فصل چهل و سوم

chapter-43

Up bright and early the next morning, Kyle made his way across the Rotunda Reading Room.

It was eight-fifteen. The Dewey decimal doors would open in one hour and forty-five minutes. The game would be over in less than four hours.

Kyle was totally pumped.

Sierra Russell, on the other hand, was sitting in a comfy chair reading a book. “Hey,” said Kyle.

“Hi,” said Sierra, stifling a small yawn.

“Did you stay up all night reading?” “No. I went upstairs around two. But there was a new stack of books on the librarian’s desk when I came down.” “Oh, really? What’d you find?”

“Five copies of this.”

She showed Kyle her book. It was The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery.

“It’s a rhyming picture book about Horace the Elephant’s eleventh birthday party and the search to find out who ran off with all the food. There are hidden messages and cryptic codes all over the pages.” “Why’s it called The Eleventh Hour?” “The birthday feast was supposed to take place at eleven a.m. But since somebody stole all the food …” Kyle laughed. “Eleven a.m.”

“What?”

“The eleventh hour! The last possible moment.” Kyle nudged his head up at the Wonder Dome. “How much do you want to bet that at eleven o’clock, on the dot, the clue we need most of all will pop up in the three hundreds section?” Sierra smiled. “So this new book is a clue about our clue?” “That’s my guess. Did you eat breakfast?” “Not yet.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” said Miguel as he strode into the room. “Today’s the big day. We’re gonna need our energy for the final sprint.” “He’s right,” said Akimi, climbing down the spiral staircase. “The doors open in less than two hours. Then we only have two more hours to figure everything out.” “But,” said Kyle to his other teammates, “Sierra just figured out when we’ll get the big three hundreds clue.” He gestured toward the picture book. “At the last possible minute.” “What?” said Akimi. “Eleven-fifty-nine?” “Close. Eleven o’clock.”

“Awesome,” said Miguel. “It must be a very good clue.” Kyle and his team went into the café, where they found Haley Daley seated at a table, eating half a grapefruit and staring blankly through the glass walls into the rotunda.

“Hey, Haley,” said Kyle. “How’s it going?” “Not bad. You?”

“Good. Win or lose, we’re having a blast.” “We’re the fun bunch,” said Akimi.

“You guys really get along, huh?”

“Oh, yes,” said Sierra. “I haven’t had this much fun since I was six.” “Seriously?”

“What’s the matter, Haley?” said Akimi. “Life not so good on Team Charles?” “It’s okay, I guess. I mean, we’ve pulled together some good clues and all.…” “Well,” said Miguel, “if you ever want to switch sides, we’re always looking for new members.” “Can I do that? Just switch sides? Even though I know everything about what Team Charles did all day yesterday?” “I think so,” said Kyle. “I mean, there was nothing in the rules about teams.” “Huh,” said Haley. “And Andrew’s teamed up with you guys, too?” “No,” said Kyle.

Haley nodded toward the wall of windows behind Kyle. “Then why’d he just swipe his library card and go into your meeting room?”