"According to a travel blog I read, Alexei's Playroom is on the second floor in the children's wing. We go past the Crimson Room, which will put us in the Marble Hall, then to a Portrait Hall..."Amy kept reading off elaborate directions until they arrived at the arched front door and entered the palace.
A uniformed tour guide nodded and smiled."Can you point us in the direction of Alexei's Playroom?" asked Dan."Certainly." The man turned and pointed to a wide set of stairs. "Up there, down hall, left. Is great room."
Amy put away her directions and scowled at Dan. "Show-off."Within minutes, they were standing at the doorway of one of the most incredible playrooms Amy had ever seen."This kid had it good," said Dan. "I'd never leave unless I had to eat or use the bathroom."Alexei's Playroom was a vast space filled with handmade toys of every imaginable kind. There was a miniature tepee at the center of the room with two child-size canoes standing by.
An elaborate train set with tracks running every which way, a giant stuffed sheepdog, sailing ships, and crates of blocks.
The ceiling was hung with airplanes and gliders, and toy houses lined one entire wall."I don't see any clothes, do you?" asked Amy. The exhibit was designed to allow viewers to walk through the middle of the playroom on a narrow red carpet and exit on the other side."Come on," said Dan. "Let's get a closer look.""Your parents are nearby?"Amy was on edge already and the voice startled her. When she turned, she saw that the tour guide from downstairs had followed them up."Children are not allowed without parents.
Little hands are tempted."Amy wished Dan had left the goatee on, but it was too late now.Dan glanced at her, then started talking. "This whole vacation has been the pits. Booooring.
Just our luck we finally find something really cool and we can't go inside."Amy caught on quickly and jumped in. "Our mom and dad are still over at Catherine Palace, looking at paintings. Ugh."The tour guide seemed to understand."My children love this room also.""Can you take us in?" pleaded Dan.The tour guide glanced back down the hall. It was early yet and the palace was relatively empty. No one else appeared to be coming.
"Hands in pockets, please! No touching!"Amy and Dan reluctantly pocketed their hands, and the tour guide entered the room in front of them. He was showing them the ships when a rambunctious set of very young British children appeared in the doorway."Mummy! Look at the toys!" yelled one of them, and they were off on a tear, heading straight for the tepee."Stop! Stop! Stay on red carpet!" protested the tour guide. The parents tried to intervene, but the two children raced from one item to the next, just out of reach of the guide.
This is my chance, thought Amy, spying a closet door. Dan stood his ground, trying his best to obscure her escape from the chaos in the room.
Before the guide could turn around, Amy had slipped into the closet and closed the door.
It was dark inside but for a sliver of light seeping through the bottom of the doorway. Amy felt around and discovered that the closet was full of hanging clothes. Could these really be items from such a long time ago?
Her fingers searched through silky soft and lacy cloth for a jewel along the hems. She reached into a pocket and latched her fingers around something hard. It was small and round, solid and firm, but when she lifted it out and held it close, she felt a fizzy sting in her nose.Mothball!
"Eeeww," she whispered, dropping the round white ball back in the pocket where she'd found it. Amy dug her fingers into all the pockets she could find: nothing but more mothballs and pieces of fuzz.
The sound of the tour guide's muffled voice returned."Where is sister?""She's gone up ahead. I think I'll do the same," said Dan.
Amy's eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness as she kept at it, scrunching each article of clothing between her fingers. She couldn't be sure, but it seemed as if the tour guide was still just outside the door, making sure everything was properly in place.What's this? She had reached into the back of the closet to feel along the hem of a child's dress. Amy got down on her hands and knees and crawled in deeper, keeping a tight grip on the small lump she'd discovered.
Just then, the handle on the closet door turned and the door opened. Amy stayed perfectly still at the back of the closet, hidden in the forest of coats and dresses. She could see the silhouette of the tour guide."Any chance you could let me have a closer look at the train? I'm big into railroads.
"It was Dan, who'd come back into the room in the nick of time."Oh. Yes," said the tour guide. "But then I must find others. Bad children should be kept on leash!"
The closet door closed once more and Amy breathed a sigh of relief. She tore at the hem of the dress, feeling terrible for having to damage such a precious item. For all she knew, it had actually been worn by the grand duchess Anastasia herself.
The mere thought of it made her hands shake."Got it!" she whispered, feeling the smooth stone between her fingers. She placed it in her pocket, returned to the door, and listened for voices.
It sounded as if they'd gone."Dan?" she whispered, opening the closet door a tiny crack and peering into the room. The door burst open and Amy fell forward, landing hard on the floor and nearly crushing a toy playhouse filled with miniature figurines."I knew it!" said the tour guide.
Dan sprang into action, jumping on the stuffed sheepdog.
"Ride 'em!" he called. Amy's eyes bugged out. Her brother was always ready to humiliate himself for a cause.The tour guide marched toward Dan, his jaw clenched. Amy bolted for the exit, running as fast as she could.
"C'mon, Dan!"She didn't have to wait long."Run!" Dan howled. "He's right on my tail!"Amy and Dan shot down the staircase with the tour guide close behind."Don't stop, Amy! Just keep going!" said Dan.
Tour guides were converging from three directions now, but Dan and Amy were just fast enough to reach the front door of the palace first. They dashed out into the bright light of the sunny Russian morning and kept right on going.
"Do not come back!" yelled the tour guide they'd tricked. He stood fuming between his two coworkers. "Children! They will kill me!"Amy and Dan slowed to a walk and caught their breath. Before long, they were convulsed with laughter."I found some candy in there," said Amy.
"Kept it for you."She held out a round white mothball, but Dan wasn't taking the bait. "You first!"Amy wound up and threw the mothball toward the pond. She'd driven a car for the first time, touched the clothes of a princess, and found their next lead -- it was a great morning by anyone's standards.
CHAPTER 9
Irina Spasky's thumb hovered over the send button on her phone. She couldn't seem to bring herself to make the call. She took a deep breath and put the phone back in the pocket of her thin black coat.
The Kabras can wait, she thought, turning away from Alexander Palace. Irina began to walk, alone as usual, toward the pond at the other side of the palace grounds.
She had watched Dan and Amy enter the palace, seen them run out toward that wreck of a car they'd purchased. They had been laughing.
That bothered her. They were happy, these two. They would get into their tiny automobile and continue on until, eventually, they would lead Irina to trouble of the worst kind. A Lucian double agent. Perhaps a Madrigal.
They'd found something in the palace, this much was obvious. They were in deeper trouble than they realized.It doesn't have to end badly, she tried to convince herself. Another child flashed before her eyes, younger, blonder. Why do I remember him best as a toddler?
She remembered little of the last days, and almost nothing about the funeral. Almost everything had faded away but the weather.
She would never forget the low, oppressive clouds and soft snow as they lowered the casket into the ground. Since then, there had been too many days and nights alone, too much time to think, and far too much compromised.