A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories, #3)(57)

“But how do you know that we’re the proper beneficiaries?” Bree asked. “How do you know we didn’t steal the chip?”

“That is not a problem,” the manager told her. “According to the three-hundred-year-old policy, whoever is in possession of the chip is the rightful beneficiary. We give one chip to each client. If it breaks or gets lost or is stolen, that is not our issue. We avoid many lawsuits and robberies that way.”

Conner and Bree nodded their understanding. This was a very strange and serious storage facility; it wasn’t a shock that Mother Goose had business here.

“Now please enjoy your time with whatever your vault possesses,” the manager said. “It is also policy that I leave the room before you open it, to uphold our guarantee of the absolute privacy of your possessions. Please wait until I have entered the elevator before opening the vault. When you have finished with your possessions, please take the elevator to the main floor.”

He spoke so casually even though there was nothing casual about this place. The manager walked off in the direction they had come from. He climbed up the stairs and disappeared into the elevator.

“This place is intense,” Conner said.

“This place is awesome,” Bree said. “Think about what might be in these vaults—think about who might be in these vaults!”

It dawned on Conner that what most people found frightening, Bree found intriguing. And knowing this about her both frightened and intrigued him.

“Fingers crossed this works,” Conner said. He put the chip into the vault’s lock. He spun the handles around the lock and the door opened with a pop. A gust of air carrying mixed scents came with it. Both of his hands were on the handles but he didn’t pull the door fully open.

“What are you waiting for?” Bree asked.

“I just thought about all the potentially amazing and horrible things that might be waiting for us inside,” he said.

“I know,” Bree said. “Too bad my phone is dead; otherwise I’d take pictures.”

Conner grunted as he pulled the heavy door open. He and Bree stepped inside the vault and looked around in astonishment at the treasures Mother Goose had acquired over the centuries.

It looked like they were in the storage room of a museum. There were large Egyptian busts, small Fabergé eggs, hundreds of rolled-up scrolls, portraits, canvases, dinosaur bones, clay pots and pans, and even a giant machine gun from World War II.

Conner and Bree began searching through the items. Some of them were so outrageous they completely forgot what they were looking for. Mother Goose had labeled many of the objects and they had a difficult time believing in their accuracy. A pair of wooden dentures had a note pinned to it that said “George Washington’s teeth.” A large rolled-up scroll was tagged “Map to Atlantis.” A small envelope containing a telegram said “Amelia Earhart’s Forwarding Address.”

Bree’s eyes were practically bulging out of her head when she read the tag on a small goblet. “You don’t think this is actually the Holy Grail, do you?” she said, and raised the cup to show Conner.

“Probably not,” Conner said.

Bree sighed with relief and tossed the cup aside. She unrolled a portrait and laughed. “Then this painting labeled ‘The original Mona Lisa’ with a note from Leonardo da Vinci probably isn’t real, either,” she said, showing it to him.

“Um… that one might be legit,” Conner said, remembering Mother Goose’s da Vinci stories.

Bree suddenly looked like she was holding an explosive in her hands and gently put it back where she found it. Conner was getting distracted by all the things he was finding. He had to keep reminding himself what they were there for.

“I wish Mother Goose wasn’t such a hoarder. It’d be so much easier finding the panpipe if she had learned to recycle,” Conner said. He pushed a stack of ancient maps out of the way and then leaped with excitement when he found a small wooden panpipe hiding underneath them.

“Bree! Get over here and look at this!” Conner yelled. “I found it! I found it!”

“You’re amazing!” Bree said, and hugged him tightly. “Does it say what notes need to be played to access the portal?”

Conner inspected the panpipe and found a series of letters carved into the largest cylinder. “It says ‘G-E-F-C, C-E-G-F,’ ” he said. “I’m assuming those are musical notes or maybe it’s how you spell a sneeze.”

“This is terrific! Now all we have to do is get to Neuschwanstein Castle and find the portal!” Bree said.

She was so excited she kissed his cheek and then hurried out of the vault. Conner turned bright red and almost passed out. She made him feel like the most special thing in the room of treasures.

Bree poked her head back into the vault. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Yeah, sorry, be right there!” Conner collected the panpipe and his senses and followed her out.

They shut and carefully locked the vault behind them. Conner tucked the chip safely into his pocket. They rode the elevator up to the casino and thanked the manager for his assistance. As they raced down the front steps they plotted what their next move would be, although it was jarring to see the sun had already set while they were inside.

“Before we left the train station I took a look at the upcoming departures,” Bree said. “If we can make it back in time, there’s a nine o’clock overnight train to Prague that stops in Munich on the way.”