Belle Book
"A Tale of Two Outlaws"
by Belle Book
Part Two
Acme HQ, San Francisco, a week later
Ivy and Zack were in Acme Headquarters,
trying to figure out where Carmen was going to
strike next. That was never easy, especially
when Carmen had not stolen anything for three
weeks.
That's when the Chief said, "Hot tip!
Carmen's gotten away with a sculpture inside
the Thorvaldsens Museum!"
"The Thorvaldsens Museum?" asked Zack.
"Isn't that a museum devoted to Bertel Thor-
valdsen?"
A picture of Bertel Thorvaldsen came
up as the Chief said, "Yes, it is. Thorvaldsen
was a Danish neo-classicist sculpture. In fact,
he was Denmark's greatest sculptor. He studied
in Copenhagen, then went to Rome to further his
training.
He is best known for such works as 'Ja-
son and the Golden Fleece', 'Lion of Lucerne',
'A Shepherd Boy', and 'Ganymede'."
"Wasn't Ganymede a famous Trojan youth
whom Zeus kidnapped because he needed a new cup-
bearer?" asked Ivy.
A funny picture of Ganymede's kidnapping
appeared as the Chief said, "He was. Zeus, ap-
parently, was impressed by his handsomeness, so
he disguised himself as an eagle and carried off
Ganymede. Hey, look out!"
Apparently, Ganymede had the Chief's face,
so when the eagle came to sweep "Ganymede" away,
he took the Chief.
"Drop me, you stupid bird!" yelled the
Chief.
Sure enough, the eagle dropped "Ganymede",
who fell to the ground shaken but unharmed. The
picture faded in an instant.
"Well, let's go," said Ivy, always ready
to chase Carmen.
"Player, C-5 us to Copenhagen, Denmark,"
said Zack.
The C-5 corridor opened and as Ivy and
Zack disappeared inside it, the Chief said,
"You're on your way from San Francisco,
California, to Copenhagen, the capital of Den-
mark."
___________________________________________________________________
Thorvaldsens Museum, Copenhagen, 5:00 PM
Once Ivy and Zack arrived on the scene,
the police briefed them on what had happened
Apparently, Carmen had gotten some of
her henchmen inside to steal "A Shepherd Boy",
a marble sculpture done between 1817 and 1825
Carmen's henchmen used a forklift to
steal the sculpture, and then they had carried
it out the back to a waiting van.
About that time, the guards found the
sculpture missing and they pursued the thieves,
but lost them.
Returning to the museum, they found a
doll located near where "A Shepherd Boy" was
once located. A doll which they gave to Ivy
and Zack as soon as they arrived.
The doll was dressed in a colorful
dress. Zack examined the back, where he found
two settings. He pressed one.
Immediately the doll began to dance to
some music. Zack immediately recognized it.
"Hey, that doll's doing the flamenco,
a world-famous Spanish dance!"
"Why would Carmen send us a doll that
could do the flamenco?" asked Ivy.
"Maybe because she wants us to go to
Spain," said Zack.
"What does the other setting do?" ask-
ed Ivy.
"Let's find out," said Zack. He press-
ed the other setting.
The doll began to speak in Spanish.
"What does it say, Zack?" asked Ivy.
"It says, 'Look for a famous milk maid
which can only be found in a painting,'" said
Zack, who knew Spanish.
"It has to be a milk maid in a Spanish
painting. The flamenco clue does point us to
Spain. But where in Spain? Player, access
Spanish paintings featuring milk maids."
A beautiful picture of a milk maid
appeared as the Chief said, "Shortly before
his death in 1828, Francisco de Goya y
Lucientes painted a picture of a milk maid
in Bordeaux, France, where he was staying
to escape the harsh rule of King Ferdinand
VII. It was entitled 'The Milk Maid of
Bordeaux.'"
As the Chief spoke, the picture
changed from that of a milkmaid to that of
Goya and then that of ferdinand VII.
"Goya!" said Ivy. "He was one of
the most famous painters in Spanish history,
wasn't he?"
"He sure was," said Zack. "Where is
this painting located?"
"It's located, along with most of
Goya's paintings, inside the Prado Museum in
Madrid," said the Chief.
"Player, C-5 us to the Prado Museum in
Madrid, Spain," said Zack. "Carmen's trail
just heated up!"
They disappeared in the C-5 corridor
where the Chief told them all about Spain.
"Ah, Spain. It's famous for its
colorful bullfights, its nice climate, and
its castles. Madrid, its capital city,
has the Prado Museum, which contains one
of the world's finest art collections,
and the National Library in Madrid, which
has more than 3 million volumes," said
the Chief. "Next stop, the Prado Museum."
________________________________________________________________
The Prado Museum, Madrid, 5:02 PM
Carmen picked up the painting she
wanted. "The Milk Maid of Bordeaux" was a
lovely painting, one of Goya's most serene
ones. That was very interesting considering
that this was painted toward the end of his
life, when he was an exile and after a series
of paintings dealing with very violent themes.
Afterwards, she had one more theft
to make, and that one was actually the most
important one of all.
One of her henchmen from California
had found out that on a Luiseno reservation
in California, there was a shaman who had a
recipe for an herbal medicine that healed
gunshot wounds -- the kind of wound Don Diego
suffered from. She planned to steal the
medicine and use it to treat Diego's wound.
Of course, once she was done with it,
if there was any of it left, she'd let the
detectives recover it, just as she planned
to let the detectives recover the sculpture
and this painting.
At that moment, she heard the sound
of the C-5 behind her. Turning around, she
saw Ivy and Zack emerge.
"Nice day for an arrest, huh, Carmen?"
Ivy asked.
"Well, well, look who's here," she
said. "Come and catch me, detectives."
And with that she ran out of Room
36, where the painting was located, and
into Room 37. Once inside Room 37, she
ran out the door, and toward the stairs.
Behind her, she heard Ivy and Zack.
It was time for her latest escape.
________________________________________________________________
Outside Room 37
Ivy reached the hallway and ran to-
ward the stairway. Zack was right behind
her.
They saw Carmen racing past Room 39,
then saw her stop at the stairs.
"We've got you now, Carmen!" Ivy
cried.
That's when Carmen raised her right
arm and touched something on her right wrist.
Immediately, a line and hook shot out and
wrapped itself around the railing.
Carmen leapt over the railing and
the line shot down toward the ground floor.
Ivy and Zack raced down the stairs,
and Ivy got a brief glimpse of Carmen run-
ning toward the Murillo Door.
By the time Ivy and Zack reached
the ground floor and the Murillo Door, how-
ever, Carmen was already outside.
Outside, Ivy and Zack saw Carmen
starting her red motorcycle-like vehicle.
Carmen did not close the cockpit
right away, however. Instead, she said,
"Nice job, detectives. Here."
And with that, she threw to them
a globe, which Ivy ran to catch. Fortu-
nately, Carmen had a very good arm and
Ivy caught it easily.
Carmen then said, "I'm off to see
someone who practices Changichngish."
With that she closed the cockpit
and drove away. Before the detectives
could get any motorcycles to pursue her,
however, the vehicle sprouted wings.
A jet engine fired, and within
minutes, Carmen was in the air and fly-
ing away from Madrid.
"She got away again!" Ivy yelled,
frustrated over Carmen's cleverness.
"Well, at least we got a clue,"
said Zack.
"Two," said Ivy. She looked at
the globe Carmen had given her.
It had a strange scene inside it.
A scene of a beach and waves, almost like
an ocean.
"An ocean beach?" asked Ivy. "I
don't get it."
______________________________________________________________
Ten minutes later
Both Zack and Ivy were still try-
ing to figure out what the significance of
the globe was. However, they were getting
nowhere.
"Maybe we should try the other clue
she gave," said Zack. Player, access the
word Carmen gave us -- Changichngish."
The Chief said, "Changichngish was
both the name of a chief of the Luiseno tribe
of southern California, and of a religion of
that particular tribe.
"The chief provided remedies for ill-
nesses and diseases, and ways to conserve and
manage Luiseno tribal religion.
"The religion named after him thrived
at villages associated with the Mission San
Luis Rey, which was founded in 1798. It was
apparently a desperate and ultimately suc-
cessful effort to keep their culture as con-
tinuous as possible in the midst of all the
changes due to the Spanish invasion."
(Author's note: the previous information was
obtained from the Encyclopedia of North Amer-
ican Indians by Frederick Hoxie. I found it
at my workplace -- a library.)
Ivy asked, "But what does it have to
do with this globe with a beach and waves?
"How many reservations in California
have Luiseno Indians on it?" asked Zack.
"Six," said the Chief. "They're all
in San Diego and Riverside Counties. There's
the Pala Indian Reservation about 50 miles
from Oceanside, California --
"Wait a second!" Zack cried. "The
Mission San Luis Rey is near Oceanside, and
if I remember my history correctly, there
was a related mission called San Antonio de
Pala, in San Diego county."
"And Oceanside is in that county!"
cried Ivy, suddenly seeing the truth.
"That's why Carmen's globe had a
beach and waves. She was suggesting Ocean-
side, California!" Ivy realized.
"And she wants us to go to the Pala
Indian Reservation near Oceanside," said
Zack. "But what would attract her atten-
tion there?"
"I don't know but let's find out,"
said Ivy. "Player, C-5 us to the Pala In-
dian Reservation near Oceanside, California."
The C-5 corridor opened. Ivy and
Zack disappeared inside it.
"You're on your way from Madrid to
the Pala Indian Reservation near Oceanside,
California, once a possession of Spain," the
Chief said.
_______________________________________________________________
Pala Indian Reservation, California, 8:15 AM
Zack and Ivy arrived at the reserva-
tion.
"Now where do we go?" asked Ivy.
"She said that she was going to see
someone who practiced Changichngish," said
Zack.
"That's not much help," said Ivy.
"Many Luiseno natives here probably prac-
tice that religion, as well as the Roman
Catholic religion."
"Yes, but the ones who'd probably
practice it most are the local chief or the
local shaman. I'd say we begin by trying
to find either person."
At that moment, a hovercraft flew
above one of the facilities on the reser-
vation, then quickly parked. It was a red
hovercraft.
Before the detectives could react,
several blue-coated henchmen came out --
as did Carmen!
"It's Carmen!" said Ivy.
They raced over to the building.
______________________________________________________________
Shaman Running Brook's office
The local shaman, Running Brook,
heard the sound of the hovercraft outside.
Since she'd been busy treating a member of
her tribe who was sick, she ignored it.
But she could not ignore the en-
trance of several strange men in blue coats
and an equally strange woman dressed in a
long red coat.
"What do you want?" she asked.
The woman spoke, "My name is Carmen
Sandiego. Would you please tell me where the
medicine to treat gunshot wounds is?"
"Why should I tell you?" the shaman
asked.
"Two reasons," said Carmen. "One,
I wish to use your medicine to help someone
who has suffered a gunshot wound and needs
that treatment. He's an outlaw I know and
I can't get him to the hospital, since I'm
a thief myself."
"I'm sorry, but I can't help you,"
Running Brook said. "I only give medicine
to fellow Native Americans."
"Then I'm afraid I'm going to have
to hold you captive until I do find it,"
said Carmen. "That's the other reason why
you should have told me."
The henchmen came forward and sur-
rounded Running Brook.
Luckily, they didn't have to hold
her very long. Carmen spotted a cabinet and
went to check it. It was the medicine cab-
inet, and inside it was Running Brooks's
medicines.
Carmen picked up a medication and
took a look at it. The medicine was label-
led in both the Takic language and Spanish.
Since Carmen knew Spanish, she read the la-
bel. It was the medicine she needed.
"Thank you very much, shaman," said
Carmen. "If there's any left when I'm done
with it, I'll return it to you."
Then she turned -- in time to see
Zack and Ivy come in.
"Excuse me, shaman," said Carmen.
"But I believe I had better use your back
door. Get your medical instruments to a
safe place."
Then she ran the other way. As Ivy
and Zack moved to follow her, they were con-
fronted by Carmen's henchmen. There were
three henchmen.
Ivy quickly took care of two of them
with her famous karate chop. Zack dodged
the third, and Ivy, having taken care of the
other two, knocked out the third one. She
then told Running Brook, "Have the Reser-
vation police arrest those three."
That gave Carmen time to get out the
back door, however, and by the time Ivy and
Zack could find her, she was outside, racing
toward her hovercraft with the herbal med-
icine in her hand.
Ivy and Zack tried to reach her, but
Carmen got inside before they could do so.
She quickly started the hovercraft.
As the hovercraft began to lift off
the ground, Carmen said,
"I'm off to a city named for a famous
fighter for Texan independence."
The hovercraft lifted off the ground,
then a jet engine fired and it flew toward
the west.
Running Brook came out of her office
as the cops came in.
"What did she want?" asked Zack in
Spanish.
The shaman made a reply in Spanish
as well.
"Well?" asked Ivy.
"She said that Carmen wanted a tri-
bal herbal medicine that could treat wounds,
in particular, gunshot wounds," Zack said.
"I don't get it," said Ivy. "First,
she steals a sculpture that's from the 1820s,
then she steals a painting that's also from
the 1820s, then she steals a herbal medicine.
What's the connection?"
"If we find out where Carmen's head-
ed, we could find out what the connection is,"
said Zack.
"Player, access famous fighters for
Texan independence," said Ivy.
Pictures of Davy Crockett and Jim
Bowie came up first. However, Zack said,
"No, no. Carmen said she was head-
ing to a city named for a famous fighter for
Texan independence. And neither one had
cities named after them."
A picture of Sam Houston came up.
The Chief said, "Sam Houston was a
leader in the battle for Texan independence
from Mexico. Later he became president for
the Republic of Texas, and then a senator
when it joined the United States.
Toward the end of his life, he was
its governor briefly, but refused to take
Texas out of the Union and was removed from
the governorship. The city of Houston was
named for him."
"That's as good a start as any,"
said Zack. "Is there any VILE activity
in Houston?"
The Chief said, "You're in luck.
Acme Bugnet picked up a transmission just
a few minutes ago from a VILE henchman to
Carmen. They've just given me the coor-
dinates.
"The location is on Gaveston Road,
near the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center."
"Player, C-5 us to the coordinates
Acme Bugnet obtained," said Ivy.
The C-5 corridor opened and Ivy and
Zack disappeared inside it.
To be continued
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