At the Museum, With Wandering Eyes

By Ann T Bugg

Valerie and Samantha are looking forward to a day of fun at the Science Museum in St. Paul, playing with gadgets and doing science projects in the lab. What they don’t expect are the gnomes, Marcus and Michael, showing up again and sending them on a wild scavenger hunt through time.

Meeting interesting people from history, discovering new musical instruments, ancient healing devices, and even a torture chamber are a part of their oddest adventure yet. So is Val’s big brother, Darrell, who shows up to help just when he’s needed most.

Collecting a series of items – all with intriguing symbols – during this adventure is one thing; what their choice will be to do with them at the end of the hunt is another altogether.

• Language: English
• Publisher: June Kramin
• Release date: Jan 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311104786

Ann T Bugg

Ann T. Bugg is the Queen of her castle in southern Minnesota where she lives with her Knight in shining armor (who has come to her rescue more than once) and her own little Princess Valerie. The pets in her magical kingdom come in all shapes and sizes, as do all the critters that make their way out of the enchanted forest. She enjoys horseback riding and long walks with her dogs, but writing will always be her first love.(Ann T. Bugg is the pseudonym for author June Kramin. For more on her women’s fiction, visit http://www.junekramin.com/)

Book preview

At the Museum, with Wandering Eyes

Before Happily Ever After Series

Book Seven

Ann T. Bugg

…

At the Museum, With Wandering Eyes

Before Happily Ever After Book Seven

By Ann T. Bugg

Copyright © Ann T. Bugg, 2014

All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

This book is a work of fiction. While references may be made to actual places or events, the names, characters, incidents, and locations within are from the author’s imagination and are not a resemblance to actual living or dead persons, businesses, or events. Any similarity is coincidental.

Published by Pau Hana Books, August 2014

Third edition July 2016

V4 2021

ISBN: 978-1311104786

This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. No part of this book can be reproduced or sold by any person or business without the express permission of the publisher.

Published in the United States of America

Cover Art and Illustrations: Valerie Kramin

Some images courtesy of Wikimedia – public domain

Edited by Janna Qualman

For Emma and Arthur, because your mom rocks!

And to the Science Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota for all the hours of enjoyment you’ve given us over the years.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

About the Author

Chapter One

"When’s the last time you were there, Val?" Samantha asked.

It was over spring break with a friend from school. I would go every weekend if I could, though. It seems like there’s something new every time. I love doing the labs. How about you?

I think it’s been two years for me. This will be awesome!

The girls were riding in a car with their mothers, anxious to arrive at their destination. They were almost to St. Paul, on their way to the Science Museum. Valerie’s family had a membership but didn’t get there as often as they’d like since they lived two and a half hours away. That was disappointing to Val since science has always been one of her favorite subjects.

This wasn’t their traditional summer get-together. It was November. Their mothers had decided to try to get some Christmas shopping out of the way. They couldn’t shop for the girls with them along. But rather than leave them home with their fathers to entertain them, they decided to drop them off at the Science Museum. It worked out for all the parties involved. Their moms got to shop without them begging for this or that, dads weren’t along to complain about shopping, Joshua, Sam’s little brother, wasn’t along to get bored with all the girly stores, and they could buy what they needed without having to hide presents from anyone. It was the perfect plan.

After buying the girls wrist bands for the museum, settling them with money for lunch and snacks, and making sure everyone’s cell phone was on, their mothers waved goodbye at the glass door and promised to be back at six.

And not a minute before, Valerie added.

No worries there, science goof. Val’s mom laughed. I wouldn’t dream of cutting your play date with Sam short.

Play date? Sam said, rolling her eyes. What are we? Four?

Scram, you brats. Sam’s mom winked then playfully scooted them through the door. She turned to Valerie’s mom. Last one to the car buys the white chocolate mochas.

It was never a wonder why the girls were the rascals that they were. They were merely mini versions of their mothers. Samantha was the prima ballerina and Valerie was the dreamer with just a touch of class clown. In both cases, they had enough goofiness to spare. They were the perfect combination of adventurous and brave. Perhaps that was why they had been chosen to go on their adventures by their fairy godmother, Odette.

Valerie and Samantha had learned to expect the unexpected when they were together. Adventures had been happening to them for years. First it was at Valerie’s farm and their adventure through the magic mirror, but then things began to happen when they were simply together, no matter where. They had accepted their alter egos in other realms and times as Ladies Valerie and Samantha, but for the most part they lived a normal life.

There was never anything out of the ordinary in their everyday activities. They had school and their share of homework like every other child. Valerie loved being in school plays and Samantha still had her sports. There were no animals who wandered up and began conversations, or trolls that jumped out from the forest by Val’s house. Life was typically ordinary, and this weekend was going to be just that…or so they’d thought.

They walked through the door, ignoring the Science Buzz station. The booth was set up so you could pretend to be a newscaster on television. They both had camcorders at home and did their own plays often; they didn’t need to take the time here to do that. They immediately ran down a flight of stairs and power-walked to the lab area. They wanted to do that first and were happy to discover there was no line. Once in the lab, you’d put on a lab coat, safety glasses, and gloves and got to do experiments with a microscope, like map DNA and look at cells.

Knock knock, Valerie said as they walked toward it.

Samantha fought a grin. Who’s there?

Interrupting cow.

Interrupting—

Moo, Valerie said before Samantha could finish. It was such a silly joke, they had to laugh.

I can’t believe you’re doing knock knock jokes, Val. Bad knock knock jokes at that.

I love that one. My mom told it to me.

Figures. Sam glanced back to the lab area and uttered, Oh, snap.

What? Val asked as she faced where Samantha’s attention was. There’s no line. That’s ‘oh, great’ not ‘oh, snap.’

There’s no nothing, Val. Look, she said as she pointed behind the dividing wall. There were people in there a minute ago.

Maybe they’re changing shifts.

When they reached the lab, they found no one in there at all. No one hiding behind a wall or ducking out of sight. To the left was the Human Body Gallery, where there was always a crowd of people waiting to hop on the scale to see their weight in fake blood. Now facing that, they discovered it was suddenly deserted, as well.

Where’d everyone go, Val? Did we miss a fire alarm or something?

No way. Come on. Val tugged Sam along to the Experiment Gallery next. It consisted of dozens of hands-on projects, but again there was no one to be found. Maybe there’s a show starting. Still holding hands, they ran down a flight of stairs.

Normally they would stop and look at the musical instrument hanging from the ceiling. It looked like a huge hanging xylophone. It was called a Seismofon. It hung above the food court and was connected to a computer. If there were an earthquake anywhere in the world, depending on where the quake was, the Seismofon would play a style of music related to that region. A really strong quake would bring a faster rhythm. Every now and then, it would play a note or two as a reminder that the earth’s crust was always in motion. Neither girl wanted to stop right now, however. Something was unnerving about the sudden emptiness of the museum. Once they were at the bottom of the stairs, they turned right and ran straight back to the stage. There was nothing going on and not a soul sitting on the benches.

The main overhead lights went out and together they whispered, Uh-oh.

It was still bright enough to find their way around. There were plenty of windows and it was