The Jaguar's Jewel

is for Jackpot …

Dink ran his fingers over the striped wallpaper. Just above his head, he felt a thin crack. He followed the crack with his fingers until he felt another crack, this one running down toward the floor.

Dink jumped back as if his hand had been burned. “Guys!” he shouted.

Josh and Ruth Rose came running into James's office.

Dink showed them his discovery. “I think it's a secret door!” he said.

Dink spread the note on his knees and read it out loud.

Josh giggled. “He calls you Donny?”

“Yeah,” Dink said, blushing. “But if
you
ever do, I'll tell all the kids at school your middle name is Carol.”

“But my middle name
isn't
Carol!” Josh said.

Dink flashed an evil grin. “So?”

“Guys, I think we're there,” Ruth Rose said.

The train slowed. Suddenly, the bright, sunny day vanished. Everything outside the train windows turned black.

“Hey, what happened?” Josh cried.

Dink laughed. “We're in a tunnel, Josh,” he said. “Don't worry. Ruth Rose and I will protect you.”

The train slowed even more, then stopped. “New York, Grand Central Station!” the conductor called. “Last stop! All passengers off!”

The kids grabbed their backpacks
and followed the other passengers to the door.

“Watch your step,” the conductor said. He helped the kids hop onto the platform.

They found themselves standing in a concrete tunnel. The dust and soot coming up from under the train made Dink sneeze.

“Where do we go?” Josh asked.

“My uncle said he'd meet us,” Dink said. “Maybe we should just wait here.”

All around them, people were hurrying along the platform. Dink stood on tiptoe, but he couldn't see his uncle anywhere.

“Is that him?” Ruth Rose asked.

She pointed to a short man in a gray suit. He was pushing toward them through the crowd.

Dink jumped up and down and waved. “Uncle Warren, here we are!”

Uncle Warren Duncan had white hair and a big smile. He carried an umbrella and wore a red carnation in his lapel. His eyeglasses twinkled in the underground lights.

“Donny, welcome!” he said, beaming at the kids. “How was your train ride? Are you hungry?”

“We're fine,” Dink said. “The train was great, and Mom packed sandwiches for us.”

“Splendid!” Dink's uncle gave him a big hug.

“And whom have we here?” he asked,
peering through his round glasses.

“Josh and Ruth Rose,” Dink said, “my best friends!”

“Marvelous!” Uncle Warren said, shaking their hands. “Now let's go find a cab. Follow me!”

Uncle Warren marched up a long ramp with the kids right behind him. A moment later, they entered the biggest room Dink had ever seen.

Hundreds of people bustled in every direction. A deep voice announcing train arrivals and departures echoed over a loudspeaker. Piles of luggage were heaped around the gleaming marble floor.

Try as he might, Dink couldn't take it all in. Uncle Warren said, “This is Grand Central Station's main terminal. Look up!”

The kids tipped their heads back and looked up … and up! Gold-painted
stars and animals danced across an emerald green ceiling.

“This is so awesome!” Josh said. “Look, there's a bull and a goat!”

“Taurus and Capricorn—the zodiac signs, dear boy,” Uncle Warren explained. “Now onward!”

Uncle Warren marched them toward an exit. The kids followed him out of the building.

The street outside Grand Central Station was a shock to Dink. His ears were blasted by horns honking, brakes
squealing, music blaring, and food vendors shouting.

“Welcome to the Big Apple!” Uncle Warren said.

He waved his umbrella and whistled. A yellow cab zoomed up and screeched to a halt inches from Uncle Warren's shiny black shoes.

Uncle Warren yanked open the rear door. “In, youngsters, in!” he cried.

They had barely sat down and shut the door when the cab lurched back into traffic.

“Where to?” the driver asked over her shoulder.

“Number three forty, West One Hundred and Tenth Street,” Uncle Warren said.

He turned to the kids. “We'll stop at the museum first,” he said. “I'm expecting a shipment from South America.”

Dink sat up as the driver zigzagged her way up a wide avenue. With his nose to the glass, Dink watched thousands of cars, taxis, buses, bikes, and people dodge one another. Even through the closed taxi window, he could feel the throbbing pulse of the huge city.

Twenty minutes later, the cab hurtled to a stop in front of a building made of white marble. “Here we are,” the driver said.

Uncle Warren handed her a few bills. “Keep the change, please.”

“Thanks, mister!” the driver said, smiling into her rearview mirror.