Chapter One: The Trap is Set

"Just say it, ok?!" yelled Heimir to the parrot.

"You've been trying to teach that parrot to talk for a week now dude, I just don't think he's gonna' do it." I called from the breakfast nook, "You might as well train him to wash our dishes or even solve mysteries."

"It's going to work." replied Heimir. "It just has to work. This parrot was a birthday gift from my aunt and if it doesn't speak by the time she comes back to visit, she'll be very disappointed."

"Well, making it our mascot was a good idea," I replied "but, it might not be able to get a word in edge-wise as a member of The Vacuum Boys."

My name is Dan and I am a Vacuum Boy. Last Tuesday started as just another morning around the club-house of our new Vacuum Boys Detective Services. After a few adventures, we had finally finished setting up a real "office" with a typewriter, reception desk, filing system and crime laboratory on the weekend, and Tuesday was our first real "office day" because Gert-Jan's parents were away on Monday and he wasn't allowed to have any friends over. Little did we know that Tuesday would be the start of our greatest adventure yet!

I was trying to make some hot chocolates in the nook and Heimir had spent most of the morning manning the phone. I was feeling like the whole town had become mystery-free as soon as we finally opened an office. No one was calling at all. Guy was sure that it was because Gert-Jan's new phone-intercom system didn't work. It was meant to be a regular phone for the office, but also an auto-detection intercom system with the main house so Gert-Jan's parents could still use the phone.

I had began sipping hot chocolate and reading the morning funny pages and trying to ignore Heimir and the parrot, when Gert-Jan burst in the door panting hard from running. He was almost always over-excited, so this was nothing new, but something seemed different this time. I put down my hot chocolate.

"Guess what's new!? You'll never guess it." he yelled.

"What?" asked Heimir.

"The city just announced a talent show for new rock and roll bands! And I entered The Vacuum Boys!!" he stated. "The three winners will play a concert on that big boat in just three weeks! How cool is that, on that old boat?!"

We had all been downtown last Saturday when that big, old boat dulled into the harbour. It had slowly and quietly moved into place with only one or two people on board. I had seen it first and called the Vacuum Boys down to check it out with me. Gert-Jan knows about boats and was very curious so he asked some of the people on the docks and they told us it was for the town and we were told to mind out own business. This all seemed a bit fishy to us, but after our last adventure – we thought it would be best to stay out of trouble for a little while.

Just then, Guy walked in the door, somewhat less amused. "We saw an announcement at the supermarket and Gert-Jan got all excited and signed up." said Guy.  "Personally," he continued, "I think it's a waste of time - I don't think that they'll ever let us play. Remember after the mystery we solved at the old mill, I think that the Mayor thinks we're causing too much trouble. It's a long-shot."

Although a sometimes over-critical Vacuum Boy, Guy was usually right about such stuff. He had a keen eye for politics and had read the most about Amsterdam before the boys decided to move their detective agency. When Guy said something about the stodgy old Mayor, he was usually right.

"It's worth a try." stated Heimir, and he was right.

--

For new readers, maybe now is a good time to introduce The Vacuum Boys.

Vacuum Boy Heimir Björgúlfsson is always into taking action. He's sort of the wholesome buy of the group, although always upstanding, fair and a good listener. He's usually got the best girlfriends. He's our customer contact Boy too, so when new adventures come our way, Heimir is the man. He's great with adults and is always optimistic, so he's the one that finally gets us on our bikes to solve new mysteries instead of hanging around the club-house planning things. He's also the heartthrob lead-singer in The Vacuum Boys rock band.

Vacuum Boy Gert-Jan Prins is the inventor. He's always tinkering with new machines, inventing new boxes and listening devices, robot mechanical animals to help in our adventures. He prefers to read a science book, rather than a comic book or pirate adventure like me, and although Guy calls him the "brainiac" sometimes, I think that's sort of mean. When we need a new invention, Gert-Jan is our man. I think he's working on electronic clothes right now, socks and stuff. He also goes to a special science camp every summer, instead of going with us to regular camp. Even though he says that this makes him lonely for a few weeks, I think he really has a lot of fun with other smart people too. He's the drummer in our band.

When I first saw Vacuum Boy Guy Amitai in school, I thought he was sort of spooky. He was always looking at you and seemed to know what you were thinking and when you ask him a question, he would raise his eyebrow and sort of walk-away. After I got to know him, I started to really like him although he is still really spooky. Heimir had known him for a while and invited him to join The Boys and we all learned that he was a great addition to the club because he's a master of disguises and costumes and can get us disguised for any situation. Last month we had to wear mountain-climbing costumes for an adventure finding some lost goats and my personal favourite is the disguise that we needed to infiltrate that Rodeo last summer. He's also good with haunting problems, sorcery, potions, myths, etc. - he reads a lot and practices spells and stuff. He's also plays keyboards and does backing vocals when our band plays.

My name is Vacuum Boy Dan Armstrong and everyone says that I am sort of a smooth-talker. I don't know, I suppose that I am the one that usually gets us into trouble and promises a bit too much. However, I think that if we want to really be a good Rock N' Roll Detective Agency - then we need to act like real Rock N' Roll detectives and I am trying to get everyone to act more detective-like. For fun, I spend a lot of time going to the pictures and reading adventures - mostly westerns and space adventures, but also a lot of detective and crime stories, and I play guitar in the band.

--

"Well, I think it's worth a try." replied Gert-Jan, "What have we got to lose? I mean, we have three or four numbers ready to play right now. Let's try it out."

Just then the phone rang and Heimir leaped to grab it from the new phone machine. We all watched his face as he immediately rolled his eyes and spoke into the phone "It's ok Mrs. Prins, we got it. Well, it's a call for us. Uh-huh. Ok. Ok. Milk I guess. Ok, thank you."

Heimir held his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone and glared at Gert-Jan. I punched him in the arm. "Vacuum Boys Detective Agency and Rock N' Roll Bookings. How can we help you today?" said Heimir back into the phone.

The conversation seemed to take a few minutes and we all stood frozen waiting for some clues as to what was being said. Heimir was completely silent except for occasional mumbled grunts of "uh-huh" and "yah" and he ended the phone call simply with "Ok, we have the time. I understand. Contact us on Thursday and we'll have some information for you."

"Weeeell?" I said.

"Well, it's a new detective job, that's for sure. You'll never guess who that was, actually." said Heimir.

"Who?" asked Guy.

"Well, first of all - gosh darn it, your mom picked up the phone Gert-Jan. We've really got to do something about that. She said she was hanging up, but would bring lunch out to us in an hour. Very embarrassing. Well, the phone call was from th-"

Suddenly, Heimir was cut off by a knock at the club-house door. All of the Boys looked at each other and Heimir walked over and pulled back the curtain and opened the door. In walked an old woman covered from head-to-toe in dusty old rags. We all stood there shocked as she walked three or four steps and it seemed like she was floating on air because she didn't make a sound at all. She stopped in the middle of the room and she smelled like old wood and mothballs to me. A few seconds went by and we all looked at each other, silent.

Suddenly , she looked up at Heimir and spoke slowly.

"You are the holder of the secret coin."

As she lifted her head to speak, we could see that she was very old and wrinkled. Her nose was very long and I noticed that she had a huge hump on her left shoulder (remember this readers!). I glanced over at Guy and he was already looking at me with one eyebrow raised.

"I don't have a-" began Heimir, but in the middle of his sentence, the woman held out her hand and dropped a large gold coin into Heimir's hand. It looked to be many, many years old and was battered and nicked. There were pictures and strange writing on it, but I still didn't know what was going on.

I wanted to ask the woman what was happening, and it started to seem like Heimir knew this woman. Or at least, she knew him. Suddenly, the woman let out a message without a pause or a breath, like she had been waiting to say it for years.

"For four-hundred years the Spanish Galleon St. Endesa has been sailing the seas as a ghost ship since it left harbour in Gibraltar. It was lost in a freak storm within a few hours and no one has seen her since. My great, great, great grandfather was the first mate on this ship and was bringing a great treasure and omens of good luck back to our family, but never made it.

"However, be warned, in order to make this journey across three seas safely, he also brought more treasures to balance the power of good luck with a force of bad luck and evil. While the good treasure was a gift to our family from a prince in the orient, the bad treasure was acquired on his return trip from an evil pirate near the coast of Africa. It holds dangers both powerful and mysterious.

"The legacy of this ghost ship have been passed down from generation to generation in my family. I have carried this secret my whole life and the story ends with this ship docking here in Amsterdam. Legend has it that no one ever escaped the Spanish Galleon and it was found adrift, empty 20 years after it set sail. You must recover the secret treasure and set my family's ghost free. The reward will be known to you soon."

"Hold on. But, how can we.. What should we be looking for? Is there-" I stuttered, but the woman was not listening. She had already turned and was leaving the club-house without saying a word. I looked back at The Boys in disbelief and turned to rush out to ask her some questions. As soon as I got out the door, she was no where to be found. She had completely vanished on the street and was gone.

I walked back in and found Heimir looking carefully at the coin in his hand. Gert-Jan snatched the coin and quickly put it under his new microscope for a better look. "She's completely gone." I said.

"What was that all about?" asked Guy.

"I don't know." replied Heimir. "By the creepiest part about this is that phone call we just got was asking us to help check out a new ship arriving tomorrow in the harbour that they want to use for the contest concerts. They said we were a good match because they want to use this ship for the concert and since we were also a Rock N' Roll band, we would be perfect to help."

"I told them we were available and we'd meet them down there." he continued. "What do you Boys think?"

"This coin is very old." said Gert-Jan, "I think that it's Spanish too. Guy, can you read this?"

"I don't get it. Who was it who called us, dude?" I asked Heimir.

"The Mayor."

Art Direction and photography: Meeuw, Illustrations: Fons Moers, Other CD Illustration: Wilf Plum, Extra Thanks to: Pietro Pinto and Armin Buehler