Battle of the Brightest

by Hope McLean

  Eli and the others anxiously waited for him to continue. What did Mr. Andover know?

  “Yes, the Memento Mori took the sapphire,” he said. “As a prank, just as you have guessed. But the hubbub it caused scared us. There was even talk of bringing in the FBI! So we hid it, and vowed never to speak of it.”

  The kids all looked at one another, excited. Their guess was right!

  “Thank you for telling us,” Willow said.

  Mr. Andover’s voice grew sad. “My Memento Mori brothers are all gone now. I am the last. And the sapphire should be returned to the school, after all. It’s only right.”

  “That’s exactly what we plan to do,” Ryan said quickly. “The sapphire belongs back at Atkinson.”

  “Can you tell us where it’s hidden?” Willow asked eagerly.

  “I wish I could,” Mr. Andover said. “But Bobby’s the one who hid it. We decided only one of us should know, for safety. And he’s pushing up daisies now.”

  Willow felt like a deflated balloon. They had come so close — only to lose the trail!

  “Except …” Mr. Andover said slowly. “I remember now. Walter said that Bobby would have to leave some kind of clue, in case anything ever happened to him, so the rest of us could figure it out.”

  “And do you remember what it was?” Erin asked.

  Mr. Andover quickly stood up and surprised them all by moving swiftly along the bookcases.

  “It’s here somewhere,” he said. Then he pulled out an old leather-bound notebook. “Ah, got it!”

  “The clue?” Ryan asked.

  “It’s my journal from 1949,” the old man replied. “Hmm … let’s see. Here it is! ‘The first clue is in the painting in the library.’”

  “What painting?” Ryan asked.

  “And what library?” followed Willow.

  “Atkinson Library, I’m sure,” Mr. Andover said thoughtfully. “As for the painting, I don’t remember. And I didn’t write it down, either. Probably why I got all those Cs in school. I was a terrible note taker. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” Erin said quickly. “This is a big help. Now we know where to start looking.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” Mr. Andover said, smiling at the young faces assembled before him. “I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. If I remember anything else, I’ll let Derrica know.”

  “Thank you so much,” Willow said.

  “And you tell me if you find the sapphire, will you?” Mr. Andover asked.

  “Of course,” Ryan promised.

  “Wonderful,” said Mr. Andover. “And now, before you go, I need you to do one more thing for me.”

  “What’s that?” Eli asked.

  Mr. Andover grinned. “Can you show me that picture of the flagpole again?”

  “So let me get this straight,” Jasmine said. “We have to look at all of the paintings in the Atkinson Library for some clue … and we don’t even know what it is? How many paintings are there?”

  After meeting Lawrence Andover, Willow, Erin, and the others met up with the rest of the Jewels and Rivals at Pizza Paradise in Hallytown. They all sat at a large round table, sharing two pizzas and discussing what had happened.

  “Dozens,” Veronica answered flatly.

  “That will take forever!” Isabel wailed.

  “Maybe not,” Lili said, and everyone looked at her. “I mean, Memento Mori is also a term to describe a style of art. You know, stuff with skulls, mostly. So maybe the clue is in a Memento Mori painting.”

  “That’s genius!” Erin cried.

  Aaron looked excited. “I bet I know where the clue is! There’s this old painting in the library of a skull on a table next to a vase with a blossoming rose in it.”

  “It’s worth checking out,” Willow said.

  Ryan nodded. “And at least we know where to start.”

  Jasmine frowned. “Won’t it look suspicious if we march into the library and start examining the painting?”

  Ryan grinned. “Not when you can get in anytime you want.”

  * * *

  The next morning, Ryan opened the door to the library at Atkinson Preparatory School.

  “So you have a key to every building at the school?” Willow asked. She sounded impressed.

  “It’s one of the perks of being an Atkinson,” Ryan said. “You never know when I might need to study on a Sunday morning.”

  “Or look for a painting without anyone bothering you,” Erin piped up.

  The library was deserted, which was just perfect. Ryan flipped a switch and the overhead fluorescent lights flickered on.

  Erin let out a whistle. “Man, no wonder you guys do so good at quiz bowl. This place is awesome.”

  The library looked like Lawrence Andover’s times ten. In the center of the room was the reading area, filled with gleaming wood desks that featured brass reading lamps at each seat. Thousands of books were shelved on rows of antique wooden shelves, not the industrial metal ones found in the Martha Washington Library.

  “It is,” Veronica agreed. “And it’s so quiet, even on a regular day.”

  “The painting is over by the Mystery section,” Aaron said, sprinting ahead of everyone.

  “How fitting,” Jasmine said dryly.

  Aaron led them to a painting on the wall that was just as he had described. A gray, cracked skull sat on a brown wood table. Next to it, a rose sat in a clear glass vase.

  “It’s always been one of my favorites,” he said, looking up at it with a smile. “It’s really cool, right?”

  “Cool but creepy,” Lili said.

  “It is hideous,” Isabel said with a derisive sniff. “Can we please stop admiring it and start looking for the clue?”

  Ryan reached up and took the painting off the wall.

  “Are you sure we can do that?” Jasmine asked.

  “Nobody’s watching,” Ryan pointed out. “Come on, let’s get a better look.”

  He brought the painting to one of the reading tables and turned on the light. After further inspection, Lili noted it was an oil painting. In addition to the skull, tabletop, and vase with the rose, there was a signature on the bottom right.

  “It looks like the name Hall,” Aaron said. “But I’ve never come across a painter by that name who’s associated with this style.”

  “Then maybe the name of the painter is the clue,” Willow guessed. “Maybe the clue is that the sapphire is in the hall.”

  “Which hall?” Isabel asked. “There are hundreds of halls here.”

  “It could be, like, the main hall,” Erin suggested.

  “Maybe, but where?” Veronica asked.

  Aaron picked up the painting. “Let’s see what’s on the back.”

  He turned it over to reveal an aged piece of brown paper on the back of the frame.

  “Rats,” he said with a frown. “I thought there’d be a map or something.”

  “There is something,” Lili said, pointing. “Look!”

  In the top left corner of the paper was a tiny skull drawn in black ink.

  Ryan ran his hand over the symbol. “There’s something under there,” he said. Then he ran to the librarian’s desk and picked up a pair of scissors.

  “You can’t cut it up!” Jasmine said in horror.

  “I’m not hurting the painting, just the paper,” Ryan assured her. “Watch.”

  He carefully sliced open the paper underneath the skull, then reached in and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper.

  “Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!” Lili squealed.

  Ryan opened it up. “It’s a map,” he said. “It looks like the grounds of Atkinson.”

  “It’s got to lead to the sapphire,” Willow said.

  Ryan nodded. “Maybe. There’s a line tracing out a route, and it starts here in the library. Let’s go.”

  They left the library and followed Ryan across the grounds to the school’s main building. He opened the door and led them past the auditorium, and then made several turns i
nto various hallways. Finally, he stopped in front of a closed door.

  “That’s funny,” he said. “The map says this leads to the basement, but I didn’t know there was an entrance to the basement here.”

  He opened the door to reveal a shallow, empty closet.

  “See what I mean?” Ryan asked.

  Aaron tapped on the back of the closet, and a hollow sound echoed back at him.

  “I bet you there’s a staircase behind here,” he said. “It doesn’t feel like a wall.”

  “Ooh, it’s a secret entrance!” Lili said.

  “Well, we can’t use scissors to cut our way through,” Isabel said.

  “We don’t have to,” Erin argued. She stepped into the closet and felt around the edges of the back wall. She pulled at a corner and a large sheet of plywood came off, revealing a dark staircase beyond.

  Everyone stared in amazement. Even Erin looked surprised.

  “Wow, I wasn’t actually sure that would work.”

  Willow, Aaron, and Ryan helped Erin move the sheet of wood outside the closet. Isabel nervously peered down into the darkness.

  “We should not do this without a flashlight,” she said.

  “It’s cool,” Ryan said. “I have a flashlight app on my phone.”

  Willow grinned at him. “Me, too.”

  “I’ll take the lead, and you can head up the rear,” Ryan said, moving toward the opening in the wall.

  “I can take the lead,” Willow offered.

  “You could, but I have the map,” Ryan said with a grin, and then he headed down the staircase.

  Aaron, Veronica, and Isabel followed Ryan, and then Erin took the lead for the Jewels, followed by Lili, Jasmine, and finally Willow. Ryan’s phone illuminated just a foot or two in front of him, and Willow’s light bounced off Lily’s shoulders, casting spooky shadows on the dusty brick walls.

  “According to the map, we go straight,” Ryan called back to the others. “Just keep moving and you’ll be fine.”

  “This is ridiculous,” said Isabel as she stepped off the last stair. “I am getting dust all over my … Eeeeeeekkkkkkkkk!”

  Isabel’s ear-splitting shriek echoed through the basement. She rushed forward, nearly knocking over Veronica.

  “Something touched my leg!” she cried. “It is probably a hairy tarantula! Or a rat!”

  Lili, Erin, and Willow quickly backed up on the stairs. Aaron and Veronica stepped away from Isabel. Ryan flashed his light around Isabel’s feet.

  “I don’t see anything,” he reported.

  Erin spoke up. “Oh gosh, look at that. I must have accidentally dropped my fuzzy pen. Sorry, Isabel.”

  She held up a novelty pen with googly eyes and furry orange hair. Isabel looked furious.

  “I do not understand why we have to work with these immature girls,” she said resentfully.

  “Excuse me, but if it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t have seen the Memento Mori list or gotten to meet Lawrence Andover, either, for that matter,” Erin shot back.

  “Can you two please quit it?” Willow called out. “We’re, like, just a few feet away from maybe finding the sapphire. We need to focus.”

  “Oh, I’m focused,” Erin said, glaring at Isabel.

  Isabel turned her back to Erin. “I am more focused than you.”

  “Great,” Ryan said. He took a few steps forward. “So the map ends at this brick wall.”

  “And then what?” Aaron asked.

  “There are some numbers,” Ryan replied. “27X, 15Y.”

  Willow quickly moved forward. “Those are coordinates, like on a graph or a grid,” the Jewels’ math expert said excitedly, shining her light on the wall. “See the bricks? What if each one is a point on the coordinates?”

  Ryan started to nod excitedly. “So that would be fifteen bricks from the floor, and then twenty-seven bricks in from the left,” he said, counting as he talked. “Twenty-five … twenty-six … twenty-seven!”

  Ryan touched the brick. “It’s loose!”

  “Hold up!” Erin warned. “This is the part where you grab the sapphire, then say, ‘So long, suckers!’ and escape through some secret passage, right?”

  Ryan sighed. “Wrong. I already told you guys that you can trust us.”

  “That’s not good enough,” Erin said. “Let Willow move the brick with you.”

  “Fine,” Ryan said impatiently. “Let’s just do this.”

  Willow and Ryan each touched the brick and began to pry it loose. It easily came off in their hands.

  “There’s something in there!” Willow cried.

  Ryan pulled out a black pouch, opened it, and slid the contents into Willow’s open palm. His light illuminated a gleaming blue jewel.

  “It’s the sapphire,” he said breathlessly, and the other kids let out a spontaneous cheer.

  “We did it!” Erin cried.

  “Let’s get it back to the library so we can get a closer look,” Willow suggested.

  “Good idea,” said Isabel. “I will be happy to get out of this base cement, or whatever you call it.”

  Ryan gave Willow the pouch. “You should carry it,” he said, and Willow smiled.

  They went back up the stairs, replaced the fake wall, and made sure to close the closet behind them. Then they hurried back through the deserted halls, across the campus, and returned to the library. Willow took a seat at a table while the others gathered around her. She turned on a reading light and slipped the sapphire out of its pouch.

  About an inch in diameter, the round stone had beautiful facets cut into its surface. It was set in what looked like a gold circle with a ring of tiny, creamy white jewels all around it.

  “It’s a brooch,” Jasmine said. “And those are pearls.”

  She gently picked it up and turned it over. The back of the jewel was open, with the bar of the brooch pin going across.

  “Do you see a symbol?” Ryan asked.

  “I think so,” Jasmine said, pointing. “Look.”

  “We should take a picture of it,” Ryan said, holding up his phone.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

  The sound of a familiar voice caused them all to freeze. Arthur Atkinson was standing in the library doorway, an evil grin on his face.

  “Please be so kind as to step away from my sapphire,” he said.

  “I knew this was a setup!” Erin yelled.

  Arthur Atkinson laughed. “It was, but not the kind you think,” he said with a grin, his tall frame looming over them. “When my nephew here announced that he and his friends were no longer going to play my little game, I suspected he would go behind my back and try to find the sapphire. Getting you to help him was his own idea. Smart. But unfortunately, Ryan, you weren’t smart enough to make sure I wasn’t following you.”

  Ryan’s cheeks flushed red and he looked down at the table. Erin realized how difficult his relationship with his uncle must be, and that made her sympathize with Ryan. But she was angrier than ever. She quickly grabbed the sapphire.

  “If you think we’re handing this over, you’re crazy,” Erin said.

  “On the contrary, I am thinking quite clearly,” Atkinson replied, his voice as smooth as oil. “The sapphire belongs to Atkinson Preparatory School. I am the director of the school. If you don’t turn it over to me, I will simply call the police.”

  “You’d better give it to him, Erin,” Jasmine whispered. At one time, the police suspected that Jasmine might have stolen the Martha Washington diamond. She didn’t want to go through that terrible experience again.

  “Call them,” Erin said, keeping her eyes locked with Arthur Atkinson’s. “We’ll tell them the whole story.”

  “You could,” Arthur Atkinson said. “But then they’d have to believe you. They didn’t believe you when you said the Rivals had stolen the diamond.”

  “Listen to him,” Ryan said. “It’s not worth it.”

  Willow turned to Erin, and her face was serious. “I hate to say it, but
Ryan’s right.”

  Erin’s grip on the sapphire was so tight that her knuckles were white. She hated to give it up, but she knew she had to. Reluctantly, she loosened her grip and handed it to Aaron.

  “You do it,” she said. “I don’t want to go near that creep.”

  Aaron walked over to his principal and gave him the sapphire.

  “Thank you,” Arthur Atkinson said with a slick grin.

  “You should,” Erin said. “You couldn’t have done it without us.”

  Atkinson slipped the sapphire into his jacket pocket and left the library without another word.

  “Well, that’s it,” Jasmine said glumly, sinking into a chair. “Game over.”

  “Maybe not,” Lili said, and everyone turned to look at her. She put a finger to her lips and slowly held up her right hand.

  “No way!” Erin whispered.

  Lili had drawn the symbol from the back of the sapphire on her palm!

  “Lili, close your hand!” Willow hissed. “We don’t know if Atkinson is watching us somehow even now.”

  “Let’s get out of here, fast,” Ryan agreed.

  When they got outside, they looked around to make sure Arthur Atkinson was nowhere around.

  “Let’s go to the Hallytown Community Center,” she suggested, and then explained to the Rivals, “My mom works there.”

  “That should be safe,” Ryan said.

  “The bus to Hallytown is just a few blocks away,” Willow pointed out. “We can text our parents and tell them we’re studying there.”

  Twenty minutes later, they stepped off the local bus in front of the community center. Cheerful yellow daffodils covered the front lawn. Inside, they stopped by the main office, where Willow’s mom was seated behind a desk covered with photos of Willow and her brothers.

  “Willow!” Mrs. Albern looked surprised to see her daughter. “But I thought you all were studying at Atkinson.”

  “Well … Ryan forgot his key,” Willow said, thinking quickly. “I was wondering if we could use the meeting room, if it’s open.”

  “Of course!” Willow’s mom replied with a smile. “It’s nice to see you two teams working together. That’s true sportsmanship.”