Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (14 page)

Charles had never sucked up to a video camera before. He figured it was worth a shot. Maybe Mr. Lemoncello would send him a bonus clue or something.

Instead, when Charles stepped out of the 300s room, somebody sent him Andrew Peckleman. The goggle-eyed library geek was sputtering mad as he rushed down the steps and stomped around the second-floor balcony.

“Stupid library. Stupid Lemoncello. Stupid sphinx and Sekhmet.”

“Why so glum, Andrew?” Charles called out.

“Because this game stinks. Mr. Lemoncello just sent a bunch of holograms hurling hieroglyphics after me. He could put somebody’s eye out with those things.”

“Really? With a hologram?”

“Hey, they’re made with lasers, aren’t they?”

“Indeed. Say, speaking of hieroglyphics, where might I find a book about picture languages?”

“Ha! Why should I help you?”

“Because Kyle Keeley is working with Akimi Hughes
and
Sierra Russell. I imagine it is only a matter of time before your friend Miguel Fernandez joins their team, too.”

“Miguel isn’t my friend! Besides, I’m better at navigating my way through a library than he’ll ever be.”

“I know. That’s why I want you on my team.”

“Really?”

Charles smiled. Kids like Andrew Peckleman were so easy to manipulate.

“Oh, yes. Work with me and I guarantee you the
world will know that
you
should be the head library aide at Alexandriaville Middle School.”

“The four hundreds!” blurted Peckleman.

“Pardon?”

“That’s where you’ll find books on hieroglyphics and all kinds of languages. If you want secret codes, those are in the six hundreds room. The six-fifties, to be exact.”

Charles shot out his hand. “Welcome to Team Charles, Andrew.”

The new teammates stepped into the 400s room. For some reason, it was pitch dark and smelled like pine trees.

“
Bienvenida! Bienvenue! Witamy! Kuwakaribisha!
Welcome!” boomed a voice from the ceiling speakers. “This is the four hundreds room, home of foreign languages. Here, CHARLES and ANDREW, you can learn all about your American heritage.”

A bank of spotlights thumped on.

Charles and Andrew were face-to-blank-face with a row of four featureless mannequins. An overhead projector beamed a movie onto dummy number two, turning it into a perky woman who looked like a flight attendant.

“Hello, and welcome to
your
American heritage. I’m Debbie. Let’s begin your voyage!”

“That’s okay,” said Charles. “We’re rather busy.”

“Let’s begin your voyage,” the mannequin repeated.

Charles sighed. Obviously, there was no way to turn
this silly display off. He might as well speed things along by telling the dummy what it wanted to hear.

“Fine. But can we go with the abridged version? We’re in a bit of a rush.”

“Yeah,” added Andrew, “we have to escape before noon tomorrow.”

The woman, whose body remained frozen while a movie made her face and costume spring to life, reminded Charles of the graveyard statues from the Haunted Mansion ride at Disney World.

“While we research your family trees,” she said, “please enjoy this short and informative film.”

“Is this part of the game?” Andrew whispered to Charles.

“Possibly. Pay attention for any bonus clues.”

“Okay. What do they look like?”

“Who can ever say?”

A screen behind the life-size dummies leapt to life with all sorts of scratchy images of people huddled together on the deck of a boat near the Statue of Liberty.

“For decades,” narrated the ceiling voice, “public libraries have proudly served America’s newest citizens—the immigrants who flock to these shores yearning for the freedom to build their own American dreams.”

Charles really wasn’t interested in this kind of stuff. His ancestors were all
Americans
; the only language they spoke was English.

“Yes, the library is where many new arrivals journey
first. To learn their new homeland’s language. To keep in touch with the world they left behind. To search for the gainful employment that will make them productive residents of their newly adopted home!”

The movie dissolved into blackness.

“Thank you for your kind attention,” chirped the cheerful Debbie. “We have completed your American family tree. Let’s meet your first American ancestors!”

Two mannequins sprang to illuminated life, both of them dressed in traditional Thanksgiving pilgrim costumes.

“I know who they are already,” said Charles. “That’s John Chiltington and his wife, Elinor. They came to Plymouth Colony on the
Mayflower
. Can we move on to Andrew’s family? Please?”

“Of course,” said Debbie.

The mannequins quickly went through Andrew Peckleman’s ancestry. Apparently, the family name had originally been Pickleman, because they made pickles. After a prolonged parade of pickle people, the dummies took on the guise of Andrew’s most famous ancestor, a guy in hornrimmed glasses and a tweed sports coat named Peter Paul Peckleman.

“I appeared on the TV game show
Concentration
in 1968,” he announced, “and won a roomful of furniture and wood paneling for my rumpus room.”

Charles smiled. He knew the TV game show
Concentration
was very similar to Mr. Lemoncello’s Phenomenal
Picture Word Puzzler, one of the games he had picked up at the toy store. Peter Paul Peckleman’s claim to fame was further confirmation that piecing together the picture puzzle would show Charles how to escape from the library.

He’d been right.

The dummies had just given him a bonus clue.

Excited by the sudden appearance of a second bonus card, Sierra read it out loud:

“ ‘Two plus two can equal more than four. Put two and two together and you’ll be closer than before.’ ”

Akimi raised her hand.

“Yes?” said Sierra.

“You do realize that Miguel here isn’t on our team?”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.”

Miguel turned to Kyle. “You guys are a team?”

“Yep. You want to join?”

“Maybe. Not sure. Check back with me later, man.”

“No problem,” said Kyle.

He fist-thumped his chest. Miguel fist-thumped his. They were flashing each other peace signs when Sierra said, “I think this means we should all play together as a
team. Remember what it says on the fountain down in the lobby: ‘Knowledge not shared remains unknown.’ ”

“Maybe,” said Miguel. “Like I said—let me get back to you guys. I’m workin’ on a few angles of my own. Flying solo.”

“Sure. No problem.” Kyle was about to do the whole fist-chest-bump-peace-sign thing again when he had a brainstorm. “Miguel? Quick question. What’s on your library card?”

Miguel shrugged. “My name and the number one.”

“Anything else? Like on the back?”

“Nothing really. Couple of books.”

“Two?”

“Yeah.”

“What’re their titles?”

Miguel bit his lip. “Don’t want to say.”

“Because you think they might be clues?”

“Not saying what I might or might not be thinking, bro.”

Kyle nodded.

“There are two different books on the back of everybody’s library cards,” said Akimi, thinking out loud. “ ‘Put two and two together and you’ll be closer than before.’ The book titles
are
some sort of clue. My books are
One—
”

“Um, Akimi?” Kyle shook his head. Nodded toward Miguel.

“Right. Sorry. My bad.”

“Oh-kay, Miguel,” said Kyle. “If and when you decide to team up with us, you can show us the two books on the back of your card; we’ll all show you ours. We’ll also split the prize four ways. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Come on, guys.” Kyle gestured toward the exit.

“Where are we going?” asked Sierra.

Kyle dropped his voice. “The Electronic Learning Center.”

“You want to play video games?” said Akimi. “Now? Seriously, Kyle, we may need to rethink your status as team captain.”

“I don’t want to play video games. I want to check out the discard pile.”

“Huh?”

“The cards the players who went home early dumped into that goldfish bowl!”

“I’m comin’ with you guys,” said Miguel. “I’ve been thinking about those extra cards, too.”

“Fine,” said Kyle. “Whatever.”

When they entered the game room, they saw Clarence, his arms folded across his chest genie-style. He was standing guard in front of the discard pile.

“May I help you?” he asked.

“Um, yeah,” said Kyle. “We want to check out the cards in the bowl.”

“Sorry,” said Clarence. “You can’t have them.”

“But,” said Mr. Lemoncello, his face suddenly appearing on every video screen in the room, “you can win them!”

Dressed in a polka-dotted bow tie and snazzy jacket like a game show host, Mr. Lemoncello had one arm resting on a slender Plexiglas podium. Behind him, Dr. Zinchenko—all decked out in a sparkly red minidress—looked like the models that point at prizes on TV.

“Are the four of you ready to play Let’s Do a Deal?” When Mr. Lemoncello said that, he pushed a big red button in his podium. A prerecorded studio audience whistled, cheered, and applauded.

“Um, what’s Let’s Do a Deal?” asked Kyle.

“My first game to ever be turned into a TV show. Brought to you by lemon Pledge!”

Dr. Zinchenko started singing:
“Lemon Pledge, very pretty. Put the shine down, lemon good …”

“Thank you, Dr. Z!” said Mr. Lemoncello, bopping the button to make the audience cheer again. “Now then, kids, here’s the deal: Solve one simple picture puzzle and you four win the five library cards in the bowl.”

“And if we lose?”

“Simple. Each of you loses his or her library card and adds it to the discard bowl for our next lucky contestants to try and win.”

He banged the red button again. The audience cheered exactly the same way they cheered before.

Kyle turned to the others. “What do you say, guys?”

“Let’s go for it,” said Akimi.

Sierra nodded.

“Miguel?”

“I’m in, bro.”

“You’re joining our team?”

“Absolutely.” They knocked knuckles to seal the deal.

Mr. Lemoncello must’ve whacked his button again, because the canned studio audience started cheering.

Kyle wondered what the sound effects would be if he and his friends lost their library cards playing Let’s Do a Deal.

Probably groans.

And weeping. Lots and lots of weeping.

“Now then,” said Mr. Lemoncello, “are you ready to play Risking Everything for Five Little Library Cards?”

Kyle swallowed hard. Then he nodded.

“All right, you Maniac Magees, here is your picture puzzle. The category is Famous Quotes. You have sixty seconds to solve this rebus.”

“Wait a second,” said Akimi. “What’s a rebus?”

“You figure out the words in a phrase by looking at pictures and symbols,” said Kyle.

“For instance,” added Miguel, “the letters ‘R’ and ‘E’ plus a picture of a school bus would equal ‘rebus.’ ”

“Oh. Okay,” said Akimi. “If you guys say so.”

“Are you ready to play?” asked Mr. Lemoncello.

Kyle looked at his teammates, who nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“Then on your mark … get set … go, dog, go!”

Mr. Lemoncello’s image disappeared. Ticktock clock music started playing. The video screens all projected the same picture: