The water looked so calm. The butterflies in my stomach weren’t as calm. As I thought about the contest, I looked out the window at the seemingly never-ending Atlantic Ocean. It looked like a blanket of silk. It felt as if nothing bad could happen. There was only one word to describe it peaceful. I could barely wait to get to Paris; I wanted to see the many sites.
I stretched out my legs, bumping the seat in front of me. I fumbled through my backpack and pulled out my binder. Looking through all of my music I was going to play for the contest, I couldn’t help but wonder if I would win . . . or if I would even place.
I put away the book and pulled out the pillow the stewardess has given me and rested my head against the side of the window . . . It didn’t take long to fall asleep. I was awakened by a tapping on my shoulder. It was my little brother, Mike, explaining excitedly, “Daniel! Daniel! We’re here!” I pulled up the pillow and peered out the window . . . there it was . . . Paris, France.
I put the pillow away and lay back in the seat. I stared down at the ground as it got nearer; as I saw the runway in the distance, a powerful jolt came out of nowhere . . . we were on the ground. The plane docked in with the airport station and we were allowed to get off. I opened the hatch above my head and got my suitcase out and carefully maneuvered down the aisle. “Good bye,” I heard as one of the pretty stewardesses called out to me.
As we waited for our luggage, I noticed a man watching me. I thought it was just a coincidence at first but when I moved around to the far side of the luggage turnstile, he was still looking my way. I followed my dad as he headed for the rental car desk. I stayed with him until he was finished and then we grabbed our luggage and headed for the car.
As we drove through the city I couldn’t get enough of the sights. It was beautiful. We passed the concert hall and my stomach did a flip. I couldn’t believe that I was going to play there in two days. I couldn’t wait to see inside the Salle Gaveau.
Our hotel suite was in view of the Eiffel Tower. Looking down at the many shops, I wondered if I would have enough time to explore.
“Hey mom, can I go look around at all the stores outside?” I asked.
She smiled. “Sure, Daniel, just be back at five.” I couldn’t get out the door fast enough. When I reached the street I saw someone familiar, Lucas, a fellow competitor looking in a window of a bakery. I waved to him, “Lucas!” He turned and smiled when he recognized me. “Hey, Daniel, I didn’t know you were here yet.”
“Yeah, I just got off the plane a couple hours ago. Paris is amazing.”
“Did you already see Rick?” asked Lucas
I thought for a second, “Rick is in the competition?” I asked, puzzled.
“No, he wanted to come with me because I had an extra plane ticket since my sister had Girl Scouts. So he tagged along.”
“Cool, is he around here?” I asked.
“Yeah, he’s inside. Come on lets go in,” said Lucas as he pushed open the door of the bakery. We spotted Rick sitting at a corner table, engrossed in the menu. We plopped down beside him and laughed when he jumped from the shock,
“Hey, Rick, welcome to Paree,” I said.
“Hey! I didn’t know you were coming in today!” Rick exclaimed. “Maybe we will have time to explore before all of the competition stuff gets started.”
“Yeah, we needed plenty of time for me to prepare and rest.”
Lucas leaned across the table and said with a hushed voice. “Ok, get this; did you know that the people in charge of the contest are having the original hand-written copy of Beethoven’s Fur Elise on display in the main hall?”
“Wow, I didn’t know that,” Daniel whispered.
“Yeah, I bet they have tons of security to guard it. I don’t think anyone would try to steal it, but it is worth over a million dollars.” Daniel and Rick looked at each other and whistled. “That’s some expensive sheet music,” laughed Daniel.
“Oh, and there’s one thing I wanted to ask you. All of the contestants are meeting at Omar’s Carriage House down the street from here for dinner. Can you come?” asked Lucas.
“Hmm, that sounds fun. Let me ask my mom.” I pulled my out my cellphone and called my mom. I explained to her what the other contestants were doing, and she gave me permission to go.
The waiter came over to our table and asked for our order. We all looked at him, confused, as he spoke in French. Lucas looked at him and asked if he spoke English, but the man kept speaking in French. I asked Lucas and Rick if we could all get the same thing, then I got the waiter’s attention and pointed to the three of us, then pointed to a croissant that we wanted to order. The waiter laughed and said, “I speak English. I was just messing with you.” We all laughed and ate our croissant. I had always heard that French waiters were rude, but this guy was just funny.
* * *
“Wow, I don’t know how we’re going to do this,” said Roberto as he looked at the security plans for the building. “If we want to steal the sheet music, we’re going to have to use every bit of skill we have. We will only have one shot at this.”
“We’ll need to go in through the roof,” said Wilhelm.
“No, we can’t!” said Roberto as he looked at the plans, “We need to go through the back doors; they won’t have any guards there.”
Wilhelm came over and looked down at the plans, “Okay.” He said, “But how are we going to get the sheet music?”
“I am still working on that!” said Roberto, “We need to get the sheet music and get out!” Roberto exclaimed.
“Well, I hope you know what you’re doing; I don’t want to end up in prison,” stated Wilhelm.
* * *
We arrived at Omar’s Carriage House after a short walk. “I’m pretty excited about this,” Lucas said as he opened the doors. They looked around the restaurant to see if there was a large group of boys and girls. A waiter approached them and asked in English if they were with a party.
“Is there a party of kids here from a piano competition?” Lucas asked the waiter. The waiter smiled and pointed to the back of the room. “Your party is this way.” She led us to a room in the back of the restaurant filled with laughing and talking teenagers.
We recognized a few friends and sat down to join them. We spent the next hour eating and talking about the competition and all we wanted to see in Paris. Lucas and I started back to the hotel so that we could spend the rest of the evening with our parents. I wondered if this was when jetlag would set in.
* * *
I woke up early the next morning and had breakfast with my family. I grabbed my music binder and headed out the door at 9:00, because I didn’t want to miss my practice time at 9:30. The concert hall was a short walk down the street. I had plenty of time to spare. The outside of the building hid how beautiful the inside was.
As I walked into the building, I showed an attendant my concert ID and told her that I had a 9:30 rehearsal time. She smiled and escorted me to the concert hall. I was overwhelmed when she opened the doors. She led me down the side aisle to a seat on the front row at the front of the concert hall, and told me to wait until the attendant would instruct me to take the stage.
No one was playing the piano at this time, so I wondered if I was the very first one. I was glad that I was able to get the feel of this piano before the competition started. As I waited for the attendant, I was mesmerized by the glorious stage. An awesome pipe organ rose up from the back of the stage. It was white with silver pipes. I had never seen anything like it before in my life. In the center of the stage was a ten foot concert grand piano. I had never played on such a large piano, and I started to wonder if I would forget how to play. In the corner of the stage stood a decorative rectangular container. I decided to get a closer look. I looked around to see if I was alone and then slowly rose from my chair and went up on the stage. Inside was Beethoven’s original Fur Elise.
I was reading the sheet music when an attendant walked up behind me. “I see you have found the Fur Elise,” he chuckled.
“I’m sorry. I was just curious. It’s really something.”
He held out his hand. “You must be Daniel Williamson. I am Julien Bourdon.”
I shook his outstretched hand, “Yes, sir. I am here for my practice.”
“Let me show you the piano,” said Mr. Bourdon. As I followed him to the piano, I looked out over the large auditorium. I imagined what the theater must look like filled with a thousand people. I thanked Mr. Bourdon for his assistance and sat down at the piano. I decided to warm up my fingers with scales. I then proceeded to play my top five favorite songs. I laughed to myself because I could hear my mom telling me, “You need to play the songs you need to work on before you play the songs you enjoy.”
When my fingers were warmed up, I was ready to play Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody. As my fingers flew up and down the keys, I felt an overwhelming sense of joy.
* * *
Roberto walked into the room. “Wilhelm! I found out a way to get into the contest to steal the music.” Wilhelm sat up from his chair. “What is the plan?” he asked curiously.
Roberto started to explain his plan. “The concert hall is hiring staff for the competition. We will get hired and then we will have access to the sheet music. There are janitorial jobs that will give us access to the auditorium to steal the music. We’ll make a fortune!” Wilhelm exclaimed, “That is a brilliant plan, but how are we going to steal it with everyone around?” Roberto asked.
“We will apply for the night shift,” Wilhelm replied.
* * *
I finished playing my song and took a deep breath. Mr. Bourdon looked at me smiling, “That was one of the best practices I have heard this week,” Mr. Bourdon said.
I smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Bourdon. I really needed that.” I got up from the piano, said goodbye to Mr. Bourdon, and started walking back to the hotel.
I went into the room and saw my mom talking with Lucas’s mom. “We all should go sightseeing, Diana. Daniel, Lucas, and Rick would have fun,” said Mrs. Sanders.
“I agree, and that should work out, because Michael and my husband are out shopping at the Lego store a couple miles from here.” We are going to have to walk because they took the car.”
“Hi Mrs. Sanders” I interrupted. She smiled at me, “Hi, Daniel! Lucas and Rick are in our room, its room 267.”
I smiled back at her, “Oh, thank you.” I left the room and came to a stop at room 267. I knocked on the door waiting for an answer. It wasn’t long before Lucas answered the door, “Hey Daniel. How did the practice go?” Lucas asked.
“It was very helpful to practice and see how the keys feel. I’m starting to get a little nervous. I came over to say that our parents are talking about going sightseeing in a couple minutes. That will help get our minds off the competition for a while.” Daniel said excitedly. Rick and Lucas perked up and smiled. Our parents walked into the room, “Ok, we’re all going sightseeing together. There are many sights to see that are close to the hotel.” my mom said happily. We all went downstairs and stopped at the sidewalk.
“Ok where should we go first? Mrs. Sanders asked. Lucas and Rick spoke at once, “The Eiffel Tower!” I agreed and we set off for our day of sight-seeing. When we arrived at the Eiffel Tower, I strained my head to look up at the amazing work of the iron support running through the beams of the tower. We decided to ride the elevator to the top. Looking out over Paris, we tried to spot our hotel and the concert hall. Paris was beautiful.
“The Iron Lady.” I said to myself. After several hours of sightseeing we all decided to go back to the hotel.
* * *
Wilhelm walked through the door and let out a breath of relief. “I am glad we got hired, my friend,” Wilhelm said.
“Now I know how we can do this. I was assigned cleaning work tonight. I’ll go in and steal the sheet music, since no one should be around,” Wilhelm said.
“Well, there’s a part you’ve left out, Roberto. I was taking a closer look at the security plans and I saw that the container has a sensor on the very bottom and on the lock. If you even try to unlock one of those locks, the security alarm will go off.”
“I have a solution to that, said Roberto. “I have created a thumb drive that has the security unlock coded into it. Just plug it into the USB drive on the locks and boom, you’re in.
Wilhelm laughed. “Oh, what would I do without you Roberto?” Wilhelm said happily.
“Okay, well, enough talking! We need to get going, it is about time to commence our operation,” stated Roberto.
The two went down to their van and drove off to the concert hall.
* * *
I went into my room to get my binder, I opened my backpack, and gasped. “The binder! The music! It’s not here!” I exclaimed. My mom walked into the room. “Daniel? What happened? Are you alright?” She asked.
“I think I left my binder at the concert hall! I have to go get it,” I said.
“Ugh, Daniel. You need to take better care of your possessions. And yes, you need to go get your binder before the concert hall closes for the night,” she said in an annoyed tone. I set out the door and walked to the concert hall. I was relieved that the doors were unlocked and the hall wasn’t yet closed, but I didn’t see anyone in the vestibule. I walked into the main room and started to look down the rows as I made my way to the front of the auditorium. I saw a red shape on the front row of chairs, the binder. With relief, I scooped it up and started to walk down the aisle. I jumped when I saw the door open in front of me.
I quickly ducked down in between two rows of pews. From this row I saw a man with a dark, scruffy beard, wearing a blue coverall, while pushing a cleaning cart down the aisle. I was about to make a run for the door when I noticed that he had gone up to the stage. He was examining the case with the sheet music in it. I decided to duck back down and watch.
He looked around as if to make sure nobody was watching and then pulled a small object from his pocket. I popped my head down as he looked my way. He pulled what looked to be a thumb drive out of his pocket and inserted it into the case.
I heard a small click and guessed that he must have unlocked it. He slowly lifted the top of the case upwards and sat it down onto the stage and lifted the music gently from the case. He looked at it with a glimmer in his eye. “Finally, my ticket to riches,” He whispered happily. He carefully rolled up the music and placed it into a long tube that he had taken out of the cart. The man tucked the tube back into the cart and then proceeded to put the top of the case back on.
I realized I needed to get out of the concert hall. I was trying to be very quiet and everything was going well until a floorboard underneath of me creaked loudly. I gasped and peaked over the pew just to see if he was looking at me, but he wasn’t there. I let out a breath of relief and started to crawl the other way. I accidently bumped into a tall man wearing a blue coverall just like the other man. I saw that he had an intimidating scar look on his face as he stared down at me.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked in a low tone. I saw a long knife in his pocket. As he reached for the blade I made a run for the door.
“Wilhelm! Get that kid! We don’t want any witnesses!” He yelled as the other man came running into the room. I ran from the concert hall as they both chased me into the street. I sprinted around a side of the building hoping that I had lost them, and peaked around the corner to see if they were still there. I didn’t see them, so I decided to go back home.
On the way back I saw a van coming down the road. I hid in the opening of a shop and watched as the van drove by. It was the two men who stole the sheet music. I hid in the shop until the car was out of site and ran back to the hotel.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened at the concert hall. I didn’t want to think about what would have happened if I had not been able to get away from the man. As I prepared for bed that night I tried to decide what I should do. I finally gave up and got into bed and went to sleep.
I woke up early the next morning. “Mom, can Lucas, Rick and I go to the bakery this morning?” I asked. She gave me permission, so I ran off to Lucas’ and Rick’s room. Lucas opened the door in his pajamas.
“Hey, Daniel, where were you last night? I went over to your room, but your mom said you were busy.” Lucas said curiously.
I took a deep breath, “That’s what I came here for. Can the three of us go to that bakery down the street? I don’t want to talk about it here.” I said.
I waited for Lucas to ask his parents, and, after he and Rick had dressed, we headed out of the hotel. I looked around the street for the two men as we made our way to the bakery.
* * *
Wilhelm and Roberto stared at the TV listening to a news reporter, “This just in. A musical treasure has been stolen! This morning it was discovered that Beethoven’s original Fur Elise has been stolen!”
“Just an empty container. The owner of the sheet music says he does not even know how they got in or how they opened the case without alerting security. They are searching for witnesses of the scene. Back to you, Laura, with the weather,” the Reporter ended.
Wilhelm turned off the television. “I just don’t know how that boy got away? We can’t have a witness walking around Paris. He’ll tell someone.” Wilhelm shouted angrily.
Roberto calmly up from his chair. “I’m thinking the same thing. But we should be able to find the boy tonight at the competition. Then we will be able to finish this. Roberto said calmly.`
* * *
Lucas and Rick sat with shocked looks on their faces as I proceeded to tell my story. They interrupted me with questions constantly. When I was finally finished telling the story they looked at me in awe. “I think that the men who tried to kill me last night are going to be at the competition!” I exclaimed.
“We have three hours. We need to catch those men.” Lucas said. I looked at him confused.
“Catch them!? They nearly killed me!” I replied.
“I agree with Lucas, if we keep waiting for something to happen, we’re getting nowhere.” Rick exclaimed. A waitress approached the table and asked for our order. We continued to discuss our plans over breakfast. We ended up deciding to go back to the hotel.
When we reached our room, I pulled my binder out of my backpack. I looked the music over. “Daniel, come here!” I heard my mom yell from the other room. I ran into the room, “What? What happened?” I asked.
“The concert hall . . . someone stole the Fur Elise last night!” She exclaimed.
“Last night? I, um . . . must have just left when that happened,” I said nervously. My mom looked at me, “Oh wow, good thing you weren’t in the building. The police say that whoever did this is a true professional. They didn’t even find a fingerprint.” She exclaimed. “Did you see anything suspicious?”
* * *
Wilhelm and Roberto got out of the van. “Okay, he should be here. Our only job here is to find the boy,” Wilhelm ordered quietly. The two men stood at the front of the concert hall, blending in with the crowd of people that were there for the competition, Wilhelm ordered Roberto to stay outside the building and wait for the boy.
* * *
Lucas and I waited in the huge crowd. I saw a familiar face staring at me . . . It was one of the thieves. I hid my face as he walked by me. The man started to follow me. “Lucas?” I asked there was no answer. Lucas wasn’t there.
My stomach dropped as I realized that the man was still behind me. I entered the concert hall. And ducked into one of the empty hallways, trying to lose him. I ran over to the door at the end of the hallway it was locked. I turned around hoping to see that I was alone.
The man standing at the end of the hallway was looking straight at me. “Wilhelm! I found him.” The man said as he snickered. The other thief came running into the hallway.
“Good, Roberto. Now, let’s finish this.” The two men moved quickly towards me as I backed up against the door. Roberto pulled out a knife. Suddenly, the door flew open behind me. It was Lucas and the police. The police drew their guns once they saw the knife in Roberto’s hand.
“That’s them!” Lucas yelled. My legs gave out from under me, and I slowly sank to the floor.
“What a relief, I can breathe again,” I said under my breath.
* * *
I sat down at the grand piano. Given the excitement of the past few days, I wasn’t even nervous. My fingers flew freely over the keys as I lost myself in the music. On the last note I let out my breath. “Fine`,” I thought. As I stood to bow, the crowd also stood, and I was met with thunderous applause.
The Fur Elise lay quietly in her brilliantly adorned case.