Lark Steals the Show Read online

  Orca Book Publishers is proud of the hard work our authors do and of the important stories they create. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it or did not check it out from a library provider, then the author has not received royalties for this book. The ebook you are reading is licensed for single use only and may not be copied, printed, resold or given away. If you are interested in using this book in a classroom setting, we have digital subscriptions with multi user, simultaneous access to our books, or classroom licenses available for purchase. For more information, please contact [email protected].

  ivaluecanadianstories.ca

  LARK STEALS THE SHOW

  NATASHA DEEN

  Illustrated by MARCUS CUTLER

  Text copyright © Natasha Deen 2022

  Illustrations copyright © Marcus Cutler 2022

  Published in Canada and the United States in 2022 by Orca Book Publishers.

  orcabook.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Title: Lark steals the show / Natasha Deen ; illustrated by Marcus Cutler.

  Other titles: Steals the show

  Names: Deen, Natasha, author. | Cutler, Marcus, 1978- illustrator.

  Series: Orca echoes.

  Description: Series statement: Orca echoes

  Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20210349131 | Canadiana (ebook) 2021034914X | ISBN 9781459831575 (softcover) | ISBN 9781459831582 (PDF) | ISBN 9781459831599 (EPUB)

  Classification: LCC PS8607.E444 L38 2022 | DDC jC813/.6—dc23

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2021948821

  Summary: In this illustrated early chapter book, Lark and Connor are called upon to defend their friend when he is framed in the theft of a fellow student’s artwork at an art show.

  Orca Book Publishers is committed to reducing the consumption of nonrenewable resources in the production of our books. We make every effort to use materials that support a sustainable future.

  Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

  Cover artwork and interior illustrations by Marcus Cutler

  Author photo by Curtis Comeau

  Printed and bound in Canada.

  25 24 23 22 • 1 2 3 4

  Lark Ba Detective series

  Lark Holds the Key

  Lark and the Diamond Caper

  Lark Takes a Bow

  Lark and the Dessert Disaster

  Lark Has the Shivers

  Chapter One

  My name is Lark Ba, and I’m about to miss the boat. Not really. I’m in my bedroom, and it’s on dry land. Missing the boat is something my halmoni—that’s Korean for grandmother—says when I’m running late.

  I am behind Halmoni’s skedule schkedjool schedule because I want to look really nice. Halmoni is taking me and Connor—he’s my little brother—to the art gallery. There is a big show today, and our friend Franklin is one of the artists. His paintings are dynamite!

  “Lark!” Connor knocked on my bedroom door.

  I opened my door and twirled. I wore blue leggings and a gray sweater with calculators on it. “Ready! You look nice too.”

  Connor grinned. “Thanks, Lark!”

  Aren’t I such a great big sister?

  “I’m wearing my trench coat in case we run into a mystery,” he said and twirled too.

  This summer had been the bestest! Connor and I had become private investigators. We’d helped Mrs. Robinson find the lost key to the library and found out who had stolen a pair of diamond earrings from the general store. Connor and I are really very good detectives.

  “Being prepared for a case is a great idea,” I told Connor.

  His grin got bigger.

  Aren’t I the bestest big sister? “I’m going to get my fedora. A detective needs to wear a cool hat!”

  “Kids!” Halmoni called from the kitchen. “Hurry!”

  We ran downstairs. Dad and Halmoni had made chocolate-zucchini muffins, which smelled delicious! I mixed a dish of food for Max, our dog. Then I had a muffin. It was so yummy, I had two more.

  “Are you and Mom going to come to the art gallery too?” I asked Dad.

  He nodded. “And we are bringing a big surprise for you!”

  “Cool!” said Connor.

  “You know,” Halmoni said, tapping her chin, “Babu might like to hear about the art show.”

  Babu—that’s Swahili for grandfather—is Mom’s dad. Halmoni is Dad’s mom.

  “That’s a great idea,” said Dad. “Shall we call him?”

  Connor and I nodded because our mouths were too full of yummy muffins to talk.

  Babu was in Kenya, counting elephants. He grinned when he saw everyone on-screen. “What a nice surprise!” He held up a photo of a baby elephant. “Look, Eliza had her calf. Isn’t she beautiful? We were just discussing what to name her.”

  “I know!” said Connor. “Halley, like the comet. Lark and I are reading all about it in our astronomy books.”

  I nodded. “Every seventy-five years, it comes close to Earth. You can see it without a telescope.”

  “Halley,” said Babu. “I like it! I’ll take it to the team.”

  Dad said goodbye and left for work as we told Babu about the art show.

  “The theme is fruits and vegetables. Today the final artwork is going to be on display,” said Connor.

  “Wow,” said Babu, “that sounds amazing. I wish I could be there.”

  “Me too,” I said. “We miss you.”

  We finished talking to Babu, and then we cleaned up our snack. Just as we were putting our dishes away, there was a knock at the door.

  “I wonder who that might be,” said Halmoni.

  “Do you think it might be someone who needs Connor and me to solve a mystery?” I asked.

  “There’s only one way to find out,” she said.

  Connor and I followed her to the door.

  Chapter Two

  The person on the other side of the door was Sophie McCallister. She’s my best friend, and for the longest time she didn’t even know it! But guess what? She helped us with a couple of our cases, and I think she knows we’re besties now!

  “Sophie Sofa,” said Connor.

  She grinned. “Hello, Connor Wool and Baa Baa Lark Sheep.”

  I grinned back. Our last name is Ba, and baa is the sound sheep make. I like the nickname, but Connor doesn’t. Instead Sophie decided to call him Connor Wool because wool is warm and cozy. He calls her Sophie Sofa because the two words sound alike. It’s nice for us to have nicknames for each other. “What are you doing here?”

  “I have a gift for you, Connor and Max,” said Sophie. She reached into her backpack and pulled out three shirts with alligators on them.

  “Oh, wow!” gasped Connor. “So cool! Thank you!”

  “My babushka helped me make them. It’s my way of saying thanks for helping me all those times I needed help,” she said. “I remembered that alligators are your favorite, Lark.”

  “They are!” I said. “And they rhyme with investigators, which I love!”

  Connor helped Max into his shirt. “We’re going to the gallery because Franklin is in the art show,” he said. “It’s going to start in an hour, but he said we can come early and hang out. Do you want to come w
ith us?”

  “That would be fun,” said Sophie. “Let me call and ask my mom.” After she got permisshun premisstion permission, we followed Halmoni outside.

  It was a bright, sunny day, and the air smelled like wind and flowers. Max sniffed everything as we walked.

  “What do you think Franklin’s painting will be?” I asked.

  “When we were at the library, he borrowed a bunch of books on fruit trees.” Connor’s face went frowny. “We were having lots of fun until Kyle showed up.”

  “Ugh, Kyle,” said Sophie. “He’s the meanest kid in our whole school, but he’s especially mean to Franklin.”

  Halmoni gently tugged Max away from a fire hydrant. “Is Kyle always mean to Franklin?”

  “Always,” we said in unison.

  “The teachers have tried everything to get Kyle to be nicer,” Sophie said. “They’ve had Franklin and Kyle work together on class projects, and they brought in their parents.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t change anything. When Kyle gets in trouble for being mean, he apologizes, but then he just does it again.”

  “Hmm,” said Halmoni. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “No one likes it,” said Sophie. “Especially Franklin. He tries hard to be Kyle’s friend, but it never works out.”

  “Then let’s make sure Franklin feels very special today,” said Halmoni.

  Soon we were at the gallery. It was pyramid-shaped and made of glass, and it had four exhibition rooms, A, B, C and D. In the sunshine it sparkled and shone.

  Connor ran up to the building. He pressed his hands against the glass and peered inside.

  The reflections of Sophie and me bounced as we ran and pressed our hands against the glass. We could see the artists inside. Mr. and Mrs. Lee from the general store were there. And Mrs. Robinson, the librarian, was beside them!

  “There’s Franklin! Kate is with him!” Connor said.

  Sophie and I looked. They sat next to our friend Loi. She was beside Miss Ruby and Mr. Rupert.

  Franklin saw us. He waved.

  “Max and I are going to finish our walk,” Halmoni said to us. “Your parents and I will meet you in a bit, inside the gallery. We’ll be there with bells on!”

  We hugged her goodbye.

  “Won’t bells make a lot of noise?” asked Connor after she had left.

  I nodded. “When they get here, let’s make sure they put the bells away.”

  “Agreed,” said Connor. “We don’t want them to get in trouble.”

  As we walked inside, we saw Monty, the security guard. “Hello, Lark and Connor,” he said.

  “Hello,” I said. “We’re here for the show!”

  “Have fun!” Monty said. “Be careful not to touch any of the artwork, okay?” He waved goodbye and walked away.

  Around us, there were families with kids, families without kids, groups of friends and people by themselves. They were exploring the other exhibits as they waited for the art show to start.

  Franklin and Kate met us at the main doors.

  “You came!” said Franklin. “This is so exciting!” He did a little jig. “Did you know that at the end of the show Mx. Tradewell is putting everyone’s name in a jar? They’re going to pull out ten names, and those artists will have their work in the gallery for a whole month! And someone might actually buy it!”

  Connor hugged him. “I hope you get picked!”

  “Franklin did a painting with of all of us in it,” said Kate. She giggled. “You’re going to love it!”

  Suddenly Kyle appeared from Exhibit Room A. “I heard you talking about Franklin’s art,” he said. “I don’t know why you want to see it. It’s not that great.”

  “Did you see it?” Sophie demanded.

  “I don’t have to see it,” said Kyle. “If you want to see something amazing, you should look at my painting.”

  “Franklin is amazing too,” said Sophie. She glared at him. “He’s so amazing that he always beats you in class.”

  Kyle glowered. “Not always! Come look at my art. It’s better than Franklin’s.”

  “He was good enough to be part of today’s event,” I said. I was trying not to use my grumpy voice, but it was hard. Kyle was being ruder than usual!

  “I’d love to see your work,” Franklin said to Kyle. “I bet it’s really awesome.” He looked at the clock on the wall. “There’s about an hour before the show starts. Do you want to show us your piece and tell us about it?”

  Kyle’s chest puffed out. “Follow me.” He strode to Exhibit Room A.

  Franklin followed. The rest of us didn’t move.

  “Come on, guys,” said Franklin. “Let’s go.”

  “Why?” asked Kate. “He’s never nice to any of us. And he’s really mean to you. He shouldn’t have said any of those things.”

  “I agree,” said Franklin, “but maybe if we’re kind, he’ll see he doesn’t have to be mean.”

  Franklin, Kate and Sophie walked over to Kyle’s exhibit.

  Connor and I hung back.

  “I don’t like this,” said Connor. “Kyle always picks fights with Franklin.”

  “I have a squiggly feeling in my tummy too,” I said.

  “Do you think Kyle would do something to Franklin’s work?” asked Connor.

  “You mean like…” I tried to think of the word. It was a good one, and it started with a c or an s, and it meant to be sneaky and destroy people’s stuff.

  “We should look out for Franklin,” said Connor.

  Before I could say anything, we heard shouting.

  Connor and I raced toward the noise. I didn’t like what I saw, not one little bit. Nope, nope, nope.

  Chapter Three

  Sophie stood between Franklin and Kyle.

  “You’re trying to destroy my work!” shouted Kyle. “You know you’re not supposed to touch a canvas.”

  Franklin lifted up his hands. “I didn’t touch anything, I promise.” He spoke softly. “I was just looking at the shade of red on your painting. It’s cadmium red, right?”

  “Don’t touch my things!” Kyle yelled.

  Connor and I looked at Kyle’s painting. It was a watercolor of a bowl of red apples in a lime-green bowl on a table. There was also a black kitten sleeping next to a pie.

  “It’s good,” whispered Connor. “I was hoping it wouldn’t be nice.”

  I thought about what Franklin had said. “You should tell Kyle. Maybe it will stop him from being so mean.”

  Connor made a face.

  “I like your painting,” I told Kyle. Then I thought of a spefic speciphic specific compliment I could give. “The apples are very realistic.”

  Kyle squinted at me. “Of course they are,” he said.

  Connor nodded. “I like the kitten. They look full of mischief.” He nudged Sophie.

  “Oh, hmm,” said Sophie. “My babushka and I love to bake. Your pie looks like I could pick it up and eat it.”

  Kyle didn’t say anything.

  Sophie glared at him. “You could at least say thanks when we say nice things.”

  “True artists don’t care about compliments,” said Kyle. “You’d understand if you were a real artist, like me.”

  Sophie’s cheeks went as red as Kyle’s apples.

  “Let’s go look at Franklin’s painting,” I said hastily. I grabbed hold of Sophie’s hand and pulled her away.

  “Oh, Franklin!” I laughed and clapped my hands. “I love your painting!” Franklin had painted himself as a bunch of grapes. On the canvas his grape self was painting us. Connor was an orange, I was an apple, Sophie was a lime, and Kate was a banana.

  “I love it,” said Kate.

  “Look at this.” Franklin lifted the painting off the easel and took it to the window. “I used glitter.” He tilted it from side to side. The bright sunshine made it sparkle. “See? It makes it shiny.”

  We cheered, and Franklin blushed with pleasure.

  Just then Mx. Tradewell came into the hall.

&
nbsp; I really liked them! Mx. Tradewell had long, curly blond hair and brown eyes. They were wearing a black shirt that had images of paintbrushes with paint dripping off their ends. They waved at us, then turned to face the people in the hall. “Artists, you’ve been busy setting up! If you’d like to take a break, there are snacks in the cafeteria.”

  Some artists moved to the exit. Some continued setting up.

  “Do you want me to show you the art in Exhibit Hall B?” asked Franklin. “It’s an exhibit on pointillism.”

  “ Point-until-what-ism? ” Sophie’s face scrunched up.

  Franklin laughed. “Pointillism. It’s when an artist paints using dots.”

  “Wow,” said Connor. “That sounds like hard work.”

  “It is, but it’s supercool to see up close.” Franklin put his canvas back on the easel. “I’ll grab my stuff from the locker room and meet you there.”

  “I can show you guys where it is,” said Kate, and she led the way to the hall.

  We stopped in front of the first painting. Franklin was right about how cool these paintings were.

  “Man,” said Connor. “I bet it takes a lot of patience to do something like that.”

  The sudden pounding of footsteps made us turn around.

  Kyle rushed into the hall. His face was red and he was breathing hard. “Did you see him?”

  “See who?” I asked.

  “Franklin.” He bent over to catch his breath. “I was going to the cafeteria when I saw Franklin go back to Exhibit Hall A,” said Kyle. “By the time I got there, Franklin was gone, and so was my painting! He stole my painting!”

  “Franklin’s not a thief!” Sophie stepped close to Kyle.

  Just then Franklin came into the hall. His backpack was on his shoulder, and Mx. Tradewell was with him.

  “What did you do with my painting?” Kyle yelled at him.

  Franklin blinked in surprise. “Your painting? Nothing.”

  “I know you took it. Give it back,” said Kyle.

  “But I don’t have it,” said Franklin.

  Mx. Tradewell put their hand on Kyle’s shoulder to calm him down. “Why don’t we take a look together? Maybe someone moved it by mistake.”