The Mystery of the Zorse's Mask by Linda Joy Singleton

shelves, boxes, and piles of props. It’ll take hours—or years!—to find a small mask hidden in this big mess.
    â€œSometimes I babysit Izzy. She’s cute but spoiled,” Frankie explains. “She loves twinkly things— twinkly is her latest favorite word. And when she likes something, she won’t let it go.”
    â€œThe fly mask has twinkly jewels,” Becca says. “If I were three, I’d want to play with it too.”
    â€œDo you have her mother’s number?” I ask.
    â€œIt’d be quicker to go to her classroom. Mrs. Ross isn’t just my drama teacher—she teaches eighth grade English too.”
    â€œOh, I know her. She’s coolness,” Becca says with shining, dark eyes. “I heard she performs scenes from each book she assigns. I hope I’m in her class next year.”
    â€œI talked to her once in the library,” I add, then stop before I reveal a secret.
    â€œShe has the cutest purple unicorn tattoo on her ankle,” Becca adds.
    That’s not her only tattoo , I think, smiling to myself.
    It was only by chance I found out about the other tattoo. I was searching the school library for a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet for a book report. A pretty teacher with black dreads dangling like snakes down her back offered to help me. When I told her what I needed, she recommended a book titled Scribbler of Dreams. As she reached to a high shelf for this book, her blouse rose up her lower back, revealing a tattoo of a red heart with a name inked inside: Diarmad Bearnard.
    I couldn’t stop thinking about the tattoo. So I did what I always do when I have a curiosity attack—I searched online. Mrs. Ross was born Sarah Ann Reid, married Bowen Ross four years ago and they have a daughter, Izzabella. Nothing out of the ordinary—until I looked up Diarmad Bearnard.
    Wow! Thousands of fan-site hits for a handsome Scottish actor. One photo of his shirtless back showed a red heart tattoo with a name etched inside: Sarah Ann.
    I printed the photo and filed it away: secret twenty-six.
    â€œI’ll talk to Mrs. Ross,” Becca is saying when I look up from my thoughts. She’s smiling gratefully at Frankie. “Thanks, you’ve been a great help.”
    â€œAbout time someone appreciated my work instead of treating me like a stage prop.” He grimaces as he stands up from the painted-star chair. “I get bossed around a lot.”
    Becca nods sympathetically. “My mom treats me like that sometimes.”
    â€œA simple thank-you means a lot,” he adds.
    â€œExactly,” Becca says, then glances around. “Hey, where did Leo go?”
    â€œOver here,” comes a muffled reply from behind a towering shelf.
    We find Leo kneeling on the floor, assembling mechanical giraffe legs.
    â€œHow did you put the leg together so quickly?” Frankie’s jaw sags open. “Those pieces are like a crazy puzzle and I can’t figure it out.”
    â€œIt’s easy,” Leo says, then proceeds to explain in technical terms that sound like a foreign language. Frankie seems to understand and asks so many questions that Leo tells us to go on without him.
    As Becca and I leave the auditorium, the first bell rings.
    Becca scowls. “‘No time to stop by Mrs. Ross’s room now. I’ll have to wait till break or lunch—I just hope it’s soon enough. I need the fly mask before Zed is gone.”
    â€œHow long do you have?” I ask uneasily.
    â€œCaleb said he wouldn’t leave before I got home from school. He was going to check the thrift store for the mask until I told him our drama club has it. I didn’t tell him we already searched the thrift store,” she adds with a wry twist of her lips. “But I promised to bring it to him today.”
    â€œAnd you will,” I assure her. “We know who has it.”
    â€œYeah,” Becca says, brightening.