Fleeced (9 page)

Zoe was locking passports in the hotel safe. Stan's was still on the counter as the twins handed in theirs. The Visitors' Book which Stan had already signed, was nearby.

Remembering Big Jon's autograph collection, Christopher asked ‘Can you tell a fake from a real signature?'

‘Depends whether I've seen the original or not,' replied Big Jon.

Christopher pointed to Stan's passport.' Look. Was that written by the same person as the autograph in the book?'

Big Jon squinted. ‘Different ink. Same hand.'

‘But what about his photo?' Christopher pointed to the passport.

‘Stan wears contacts,' said Amy. ‘And he used to have a beard. He told me.'

At that moment, Bertha arrived, all dressed up, in a hot pink suit. She offered a box to Amy. ‘Sorry about the accident. Here's a present.'

‘Thanks.' Amy unwrapped the very rich chocolates.' I thought you and Stan were smugglers .'

‘No. I'm just a failed dieter,' admitted Bertha. ‘And probably an ex-girlfriend by now. I lost the bet.'

‘What bet?'

‘That I could do the Track alone, without even talking to him. He didn't want me there. Remember when you asked me about the bomb-scare on the plane. I pretended it wasn't me. I was so mixed up.'

‘Was he collecting keas?'

‘No, he was just looking at them. Bird- watching is his new hobby.'

‘New hobby? How well did you know him before?''

‘Not well. He was a different person then. He used to invent things.'

‘Then why did he want two group photos as proof he'd been on the Track?' asked Amy.

‘He wanted to give one to our Weight Loss Club for their magazine. He won the trip as a prize because he lost the most weight last year,' said Bertha quickly. 'The Greatest Loser!'

‘Ah. That's why the passport photo didn't fit the man,' Christopher said.

One mystery solved. A before and after diet-shaped Stan.

Their parents had finished filming and Dr Al was very pleased with the result. He gave Amy some Antarctic stickers as well as autographing for Big Jon's collection.

‘Let's recycle the birthday candles,' he suggested.

‘As Pompolona scones?' joked Dad.' After we edit Dr Al's video, we'll do one on the kea. Just a short documentary. The frequent flyer kea-thief from the Celebrity Trek.'

‘What was the high point of your trek, Stan?' asked Zoe.

‘The Mc Kinnon Pass was the highest point,' said Stan.

‘I don't think that's what she meant,' said Mum quietly. ‘What did you like best?'

‘Finishing the walk. And winning my bet with Bertha. She didn't believe I could pretend to be a different personality for a whole four days. But I did. I wasn't shy, was I? ‘ Stan appealed to them. ‘It was all because of the prize. I'd never had that much money before. On top of the air tickets , the rugby match and the Milford Track trip. You see it was a ‘lose the most weight' competition. And I won the ‘Biggest Loser'. So I decided to become a new person. At home, I'm usually shy and quiet. I've always been fat. And since I was 18, I wore a beard. So I decided to lose weight, shave off the beard, buy new clothes and pretend for a week that I was the person I always wanted to be.'

For the first time, Amy almost liked Stan. But who he was going to be next week? Would he be Stan- the- Funny Man or Stan-the-Shy? Would it be hard going back to what he was before?

‘Why did you pretend not to know Bertha?' asked Amy.

‘Because we had a dare. She said she'd walk it all by herself. And stick to healthy food. But I cheated. I had my diet pills in the top of my walking stick,' admitted Stan.

‘Have you officially met my ... er ... girlfriend Brenda Tree?'

‘Yes.' The twins nodded.

Ms Tree, the Freedom Walker, beamed. ‘It was worth my sore feet.'

‘Have a chocolate,' offered Amy.

Ms Tree rubbed the rainbow coloured key dangling from a chain around her neck.

‘No thanks.'

‘Ms Tree. Ace name.' said Amy. ‘Why did you rip the Milford map out of the In-flight magazine?' Brian the other Loser had used the same map page.

‘Just so I wouldn't get lost,' smiled Bertha.

‘The airline magazine is a freebie,' said Amy. ‘You could have taken the whole magazine.'

‘But I didn't want to carry the extra weight of a whole magazine,' said Bertha.

Perhaps Stan and Bertha were meant for each other. Amy wondered about the plane bomb-scare that wasn't.

Did that person forget other things too, apart from the radio which felt like bombs?

‘Where's Gertrude?'

‘Flew out on an early plane. An emergency. The cloud's down. No other planes can leave,' said Zoe. Even

Mitre Peak is blotted out by cloud.'

‘Did she take her golf clubs?'

‘Of course. In an extra seat.'

‘Will airport security check them?'

‘Why? Do you think Gertrude's smuggling nuggets out from the Milford Track?'

‘Probably.' The twins asked Zoe for the kea watch. Christopher took the back off.

‘Look!' Inside were three gold nuggets.

‘I don't believe it! Gertrude was a smuggler!' said Stan in amazement.

‘Gertrude's son, Brian Todd,' said the twins.

Apparently Zoe had suspicions too, especially about the son. “I'll call ahead, but ... it's probably too late.'

‘We think she was going to smuggle nuggets out of the country in her golf-bag. But her son had planned for her to use the back of copy-watches, like he did. Todd had marked the nugget locations on the original map. Unfortunately it was left behind by accident. After he was arrested for credit-card fraud, his mother was sent to pick up the other nuggets. The cook at the hut was in the scam. The nuggets were to be placed in vegetarian sandwiches marked Gertrude.

‘In every packet, every day?' asked their disbelieving parents. ‘Hard on the teeth.' added Dad.

‘Of course not. Only from the cook-thief's hut. The other vegetarian sandwiches were real peanut butter. Not nugget-filled sandwiches.'

‘Very crunchy peanut butter.' Dad was amazed that he'd missed so much under his own camera eye.' But didn't that kea steal Gertrude's nugget sandwich!'

‘That's why she chased that kea. And when she fell in the river, her watch insides got wet. And now she's got away with the gold.' ‘

Christopher felt let down. After working out about the copy watches and the nuggets , Zoe said it was too late. No proof that Gertrude had nuggets on her. And she'd gone, using the excuse of a family emergency in the States because she knew they suspected her. She had probably already flown out of Auckland for the States.

Unfortunately, it was time now for the other trekkers to fly home.

Flight seers were taking off now the cloud had lifted. As the twins flew out of Milford Airfield, they flew back across the Track, and could see the mountains, the pass and the lodges.

Amy checked the soggy map against the real places underneath. Most of the nuggets had been near the Pass.

‘A kea's eye view,' said Stan wistfully. He was squashed in a seat with the overflowing Ms Tree who was holding his hand, firmly.

Chapter 12

They didn't expect to see Gertrude again, but ...

Their parents were exchanging their New Zealand money at the airport Bureau du Change. The twins were waiting nearby.

‘Look! ‘ Christopher pointed. A Maori carved doorway led out to the Auckland airport car park. The golden-brown archway was a gift to travellers from the Maori Queen and her people. Amy read the inscription aloud.

Telling a story in pictures was like reading an old fashioned comic. That's why Christopher was staring at the panel and didn't notice when Gertrude hurried past struggling with her golf bag. She also had a carry-on bag and a laptop.

Amy glanced across, just in time to see her.

Gertrude's still here! She's heading for the International gateway! Chase her, Chris!' yelled Amy despairingly. It wasn't fair having an ankle like hers just now. A traveller cramming suitcases on the trundle, got in the way as Christopher took off.

‘ I'll catch her!' called Christopher across his shoulder. He wasn't sure what he'd do when he caught up to her. Seeing her was amazing luck, but she did have to fly out from some airport. And this was the biggest.

‘Watch out!' yelled Amy. Was that meant to be a clue? Christopher was panting hard as he ran. Did Gertrude have the nuggets in her sheep watch?

Or in the golf club bag?

At the International gate, Gertrude's golf bag was already moving on the scanner belt. She turned and recognised Christopher. This time, she was NOT pleased to see him. Nervously her hand went to her chest. Officials checked her carry-on bags through and hurriedly she entered the security doorway.

‘Wait!' called Christopher. He wasn't sure what to do. He had his passport in his bum bag and his ticket, so he could go through too. He threw his carry-bag onto the belt, just behind Gertrude's bags.

Then the alarms started.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

‘Probably just my keys, dear,' Gertrude said soothingly to the guard who was running the security wand over her. ‘Always happens.'

‘Beep. Beep. ‘ When the guard ‘wanded ‘ her, the alarm started near her chest.

‘Anything metallic Madam?' asked the security man.' Buttons perhaps?'

Christopher couldn't tell if the sheep copy-watch was still pinned underneath, but the beeps were loud.

Nuggets were metal. Wouldn't they beep?

The ‘wand' went lower.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

‘Are my golf clubs all right? ‘ asked Gertrude anxiously. She pointed to them waiting ‘They are not outsized luggage. They have a seat ticket. I wouldn't like to lose them. Golf is my great love. I've even bought a seat for my clubs.'

The guard gave a quick look towards the golf clubs. His attention had been broken.

‘The beeps must have been this special golf tee.' Gertrude pulled it out of her pocket.

‘It's metallic. Shall I go through now? I don't like to hold up all these people behind me.'

A queue was gathering. But Christopher was two behind her.

‘Probably right Madam,' said the guard and began to wave her through. ‘ Seat tickets are unusual for clubs but these seem to be in order.'

‘The belt!' yelled Amy hobbling forward. Christopher thought she meant the security scanner belt that people put their luggage on.

‘The nugget. On her belt!' yelled Amy just before she tripped over.

There was a second security guard at the end of the counter. This one was a woman. At Amy's yell, she looked

up. Her eyes swept over the hurrying Gertrude. ‘Just a minute Madam.'

She looked at Gertrude's long pants. ‘Underneath that jacket, do you have a belt on your slacks, Madam?'

Gertrude started to bluster. Her face went red. ‘Do you have the right to ask me all these questions? I'm late for my flight and...'

Holding her ‘wand' like a weapon, the security woman advanced.

‘Belts often have metal buckles. That activates our scanner. But your belt looks very unusual, Madam. It looks like a nugget.'

‘Belt up!' said Gertrude rudely. ‘But for those twins, I would have gone through.'

‘It is illegal to take out undeclared gold,' said the security officer.' Let's go into the examination rooms.'

‘Why should I? My son wasn't stopped when he carried nuggets through, a few weeks ago,' blustered Gertrude who'd changed personalities, fast.

‘The wand is also beeping near this watch!' The security guard touched the sheep brooch-watch.

Suddenly Gertrude stopped blustering. She undid the belt. Stuck on top of the buckle was a large gold shape, so big, it looked fake.

‘A nugget!' said a satisfied Christopher. Amy gave him the thumbs up signal from across the barrier, just as their parents hurried up.

The officials led Gertrude away. They also took her golf clubs to check.

Later, over kiwi- fruit ice creams, the twins discussed the ‘scam' with their parents.

‘D'you think she thought officials would notice the cartoon covers and miss the copy watch and the belt?' said Christopher as he licked his spoon.

‘The guards said smugglers do wear nuggets on their belts. The scanner picks up the metal, but often officials don't realise it's real gold,' explained Mum as she checked their luggage labels. ‘They just think it's brass or whatever buckles are made of.'

Christopher flicked back through his sketchpad. ‘I drew an unusual buckle on that man's belt at Sydney airport. D'you think he might be a smuggler?'

Mum glanced at the sketch.' No. He probably just had bad taste in belt buckles.'

‘What's this?' She pointed to another sketch on the same page.

‘The fake-bomb,' explained Christopher. ‘The radio.'

Mum shivered. ‘I'm glad it's only a sketch. He must have been very forgetful to leave an expensive birthday present behind.'

‘Other people are forgetful too,' added Amy thinking of Brian Todd's backpack as she stamped her postcard.

‘You know there's a special Milford Track stamp,' she showed her brother. ‘I collected it.'

‘If you post it to Aunty Viv, you won't have the stamp anymore.'

Christopher was right, for once. Amy scribbled an extra message on the card.

Please keep kea stamp. Love Amy.

‘Oh, ‘Mum looked embarrassed. “Luckily no-one we know is turning 70 soon. I left the 7 and the 0 candles behind, zipped in your backpack. Perhaps the next 108 backpacker will wonder if you were seventy years old, Amy ?'

‘Or seven years old,' suggested Christopher. ‘Or a candle-collector, or...'

‘Get lost Christopher,' said his sister.