Maddy West and the Tongue Taker

by Brian Falkner

  Below them, the streets and cars disappeared as the plane flew up through the clouds.

  “Did there really used to be magic in the world?” Maddy asked.

  “Many people think so,” Professor Coateloch said.

  “So is that what these scrolls are all about?” Maddy asked, wondering if that might give her a clue about Dimitar’s father and his strange warning.

  “Well,” Professor Coateloch hesitated, “it’s a little bit complicated, Maddy.”

  “I’m quite clever with complicated stuff.”

  The professor laughed. “Indeed, you are. When the world discovered science, most people stopped believing in magic. It was easier to believe in science because you could prove science, but you couldn’t prove magic.”

  That was strangely similar to what Dimitar’s father had said on the train. A cold finger ran up and down her spine, and she shivered.

  “Why not?” Maddy asked.

  “Because there were so many tricksters pretending to do magic.”

  “Like conjurers?” Maddy asked.

  “Yes, exactly.”

  “So if someone could do real magic, people just thought he was another trickster,” Maddy said.

  “That’s right,” Professor Coateloch said.

  “So is the book real?” Maddy asked. “The scrolls? Are they honestly magic?”

  “Oh, I doubt it,” Professor Coateloch said. “But scientists like me want to study them anyway.”

  Maddy thought about that. It seemed funny to her that science had driven magic out of the world, but now it was scientists who wanted to find out about magic. She couldn’t work out how to say what she was thinking, however, so she didn’t.

  “I’ll be back in a moment,” Professor Coateloch said. She undid her seat belt and walked toward the back of the plane where the toilets were.

  Maddy stared back out the window. She couldn’t see the ground anymore, only white fluffy clouds, like a bunch of cotton balls making a huge carpet that spread in every direction. She realized that they were flying higher than the clouds. It was the first time in her life she had ever seen clouds from the top instead of from the bottom.

  When she turned back, Kazuki was sitting next to her, which gave her such a great shock that she squealed. Kazuki was wearing his ninja suit but was just taking off his mask.

  “Kazuki!” she said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I couldn’t let you go off on such a big adventure all by yourself,” Kazuki said.

  “But, but . . .” was all Maddy could say.

  “I said you might need a ninja to protect you,” Kazuki said.

  Maddy was about to say that Kazuki was not a real ninja but stopped herself because that might have hurt his feelings. It was very brave of him and not like him at all.

  “Thank you, Kazuki,” she said, and meant it.

  “I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Kazuki said. “I promise.”

  Maddy smiled. Kazuki wasn’t very large, and he wasn’t very strong. She thought if anything, it would be she who had to protect him, but she didn’t say that. “How did you get on the plane?” she asked.

  Kazuki looked at her and made a face like she had just said something stupid. “I went invisible,” he said.

  “And it worked?” Maddy said. “I mean . . .”

  Kazuki laughed. “I didn’t really go invisible. Well, sort of. I sneaked away from Mom and went to the customs area, but I wasn’t sure what to do. I mean, I brought my passport, but I didn’t have a ticket. I was going to try to go invisible, but then this huge man starting shouting and everyone was running everywhere, and in all the confusion I just slipped past the customs counters.”

  Kazuki seemed to have a real knack for not being seen, Maddy thought.

  “That was Dimitar,” she said. “I’ve got a strange story to tell you about him. But what about security?”

  “They didn’t ask me for a ticket,” Kazuki said. “They just made me walk through the metal detector.”

  “But they must have checked your ticket when you got on the plane,” Maddy said.

  Kazuki shook his head. “I went through with a big family. The dad was holding all the tickets, and the lady was in a hurry and I think she must have miscounted.”

  Maddy shut her mouth once again. In a way, Kazuki had been invisible. If she could speak strange, ancient languages, then who was she to say whether or not Kazuki could do something amazing, too?

  What she was most surprised about, though, was that Kazuki had gone through so much trouble. He was such a quiet and nervous boy and was the last person she could imagine doing anything like that — yet here he was!

  “What’s the strange story about the big man?” Kazuki asked.

  Maddy opened her mouth to reply, but just then, Professor Coateloch arrived back at the seat.

  “I’ll tell you later,” Maddy whispered.

  The professor was even more surprised to see Kazuki than Maddy had been.

  “Hello?” she said. “You’re Maddy’s friend, aren’t you? You came to see us off at the airport.”

  “Yes, Kazuki decided to come with us,” Maddy said.

  “Where are your parents sitting?” the professor asked.

  Kazuki just smiled at her.

  “He doesn’t speak much English,” Maddy explained, then translated the question for Kazuki.

  “They didn’t come — only me,” Kazuki said.

  “And they didn’t mind?” the professor was clearly quite confused.

  Kazuki shook his head.

  Professor Coateloch sat down, staring at Kazuki with her eyebrows furrowed.

  After a while, an attendant brought them meals.

  “Professor Coateloch,” Maddy asked after the meal, “how many languages do you speak?”

  “Just three,” the professor said. “English, French, and Latin.”

  “Three languages. That’s very impressive,” Maddy said.

  “Nowhere near as impressive as you,” the professor said.

  “Are there other people who can speak lots of languages?” Maddy asked.

  “There are many people who are fluent in five or six languages,” she said. “And I know someone who can speak nineteen languages. I did hear of a man in Brazil who claimed he could speak more than fifty languages, but I don’t know if that was ever proven.”

  Maddy translated all that for Kazuki.

  Professor Coateloch said, “President James Garfield of the United States could write in Latin with one hand and Ancient Greek with the other hand at the same time!”

  “Wow!” said Maddy.

  Toward the end of the flight, the flight attendant who had served them their drinks came back with a man in a uniform.

  “Ms. Coateloch?” the attendant asked.

  “Yes,” the professor said.

  “And this is Maddy, who is traveling with you?” The attendant smiled at Maddy.

  “Yes,” the professor said.

  “Are you the pilot?” Maddy asked the man.

  “No, I’m the purser,” he said. “I’m in charge of the cabin.”

  “And would this be Kazuki Takamori by any chance?” the flight attendant asked.

  Professor Coateloch looked at Maddy.

  Maddy nodded.

  “Kazuki, can I see your passport?” the purser asked.

  “He doesn’t speak English,” Professor Coateloch said.

  Maddy translated for Kazuki, who reached inside his ninja suit and pulled out a passport from an inside pocket. The purser checked it, and then handed it back to him.

  “Kazuki, your parents are very worried about you,” the attendant said.

  “He ran away from his mother at the airport,” the purser said. “They’ve been searching everywhere for him.”
/>   Kazuki seemed upset as Maddy translated. “I left her a note,” he said.

  “That’s how we found out you were on the plane,” the attendant said. “But they are still very upset.”

  “Nobody could understand how you managed to get past customs and security,” the purser said.

  “I thought he had changed seats to sit next to Maddy,” Professor Coateloch said.

  “Well, there’s nothing we can do right now,” the purser said. He looked sternly at Kazuki. “But don’t go anywhere.”

  Maddy smiled at that. Where was there to go?

  Then the purser said, “The police in Bulgaria have been notified, and they’ll be at the airport to meet the plane.”

  “Is Kazuki in trouble?” Maddy asked.

  “I don’t think so,” the attendant said. “The police just want to get him back home safely to his parents.”

  The attendant and the purser went back to doing other important plane stuff.

  Maddy put her arm around Kazuki’s shoulders. She felt sorry for him. He had done something brave, and it had all gone wrong. But she couldn’t help feeling a little relieved. Now she wouldn’t have to be responsible for him.

  But even as she thought it, she felt guilty for thinking it.

  Kazuki began to cry.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  SOFIA

  THEY LANDED IN SOFIA, the capital city of Bulgaria. Maddy, Professor Coateloch, and Kazuki were asked to leave the plane first, while all the other passengers stayed in their seats.

  Two police officers — one male, one female, both wearing crisp blue shirts with dark ties and peaked hats — were waiting at the end of the jetway.

  Maddy expected them to be stern with Kazuki, but it was quite the opposite. The male officer gave Kazuki a big, friendly smile, and the female officer kneeled down in front of him and began to talk.

  Maddy translated as the officer explained that although Kazuki had broken the law, he wasn’t going to be in any trouble. His parents just wanted him home as soon as possible. A lady from the Japanese Embassy was coming to the airport to help sort out the arrangements, and they were going to book him a seat on the next available flight back to England.

  Kazuki glanced back at Maddy as he was led away, and she was surprised by the look in his eyes. He no longer looked as though he was going to cry. If anything, she thought, he had made his mind up about something.

  After Kazuki and the police officers left, Maddy and Professor Coateloch were allowed to go and collect their bags.

  The baggage collection area was crowded. Maddy saw Dimitar standing in a line of people moving slowly toward an exit. He had a small suitcase slung over his shoulder. She waved, but he didn’t see her. He was probably in a hurry to collect his monkey from the luggage handlers, she decided. That was a shame. She would have liked to ask him about his father.

  Maddy’s backpack and Professor Coateloch’s suitcase were going around on a large black conveyor belt with all the other passengers’ luggage. The professor went to get a cart to put their bags on. Maddy’s backpack came past, and she picked it up. It seemed heavier than before. She was just about to hoist it onto her shoulders when the backpack moved . . . all by itself.

  Confused and alarmed, she prodded the backpack with her finger. It moved again.

  Maddy looked around for the professor, not entirely sure what to do. After a moment’s hesitation, she unzipped the backpack and pulled it open slightly. Two small eyes peered up at her from the shadows inside. She was so frightened by what she found that she almost dropped it.

  She opened it wider. A tiny monkey was curled up on top of the sweater that she had packed in case it was cold in Bulgaria.

  “Mr. Chester,” she whispered. “What are you doing in there?”

  Mr. Chester chirped quietly at her.

  He must have escaped from the cage, she thought. He had such clever little hands that maybe he was able to reach through the bars and undo the lock. But why was he in her backpack? Had he known it was hers?

  Regardless, Dimitar would be very upset when he got to the cargo place and found his monkey wasn’t there. She looked around for him, but he was gone.

  “What are we going to do with you?” she asked. “You’re a very naughty little monkey.”

  Mr. Chester chirped again and grinned at her, which made her giggle.

  Maddy saw the professor walking back toward them with a luggage cart.

  “Here’s Professor Coateloch,” she said. “She’ll know what to do.”

  Then a curious thing happened. Mr. Chester popped his head out of the top of Maddy’s backpack and peeked at the professor walking toward them. He ducked back down into Maddy’s backpack and raised one finger to his monkey lips.

  “Here we go,” Professor Coateloch said as she arrived.

  Maddy looked back at Mr. Chester, who raised his finger once again to his lips and winked at her.

  Maddy quickly shut the bag.

  “Everything okay?” Professor Coateloch asked.

  “Yes, everything’s fine,” said Maddy.

  But inside, her mind was spinning and her heart was thumping — had she really seen what she thought she’d seen?

  There were so many strange things happening that she wasn’t quite sure what to believe. It seemed like Mr. Chester didn’t want her to tell Professor Coateloch he was there. But if she couldn’t tell the professor, whom could she tell?

  Something very strange was going on. First, Dimitar’s father had turned up on Maddy’s train talking about magic. Now his monkey had appeared in her backpack. And from what she had seen so far, this was no ordinary monkey. Maybe if she just looked after Mr. Chester for now, she could find a way to return him to Dimitar later.

  She was still worrying about this when they arrived at the customs line. The last people from their flight were going through, and just after they arrived, another long line of people began to come in behind them, off another flight. They were lucky to have gotten in before the crowd.

  The customs man was bald, but he had a long mustache. He smiled down at Maddy when she stepped up to the counter and handed over her passport. Professor Coateloch stepped up with her, but the man held up a hand and said, “One at time.”

  “But we’re traveling together,” the professor said.

  “One at time,” the man repeated.

  Professor Coateloch moved back and stood behind a white line that was painted on the floor. The man turned to Maddy.

  “Welcoming in Bulgaria,” he said in rather poor English. “For why is the porpoise of your trip?”

  “We are here to visit an old monastery,” Maddy said in Bulgarian.

  “You are Bulgarian?” The man looked puzzled and continued in Bulgarian. “But you have a British passport?”

  “I’m English,” Maddy said. “But I can speak Bulgarian.”

  “You must have had a good teacher,” the man said. “Do you have anything to declare?”

  “What does that mean?” Maddy asked.

  “It means: do you have anything in your bag that you shouldn’t have?”

  “Oh no,” Maddy said. “I’m only nine.”

  “I didn’t think so,” said the customs man. “So no food or animal products?”

  “What are animal products?” Maddy asked.

  “Anything that comes from animals,” the man said. “Like meat or leather — things like that.”

  Maddy sighed. She should have told Professor Coateloch about the monkey. Now she was going to be in big trouble. But she couldn’t lie. That would get her into even bigger trouble.

  “Do animals count?” she asked, hoping the answer would be no.

  But the man said, “Definitely. What kind of animal would you have in your bag, young lady?”

  “A monkey,” Maddy said.

 
The man laughed. “Toys don’t count.”

  “He’s a real monkey,” Maddy said. “He can do tricks and everything.”

  “Of course,” the man said with a smile.

  “Do you want to see him?” Maddy asked.

  The man looked past her at the long line of people waiting and shook his head.

  “I’m sure it is a very nice monkey. I don’t need to see it,” he said.

  Maddy breathed a sigh of relief, which made the man laugh.

  He stamped something in Maddy’s passport and waved her through. While she waited for the professor to come through, she opened the bag again to check on Mr. Chester. He was sitting up, and he gave her a worried look.

  “It’ll be all right, Mr. Chester,” Maddy said. “I’ll look after you until we find Dimitar. I promise.”

  Whatever was going on, Maddy was sure that it was something much bigger, much stranger, and much more mysterious than she could possibly imagine.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  SOZOPOL

  SO FAR BULGARIA had been a pleasant surprise. It was nothing like Maddy had expected. For some reason, she had imagined gloomy old castles and ancient stone buildings surrounded by cobblestone roads, full of the strange foreign people her mom had been worried about.

  But it turned out to be a pleasant, modern country, and there was nothing gloomy about it. The skies were blue, and the countryside was green, and the people seemed nice. All in all it looked like a very happy place to be — and a lot less grimy and gloomy than many parts of the town where she herself lived.

  From the airport they caught a train to Burgas, and from there, a bus to Sozopol.

  At the train station in Burgas, Maddy had another surprise when she saw a large poster in a glass case.

  It was for a wrestling match. She had seen wrestling posters back home in England, and this was like them, with two fierce men glaring at each other and a wrestling ring behind them. Above their heads was a belt made of leather and gold plaques, and she guessed that this was the prize they were fighting for. One of the men was a very muscly man with a bald head and narrow, stabbing eyes. The other man was Dimitar the Giant. Maddy stared at the poster.