“Ooooh. Has someone been shopping online for books? And socks?” She raised an eyebrow. “Hope you haven’t been using my account for this.”
“No, ma’am. It was a gift.”
“Ah. birthday gifts are the best.” She pulled the books out one by one. “Greece? That’s an interesting country.” She focused closely on the book about Arcadia. “I have . . . I mean, I could have taken you to the library.”
“Nah, he’s got a blocked card.” Doug poured steaming water into my mom’s favorite teacup.
Mom leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Blocked? That doesn’t sound like you, Arcade.”
“It wasn’t me, Mom. It was Zoe.”
“No need to blame your sister. Either way, sometimes it’s nice to buy books. Hey,” she snapped her fingers, “you can put them in between your new bookends! They’re still in my tote from the other night. I’ll unwrap them later and put them up on your bookshelf.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
I grabbed the box and took it to the upstairs landing.
Out of sight, out of mind . . . I hope.
At that moment, the front door swung open and in walked Zoe. She saw Mom and ran over to give her a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re home.”
“Me too. It’s about time I came home at a reasonable hour. Want to join me for tea?” Mom pulled away from Zoe to get a look at her face. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
“Michael and I got in a fight.”
I dropped the box.
“Uh, well, I’m outta here.” I pointed a thumb toward the stairs. “C’mon, Doug, we have some homework to do.”
Zoe wiped a tear with the heel of her hand. “Since when do you do homework right after school?”
Mom reached over and rubbed Zoe’s arm. “They’re letting us have some girl time.” She turned to me. “I’ll bring those bookends up later.”
“Thanks.”
I ran up the stairs.
I threw the box of books on my bed and sat down on my desk chair to catch my breath. Loopy came out from under my bed and jumped up on my lap. “It’s all closing in, Loop. I gotta figure out the truth about this token soon.”
I reached into my pocket and took out my phone and Elena’s note. I squinted through my dusty lenses, sweating a little as I punched in the numbers.
The phone rang three times, four times.
“Hello, unknown number. This better be Arcade and not a robo-call.” Elena laughed on the other end. “Hello?”
Oh, right. I’m supposed to talk.
“Hi. This is Arcade.”
“Finally! I figured the books would throw you over the edge. You ready to take the new glasses, or should I keep stalking you?”
“How did you get my school schedule? How do you know chocolate chip cookies are my favorite? And why did you give me books about Greece?”
“Hmmm, let’s see, I watched you walk into Dooley’s on Tuesday morning, the chocolate chip cookies were a guess, and I’ll tell you about the books when you meet me at 575 Columbus Avenue tomorrow at four o’clock.”
“What’s at 575 Columbus Avenue?”
“My dad’s office. He’s an optometrist. And it’s right near the corner of 88th Street where you live. So, no excuses.”
“That’s blackmail.”
“Blackmail? Blackmail? I’m trying to do something nice for you, Livingston. Plus, you look ridiculous with that tape on your glasses. And have you thought that maybe God let that volleyball hit you in the face for a reason? Stop fighting the process and just meet me at four o’clock tomorrow.”
Click.
“Oh, no, you are not allowed to just hang up on me.” I poked the redial button and tried to figure out what I would say in response. Like . . .
Oh, yeah? Well, maybe I like the way my broken glasses look!
But the phone just rang and rang. “You better pick up, Elena Salvador Castro.”
It rang and rang some more. Then finally:
“Hello, you’ve reached Elena. I’m sorry I missed your call. Please leave a message, and may God shine his light all over your day.”
BEEEEEP!
“Elena!” I yelled into the phone, scaring Loopy back under the bed.
“Who are you yelling at?” Doug came in the door.
“That annoying girl! She just tricked me into going to her dad’s optometry office to get new glasses tomorrow.”
Doug walked over to me and pulled off my glasses. “Tricked you, huh? How long have you had these? They’re all scratched, did you know that?”
“They are?”
Doug tried to look at me through them. “Yeah. Like, really scratched!” Then he bent them at the middle. The tape broke and he was holding two pieces. “Yeah, she’s a really annoying girl.”
“Doug! I need those.”
“No worries, man. I got more tape.” Doug walked over to the desk we share and pulled some duct tape out of the drawer. He pulled off a skinny piece and wrapped it around the nosepiece. “There. The silver is less noticeable than that white athletic tape.”
I popped the glasses back on my face. “Thanks.” Then I squinted at Doug. “These are scratched, aren’t they?”
“They’ve been taking a beating. Hey—what kind of coincidence is it that her dad’s a glasses guy?” Doug jumped up on his bunk, laid down, and folded his hands behind his head. “You know what? You should see if she can get you an extra pair. With that token, you never know what’s gonna happen.”
“Okay, now you’re pushing it.” I sat down on my bed and took the books out of the box, paying close attention to Arcadia Adventures. I pulled the Triple T Token out from under my shirt, turned it to the back and compared the book title to the bottom inscription on the token: Arcade Adventures.
Arcadia, Greece. Arcade Adventures. My name is Arcade. It can’t be coincidence!
I opened the book to try to read it, but it was all a blur.
“Doug! I can’t read!”
Doug sat up and bumped his head on the ceiling. “Ouch! What do you mean, you can’t read?”
“My eyes . . . these glasses . . . the dim light . . .” I moved over to the window and pulled the blinds up. “I wish the days were longer in January. Everything gets dark so early around here.”
“You could flip the light switch on.”
“True.” Zoe’s hand reached in through the cracked bedroom door. She flipped the light switch. “What’s going on in here?” She walked in the room. Her eyes were red.
“Do you think Michael will tell his brothers about the token now that he’s mad at you?”
Doug isn’t known for having the best timing, but even I cringed at the question.
Zoe sat down and started to cry again. “No. He won’t say a thing. He’s the nicest, most honest boy . . .”
Okay, okay. Enough with the sap.
“. . . but we keep having arguments. He says that I’m strong-willed, that I always have to be right about everything. He said that I’m the stubbornest person he’s ever met. And ‘stubbornest’ isn’t even grammatically correct!”
Stubborn-est?
“Oh, I think it is.” My token began to flash. I covered it with my hand. “But what guy wouldn’t want a girlfriend like that?” I went over and ruffled her bangs.
She pushed my hand away. “Don’t try to be nice right now, Arcade. I know you agree with Michael.”
I sighed. “You know what we all need? A long break. Some time to figure things out. I feel like things are closing in all around us. I was just telling Loopy—”
“Arcade! Look at your hand!” Doug jumped off his bunk and moved in closer. “It’s glowing!”
Sure enough, the light from the token was shining through my hand. As soon as I took my hand away, dazzling lights filled the room.
“Everybody, grab your backpacks. Bring some notepads and pens.” I reached for the cardboard box filled with the Greece books. As I did, lights shot out toward my closet, turning it into a golden elevator. The co
in slot, with the sign GET TRUTH, slid down from the ceiling this time. The coin slot gleamed, and a golden beam of light shot out toward the token. “Maybe bring a waterproof coat too.”
Zoe gathered some tissues to wipe her eyes, then ran into her room and came back with her coat. I dug the duct tape out of my desk drawer . . . just in case.
“Wait! I got something for you, Arcade!” Doug pulled the bottom desk drawer open and brought out a gift bag. “Here. Happy birthday.”
“Doug, I told you I didn’t need a gift.”
“Yeah, but we’re headed out somewhere and it could come in handy.”
I reached into the middle of the tissue paper and pulled out a . . . pocket knife?
“Doug! How did you kno—”
Zoe poked me in the ribs. “Hey, the coin slot is fading. Better throw Triple T in there.” She pointed to my new knife. “And don’t get ANY ideas about some new haircut, unless it’s for you.”
I gripped the knife tight, sliding it in my hoodie pocket. Then I pulled the token from the chain. “Take us on a long break.” I dropped the token in the slot. “And take us somewhere light enough for me to read, so I can get some truth about Greece.” I handed the books to Zoe, pushed my palms together, then pulled them apart, and the antique elevator doors rolled open.
“I love this family.” Doug ran in.
I looked at Zoe. “Me too.”
She sniffed. “No matter what happens, I’ve got your back.”
I smiled. “And I’ve got yours.”
CHAPTER 16
Long-EST
We were in the same elevator as before, with the domed ceiling and the statues and plaques up high. “This is three times now. Ruah must be trying to tell me something.”
“It sure is a beautiful sight,” Zoe said. “I feel joy when I look at it. Not sure why. Maybe because it’s so bright.”
Doug sat down on the floor. “It would be nice if this adventure didn’t include a large drop-off or a scary ledge.”
I sat down next to Doug. “I asked for light, and I asked for a long break. We’ll see what we get.”
The ride was a little longer than usual, so I took out the books for Doug and Zoe to see. And we filled Doug in on some important information.
“So, you went to Greece and you met a kid who made the Triple T mold?” Doug flipped through the pages of Greek Craftsmen.
“No, I didn’t actually meet him. I talked to Ruah—”
“Who’s Ruah?”
“The Triple T woman,” Zoe answered. “That’s her name. Ruah.”
“That’s a weird name. Does it mean something?”
Zoe and I dropped our books and looked at Doug.
“What did you say?”
“I said, does it mean something?”
Zoe smacked her head with the palm of her hand. “Of course! It has to! That’s genius, Doug! Let’s look it up!” We all took our phones out of our backpacks and poked at our screens. And, as usual, they didn’t work.
“Guess we’ll look it up after our long break.” Doug threw his phone back into his backpack. “Kinda freeing, not having to check our phones, isn’t it?”
Zoe sighed and stretched her arms. “Yeah. Must be what it was like in the good old days.”
A soothing song played over the loudspeaker.
“Elevator music.” Doug laid down on the floor. “It’s making me kinda tired.”
In fact, it made all of us tired. We propped our coats up like pillows and closed our eyes. And we slept for a while. I know, because when the elevator dinged, I had some drool coming out of the corner of my mouth.
I wipe the drool and check on both sides of me. Zoe and Doug are asleep.
“Hey! You guys!” I shake them both. “We’re here!”
Zoe sits up. “Where? Where are we?”
Doug jumps. “What? We’re here? Cool!”
We stand and gather our stuff. The elevator opens to a sun-filled view of a quaint city. Businesses line both sides of the road.
Zoe rubs her arms. “It’s chilly.” She puts on her coat. “Why is it so quiet?” She points up at a huge clock at the end of the street. “It’s two o’clock and there’s no one around.”
Doug laughs. “Well, then, we sure aren’t in New York City!”
“I’m not sure where to go,” I admit with a shrug.
Doug points to a café about halfway down the empty street. “Anyone bring money? I’m hungry.”
Zoe pulls her backpack off her shoulders. “I have some.”
The café is called Chill 23. We open the door and are greeted by a young thirty-something woman who is sweeping the floor. Chairs are turned upside-down on the round café tables.
The woman keeps sweeping. “Sorry, we’re closing.” She looks up and her eyes widen. “Children? Why are you out? It’s way past curfew.”
“I’m sorry,” I say. “Why do you close at two o’clock in the afternoon?”
The woman rests her broom against the counter and walks toward us. “Two in the afternoon? No. It’s two o’clock in the morning. Where do you think you are?”
I look out the window to make sure I haven’t gone crazy. “But the sun is out.”
The woman chuckles. “Tell me about it. I’d like it to go down, but that’s not going to happen for a while.”
“A while?” Zoe looks at me. “How far north are we?”
I turn to the woman, hoping she won’t call the authorities if I can come up with a good story. “I’m sorry. We just got off a long . . . uh . . . plane ride. We’re trying to get our bearings. Can you help us figure out where we are, and where we can find a place to rest?”
The woman looks at us through narrowed eyes. Then her suspicious gaze softens, and she pulls some chairs down from the tables so we can sit. “You kids drink coffee?”
We shake our heads.
“How about milkshakes?”
“Yep!” Doug says.
“Gotcha. Three solstice specials, coming right up.”
“Solstice?” Doug rubs his belly. “Sounds yummy. What’s in that?”
The woman leans with her elbows on the counter. “A whole lot of sugar, so you can stay up for twenty-four hours.”
“Sounds perfect. But why would we want to stay up for twenty-four hours?”
The woman shakes her head and begins to mix the milkshakes. “Because this is Reykjavík, Iceland, and you’ve arrived on June twenty-first. The longest day of the year anywhere! That sun is not going to go down tonight.”
Long-EST!
“Iceland? Really? That’s dope!”
Zoe kicks me behind the counter. “My brother is jet-lagged. He’s been excited about our trip to Iceland. So much, that he can hardly believe we’re finally here. And the light outside really threw all of us off. We actually just woke up after sleeping all night . . . or day . . . well, I’m not really sure. See what I mean?”
The woman finishes blending the shakes and brings the silver container on a platter, with three glasses, to the café table. There’s something in her smirk that tells me she isn’t going to rat us out.
“My name is Katrin.” She pours milkshakes in all our glasses. “Welcome to Iceland, Land of Fire and Ice.”
“Thank you.” I sit down and pick up one of the glasses. “We’re honored to be here.” I take a swallow of the shake. “I read once that Greenland has more ice than Iceland, and Iceland is greener than Greenland. I love facts like that.”
Katrin laughs. “Yes, that is a strange fact.”
“I’m sorry we barged in on you as you were closing up.”
“It’s quite fine.” Katrin takes a seat. “I think it was meant to be. I had a little spill in the kitchen that kept me here later than usual. What are your names?”
“I’m Arcade, this is my sister, Zoe, and this is our soon-to-be brother, Doug.”
Katrin nods and smiles. “Sounds like a heartwarming story in there somewhere. If I may ask, what’s in the box?”
I go get the box t
hat I left on the counter.
“Oh, that’s just some books,” Doug says. “Arcade’s a booklover.”
Katrin’s eyes light up. “I love to read too! Are they books about Iceland?”
“Uh, no.” I open the flaps and pull one out.
“Then what?”
“They’re books about Greece. It’s hard to explain.” I reach up and run my fingers over the empty chain under my sweatshirt.
Katrin puts a hand out. “Bookworms should never have to explain why they are reading a certain book. Read what you’re curious about and what brings you joy. That’s my motto. Right now, I’m reading a Christmas book, and look at it outside! Summer for days and days and days. In six months, it will be nothing but winter. That’s when I fell in love with books as a kid. During those long, cold winter days.”
I put my Greece book back in the box. “I like you, Katrin.”
She laughs. “Thank you! Your visit has made my day. And since it’s the longest day ever, that’s a good thing.”
We finish up our shakes while Katrin does a little more cleaning of the café.
“What do we owe you?” Zoe pulls her wallet out of her backpack. “I’m sorry, all I have are American dollars.”
“On the house,” Katrin says. We thank her, and we’re just about to turn to leave when she asks, “Do you children have a place to stay? I’m assuming that your parents are on a . . . delayed flight, perhaps?” Before we get a chance to answer, Katrin picks up a phone behind the counter. “Hello, this is Katrin, over at Chill 23. Is Ruah there?”
Ruah?!?
“Hello, Ruah. Do you have any vacancies? I have three children here . . . they just got in . . . yes. Their parents are delayed. I know . . . you do? Can I drop them off in a few minutes? That would be wonderful! Thank you so much.”
Katrin hangs up. “There’s a room waiting for you at the Northern Lights Hotel. I would like to drive you so you don’t get picked up by the curfew police. My friend Ruah has set it all up. All you have to do is go to the front desk and ask for the key.”
“Thank you, Katrin,” Zoe says. “You’re an angel.”
Arcade and the Dazzling Truth Detector Page 9