It’s all in place now, he thought. Just three days and it’s really going to happen!
Of course, he didn’t know what “it” was, but that was beside the point.
Tick stood up from the computer desk and stretched, suddenly happier than he’d been in weeks. He felt stupid for all the jealous feelings he’d had toward his new friends and the whole thing in general; he’d acted like a little baby, at least within his own mind.
But that was all in the past, now. Three days.
So bottled up with energy he could hardly stand it, he decided to run over to the library and hang out like he didn’t have a care in the world. Maybe he’d check out a book and read it as a reward. He’d probably have just enough time to finish it before the Big Day came. He told his mom he’d be back in time for dinner and headed out the door.
Halfway to the library, the sun finally breaking through the storm clouds that had hung over the world all day, he realized he’d left his journal sitting on the computer desk back home and wondered if he should go back and put it away. No, I won’t be gone that long. As he ran on, he hoped he didn’t look as ridiculously happy as he felt.
Kayla noticed the ugly old book sitting on the computer desk, wondering where it had come from. It looked like something from her favorite Disney cartoon. Maybe it was a book of pirate treasure maps! She was a very young girl, but she knew one thing for certain.
Pirate treasure maps equal fun.
She looked around to make sure no one was around, then grabbed the book from the desk, pulling it down onto her lap as she sat on the floor. Words were written in a little box in the center of the cover, but she recognized the first one right away.
Tick.
Uh-oh, she thought. He doesn’t like me to mess with his things.
Well, just a peek couldn’t hurt, could it?
She opened the book up and flipped through the pages, seeing lots of pieces of paper that had been glued to the ones already there. No pirate maps though. Maybe this was an art project her brother had been putting together as a surprise for her, though it wasn’t very pretty. All it had were a bunch of words that looked funny.
Kayla quickly grew bored, sad the book didn’t have anything to do with pirates. She was flipping through it one last time when one of the pieces of paper slipped into the air like it had been shot out of a cannon and dropped to the floor in front of her. She picked it up and saw that this one had more words than any of the others—a lot more.
The glue must’ve cracked, letting the boring old paper escape.
Well, Kayla thought, now I’m in a pickle. Her mom wouldn’t let her use glue without a grown-up around and if she asked for help, her mom might be mad that she’d broken Tick’s book. Plus, she couldn’t remember exactly where the piece of paper had been inside the book.
Maybe, just maybe, Tick wouldn’t notice it was missing since so many other papers were glued throughout. And if she just stuck it somewhere or threw it away, he might find it and then he’d know for sure she’d been messing with his stuff.
Kayla put the book back on the desk, then clutched the loose paper in her hands. With devious eyes, she looked over at the fireplace, focusing on the little knob that started up the gas and flame.
It’d been awhile since she’d had fun with fire . . .
Tick walked down the road of his neighborhood, holding the nice, thick book he’d checked out at the library. The sun slowly fell toward the horizon, the first glowing fingers of twilight creeping through the trees. Tomorrow was Saturday and after months and months of thinking and solving and worrying and running, he couldn’t wait to spend a couple of days relaxing.
On instinct, he checked the mailbox when he got to his house, even though he already knew his mom had gotten it earlier—hence the twelfth clue. Tick couldn’t help but hope absolutely nothing else happened until Monday night, the Big Day. He needed a break from all the stress.
Easy to say when you have it all figured out, he thought. He’d sure not enjoyed the three-month-long “break” he’d had after Christmas.
He walked down the driveway toward his front door.
Kayla knew she didn’t have much time. The warm fire licked the air with an almost silent whooshing sound, reminding her of how much she loved watching things burn. Now that it was mostly warm outside, they never had the flames going, and if her mom walked in, there’d be a certain favorite doll that would get locked away for a whole week. She needed to hurry.
She threw the stupid piece of paper into the flames.
A wave of ugly black stuff, rimmed with a fiery line of glowing orange, traveled across the paper from both of the short sides as the whole thing slowly curled up into a ball. A little line of smoke escaped into the room, and in a few seconds, all that remained was a crispy sheet of ash.
“Kayla, what are you doing!”
She jumped at her brother’s voice, letting out a little shriek as she turned around to see him standing right behind her. Without meaning to, her eyes immediately looked over at the book sitting on the computer desk.
Tick followed her gaze, then practically leaped over to grab the book. He flipped it open, his eyes showing he already knew what had happened. His face reddened, his hands began to shake. He almost dropped the book. Then a tear fell out of his right eye. Kayla didn’t understand; why would such a dumb old—
Tick’s shout, full of rage, cut off her thoughts. “Bad girl, Kayla! You’re a very bad, bad, naughty, stupid, naughty girl!” Then he ran out of the room and out the front door, slamming it closed behind him.
Kayla bawled.
Tick ran.
Clutching the journal in both arms, he didn’t know where he was going, or how long it would last, but all he could do was run, his loosened scarf flapping in the wind. His heart wanted to explode out of his chest, panic and anger and disappointment crushing his feelings like someone had injected a full-sized elephant into his bloodstream. It hurt, and tears flowed down his face as he pounded the pavement with his clumsy feet. He fell twice, only to get up and keep running.
How could Kayla have done something so stupid! Everything had just fallen into place, everything was perfect. But now the message had been sent. Tick didn’t know how, but he knew it had been sent.
Burn the letter, stop the madness.
Tick had been cut off. Even though he’d figured out all the clues, and was ready to perform the silly ritual in three days—he’d been cut off. Somehow Master George would know the first letter had been burned, which meant he’d think Tick had given up and was out of the game.