The Show Must Go On Page 4

  Finn was the first to spot Yankee Stadium. He could see the green grass of the field, the brown dirt of the baselines, and the giant white Yankees logo painted behind home plate. Molly was straining to see what was below, too. She thought she saw some people dressed in yellow. And outside the stadium, she was pretty sure she saw a group of kids in red shirts getting out of a white SUV and running toward the entrance.

  “It must be the Feathers!” she said.

  “What?” Finn asked.

  “THE FEATHERS!” she screeched. But he couldn’t hear her. She could hardly hear herself.

  Lou spoke to them through his headset microphone. “Prepare for landing, and hold on tight.”

  Molly gripped her seat as the helicopter started its descent. It was like going straight down in an elevator, except way bumpier. They landed far out in center field. Lou turned off the engines, and the twins took off their headsets and tried to undo their complicated seat belts.

  Molly banged hers with the heel of her hand. “I can’t get it loose!”

  “Hang on,” Lou said. “Those things are locked pretty tight for safety reasons.”

  He came around and snapped them open in a jiffy. “C’mon,” Molly called to her brother.

  There was a cluster of bright yellow by home plate—people in yellow shirts holding yellow balloons. That could only mean one thing: they were POP Magazine people ready to award the winner.

  The twins ran as fast as they could. In the back of Finn’s head, he imagined himself running the bases on this field, the crowd going wild. “PARKER! PARKER! PARKER!” they’d shout. He could hear the commentators over the loudspeaker: “It looks like Finn Parker is going for another home run. Once again, it’s Parker saving the day!”

  But that was make-believe. In real life, there was another person shouting: Cleo Feather. “You guys and your friend Hallie Hampton are going down!” she said.

  THWAP!

  “You see— DOWN!” Cleo said.

  “Molly!” Finn cried.

  His sister was facedown in the grass, and beside them was the passing sound of laughter as Cleo and her friends ran by.

  Finn shook his fist. “Why, you—” he screamed at Cleo’s back.

  “No,” Molly said. “There’s no time to be mad, Finn. You need to run. RUN!”

  Molly was right. The Feathers were way ahead now. But Finn pressed forward. It was like his Moonwalkers coach always said: “Keep your eye on the prize—home plate.” Finn kept his eyes on home plate and began to sprint. He caught up with Cleo Feather, but try as he might, he couldn’t overtake her. She was matching him stride for stride. When Finn got close enough, he dove for home plate. Cleo skidded to a stop behind him.

  A man in a yellow POP Magazine shirt reached down and helped Finn to his feet. “That play could get you signed to the Yankees,” he said.

  Finn was nearly breathless, but he managed to pant out, “Thanks.” He bent forward, resting his hands on his knees, waiting for the air to come back into his lungs. He could hear Cleo complaining that it wasn’t fair—Finn and Molly had taken a helicopter.

  “The helicopter was fair play,” the man responded.

  “I want to talk to whoever is in charge,” Cleo demanded.

  “I’m in charge,” a woman replied.

  Finn looked up to see a woman with a short spiked hairstyle and a giant camera hanging around her neck. He took a deep breath. “You’re Billie Fischer, aren’t you?”

  “The one and only.”

  “Wow, it’s really nice to meet you. Your scavenger hunt was great—hard, but great. And we got to go to amazing places.”

  “I’ve taken my favorite photos at those places,” Billie said. “That’s why I picked them for this hunt.”

  “I can’t believe we won,” Finn told her.

  “I’ll just need to see your form to make it official.”

  Finn pulled out the team form that was crumpled in the back pocket of his jeans and handed it to Billie.

  “Ah,” Billie said as she read. “This is very interesting.”

  “What?”

  “It seems that you’re not the winner, after all.”

  “What?” Finn exclaimed. “Of course I am. I mean, we are. Our team got here first.”

  Billie shook her head. “Your team did not,” she said. “It is just you here at the finish line. There are two other team members listed on this form, and—”

  “I’m here!” Molly cried, hobbling forward. “Molly Parker.”

  “You are still missing your team captain,” Billie Fischer said, glancing at the form. “Hallie Hampton. So that means—”

  “We win,” Cleo Feather supplied. She turned to the twins. “Tell Hallie we really missed her today. Not!”

  “I lost my Moonwalkers hat for nothing,” Finn said, kicking the dirt.

  Molly kicked the ground, too. Her ankle throbbed. Having a twisted ankle would’ve been worth it if they’d won, but now…

  “Not so fast,” Billie said to Cleo. “I saw you trip your competitor here. That’s cheating, which is against the rules.”

  “I did not,” Cleo said. “It’s just that she’s a total klutz.”

  “Pictures don’t lie,” Billie said. “Unfortunately, people sometimes do.” She took the camera off her neck and scrolled through the screen on the back. There was Cleo, foot out to trip Molly. “I imagine that’s not the photo shoot you had in mind.”

  Finn couldn’t help smiling.

  “So…,” Molly said. “We won, after all?”

  “No. Rules are rules,” the man from POP Magazine said. “And we are still waiting for team number three.”

  “Those losers?” Cleo asked in disbelief.

  “I’d say they are the winners,” Billie Fischer told them.

  “You tried your best, kids,” Lou told the twins. “In my book, that counts as good work.”

  Homer walked up to the group, and he and Lou exchanged keys—limo keys for helicopter keys.

  “We’ve got to head back to meet Miss Hampton at the theater before the curtain goes up,” Lou said.

  “You left something important at the Intrepid.” Homer handed Finn his Moonwalkers hat.

  Finn put it on his head and felt instantly better—more like himself. Plus, Lou had said the word “work.” Maybe he and Molly had done what they were sent to New York to do, and PET would be waiting by the theater. Finn felt sad for Molly that they’d miss the show and getting Hallie’s autograph.

  But it had been a long day, and he was ready to go home.

  Lou texted Hallie with a last update to say their team had been disqualified. Hallie might refuse to see them. They wouldn’t get to say goodbye, but maybe that was better.

  Lou pulled up in front of the Music Box Theatre, and the twins climbed out of the limo. They didn’t see the camper anywhere. Instead, a man with a clipboard was holding open the heavy theater door. “Are you Molly and Finn Parker?” he asked. The twins nodded. “Miss Hampton is expecting you.”

  Molly felt a knot in her stomach, like she was walking into a test that she hadn’t prepared for. Although that had never happened before.

  “Miss Hampton is in her dressing room,” the man said. “We’ve got to move quickly. It’s almost curtain time.”

  “We can come back later. We don’t want to disturb her on opening night,” Molly offered.

  “She’s waiting for you. Let’s move.” He led them to a door with a big gold star on it that read HALLIE HAMPTON. Molly wanted more time to prepare herself, but the man rapped three times on the door, and it swung open. There was Hallie Hampton wearing a glittery costume and a feather boa.

  “Well, well, well,” she said, her arms folded across her chest. “Seems I trusted the wrong kids with the most important task.”

  “We’re so sorry,” Molly said.


  “Speak for yourself,” Finn said. “I’m not sorry—and even if Molly is, she shouldn’t be. We worked so hard for you today. We traveled this city from the bottom to the top, and we won!”

  “You won?” Hallie asked. “But Lou said—”

  “Well, we would’ve won,” Finn said. “It’s your fault that we didn’t. You wrote your name down as team captain.”

  “I was the team captain!” Hallie insisted. “I’m the one who was invited to join the scavenger hunt. You wouldn’t have even known about it if it weren’t for me.”

  “If you knew so much about the hunt, then you should’ve known that all team members needed to be at the finish line,” Finn said.

  “Five minutes to curtain!” the man told Hallie. He turned to the twins. “You two better take your seats.”

  “Oh, they don’t have any seats,” Hallie said. “They’re leaving now.”

  “Break a leg,” Molly called to Hallie’s back. Hallie didn’t answer.

  “That was kind of mean,” Finn said.

  “It means good luck,” Molly explained.

  “Oh,” Finn said. “Well, she doesn’t really deserve luck. She’s not very nice.”

  “No, she’s not,” Molly agreed miserably. It was sad to meet her favorite star—the person she thought that if she ever did meet, they’d surely be best friends—only to find out that they didn’t like each other. “I guess we should just go.”

  But getting out of the Music Box Theatre was easier said than done. They didn’t have a map, like they’d had on the Intrepid. It was hard to remember the order of the turns back to the door. “I think we’re going the wrong way,” Finn said.

  “Which way should we go?” Molly asked.

  “I don’t know,” Finn admitted.

  They kept walking. The corridors were dark and narrow, but Molly saw light up ahead. When they got closer, they couldn’t believe their eyes.

  It wasn’t a door. It was the stage. Hallie Hampton was right in front of them, illuminated by a spotlight. Molly sucked in her breath and grabbed Finn. Together, they made sure to stay out of sight of the audience—and of Hallie Hampton.

  But they couldn’t help but watch. Hallie was just…standing there. It was almost as if she was frozen in place. “This is kind of a boring show,” Finn whispered.

  “Shhh,” Molly said. “I’m sure she’ll say the first line any second now.”

  Hallie was quiet.

  “Any second,” Molly repeated.

  Hallie didn’t say a word. There were murmurings in the audience. “Cat got your tongue?” someone in the audience said. There was a snicker throughout the crowd.

  Hallie looked toward the twins. Molly was pretty sure she couldn’t see them, because they were hidden by the darkness. But she could probably hear them.

  Molly felt the same twitchy feeling she sometimes had in school, when the teacher asked a question she knew the answer to. She couldn’t help herself from blurting it out.

  “You remind me of what is good and possible in this world,” Molly said. She tried to be quiet. But it was loud enough for Hallie to hear, and she whipped her head toward Molly.

  Molly gulped, afraid that she had ruined everything again. But Hallie just winked. “You remind me of what is good and possible in this world,” Hallie repeated, and then she kept going.

  It was the best play Molly and Finn had ever seen. The audience gave Hallie a standing ovation that went on for at least ten minutes. People kept throwing flowers onto the stage. Hallie took a deep bow and ran backstage, where Molly and Finn were waiting.

  Molly wasn’t sure what to expect when Hallie ran up. Would she still be mad about the scavenger hunt? Would she be mad Molly said the first line?

  Hallie threw her arms around Molly. “Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much! You too, Finn.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Finn said.

  “You were here for moral support,” Hallie insisted. “It meant a lot. I know I’ve been awful to you today.”

  “No, you weren’t,” Molly said, at the same time that Finn said, “Yeah, you were.”

  “I was really nervous about opening night,” Hallie said. “I took it out on you guys. Please forgive me.”

  “We do,” Molly said, and Finn nodded.

  “Here, take these.” Hallie handed over a bouquet of pink and purple roses.

  “Wait. I want to give you something, too. I made it,” Molly said. She tugged at the friendship bracelet on her wrist. She felt herself blushing. Yesterday, when they’d traveled to Colorado, she’d given another friendship bracelet to her new friend Ella. She wanted to give this one to Hallie, but why would someone as famous as Hallie want to be her friend?

  “I love it!” Hallie said.

  “I know you probably have a ton of friends and a whole closet full of friendship bracelets.”

  “I have a lot of bracelets,” Hallie said. “But no one’s ever given me a friendship bracelet before. This is really cool.”

  “Hallie Hampton, you are a genius,” a raspy voice shouted.

  “Billie Fischer!” all three kids exclaimed at once. She was wearing a dress, and she still had her camera hanging around her neck.

  “I’m a big fan of yours,” Hallie Hampton told her.

  “Why, thank you,” Billie replied. “I’m a big fan of yours now, too.”

  “Would you mind…,” Hallie said. “I mean, I know we didn’t win the scavenger hunt, but could you take a picture of me and my friends?”

  “It would be my pleasure,” Billie said. Hallie put her arm around Molly’s and Finn’s shoulders. “Smile!”

  Afterward, Billie said her goodbyes and promised to send the photo to Hallie as soon as possible.

  “I’ll always remember you guys now, because I’ll have this picture, plus the bracelet,” Hallie told the twins. “Not that I could ever forget you. Thanks for rescuing me tonight. And thanks for all your hard work.”

  Molly and Finn caught each other’s eyes. Hallie had said the magic word: “work.” They knew what was coming, and sure enough, seconds later, they heard a familiar honking outside.

  “Sorry, but we’ve got to go,” Molly said.

  Hallie Hampton gave them each a hug goodbye, and then she was swept away into the crowd of fans. Molly and Finn made a run for the door. The camper was parked right outside the theater, and PET’s screen was already lit up when the twins climbed in. “Buckle up, kids,” it said. “Next stop: Harvey Falls!”

  The instant they clicked their seat belts, the camper took off. They flew over buildings, waterfalls, and fields of green. Then they stopped with a jolt. “My work here is done,” PET said.

  “Wait, PET,” Molly said. “Don’t go yet! I have questions for you: How do you work? Is it magic? Is it science? Did Professor Vega make you?”

  “Sorry. Your access is denied,” PET said, and the screen went dark.

  “C’mon,” Finn said. “Let’s get breakfast.”

  “Okay,” Molly said.

  But before they stepped outside, Molly walked to the world map at the back of the camper and pushed a red pin into New York City. “There,” she said, then followed her brother out to 24 Birchwood Drive.

  New York State Facts

  The New York state tree is the sugar maple. The state flower is the rose, and the state bird is the eastern bluebird.

  The New York state flag looks like this:

  Niagara Falls is the name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the American state of New York. Bridal Veil Falls is the smallest of the three waterfalls, and Horseshoe Falls is the largest.

  Albany is the state capital.

  New York is bordered by five states (Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
), two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Québec), two of the Great Lakes (Lake Erie and Lake Ontario), and the Atlantic Ocean.

  The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from France in 1885, and it has welcomed over twelve million immigrants entering the country through New York Harbor and Ellis Island. Not only are her feet a size 879, but her nose is over four feet long!

  There are over eight million people living in the five boroughs of New York City—Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Finn and Molly went to two boroughs, Manhattan and the Bronx.

  The Empire State Building is 103 stories high. Finished in 1931, it was the tallest building in the world. In 1972, the original World Trade Center buildings, aka the Twin Towers, became the two tallest buildings in the world. The Twin Towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Today, One World Trade, also known as the Freedom Tower, is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the sixth-tallest building in the world.

  The Intrepid is 912 feet long by 192 feet wide, which is equal to about three football fields.

  PET’s favorite New York fact:

  The Empire State Building has been featured in more than 250 movies! The most famous one is probably King Kong. In it, a giant ape (named King Kong) climbed the skyscraper.

  “Whew, it’s hot,” Molly said. “Even hotter than Ohio. Good thing I’m in this sundress. I love the cowboy boots, too.”

  “Oh no. Oh no. Oh no,” Finn said. “Do not tell me I’m wearing an Astros jersey! I can’t do that to the Reds!”

  He looked down to see what he was wearing: a plaid button-down shirt, jeans, and a wide belt with a big silver buckle.

  “Oh, phew,” he said. “Now our only problem is finding the stadium. Let’s ask someone…maybe that guy.”