The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck (15 page)

“I guess it's all computerized and electric now. That makes sense,” Bud said. He scanned the room for anything that looked like a clue. If he was lucky, they'd find it fast, because this place was wreaking havoc on his sinuses.

Laurie barely glanced around her as she hurried up the stairs. She figured they'd check out the top first, and if they didn't find anything there, they could scope out the rest on the way out. She wasn't going to spend any extra time in this place, that was for sure.

Laurie came out on the platform that went around the bell tower and looked over the railing at the bells hanging in the center. However creepy the bell tower was, the bells were definitely impressive. They were all different sizes, but even the smallest was huge. They glowed dully in the light from the narrow windows overhead.

“Check it out, Bud. Aren't they awesome?” Laurie breathed. She couldn't believe they were hidden away where no one could see them.

“Yeah, they are.” Bud took a step forward and looked closely at one of the bells. “And that's even more awesome.” He pointed at one of the bells, his voice triumphant. “We did it, Laurie. It's got to be the next clue.”

Laurie squinted at the bell. She could barely make out elaborate carving on the top and bottom of the bell. She gasped. They were words. The bell was inscribed with a quote.

“Get the notebook!” Laurie squealed, leaning forward as much as she dared to read the quotation. Which wasn't that far, to be honest—that platform was pretty high up, and Laurie was feeling pretty homesick for the ground.

“It says, ‘The church says the earth is flat …,'” Laurie said, inching around the platform as she read, “‘… but I know that it is round.'” She craned her neck and then doubled back to look at the bell again. “That's it?”

“Check the next one,” Bud said, writing furiously.

Laurie moved farther along the platform and squinted at the biggest bell. “You're right! Okay, on top this one says, ‘For I have seen the shadow on the moon …'” She hunched down to read the bottom part of the bell. “‘… and I have more faith in a shadow than in the church.'”

“Got it,” Bud said, wishing he'd sharpened his pencil after sixth period. “Next?”

Laurie moved down the platform to the smallest bell. “This one just has a big H on it.”

“H. Got it.” Bud nodded. “Anything on the last one?”

Laurie squinted at the last bell. It was the farthest away, and she was having trouble reading it. “It looks like … Shak … got it! Shakespeare!”

Bud dropped the pencil. “Shakespeare? Really?”

“Shakespeare! The quote must be from one of his plays!” Laurie suppressed an urge to jump up and down. She'd wait and do that when they got back on solid ground.

“That's got to be it.” Bud whistled. “This is awesome. You know what that means? It means the next clue's in the theater.”

“It's got to be!” Laurie hurried over to Bud and bobbed nervously up and down in place.

Bud stared at her bobbing. Finally he caved. “What are you doing?”

“You're blocking the stairs, Bud. Move it! Come on, hustle.” Laurie felt like she'd explode if she didn't get out of that bell tower. Apparently she had a teeny weeny fear of heights. Who knew?

Bud nodded and hurried down the stairs. He was glad this was an easy one. They'd hit the theater, find the next clue, and hopefully get the treasure. It was all going to be smooth sailing ahead.

PART FIVE

“Do you think we should figure out which play it's from?” Laurie asked as they hurried toward the theater. Bud was acting like they were on some kind of deadline or something. Something was definitely up with him.

Bud shook his head. “It's fine, it's a play, it's in the theater, we'll find it. Probably backstage or something. Let's go.”

They turned the corner and ran toward the doors of Reynolds Auditorium.

AUDITIONS TODAY!

For this year's musical production,
Billy and the Pirates!

Needed: Dancers! Singers! Actors! Pirates! Everyone!

“Oh, no. Forget it,” Bud said, screeching to a halt in front of the theater. “You're not getting me in there.”

Laurie groaned. “Come
on
. It's not like you'll get cast as a pirate or anything. They won't make you audition.”

Bud shook his head. “Right. Just like they didn't make me second tenor. Not on your life.”

Laurie sighed and looked around. “How about we go the backstage way, then? We pretty much checked out the seat area before, anyway. We'll peek around backstage, quiet as mice, and they'll never spot us. Okay? We'll be in and out with that clue before they know what hit them.”

Bud glared at her. “Fine. But if they see us, it's all you. You're the pirate. Not me. Got it?”

Laurie nodded. “Sure. No problem. I'll take the bullet if we get caught.” She shrugged. Bud was making way too big a deal out of the whole thing. It wasn't like anyone was going to notice them.

Laurie and Bud plodded out of the theater along with a surge of other kids. They'd searched all over the backstage area, but there was nothing. No random letter, no quote, no bust of Shakespeare, nothing that seemed remotely connected to the quote on the bells. The whole search had been a washout.

Bud flopped down onto the floor by the auditorium. Laurie slumped next to him.

“That was so not worth it.” Bud groaned. “That was so so so not worth it.”

Laurie smacked him on the arm. But it was a halfhearted attempt at best. Bud didn't even seem to notice. “Stuff it,” she said. “At least you didn't have to yo ho ho.”

“True.” Bud didn't even have the heart to argue. “Your yo ho ho was good, though.”

“Don't even.”

After a few minutes, Miss Downey came out of the auditorium and pinned a piece of paper to the wall. Laurie and Bud waited until the rest of the kids had drifted away before looking at it.

“Great.” Bud sighed. “I'm Pirate Cook. How about you?”

Laurie didn't answer; she just thunked her head against the wall.

Bud checked the list. “Well, look on the bright side,” he said. “How many lines can Polly the Parrot have?”

EMAIL

FROM: OLIVIA HUTCHINS, Tuckernuck Hall

TO: PRINCIPAL MARTIN WINKLE, Tuckernuck Hall

SUBJECT: Still No Magic Bullet

Just to keep you in the loop—I still haven't located any evidence that any famous artists or architects contributed to the renovation or construction at Tuckernuck Hall. It does seem that Mrs. Tutweiler and many of the artists and architects in question were in the same regions at the same time, but whether they even knew each other is unclear.

I wish I had better news for you. I'm going to keep working, though, and hope to have something substantial for you before the school board meets this week.

Thanks,

Olivia

“So what do you think? Try searching again?” Bud and Laurie stood outside the auditorium, pretending to look at the casting sheet again. Laurie shuddered. Like she wanted to relive the horror. At least she hadn't gotten cast in one of the killer rat roles—that was the only silver lining to the whole ordeal. That honor went to Calliope and Mariah Jeffries, neither of whom seemed very pleased with their new roles, if Mariah's watery red eyes and scowl were any indication. Like it really made a difference, though. Laurie had a feeling
Billy and the Pirates!
was one weird play.

“I think we'd be better off identifying the quote. The play is probably the important part.”

“I bet you're right,” Bud said. He had a feeling that as Pirate Cook, he was going to be pretty sick of that auditorium before long, so he might as well keep his distance while he could. “Library?”

Laurie nodded and headed down the hall.

Miss Lucille knitted her eyebrows and gave them a sad wave when they came in. She seemed to think they were still broken up over the whole Mrs. Reynolds thing. Laurie put on her sad clown face and waved back.

Troy Hopkins was hogging the internet computer when they got there, but thankfully it only took a few minutes of obnoxious hovering and intense, unblinking staring before he felt uncomfortable enough to log off and slink away. Bud gave Laurie the thumbs up, hopped on to the computer, and whipped out his notebook.

“Okay, here we go. ‘The church says the earth is flat …,'” he said out loud as he typed. He smirked at Laurie. “My good friend Google should have the play for us in just a sec,” he said as he finished typing. “And voilà!” Bud pushed enter with a flourish.

“And it's from … huh.”

Laurie craned her neck to see, but the glare on the screen made it hard to read. “What? What's it from?”

Bud frowned. “It's not from a play. It's not even Shakespeare. It's Magellan.”

Laurie made a face. “Magellan?
The
Magellan? The explorer?”

“Yeah, weird, huh? See, it says right here. The quote is from Ferdinand Magellan, first man to—”

His eyes got wide, and he looked up at Laurie.

“Circumnavigate the globe!” They said in unison.

Bud did a fist pump. “To the science wing! It's something about the planets, right?”