"What on earth does this clue mean? Chief we need some help!" exclaimed the tall girl in exasperation. Ivy was very pretty, with turquoise eyes and fiery red hair--which was as fiery as her temper, her adversaries knew--. The clue she was referring to was left by none other than the great Carmen Sandiego. The clue itself was a postcard of the inside of a beautiful cathedral, and in the corner was a small red and white flag; there was no writing on either side.
"Chill out, sis." Ivy's brother and partner replied. The exact opposite of his sister, Zack had blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a carefree attitude. "Chief, info-scan famous cathedrals." 'Chief' stood for Computerised Holographic Imaging Educational Facilitator; which is exactly what he is a floating, whacked out computer head. Just then, Josha walked in. Josha, with his hazel brown hair and eyes was rather shy and quiet. However, he was a caring, compassionate individual, not to mention a great detective.
"Hello Zack, Ivy. I heard you need some help." He said, pleasantly.
"Hey Josha!" Zack replied, handing him the clue. Ivy didn't say anything. Josha was hurt, but not surprised. Ivy had been cold to him lately�
"Chief, the info-scan." Ivy continued, her voice clearly showing her impatience.
"If you want big and famous, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is as good as they come." The Chief explained ecstatically.
"That's gotta be it!" Zack exclaimed. "Player, C-5 us to--"
"Wait, Zack!" Josha said. "What about the flag? France's flag is red, white, and blue, it has to be something else."
"That's right!" Ivy exclaimed. "So info-scan cathedrals in countries with only red and white on their flags."
"Okay, that I can do," replied the Chief. "If you're looking for a cathedral in a red and white flagged country--and I think you are--, the Notre Dame-de-Bon-Secours is your best bet. Located in a section of Montreal, Quebec, Canada referred to as 'Old Montreal', this baby adds even more beauty and grace to the already beautiful area. Construction started in 1771, giving this cathedral the distinction of being the oldest church in Montreal."
"And Canada's flag is red and white!" Ivy exclaimed. "We're outta here!" With that, she jumped into the C-5 corridor, Zack and Josha on her heels.
The Notre Dame-de-Bonsecours Cathedral, Montreal, Canada
"She must be inside, let's go." Zack said, seeing there was no one outside.
"Wait, Zack. Let's split up, it'll be faster that way," Ivy suggested. "You go right, Josha, left, and I'll go straight."
* * *
Running into a side room, Josha spotted a shadow and called out, "Carmen!"
"Why hello, Josha. It's a pleasure to see you again." Carmen was tall, confident and graceful. Long, thick, black hair framed her striking face and crystal blue eyes; which you could only see one of because of her crimson hat. The hat almost completely covered one half of her face.
"Zack and Ivy will be here in a moment, so I don't have much time. I really need your help, could you meet me back here at midnight, please?"
Carmen looked surprised but said, "Provided it's not a trap�"
"It's not, I promise."
"Okay." Carmen agreed. Just then, Zack and Ivy ran in.
"Your plan's history, and you're going to jail, Carmen." Zack called out.
"Sorry to disappoint you, detectives. But I'm afraid I've already got another appointment." She flashed her trademark smile, tipped her hat and ran out the other door. The detectives raced after her.
Part 1
"Why so glum, chum?" The Chief asked Ivy, popping onto the monitor screen at Acme Headquarters in San Francisco.
"It's been over three weeks since Carmen tried to pull that heist in Montreal, and we haven't heard so much as a peep! I am so totally bored. Please, I'll take anything! A gang of jaywalkers, somebody forgot to flo-"
"Now don't start that again." Zack piped up from where he was playing a video game. "Last time you said that we ended up in a pool of water in a mine, remember?"
"Weelll," Chief spoke up. "We did get a report of something a little unusual in Oregon, but-"
"We'll take it!" Ivy interrupted. "Come on Zack!!"
"You go on ahead, I want to finish this game, I'm already on the twelfth level." He replied, not looking up.
"Fine, fine! Player, C-5 me outta here!"
A park, somewhere in Oregon
Ivy investigated the park, and after a thorough search, sat down on one of the benches to rest �and think. Why was her life so confusing? Almost everyone she had ever cared for had left her, or had never been there when she needed him or her the most. Her parents, Carmen� So lost in her thoughts was she, she barely noticed the woman who sat down beside her until she spoke.
"Ivy."
"Huh? What, Carmen?!? What're you doing here?" Ivy asked, startled.
"I came to see you. I'm worried about you, you've been acting strange lately, and I'd like to try to help you." Carmen replied, hoping that for once in her life, Ivy would accept her offer. At least this time she had a good backup if Ivy continued to be stubborn.
Ivy didn't reply; instead, she jumped off the bench and walked a few feet away.
"Look, Carmen. This is none of your business so just go away and leave me alone."
Carmen shook her head and murmured to herself "Not this time, Ivy."
Then she stood up and said, "Ivy, come here child."
The gentle tone of her voice made Ivy turn. Through the tears starting to cloud her eyes, Ivy saw that Carmen had stretched out her arms, perhaps trying to reach her. That was all it took; with a sudden sob she ran into Carmen's arms and cried. Carmen just embraced her, wishing and hoping she would be able to help.
* * *
Ivy's tears subsided, and with some difficulty, she regained her composure. Realising what she had done, her face turned red with embarrassment. 'Good grief! I can't believe I just did that. Come on, Ivy, get a grip, and don't break down again!' She chastised herself. Just then Ivy felt a gentle hand on her shoulder; it was Josha.
"Josha? What, how, I mean�" Ivy was surprised to see him.
Smiling softly he said, "Don't worry about that now, we'll have plenty of time to talk later. Right now, you have things that are far more important on your mind. Please go with Carmen, let her help you. Who knows, maybe you'll even help her."
Carmen glanced up startled. There was certainly more to Josha then what first met the eye.
Ivy wasn't going to go without a fight. "But what about Acme and the Chief? Besides, I don't have any extra clothes or anything." Carmen, being Carmen, had known Ivy would try something like this, but as usual, she was prepared.
"Acme has given you a vacation, the Chief has been told not to bother you, and Zack has packed you a suitcase." Carmen replied, as Josha silently held up a suitcase.
"He knows about this too? Does everyone know about this, except for me?" Ivy interrupted.
"Calm down. No, only Josha and I know about this. Zack only knows you are going on a trip." Carmen explained. "Now, do you have any more excuses, or are you willing to come?"
"Okay, okay, I'll come with you, Carmen." Ivy agreed reluctantly. She had no idea why she was doing this, but she felt so confused� maybe Carmen would understand how she felt� "Would you mind doing me one favour though, Josha? Could you watch out for Zack for me?" Ivy asked turning to him.
He smiled, "Sure! Have a good time and relax! Adios." With that he disappeared into the C-5 corridor and Carmen turned to speak to Ivy.
"So, are you ready to go?"
"As ready as I'll ever be. Where are we going anyway?"
"We are going to one of my houses in a remote section of southern California. Come, my car is this way."
* * *
Two hours and a plane ride later, they pulled up to the large house. As they were bringing their bags in, Ivy noticed that the entire house looked as if it could use a good cleaning, and mentioned this to Carmen.
"Yes. Normally I would have had it cleaned and bought some food, but I thought we could do that together. There is no sense in sitting around doing nothing all week, now is there?"
"Of course not, but you know how to clean house Carmen? I woulda thought you would get your henchmen to do that." Ivy teased.
"Are you kidding? By the time they were through I wouldn't have anything left in one piece!" She replied in mock horror.
"Good point." Ivy said.
They arrived at the room, which was to be Ivy's for her stay, and Carmen unlocked the door; Ivy let out a small gasp. The room was huge! It had a queen-sized bed, a night table, a dresser and desk, a walk-in closet and sliding doors that led to a balcony. Carmen then gave her a tour of the rest of the house including her bedroom, which was just across the hall.
* * *
Ivy unpacked her things, which didn't come close to filling the closet, and took a shower. By the time she was done, it was late, so she said good night to Carmen and fell into a much-needed sleep.
* * *
Next morning, Carmen and Ivy emerged from their rooms at the same time, looking a little startled to see each other in something other than their work clothes. Both were wearing jeans and a T-shirt: Ivy's green and Carmen's, of course, red.
"Good morning Ivy! How did you sleep?" Carmen asked, smiling.
"Okay." Ivy replied.
"Ready for a hard day of work?" Carmen asked.
"I guess." Ivy replied.
Part Two
When Ivy woke Wednesday morning, she lay in bed for awhile, thinking about what she and Carmen had done the previous day: After a quick breakfast, they had started on the cleaning. One of them would tidy the room and clean the windows, while the other vacuumed and dusted. The next room they switched jobs and so on. Ivy had enjoyed it; she had never minded housecleaning, and chatting and working with Carmen had made it even more pleasant. She had watched what she said though, being careful not to reveal anything about her conflict or true feelings. On the other hand, Carmen had been careful as well�
Both Ivy and Carmen were fast and efficient workers so the house was cleaned by noon. After lunch they went to the grocery store; the house was nearly empty of food. Ivy had never actually been grocery shopping with someone before; her parents had done it when she was younger, and now she did it alone or sent Zack.
* * *
Ivy got out of bed, dressed, and went to find Carmen. After finding her in the kitchen and saying good morning she asked, "So, what's on the agenda today?"
"Well, I thought we could try our hand at doing some baking, as long as you promise not to burn the house down�"
A smile crept onto Ivy's face as she replied "For your information, I can cook quite well, my mother just never let me, big surprise." Ivy's smile disappeared and her voice became bitter at the memories. Carmen wisely changed the subject.
"So, what are your favourite kind of cookies?"
Ivy pushed away her thoughts and replied, "Chocolate chip, hands down!"
Carmen smiled, "I like those as well. Why don't we make them then?" Ivy nodded her head, pushing away her thoughts. Carmen got out the cookbook and their cookie-making adventure began.
* * *
"How many eggs did you say Carmen?" Ivy asked opening the refrigerator door
"Oh�two, no four, because we're doubling it, " she replied checking the recipe. Ivy cracked open the eggs and dropped the insides into the mixing bowl.
"What about the vanilla?" She said, wiping her fingers.
"Already taken care of." Carmen replied, stirring the mixture. "However we do need the flour. Could you get it out for me?" Ivy hefted the bag onto the table and scooped up one cup.
"How much floor did you�" As she was turning around, her elbow bumped something and the cup of flour spilt�right onto Carmen! Ivy burst out laughing and couldn't stop; the world's greatest thief covered in flour was a ridiculously funny sight. Carmen frowned, but secretly she was laughing. The idea she had just gotten was a crazy one, but she couldn't resist.
"So you think this is funny do you?" Ivy tried to stop laughing as she nodded her head, but it was no use.
"Well, perhaps you will find this equally amusing." She scooped up some flour in her hand.
"Carmen! You wouldn't!" Ivy pleaded, still giggling.
"Oh yes, I would!" And with that, she dumped the flour in her hand on top of Ivy.
Carmen laughed as Ivy announced "This means war!" Soon, flour was flying everywhere and within a few minutes, practically everything in the kitchen was covered with flour! Finally, both Carmen and Ivy were laughing so hard that they had to stop. The laughter subsided and they looked at each other; then they dissolved into laughter again. They were covered from head to toe with flour; even Carmen's once-black hair was completely white!
* * *
Carmen glanced at Ivy, seeing something in her she had not seen before. Whenever Ivy was on the job, or anywhere else for that mater, she was always so solemn and serious. But now, away from the much of the stress she usually faced, she was just the fun-loving, cheerful person Carmen had always suspected was hidden deep underneath all the layers Ivy had built up.
* * *
Ivy also caught a glimpse of a side of Carmen she had never seen before, and she realised Carmen liked to have fun just as much as she did. She felt a pang of sadness realising there had never been anyone who had accepted Carmen as she really was, or even anyone who got close enough to her to try. She and the enigmatic thief had quite a bit in common�
* * *
"I haven't done that since I was 7 years old!" Ivy exclaimed, turning her attention back to the situation at hand.
"Yes, I haven't done anything so impulsive since�well, I can't remember when!" Carmen agreed, trying to brush the flour off of her. Ivy just ignored the flour on her and sighed looking at the mess in the kitchen.
"Boy did we ever make a mess!" She said.
"Yes, but it was worth is, wasn't it?" Ivy smiled, nodding her head.
"Now, how about we get these cookies done, and then worry about the cleanup?"
* * *
After baking the cookies and cleaning up the kitchen and themselves, they decided to wash Carmen's car. It ended up that they had another fight, this time a water fight! They chased each other all over the yard, giggling and laughing the whole time! If anyone had seen them, they would've thought they were nuts, but Carmen and Ivy didn't care. It had been a long time since either had had this much fun!
Part 3
Next day, Carmen and Ivy were at Carmen's private gym.
"You amaze me!" Ivy said. "You have goodness knows how many houses, cars, motorcycles, helicopters, jets, hovercrafts, planes�and your own private gym???" Carmen just smiled and threw the basketball. It bounced off the backboard and into the hoop.
"21, I win."
"Oh, that's a big surprise." Ivy said, half-frowning, half-smiling. "So, what else it there to do around here?" She asked.
"Well, we could try my training course�"
"Is it like the one Zack and I stumbled into that one time?"
"Not really. This is more of a physical training course."
"Let's do it!"
* * *
The training course was huge, with everything from tires, to ropes, to bars, to large mats to dummies�
"Okay," Carmen said. "On the mats, you can do summersaults, cartwheels, flips, whatever you want, but you have to do three of them. Everything else should be self-explanatory. First one to the finish line is the winner. Any questions?" Ivy shook her head.
"Okay. On your mark, get set, go!" Carmen and Ivy raced through the course, first Carmen ahead, then Ivy, and back and forth. Finally, they reached the end:
"Tie!" Ivy called breathlessly.
"Well done, detective! Now I know why it's always so much fun keeping one step ahead of you."
"Now don't start that again!" Ivy exclaimed. "But that was fun! Your course is great!"
"Thank you! So, do you want to do something else?"
"Like what?"
"How about some ice cream?" Carmen asked, smiling.
"Sure! I love ice cream, especially chocolate!!! Ivy replied.
* * *
After the ice cream Carmen and Ivy headed back to Carmen's house and Ivy decided to wander around a bit.
"Oh, wow!!" She cried, coming into a room with a beautiful baby grand piano in it.
Carmen came into the room and asked, "Do you play?"
"Yeah. I think the piano is a beautiful instrument."
"Yes, it is," Carmen agreed. "Play something for me," she requested.
"Well, okay." Ivy said, sitting down and running her fingers gently over the keys. Ivy really was a good piano player, and played "When You Believe" very well.
When she finished, Carmen applauded and said, "That was beautiful, you are very talented.
"I'm not that good." Ivy replied, blushing a little at the praise. Praise from Carmen was not something to be taken lightly. "Now it's your turn." Ivy said, sliding off the bench.
"I'll play you one of my favourite songs," Carmen agreed. She played "The Wind Beneath My Wings" magnificently, and with the grace of an angel. As Carmen played Ivy thought about the words to the song and realised that song quite neatly summarised how she felt about Carmen�
Ivy was amazed at Carmen's talent, and not knowing what to say, she finally said "Wow! That was so�wow�you're wonderful!
"Thank you. I love to play, but unfortunately my work keeps me very busy and I don't often get to." Carmen said mischievously.
"Oh, and that's my fault?" Ivy exclaimed.
"Well, I need to keep you and Zack and Acme on their toes. I can't let you slack off can I?" Carmen replied smiling.
"Oh, of course not." Ivy replied half sarcastically.
* * *
"Ivy, what's going on?" Carmen asked that evening.
"What do you mean?" Ivy replied. She had hoped Carmen wouldn't get around to asking her that question�
"You know perfectly well what I mean. I didn't bring you here just for a vacation, and you certainly didn't burst into tears a few days ago for no reason."
Ivy sighed; the time had come. "It's kinda hard to explain. All my life I've felt alone. I mean, whenever I needed, really needed, someone to be there for me, they never were. My parents were absorbed in their careers, my friends always had "better things to do", and you�" She couldn't go on.
"Me?" Carmen asked, puzzled.
Ivy bit her lip. "When I was smaller and you were still a detective, you were my hero. I wanted to be just like you. Everything about you that ever hit the newspapers I collected. In fact�" Ivy stopped and went over to the dresser. After rummaging in a drawer for a moment she pulled out a book. "This is where I kept everything. I don't usually carry it around, usually it's in my attic, but I've been thinking about you a lot lately, and had it in the bag I had in the park." She handed the worn scrapbook to the master thief. Carmen went through it, page by page, feeling a strange tightness come to her throat.
"Ivy, I don't know what to say, I never knew�" She finally said.
"I know. No one did."
"Is that why you keep everyone at a distance now, so you won't ever have to feel like that again?" Carmen asked gently. Ivy nodded her head.
"Oh, you poor girl. I know it's hard, but you have to realise that people won't always leave you. There are a lot of people who care about you, that are and will be there for you; Zack, the Chief--though I suppose he's not really a person-- and me. But you can't always keep your emotions penned up, Ivy. I know you try to be strong, but sometimes it's good to just let it all out, to let yourself cry." Carmen said softly.
"I have to be strong, Carmen, I don't have a choice. Besides, you're the same way." Ivy insisted, tears coming to her eyes.
"That is true," Carmen admitted. "But who's there to be strong for here? You and I are the only ones for miles, and you most certainly don't have to keep this up for me."
"I know�" Tears spilled over onto Ivy's cheeks and she let herself cry. She forgot about everything and just cried. Carmen gently wrapped her arms around the detective.
"Sometimes all a person can do is just cry with you." She murmured, crying softly as well. Ivy had been right, she had never let herself forget about being strong and just be herself, her real self either. It was high time she did.
* * *
'I know Carmen is a thief, but I can't help but like her.' Ivy wrote in her diary later. 'She's so motherly, I mean, she's more of a mom to me than my own mom is. And she even acts it! The tender concern, joking, playfulness, the knowledge about everything I feel� You know, I bet she doesn't even realise that she acts like a mom. Goodness, she fits the mould so well, if only she wasn't a thief�if only�
