Luthier's Apprentice, The by Mayra Calvani Read Free Book Online Page A

be a working telephone at Aunt Lili’s, even if there wasn’t reception for cells. Why hadn’t her mom given her the number so Emma could call?
    “Are you okay, Grandpa?” Emma asked.
    “ Sto bene ,” he muttered.
    “Isn’t there a phone at Aunt Lili’s?”
    Grandpa avoided her gaze. “No.”
    He’s lying.
    “I’m going to work,” he said. “There are sandwiches on the table. I want you at the workshop by three o’clock.” He turned and left.
    Emma and Annika exchanged troubled looks.
    “Don’t mind him,” Emma whispered, making sure he wouldn’t overhear them. “It’s his back.”
    “It’s okay. Really.”
    “He won’t even admit when the pain is killing him.”
    “How can he work like that?”
    Emma shook her head slowly. “I really don’t know.”
    “I think he loves you very much, but he doesn’t show it.”
    “Really?”
    “Sure.”
    Emma sighed. “I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”
    “I’m all for it. My stomach is grumbling.”
    They climbed the stairs to the first floor. From the hallway they simultaneously glanced at the attic door. They exchanged looks.
    “Any more strange noises?” Annika asked.
    “Not since the first day I moved in.”
    Over peanut butter sandwiches and steaming instant cappuccinos, Emma told Annika everything that happened at Madame Dupriez’s house, once in a while casting furtive glances toward the door to make sure Grandpa was nowhere near.
    “What happened after you saw me from the study window?” Annika asked.
    “Corey and I tried to arrange everything as it was, then I hid behind the sitting room sofa until he led her into the kitchen. While he distracted her there, I managed to sneak out.”
    “Wow,” Annika said, excitement coloring her pale, freckled cheeks. “This is unexpected… this Corey guy, I mean. Why did you call him a Sherlock Holmes fan?”
    Emma rolled her eyes while chewing a piece of her sandwich. “He’s always doing impressions of him, with a snobbish British accent and everything.”
    “Are you serious?”
    “Nope.”
    Annika grinned. “He’s totally hot.”
    “You think so?”
    “Uh, yeah .”
    “I didn’t notice. I was too busy trying not to get caught.”
    “Yeah, right.” Then Annika asked, “Why do you think that part of the floor beneath the carpet smelled burned?”
    “I don’t know. If it had been fire or some sort of explosion, how come the rest of the room was fine?”
    “You have a point.” Annika’s blue eyes sparkled. “So when are we seeing this Corey?”
    “He said he would find a way to get in touch. We didn’t even have the time to exchange numbers. Everything happened so fast. Like I said, he took Monsieur Dupriez’s notebook. That might give us some clues.”
    “What school does he go to?” Annika asked.
    “I don’t know. We didn’t have time to talk about that either. But his English is almost perfect, so my guess is the British or American School, the ISB or one of the other European Schools.”
    “Does he have an accent? He looks kind of east European.”
    “Yeah, he does, doesn’t he? He has a very, very slight accent that I can’t place.”
    “Probably a diplomat kid,” Annika said, meaning “another diplomat kid like us.”
    Emma nodded and lifted the cappuccino to her lips. “Probably.”
    Brussels was full of diplomats and kids with multiple citizenships from parents of mixed nationalities. Emma’s mom worked at the European Commission and her American dad had worked at NATO before his death. Annika’s dad worked at the Commission, too.
    Annika finished eating the last of her sandwich and leaned back against the chair. “I can’t believe he’ll be competing against you.”
    “If he can memorize notes as well as he memorizes Holmes, I’m as burned as that study floor.”
    After they cleared the dishes, they went to Emma’s room and Annika played with Blackie while Emma practiced Beethoven’s concerto. She enjoyed having Annika around while she played. Annika