Escape to the World's Fair Read Online Free

his eye he could see Alexander glaring at him, his hand on the latch of the car door. Alexander had been just about to get out.
    â€œI mean,” Jack went on, “let’s hear what he has to say.”
    Zogby spoke up. “I can certainly elaborate further. See, I have some business at the Fair that I wish I could attend to, but . . . I can’t. It’s better if I don’t go.”
    Jack wondered why, but there was something sort of strange in Zogby’s eyes that made him decide it was better not to ask.
    But Alexander narrowed his eyes. “Your business sounds awfully secret.”
    â€œWhich is exactly why you’re just the right people to go in my stead. You’re kids—nobody will notice you. And you’re—” Zogby seemed to search for the right words. “Well, I get the sense that you’re on your own, yes?”
    He looked right at Jack, who nodded
yes.
    â€œYou look smart, the whole lot of you. I bet you’ve had to get through some tough times.”
    He’s got that right,
Jack thought.
    â€œThis
business
you’re in,” Frances said, a little sarcastically. “Is it against the law?”
    â€œNot any—” Zogby began, then corrected himself. “Not
at all,
I mean.”
    Jack wanted to believe him, and he was pretty sure Eli did, too. But he glanced over at Frances and Alexander, who were exchanging wary looks with each other. Clearly they didn’t trust Zogby one bit.
    â€œLook,” Zogby said. “All you have to do is deliver
this
for me.” He reached into his striped suit-coat jacket and pulled out an object wrapped in a silk handkerchief. He held it out as he uncovered it. At the first glimpse of something shiny they all leaned in for a closer look. Even Frances had come back to the side of the car to take a peek.
    Jack saw metal—dull gold, and a glinting chain. The thing was a medallion of some kind, covered with elaborate sculpted designs. Zogby turned it over so they all could see both sides. On one side was a bird—a hawk or a falcon of some kind—with outstretched wings, and on the other, an ox with a crown on its head.
    â€œ
Whoa,
” Jack said under his breath.
    The medallion was big enough to cover Zogby’s palm, and there was some kind of writing all along the edge. Not writing, Jack suddenly realized—
symbols.
    Eli drew back suddenly. “What
is
that thing?” To Jack it seemed like he practically jumped.
    â€œ
What
it is isn’t important,” Zogby told him. “But I promise it won’t bite. You can hold it if you like.” He held out the medallion to Eli, but the boy shook his head
no
.
    Jack took it instead. It felt heavy in his hand. Expensive.
    Frances reached out to hold it, too. “Is it stolen?”
    â€œI promise you it is not,” Zogby replied. “But it is very valuable, and my . . . my associate will give you a spectacular reward for bringing it to the Fair.”
    â€œHmm,” Frances said, weighing the medallion in her hand. Harold peered over her arm at the thing but would not touch it. Alexander kept his hands in his pockets.
    It seemed to Jack that whatever the thing was, it was important. It made him think of the gold watch that his brother, Daniel, had once pointed out to him in the window at Segal’s on New Chambers Street. He’d been saving his wages to buy it. “Imagine having a treasure like that in your vest,” Daniel had said. “Bet it makes you really feel like you’re someone.”
    Zogby’s voice brought Jack back to the present.
    â€œWell?” he asked. “Can I count on you all to deliver this safely to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, otherwise known as the World’s Fair, in St. Louis? It’s a fine opportunity, if I say so myself.”
    Jack looked over at Frances, then at Alexander, but it was hard to read their expressions.
    Finally Alexander