The Jewel Thief

Arguments and Lots of Laughter

I wake up not long after. The clock reads 3:45. I hear noise downstairs. Familiar noise. Uncle and Maddie are home! Maddie runs upstairs and dashes into the bedroom. "Elizabeth! Do you feel better? I'm sorry it was such a boring day for you!"

Boring? We'll see about that...

"No, it's fine. I feel better, anyways. How was your day?" I say, quickly changing the subject.

"Uneventful. Let me take your temperature."

She runs out of the room to get the thermometer. She sticks it in my mouth under my tongue, which is uncomfortable because it gets jumbled with the bit attaching my tongue to my bottom jaw. After the thermometer beeps, Maddie whisks it out and squeals. "96 degrees Fahrenheit! You're all better!" I gasp. "Really?"

"Yes! Now you can come to school tomorrow. Come on, get out of bed and let's go tell Uncle!" She pulls my arm, forgetting that I might still have a bit of a cold, and drags me out of bed. We run downstairs.

"Uncle! Uncle! Elizabeth's all better," Maddie shouts.

Uncle turns around. "Fabulous! She can go to school tomorrow then," he says, repeating Maddie's words. "Now, what would you girls like for your supper? We have chicken, lamb, kale... some potatoes...'

I cut in. "Ooh, can we have chicken and mashed potatoes? You make really good mashed potatoes and I love chicken!"

"Elizabeth was sick today. I say we do it her way." Maddie agrees.

"Sounds good to me!" Uncle smiles. He turns to the kitchen. "It'll be ready in about an hour."

"Okay!" I call back.

I turn to Maddie, my smile quickly fading. "I have something really important to tell you. Really, really important."

Maddie frowns. "What is it?"

"We have to go upstairs."

"Why?"

"You'll find out."

"Is it about you-know-what?"

That's what Maddie and I call the mystery in the presence of Uncle.

"Just - come on."

This time it's me grabbing Maddie by the arm and pulling her upstairs. We arrive in our bedroom and I sit down on my bed. Maddie sits down on hers. "Tell me. Tell me now." I lean in and lower my voice. "So, when I was sick today... it wasn't really all that boring, you know..." And I launch into a detailed description of being kidnapped, even how I was scared out of my mind. I also tell Maddie the thief's address, and how I locked them in so they wouldn't chase me. And how the jewels are now gone.

But as I tell her this I realize that not many houses have only one way of exiting. The thief would have escaped by now, and maybe even found the key. Even all the way down a drain.

Maddie slowly nods as I tell her what happened. When I'm done I look at Maddie expectantly for a reaction. She doesn't say anything for a bit and then she says "Wow. And there I was thinking that it had been a boring day for you." She's fumbling with her bracelet again. She must be sad.

At first I don't realize what she's getting at, but then I realize she was sad that I had been kidnapped and not her. What a stupid thing to be sad about, I thought to myself. Being kidnapped really isn't that fun. But it was true, I was always the one advancing in this mystery, I always got to be caught up in the exciting bits. I was the one who overheard Uncle's mysterious phone call, I was the one who was sick and got kidnapped. I was the one who discovered the jewels, I was the one who noticed that the sapphire necklace was missing, and that the jewels were gone. It was about time that Maddie got to do something to help solve the mystery. I seemed to be always in the right place at the right time. Maddie hadn't made any important discoveries.