Doug manages to pull most of his body up on the shore. His legs are still in the water. He reaches in and feels around. “I think it’s a catfish. It has a big, flat head and whiskers!”
I see a tail flick out of the water about ten feet from where Doug has his foot caught.
Zoe screams. “Th . . . th . . . that’s the biggest catfish I’ve ever seen!”
I scramble out of the water onto shore. “It’s a river monster! Everybody, stand back!”
I hold up the token, and the laser shoots a thin black tunnel through the mud in front of me as I run toward Doug.
“You gonna cut my foot off, Arcade?” Doug’s eyes are as wide as dinner plates.
“NO! I’m just going to give him a little headache.”
“And make him SO MAD he’ll bite my foot off?”
I stop. The laser continues to zap a hole in the mud near my feet. “Hmmm. Never thought of that.” I scratch my head. “Gotta rethink this.”
“No time, Arcade!” Zoe points to the coin slot, which is starting to fade away.
What truth do I know about catfish? They’re bottom-feeders!
“Make him go to the bottom of the river!” I shout.
The laser coming out of the token changes to dazzling light. I know what to do. I squat next to Doug.
“I got you, bro. Pull your foot up so I can see its eyes.”
Doug grunts and struggles before forcing his leg slightly out of the water. I almost faint when I see the huge thing. I point the token at its eyes . . . and pray. It does the trick. The river monster jerks back, opens its mouth, and sinks out of sight.
“Arcade, the elevator is disappearing!” Zoe grabs the back of my life vest and pulls me toward the coin slot. “Throw it in! Hurry!”
I glance back at Doug. “You good?”
He jumps up on the one, non-chewed foot. “Oh, yeah. You’re not gettin’ rid of me that easy. I know you want my top bunk,” he laughs, hobbling toward the antique doors.
Michael walks shoulder to shoulder next to Zoe. “Does this happen often? Cause if it does, I’ll pass next time.”
Zoe smiles and grabs her hair to wring it out. And then she realizes the truth.
“Arcade! What did you do?”
“Uh, Zoe, about your hair . . .” I throw the token in the slot and make the open-door motion with my hands. “It’s a new technique. A laser cut. You’re going to start a new fad. You’ll see.”
And with that, I step in and say another prayer. This time, that my sister doesn’t tackle me.
We stand in the elevator, dripping.
“That was the scariest moment of my life.” Zoe unbuckles her life vest and throws it to the floor. “Why in the world did you ask the token to take us somewhere wide? Surely not just to get away from some girl.”
“Ruah said something about wide, long, high, and deep. I figured there was some truth in wide.”
Michael Tolley pulls off his life vest and gawks at the gold ceiling again. “And did you find some?”
“Yeah, I did. I found out that you’re a pretty cool dude.” I trace my index finger in a circle around my token and then extend my hand. “We cool with this?”
Michael grins and shakes my hand. “Oh, yeah. I won’t tell anyone. Especially my brothers.”
I blow out a breath. “Thanks.”
CHAPTER 14
Bottom-Feeders
The elevator returned us to the alley where we hid from Elena. It was cold, we were wet, and we needed a hiding place. Quick.
“I’m starving! Let’s get some bagels.”
Zoe shivered. “Good idea. It’s always warm in Pick a Bagel. Let’s go.”
We jetted around the corner and into the busy shop, trying our best to ignore the stares of the dry New Yorkers in the bagel line.
“Man, you guys are lucky you were in here!” Doug, never shy in the face of food, says to the crowd. “You missed the cloud burst!”
A woman, sitting in a corner booth drinking a steaming coffee, brought a blanket to Zoe and placed it around her shoulders. “Here you go, sweetie. You can keep this. You always need to be prepared with a rain poncho or umbrella around here.” Then she handed me a twenty. “Have a nice evening.” Her eyes glued to my chest. “My, that’s a nice medallion.”
I reached for Triple T and dropped it under my soggy clothes. “Thanks.”
We sat in that warm bagel shop for at least an hour, too scared to go out in the freezing winter afternoon.
“How long do you think it would take us to ice over out there?” Doug asked.
“Two minutes.” Michael stood up. “Tell you what I’m going to do.” He put his hand to his chin. “I’m going to go find us all some dry clothes.”
“What?” Zoe pulled the blanket a little tighter around her shoulders.
“Wait here!” Michael disappeared out the door. We stayed tight, sitting close together for warmth. About thirty minutes later, Michael returned with a bag of clothes.
“Where did you get these?” Zoe reached in and pulled out some jeans, a big fluffy sweater, a beanie, and a pair of snow boots.
Michael smiled. “My church! We have a closet full of clothes for people in need. I think the fact that we’re soaked puts us in that category. Pastor Dave was happy to let me borrow some. I hope I guessed your sizes right.”
Zoe hugged the clothes. “This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.” She smiled and headed into the bathroom.
One by one, we changed our clothes in the cramped bagel shop, which gave us time to fill our stomachs with lots of bread, cream cheese, and hot chocolate.
“We better get back,” Zoe said, “or we’ll be late for dinner.”
“Late for dinner? I’m starving!” Doug rubbed his belly.
“Doug, you just ate.” I gathered up our bagel wrappings and headed for the trash.
“I just ate? Nah, I’m just gettin’ started! I just paddled across the Amazon River, ya know.”
When we reached 88th Street, we said goodbye to Michael Tolley and climbed up the steps to our brownstone, where we found a pink bakery box sitting on the welcome mat. It had Elena’s sticky note attached to it.
“How did she find out where I live?” I lifted the lid of the box and inhaled deeply.
Cinnamon rolls. Yum.
They were a little cold from sitting out, but I was sure I could polish them off.
There was a second note attached to the inside lid.
Dear Arcade,
I am SO sorry I ruined your glasses. PLEASE, let me buy you a new pair. Also, please accept these cinnamon rolls as a peace offering. Your twin uncles were nice enough to show me where you live. I was lucky to meet them out front as I was roaming the neighborhood, hoping to find you.
See you tomorrow at school.
Warmly, Elena S.C.
Twin uncles?
“Zoe, unlock the door, quick! We gotta get out of sight.”
Zoe fumbled through her purse for her key. “What’s the matter?”
“I’ll tell you when we get inside.”
Zoe opened the door, and I practically pushed her and Doug through. I locked the door behind us and we rushed upstairs to my room.
“Twin uncles?” Zoe scratched her head as she read Elena’s note. “We don’t have twin uncles.”
“I know! But we’ve got a couple sets of twins in our lives. And I don’t feel good about either one of them.”
Doug lifted the bakery box lid and shoved a finger into the cream cheese frosting. “I bet it was the Tolleys. That makes the most sense. They live on our street.”
“But uncles? They’re a little young to be uncles, don’t you think?”
Doug brushed me off. “Oh, no, I have a nephew who’s thirty years old.”
“Huh?” Zoe and I both looked at him.
“Long story I’d rather not get into.”
“Well,” Zoe sat down on my bed, “I guess it’s possible. But why would the Tolleys tell Elena that they were
your uncles, Arcade?”
“They like to mess with people.” Doug licked his fingers. “Seems normal to me.”
“But you have to see this.” I rustled through papers on my desk and produced the card. “Here.” I handed it to Zoe, but Doug intercepted it.
“Awww, man, you got a card from Miss Gertrude? I didn’t get a card from her on my birthday. You think she forgot about me?”
Zoe pulled the card from Doug. “Miss Gertrude?” She pored over the words of the card, and followed the squiggly arrow to the shocking P.S.
“They’re back!?! The Badgers are back? Why didn’t you tell me, Arcade?”
“I sort of forgot, with the birthday surprise, the run around New York City, and then today. Today was the longest Monday of my li—”
Zoe got all up in my grill. “Do you think they’re back HERE? In New York City?”
“I was trying to tell you just now that I haven’t had time to think about it.”
“Maybe they were the ones on our street earlier when Elena was looking for you. This is NOT good, Arcade!”
“I agree.”
Doug took a big bite of cinnamon roll. “Hey, you guys just agreed on something!” Then he walked over to our bedroom window that looks out on 88th Street.
Zoe whipped out her phone and started poking her screen.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m calling Miss Gertrude! We have to know where the Badger brothers are!”
Doug reached up, pulled the blinds down, and turned around, eyes wide. “No need. One of them is down there.” He pointed a finger to the floor.
“Down where?” I asked, my voice shaking.
“Down on the street. Walking up the stairs to our house. It’s getting dark, but I can tell it’s a Badger.”
“Just one?”
“That’s all I could see.”
Someone rang the doorbell. Loopy barked and ran downstairs.
We all froze.
Doug peeked out the cracks of the blinds. “It’s him but . . . this is interesting. One of the Tolleys is walking up the stairs too.”
“Just one?”
“You already asked me that.”
“I was talking about the Badger brother.”
Doug nodded. “Oh. Yeah.”
“This is crazy,” Zoe whispered.
“And we don’t even know which Badger brother this is.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Zoe said. “They’re all bottom-feeders.”
Doug kept peeking. “Now they’re laughing.” He squinted. “I wonder what they’re talking about?”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I don’t even want to think about it. I hope he’s not telling him about the token. That’s all I need, four brothers after me.”
“Hey,” Doug said. “We already got one Tolley who knows. So that would make five.”
Zoe put a hand on her hip. “Michael will never tell. And he would never try to take the token.”
“Well, don’t make him mad, Zoe, or he might.” I paced around, moved toward the window, and then stepped back.
“Mad? How could I make him mad?”
“Just being yourself. You make me mad all the time.”
“You’re mad, Arcade.”
Doug held a hand up in the air. “Hey, guys, stop for a minute. The streetlights just came on . . .” he leaned closer toward the window “. . . looks like they’re finishing their conversation . . . there’s a fist bump . . . and . . .”
“And what?”
Doug turned around. “They’re gone. Each one went a separate direction.”
“Everyone who does evil hates the light . . .” Zoe stood up and walked over to look out the blinds. “. . . for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” She turned to me. “Just like your river monster, Arcade, the light scared them away.”
I sat down next to her and dropped my head in my hands. “But why would evil ring the doorbell?”
When we were sure there were no twins in sight, we snuck down the stairs and cracked the front door open. An envelope fell to the ground. It had some scrawled handwriting on the front that said ARCADE.
I kicked it inside the house and closed the door quickly.
We all just stared at it for a moment.
“Belated birthday card?” Doug chuckled.
“Not likely.” Zoe picked it up.
“Um, it’s addressed to me.”
She handed it over. I walked over to the living room couch and Zoe and Doug followed, wedging themselves on either side of me.
“Space, people. I need space.” I wiggled my shoulders until they moved over. I ripped the envelope open, pulled out a small index card, and read it out loud.
“Arcade—LB wants it. You should keep it. Caught in between. Need help.—KB”
A phone number was scratched at the bottom.
“KB? You think that was Kenwood Badger ringing our doorbell?” Zoe took the card from me to examine it more closely.
“Bawk! Listen to Zoe! Listen to Zoe!”
I shook my head. “You’ve taught your bird some really annoying phrases, Zoe.”
“You mean truthful phrases, don’t you?”
“Why would Kenwood Badger be asking me for help? What am I supposed to do?”
Doug took the card from Zoe to look at it. “It sounds like he disagrees with his brother about the token.”
“But when my sister and I disagree, I just argue until I set her straight.”
“Haha. I’m the one who sets you straight, and you know it.” Zoe and I got into a little shoulder-nudging, but then I stopped and took the note back from Doug.
I read it again. “How do we know this isn’t a setup?”
“We don’t.” Zoe plucked the card from my hand and paced the living room. “So that’s why we should ignore it. Just like before. Remember, Arcade? When Lenwood Badger was bothering us? We blocked all his calls.”
Doug pointed to the paper. “But this is Kenwood. And he wants you to call him.”
Zoe rolled her eyes and ripped up the card. “And now he’s blocked.”
Zoe’s the best! Zoe’s the best!
CHAPTER 15
Dodging
For the rest of the week, all my energy was spent dodging people.
The Tolleys asked me if I would go on another trip to the library with them.
“Sorry, guys. Card’s still blocked.” And I scooted away.
And every time I came out of my brownstone, I looked both ways for Badgers. Since it was January and most people were wearing big coats and hoods, I had to be extra watchful.
But the hardest person to dodge was Elena Salvador Castro. The girl would not stop with the gifts.
On Tuesday, she left chocolate chip cookies on my desk in Mr. Dooley’s class.
“SECRET ADMIRER, MR. LIVINGSTON? CARE TO SHARE?” Mr. Dooley came over to my desk and I gave him a cookie. He munched it down and smiled. “SHE’S A KEEPER.”
On Wednesday, she slipped a gift card for movie tickets into my locker, with a note:
Want new glasses to watch the movie? Call me!
But the most shocking gift was the one waiting on my front doorstep when I got home from school on Thursday.
“Dude, you keep gettin’ stuff!” Doug ran to the kitchen for an after-school snack. “Wish I had some glasses for her to bust.”
I plopped my backpack on the floor and placed the heavy box on the dining room table before joining Doug in the kitchen.
“Aren’t you going to open it?”
“Not till after I have some food.”
“But it might BE food. Remember the cookies.” Doug went over to the package and sniffed it.
I threw my head back. “Okaaaaay, but you have to help me figure out how to get rid of that girl.”
“Maybe there’ll be a clue in here.” Doug lifted the box and shook it. “It’s heavy. Maybe it’s books!”
I ripped off the wrapping paper, revealing a cardboard box secured with packing tape. I loosened the tape
until I could open the flaps. Inside, I found another, bigger neon pink sticky note:
YOU’LL NEED NEW GLASSES TO READ THESE. CALL ME!
ESC
Under the note was a pair of crazy socks with pairs of glasses on them. Under the socks were three books. Ancient Greek Architecture, Greek Craftsmen, and . . . Arcadia Adventures.
Goosebumps popped up all over my body. I dug in my backpack for my phone.
“Where’s Elena’s sticky note?”
“Where’s Elena’s sticky note?”
“That’s what I said, Doug! Where is it?”
“The one with her phone number on it? I thought you wanted to get rid of her.”
“Not anymore. Where is it?”
“Well, um . . . I think it was attached to the cinnamon roll box she left for you.”
“And where is that?”
Doug licked his lips.
“Where is it, Doug?”
“In the trash. I threw it away after I polished off the cinnamon rolls.”
“You know I didn’t get one bite of those?”
“I didn’t think you wanted them!”
I waved a hand in the air. “Never mind, come help me dig through the trash.”
About three-quarters of the way into the trash bin, we found the pink box with a few stale crumbs inside and the sticky note!
“I gotta call her.” I ran inside the house . . . right into Mom!
“Hey, honey.” She sniffed me and peeled off a gum wrapper that was stuck to my sleeve. “Have you been digging in the trash?”
“Mom! You’re never home this early.” I carefully pushed the sticky note into my hoodie pocket.
Mom pulled out a dining room chair, sat down, and ran a hand through her hair. “I know. It’s a miracle. I finally had an afternoon with no meetings, so I decided to come home and hang out with my favorite kids. Does someone want to make me some tea?”
“I got you, Mrs. L.” Doug went into the kitchen and filled up the tea kettle. “Orange Pekoe?”
Mom smiled. “That would be nice. And I think I have some shortbread cookies in the pantry. Arcade, are you all right?” She examined me carefully. “Are your glasses broken?”
I started to tell her about the awesome block that I made with my face when she spotted the box. She pulled it closer and peered in.
Arcade and the Dazzling Truth Detector Page 8