Free Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko

happened. I won’t say anything about Uncle Karl, though. I don’t want to scare him. I focus on finding words that rhyme with “Gemma.”
Today a girl named Gemma
    Had quite a big dilemma.
    She barked like a dog with babies,
    On account of she thought she had rabies.
    At nine o’clock they talked to the doc.
    “It’s all in her head” is what he said.
    I run down to see if the cord is visible. Still no.
    In the pantry, I collect as much food as possible, in case I can’t get back up there for a while. I fill a basket with mason jars of pears, peaches, applesauce, and olives, a hunk of cheese, a roll of salami, and half a loaf of French bread.
    And water. I fill a pitcher, but it won’t fit in the basket. I make two trips to my room to get it all up there. Just as I’m carrying the pitcher filled to the brim, Aunt Hortense appears. In her hand is a wad of dollar bills.
    “Maggy, dear!” she calls down the stairs. “Can you ironthese for me? I can’t stand to carry those filthy things all bunched up like that. Elizabeth? What are you doing? Maggy filled that this morning.”
    “I wanted more…in case of fire,” I add lamely.
    “Fire? Goodness gracious, child, what makes you worry about that?”
    “We talked about it at Miss Barstow’s.”
    She nods. “Speaking of worrying, I talked to Mr. Sweeting. He’s working on finding Jing.”
    “Thank you,” I say.
    She shimmies her hands into her gloves.
    “You’re going out?”
    “Try not to sound so happy. Mrs. Luther Cumberbatch is taking me out driving in her very own motorcar. A woman with a driver’s license—can you imagine? Yang Sun will bring your supper over.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “And, Lizzie…no trouble while I’m gone.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    She takes my chin in her gloved hand. “Don’t just move your lips.”
    I look her straight in the eye. “No trouble,” I say.
    I carry the pitcher into my room and close the door, then watch out the window. I hear the motorcar before I see it. It roars into the driveway, then spits and gasps to a stop. Aunt Hortense climbs in, decked out in a pale green driving dress edged in velvet, her dark hair glistening under her green wide-brimmed hat tightly secured with a white veil. Mrs. Cumberbatch is wearing a plaid driving coat and matching hat. Aunt Hortense waves to her butler,who cranks the motor again. The car sputters forward, lurching through the gate.
    When they’re gone, I run outside and check for the cord. It’s finally down! Noah must have seen her leave, too.
    Maggy is on the side porch in a cloud of dust, beating a rug and grunting. The parrot is on her shoulder. “Dirty work. Dirty work,” Mr. P. chirps. Billy has gone off with Uncle Karl.
    Nobody notices me as I make my stealthy trips, bringing supplies to Noah.
    When we get everything inside and the door closed, we smile at each other. “How long do you think we have?” he asks.
    “Hard to say.”
    I sit on the chair. He sits on the bed.
    I fill him in on what happened at Chinatown. “We tried to get Jing out.”
    “You and Billy?”
    I nod. “I talked to a policeman. He was no help. But Uncle Karl is working on it. Aunt Hortense said.”
    Noah sighs, his brow furrowed. “I know he’s there.”
    “Does he do magic shows for people in Chinatown?” I ask.
    He frowns at me. “No.”
    Jing does magic shows for Billy and me. Why wouldn’t he do them for the people in Chinatown?
    “Leaders don’t do magic tricks,” Noah explains.
    I try to imagine Jing as a leader of people in Chinatown. This is not the Jing I know.
    “I thought you said he was a translator.”
    He nods. “It’s a powerful position. Hardly anyone understands the language and customs of both sides. Chinese don’t understand Americans. Americans don’t understand Chinese. Nobody trusts anyone. It’s a big mess.”
    “What did you mean, ‘The monkey has a secret’?”
    “Baba must have told you his stories.”
    “About animals?”
    He nods.