Authors: Todd Strasser
"Your art museums," Marv added.
"Exactly," Harry said. "They all take a good set of burglar's tools. Not only that, even if we had 'em and knocked off a big job, what would we do with the loot? We don't know no fences in New York."
"Looks pretty bad for us," Marv said, keeping his eye on a teenaged girl skating nearby. A long red scarf flapped in the breeze behind her.
"What we need is cash," said Harry.
As the girl skated past, Marv reached out and gave the scarf a sharp yank. It was in his pocket before she crashed to the ice.
"How about hotels?" Marv asked as the girl lay on the ice, looking bewildered. "Tourists carry cash."
"With our luck we'd hold up some guy carrying traveler's checks," Harry said, thumbing through the paper. "I got a better idea. Look at all these Christmas ads. All these stores are open the day before Christmas, but they ain't gonna make deposits on Christmas Eve."
"So they gotta keep the cash in the store until the day after Christmas," Marv said.
"Right." Harry nodded. "Now what store is gonna do the most cash business on Christmas Eve that nobody's gonna think to rob?"
Marv scratched his head. "Liquor store?"
"No, dimwit, even nine-year-olds know how to rob liquor stores," Harry replied impatiently. "
This
is what I had in mind."
He pointed down at a large ad in the paper for Duncan's Toy Chest, the world-famous toy emporium.
"A toy store!" Marv gasped. "That's brilliant, Harry."
Harry grinned and his silver tooth glistened in the winter sun. "There's nobody dumb enough to knock off a toy store on Christmas Eve."
"There is now." Marv grinned back.
Kevin sat in the red leather seat of the long white stretch limo as it cruised slowly through the city. He had just finished his pizza breakfast, and was watching Pink Panther cartoons on the limo's TV. This is the life, he thought. Buzz, if only you could see me now.
As the limo turned up Fifth Avenue, Kevin glanced out the window and saw something that made his eyes bulge—an old building painted in bright blues, reds, and yellows with windows filled with amazing displays of Christmas toys. A sign above the door said:
Kevin quickly reached for the intercom that connected him to the driver. "Please drop me off here."
The limo pulled to the curb and the driver hopped out and opened Kevin's door. "When should I come back for you, sir?"
"What time is it now?" Kevin asked.
The driver checked his watch. "Nine-thirty, sir."
"How about three o'clock?" Kevin said.
"Three?" the driver frowned. "That's five and a half hours, sir."
"You're right," Kevin said. "Better make it three-thirty."
The driver looked puzzled, but he left. Kevin pulled his coat tight and walked through the cold air and into the toy store.
Inside he stopped and looked around. He'd never seen anything like it. The ground floor was two stories high and every inch was filled with toys. Model trains tooted and puffed white smoke as they raced along tracks mounted on the walls, and electric boats sailed around a giant, plastic water tank. A popcorn machine dispensed free popcorn, a soda fountain free soda. Best of all was the huge demonstration area where kids could sample all kinds of games and toys.
Wow, Kevin thought as he watched a radio-controlled model airplane circle over his head, coming to New York just could be the greatest accident of my life!
And without a moment's hesitation, he dove right in.
Kevin wasn't the only person from Illinois exploring Duncan's Toy Chest. On the second floor, where the tents, tree forts, and playground sets were on display, Marv and Harry stepped out of two large wooden playhouses.
"Nice house," Marv said, "just no bathroom."
"But perfect for us," Harry whispered as they strolled through the rest of the toy store. "Later on today we come back and hide inside these houses. Tonight when everybody leaves, we come out and empty the cash registers."
They passed a table displaying long, furry gorilla arms with soft pink fingers. Marv stopped and slid one over his hand like a long glove.
"Hey, Harry, check this out," he said, raising his new "gorilla" hand.
"Come on, dummy," Harry said annoyed "Quit messing around."
"But, Harry," Marv said. "This could be good for picking pockets. Watch, I'll pick my own pocket."
Marv reached around behind his back with the gorilla hand and tried to take his wallet out of his pocket. Unfortunately, his aim wasn't very good and he accidentally hit the woman standing behind him.
Marv heard a gasp and felt the gorilla glove get yanked off his hand. He spun around and came face to face with the pretty woman in the short, dark coat who'd smacked him in the street.
"Hey!" Marv grinned. "What a coincid—"
Ka-Pow!
The woman pulled on the gorilla hand and smashed him in the face. The next thing Marv knew, he was lying on his back, gazing up at dozens of little gorilla hands floating above.
Harry kneeled down next to him. "Can I ask you a question?"
Marv slowly nodded.
"Did you have to go to school to learn to be this stupid?"
Downstairs, Kevin dropped an armful of toys onto the cashier's counter. Since no one was going to give him any Christmas presents, he decided he'd have to give them to himself He'd picked out a pack of mini-robots, a bottle of Monster Sap Super Slippery Bath Bubbles, a jack-knife, a Game Gear, and a stack of game cartridges.
A portly, red-cheeked old man with white hair stood behind the cash register. He was wearing a blue suit with a gold watch chain strung across the vest.
"Shopping alone?" he asked Kevin as he totaled up the purchase.
"In New York, sir?" Kevin replied without missing a beat. "Frankly, I'm afraid of my own shadow."
The man smiled. "I just wanted to make sure."
"That's very responsible of you," Kevin said.
"Thank you," the man said. "The total comes to twenty-three dollars and seventy-five cents."
Kevin opened the brown travel bag, found the envelope of cash, and pulled out two $20 bills.
"Oh, my," the man said, staring at the envelope. "Where did you get all that money?"
"I have a lot of grandmothers," Kevin said. He decided it might be best to change the subject. "You know, you have a really nice store here. One of the finest toy dealerships I've ever visited."
"Thank you," the man said with a smile.
Kevin wasn't sure why, but he felt comfortable talking to him, which wasn't always the case with grown-ups. "This Mr. Duncan must be a pretty nice guy to let kids come in his store and play with the toys. Most toy stores prohibit that."
"Well, he loves kids," the man said as he placed Kevin's toys in a bag. "Actually, he's going to donate all the money the store makes today to the Children's Hospital."
"Tonight?" Kevin asked. "Like on Christmas Eve?"
"It's not possible tonight," the man said. "He'll leave the money here in the store and take it to the hospital the day after Christmas."
"That's very generous of him," Kevin said.
"Children bring him a lot of joy," the man said. "As they do for anyone who appreciates them."
The thought of sick children in the Children's Hospital really tugged at Kevin's sense of Christmas spirit. He opened the envelope again and took out another $20 bill.
"I'm not supposed to spend this money," he said, giving it to the man, "but I have twenty dollars from shoveling snow and I can pay my mother back with that. So you can give this to Mr. Duncan. The hospital needs it more than me because I'll probably just spend it on stuff that rots my teeth and my mind."
"That's very sweet of you," the man said. He turned and pointed to a miniature Christmas tree adorned with small ceramic figurines from "The Twelve Days of Christmas." "In appreciation of your generosity, I'm going to let you select an object from that tree."
"For free?" Kevin was amazed.
"Absolutely," the man said with a smile. "And may I make a suggestion?"
"Sure."
"Take the two turtledoves."
"Both of them?" Kevin was doubly surprised.
The man nodded. "I'll tell you why. You should keep one and give the other to a person who's very special to you. Turtledoves are a symbol of friendship and love. So long as the two of you have your turtledoves, you'll be friends no matter how far away you might be. Even if you never see each other again, you'll still be friends."
"Wow." Kevin took both turtledoves from the tree. "I thought they were just part of a song."
"They are," the man said. "And for good reason.
"Gee, thanks." Kevin slipped the ornaments into his pocket and picked up his bag of toys.
"Merry Christmas," the man said.
"Merry Christmas to you, too." Kevin zipped up his coat. "And be sure and bundle up when you go outside. It's a little nippy."
The man waved and Kevin turned to go. As he got to the front door, he looked up and noticed a framed portrait on the wall. The white-haired man in the portrait looked exactly like the man he'd just spoken to. Under the portrait was a small gold plaque which said:
E. F. Duncan, founder
. Kevin looked back at the cash register, but the man was gone.
He looked back up at the portrait in wonder. Was the man he'd just spoken to E. F. Duncan?
As Harry and Marv pushed through the doors of Duncan's Toy Chest and out onto the sidewalk, Harry suddenly stopped and shaded his eyes from the bright mid-winter sun. "I don't believe what I'm seeing!"
"You've seen traffic before," Marv said. "They call it holiday congestion."
"No, you idiot.
Him!
" Harry pointed at Kevin, who was standing on the sidewalk in front of them, concentrating on his street map of the city.
"It can't be!" Marv gasped. "I must be seeing things!"
"No, you ain't," Harry said, a nasty smile growing on his lips. "I thought I saw him before. Amazing ain't it? We escape from prison and come all the way to New York and who do we run into? The kid who put us in the can in the first place."
"But what's he doin' here?"
"Let's ask him," Harry said.
Now that he'd finished his Christmas shopping, Kevin was studying his map, trying to decide where the chauffeur should take him next. Suddenly he felt someone lurking beside him.
Kevin turned around and looked up into the faces of two grungy, but familiar-looking men. One was short and stocky with squinty eyes and a slightly hooked nose. His friend was taller and had a mustache and goatee. For a second Kevin couldn't place them. Then the shorter man smiled and his silver tooth glinted in the sunlight.
"Hiya, pal," Harry said.
Kevin felt his jaw drop. "You guys are supposed to be in jail."
"The warden gave us Christmas off for good behavior," Harry said.
"Too bad we're gonna disappoint him," Marv added, reaching for Kevin's neck.
"
AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!
" Kevin screamed and started to run. Harry and Marv chased after him, but the sidewalks were crowded with holiday shoppers. Being small, Kevin could cut through the pedestrians easier than the larger men who kept bumping into people and tripping over shopping bags.
Kevin dashed down the sidewalk as fast as his legs would carry him. Ahead he saw a street vendor selling fake pearl necklaces. Skidding to a stop, Kevin reached into the travel bag, grabbed some money, and quickly bought half a dozen necklaces.
Down the block Harry and Marv were bustling through the crowd, knocking people out of their way. As Kevin started to run again, he put each necklace in his mouth and bit down hard, breaking the string that held the fake pearls. Ahead was Fifty-ninth Street. Kevin raced across the pavement and scattered the loose pearls behind him.
A second later Harry and Marv started across the street and hit the pearls.
"Whoa!"
"Whoops!"
Both men lost their footing, flipped in the air, and crashed onto the street. Harry landed face first. Marv came down on his back. For a moment, neither man moved.
Kevin sprinted up to the Plaza Hotel. Under the portico, the concierge was waving good-bye to a couple while the bellman put their bags in a black limousine. Kevin ran up to the concierge.
"There's two guys chasing me," he gasped, pointing back down the street.
The concierge smiled maliciously and reached toward Kevin's pocket. "What's the problem? A store wouldn't take your stolen credit card?"
The next thing Kevin knew, the concierge took the card and grabbed Kevin by the collar. Suddenly Kevin remembered the guy on the TV show talking about the police cracking down on credit card fraud offenders of all ages. Oh no! he thought, they're gonna arrest me!
In a flash he twisted out of the concierge's grip and ran into the hotel.
"Stop that child!" Now the concierge and the bellman were chasing him. Ahead Kevin saw Ms. Acivedo step out from the reservations counter to block his path. Nearby, the hotel maintenance man was still buffing the floor. Just as Kevin reached Ms. Acivedo, he went into a baseball slide and slid under her legs. As he jumped up, he saw the concierge and bellman crash into her and fall into a heap. Kevin ran into the elevator and pressed the up button.
Out on Fifty-ninth Street, Marv and Harry rose stiffly from the asphalt.
"I can't believe we lost him," Marv groaned.
"We didn't," Harry said, pressing one hand into the small of his back and pointing with the other at the front of the Plaza. "He went into that hotel. And when he comes out—wham! We got him."
"What about his folks?" Marv asked as he rubbed his bruised elbows.
Harry grinned. "He ain't with his folks."
"How do you know?" Marv asked.
"How do I know?" Harry repeated irritably. "This is New York, nitwit. No parent in the world would let their kid walk around here alone."