The next morning, Adam, Bree, Chase, Leo, and I walk into the living room and see Mr. Davenport standing next to a big gray sheet. "Hey, guys, check this out. I picked this up at an auction today, and it only cost me a million dollars." Mr. Davenport says.
"For a sheet?" Adam asks. "Boy, I guess I better start saving up if I'm gonna be a ghost for Halloween."
"It's a painting, Adam, by a very famous artist named Von Schtopp." Mr. Davenport says, revealing the painting.
"Hm, I wish I would have been there to Von Schtopp you from buying it," Leo says.
"What is it?" Adam asks.
"It's abstract art, Adam. It's whatever you think it is." Mr. Davenport says.
"I think it's a crying woman," Bree says.
"I think it's a storm at sea," Chase says.
"I think it's a gorilla jumping on a pogo stick." I say, everyone gives me a weird look.
"I think someone just blew a million bucks," Leo says. Mr. Davenport's phone rings and he answers it.
"That's me. Davenport Industries. Hello? Uh-huh. Oh, boy. All right. Looks like I've got to put out a fire at work." Mr. Davenport says, hanging up the phone.
"What happened?" Chase asks.
"Betty from accounting got her head caught in the positron collider again." Mr. Davenport says. We all grimace at the news Mr. Davenport was telling us. "That's gonna be messy. Can you guys put that in the art vault for me?"
"Wait, you have an art vault?" Leo asks.
"When are you guys gonna learn? I have a everything." Mr. Davenport says. "But whatever you do, do not touch the Davenportraits." Mr. Davenport leaves the house.
"What's a Davenportrait?" Leo asks.
We went down to the art vault and looked at the various paintings Mr. Davenport had in the room. They were famous paintings but they had his face in them. Leo was standing with his hands on his face and his mouth wide open like the screaming man painting that was in the room. "Am I screaming out loud or just inside my head?" Leo asks.
"I'm just gonna say it: Davenport is one weird dude," Chase says. Adam puts the painting on a stand.
"Ah. Voila." He says. "The Von Schto..." Adam begins to sneeze.
"Ew, gross, gross, gross!" I say.
"Turn around!" Leo says.
Adam sneezes and accidentally triggers his heat vision that burns a hole through the painting. "Adam, what did you do?" Chase asks.
"Oh, I think that sneeze accidentally triggered my heat vision!" Adam says.
"Big D is going to freak out!" Leo says.
"Let's not panic. This hole is barely noticeable." Chase says. Adam sneezes again and burns a bigger hole in the painting. "That, however, is incredibly noticeable!"
"Adam, if you're going to destroy paintings, do it to those!" Leo says, pointing to the paintings in the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Adam, I cannot believe you just destroyed Mr. Davenport's million-dollar painting!" Chase says.
"Mr. Davenport's gonna kill us when he sees what happened," Bree says.
"Okay, well, maybe he won't notice if we fill the room with things that look much more hideous," Adam says.
"More hideous? Have you seen the Daven Lisa?" Bree asks, pointing to the Daven Lisa portrait. The elevator dings and we all scramble to cover the ruined painting with the sheet. We all tried to look natural when Mr. Davenport walked back into the room.
"Hey, Big D. What are you doing back?" Leo asks.
"Uh, I forgot something. I forgot that I left my million-dollar painting in the hands of the five most destructive teenagers in the world!" Mr. Davenport says. "Please tell me it's okay."
"It's fine," Chase says.
"Looks great," Bree says.
"Pretty darn good, if you ask me," I say.
"It's fine, great, and pretty darn good," Adam says. Mr. Davenport tries to remove the sheet from the painting but Leo steps in front of him.
"Hey, wait. Hey. We've already seen this one, and it's boring. I would like to know more about this beautiful...what are we looking at?" Leo says.
"Yeah, I remember posing for that one. You know it took us hours to get the fruit positioned just right?" Mr. Davenport says. We were looking at a fruit painting with Mr. Davenport's head on it.
"Well, you've just killed apples for me," Leo says.
"I was gonna be the big banana, but I thought that'd be a little too much." Mr. Davenport says. He walks over to the covered painting.
"Don't do that!" I say, stopping Mr. Davenport.
"Why not?" Mr. Davenport asks.
"Because. B...because I...have an idea. You should pose for a Daven-sculpture." I say, putting my arm around Mr. Davenport and leading him away from the painting.
"Daven-sculpture! Yes!" Mr. Davenport says. "Cassie, I knew your creative art talents would come in handy one day. I'm gonna get to work on that right away. Oh! Get ready, guys, for six feet of stone-cold me!"
"Six feet?" Bree asks as Mr. Davenport stepped inside the elevator.
"There's a pedestal!" Mr. Davenport says. He leaves the room.
That afternoon, Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo were sitting in the lab talking when I walked in with the destroyed painting. "Okay, Mr. Davenport's gonna be at the sculptor's studio for a few more hours. They're only up to his knees."
"How do you know that?" Bree asks.
"Because he's giving me a photo play-by-play," I say, taking out my phone and showing them the pictures Mr. Davenport sent me. Disgusted looks crossed their faces as they saw the photos.
"Okay, there's got to be some way to fix this painting," Leo says.
"I know. We can make a replica. I can pull an image of the painting from my internal hard drive." Chase says. "And project it onto a blank canvas. Then we can trace it and paint over it."
"That'll never work," Leo says. "We can't paint that fast." Bree clears her throat loudly.
"Hey, do you mind? We're trying to think over here."
Adam says.
"I can paint that fast," Bree says.
"Good for you. Quit bragging and help us come up with the solution." Adam says.
Once we got all the painting supplies, Chase says, "All right, here we go." He uses his bionics and transmits an image of the painting onto the canvas. "All right, Bree, do your thing." Bree uses her super speed and paints the canvas.
"Done and done," Bree says. "What do you think?"
"It's perfect," Chase says.
"Can't tell the difference," Leo says.
"Amazing," I say.
"Still ugly," Adam says.
"All right, well, we don't have much time. We'll go hang the replica. Adam, you take care of the original." Chase says.
"What? What am I supposed to do with it?" Adam asks.
"Hide it someplace that Mr. Davenport will never find it," Chase says. "Make it disappear!"
"Okay, but I'm gonna need a magic wand and a volunteer from the audience," Adam says. He looks at me. "How 'bout you, young lady?"
"Just go," I say. Adam leaves the lab with the old painting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
In the art vault, Chase places the replica of the painting on the stand. "Ah. There. Mr. Davenport will never know the difference."
"Okay, let's be honest...if it's not a mirror or his bank account, he's not really paying attention," Leo says. Bree, Chase, and I nod our heads in agreement. Mr. Davenport walks into the art vault.
"Hey!" Mr. Davenport says, making us jump. "What are you doing down here?"
"What are we doing down here? Well...we're down here 'cause your painting really spoke to us." I say nervously.
"That's right. And...it said...uh, I'm lonely. Come hang out with me." Bree says. "It's a lot like you that way." Mr. Davenport looks at the painting.
"Did you guys really think I wouldn't notice?" Mr. Davenport asks.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"You are looking at it upside down!" Mr. Davenport says. He turned the picture and we acted like we understood it now.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day, we got back home from school and saw Mr. Davenport in the living room with the painting. "There you are." Mr. Davenport says.
"It was Cassie!" Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo shout, pointing at me. I look at my siblings with wide eyes.
"Just take the hit. The little ones always go first." Bree says, making me glare at her.
"Good news...I sold the painting." Mr. Davenport says.
"What? Why?" Chase asks.
"Some Wall Street guy e-mailed me and said he'd buy it for a million more than I paid for it." Mr. Davenport says. "Guy came by, looked it over, and he went straight to the bank." The doorbell rings. "Hear that? That, my friends, is a seven-figure ding dong." Mr. Davenport sings to himself as he walks over to the door and opens it. Our eyes widened when we saw several FBI agents standing at the door.
"Donald Davenport?" One of the agents says.
"Uh-huh." Mr. Davenport says nervously.
"I'm Special Agent Ryker. We got a call from a prospective buyer that you were attempting to sell forged art."
"Forged art? What are you talking about?" Mr. Davenport says as the agents enter the house.
"I'm talking about this." Agent Ryker says, pointing to the painting. "The buyer reported that this canvas still had the price tag attached, that it was purchased at the art depot...on sale."
"I...I don't understand." Mr. Davenport says.
"It's when a store offers a product at a discount." Agent Ryker says. "Mr. Davenport, selling fake art is a felony. You could be facing twenty years in prison." He handcuffs Mr. Davenport.
"Twenty years?! Well, at least you'll be out in time for Adam's graduation." Leo says.
"Guess I'd better start studying," Adam says.
"I don't understand how this could have happened. That painting is an original." Mr. Davenport says. "It's got an ID chip embedded in the canvas. Scan it." Agent Ryker scans the painting with a small device and it starts beeping.
"That, sir, is the bad buzz, which means no chip." Agent Ryker says. "But there is a chip in prison, and he is mean." The agents begin to walk Mr. Davenport out but we stop them.
"Wait. He is telling the truth. We painted the fake." Bree says.
"You what?!" Mr. Davenport says.
"We accidentally ruined the real painting, so we forged a copy so you wouldn't find out," Chase says.
"You what?!" Mr. Davenport shouts.
"Okay, we're gonna have to act it out for him. Chase, you be the painting, I'll sneeze a hole in you." Adam says.
"Look, I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding. Chase, go get the original and show it to the nice man with the big badge and the tiny little scanner." Mr. Davenport says.
"Sure," Chase says. "Wait, Adam, where is it?"
"Oh, I threw it in the dumpster at school," Adam says.
"What?!" Chase says.
"You told me to put it where he wouldn't look. Did he look there? No. You're welcome!" Adam says.
"Okay, maybe it's still there. If we get it back, will you let him go?" I ask Agent Ryker.
"I suppose. If you produce the original, then his story checks out, but until then, I've got a warrant to search the place." Agent Ryker says.
"For what?" Mr. Davenport asks.
"Any forged art. We'll have to check every room in the house. Don't worry. We'll be careful." Agent Ryker says. The agents in the room immediately start searching the living room, tossing aside our furniture and possessions carelessly.
"Relax, Big D. You didn't really break any laws...that they know of," Leo says.
"Look, have you thought about what happens when they find the lab and how to explain it?" Mr. Davenport asks us. "That would be bad!"
"Hey, don't worry about this. I got it." Adam says. He walks over to Agent Ryker. "Hey, Mr. Agent. We've got nothing to hide. But say we did...how would we go about doing that?" Chase pulls him away from Agent Ryker.
"Look, the four of you go find that painting. Leo, you stay here with me and help me distract these agents." Mr. Davenport says. Adam, Bree, Chase, and I leave the house.
"So...you're an art cop," Leo says, walking over to Agent Ryker. "Hope you don't plan on framing us. I'm sorry. This is my first brush with the law."
"Leo, stop it. Let these men do their jobs and canvas the area." Mr. Davenport says. They laugh while Agent Ryker just stares at them.
"Please don't make me get the German Shepherd." Agent Ryker says.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
At the school, Adam, Bree, Chase, and I were in the dumpster looking for the painting. "Ugh! Sticky! Ugh! Squishy! Ahh! It's moving!" Bree says. She hits Chase and he moves to the other side of the dumpster.
"Adam, where is the painting?" Chase asks. Adam was standing next to the dumpster with me while Bree and Chase were in the dumpster looking for the painting.'
"I don't know. It should be in here." Adam says. "I just threw it out this morning."
"Okay, this is disgusting. Can't Davenport just go off to jail for a little while?" I say. Perry walks over to us with a trash bag.
"Hey! School's over. Go home and make your parents miserable!" Perry says.
"Principal Perry, what are you doing here?" Chase asks.
"Getting rid of expired cafeteria meat. If you ask me, it's still good." Perry says. "Meat's always expired...it's dead!" She throws the bag into the dumpster.
"I can't be here. I don't wanna be here." Bree says. "Get me out!"
"Oh, man up, Mary. The maggots don't set in until the noon sun hits." Perry says, throwing another trash bag in the dumpster. "So...you guys are dumpster divers like me, huh?"
"Nope, but thanks for that little glimpse into your life," Chase says.
"You twerps are gonna have to dive elsewhere. I've already hauled off all the good stuff." Perry says. "Found the perfect painting to use as the last obstacle on my golf course!"
"Painting?" Bree, Chase, and I say.
"Golf course?" Adam says.
Inside the school, Perry shows us the golf course she made. "So, this is why you pick through the trash?" Bree asks Perry.
"I know this may come as a shock, but being a principal isn't as glamorous as I make it look," Perry says. "So...I've created for myself...a fancy little country club!"
"With trash. That is glamorous." Chase says.
"You just lost yourself a caddy job, tiny woods," Perry says. "So, the tee is right there. I shoot through the life saver, over to the speakers, off the bongos, then the tennis racket, over to the vacuum, up to the fan, over to the umbrella, into the rain gutter, up the treadmill, through the hole in the painting, into the helmet. Back in my glory days, I was on the pro circuit. Gotta keep my skills sharp."
Perry starts to stretch and when she bends down, we all give her disgusted looks. "Guys, getting this painting back is gonna be a lot more difficult than I thought," Chase says.
"Why don't we just grab it and run?" I ask.
"The woman is holding a metal club, and I don't think she's afraid to use it," Chase says.
"Heads up. I'm more power than accuracy, so cover anything you don't want a golf ball to smash." Perry says. Adam, Bree, Chase, and I back up quickly as Perry whacks the ball, smashing a window in the process. "Ugh! Chimp pickles!"
"Um, you know what would make this course a lot easier?" Bree asks. "Removing this painting." Bree tries to grab the painting but Perry stops her.
"Get your hands off my junk! I waded through biohazard waste to get to that." Perry says.
"Look, Principal Perry, this painting is our dad's, and Adam accidentally threw it away, but it's really important that we get it back," Bree says.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I can't give it back." Perry says. "It has sentimental value."
"But you just found it," I say.
"Not to me. To you!" Perry laughs, taking the painting from Bree. "Playing through!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Last room in the house and no forged art, so as soon as those kids get back with that original painting, I am scot-free." Mr. Davenport says as Agent Ryker removes the handcuffs from Mr. Davenport's wrists. "You know, interestingly enough, I went to high school with a guy named Scott Free, and ironically, he went to jail."
"You talk a lot. You know who else talks a lot? People with something to hide." Agent Ryker says.
"Well, then you should probably go find some of those." Mr. Davenport says. "This has been nice." An agent takes a painting off the wall and sees a button.
"What's that?" Agent Ryker asks, pointing at the button.
"That? That...that is a...that's a doorbell." Mr. Davenport says.
"A doorbell?" Agent Ryker asks.
"Yeah."
"Inside the house?"
"Mm-hmm. Sure. Well, I mean I have the one that rings inside the house. This one rings outside so I can mess with the pizza guy when he comes. You know...bing-bong, bing-bong. I hate pizza." Mr. Davenport chuckles nervously. Leo gives Mr. Davenport a look and he just shrugs his shoulders when Agent Ryker turns around and presses the button. An elevator appears.
"You have a secret elevator?" Agent Ryker asks.
"'Course I have a secret elevator. Who doesn't have a secret elevator, right, Leo?" Mr. Davenport says.
"Right! We're...we're rich. We need to blow our money on something!" Leo says.
"What are you hiding, Davenport?" Agent Ryker asks.
"Nothing! Nothing! We're not hiding anything, right, Leo?" Mr. Davenport asks.
"Right!" Leo says.
"Well, then, I guess you wouldn't mind if we take a look." Agent Ryker says.
"No, we don't mind at all, right, Leo?" Mr. Davenport says in a high-pitched voice.
"Will you stop saying that?!" Leo exclaimed. The agents walk onto the elevator.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Guys, we have to get that painting back from Perry," Chase says.
"Look, I have an idea. Just follow my lead." Adam says. "Principal Perry!"
"Ugh! What do you want?" Perry asks.
"Look, how 'bout if we make this shot, you give us the painting?" Adam says.
"Done," Perry says. "But if you miss the shot, then you four have to cut all the grass in the football field for the rest of the year..."
"Deal," Adam says.
"With these mustache scissors," Perry says.
"Why do you have mustache scissors?" I ask.
"Why do you ask so many questions?" Perry asks.
When Adam takes the golf club from Perry and was about to take the shot, Perry stops him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't play co-ed. I'm not a savage. This course is ladies only. Which means...she has to take the putt." Perry hands me the golf club. "Good luck, shorty."
"I...I've never played golf before in my life." I say to my siblings.
"Don't worry. I'll use my Molecularkinesis to guide the ball." Chase says.
"Quit your mutter and grab your putter!" Perry says. "Let's do this!" Before I could hit the ball, Perry blows a trumpet to mess me up, but Chase uses his Molecularkinesis to guide the ball throughout the course.
"Wow! She put a crazy spin on that one, huh?" Adam says. The ball gets stuck in the gutter and Perry laughs. "Chase, where's the ball?"
"It must have got stuck in the pipe!" Chase says.
"I win, I win, I win!" Perry shouts, jumping up and down. Her jumping causes the ball to get unstuck and it slides down to the hole. We give each other high-fives and Perry shrieks in frustration.
"Get the painting!" Chase says. Adam grabs the painting and we run out of the school.
Back at the house, the agents, Leo, and Mr. Davenport were in the elevator listening to a recording of Mr. Davenport singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. "Is that you singing?" Leo asks Mr. Davenport.
"Yeah." Mr. Davenport says. "It's new. Thought I'd spice things up a little bit. If you want a copy, I still have three thousand CD's left."
"I think I can speak for everyone when I say, we're good," Leo says. The agents nod their heads. They enter the art vault.
"And this is my art vault." Mr. Davenport says.
"So you're not a forger, but you have a secret room full of copied paintings." Agent Ryker says.
"These are originals." Mr. Davenport says.
"That I believe." Agent Ryker says. "If you ask me, these paintings should hang themselves."
"When are they gonna get here with that painting?" Mr. Davenport asks Leo.
"I've been texting them. Adam says they're playing putt-putt with Perry." Leo says.
"What does that mean?" Mr. Davenport asks.
"I don't want to know," Leo says.
"We have to distract these agents before they find the lab." Mr. Davenport says.
"On it," Leo says. He walks over to Agent Ryker. "Hey, wanna hear a joke?"
"No." Agent Ryker says.
"Twenty questions?"
"No."
"A poem it is," Leo says. "When the night turns into dawn, lights, shadows, a new day has begun."
"Hey, I've got one for you. Roses are red, violets are blue, stop talking." Agent Ryker says. "Okay, looks like this room's clear."
"Well, since that's the last room in the house, I guess that means..."
"You've got another floor." Agent Ryker says.
"N...no I don't." Mr. Davenport says.
"Then what was that unlabeled button on the elevator's control panel?" Agent Ryker asks.
"Uh, that would be a question for the elevator operator, and he is not here today, right, Leo?" Mr. Davenport says.
"I am not going to jail with you," Leo says.
"You either take us there, or I'll make you take us there." Agent Ryker says.
Adam, Bree, Chase, and I walk into the room with the painting. "We have the painting!" I say.
"Ha! They have the painting! I'm free! I'm free!" Mr. Davenport exclaims, hugging Agent Ryker. He pulled away quickly and cleared his throat. "I mean, thank you for coming, officer."
"This proves Mr. Davenport is innocent," Bree says.
"Well, I'll be the judge of that, miss." Agent Ryker says. He scans the painting and it beeps. "Kid's right. It checks out. Sorry about the inconvenience, Mr. Davenport. Good luck with the singing career. You've, um...really got something." Ryker and the other agents leave the room.
"Uh, my album's available online, so..."
"What's an album?" Leo asks Mr. Davenport.
"That was close. Too close. The feds were just about to discover the lab." Mr. Davenport says.
"We didn't mean for any of this to happen." I say "Things just got out of hand. We're really sorry, Mr. Davenport."
"Yeah. We promise we'll always tell you the truth." Chase says.
"Yeah. You're selfish, you're bossy, and I wish I didn't, but I love your voice." Adam says. "Man, I'm so happy I got that off my chest."
"Give me that." Mr. Davenport says, taking the painting from Adam. He puts it on a stand.
"It's destroyed. Why are you putting it up?" Leo asks.
"So that every time you look at it, you'll remember that you owe me a million dollars." Mr. Davenport says, putting his arms around me and Chase.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next day, the five of us were in the living room watching Adam preparing to hit a golf ball. "Ah. Okay. Here's the shot...off the rail, hit the rock, off that thing, off the post, off the guitar, off the front door, and into the umbrella stand." Adam says.
"No way," Chase says.
"Never," Leo says.
"Impossible," Bree says.
"I'm bored," I say.
"Fore!" Adam shouts as he hits the ball.
"Good news! I got a new Von Schtopp!" Mr. Davenport says as he walks into the house. The golf ball comes hurtling toward him and rips a hole in the new painting, landing in the umbrella stand. Mr. Davenport screams.
"Whoo-hoo! Hole in one! Ohh!" Adam cheered. Mr. Davenport throws the painting to the ground and starts screaming.