The Jewel Thief

Oscar and Marissa Again

The next morning, Wednesday, we go to school as normal. I feel fine, except I have a mild headache towards lunchtime. But I can't focus at all during class, because I'm thinking about how to sneak in to the thief's house, with Maddie, ensuring that the thief would not be home.

But then an announcement comes over the loudspeakers, announcing that we have Monday off because of teacher in-services!!! Which means that Uncle can go to work and Maddie and I can run off to the thief's house! But... then I remember that Maddie might not be off. Well, she can pretend she's sick or something and skip school.

I manage to focus in my last class of the day, joy rushing through me. We were going to solve the mystery! And the twit that decided to steal from Buckingham Palace would go to jail! Possibly even the death penalty!

All the excitement doesn't give me time to think about how we were going to find the jewels, but it finally crosses my mind in the car on the way home.

It really was going to be a difficult task. How would we get in the house? How would we find it? It could be anywhere in the large house that I had been imprisoned in. And there was no guarantee that no one would be home. There could be a baby, and a stay-at-home parent to look after it. Maybe it's a married couple and one of them stays at home to work. And the key might still be down the drain. How, oh how were we going to be so lucky as to manage to open the door, find the jewels, and leave without any difficulties? That never happened in Enid Blyton. There was always something bad that happened at the very end.

When we get home, I tell Maddie I have Monday off and she gasps, saying that she does too! The middle school and high school have coordinated days off. We both know what that means and get really excited. But then I bring up all that I was worrying about, and she says she was worrying about it too.

The rest of the week passes awfully slowly, and Maddie and I can both barely wait for Monday. But have to wait Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before we can take action.

On Saturday morning, Maddie and I are in our room reading when Uncle gently raps on the door. "Girls? Oscar and Marissa have invited us over to their house to have lunch with them today, and I said we'd go. We leave at twelve-thirty. Are you wearing what you'd like to be wearing?"

Maddie and I look at each other. "No," I say. "We'll get changed."

"Okay then. We leave in" – he glances at the clock – "half an hour." Uncle shuts the door and leaves us to it. I turn to Maddie. "Why do we have to go to Oscar and Marissa's?" I whine.

"I know," says Maddie, "Oscar's really annoying."

"Marissa's nice, though."

"Mm. Anyways, what are you going to wear?"

"My navy blue jumper and my plaid skirt. I wish I had a poodle skirt.
There's a mean girl Clarissa at school has loads. Apparently they're the latest fashion."

"She sounds like a git. I think you'll look nice in your navy and plaid. You always do. Navy blue goes well with your features. And besides, it's Oscar and Marissa, so who cares how we look?"

"You have a point. Let's get dressed."

Later, in the car, I look out the window, my eyes half closed. I really don't want to go see Oscar and Marissa. I would much rather change out of my nice clothes and lie down in my bed, reading the adventures of the Five Find-Outers. I finished the first book, so Maddie lent me the second one, called 'The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat'. But here I am, in my favorite navy blue jumper and my plaid skirt, looking grumpily out the window on the way to see Uncle's friends.

As we start to drive down a road, Uncle says, "We're almost there, girls." I can't help but notice that the road we are driving along looks rather familiar. Then I see a sign saying that we're on Rosewood Avenue NE. It's the street that the thief lives on! Oscar and Marissa must live close to the thief. That's funny.