CHAPTER 35

He Saw What I Did

“I saw what you did,” Seamus Finn said as the two of us walked back to the Hermione.

“The French substitution? Did I do it right? Do you think Kraft saw it?” I asked.

“No, you did it perfectly,” Seamus said. “The only reason I saw it was because I was looking for it. I was thinking it would be the right thing to do.”

“So you agree it was a good idea to switch the real turtle with Steve Kraft’s fake one?”

“I think it’s a perfect hiding place. No one would look for it in a shop full of fakes. Steve Kraft is obviously a friendly guy—we can go in there anytime we want and do a reverse substitution. And he said he would never sell it,” Seamus Finn said. ”So it’s just as safe as if it were in a bank vault.”

“Now I can stop worrying that Sandor Eucalyptus will catch up with me and pick my pocket, or pull a gun on me,” I said. “What do you think about that stuff about a hero defeating the powers of evil and the world ceasing to exist?”

“Well, legends always have stuff like that in them,” Seamus said. “It sounds good. But there’s obviously something magical about the turtle, and Melvin the shaman did give it to you.”

“He also said to take care of it,” I said. “I wonder if that meant I should keep it on my person, or just keep it safe. I took a chance that he meant to keep it safe—and I think it’s safer where I put it.”

“We could ask Sergeant Caleb for an opinion,” Seamus Finn said. “He already knows about the turtle. You want to do that?”

“No, I think I did the right thing,” I said. “Let’s keep it between ourselves, and trust no one.”