فصل چهل و نهم

chapter-49

Kyle, Sierra, and Andrew piled into the bookmobile and took off.

“The park is right across the street from my uncle’s motel,” said Andrew. “Maybe he buried the squirrel books in the sandbox or something.” “All of them?” asked Sierra.

“Hang on, you guys,” said Kyle as he thumb-dialed Akimi.

“Where are you, Kyle?” said Akimi the instant she answered.

“On our way.”

“Well, hurry. We’re all kind of confused.” “Who’s with you?”

“Miguel and one player from each of the other teams.” “Nice. Whose idea was that?”

“Mine.”

“Sweet!”

“Yeah. I can be very diplomatic when I’m about to lose my favorite library in the whole world.” “So what’s up with Liberty Park? What sent you there?” “The medals!” said Akimi. “Stephanie Youngerman from the Mountain team is an excellent code cracker. She’s the one who figured it out.” “Figured what out?”

“Okay, here’s the list of medals in the order they were given out: Gold, Olympian, Top Gun—” “We won that one.”

“We also won the Olympian Researcher. After that, Marjory scored the Libris. Then came the ‘I Did It!,’ the Bendable Bookworm, Eating It Up, Rebus, Thank You, and Yertle the Turtle medallions.” “Are they anagrams or something?” “Nope. It’s another version of Mr. Lemoncello’s First Letters game. When you write down the first letter of all eleven medals, guess what it says.” Kyle had already scribbled out the answer on a scrap of paper: “Go to Liberty.” “Exactly,” said Akimi. “And you said Mr. Lemoncello never repeats himself, never uses the same kind of clue twice.” “Well, he didn’t. Not the exact same way.” “Whatever. But now that we’re over here at the park, we don’t know what we’re looking for.” “Books about squirrels.”

“Wha-hut?”

“That’s what Andrew Peckleman figured out. His uncle Woody hates squirrels, on account of all his bird feeders. So he doesn’t want anybody else in town reading about them, either.” “Why? Does he think that if all the squirrel books disappear, the squirrels will disappear, too?” “Maybe.”

“The man is definitely nutty,” said Akimi.

—

Three minutes later, the bookmobile squealed to a stop outside Liberty Park, which was actually more of a playground with trees and picnic tables.

“You guys find anything?” Kyle asked Miguel.

“No. No signs of digging.”

“Why are you looking for signs of digging?” “Buried treasure, man. Like in Treasure Island.” “I don’t think Mr. Peckleman would’ve buried his books over here,” said the Texan, Angus Harper. “Somebody would’ve seen him doing it.” “You’re right,” said Kyle. “He wouldn’t take that big of a risk.” “So why did Mr. Lemoncello send us here?” asked Diane Capriola, from the Southeast team.

“Liberty Park!” said Stephanie Youngerman. “It’s another anagram!” Everybody whipped out their smartphones and started using the notes app to rearrange the letters.

“Perky tribal!” shouted Miguel.

“Library kept!” said Stephanie Youngerman. “It has ‘library’ in it!” While the other treasure hunters kept calling out weird word combinations, Kyle slowly rotated in place, scanning the park and the playground.

“What’s that?” He pointed to a green humped structure with a bobble head attached to one side by a stubby neck made of coiled spring.

“That’s for kids to climb on,” said Andrew. “It’s supposed to look like a turtle.” “And,” said Kyle, “when Mr. Lemoncello gave Marjory Muldauer her Yertle the Turtle medal, he said it was the ‘most important medal of all the very important medals awarded thus far.’ Come on.” Kyle led the way to the shell-shaped turtle toy. Pranav Pillai, from the Pacific team, scooted under it.

“Score!” he shouted.

“What’d you find?” asked Kyle.

Pranav slid out from under the turtle and showed everybody what he’d found: a bright yellow envelope with “Clue” stamped on its front.