The Trimoni Twins and the Shrunken Treasure by Pam Smallcomb

down from the stage and followed the reporter. “Finish packing,” he told the twins, motioning with his head to the Box of Doom. “I’ll see this guy out and be right back.”
    â€œThat reporter is a complete sleazeball,” Mimi said after they left.
    â€œWith bad breath,” Beezel said.
    â€œOh my gosh!” Mimi said. “We forgot about Wil!” She turned the box around and opened the secret panel, and Wiliken climbed out. “Are you okay?” she asked him.
    â€œI’m fine, but it was hard not to bust out of the box and punch that guy in the nose,” he said.
    â€œYou can’t do that,” Beezel said as she handed him the reporter’s card. “That’s just what he wants you to do. Think of how he’d write
that
story.”
    â€œYou’re right.” Wiliken smiled. “But, still, it’s very tempting!” He glanced at the card. “I knew it was Slear. He follows me everywhere. That guyhas made me his personal mission. I can’t buy a slice of pizza without that jerk’s face popping up.”
    â€œDo you know who it was that talked to him about your grandfather?” Beezel asked him.
    Wiliken nodded. “I know exactly who it was. My grandpa’s second cousin, Edwin.”
    Beezel and Mimi exchanged looks. Edwin was the name of the man Gaidic had told them about.
    â€œHe’s a real pain,” Wiliken said. “Hoogaboom said he was always dropping in on my grandpa uninvited for weeks at a time. As soon as grandpa died, he was at the front door, bags in hand, waiting to hear the will read. And he’s
still
here. Hoogaboom says he’s miffed that my grandpa left me the house instead of him.” Wiliken shrugged sadly. “But I didn’t think family did that sort of thing to each other, you know? Sold family stories?”
    â€œThey shouldn’t,” Beezel said. In the Trimoni Circus, their family and friends were the most important things they had. She couldn’t imagine doing what Edwin had done.
    â€œYep, that Edwin guy is as big a jerk as Slear,” Mimi said.
    â€œMimi!” Beezel said, glancing at Wiliken to see ifMimi had offended him. After all, they were related. But Wiliken just laughed and agreed.
    â€œHoogaboom will hit the roof when he hears Edwin did this,” Wiliken said. “He’s been worried that Edwin is after our treasure. But at least he’s leaving at the end of the week, and we’ll be rid of him.”
    Mimi’s mouth fell open.
    â€œGreat sorcerer’s sweat socks!” Beezel said. “You mean to tell me that
you
think there’s treasure inside your grandpa’s house, too?”
    â€œOf course,” Wiliken said as he dusted off his pants. “Didn’t Hoogaboom tell you we were looking for it? He told me he was going to.”
    â€œHe did tell Hector,” Mimi said. “But he said it was
all
the treasure from a Spanish galleon. And that
all
of it was hidden inside the house somewhere.”
    â€œAnd he said that he and your grandpa have been looking for it for
twenty
years,” Beezel said.
    Wiliken grew silent.
    â€œWil?” Mimi asked. “Are you okay?”
    â€œHuh?” Wiliken said. “Oh, I was just thinking, and Hoogaboom is wrong.”
    Beezel’s heart sank. Uncle Hoogaboom wasunraveling after all. The treasure was probably just some gold coins tucked away somewhere. Hector was going to be so upset when he found out.
    â€œYeah, he’s dead wrong,” Wiliken said thoughtfully. “I think it’s been twenty-two years.”
    It was the twins’ turn to be silent. Finally, Mimi said the thing that was on Beezel’s mind as well. “But that’s just crazy,” Mimi said. “If there was all the treasure from a galleon inside the house and they had been searching for it all that time, they would have found it.”
    â€œWell, we are getting