فصل بیست وپنجم

chapter-25

Deplaning in Ohio, Kyle and Abia saw the two book-mobiles waiting in the airport parking lot.

Jessica, their driver from the first leg of the competition, was sitting in the back of her vehicle, zipping up the backpack Katherine and Elliott had dumped in their scramble to race to Mr. Lemoncello’s jet first.

Jessica saw Kyle watching her.

“They left their sandwiches,” she said with a smile. “And I’m starving!” “Well, you better save them a few crumbs,” said Kyle, still feeling kind of cocky. “I don’t think their prop plane came equipped with a chef and gourmet meals. They were probably lucky to score one of those little peanut pouches and a watered-down pop!” “Perhaps we should’ve saved them some of our freshly baked chocolate chip cookies,” said Abia.

Then she and Kyle looked at each other.

“Naaaah,” they said together.

Laughing, they climbed into their bookmobile.

“Back to the library, Mad Dog,” said Kyle. “And I think you can take your time. Those other guys are probably somewhere over North Carolina!” —

Kyle and Abia climbed up the steps of the library and stepped through the bank vault door. Mr. Lemoncello was standing with Mr. Raymo, the chief imagineer, and two turn-of-the-century gentlemen in high-collared shirts, tweed suits, and bowler hats.

“Hiya, Orville and Wilbur,” said Kyle. “You guys look just like your statues.” “But not nearly as bronzed,” added Abia, who, believe it or not, was actually cracking a joke. “Perhaps you need to work on your suntans.” “We can adjust that,” said Mr. Raymo, tapping his tablet computer.

“She’s joking,” said Kyle. “Right?”

“Indeed,” Abia said with a slight smile. “I fear it comes from spending too much time with you, Kyle Keeley.” Kyle grinned.

“Congratulicitations,” said Mr. Lemoncello. “You two are the first team to return from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to the inner lobby of what used to be a bank in Ohio. Did you find your fascinating fact?” “Indeed we did, sir,” said Abia.

“Johnny Moore was just a kid whose curiosity made him part of history,” said Kyle.

“He was the youngest of the five witnesses to the Wright brothers’ first flight on that cold and blustery December day in 1903.” “It was rather nippy that morning,” said Wilbur.

“And I was the one lying down on the plane, manning the controls,” added Orville. “So I had to contend with the wind-chill factor as well.” “For twelve seconds,” said Wilbur, rolling his eyes at his brother.

“Fine. Next time you do it.”

“Boys?” said Mr. Lemoncello. “Don’t make Mr. Raymo dial up your mother on his Nonfictionator.” He turned to Kyle and Abia. “Well done. You two will be moving on to the final round. Your opponents, Elliott Schilpp and Katherine Kelly, will not.” “Who won the Emily Dickinson race?” asked Kyle.

“We did,” said Akimi, strolling into the lobby with her partner, Angus.

“But they only beat us by like ten seconds,” said Miguel as he and his partner, Pranav, joined the others in the lobby.

“If I may inquire,” said Abia, “what was the fascinating fact you four discovered about Emily Dickinson?” “We’ll show you!” declared Mr. Lemoncello. “Mr. Raymo, if you please?” “Certainly, sir.” He started tapping on his tablet.

Orville and Wilbur Wright disappeared.

A frail young woman wearing a black dress with puffy shoulders faded into view. Her dark hair was pulled back from her pale face into a tight bun.

“Most of my poems,” said the holographic Emily Dickinson, “employed what is known as the common meter.” “We studied that in school,” said Kyle. “A meter is like six-tenths of a mile….” “In poetry,” said Dickinson, “ ’meter’ refers to the pattern of beats.” “Her poems are mostly four beats followed by three,” explained Miguel.

“So,” added Angus, “you can sing ‘em to the tune of ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas.’ ” “Or,” said Pranav, “as we recently learned in our research quest, to the tune of the theme song from Mr. Lemoncello’s favorite boyhood television show, Gilligan’s Island.” “Gilligan’s Island? What’s it about?” asked Kyle.

“Why, it’s a rollicking tale of seven castaways stranded on a desert island!” said Mr. Lemoncello. He started singing the theme song (slightly off-key): “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip…” “I think Miss Dickinson’s poetry might sound better,” said Miguel. “Seriously. I do.” “Very well, Miguel,” said Mr. Lemoncello. “Emily, if you please?” The flickering Emily Dickinson recited the first stanza of one of her most famous poems to the tune of the Gilligan’s Island theme song: “Because I could not stop for Death,

He kindly stopped for me;

The carriage held but just ourselves

And Immortality.”

Everyone in the lobby applauded wildly.

“And so,” said Mr. Lemoncello after Emily Dickinson had disappeared, “we are down to our final two teams! Kyle and Abia versus Akimi and Angus. Tomorrow we will begin the final leg of the Fabulous Fact-Finding Frenzy. After that, one team, our most fabulous and frenzied fact finders, will be declared the winners and go on a grand North American library tour, where they will be hailed as research heroes and—” “And take home the first copies of that new floating emoji game, right?” said Kyle.

“Right. You took the words out of my mouth. But don’t worry, I gargled this morning. The other team? Well, like today’s runners-up, you will receive lovely parting gifts including a lifetime supply of those Ohio confectionery treats known as buckeyes—chocolate-dipped peanut butter balls!” The consolation prize actually sounded pretty good to Kyle, because he definitely loved Ohio’s famous buckeye candies.

But as anybody could tell you, he loved winning even more.