Side Note: Oh, this chapter was so much fun to write, it should be illegal. Should being the key word.
After the tea and cakes with Mumsy, Chatsworth informed Kate of the phone call he had received from Lucian. In turn, Kate called Maynard to tell him and Dobie to meet them in the park around six o'clock with the artificial brooch. Kate sadly tried everything she knew to calm Chatsworth down, but it was no use. Her cousin was simply wound tighter than a spool of thread.
"Chats, for the last time; stop pacing!" she cried out as they waited in the park at a quarter til six.
"I cannot help myself, Katie-Cuz; I am petrified and rightfully so. I wish to keep my majestic head attached to my broad shoulders."
"Good thing you're so modest," Kate muttered under her breath before grabbing his arms to keep him still. "No one is going to lose their head over this! Now-"
"Um, hi guys," Dobie's voice came from behind, causing Chatsworth to jump and cry out in fright.
"Dobie-Doo! If you could refrain from slinking behind me, I would much appreciate it. For all I know, you could have been that no-good, worthless, ragged sort that-"
"You rang?" Maynard asked as he appeared.
"Do you have the man-made project?" Kate asked with a no-nonsense tone.
Dobie handed her a black velvet box. "Right here. It might not be perfect, but it was the best we could do."
"I'm sure it looks gr-," Kate began, opening up the box to observe the cheap craft. Like Dobie had claimed, it wasn't perfect. Not even close. The blue topaz stone was crooked and dried glue was exposed on both sides, as well as from the crooked pin on the back. Thankfully, the signature was the most decent thing about the eyesore, except the word 'queen' was spelled 'qween'. "Great googly-mooglies!"
"Hey, Dobe! She gave our artwork like a googly and mooglies!" Maynard said proudly.
"Well, what's wrong with it?" Dobie asked, somewhat annoyed as Chatsworth snatched the box from Kate's hand.
"E-gad!" Chatsworth gasped in horror. "T-this will never do! I've seen better artwork from the likes of children!"
"Now, just a minute; just a darned minute! Maynard and I did the best we could! Maybe it won't win a prize or anything, but cut us some slack, will ya?" Dobie shouted, his face turning red.
Kate looked up at Dobie and Maynard and gave them a bittersweet smile. "You boys did a good thing for Chatsworth. We thank you. I just don't know if it is going to fool the likes of Lucian and his brother."
"Oh, why was I cursed with such bad luck? Why, why, why?" Chatsworth whined.
Dobie seethed. "Like you could have done any better!"
Kate closed the box, not daring to look at it. "It will have to do, Chatsworth. It's the only idea we have at the moment. Just try to stall for as long as you can, okay? Perhaps I can come up with something else."
"Yeah, Chatsworth. Maybe Kate can come up with another idea to get you outta this mess," Dobie offered.
"Cause if she don't, it's like bye-bye, Chatsy!" Maynard added.
Dobie, Kate and Chatsworth looked at him. "Maynard!" they cried in unison.
"Just holding up my end of the conversation," Maynard replied with a shrug. "But like just in case, can I have your wi-fi stereo?"
"Maynard, enough!" Dobie warned. "Chatsworth, you'll be fine. Just try to hold off on giving them the brooch as long as you can. Then if you have to give it to them, you have another option."
"What pray tell is that, Dobie-Doo?"
"Run like the dickens," Dobie answered.
Chatsworth rolled his eyes. "Gee, thanks, compadres. However, I will keep that concept in mind." He then looked at his watch. "Come along, Katie-Cuz. It is time for us to head back to the manor and await my impending doom."
As soon as Chatsworth was out of earshot, Dobie looked down at her. "So, what exactly are you going to do?"
Kate swallowed hard. "You heard him. Head back to the manor and await his impending doom."
Dobie sat alone inside Charlie Wong's Ice Cream Parlor, drowning his sorrows in a root beer float. He had sent Maynard home, much to Maynard's dismay. His friend had suggested going to the movies, hanging out at Riff's Record Shop and even going down to watch the puppies and kittens in the window of the pet store. But Dobie felt too miserable to have fun. He hated knowing that he had let his friends down when they depended on him. Poor Chatsworth, as annoying and snooty as he could be, didn't deserve the pounding he was going to get from Lucian and Xavier. "Why'd he have to bet a stupid brooch to begin with!" he muttered, kicking the barstool.
Suddenly, his foot hit something else beside the stool. Looking down, he saw the box Kate had brought with his dad's tape recorder inside. He knew there was something else he needed to do. Handing Charlie the money for the float, he hopped off the stool and grabbed the box. At least maybe he could return his dad's recorder without botching it up. As he exited, he decided that the shortest route would be to cut through the park again. As he was walking, he accidentally tripped on a rock. He managed to catch himself before he fell, but grabbed at the box awkwardly, jarring the equipment slightly. "Way to go, Gillis," he grumbled, dampering his mood even further.
"So, you ready to meet Chatsworthless?" a voice in the distance asked.
"Yep. I can't wait to take that brooch from his stingy little hands and sell it! Who knows how much money a thing like that's worth?" another voice answered.
Dobie tip-toed behind the bushes and saw that it was none other than Lucian and Xavier! Telling himself that he was braver than he felt, he decided to listen to what they were saying.
"And the best part is, Chatsworth has no clue that we were cheating the whole time! For a rich guy, he ain't all that smart!"
"In about twenty minutes, Xavier, we will be sitting pretty and Chatsworth won't know that he would've won had we not been playing with a trick deck!" Lucian chuckled maniacally.
"Even after he gives us the brooch, we still gonna rough him up, right, Lucian?"
Lucian laughed even harder. "You bet!"
Dobie's jaw dropped. So that's how they were able to take Chatsworth's mother's brooch! "I gotta find Kate; and fast!" Dobie whispered before running through the park as fast as his shaking legs could carry him.