Free The 100-Year-Old Secret by Tracy Barrett Page A

myself!” His arms waved even more frantically. Xena and Xander looked at eachother and nodded. They slipped through the door behind the receptionist's desk.
    They found themselves in the room Xena had seen through the window—the one with all the copies of Girl in a Purple Hat . The artist was sitting with her back to them, but the little girl glanced up as they stopped at the door. Her eyes widened.
    â€œSomeone's here, Annie,” she said.
    â€œHush, Sarah,” the woman said. Her voice sounded odd, and Xander noticed that she was clenching a paintbrush between her teeth. “Just hush one second while I get your mouth. It's almost right but I think . . .” Her voice trailed off as she dabbed at the lips of the girl in the painting, turned down in an irritable expression.
    â€œThere!” she said, putting the paintbrush aside. “Another one done in time for the opening! And is that Miss Selden with our tea? Miss Selden, aren't you a bit early?”
    She turned around. When she saw them, her face showed surprise. “Who are you kids?” she asked, reaching for a cloth. She wiped her hands, leaving smears of color on the rag.
    Xander looked at Xena. Xena looked at Xander.
    â€œWe're detectives,” Xena said. The girl onthe chair let out a hoot of laughter, and Xena turned to her. “Yes, we are,” she said firmly. “We're detectives, and we've been looking for a missing painting.”
    â€œA missing painting?” the artist asked, removing her smock and hanging it over the back of her chair.
    Her obvious amusement stung Xander, and he said, “It's a painting that's been missing for a hundred years.”
    â€œYou mean Girl in a Purple Hat ?” she asked.
    â€œAha!” Xander cried. “How did you know what painting we were talking about?”
    â€œIsn't it obvious?” The artist waved her hand at the walls, which were covered with copies of the painting. “Why else would you come to this studio?”
    â€œWhy indeed?” asked a voice behind Xena and Xander.
    They turned around. It was the receptionist, Miss Selden, and she was carrying a tray with a plate of cookies, a little teapot and mug, and a glass full of something fizzy.
    â€œTea!” the girl said, hopping down from the stool. She grabbed the glass off the tray.
    â€œCareful!” the artist warned. “You don't want to stain that dress.”
    The girl put down the glass, and the woman helped her into an artist's smock to cover the dress. Then the girl reached up her hand.
    Xena and Xander gasped. When the girl took off her hat, the golden curls went with it!

C HAPTER 13

    X ena stared as the girl casually placed the hat with the curls attached to it on a chair and shook out her straight brown hair.
    â€œThat's a wig!” Xander blurted out.
    â€œChildren!” Miss Selden was obviously starting to lose her temper, but just then a bell jangled in the outer room. It sounded as though someone had come into the studio.
    â€œIt's all right, Mary,” the artist said, pouring a cup of tea. “I'll handle this.”
    Miss Selden nodded and placed the tray on a low table near the artist's chair. Then she left, glancing back at them as she closed the door behind her.
    â€œDon't mind her. She's a bit overprotective of the gallery,” the woman said, stirring her tea. “All the same, it is a little strange, isn't it? The two of you bursting in here, soaking wet and bedraggled?” She took a sip of her tea.
    â€œSorry,” Xena said, “but we're trying to find out what happened to Girl in a Purple Hat .”
    Xander nodded quickly. “When I first saw this girl I couldn't believe it—she looked just like the one in the painting! I knew she wasn't the same girl, but it made me curious. I thought she might have something to do with its disappearance.”
    â€œHow come you're making copies of the painting?” Xena asked.
    The artist