Ann Martin: Claudia And The Mystery At The Museum

"That's what we're here for," I answered. It was Thursday, and I had brought the three girls to the Stoneybrook Museum. I was as excited as they were, and not just because of the Don Newman exhibit. It turned out that the museum was a perfect place to bring kids. "Hold on," I said to the twins, who were still trying to pull me in opposite directions. "Let's

take our time and look at everything."

The museum wasn't huge, or fancy, but the people who had built it had certainly packed a lot into it. hi fact, I wasn't even sure we could see everything, not in one day. I knew I'd be coming back often, though. This museum was a special place.

It didn't look like your average museum. The floors were wood, instead of marble. There was no big echo-y hall, and there were no fancy paintings in gold frames. It was just a comfortable big building with white walls and lots of windows.

Corrie tugged on my sleeve. (I had dressed up a little, in pink lace leggings and a long black sweater. My hair was tied back with a pink ribbon, and I was wearing pink ballet-type flats.) "Can we go to the Discovery Room?" she asked. Corrie is a pretty, timid girl, with a serious face. She has brownish-blonde hair that's cut straight across her forehead in bangs, and long, dark eyelashes. She's small for her age, and something about her just makes me want to hug her.

"No!" cried Carolyn. "The Science Room! I want to shake hands with a skeleton." Carolyn loves science.

"I want to see the Music Center," said Marilyn. She plays the piano, and she's pretty good.

The twins look almost exactly alike. Marilyn has a tiny mole under her right eye, and Carolyn has one under her left eye. That's how I used to have to tell them apart. That was back when their mother used to dress them identically and treat them almost as one person. As they grew older, they became pretty tired of that, though, and now it's easy to tell them apart. Marilyn wears her brown hair long, and Carolyn wears hers short. Marilyn dresses simply, but Carolyn likes trendy clothes. And, as you might have noticed, they have very different interests.

I picked up a brochure with a museum map on it. "Let's start with the Discovery Room," I said. "If s upstairs. After that, we can check out the Science Room and the Music Center. Then we'll come back downstairs and see the sculptures. How does that sound?"

The girls nodded eagerly. The fact was that everything in the museum sounded interesting and fun, and we knew it didn't really matter what order we saw the exhibits in.

The Discovery Room was pretty cool. The first thing we saw when we walked in was a display on recycling, which included a giant robot the kids could hand soda cans to. There was a large supply of empty soda cans nearby. The robot would take the can and dump it into a box for recycling, and the kids were fascinated by watching the way it worked. I think they liked all the blinking lights on the robot.

The Discovery Room included an area devoted to teaching kids what it feels like to live with different disabilities. They could ride in wheelchairs, and try out crutches. A display showed how Braille works, with sample labels that the kids could "read" with their fingers. Also, there were mystery boxes. Kids had to try to guess their contents using only touch. Corrie loved that activity. "I think if s a bag of marbles," she said, grinning at me as she felt around in one of the boxes.

Carolyn and Marilyn were testing themselves at an electronic quiz board, which had buzzers that sounded and lights that lit up when they pushed a button for the right answer. "I'm a Whiz Kid," said Marilyn, pointing to the screen that showed her rating.

"And I'm a Junior Einstein," said Carolyn, proudly.

Even though we hadn't seen everything in the Discovery Room, we went on from there to the Science Room, by way of a "mole tunnel," which was so dark you had to feel your way through. When we came out into the light, blinking like overgrown moles, Carolyn ran straight to a human skeleton that stood in the corner. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Bones," she said, shaking its hand.

Marilyn and Corrie refused to go near it. "Too scary," said Marilyn. Corrie nodded in agreement. They headed for the collection of fossils, shark jaws, dinosaur bones, and birds' nests, which were laid out so that kids could pick them up and hold them. "Please Touch," said a big sign. I thought that was so cool. How many museums have you seen with a sign like that? Usually the exhibits are behind glass, or ropes, and you feel as if the guards will drag you off to jail if you even dare to breathe on anything. ;

"Claudia, look at me!" Carolyn had left the skeleton and was standing near a big, round metal globe. She put her hand on it, and suddenly her hair was standing on end.

"Carolyn!" I cried. "Are you all right?" I ran to her.

"I'm fine," she said, giggling. "It doesn't hurt or anything. If s a machine that makes static electricity. It's called a Van de Graaff generator, and — "

"It's awesome," I said, cutting her off. I could tell that she was about to pull a "Janine" on me, and tell me more than I wanted to know about Van de Graaff generators. I reached out my hand, touched it gingerly, and felt the strangest sensation — my hair standing on end. But Carolyn was right. It didn't hurt.

"Can we go to the Music Center now?" asked Marilyn.

"But we haven't seen everything yet," said Carolyn. "What about the shadow wall, and the climb-in kaleidoscope? What about the video phone?"

"We'll come back soon," I said as I herded the girls down the hall. I was beginning to realize how much there was to see at the museum, and I knew we wouldn't reach the New-man exhibit if we didn't move along. I was determined to see it that afternoon.

The Music Center quickly became Marilyn's favorite place. It included a player piano, an electric organ, and lots of smaller instruments, including wind chimes and xylophones. In one corner a microphone stood on a platform. Kids could talk or sing into it, and a video screen showed what the sound waves you were creating looked like. The girls ran from exhibit to exhibit, trying to take everything in.

I almost felt bad about pulling them away, but I was sure they'd like Don Newman's sculptures, too. And suddenly I couldn't wait another minute. I had to see "Daphne."

"Let’s go, you guys," I said. "The museum doses pretty soon, and I wanted to show you something special today." We headed downstairs, to the art rooms. I asked a guard which way to go. He pointed me toward a yellow

hallway and told me to follow a group of people headed down it.

I led the girls down the hall. They were talking excitedly about everything they had seen upstairs.

Suddenly, a piercing electronic shriek interrupted them. "Oh, my lord!" I said.

"What is that?" cried Marilyn, over the sound.

"I think it's a fire alarm," I said. "Come on!" I hurried the girls toward the EXIT sign I saw ahead.

Just as we reached the door, the noise stopped. And then I heard another sound: breaking glass! After that, I heard a different type of alarm. This one was more like the bell between classes at my school, only ten times louder.

"What's that?" asked Carolyn. "It must be a burglar alarm," I said as I watched two security guards rush past us. They ran into a nearby room, which was where the sound of breaking glass had come from. I had no idea what was going on, but I wasn't about to take the time to find out. The most important thing was to get the girls out of the building. You don't mess around when you hear a fire alarm.

I pushed open the door, and we stepped into a little courtyard that was already full of

frightened-looking people. Nobody seemed to know what was happening. "I think we better go home," I said to the girls, "and come back another day."