Emma's Six- The Final Year

The International Gallery

The coach reaches the International Gallery in the morning, where the Mona Lisa stays until her return to Paris. It's exciting that we're the first ones to see her. Mr Chandra walks up the steps first and stands in front of us. The building behind him has tall columns holding the roof up, and it looks like it originated in Ancient Greece. Of course, it wouldn't have come from there, but it gives that sort of vibe. I wonder if the other officers will like coming here? Going out on day trips could help them understand the modern world better. Mrs Taylor stands with us as we listen to him speak. 'Right, hand your phones in at Reception, and no running.' Of course, most students take the 'no running' as 'let's run as fast as possible to the entrance and get in first'. My group is one of them. 'No running! We're here as honoured guests, not like some hormonal SAS.' We get into Reception and hand our phones in.

The room smells of cleaning products; they must've cleaned it before we arrived. Other than us, there is barely anyone around. At the front desk are all sorts of things on sale, postcards, guidebooks, mugs, and free maps. 'Freebies!' Clyde says, and dashes for the maps. He picks one up and shows it to us.
'I'll pass, thanks.'
'Your loss. Anyway, what did Sarah Jane and Ruby say about me winning this prize?' Clyde stashes the map in his bag before he slings it over his shoulder again. We start walking, sticking to our group and not really interacting with anyone else.
'Nothing. We're not really talking.'
'What happened?' I ask.
'They're being such... mums.'
'Yeah, well, it's probably best she doesn't know.' Clyde accidentally walks into Mr Chandra, who turns to us with a startled look on his face.
'Careful, Clyde. Even star pupils need to watch where they're going.'
'Sir.'
'So, how are you feeling? Er, nervous?'
'Weirded out. I mean, teachers are never this friendly.' I share an amused glance with the other queens, and Anne chuckles and shakes her head.
'You see, diligence has its rewards.' Mr Chandra places an arm around Clyde. 'Perhaps now you'll put the same enthusiasm into your other schoolwork- and hopefully, be a good role model to Emma.'

A woman approaches Mr Chandra. She has jaw-length brown hair and has red glasses. She is wearing a beige cardigan and a matching blouse with a grey skirt. 'Mr Chandra?' She asks. 'Park Vale?'
'Yes.' Mr Chandra lets Clyde go and turns his attention to the woman. He shakes hands with her.
'Mr Harding will receive you upstairs.'
'Great.'
'Come this way.'
'Okay, everyone, follow me.' We walk across the vast reception room and up the stairs. I noticed a matching staircase on the other side of the room.

We head into one of the galleries, and there are photographs of the Mona Lisa everywhere. I ignore the pictures as best as possible and look at the other works of art. One of them is a Chinese puzzle lock, and it looks well-carved. Whoever created it was a genius. Catalina, Anne, Jane, Anna, and Kitty also gather around it. 'The puzzle lock doesn't fit in with anything else in this room,' Anne says, looking around. On the walls are all sorts of artwork, mostly of people. All the other objects date to ancient times, and I note that Anne is right.
'Maybe they accidentally placed it in the wrong room?' I suggest.
'Maybe,' Anne sounds sceptical, 'but it doesn't look like it's meant to be art at all.' Anne picks it up.
'Careful!' Jane hisses, grabbing Anne's hands and slowly moving the puzzle lock back to its podium. 'It's an art gallery. You're not supposed to pick it up either, okay? You look, you don't touch.'
'This isn't art,' I say, 'it's something else.'
'Are you getting a weird vibe from it?'
'Something like that.'

Mr Chandra walks back over, followed by the woman from earlier and another person. The man has short, greying hair, and is wearing a chequered white shirt, a blue bow tied and a matching blazer, and grey trousers. This must be the Mr Harding Mr Chandra talked about yesterday. 'Clyde?' Mr Chandra asks, and Clyde looks over at the group before walking over to join them. 'This is Mr Harding, curator of the gallery. Clyde Langer. We're really proud of him.'
'Congratulations, Clyde,' Mr Harding says, shaking Clyde's hand. Mr Harding has a warm smile, and I can feel the warmth radiating from him. 'You're very talented.'
'Such a handsome boy,' the woman from earlier says.
'Oh, this is my assistant, Miss Trupp. Now....' Mr Harding is unable to finish his sentence as Miss Trupp shakes Clyde's hand.
'You really are so gifted, Clyde.'
'Cheers.'
'As soon as I saw your picture, I knew you'd win. It wasn't up to me, of course, but if it had been, you'd have won. Well, you did! So... it all turned out for the best.' Rani, Luke, the queens, and I join them.
'These are my friends, Rani Chandra, Luke Smith-White, and the six ex-wives of King Henrat the Eighth. Of course, Catalina, Anne, Jane, Anna, Kitty, and Emma don't like talking about it, so we normally refer to them as "Six" if we want to get all their attention.'
'Well, it works,' Catalina agrees, and the rest of us nod.
'Miss Trupp, perhaps you should go and check the final preparations,' Mr Harding says.
'Oh, yes.' I noticed how Miss Trupp's face fell before she left us.
'Big day for us all. Clyde, follow me.' Mr Harding leads us back through the room. 'Your masterpiece awaits!'