Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (5 page)

“The game room!” someone shouted.

“The robots!”

“The video dome!”

Mr. Lemoncello raced back to the podium and made a buzzing noise into the microphone.

“Sorry. The correct answer is—and not just because of Winn-Dixie—D) all of the above!”

The crowd went wild.

Mr. Lemoncello whirled around to face his head librarian.

“Dr. Zinchenko? Will you kindly help me pass out our first twelve library cards?”

It was time to announce the essay contest winners.

Dr. Zinchenko placed a stack of twelve shiny cards on the podium in front of Mr. Lemoncello.

“Please,” he said, “as I call your name, come join me onstage. Miguel Fernandez.”

“Yes!” Miguel jumped up out of his seat.

“Akimi Hughes.”

“Whoo-hoo.”

Kyle was thrilled to see his two friends be the first ones called to the stage.

“Andrew Peckleman, Bridgette Wadge, Sierra Russell, Yasmeen Smith-Snyder.”

Yasmeen squealed when her name was called.

“Sean Keegan, Haley Daley, Rose Vermette, and Kayla Corson.”

Ten kids, all the same age as Kyle, were up onstage with his idol, Mr. Lemoncello. He was not. Only two more chances.

As if reading his mind, Mr. Lemoncello said, “Only two more,” and tapped a pair of library cards on the podium. “Charles Chiltington.”

“Gosh, really?” He dashed up to the podium and started pumping Mr. Lemoncello’s hand. “Thank you, sir. This is such an honor. Truly. I mean that.”

“Thank you, Charles. May I have my hand back? I need it to flip over this final card.”

“Of course, sir. But I cannot wait to spend the night in your library, or, as I like to call it, your athenaeum. Because, as I said in my essay, when you open a book, you open your mind!”

Finally, Charles the brownnoser let go of Mr. Lemoncello’s hand and went over to line up with the other winners.

“And last but not least,” said Mr. Lemoncello, “Kyle Keeley.”

Kyle could not believe his ears. He thought he was dreaming.

But then Akimi started waving for him to come on up!

Dazed, Kyle made his way up the steps to join the others onstage. Mr. Lemoncello handed Kyle a library card. His name and the number twelve were printed on the front. Two book covers—
I Love You, Stinky Face
and
The Napping House
—were on the back.

“Let’s all pose for a picture, please,” said the principal.

When everybody moved into position for the photographer, Kyle found himself standing
right next to
Mr. Lemoncello.

He swallowed hard. “I’m a big fan, sir,” he said, his voice kind of shaky.

“Why, thank you. And remind me—you are?”

“I’m Kyle, sir. Kyle Keeley.”

“Ah, yes. The boy who proved what I’ve always known to be true: The game is never over till it’s over.
BONG!
”

Kyle couldn’t wait to tell his family the good news.

“I won the essay contest!” He showed them his shiny new library card.

“Congratulations!” said his mom.

“Way to go!” said his dad.

His brothers, Curtis and Mike, were more interested in Kyle’s other card: his five-hundred-dollar Lemoncello gift card.

“It’s good for twelve months,” said Kyle.

“But you need to use it
now
,” said Mike. “We need to go to the store tonight so you can buy me Mr. Lemoncello’s Kooky-Wacky Hockey.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I have to show my library card at the store to cash it in.”

“And?”

“Um, I’m grounded, remember?”

“You know, Kyle,” said his dad, looking at his mother, who nodded, “since you worked extra hard and did such a bang-up job on your essay, I think we might consider suspending your punishment.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Kyle’s mom and dad smiled at him.

The way they smiled whenever Mike won a football game or Curtis won the science fair.

After supper, all five Keeleys piled into the family van and headed off to the local toy store.

“Lemoncello’s hockey game is awesome,” said Mike as they drove to the store. “Especially when the penguins play the polar bears.”

“I’m hoping to find a classic board game,” mused Curtis. “Mr. Lemoncello’s Bewilderingly Baffling Bibliomania.”

“Is that about the Bible?” asked their dad from behind the wheel.

“Not exactly,” said Curtis, “although the Bible, especially a rare Gutenberg edition, may be one of the treasures you must find and collect, because the object of the game is to collect rare and valuable books by—”

“The penguins in Kooky-Wacky Hockey aren’t from Pittsburgh like in the NHL,” said Mike, cutting off Curtis.
“They’re from Antarctica. And the polar bears? They’re from Alaska.”

Kyle had decided to divvy up his gift card five ways. To give everybody—including his mom and dad—one hundred dollars to play with.

As soon as they entered the toy store, the family split up, cruising the aisles with their own shopping carts. His mom was going to upgrade to Mr. Lemoncello’s Restaurant Rush. His dad was looking for one of Mr. Lemoncello’s complicated What If? historical games: What If the Romans Had Won the American Civil War?

Kyle hung with Curtis and Mike for a while. Being the one with the gift card made him feel like he was suddenly
their
big brother.

Mike quickly found his PlayStation hockey game and Curtis was in geek heaven when he finally found Bibliomania.

“They only have one left!” he gushed, tearing off the cellophane shrink-wrap and prying open the lid. He sat down right in the middle of the store and unfolded the game board on his lap. “You see, you start under the rotunda in this circular reading room. Then you go upstairs and enter each of these ten chambers, where you have to answer a question about a book.…”

“Um, I think I hear Mom calling me,” said Kyle. “She must need the gift card. Enjoy!”

And Kyle took off.

“The store will close in fifteen minutes,”
announced a voice from the ceiling speakers.

Kyle flew up and down the aisles and grabbed a couple of board games he didn’t own yet, including Mr. Lemoncello’s Absolutely Incredible Iron Horse—a game where you build your own transcontinental railroad, complete with locomotive game pieces that actually puff steam.

As Kyle was doing some quick math to see if he’d spent his one hundred dollars, Charles Chiltington rolled up the aisle with a cart crammed full with
five
hundred dollars’ worth of loot. Games stacked on top of games were practically spilling over the sides. Mr. Lemoncello’s Phenomenal Picture Word Puzzler, one of Kyle’s favorites, was teetering on the top.

“Hello, Keeley,” said Chiltington with a smirk. He looked down at the three games sitting in the bottom of Kyle’s shopping cart. “Just getting started?”

“No. I shared my gift card with my family.”

“Really? Well, that was a mistake, wasn’t it?”

Kyle was about to answer when Chiltington said, “So long. See you on Friday.” Kyle wasn’t 100 percent sure but Charles might’ve also muttered, “Loser.”

Since the store was about to close, Kyle headed toward the checkout lanes. When he passed the customer service department, he saw Haley Daley.

“No,” Kyle heard Haley say in a hushed tone to the clerk working the Returns window. “I do not want to return these items for
store credit
. I would prefer cash.”

Kyle finally found his family, showed the cashier his library card, and paid for everything with a single swipe of his gift card.

“You know, Kyle,” said his dad as the family walked across the parking lot, “your mother and I are extremely proud of you. Writing a good essay isn’t easy.”

“Maybe you’ll be an author someday,” added his mom. “Then you could write books that’ll be on the shelves of the new library.”

“Thanks, little brother,” said Curtis, practically hugging his Bibliomania box.

“Yeah,” said Mike. “This was awesome. Way to win one for the team!”

“Best ‘family game night’ ever,” joked their dad.

Kyle was enjoying his rare moment of glory, playing Santa Claus for his whole family. As the week dragged on, Friday night and the library lock-in started to remind Kyle of Christmas, too: It felt like they would never come.

Then, finally, they did.

“Now this is what I call a party,” said Kyle’s mother as she helped herself to a bacon-wrapped shrimp from a tray being carried by a waiter in a tuxedo.

Kyle and his parents were in the crowded ballroom of the Parker House Hotel for the Lemoncello Library’s Gala Grand Opening Reception. The Parker House was located right across the street from the old Gold Leaf Bank building and the cluster of office buildings, craft shops, clothing stores, and restaurants called Old Town.

“I’m going to see if I can find Akimi,” Kyle said to his mom and dad.

“Give her our congratulations!” said his mom.

“We’re proud of
her
, too,” added his dad.

Kyle made his way through the glittering sea of dressed-up adults.

Even though his parents had put on fancy clothes for
the reception, Kyle was wearing “something comfortable to go exploring in,” as instructed by the Lock-In Guide he’d received on Wednesday. He’d packed a sleeping bag and a small suitcase with a change of clothes, toiletries, and yes, as requested, an extra pair of underpants.

Kyle saw Sierra Russell all alone in a corner near a clump of curtains. It didn’t look like her mother had come to the party with her. Sierra, of course, had her nose buried in a book. Kyle shook his head. The girl was about to spend the night in a building filled with books and she was skipping all the free food and pop so she could read? That was just nutty.

Haley Daley, wearing a sparkly blouse, was posing for a wall of photographers who wanted to snap her picture. Her mother was at the party, too. While the cameras were focused on Haley’s smile, Mrs. Daley wrapped up a couple of chicken kebabs in a napkin and slipped them inside her purse.

Now Kyle saw Charles Chiltington. Poor guy must not have read the memo about comfortable clothes. He was still wearing his khakis and blazer, just like his dad. Kyle figured the Chiltington family must own like three hundred pairs of pleated tan pants.

“Hey, Kyle!” Akimi waved at him from near a fake shrub curled to look like a Silly Straw.

“Hey,” said Kyle.

“Did you remember to bring your library card?”

“Yep.” Kyle pulled it out of his pocket.

“Huh,” said Akimi. “I got different books on the back of mine.
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
by Dr. Seuss and
Nine Stories
by J. D. Salinger.”

“Guess they’re like baseball cards,” said Kyle. “They’re all different.”

“Hey, you guys!” Miguel Fernandez, more excited than usual (which was saying something), pushed through the mob to join them. “Did you try these puffy cheesy things?”

“Nah,” said Kyle. “I’m sticking to food I recognize.”

“The ‘puffy cheesy things’ are called fromage tartlets,” said Andrew Peckleman, coming over to join the group.

“Huh,” said Kyle. “Good to know.”

A waiter passed by with a tray loaded down with small boxes of Mr. Lemoncello’s Anagraham Cracker cookies.

“Oh, I love these,” said Kyle, taking a box off the platter and opening it. “The cookies are in the shapes of letters. You have to see how many words you can spell.”

“Cool,” said Miguel, snagging a fistful of cookies out of Kyle’s box. “Taste good, too!”

“Yep,” said Kyle. “But the more you eat, the harder the game gets.”

“Why?” asked Andrew Peckleman.

“Less letters,” said Akimi, snatching two “B’s” and a “Q” and wolfing them down. “Mmm. Barbecue-flavored.”

Kyle spread out the remaining cookies in his palm: U N F E H A V. He grinned as he deciphered an easy anagram. “HAVE FUN. Sweet.”

“Ladies and gentlemen? Boys and girls?” Dr. Zinchenko,
dressed in a bright red suit, strode to the center of the ballroom. “May I have your attention, please? Mr. Lemoncello will be arriving shortly to say a few brief words. After that, I will escort the twelve essay contest winners across the street to the library. Therefore, children, might I suggest that you eat up? Food and drink are not permitted anywhere in the library except in the Book Nook Café, conveniently located on the first floor.”