The Kidnapped King (3 page)

Sammi came out dressed in Dink’s sweat clothes.

Pal, tied to a tree, tried to lick Sammi’s foot as he walked by.

Sammi jumped out of reach. “Is he trying to bite me?” he asked.

Josh laughed. “Naw, he’s just saying hi,” he said. “Pal wouldn’t hurt a flea. Go ahead, pet him.”

Sammi stepped closer and gave Pal a pat on his head. Then he sneezed.

“I like him,” Sammi said. “But I am still allergic.”

The kids taught Sammi the rules of touch football. They played until Dink’s mother called them in to eat.

Promising to come over the next morning, Josh untied Pal and headed for home.

“Bye, Sammi!” Ruth Rose said. She cut through the hedge to her house next door.

“Your friends are nice,” Sammi said. “Do you play together every day?”

“Sure,” Dink said. “Don’t you play with your friends in Co … in that place you come from?”

Sammi shook his head. “I have no friends. I stay in the palace and study with my tutors.”

No friends? Dink stared at Sammi. He couldn’t imagine not having Josh and Ruth Rose to hang out with.

“We better go wash up,” Dink said, looking at his dirty hands. “I hope you
like burgers and fries.”

“Burgersandfries?” Sammi said. “What is burgersandfries?”

Dink grinned. “Hamburgers and French fries. French fries are skinny little potato slices. You dip them in ketchup.”

Sammi let out a sigh. “Okay, I will try your food. Who will taste it for me?”

“Taste it?” Dink asked. “Why?”

“In my country,” Sammi explained, “my father’s enemies sometimes try to poison him. He has a servant taste our food to make sure it is safe.”

Dink grinned at Sammi. “My mom’s a real good cook. She doesn’t use much poison at all!”

Sammi’s eyes bugged out. “You are making a joke, right?”

“Yeah,” Dink said. “But we have to tell her the truth about you, okay?”

“Why?” Sammi asked.

“Because it’s the way we do things,” Dink said. “Don’t worry. You’re safe here. Nobody will get you in Green Lawn.”

During supper, Dink and Sammi told Dink’s mom the real reason why Sammi was in the United States.

“Oh, Sammi,” Dink’s mom said. “I am so sorry. Thank you for telling me.”

After they all had some ice cream, Dink and his mother helped Sammi unpack. Dink’s mother held up a long wooden box decorated with gold. “This is heavy, Sammi. What’s inside?” she asked.

Sammi opened the lid and took out a shiny kaleidoscope. Its golden sides were encrusted with jewels.

“This kaleidoscope has been in my family for many years,” Sammi explained. “It belonged to my grandfather’s grandfather and
his
grandfather! Now it is my father’s.”

“What a lovely idea!” Dink’s mother said. “Will the kaleidoscope belong to you someday?”

“On my fifteenth birthday, my father will give this to me,” Sammi said. He frowned. “At least he would have, but now … I don’t know what will happen.”

Dink felt badly for Sammi. He couldn’t imagine what he would feel like if his parents ever got kidnapped.

Dink’s mother sat on the bed next to Sammi. She took his hand. “Sammi, I’m sure your parents will be found soon,” she said. “Didn’t you tell us that your father’s friends are searching every corner of your country?”

Sammi nodded. “But his enemies are clever,” he said. “They may have taken my parents far away from Costra.”

Dink’s mother gave Sammi a hug. Then she laid his pajamas and slippers on his bed. The pj’s were red silk, and the slippers were purple velvet with floppy gold tassels.

“Pretty snazzy,” Dink said, grinning at Sammi. “I usually sleep in an old T-shirt and shorts!”

Just then, the front doorbell rang. Dink’s mother left the room.

“Watch,” Sammi said, kneeling on the floor. He unscrewed the large end of the kaleidoscope and poured out all the pieces of glass. They made a red, yellow, and blue mound on the rug.

“It comes apart!” Dink said. He picked up some of the glass. The thin pieces felt smooth in his fingers.

A knock came at the door to Sammi’s room. Joan Klinker poked her head in. “Hi, Sammi,” she said.

Sammi smiled and scooped up the glass. “I’m showing Dink my kaleidoscope,” he said. Dink helped Sammi put the kaleidoscope back in its box.

“Fine, Sammi,” Joan said, looking at her watch. “It’s almost eight. How about a short French lesson?”

She dropped a yellow book on Sammi’s bed. “Will you excuse Sammi for a little while?” she said to Dink.

“Can’t he stay?” Sammi asked. “Dink can have a lesson with me!”

Joan Klinker looked at Dink for a moment, then said, “Sure. Why not?”

“Great!” Dink said. He sat next to Sammi on the floor. Joan perched on the bed and opened the yellow book.

“First, some colors,” Joan said. She pointed at Dink’s shirt. “Blue. But in French, we say
bleu
. Repeat, Sammi.”

Sammi said,
“Bleu.”
To Dink, it sounded almost the same as “blue.”

Joan pointed at Dink. “Now you, please.”

“Bleu,”
said Dink, trying to imitate Sammi.

“Good!” Joan put a hand on Sammi’s folded pajamas. “Red,” she said.

“Rouge,”
said Sammi.

To Dink, it sounded almost like “rooj,” so that’s what he said.

Joan Klinker held up the yellow book. “
Jaune
,” she said. “
Le livre est jaune
. The book is yellow.”

She pointed at Dink. “Can you say
jaune?
”

Dink blushed. “Joan,” he finally said.

“No, Joan is my name,” the tutor said.

Dink tried again. “Zhone,” he said.

Sammi laughed. “That’s okay,” he said. “It took me a month to learn to say
jaune.
”

“Now we will do some numbers,” Joan said.

A half hour later, she closed the yellow book. “That’s all for tonight,” she said. “Tomorrow we will continue.”

She checked the locks on Sammi’s
window, his bathroom door, and the door out into the hall. Then she turned and smiled. “
Bonsoir
, Sammi.”

“Bonsoir, madame,”
Sammi answered.

After Joan left, Dink stood up and yawned. “Night, Sammi. I’ll wake you up for breakfast.”

Dink headed into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror. Tomorrow, he decided, he’d learn how to say “My toothbrush is purple.” In French!

The next morning, Dink washed his hands and face, then tapped on Sammi’s bedroom door.

“Rise and shine!” Dink said. “We’re having pancakes and sausages for breakfast!”

There was no answer. Dink opened the door and peeked in. Sammi’s bed was mussed, but he wasn’t in it.

“Sammi?” Dink said, glancing
around the empty room.
Where could he be?
Dink wondered as he headed down the stairs.

“Mom, Sammi’s not in his room,” Dink said.

Dink’s mother stopped spooning pancake batter into a frying pan. “He’s not? Where is he?”

“I don’t know, Mom.” Dink shoved open the back door and looked around the yard. “Not out here either,” he said.

As Dink pulled the door shut again, his hand struck something sharp.

“Mom, look at this!” he yelled.

The wood around the door lock was shattered. Jagged slivers of wood stuck out. A few wood splinters lay on the floor under Dink’s feet.

“Oh, my goodness!” his mother said. “Someone forced the door open!”

She turned and hurried up the hall stairs. Dink followed his mom into the guest room.

“Sammi?” his mom called. “Sammi, please answer! If you’re hiding, please come out.”

But Sammi did not answer.

“I’m calling Officer Fallon,” Dink’s mother said. “And Joan Klinker! Why don’t you run next door and find out if Ruth Rose’s family saw anything?”

Dink charged down the stairs and
out of the house. He tore into Ruth Rose’s yard and banged his fist on her door.

Ruth Rose opened it, munching on a piece of toast.

“Have you seen Sammi?” Dink asked, out of breath.

She shook her head. “Why, is he missing?”

“Yes!” Dink said. “Someone broke in … Sammi’s gone!”

“WHAT?” Ruth Rose yelled. “You mean he was kidnapped?”

Suddenly, Dink heard a siren. He left Ruth Rose with the toast in her hand and raced back to his front yard.

A police cruiser roared around the corner and whipped into his driveway. As the siren died, Officers Fallon and Keene burst out of the car.

Dink’s mom came flying out of the house. Her face was white. “Thank
goodness you came,” she told the officers. “I think our house guest has been kidnapped!”

Just then, a yellow taxi pulled up in front of Dink’s house. The rear door flew open, and Joan Klinker climbed out.

“What has happened to Sammi?” she called, running across the front yard.

“We don’t know,” Dink’s mother said. “He’s not in the house, and the lock on our back door has been forced open.”

Joan Klinker put her hand to her mouth. She swayed, then started to topple. Officer Keene caught her just before she fell.

“Bring her inside,” Dink’s mother said, running for the front door.

“Take a look around,” Officer Fallon told Officer Keene. Then he helped
Dink’s mother take Joan Klinker into the house.

Ruth Rose appeared through the hedge that separated their yards. She was dressed in blue bib overalls, a blue shirt, and blue high-top sneakers.

“Is Sammi really gone?” she asked Dink. “This isn’t a joke, is it?”

Dink shook his head. His mouth was so dry he could hardly swallow. “I think it’s real,” he said, remembering what Sammi had told them about his father’s enemies.

“But how could anyone just walk in and take him?” Ruth Rose asked.

“Our back door lock is busted,” Dink said. “They must have gotten in that way.”

Ruth Rose’s mom and dad joined them as Dink explained.

“Let’s all search the street,” Ruth Rose’s dad suggested. He went to organize the neighbors.

Just then, Josh arrived with his dog. “What’s going on, Dinkus?” he asked. “Why’s the cruiser here?”

“Sammi is gone,” Dink said. “We think he’s been kidnapped!”

Josh’s mouth dropped open. Then he grinned. “This is a joke, right?”

Dink shook his head. “Come on, I’ll show you where the kidnappers broke the kitchen door.”

Dink started for the front steps. But before he reached the door, it opened. Joan Klinker and Dink’s mother stepped out.

“Are you sure you’re all right, Joan?” Dink’s mother asked. “Won’t you stay for a while?”

Joan Klinker shook her head. “I have to make some phone calls,” she muttered. Then she hurried into the cab and it pulled away.

“That poor woman,” Dink’s mom said, heading back to the kitchen.

As Dink climbed the porch steps, something shiny caught his eye.

He bent down and picked up a small piece of yellow glass.

“What’s that?” Ruth Rose asked.

Dink stared at the yellow sliver. He remembered where he’d seen others just like it.

“This came out of Sammi’s kaleidoscope!” he said.