Chapter 41
"It's the Capitol building!" Jaz exclaimed, as the bus pulled into the parking lot. "We're finally here!"
"I think I'm carsick," Fang muttered as everyone spilled out of the bus.
"That was a long bus ride," Iggy added.
"Maybe we can ditch the rest of the class," I suggested.
Jaz gave the three of us dirty looks. "You guys are so depressing! Lighten up, this is a fun field trip!"
"Here's your name tags," Mrs. Jenkins said, handing out lanyards to people.
I made a face. "What, she doesn't know our names yet? She says mine like twenty times a day when she yells at me."
As if she overheard me, Mrs. Jenkins added, "These nametags are so everyone will know you're a part of the tour group."
Oh.
We were met by a tall lady with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, who said her name was Cindy and that she'd be our tour guide.
Jaz smiled. "Hi, Cindy our tour guide lady!" I rolled my eyes at her as Cindy led the way towards the steps of the Capitol building.
"As you all know, Denver is the mile high city," she said, standing a step above us and talking in a monotone voice.
"I didn't know that," I whispered to Iggy, who laughed. Mrs. Jenkins shot us an angry look from the other side of the group.
"There is much debate about where the mile-high point is," Cindy continued, pointing to multiple spots. "The first step that is marked as a mile high is the fifteenth step. The second is the eighteenth step and the third is the thirteen step. I believe that the mile high step, however, is the eighteenth step."
I yawned. "I hope we don't just talk about steps the entire time. This is boring."
"Look! I'm a mile high!" Jaz yelled, running up to the eighteenth step and standing on it. A bunch of other kids ran up behind her and all tried to stand in the marked spot where she was standing.
I didn't. "We fly higher than that all the time," I whispered to Iggy and Fang. Iggy laughed and I even managed to get a small smirk from Fang.
Then I noticed that Daisy was just staring at us – she hadn't run up the stairs with the rest of the kids.
"What's her deal?" Fang asked, nodding in her direction. "She mad at you or something?"
I shook my head. "Nah, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Right," Fang said, a hint of doubt in his voice. I frowned. Fang knew me almost as well as I knew myself, so it was rare that I could actually keep secrets from him.
"Okay, fine," I whispered, leaning in towards Iggy and Fang and keeping my voice very low. The others were all distracted by taking pictures "a mile up" so I didn't have to worry about them.
"Well, Jaz and I heard Daisy talking on the phone to her dad the other day. And, uh… we think she might be one of them too."
"What?" Fang's voice was low, but I could tell he was extremely mad. "You've been keeping this quiet for how long?"
I shrugged. "I didn't want to make you guys worry. Besides, she might not be evil. Maybe we just heard her wrong. I mean, Jaz was the one that suggested-"
"If you'll follow me into the building," Cindy the tour guide lady was saying. I glanced at Fang and Iggy. "Come on, we need to go."
Iggy frowned in my general direction. "Yeah. Let's go, Fnick." The boys started ahead of me, Fang walking quickly and Iggy following – well, kind of stumbling – behind him.
I sighed. "Great leader I am." Maybe I should have told everyone before. But I hadn't wanted to blame Daisy for something that I wasn't sure of her doing.
"HIIII, MAX!" Jaz yelled, throwing her arms around me from behind me.
"AAH!" I shouted. "How'd you get there?"
"Max, we do not shout in the fifth grade," Mrs. Jenkins admonished me from the eighteenth step, where she was taking the last few pictures of kids standing on the 'mile high' step.
I rolled my eyes, still annoyed at how Fang and Iggy had just walked away. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Up near the entrance of the building, Tour Guide Cindy was talking about some more historical stuff.
I trudged up the steps. Jaz followed me, smiling. "Isn't this fun, Max? I got to stand on the mile high step! Don't you want to stand on the mile high step?"
I stepped on the eighteen step. "There. Can we go home now?"
"The fun is only beginning!" Jaz yelled, grabbing my arm and pulling me up the steps.
~~::~~
"This staircase has seventy-seven steps," Tour Guide Cindy droned on, pointing to a big staircase.
I rubbed my eyes. "This lady is obsessed with steps or something."Jaz laughed and Iggy smiled slightly, then remembered he was mad at me and turned away.
"Also, as you can see, this is Rose Onyx right here," Cindy continued. "This is a very rare marble. In fact, the entire supply of Rose Onyx ever found has been used in this building. Also, you may see Yule Marble, which comes from Marble, Colorado."
"Okay, so she's obsessed with marble and with steps," I whispered to Jaz.
"Many guests have reported seeing faces in the marble," Cindy added. "If you look closely, you may see something too."
I made a face. "Well, that's creepy."
"Oh, I see something!" Iggy called out with a broad smile on his face.
Cindy the Tour Guide smiled back. "Where?" she asked.
"Actually, I don't see anything," he responded, grinning. I laughed. Out of the corner of my eye, I was pretty sure I saw Mrs. Jenkins slamming her palm against her forehead.
Maybe this field trip was actually looking up.