فصل چهارم

chapter-4

On the Monday after New Year’s, Kyle stood shivering at his bus stop.

Ohio gets very cold and slushy in January.

Finally, the bus pulled up and swung open its door.

“Well, hel-lo,” said Mrs. Logan, the driver. “It’s another Lemon-cel-lo!” Kyle shook his head. Bus drivers watched TV commercials, too.

“Good morning, Mrs. Logan,” said Kyle, climbing up the steps.

“Got a riddle for you.” Ever since his team had won the Lemoncello Library game, everybody was constantly trying to trip them up with riddles and puzzles.

“Go for it,” said Kyle.

“What two things can you never eat for breakfast?” “Easy,” said Kyle. “Lunch and dinner.”

Mrs. Logan waved her arm at him. “Ah, go sit down.” Kyle high-fived his way up the bus aisle to his usual seat, next to Akimi. Sierra sat behind Akimi, her nose buried in another book.

“What are you reading?” Kyle asked. “That Butter Not Nutty Buddy book?” “Actually,” said Sierra, “I’m rereading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, because everybody keeps saying Mr. Lemoncello reminds them of Willy Wonka. But Mr. Lemoncello is much kinder.” “And he doesn’t have Oompa-Loompas,” quipped Akimi.

“Or Augustus Gloop,” added Kyle.

“Actually,” said Akimi, “I think Charles Chiltington was our Augustus.” “Really?” said Sierra. “He reminds me more of Veruca Salt.” Wow. Sierra Russell cracked a joke. She had definitely loosened up since joining Team Kyle.

“So,” said Akimi after Kyle peeled off his parka, “did your grandmother give you that sweater for Christmas?” “How’d you guess?”

“It looks like something you’d buy at a pet store. For a dog named Fluffy.” “I think I might lose it in my locker today.” “Good idea.”

“Um, excuse me?” said Alexa Mehlman, a sixth grader seated across the aisle from Kyle.

“Hey, Alexa,” said Kyle. “What’s up?”

“I don’t mean to bother you….”

“It’s no bother. What can I do for you?”

“Well, my uncle gave me Mr. Lemoncello’s Phenomenal Picture Word Puzzler for Chanukah and I can’t figure out this one rebus.” “Let me see it.”

“The category is ‘famous slogans,’ ” said Alexa, passing a cardboard square to Kyle. It was filled with a jumble of letters and pictograms.

“The first word is ‘librarians,’ ” said Akimi. “L-I plus B-R-A-I-N minus I-N gives you L-I-B-R-A. Then you add P-I-A-N-O, but make the ‘P’ an ‘R’ and the ‘O’ an ‘S,’ so you end up with L-I-B-R-A, R-I-A-N-S, or, you know, ‘librarians.’ ” “Wow,” said Alexa. “You guys are amazing.” “Not me,” said Sierra. “I’m not very good at games.” She dove back into her book.

The bus bounced over a speed bump and pulled into the school parking lot.

“You have ten seconds to finish the puzzle, Mr. Keeley,” said Akimi. “Go!” Kyle studied the card again and handed it back to Alexa. “ ’Librarians are intellectual freedom fighters.’ ” “Awesome!” said Alexa. “I kept getting stuck on the bottle. I thought it was perfume, not ink. You’re my hero, Kyle Keeley!” Kyle smiled. It was good to be someone’s hero.

Especially when all he had to do was play a game.