Free Behind the Canvas by Alexander Vance

it’s your Aunt Maggie.”
    Claudia crammed the nail polish into her backpack. “Okay. Now I have enough stuff for a trip to Africa. I think I’m good.”
    â€œSocks?”
    â€œThree pairs. Same as the underwear.”
    â€œToothbrush?”
    â€œAnd toothpaste.”
    â€œCell phone?”
    â€œCheck.”
    Her mom kissed the top of her head. “You’re going to have so much fun. We leave for the bus stop in a few minutes.”
    As her mom headed down the hallway, Claudia took most of the clothes out of her backpack and stuffed them in her drawers. She tossed the nail polish onto her desk. She replaced them with her art history book and an assortment of sketch pads and pencils and a box of cereal bars she had snuck up from the kitchen. She had no idea what to expect, but she wanted to travel light—only the essentials. Finally she packed Pim’s painting—it was empty for now—and the yellow mustard bottle.
    â€œMom!” she called as she headed for the front door. “Let’s go!”
    She especially wanted to leave before her grandpa decided to come by. The walk home last night had been awkward. He had peppered her with all sorts of questions on what she had talked about with Granny Custos—was it interesting, and did Granny Custos mention him at all? Claudia had deflected most of the questions pretty well, but he pressed for details toward the end, and she was all too happy to run up the stairs to bed when they got home.
    Grandpa definitely had a thing for Granny Custos—which was just plain weird. But did he have any idea that the lady he’d crushed on from way back when was really hundreds of years old? That was just plain weirder.
    Her mom came down the stairs with the set of nail polish in hand and fixed Claudia with her freeze-ray look. She pushed the nail polish toward her. “Nice try, kiddo. You’re taking them.”
    Claudia sighed and shoved them into her backpack.
    *   *   *
    It wasn’t the first time Claudia had ridden the express bus downtown by herself. She had visited her aunt before, and also her dad at his office. But this was the first time she’d taken the bus as part of a deceptive scheme to enter another world. She took a seat near the back of the bus and pulled the cell phone from her pocket, her hands shaking just a little.
    â€œHi. Aunt Maggie?”
    â€œHey, chica . You on your way?”
    â€œWell, no, not exactly. Something’s come up. Something important. I’m really sorry.” Claudia winced with guilt as she said it. “Maybe we can do this another weekend.”
    â€œOh. How sad. You’re not dumping me for a boy, are you? Just asking…”
    â€œWell, no. Not exactly. It’s complicated.”
    â€œIf boys are involved, it’s always complicated. You owe me a rain check. Soon.”
    â€œI promise.”
    Claudia tucked the phone back into her pocket and unzipped her bag. The painting, with Pim next to the willow, rested on top of her things. He looked up and smiled.
    â€œHow did it go?” he asked.
    She nodded. “We’re on our way.”
    There was no doubt that if her parents found out about this whole excursion, she’d be drowning in trouble. There were so many things that could go wrong—even before she entered the world behind the canvas. What if she couldn’t remember how to get to the museum? What if the museum was closed on Saturdays? What if they didn’t let kids in on their own? What if Aunt Maggie called her parents?
    She leaned back in the narrow seat and watched the scenery fly by like smeared paint. It was hard keeping her eyes open—she could have kicked herself for not getting more sleep the night before. The suburban streets turned into freeway and the fields became shopping centers. The Chicago skyline appeared ahead of them. It stretched its arms wider and wider before the bus and then