Max whispered, “You think he’s leaving?” Nobody answered him, and we stood there a few more minutes.
“Wait till we hear his truck crank up,” I said.
We waited. There were no sounds at all. Finally, we heard the engine start.
“I think he’s gone,” Ivan said. He turned to Max and Beatriz. “You two wait here and keep watch. If you hear someone coming, give a little whistle, and everybody hide.” This was a good idea; Max was too much of a loose cannon, and Beatriz could be trusted to keep him in line, and nobody needed to be alone.
“Hey!” Max protested. “I’ve got the bag!”
“We’ll signal you when we find it,” Commander Ivan said. He yanked me back into the rotunda with him. “Get out your light.”
I pulled out my little penlight and clicked it on as we began creeping around. We were pretty sure the insect exhibits were on the right, in a room off the rotunda, but we couldn’t recall which one. I flashed my penlight across the tops of the arches, looking for a sign, but the light wasn’t strong enough for us to read them. We moved closer, FOSSILS, ANTHROPOLOGY. Then ZOOLOGY.
“Yay!” I said.
Ivan and I entered the room. Then, from back where we’d left Beatriz and Max, a door slammed, followed by a short, low-pitched whistle. Ivan and I panicked and scuttled to the wall just inside the room, pressing back against it. I turned off my light, my heart galloping crazily. After nothing happened, Ivan hesitantly looked out toward where we’d left Max and Beatriz. His loud whisper expanded around the rotunda, “Max, what’s wrong?”
“Beatriz had to go to the bathroom back there, and she let the door slam! I thought it was someone coming in!”
“Sorry!” she whispered back.
Ivan answered, “We think it’s here! Come to the light!” I switched on the pen, pointing it at the floor. They tiptoed over.
“Shouldn’t one of us still stand guard?” I questioned. Simultaneously Max and Beatriz said, “Not me!” Nobody wanted to miss the Heist, or stand alone in the dark.
Ivan said, “If somebody comes, we separate, get out of here, jump on our bikes, and leave—don’t wait for anybody! There’s no point in all of us getting caught.”
The idea unnerved me, but I got the logic of it and said, “And if someone does get caught, nobody rats on anybody else, right?” We all agreed.
The four of us advanced together into the insect room, looking around as if there might be a neon sign illuminating the celebrity pirate vinegaroons. We went from case to case, following my penlight, looking for the prize. Halfway around the room, I cried, “Here it is! It’s this one!” We all crowded together. A placard on the exhibit case read PIRATE VINEGAROON; under this was its Latin name, UROPYGI PIRATA. The legend beneath told a shorter version of all the information we’d read in the papers. The words EXTREMELY POISONOUS stood out.
Peering into the case, Beatriz said, “There’s nothing in there but rocks!”
“They’re hiding,” Ivan said. “They’re reclusive.”
“Shine the light back here.” Max was looking all over, beneath and behind the exhibit case. “I don’t see any wires or plugs anywhere, so there must not be an alarm.”
“Let’s get our stuff on,” I said. Max took the book bag from around his neck, setting it on the floor. He handed Ivan Elena’s red gloves and gave each of us a mouse mattress tied with a rubber band. “Gah! I can’t believe we’re wearing these!” I said.
“Just let them hang around our necks till we need them,” Beatriz ordered.
Out came the goggles, too, and we put them on. With our burglar caps, we looked like we were operatives on a top-secret, dangerous mission. Which I guess we were.
“We actually need to be more worried about getting bitten than sprayed. The bite’s what makes you really sick,” Ivan pointed out.
“How are we going to get them to come out of the rocks?” Beatriz asked.
“Maybe if I shine my light, it’ll attract them, like bug zappers do?”
“Try it,” Max said. I did, and we waited. “Come out, you morons.”
“Do you think they could’ve killed each other?” I wondered.
Nothing stirred. “Rats!” Ivan said angrily. “Why didn’t we bring some beetles to attract them?”
“I know!” Max said. “The Hostess CupCakes!” He rummaged in the bag and drew the package out, unwrapped it, and broke off a cakey crumb. “When we break the case, I’ll toss this in. They’ll come out to investigate.”
Beatriz asked Ivan, “Where will you make the hole?”
“At the bottom-left corner, like this.” He traced his finger horizontally from the left side of the case to the right about three inches, and then down to the bottom the same length, and up the case frame. “I’ll have to cut a whole square.” He looked at his hand. “The hole needs to be small and tight so the girl can’t run up my arm while I catch the boy, and you guys have to tape it fast. Max, you should tear off a bunch of duct-tape strips and be ready with them.” Beatriz helped Max with the tape, the ripping sound echoing spookily around the room. He stuck the strips lightly to his arm.
We stood silently for a moment. Ivan drew a deep breath and said, “Okay. I’m going in. Gimme the glass cutter. You guys be ready with a pill bottle, cap, and tape.” He drew on Elena’s red gloves and Max handed him the cutter. I felt goose bumps all over. Beatriz crossed herself.
I shined the light on the spot. Ivan very slowly began rolling the blade of the cutter across the glass. It wasn’t making the white etched line Max said it was supposed to. “Put more pressure on it,” Max said. Ivan tried again, leaning in. No line. “Oh, no,” Max whispered. “I forgot! The wheel has to be lubricated. My dad puts oil on it.” Ivan drew back and spat a wad of saliva onto the wheel. He ran the cutter along the four sides of the square, and the lines appeared. He stepped back for a second, taking a deep breath. “You guys ready?” Turning the tool around, he tapped on the glass along the lines with the ball end, gently at first, then harder. The glass wouldn’t give. Frustrated, Ivan punched more forcefully, and the glass finally broke, but not cleanly. The square cutout fell back into the case, a few jagged pieces standing up from the frame like shark teeth. Ivan gingerly snapped them off. “Einstein!” Max whispered.
“Throw in the cake, Max! Close to the hole, but not too close.” Max stepped forward and tossed in the crumb, quickly backing away.
More waiting. Ivan took off his jacket, saying, “If they come running out too fast, I’ll stuff the hole with this.” Then we saw movement in the rocks. I pointed the light so it wasn’t directly on the rocks. Purple claws slowly emerged, first one set from the left, then one from the right.
“Put on the mouse mattresses!” Beatriz cried. We pulled the Kotex pads up over our noses and mouths.
“There they are!” I exclaimed. The vinegaroons crept out, raising their claws high as they came forward. They were even more frightening than they were in the photos. Beatriz shuddered against me.
Ivan said excitedly, his voice muffled by the Kotex, “That’s the girl on the right! Look—her eggs hatched! There’re tons of them!” A crowd of wriggling babies piggybacked on the mother.
“Man!” said Max. “They look like tiny white squids!”
“Oh, the poor thing!” said Beatriz.
“We only want the boy,” I said firmly, hoping Ivan wasn’t still thinking of having a supply. “And he’s closest to the hole.”