Rebekah--Girl Detective #6

  Contents

  Title Page

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Next Steps

  Now Available In Audio!

  Preview: #7: Swimming With Sharks?!

  Other Titles

  Legal Notices

  Rebekah - Girl Detective #6

  The Missing Gems

  By

  PJ Ryan

  Copyright © 2013 PJ Ryan

  Cover Illustration by Carolina Storni

  All rights reserved.

  PJRyanBooks.com

  “Rebekah - Girl Detective” is a short story series for children ages 9-12 with the remaining titles to be published on a regular basis. Each title can be read on its own.

  You can join Rebekah’s fun Facebook page for young detectives here:

  http://www.facebook.com/RebekahGirlDetective

  I’d really love to hear from you!

  I very much appreciate your reviews and comments so thank you in advance for taking a moment to leave one for “The Missing Gems.”

  Sincerely,

  PJ Ryan

  Chapter 1

  Rebekah was headed off to a very special field trip. She and her best friend Mouse, who was not a mouse at all, but a boy who liked to keep mice as pets, were going to visit the history museum in the city. Rebekah's teacher Mrs. Morris was in charge of their group, which made Rebekah even happier. Mrs. Morris was one of the nicest teachers she knew. Rebekah’s normally loose and curly red hair was braided tightly, and she was wearing her very best attempt at an archaeologist’s uniform which included khaki pants and a button down khaki top. She topped it off with a hat from her old dress up kit.

  “You do know we're just going to visit, right?” Mouse asked her as he sat beside her on the bus.

  “What do you mean?” Rebekah asked innocently.

  “I mean, you can't actually do any digging at the museum, you can only look at what has already been found,” he pointed out. As one of the teachers walked down the row counting off the students, he covered up his shirt pocket, where one of his mice was hidden. Mouse always had one of his pets with him. Today he had brought along Arthur, who of course was named after the famous archaeologist Arthur Evans.

  “Oh Mouse,” Rebekah sighed and wiggled one of her hands through the air. “There is always something new to be discovered!”

  “Oh no,” Mouse groaned as he sank down in his seat. Rebekah was their town's best detective, at least she liked to think so. She was always investigating something. Usually those investigations involved Mouse getting into some kind of hot water. But Rebekah always solved her mystery!

  Rebekah scooted forward in her seat and smiled over the next seat at the kids that were sitting in front of her.

  “Isn't it amazing to think that once there were no cars on this road?” she asked with a smile.

  “What's even more amazing is the invention of seat belts,” Mrs. Morris said as she pointed to the belt that Rebekah had neglected to fasten.

  “Sorry,” she blushed and clicked her seat belt shut. “I'm just really excited about the museum.”

  “Me too,” Mrs. Morris winked and then returned to her seat. The bus ride was a long one, and the teachers kept the kids busy singing songs and telling round robin stories. Each student had a turn to add their own spin to the story that was being passed around the bus. When it came to Rebekah's turn, everyone quieted down and listened closely to what she would add. So far the story was about a brown robin who got lost in the jungle and barely made it through a patch of marshmallow goo before climbing on to a rocket ship and being shot off to the moon, which the rabbit soon discovered was made out of lettuce, not cheese!

  “So the brown rabbit munched a hole right through the lettuce moon and in the middle it found-” Rebekah started to say.

  “The museum!” some of the other students started to cheer. As much as the kids liked to hear Rebekah's ideas, they were too excited by arriving at the museum to hear the end of the story.

  “I'm listening,” Mouse grinned at Rebekah. “What did the rabbit find?”

  Rebekah smirked and winked one green eye. “The museum of course!”

  Chapter 2

  As the students piled off the bus, the teachers did their best to keep them in an orderly line. Mouse had shifted Arthur to his book bag front pocket so that he would not be spotted.

  "Don't scratch my camera," he warned as he added a crumble of cheese to keep Arthur quiet. When they made it into the museum they were divided into groups. Rebekah hoped they would get to stay with Mrs. Morris, but instead they had to join a group led by Mrs. Konti. She was the strictest math teacher that Rebekah had ever had! When Rebekah wore sandals to school and tried to make a joke of counting her fingers and toes, Mrs. Konti warned her that she would get detention if she kept it up. She took math very seriously. It seemed to Rebekah that Mrs. Konti took everything very seriously.

  "Now children," she said sternly. "I don't want any of you running off. We must stay together as a group, and do not touch anything!" she stamped one foot to make that last point clear.

  Rebekah sighed, and Mouse patted the front of his book bag. "That means you Rebekah," Mrs. Konti said with a nod of her head.

  "Yes Ma'am," Rebekah replied and frowned. She did not like to be singled out. But Mrs. Konti had a point, since she had been the one to leave fingerprints all over the computer screens in their new computer lab. Rebekah found it to be very interesting and thought she could use the screens as a way to record fingerprints. She had spent an entire afternoon wiping the screens clean while being lectured about the cost of the flat screen monitors.

  Chapter 3

  The tour guide that would lead them through the museum stepped up. He was a tall and thin man wearing tiny little glasses that perched on the end of his narrow nose. He looked a bit miffed to be leading the group in the first place.

  "Hello children," he said and offered a small smile. "Our tour begins with-" as he began to speak about the first display, Rebekah's attention wandered. She had learned that being a good detective meant paying attention to what no one else noticed. So when everyone was looking in one direction, she tended to look in another. There in the window, not far from where they stood, was an empty pedestal. She narrowed her eyes so that she could read the description from a distance. It was supposed to be a collection of gems. But the gems were missing! Rebekah tugged at Mouse's sleeve, but he waved her away. He was trying to hear the speech about the dinosaur bone on display in the window right in front of them.

  "Mrs. Konti," Rebekah called out, trying to get her teacher's attention.

  "Shh!" she said sharply to Rebekah and gave her an annoyed look.

  Rebekah pursed her lips and raised her hand. She waited, hoping that either her teacher or the tour guide would call on her. But Mrs. Konti was standing just in front of her, blocking her from view. The group began to move on to another section of the tour. Mouse was following, until Rebekah grabbed his book bag and pulled him backward.

  "Mouse, please," she said. "I have to show you something!"

  "What is it?" Mouse asked as he adjusted his book bag and got his balance.

  "Look, the gems in this display are missing!" she said with a frown.

  "Oh no," he tilted his head slightly to the side. "Are you sure they're not just invisible?"

  "Of course they're not invisible," Rebekah said with a sigh. "The sign doesn't say anything about them being invisible."
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  "Oh," he nodded a little. "Well, I'm sure they'll turn up."

  "No they won't," Rebekah said firmly. "Not if we don't find them."

  "Rebekah," Mouse sighed. "We can't get in trouble today, okay?"

  "Trouble?" Rebekah crossed her arms. "I suppose ignoring the theft of gems would be okay, as long as we don't get into trouble?"

  "Right," Mouse nodded sharply and started to walk back toward the group.

  "Mouse, get back here!" Rebekah demanded. "I need your camera to take pictures of the evidence."

  Mouse turned back with a sigh. Rebekah was his best friend, and he wasn't going to let her get into trouble without him, that was for sure.

  "Here, just get it out of my bag," he said and turned around so that she could unzip it. Rebekah pulled out the camera. She scrunched up her nose as she brushed off a few tidbits of cheese.

  "What are you going to take a picture of?" Mouse asked. "There's nothing there."

  "I'm going to take a picture of what isn't there," she replied with a smile. She snapped the photograph. Then she flipped the camera over and using the tools, she expanded the picture so that it was much larger than even the naked eye could see.

  "Look," she pointed to the indents in the cushion that would have held the gems. "Now we can see what size they were, so that if we spot someone with them, we will know if they are the right ones."

  "Good thinking!" Mouse exclaimed and smiled proudly at Rebekah. Even though it wasn't always easy to be swept up into her mysteries, it was always fun!

  "Now we just have to figure out who took them," Rebekah said sternly. "If the museum staff won't listen, then we will have to do their job for them."

  Chapter 4

  The two set off down the hallway while their tour group got further and further ahead. Rebekah stalked a few steps in front of Mouse, her eyes seeking out the tiniest details about the people that she saw milling about. What her close observation could not reveal was the fact that she had not zipped up Mouse's book bag after she had opened it, which meant that there was a little mouse on the run!

  They walked up to one of the displays where many people were gathered. A museum staff member was reaching inside to point out the different aspects of the ancient artifacts inside of the window. When the crowd began to gasp and shriek, Rebekah knew that something strange was happening. She and Mouse pushed politely to the front of the crowd. Rebekah's eyes widened and Mouse groaned when they saw Arthur scuttling across the artifacts.

  "Oh no! I knew I was going to get into trouble!" Mouse sighed. Arthur ran right back out of the display, making people jump and run away from the tiny animal. Mouse chased after him, but he managed to get into a sandy exhibit of what it was like for explorers to cross the desert. There was no way for him or Rebekah to get into the display, so Arthur was on his own to cross the desert. Luckily it was only a few feet wide, and he made it to the other side. While everyone was gasping and trying to hide from the mouse, Rebekah was still watching very closely. She noticed that one man, instead of looking at the mouse, or the people who were scared, began to walk down a side hallway.

  "Look Mouse," she hissed as she watched the man glance over his shoulder and then hurry down the hallway. "That man looks like he's up to something."

  "Little busy here," Mouse called out as he lunged forward, trying to capture Arthur before he got to the dinosaur display. He failed, and the white mouse scooted off across the carpet and right into the dinosaur display.

  "Oh please, please, don't let him knock it over!" Mouse squeaked and fumbled for the cheese in his book bag. The little white mouse was running around the boney feet of the dinosaur skeletons. Each time he brushed along the bones, the skeleton shivered. "Look Arthur, cheese!" he called out. The mouse sniffed the air for a moment. Then he set his beady eyes on the cheese. He ran toward it, evading the sight of one of the museum staff members. Mouse scooped him up swiftly and tucked him safely back into his book bag with the cheese. Then he tried his best to look as if he knew nothing about mice.

  "Mouse!" Mrs. Konti called out, her eyes narrowed into a glare. "You didn't happen to bring any of your pets with you today, did you?"

  "Of course not Mrs. Konti," he said with a small smile. "Bringing a mouse to a museum, that would be silly."

  'Yes it would," Mrs. Konti agreed. "You two keep an eye out, okay?"

  "We will Mrs. Konti," Rebekah agreed. "Oh!" she gasped and pointed down the hallway. "I think I see something down there, can I go check?"

  Mrs. Konti looked back at the chaos that the museum had fallen into while the mouse was on the loose, then she nodded to Rebekah.

  "Okay, but no getting into trouble!"

  Rebekah sighed. "Why does everyone tell me that?" she asked.

  Mouse laughed and they walked down the hallway together.

  "I saw him go in one of the doors," Rebekah whispered. "We have to hurry, we won't have much time. If Mrs. Konti thinks we're gone too long, she'll come looking."

  "Do you really think he's the one who took the gems?" Mouse asked with a frown.

  "He looked like he was up to something," Rebekah said with a nod.

  "Rebekah, you think everyone is up to something," Mouse reminded her. Rebekah opened her mouth to argue, but she had no ground to stand on. He was right. She had once questioned a fireman about why he was loitering beside a hydrant. It had seemed suspicious to her at the time.

  "Here, this door," Rebekah whispered. She paused beside it. There was a small rectangular window in the door. She peered through it. Inside was a small office with a table and a bright adjustable light. The man was hunched over the table, mumbling to himself.

  "See, he's talking to himself," Rebekah pointed out. "Very suspicious."

  "Sure," Mouse shook his head and peered through the window. "Oh Rebekah look!" he said when he pointed to a mirror that was on the desk. In its reflection he could see the assorted gems. They were different sizes and many different colors, but they were the right shapes for the indents they had taken a picture of.

  "The gems!" Rebekah said happily. "We've found them!"

  "Now what?" Mouse frowned. "We can't exactly ask him for them back."

  "Why not?" Rebekah shrugged her eyes narrowed with determination.

  "Rebekah, if he's stealing the gems, then he's a dangerous man!" Mouse said firmly. "We can't just accuse him of a crime. We're just kids and he won't listen to us!"

  "You're right," Rebekah sighed and shook her head. Then she noticed another doorway marked storage. She smiled to herself. "But maybe, just maybe, if we weren't just kids."

  'What do you mean Rebekah?" Mouse asked and winced.

  Chapter 5

  Rebekah stepped over to the storage closet and tried the knob. Luckily it was unlocked. She had been to the museum before, and knew that during Halloween they had some very funny decorations. Whether they would be in this closet or not she wasn't sure, until-

  "Ah! What is that?" Mouse cried out as he ducked back out of the closet. In the very back of the closet, half hidden by the shadows, was a mummy dummy.

  "Don't worry it's just a dummy," she said with a grin and reached out to grab it.

  "Don't touch it! Don't touch it!" Mouse squeaked. It looked very real. But when Rebekah picked it up, it was very light.

  "They use these at Halloween as a joke," she explained and showed it to Mouse. "It's as harmless as a teddy bear."

  "Hmph, I like my teddy bears to look like bears," he said sharply.

  "So you have teddy bears?" Rebekah grinned.

  "Rebekah!" Mouse sighed and shook his head.

  "Come on, let's see if this will work," Rebekah smirked. She held the dummy out in front of her and spoke in a booming voice. "Mouse, do I sound like a mummy?" she asked.

  "Oh stop," he laughed. "I'm not sure whether to laugh or run!"

  "So it will work?" she asked as she peeked around the shoulder of the mummy.

  "I don't know Rebekah, but it sure is spooky," Mouse nodded.
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  Rebekah frowned. "Well it's worth a try I guess," she said and together they carried the dummy out of the storage closet.

  "Now you knock on the door and get his attention, then run off. Go back to Mrs. Konti so she doesn't come looking for us. Tell her I went to the bathroom, okay?"

  Mouse nodded, but he frowned. "Rebekah what if he doesn't believe you? What if he gets angry?"

  "I'm not afraid," Rebekah said firmly.

  "I don't know, if he's a thief," Mouse shook his head. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

  "I'll be fine," Rebekah promised. "If you don't hear from me in twenty minutes, then tell Mrs. Konti what happened, okay?" she asked. They both checked their watches to make sure they were set for the same time.

  "Be careful Rebekah," Mouse said as he started to walk off. Rebekah made the dummy mummy wave its hand at him.

  Mouse shivered and grimaced. "Stop!" he pleaded and walked back to the door where they had seen the man hunched over the gems. He knocked loudly on the door. Then he waited to make sure that the man was getting up. Then he ran off down the hallway to rejoin the school group, which was still teamed up with the museum staff to try to catch the mouse. Luckily Arthur was safely tucked into Mouse's book bag.

  Chapter 6

  When the man opened the door to the office and peeked out curiously, Rebekah went into action. She raised the mummy dummy up in front of her and waited until he looked her way. When she heard him gasp, she began to bellow.

  "You have stolen ancient gems! You must give them back! You must not steal them!" she said in a voice so loud and so dark, that the man shuddered.

  "Ah!" the man was startled by the sight of the mummy dummy. Then he wagged his finger. “Who is back there?” he asked. “You shouldn't be playing with that!”