“And you shall be treated fair?” Eddie read and shrugged his shoulders.
“Maybe that refers to the owner,” Gabriel suggested. “Anyone in particular who cultivates roses around here?”
Jack laughed. “At least half the grandmas in this town do. Including your own.”
“Right.” Gabriel remembered the small rose bush under the kitchen window and the long row along the fence. “Then I guess the first paragraph tells us whose roses we are looking for.”
“I can’t believe they expect us to know lines from Shakespeare,” Eddie complained.
Liam laughed. “Actually the drama club put on that exact play at Christmas. You saw it. We all did.”
Eddie’s eyes narrowed. “I did?”
“You did,” Liam nodded. “With your dramatic tendencies I would’ve thought you’d remember something like that.”
“Let’s get back to the riddle, okay?” Hannah suggested before Eddie could open his mouth to complain some more. “There are two paragraphs so I guess it makes sense that there are two different I’s as well.” They all turned their eyes back to the poster. “Okay, what happens in the end of May?” she asked, looking at them. “A holiday? Can’t think of one in May though.”
For a while the room fell silent.
Then Eddie shrugged. “The school year ends.”
“The school year ends,” Hannah repeated. Her gaze shifted to the words on the poster again and her lips moved as she read. “That’s it! You’re a genius!”
“Really?” Eddie asked, sitting up. “What’d I say?”
Jordan grinned. “Nothing profound.”
“The school,” Hannah explained as the others turned to her. “I am a house but not a home, People come and go but don’t stay, While parents hold me dear, Young ones are reluctant to come near—”
Eddie nodded eagerly. “They got that right.”
“Mrs. Hall!” Liam exclaimed, bumping a fist to his forehead. “Of course!”
The others smiled knowingly, all but Gabriel and Hannah.
“The principal,” Liam explained. “Right outside her office, under the window there are three rose bushes and at recess she watches them like a hawk, barking at everyone who even dares look at them.”
Jordan laughed. “How did the seniors manage to hide a riddle there?”
“Don’t know,” Jack said. “I’m more concerned with how we’ll get to it.”
Gabriel shrugged. “It’s summer break. So she won’t be at school, right?”
“That’s what you think,” Jack snorted. “Mrs. Hall is…unique, just like your new hairdo.” He grinned and the others laughed. After a second Gabriel joined in, seeing no ill will in their faces, and he finally understood what Hannah had meant.
“Well then, shouldn’t we get going?” Jordan asked, rising from the couch.
A hand on her shoulder, Jack pushed her back down. “Sorry, but you don’t get to go. Doctor’s orders.”
Jordan’s eyes narrowed and she glared at him. “You’re enjoying this way too much.”
Jack shrugged. “I guess I am. What are you going to do about it though? Not break your arm? Oh wait, too late for that,” he mocked.
“You better get out of here before—”
“Before you break your other arm doing something just as stupid as riding a bike down that hill?” Jack interrupted her. “I can’t wait to see it.” He walked to the door and opened it. “Let’s go,” he said to the others. Then he turned to Jordan. “I hope it was worth it.”
Chapter 17 – Of Charmers and Doers
In Kenton Woods, the three main buildings of elementary, middle and high school, which were housed on the same campus, were set in a triangular shape around an inner courtyard. Peeking around the corner, Jack, hunched over and, head low, sped across the open space between cafeteria and gym, signaling the others to follow. A row of trees growing along the back wall of the gym, behind which the football field lay in silence, gave them additional cover and so they moved on quickly. As Jack reached the high school building, he stopped, back pressed against the wall. Then he turned to the others following on his heel and pointed ahead. “Over there. That’s Mrs. Hall’s office.”
Mrs. Hall’s office looked like a small cube almost entirely made of brick. Three windows covered the entire front though, opening a perfect view onto the inner courtyard and with it the entire school. More than a part of the building, it seemed as though it had been added onto the rest of the school structure. And right there, under the three tall windows grew Mrs. Hall’s precious rose bushes.
“So, what do we do?” Liam asked, squinting his eyes against the sun. “I’m not sure but it looks like she’s in her office.”
Hannah shook her head. “There’s no way we’re going to get the riddle without her seeing us.”
“No,” Jack agreed. “We need a diversion.” His eyes shifted to Eddie. “You’re up.”
Eddie nodded. “Fine. Just give me a sec to come up with something.” He leaned back against the wall, eyes flittering from side to side, thinking. “The fire alarm.”
“Are you insane?” Liam asked. He turned to Jack. “We can’t do that.”
“I agree,” Jack said. “Think of something else.”
“But that would definitely get her out of the office,” Eddie objected.
Jack nodded. “Yeah, smartass and it would definitely get us suspended. If we’re lucky, that is.”
“All right, all right,” Eddie said. Again his eyes did their little dance. Then he looked up, a grin spreading over his face. “Got something. But I’m going to need Gabriel for this.”
“Me?” Gabriel asked, feeling his pulse quickening. “Why?”
Jack’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Eddie. “No dangerous stunts, no breaking and entering, no setting a fire, nothing that’ll get us suspended, jailed or dead, you got that? That’s an order!”
Eddie nodded. “Yeah, yeah.”
“Sir!” Jack insisted.
Eddie shrugged, giving a mock salute. “Yeah, yeah, sir.”
***
“What’s your plan?” Gabriel asked as he followed Eddie to the main entrance. “What do I need to do?” Everyone had their role to play. Jack had assigned Hannah and Liam as lookouts while he would sneak up to the rose bushes and get the riddle as soon as the coast was clear.
“Just be yourself,” Eddie said, pushing open the glass door. “Don’t worry, she’ll like you.” His voice echoed through the empty hallways.
Stopping in his tracks, Gabriel grabbed Eddie by the arm. “We’re going to talk to her?”
Eddie rolled his eyes. “Hey, what do you expect? All of you. You want a diversion but at the same time you cut down all my good ideas. Creativity is nothing you can just switch on.”
“Does that mean it’s not going to work?” Gabriel asked frowning. “Do you really know what you’re doing?”
“Of course I do,” Eddie assured him. Then he turned and headed down the corridor. “You coming?” he called over his shoulder.
“I don’t have a good feeling about this,” Gabriel whispered.
“Gee, thanks for all the confidence you have in me,” Eddie complained. “I gotta say it’s really inspiring.”
With no one in the building but them, their steps sounded like a giant stomping forward. The hallways they passed through were lined by lockers on both sides, interspersed by the occasional door to a classroom. Large windows in the entrance hall and on the stairs allowed floods of light inside. If it weren’t for the task that lay ahead of them, Gabriel would have felt at ease in this place.
Pushing open another glass door, Eddie walked into the reception area which, like the football field and the rest of the school, lay in silence.
“Over there,” Eddie said, pointing ahead to a door between a long row of shelves and a copy machine. “That’s her office.” Without another explanation, he marched ahead and knocked. “Just play along,” he whispered over his shoulder.
?
??What’s the plan?” Gabriel whispered back, feeling his fingers dig into his palms.
Before Eddie could answer, a bossy voice from inside called, “Come in,” and without hesitation he opened the door, pulling Gabriel in after him.
“Edward,” the middle-aged lady behind the bulky desk said, her eyes narrowing a little as she looked them over. Her dark hair, lined with gray streaks, was pulled back and tied in a bun, giving her angular face an even sterner look. Through a pair of wiry glasses, that rested low on her nose, sharp eyes moved from one to the other. “Gabriel Scott,” Mrs. Hall said as she leaned back in her chair, put-ting down the pen she had been writing with. For a second, her eyes lingered on his head and Gabriel flinched as he remembered his new hairdo. Without a word though, she shifted her gaze back to Eddie. “What can I do for you?”
“Hello Mrs. Hall,” Eddie said, walking up to stand in front of her desk. “I’m sorry to interrupt. If you have a moment, we would like to talk to you.”
Standing next to his friend, Gabriel avoided looking Mrs. Hall in the eyes. Something about her was disconcerting. It was almost as though she could tell what they were up to just by looking at them.
“I’m listening,” Mrs. Hall said. She took off her glasses and placed them next to her notebook on the desk.
“Well,” Eddie started, seemingly completely at ease, “Here is the thing: Gabriel is thinking of transferring here for the next school year and he would like to see the building. But since school grounds are off limits to students outside school hours, I thought we should come talk to you first.”
Eddie’s words startled Gabriel and he barely managed to keep a straight face and not stare at him.
Mrs. Hall nodded her head. “Well, well, Edward. I am not used to so much consideration on your part.” She rose from her chair, her eyes scrutinizing as she looked at him. Then she shrugged. “But I am pleased to see that there is a somewhat responsible human being hiding somewhere inside you. Very well, I’ll take you for a little tour.” She turned to Gabriel. “Your grandparents didn’t mention anything about you transferring when I saw them a few weeks ago at the parade. I take it this has been a recent consideration?”
Gabriel just nodded and tried to look inconspicuous as they followed Mrs. Hall out of her office and down the long corridor.
“As your friend here has probably already told you, our school includes all grades,” Mrs. Hall explained, unlocking the door to the science lab. “Our classes are relatively small which we consider a plus because we have achieved positive results, grade-wise. Students are more focused because more is asked of them. They carry more of the actual interaction than would be the case with larger classes. This is something to consider.” She looked at him, eyes intent. “You’re from New York?”
Gabriel nodded, looking at the rows of tables, the windows facing the inner courtyard, the board, anything but her eyes.
“I’m assuming class size there is greater,” she said and then turned around without waiting for an answer. “In spite of the reduced number of students in each grade, our school offers a variety of courses and sports as well as after-school activities and clubs. Sometimes the organization can be a bit challenging due to the age differences between students but mostly we manage just fine.” Continuing down the corridor, Mrs. Hall gave them a detailed description of classroom proceedings, next year’s curriculum and most importantly school rules.
All the while, Eddie marched beside her, keeping pace with her quick step and nodding accordingly. From his face, Gabriel would have thought him incredibly interested in what Mrs. Hall had to say, but he couldn’t imagine that to be true.
Since Eddie carried most of the conversation, Gabriel’s attention was freed for other things. As his eyes wandered across campus, his mind wandered to a question he hadn’t thought of before. Did he want to stay? His mother had promised him his stay with his grandparents would only be for a couple of weeks. Those had come and gone though. The end of summer was only a couple of weeks away now, and yet his parents hadn’t called, hadn’t said anything about him coming home. But Gabriel hadn’t even noticed. Did he want to stay?
“Well, I hope this was informative for you,” Mrs. Hall said and Gabriel realized they were back in the main entrance hall. “If you truly decide to transfer, I’d appreciate to be informed as soon as possible.”
Gabriel nodded.
“We’ll let you know,” Eddie answered instead. “Thank you for your time.”
“You’re welcome,” Mrs. Hall said, again looking him over. “I am glad to see that you do know the meaning of manners after all. Keep it up!”
Eddie smiled. “I promise I’ll try.”
As Mrs. Hall walked down the corridor, returning to her office, the two boys left the school building, heading to the parking lot where they had left their bikes.
“I hope next time you’ll trust me when I say ‘I can do this’,” Eddie chided. “Really, I know what I’m doing. I may not be the greatest climber or diver or riddle solver of all times, but this is my field of expertise.” His voice changed to an affected tone as he spoke. “People are like pudding in my hands.”
Gabriel couldn’t help but laugh. “All right, all right. You were right, I was wrong. You happy now? I admit I couldn’t have done this.”
Eddie shook his head, frowning. “Of course not. You’re a brain, like Hannah. I’m…well, I’m a charmer.” He grinned.
“Oh really?” Gabriel asked. “What about the others?”
“Well, Jordan is a doer, that’s obvious. Jack is too, just not as straight forward.”
“And Liam?”
“He’s…what do you call that?” He thought for a second. “He’s a mediator. He always tries to get everybody to get along. He understands every side. Sometimes I wonder if he has one of his own.”
“I didn’t know you were that good at reading people,” Gabriel admitted, seeing Eddie’s silly ideas in a new light.
He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m full of surprises.”
When they returned to the parking lot, the others were already waiting for them. “Did you get it?” Eddie asked.
Grinning, Jack nodded. “It was wrapped around a stem of the middle rose bush.” He lifted his right index finger. “Even got pricked. Stupid thorns! I’ll send you a picture of it but I doubt that we’ll be able to solve it that easily.”
Eddie rolled his eyes. “Another over-long, clunky poem? How many more do they expect us to solve? I think it is about time they lead us to the treasure.”
“Treasure?” Liam asked. “You think there’s going to be treasure.”
Eddie shrugged. “I don’t know and right now, I don’t really care that much anymore. I just want this solved and have it over with. It’s starting to bug me.”
Jack’s phone started buzzing in his hand. “That’s Jordan. I bet she’s dying to know if we man-aged.” Grinning, he rejected the call. “Serves her right.”
Chapter 18 – One So Small
Walking Hannah home after another adventurous day had become a routine for Gabriel.
Her cheeks glowed red as she strolled, arms stretched out, head thrown back, through the high grass which surrounded her home from three sides. Whenever she left her room, Hannah’s eyes took on an awed shine as though she still didn’t believe the world which had suddenly opened up to her. “That was so exciting,” she beamed, eyes sparkling. “Whenever Mrs. Hall disappeared from sight, I was sure she would be back in her office any second and find Jack among her roses.” She stopped, taking a deep breath. “I felt my heart beating through my chest.”
Gabriel nodded. “I know what you mean. Sometimes I think Eddie is insane; all the things he does, and it doesn’t seem to bother him. He’s cool as a cucumber while I feel like jelly, shaking all over.”
Hannah laughed. “He’s amazing, isn’t he? I wish I could be like that. Just go out and do what needs to be done and…be confident about it.”
“Confidence,” Gabriel mused
. “I feel like that’s something that comes and goes. Today with Mrs. Hall I felt…intimidated. I’m not good at keeping secrets. I always feel like people see what I’m hiding the second I walk in the door. It’s awful. I should work on that.”
Cocking her head to the side, Hannah looked at him. “Have you told anyone about me?”
“Not really, no.”
“Then you have kept a secret, haven’t you?” Hannah said, climbing over the run-down fence into the back yard. “Only practice makes perfect.”
Gabriel laughed. “Are you suggesting I should lie more often?”
“That’s not what I meant,” she said when suddenly the smile vanished from her face.
“What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked, looking around. “Do you see your grandfather?”
Hannah didn’t say a word. Her face went white and she clutched a hand to her chest. A second later, her eyes rolled back and she sank down, almost disappearing in the high grass.
***
For a moment the world seemed to stand still.
The long-stemmed grass stalks swaying in the soft summer breeze stopped in their tracks. Birds calling to each other hung in mid-air as though painted onto the blue sky. Hannah lying on the ground in the shade of the tall oak tree, her eyes closed and her face pale, didn’t move a muscle. Not a twitch in the corner of her mouth. Not a fluttering of her eyelids. Nothing.
And then reality hit Gabriel right between the eyes.
His hands let go of his bike and it fell to the ground. In a flash he took the fence and rushed to Hannah’s side.
The world was moving again. Only Hannah remained still.
Again and again, Gabriel called her name. He tried to shake her awake. Then he put two fingers on her neck, like he had seen on TV, to check her pulse. It was there. A slow beating. Faint and soft.
Staring at her motionless face, Gabriel felt chills creeping up his spine. He didn’t know what to do.
In that moment he thought he saw her move. He was sure of it. Again staring at her face, he called her name.
Her eyelids twitched and slowly began to open. Gabriel breathed a sigh of relief. “Hannah? Can you hear me? Are you all right?”
Her eyes opened and she looked at him, but for a second he felt like she didn’t even see him. Then she blinked and her eyes focused. “Gabriel?” she whispered.