Chapter 2: The Lie
By the time Maddie went to sleep, she knew exactly what to do tomorrow. As she lied in bed, she wondered if her plan was going to work. However, she knew London, and she would believe just about anything she hears, so Maddie hardly had any worries.
The next morning, Maddie came to the hotel and went through the entrance. As she greeted Norman the Doorman, she signed in and went to the candy counter. She saw that Mr. Moseby was not at the check-in desk. She saw Skippy, the night-manager, at the desk. She wondered why he was there, but did not bother to ask.
When London came through the elevator door, the plain look on Maddie's face turned worried. Of course she was only pretending, but she had to make London believe what Maddie needed to say to her. As London strutted to the candy counter, Maddie's heart began beating loudly. She knew what to say. She just did not know what London would do when she heard Maddie's news.
"Maddie, how's life?" asked London as she ignored Maddie's worried look.
"Well…" Maddie began to say. "Don't care!!" replied London.
"A-Actually London, you should care," replied Maddie. London looked at Maddie suspiciously.
"Why should I?" she asked.
Maddie began to explain.
"London, d-did you watch the news last night?" she asked. London shook her head.
"Of course I didn't! I was at that Al Lamo!" she replied.
"ALAMO!!!" replied Maddie.
"Whatever!" returned London.
Maddie rolled her eyes and tried to make sure the subject was kept.
"Anyway…London, something happened last night that concerns you," she said. London seemed interested now.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Maddie took a breath as she prepared to commit her lie.
"You see, there's this group of criminals who steal from rich people like yourself," she fibbed.
London thought she knew what she was talking about.
"You mean that hideously dressed Robin Hood and his Married Mean?! I thought he was dead!" she replied. Maddie's cheeks flushed.
"Okay, first of all: Not "Married Men", "Merry Men"! And secondly, Robin Hood is dead. He is from the 1300's…in other words: He's from a long time ago. And thirdly, this group of criminals is so much worst than anything like that," she explained. London's attention was grabbed.
"Spill it, Candy girl!" she demanded.
Maddie explained.
"Okay…this group of criminals is called The Beagle Boys. They've been around for many years. They steal from rich people, the most frequent one being a rich man named McDuck who lives a long, long way from here. He's rich like you and he's had to deal with them thousands of times. He sent them to jail some time ago, but now they've escaped. No doubt that it was another one of their mother's little explosive gifts. Now there out on the run. So if I were you, I suggest you and your money are kept safe!" she said.
London was afraid! She did not want her money to be stolen from a group of "Beagle Boys".
"I can't have my money stolen by these 'Beagle Boys'! They sound disgusting! And I've never heard of McDuck, but at least he's rich," she said.
Maddie nodded in agreement.
"The Beagle Boys are more than disgusting…and also, the reason why you've never heard of McDuck is because he's always going on some sort of adventure and, well, unfortunately, he doesn't have enough time for everything. It happens quite often," she replied.
London nodded her head, thinking that that made sense.
"Yeah well, you don't think that the Beagle Boys would try to steal from me, do you?" asked London, frightened.
Maddie faked a worried look on her face.
"Well, you are rich, and since the Beagle Boys are always stealing from rich people…I wouldn't be surprised."
London almost fainted. She looked away from Maddie and tried to take this all in. She then looked back at Maddie and leaned forward to her. Maddie seemed uncomfortable by this.
"What?" she asked. London took a breath and replied.
"Maddie, since you know so much about these boys, could you protect me or something. I mean, since you're very poor beyond belief, they might not get you, but they'll get me for sure! Help me!!" she pleaded rapping her arms around Maddie's neck.
Maddie looked worried on the outside, but on the inside, she was laughing her head off. She loved that her lie worked! Now that London was too worried about the Beagle Boys, Maddie knew that she wouldn't even think of insulting her again. She pushed London's arms away from her neck and looked at her in the eye.
"I'll do whatever I can," she said. London inhaled and exhaled in relief.
"Thank you so much! If this works, I'll pay so much, the Beagle Boys won't even think of getting near me! I'd better prepare for any attacks! See ya, Maddie!" she said. After she said goodbye, London ran to the elevators, pushed the "up" button and away she went to her hotel room. Maddie rolled her eyes and continued her work at the candy counter.
A few minutes later, London returned with what looked like blue prints.
"Maddie!" she said as she zipped to the counter. As soon as Maddie looked up and saw her, London showed some blue prints of a badly drawn fort that was built around the entire Tipton Hotel.
"What's this?" asked Maddie.
"This is a picture of a fort to keep those nasty boys out! I called daddy and he told me about a fort he attempted to build a few years ago, but then gave up on, when he realized he could just hide from thieves by living in different locations! He said I could use this to keep away from the Beagle Boys! Smart, huh?" replied London.
"…too genius for words…" muttered Maddie.
"Well, I'd better get started! The fort builders will be here soon!" returned London. She took the blueprints and away she went.
Maddie almost could not believe. She had seen the blueprints and saw how huge the fort was. She wondered what would happen if someone like Zack and Cody, Carey, Esteban, Arwin, or, even worse, Mr. Moseby, would find out and start asking questions. She especially did not want Mr. Moseby, the manager, to find out. What would he do, say, or think if he found out about the Beagle Boy lie? She wondered…and wondered…and wondered…what would happen if she was discovered.
But then again, Mr. Moseby was not there, so she did not worry about it. She should have though. For no one knew why Mr. Moseby was not there, but there definitely was an important reason.
