The Stolen Artist

Chapter 1: The Beginning

It was a early fall afternoon. Where you could be warm, but still have an enjoyable day, that would be Where, Wisconsin. Where had two churches, two millionaires, and almost two of everything else. I knew it was going to be a bad afternoon when I heard a door slam, two blocks away, then a woman’s screech...
“Go away, you horrible brat! Don’t let me ever see you on this property again!” Mrs. Rodregez screamed. She was screaming at that Picissimus boy.
“Ma, leave him alone. He’s a friend from school. All the boys like me there.” replied twenty-two-year-old Isabel.
“But dearie, this is the fifteenth.” her mother gasped. “Why do they keep coming?”
“Well, they’re all trying to get in here for Mystery Club.” answered Isabel.
“Look at me and tell me if you... What in the world are you wearing?” cried Mrs. Rodregez.
Now Isabel was wearing a dark black trench coat, very unusual for a warm day.
“In this heat! You must be mad, Isabel. A trench coat in September, when it’s almost 80NF? I’ve never, ever heard of it.” exclaimed her mother.
Just then, the door opened. There, on the threshold, was Mr. Rodregez, a man that thought he was the richest in the whole town. Anyone who dared tell him otherwise was headed for trouble. Middle-aged; about 52 years old, with a sharp, upturned nose like a knife. His fingers were covered with bubbly, rough warts. His face was always set in a frightening grimace, unless he was happy. He was Isabel’s step-dad. She hated him, and she wished she could live with her real father. But no, her parents had divorced a year ago.
“How’re ya doin’, dear?” he boomed to his wife. He had a terrible lisp. “We’re going ta move to Easy Street for the rest of our lives. I made six thousand dollars at each mall today. Thirty-six thousand dollars a lot to make in one day, ya know!”
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Chapter 2: Art

Meanwhile, twenty-three-year-old Caleb Picissimus was walking home. Isabel’s mother’s scream was still echoing in his ears. As he walked through the front door of his home, he called out, “I’m home!”
An answer rang out from the art studio/office. “Good afternoon, Caleb.” Mr. Picissimus was a famous artist, and he was making a beautiful sculpture for his art show, which was in one hour.
“There!” he said as he put on the finishing touches. “Just right. Now, Caleb, get ready to go. The art show’s in an hour!”
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Chapter 3: The Show

In an hour’s time, the two Picissimus were in the front row seats to hear Mr. Picissimus’ speech. All except Mr. Picissimus, who was standing before a podium.
He cleared his throat and began,
“Hello. My name is Ryely Picissimus, your host for tonight.” a mad applause broke out, but Mr. Picissimus hushed them. “First, I’d like to thank all of you for coming. Second, I’d like to dedicate this sculpture called ‘Beauty in Stillness’ to my wife, Rosie.” A polite applause began, then stopped. “Lastly, for young artists, I’m putting on display my Book of Writing. It has notes and pictures of every piece of art I’ve done since I was in high school.” Another brief applause. “Now check out some art!”
As Mr. Picissimus was strolling past his book of writing, he felt thirsty and went by the punch bowl. All of the sudden the lights went off, there was a muffled cry, and lights went on. “Just a power outage.” Mrs. Picissimus reassured the terrified people. Everyone went on buying and nobody noticed anything was wrong...
“Caleb, have you seen your father anywhere? I think that he should know that Mrs. Markyler just bought Yorkie Love for six hundred thousand dollars!” Mrs. Picissimus whispered.
“No. I was just going to...” But Caleb never finished his sentence, for a scream had just split the quiet murmur of the art show.
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Chapter 4: A Scary Carpet

“What was that?” cried Mrs. Picissimus. “What’s wrong now?”
“I’m so sorry.” answered an elderly lady lying on the floor. “I saw some blood on the floor. I have hemephobia, or the fear of blood. I was afraid when I saw it on the carpet.”
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Meanwhile, Mr. Picissimus came to. “Where am I?” he thought. The last thing he remembered was writing the note. But what did he write? He had forgotten in the struggle. All he knew right then was that he was in the back of covered pickup truck, and he was bound and gagged. He smelled the air. It tasted like sea salt. The truck lurched to a stop. Next thing Mr. Picissimus knew was that a grim face opened the back and said, “Good morning, oops, I mean, good night!” And everything went totally black.
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Chapter 5: A Super Surprise

The next morning, Mrs. Picissimus was cooking breakfast when Caleb burst through the door. “Mom,” he said, “I have the newspaper.”
As the two Picissimus’ ate their breakfast, Mrs. Picissimus remarked, “I wonder where your father is. He’s never been away a whole night.” Caleb was thinking the same. Mr. Picissimus never was away until breakfast. If he was eating at someone else’s home, he’d always be home by one o’clock a.m.
“It is strange.” he thought as he cleared the table and tied his shoes. “Mom, I’m going to the Rodregez’s after school for Mystery Club.” he called as he walked out the door.
When Caleb had left for school, Mrs. Picissimus sat down to read the newspaper and drink a cup of coffee. As she scanned through it, her eyes fell on a letter. It looked as if someone cut letters out of a magazine. It read:
“If you want to see him again, send $10,000,000 to P.O. Box 1032, Where, Wisconsin.”
“Oh dear!” she gasped. “What shall I do?” she questioned herself. “I know! I’ll call Isabel Rodregez. She’s solved more mysteries than Chief Rologh.” And that’s exactly what she did, that afternoon at four o’clock sharp.

Chapter 6: Help for Free

The telephone was answered by the Rodregez’s butler. “Hello, you have reached the Rodregez’s. To whom would you like to speak?” he said in a pompous, stiff British accent.
“To Miss Rodrgez, please.” Mrs. Picissimus said, choking down a fit of giggles.
“One moment.” the butler replied, evermore pompously.
“Yes?” demanded a young voice. “I really need to get my homework done.”
“Um...Hello, Isabel. My name is Mrs. Picissimus. “And I’ve called...”
“Because-your-husband-was-kidnaped?” Isabel interrupted in one breath. “I was expecting you to call sooner of later. I found an envelope in my mail box this morning. It said ‘If you want to see Mr. Picissimus again, help Mrs. Picissimus get ten million dollars.’ Did you put that there?”
“No, Isabel. I got a letter in our newspaper. Something smells fishy here, I think.” Mrs. Picissimus answered.
“I know. I’ll help you for free. If it was my real father, I’d do anything for him. I’ll be right over.”
Both Mrs. Picissimus and Isabel could not help being confused as each hung up.
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Chapter 7: Where?

Meanwhile, Mr. Picissimus came to once again, listening to gulls screech and fish talk on their cell phones. “Fish talking on their cell phones?” he thought to himself. He tried to see who his captor was, but he found he was blindfolded, gagged, tied up like a mummy, and his ears were being pugged with beeswax.
“Don’t want you to know the secret plans.” sneered a voice. “All you need to know is that your going to die a sailor’s death!”
Mr. Picissimus felt fingers squeeze the back of his neck. He knew what was about to happen, but he didn’t want it happen. He tried to move, but it was too late. The world went black.
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Chapter 8: B.O.W.?

As soon as Isabel came, had a cookie or two, she got right down to business. “What was the last thing you saw Mr. Picissimus doing?”she asked, quietly.
“Walking past his B.O.W.” Mrs. Picissimus quickly replied.
“His what?” Isabel inquired aloud.
“Sorry, his book of writing. We just call it his B.O.W.” explained Mr. Picissimus.
“Can you bring it here?” pleaded Isabel.
“Why, of course. We did bring it back last night. But I can’t remember where it is. Just a minute.” Mrs. Picissimus muttered.
While she was getting the book, Caleb came home. He didn’t see Isabel, so he called out, “I’m home!” All at once, he saw Isabel sitting on the couch. “Sorry. I didn’t see you. I was just at your house, but your mom saw me and asked me if was there for Mystery Club. It was so weird. Then she said that she said that Mystery club was canceled because she didn’t know where you where.”
Just then, Mrs. Picissimus came into the room, holding the book. She took one glance at Caleb, one at Isabel, and sat down. “Hello, Caleb.” She sounded very tired. “Miss Rodregez and I are truing to figure out who kidnaped Dad.”
“Kidnapped?!” squealed Caleb. There was no doubt that Caleb was afraid.
“Yes, and may you please pass the book.” Isabel answered coolly. As she flipped to the last entry, she said, “I think there might be a clue somewhere in here. Who is Mr. Pucussumes?” she added.
“Oh, Ryely sometimes mixes up vowels, that’s all. He’s told me that to him ‘A’ is ‘I’, ‘E’ is ‘O’, ‘I’ is ‘U’, ‘O’ is ‘A’, and ‘U’ is ‘E’, but he never messes up ‘Y’ strangely.”
Isabel had just found the last entry as Mrs. Picissimus was speaking. She read it and said, “Look! This reads: ‘Holp! U’vo boon kudniped by Mr. Radrogoz, ind U’m boung tikon ta Twum Uslind.”
“Oh dear! The secret code to the mystery.” cried Mrs. Picissimus. Immediately her tone softened. “Well, Isabel, it’s past 6:00. I think it might be best if you joined us for supper at the pizza parlor. But first, I think I’ll have the code finished by tomorrow at four p.m. tomorrow. Now, let’s go because I am ravenously hungry. You and Caleb drive in your car, I’ll drive in mine.”
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Chapter 9: A Good Dream

That night, Mrs. Picissimus didn’t try to solve the mystery. She was too tired. She went to bed at ten thirty and slept so soundly she didn’t hear her lock on her bedroom door go *click*.
Mrs. Picissimus dreamed that she was getting a full body massage. After the wonderful massage, the lady put lotion all over, including her back.
When her alarm went off at seven a.m. the next morning, Mrs. Picissimus found she couldn’t turn it off due to the fact that her arms were pinned to her side. “Caleb!” she yelled, “Help! I’m stuck in my bed.”
When Caleb came in, he found she was glued to her bed and, on top of the glue, she was tied like a mummy. “Hold on.” As he went to call 911, Mrs. Picissimus got a text message on her cell phone that was from Isabel. It said that Mr. Picissimus’ kidnaper was a man named Rodregez and that he was holding Mr. Picissimus hostage on Twin Island.
“Mom, the ambulance is on its way.” Caleb said. “I’m off for...”
Mrs. Picissimus cut him off. “You’re off for Twin Island. Isabel texted me on my phone and said a Mr. Rodregez is behind all this.”
“O.K. I’ll go rent a boat. Stay warm until the ambulance comes.”
“I’m fine, dear. Now go get Isabel, take her with you and go.” cried Mrs. Picissimus.
“Bye!”
“GO!” screamed his exited, but scared, mother.
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Chapter 10: Big Money is Trampy’s

As Caleb and Isabel climbed aboard Queen of the Seven Seas, Caleb explained why he took her off to the harbor before the bus came, and why they went to the Where police station. “Mom got really energetic after that text massage you sent. She demanded you come because you solved the mystery.”
When the boat sighted Twin Island, the captain sent a lifeboat to Caleb and Isabel so they could go ashore. After five minutes of rowing, they reached the island.
Getting the life boat on the beach was tough, but together Caleb and Isabel did it. Half the island was jungle, the other half desert beach, so they knew he would be in a hidden, closed area.
Since Isabel was afraid of spiders, and Caleb was of afraid of them too, they stayed clear of webs. But if they had walked close to any one of the webs, they would have lost their lives.
Soon they came to an overturned dory. Almost as soon as Isabel touched the hull, a voice growled, “Don’t touchy or I’s gonna shoot. Ya must bi brave, ya ’ve made it thees far. Dat’s right, Mr. P is in this dory, but he’s in a baad wi. I’s thinkin’ he’s dyin’.”
Isabel gasped at the last word. Caleb said, “I have the money, mister.”
“Whell, ya pay me fife dolors now ta see ’im.” the voice muttered.
“Here.” Caleb handed him a counterfeit bill.
“Weetch yo ’ead.” came the gravelly voice.
There, lying at one end of the dory, was Mr. Picissimus, tied, blindfolded, gagged, and sleeping. His breath was ragged and shallow, and his cheeks were pink and flushed. Caleb took on glance and said to the man with the gravelly growl in voice, “He needs medical help right now. Ten million, right?”
“Ya.” grunted the man. “Call me Trampy.”
“Here.” Caleb handed him a check for ten million dollars that was also counterfeit. He had also gotten ten dollars of counterfeit money for entering something else, like getting into the dory.
“Thank you.” the man named Trampy thought he had just become ten million, five dollars richer. “’ere, where’s dat knife? Ah, dere it is. Hold dose ropes tight, young lady, while I’s a cuttin’ ’em.” he started cutting through the rope.
Caleb began untying the blindfold, but while he was doing that, he noticed that there was beeswax in Mr. Picissimus’s ears. He pulled it out and then did the same with the other ear, then untied the blindfold. The moment the blindfold was off, Mr. Picissimus woke up, and smiled at Caleb through his tired eyes, but expression was one of great happiness.
The ropes were cut, and blindfold gone, and the only thing left was the gag. Isabel took it out and relieved him of his silence. Immediately Mr. Picissimus said, “Son! How I’ve longed to see you. Miss Isabel, I can never thank you enough. How did you find me?”
“It’s a long story.” said Trampy. Everyone looked at him in surprise. “It took wots of energy on me part, leek turning out de lights at da show, or carryin’ ya out ta da truck, tying ya up, drivin’, rowin’ da boat when da matar stupped, lugging ya out ’ere, den da boat, diggin’ a ’uge hole under this dory, coverin’ Mrs. P in glue, almost shootin’ the kids. O’ Rodregez es staying low, da scoundrel!”he ranted on. “Then he said I could have two million, five hundred thousand dollars of the booty...”
Isabel stopped him. “Rodregez?” she asked. “Will Rodregez?” her heart skipped a beat.
“Da one and only, kid. Do ya know ’im?”
“Yes. He’s my step-dad.” stammered Isabel.
“Den go ’ome. ’E’s gonna be en big trouble with a capital T.” replied Trampy.
As Caleb, Mr. Picissimus, and Isabel walked to the life boat, Mr. Picissimus had to stop every ten yards to massage his legs that had been tied up and now cramped a lot. Finally, they rowed to the Queen of the Seven Seas, and sailed home.
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Chapter 11: Home, Sweet Home

After sailing home, Mr. Picissimus, Caleb, and Isabel went to the hospital because Mr. Picissimus was very ill. When Caleb and Isabel went to visit him, they found that Mrs. Picissimus was in the same room as Mr. Picissimus. They both recovered, but Mr. Rodregez did not. As the judge gave the sentence (which was to pay for all the medical fees for the Picissimus’, give away 75% of his wealth to charity, and give his job to someone not so greedy.) He knew that his wife would hate him, and the rest of the world, too.
Mysteriously, Mr. Rodregez died only three weeks later. He was not shot, but had a heart attack in bed while he was sleeping, and died.
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Chapter 12: All’s Well That Ends Well

Now that I’ve told you about my hometown mystery, there’s not much more to say. One year after the incident, Caleb and Isabel married and had a daughter, Jasmine, on their anniversary , and the five Picissimus’ were happy. Jasmine loved and solved mysteries and like her mother, and was strong, loyal, and thoughtful like Caleb. -

-By Danae Witte
Age 12