lots of kids. When those kids aren't driving him nuts, Daniel is busy writing books, cheering on the Benedictine Ravens, and plotting to take over the world. He is the author of other great books for young readers including The Beef Jerky Gang, The Math Inspectors series, and The Big Life of Remi Muldoon series. Find more information at www.DanielKenney.com.
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Teenage Treasure Hunter Page 18
