فصل سی و چهارم

chapter-34

The library was extra packed with spectators for the fifth day of the Olympic games.

Television cameras were everywhere.

Word must’ve spread that unless one of the other medaled teams miraculously swept the final three competitions, the championship was down to two true contenders.

“Welcome back, everybody!” said Mr. Lemoncello, addressing the contestants and the crowd from the second-floor balcony, where he was seated in a canvas director’s chair. He was wearing a floppy beret and an ascot like movie directors sometimes do—in cartoons. “I hope you’re all having fun!” “Fun?” shouted Mrs. Chiltington, who was back, once again, with her pack of protestors. “Libraries should be about books, Mr. Lemoncello. Not fun!” Even from a distance, Kyle could see some kind of dark cloud shadow his hero’s eyes.

“Good to see you again, too, Archduchess Von Chiltington. And may I say, for the record, as well as the CD, I agree with thee.” “Ha! Prove it.”

“My pleasure.” He turned to address the assembled Library Olympians. “Today, for game number ten of the duodecimalthon, we’ll do a little role-playing. You Olympians will play librarians, and I will play the patron who has come here seeking a very particular, very special book.” He shot Mrs. Chiltington a toothy smile, then pivoted back to the players.

“But I can’t remember the title or the author or whether this book…” Another smile for Mrs. Chiltington, who wasn’t smiling back.

“…is fiction or nonfiction. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find this one needle in our haystack of five million different titles.” Mr. Lemoncello whipped off the beret and tugged on an Ohio State Buckeyes baseball cap.

“I will now play the patron. Before I do, however, I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to my brilliant acting coach, the renowned thespian Sir Donald Thorne, for his assistance in helping me craft my portrayal of this role.” Mr. Lemoncello cleared this throat and started speaking with a flat and friendly Ohio accent.

“Excuse me, Ms. and/or Mr. Librarian, can you help me find a book? All I remember is that it’s kind of white and brownish on the front. It might be about the opposite of wildlife mixed up with a James Joyce novel, but Joyce didn’t write it, although I think a woman did. I also remember something about a fruit no one has ever heard of before the year 2014. It’s about yea thick. The book. Not the fruit. Can you please find it for me? Right away?” Mr. Lemoncello whipped off the baseball cap and put the director’s beret back on.

“The first team to locate the book and bring it to me wins our tenth medal, the Thank You medal. You will also, of course, win your patron’s eternal gratitude. Okay, maybe not eternal, but he’ll probably say ‘thanks’ when you hand him the book. Maybe. They do that, sometimes.” The thirty-two players stood frozen, staring up at Mr. Lemoncello.

Mr. Lemoncello didn’t say anything else.

“Is that it?” asked Stephanie Youngerman from Boise, Idaho.

“Yes,” said Dr. Zinchenko, stepping up to the railing on the second floor beside Mr. Lemoncello.

Then she was silent, too.

“Okay, you guys,” Kyle whispered to his teammates. “Let’s get busy.” “What should we do first?” asked Sierra.

“Weep,” said Akimi. “That’s the lamest clue I’ve ever heard.” “Nuh-uh,” said Miguel. “I have a few ideas.”

Kyle and his teammates headed to a desk in the outer ring so they could converse privately.

Marjory Muldauer led her team to a desk on the opposite side of the circle. Pretty soon, all the teams were grabbing desks and firing up the tablet computers built into the furniture so they could explore the library’s online card catalog.

“So what fruit was first discovered in 2014?” asked Akimi, zeroing in on that part of the clue. “Craisins?” “Hold up,” said Miguel. “You’re being too literal.”

“Miguel’s right,” said Kyle. “Mr. Lemoncello is way too wacky to mean exactly what he said.” “So what are we looking for?” asked Sierra. “A new apple? A new banana? A new strawberry?” “Bingo!” said Miguel. “That’s it!” He started tapping the built-in tablet computer’s screen.

Sierra was stunned. “Really? What’d I say?”

“ ’New strawberry,’ ” said Akimi. “Which, I’m sorry, but I don’t really think is a ‘bingo’ kind of answer.” “Because,” said Miguel, as quietly as he could, “we don’t need a new strawberry. We need a different kind of ‘new berry.’ ” “Which one?” said Kyle. “Blueberry? Raspberry?”

Akimi snapped her fingers. “Huckleberry! Because this is a library and Huckleberry Finn is in here.” “No, you guys.” Miguel found a stubby pencil and a slip of scrap paper. “The 2014 Newbery Medal winner. Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo.” Akimi’s eyes lit up. “ ’Flora,’ meaning ‘vegetation,’ is the opposite of ‘fauna,’ meaning ‘wildlife.’ ” “And,” added Sierra, “James Joyce, the great Irish novelist, wrote a book called Ulysses.” “And Kate DiCamillo sounds like a lady’s name that isn’t Joyce,” said Kyle.

“Triple bingo,” said Miguel, scrolling through the card catalog entry for the book. “Dang.” “What?”

“All the copies in the Children’s Room are checked out.” “Did they also put a copy on the fiction shelves?” asked Sierra.

“Yes! Just one. I guess so adults can check it out, too. That means the only copy in the whole building is right over there.” Miguel head-bobbed toward the bookcases that wrapped around the back third of the Rotunda Reading Room and climbed all the way up to the base of the Wonder Dome.

“We’re gonna need a hover ladder,” said Kyle.

“And this code.” Miguel showed his teammates a slip of paper with “F.D545f 2013” written on it.

“Punch it into the hover ladder pad!” Akimi said to Miguel. “Go get our book.” “No way,” said Miguel. “I’m scared of heights. You do it, Akimi.” “No way. Go on, Kyle.”

Kyle shook his head. “You guys were right this morning. I don’t want to be a ‘ball hog’ again.” “This ball you can hog. Go!”

“Hurry,” said Sierra. “I think some of the other teams just figured it out, too.”