Knight Moves

by Julie Moffett

  Mr. Donovan remained staring at me, waiting for an acknowledgment, agreement, or something. I straightened my shoulders and gave him a curt nod.

  I could do this.

  Satisfied, he put the bag away and pulled out a handful of swim goggles that had blackened eyepieces. He handed them out to everyone but me and instructed the students to put them on. Once they were on, he checked each student for tightness and fit to make sure no gaps were visible.

  “Just a reminder, we will be monitoring each of you by video and will issue severe penalties for anyone caught cheating.”

  Once we were duly warned, he arranged everyone behind me in a straight line, each person holding on to the shoulders of the person in front of them. I walked slowly as everyone shuffled awkwardly behind me.

  We came out into a grassy clearing near the side entrance of the large white building we’d seen on our trek up. I could see a closed door with a large number two over it. I assumed that would be where we’d go if we completed the first obstacle.

  Mr. Donovan moved toward me holding a card. “Ms. Sinclair, please remember you may not tell your fellow students what they’re assembling. If you do, you will fail the obstacle. Do you understand?”

  I nodded. “I understand.”

  He handed me the card. It had a picture of a large four-pole awning, the kind that people raised at the beach and soccer games to stay out of the sun. The card also contained a one-sentence instruction that read: Raise the awning.

  My eyes widened. Raise an awning? I’d never even put up a tent in my life.

  A closer look at the grassy area indicated there were some indistinguishable items located there. I started to hyperventilate. Why the heck had he pulled my name out of the paper bag? Why couldn’t it have been Bo or Mike who could have easily explained to us how to assemble something like this?

  I had the worst luck!

  Mr. Donovan clapped me on the shoulder. “Okay, students, I’m going to leave now. You’re on your own. We will be watching carefully. Good luck to all.” He turned and disappeared back down to the parking lot.

  For a moment, I stared at him, wishing I could shout at him to come back and take this responsibility from me. But the rest of the kids were standing there blindly with blacked-out goggles, waiting for me to lead them.

  I breathed deeply and stared at the photo of the large tent-style awning, trying to decide what the right order of tasks would need to be performed. Time was going to be of the essence.

  “Stand by,” I said to the others. “I’ve got two minutes to figure how to best do this.”

  I dashed out into the clearing and saw at once what my problem would be. The items for the awning were in different piles and not centrally located. The awning fabric was rolled up on one part of the clearing and appeared to have some kind of tie around it. Farther away on the same side, I could see some long poles. About fifteen yards from the poles was a pile of ropes. I dashed to the opposite side of the clearing and found a small canvas bag with a hammer lying in the grass. I couldn’t see what was in the bag, but my best guess was they were the stakes that would hold the awning up once it was raised. My eyes lingered on the hammer. Trying to hammer stakes in the ground without being able to see was going to be extremely difficult, not to mention downright dangerous.

  How in the heck was I going to walk them through that? I forced myself to calm down. We’d just have to cross that bridge when we got to it.

  “Red?” I heard Jax call out. “What’s going on?”

  I jogged back to the group. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. I want Bo, Mike, Jax, and Kira to hold on to each other’s shoulders and take ten large steps to your direct right and wait for me. Frankie and Wally, you go straight ahead fifteen steps. Hala, turn left and take ten large steps.”

  The group starting bumping into each other and cursing, tripping over each other. It might have been a funny situation, except we didn’t have time for my incompetent direction.

  “Stop,” I shouted.

  Everyone froze.

  What was I doing? I had to guide them every step of the way. I was the only eyes of this operation. Success would hinge upon me using the limitations given and a lot of creative thinking.

  Think outside the box.

  I ran over to the awning fabric. “Bo, Wally, Mike, and Kira, walk toward the sound of my voice.” I kept shouting and encouraging them until all four stood next to the fabric. I quickly did the same for the others until I had those I wanted at each pile.

  “Bo, kneel and reach out in front of you.” When he did what I asked, I explained further. “You’ll find a large canvas tied with some kind of rope. It looks like it’s tied in a bow. Undo the tie and unroll it. It’s large, so Kira, when Bo tells you he has freed it, get down on your hands and knees and help him smooth it out. Jax, you and Mike take three steps to your left and then ten steps forward. You’ll find four large poles at your feet. One end is sharp, so be careful. Pick them up and stand by to bring them back to Bo and Kira on my command. I’ll be right back.”

  I ran over to Frankie and Wally, who stood patiently waiting for me. “Guys, there are four coils of rope in front of you. Each of you pick up two and then wait for my next instruction.”

  I dashed over to Hala, who stood near the bag with what I assumed were stakes and hammer. Upon closer inspection I saw the bag had a knot in it.

  “Hala, sit down and grab the soft cloth bag that is front of you. It’s next to a hammer. Forget the hammer for now. Focus on the bag. It’s tied with a knot. I need you to untie it so we can get what’s inside.”

  “Okay,” she said and promptly sat down. I guided her to the bag and she pulled it in her lap and started working on the knot.

  “I’ll return in a minute,” I told her and ran back to Frankie and Wally. They had successfully gathered all of the ropes.

  “Good job, guys. Follow my voice this way.”

  I led them over to where Bo and the rest of his group were trying to unroll the fabric. It wasn’t going well. The fabric was only half unrolled, and they were arguing. Kira was sitting on half of it, Jax had his knees on another part, and it was crooked. They were completely clueless as to what to do, and that was my fault.

  Despair shot through me. Time was ticking. We’d never be able to complete this station and move on if they didn’t know what they were doing.

  I replayed Mr. Donovan’s instructions word by word in my head, looking for a loophole. Then, I suddenly had it. He’d told me I couldn’t tell them what they were assembling, but he never said I couldn’t describe the effect it would provide.

  I clapped my hands so everyone stopped talking and listened. “Guys, we’re already down at least fifteen minutes,” I said. “We need to focus so we can get this task done. Trust me, it will be nice to have a little shade when you’re done. I don’t think it will take us longer than ten minutes, although I haven’t done anything like this since my last Girl Scout campout.”

  Bo stilled, and then a smile crossed his face. One by one, I saw the understanding dawn on their faces. Bo felt the fabric and then told Kira what to do. Jax and Mike bent down to help. Suddenly everything started falling into place. Now that they understood what they had to do, they could coordinate their own efforts. Relieved, I dashed off to see how Hala was doing with the knot. She was still struggling.

  “Angel, I can’t get it,” she said in frustration. “I can’t see what I’m doing.”

  “I know it’s hard, but you’ve got small hands like me. You’re the best person for this job. Just keep it at. You can do it.” I instructed her to turn over the knot a couple of times, but without being able to see, she wasn’t making any progress. Encouraging her to keep trying, I ran back to the other group.

  They had already spread out the awning and positioned the poles so the ends with the metal spikes were all aligned and pointed down. Those spikes would go into the ground and the other side would slide through the grommet hole at the top of each corner
of the awning. Once those top poles were through, the ropes would loop over the metal top where it came through the fabric and be tied to a stake and pulled taut. Now that everyone knew what we were doing, the process would be a lot faster, since they would understand the mechanics.

  “Great job!” I shouted enthusiastically. “I need one pole and one coil of rope at each corner. Remember, sharp point of the pole pointing down. Slide the other end of the pole through the grommet, then loop the rope in, too. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  I rushed back to where Hala was swearing in what I assumed was Arabic. “I take it that means you’re not making progress.”

  “It’s not working, Angel.” She threw the bag to the ground. “I can’t undo the knot.”

  I knelt down to inspect it closely. The cord was extremely thin, which made the knot small and difficult for her to feel with just her fingertips. She picked it up again, and I tried to direct her, but it just wasn’t happening.

  I glanced over at the others. Time was slipping away at an alarming rate, but they’d assembled the tent and gotten the poles and the ropes looped through the grommets. Now they were standing there waiting for one thing to secure it. The stakes. But once we got the stakes, how in the world would they hammer them blindly?

  Hala had started making small, panicked noises as she struggled with the knot. What in the world were they thinking when they presented us with an impossible task?

  I froze for a moment considering that.

  Impossible.

  Maybe it was an impossible task.

  Perhaps they never intended for us to get the bag open. It could be that recognizing that was part of the test. I pulled the card out of my pocket and read the instructions again.

  Raise the awning.

  They didn’t say anything about securing it. We just had to raise it and we could move on, or at least that would be a literal interpretation. But given the way things were going, it was worth a try.

  Hoping I was right, I straightened.

  “Drop the bag and leave the hammer,” I said to Hala. “We’re not going to use them.”

  “What?” Hala looked up with blacked-out goggles. “Why not?”

  “Let me worry about that. Just come on, okay?”

  She stood, and we dashed back to the others. Bo, Jax, Kira, and Mike already stood at the corners, awaiting my orders.

  “Red, what’s next?” Jax said calmly.

  I took a calming breath. “Okay, I want each of you at the four corners to grab the rope connected to your pole. Jax, call out to Frankie. Frankie, go to him, and when you get there, steady his pole. Hala, you do the same with Bo, and Wally, you assist Kira. Mike, I want you to just stand by, okay? Hold your rope and the pole, but don’t move yet. We’re going to raise your side last.”

  Soon as everyone was in place. One person held a rope and one person steadied the pole, except for Mike, who continued to hold both.

  “Now, on the count of three, I want everyone except Mike to step back two paces holding the rope taut and the pole steady,” I said. “One. Two. Three.”

  Everyone except Mike stepped back in near perfect sync. Three sides of the awning went up perfectly. I almost cheered, but we weren’t done yet. I gave a few additional adjusting commands and then had Frankie move to where Mike held the remaining rope and pole. His side was still partially collapsed, but Frankie grasped the pole and Mike held the rope.

  “On my command, Frankie, you and Mike take two steps back and hold on tight,” I instructed. “The rest of you stay where you are and hold your sides tightly.”

  Two steps later, the last side of the awning was raised. It looked perfect, even if it wasn’t nailed to the ground with stakes.

  Heart pounding, I spread my arms and turned in a slow circle. I had no idea where the monitoring cameras were located, but I swept my hand toward the awning and hoped with all my heart I had done the right thing.

  “Task completed,” I shouted. “It’s officially raised.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  ANGEL SINCLAIR

  My proclamation was met by dead silence. My heart sank.

  I’d been wrong, and now I’d wasted valuable time. Goodbye at any chance of making UTOP.

  Just as I was turning around to instruct someone to fetch the bag with the stakes, the clear peal of a bell sounded through the clearing.

  “Yes!” I screamed, jumping up and pumping my fists in the air.

  Everyone dropped the awning in a jumble of poles and ropes, stripped off their goggles, and swarmed me. We allowed ourselves a few seconds of congratulations before I detached myself and pointed at the building. A large timer hung over the entrance. It had counted down to 116. I assumed it indicated the minutes we had remaining to finish the rest of the tasks.

  “No time to waste,” I said. “On to the next task.”

  Kira reached the door first and flung it open. We crowded around the entrance, jostling to see what was inside. At first glance it looked like the building was a large warehouse with high ceilings. The room had a narrow walkway painted white on the floor—about two people wide—while the rest was painted red, stretching out all the way to the walls on each side. The white path ended about twenty feet from the door at a slightly raised platform.

  Bo stepped back and looked at me. “Do we go in?”

  I wasn’t sure why he was deferring to me, but I answered anyway. “Yes.” Taking a breath, I stepped into the building, careful to stay on the white path. “Don’t touch the red floor,” I warned. “Proceed carefully.”

  I made my way carefully to the foot of the platform and stopped. Kira was directly behind me, and others followed. Kira lifted her leg to step up onto the platform, but I held out an arm, stopping her.

  “Wait. Let’s think about this first, okay?” I said.

  She nodded and stayed where she was. We all surveyed our surroundings. On the opposite wall of the door and above another closed door hung a huge digital timer that was counting down. It showed 112.

  “That’s all the time we have left to finish,” I said.

  “What’s that?” Hala asked. She pointed beneath the timer where several medieval characters had been painted on the wall, seemingly moving in procession toward the door. It looked like a king and queen, a couple of princes and princesses, a few lords, and some knights on horses.

  “What the heck?” Jax muttered.

  “We’ll figure it out,” I said, stepping up onto the platform. Kira joined me on a horizontal white-painted area just big enough to fit eight of us if we stood side by side. The others came up slowly and took their places.

  When everyone was up, we studied the platform’s surface. It was comprised of rows of large square blocks arranged in columns and rows that went to the very edge of the platform. Each block had letters and a red-lighted line around it. Some of the letters were Greek, and others were English. Some blocks had only one letter, but most appeared to have two. The platform wasn’t rectangular, as its last three rows were missing some cells in the middle, but it ran all the way up to the door surrounded by the painted medieval figures. Above the door was the countdown timer.

  “What in the heck?” Mike knelt to get a better look at one of the blocks. “Are we supposed to step on them to get to the door?”

  “I don’t see any other way, do you?” Kira asked.

  “I don’t.”

  “Okay, so we’re in agreement that the challenge is to step on the blocks to get across the platform to the next door,” Jax said. “It can’t be as simple as running across.”

  Bo leaned over and examined a block. “The blocks look slightly raised. I think if we step on them, they will sink and something will happen.”

  “Probably turn red and the person standing on it would get a penalty,” Hala offered. “Remember Mr. Donovan said whoever steps on something red is clocked five minutes of time and has to go back to where they were before they touched it.”

  Frankie giggled and we all turned to look
at her. “What’s so funny?” I asked.

  “I’m thinking this looks a lot like the Indiana Jones movie where if you step on the wrong square you get shot with a poison arrow, your head is sliced off, or you fall into a snake pit below.”

  We stared at her in astonishment before Wally said, “She’s right. We have to figure out which blocks we can safely step on or suffer consequence, like Hala suggested.”

  “Well, we’d better hurry,” Kira said. “Time is ticking.”

  She was right. We’d already wasted five minutes just talking about it. In fact, a part of me couldn’t help but wonder how much of our tasks were designed to make us waste time so we couldn’t finish. My eyes met Jax’s, and it was like he knew exactly what I was thinking.

  “We have to rule out that this isn’t just a puzzle designed to mess with our heads.” Jax said. “We need to test the hypothesis that we can’t just walk across.”

  “Dude, they aren’t going to all this trouble just to mess with our minds,” Mike said and then looked doubtful. “Right?”

  “I think we should be cautious,” Bo said. “Try to figure it out first.”

  “No, Jax is right,” I said quietly. “Time is our enemy. We have to eliminate that possibility.”

  “But which one of us would risk it?” Kira asked. “What if we’re disqualified?”

  “No one will be disqualified,” I said. “Mr. Donovan specifically mentioned a five-minute penalty, but not a disqualification. It’s a legitimate move.”

  Wally looked around. “So, who among us would volunteer for a possible five-minute penalty?”

  I stepped forward. “I will.”

  “Too late, Red.” Jax stepped onto a block in the first row with the Greek letter kappa on it.

  While we watched, the cell sank slightly and started flashing red. Jax jumped back off as a voice came over a loudspeaker.

  “Five-minute penalty to Mr. Drummond.”

  “Why did you do that?” I asked Jax. “I was going to do it.”