Squirrel hiccupped loudly and began to read.
Squirrel squeezed his head like a nutcracker crushing an acorn. He was totally, utterly, squirrelly confused. The instructions were a higgledy-piggledy of letters—the first half made sense, the second half gibberish.
Yet, there were three things Squirrel did understand.
He understood he was holding the key to Brittle’s Map in his paws.
He understood that the key to Brittle’s Map was not a key at all.
And he understood that to complete Brittle’s Key, he had to solve the crossword puzzle first.
Squirrel pulled the puzzle toward him. He squinted till he found the clue to the first word in the puzzle—9 Down. It said: Gandgoon is a city in the Desert of _____ Kings (5 letters).
Squirrel picked up his feather pen slowly and dipped it in his pot of blue pollen ink. Carefully he wrote the letters B-L-O-O-D in the empty squares at the top left corner of the puzzle. He pursed his lips. That looked right.
The next clue was 10 Down. A _____ is the smallest unit of money in Bimmau and is made of little mud patties (5 letters). Squirrel scribbled his answer down, this time much faster.
He looked at the puzzle. He had answered two questions and he thought they were right, but there was only one way to tell for sure. He had to fill up the word that connected them.
He found the clue—14 Across. It read: The last two words of the dish Peppered Urchin with Zesty Zucchini in _________ (Two words; do not leave a space between the words; 16 letters).
Squirrel scratched his head. What was it? He felt the name of the dish flit around his brain, swirling in his head, teasing him. Peppered Urchin with Zesty Zucchini in . . . in . . . in . . .
Aaaah! With a rush Squirrel remembered. He scratched the letters down in the blank boxes. They fit in perfectly with the letters he had already filled in. Squirrel grinned. He looked at the next clue and filled it up. And then the next. And the next.
Squirrel was so busy scratching letters into the puzzle that when he felt a jab in his side, he jumped, tripped on his chair, and almost knocked his pot of ink all over Brittle’s Key.
“Careful, mate,” said Des, rubbing his eyes sleepily. “Whendhya-getchup? Whatcha-gotch-ere?”
Squirrel scrambled up and grabbed the dog’s shoulders, grinning like a jack-o’-lantern. “Des, I found it!” He shoved the crossword under Des’s nose. “I found the key!”
“Whatchyaonbout?” yawned Des. “This isn’t a key. It’s a piece of paper.”
“Just read it,” said Squirrel, sitting Des down at the desk and laying the crossword out in front of him.
“All right, all right. Don’ get your tail in a twist. I’ll read it,” said Des sleepily, picking up the paper.
Squirrel watched as Des read. The dog’s face changed—from sleepy to wide-awake to shock. When Des finally finished, his eyes were so big and happy he looked like he had been kissed by a mermaid. “Frolicking frog’s legs! Brittle’s Key is a . . . an actual code.”
Squirrel nodded. “Exactly! And to complete the code, we have to solve the puzzle. Look, I’ve been trying to fill it up.”
“You sure have. You’ve almost completed the puzzle,” said Des, pointing to only a handful of blank squares. Squirrel checked the sheet. He had filled in almost every question.
“Des, I’m sorry I didn’t wait for—”
Des put his paws up. “Mate, I don’t care. We’ve almost found Brittle’s Key. Now let’s finish the puzzle.”
Crouched over the table, Squirrel read the last three clues aloud and Des scribbled letters into the blank squares. As soon as he wrote the last letter, Des jammed the feather back into the inkpot and jumped up. “We’re done!” he yelled, throwing his arms in the air like a cheerleader.
“With the puzzle, yes,” said Squirrel. “But, Des, we still have to complete the key.” And with that, Squirrel began to read and reread the instructions once more.
Squirrel felt Des’s head knock against his as they peered over the instructions. Des’s head felt a bit like a coconut. He wondered what it would be like to have a coconut-of-a-head instead of an acorn-of-a-head.
“Get a grip,” Squirrel scolded himself. He must focus on the instructions now. He read them again, trying to figure out what to do next.
Des had better luck. “Mate, why the twitchy face? This is easy. It’s not like you need to rob a tomb, or give light back to a city or something. You just have to copy some letters into this.” Des was pointing to a two-rowed table that was smack in the middle of the instructions. The top row had twenty-one squares with a different letter on each. The second row was blank.
Squirrel reread the instructions. This time, he felt the words click into the grooves of his brain. His mind began to churn. “I think we are looking for the rows of circles in the crossword. Specifically, we’re looking for the consonants in the rows of circles in the crossword.”
“Here’s the first letter,” said Des, pointing to the top left circle, the first in the row. The letter D had been scribbled in it.
“Now I guess we write that in the table,” said Squirrel, moving his attention to the table stuck in the middle of the instructions. Under the letter B, he wrote the letter D in the table. When Squirrel looked back up, Des was pointing to the next consonant down the circular row.
“Under C, write M—M for Marshmallows and Mud Slurpies,” said Des, his eyes glowing like big bronze bowls.
Squirrel jotted M under C in the table and said, “Next.”
Des found the next consonant in the circular row, and Squirrel wrote it down. And, like this, Squirrel and his friend filled up Brittle’s Key.
Crossword Puzzle Clues
DOWN
1. A plant that grows in the desert, is covered in thorns, and has a sticky, clear gel inside its stem is called a ______. (6 letters)
2. From the memory unzipped after you drank the Wedded Wine: “But you must prove you’re worthy; To use this weapon most ______.” (6 letters)
3. A slate-blue stone hidden in the Bone Tomb, which when rubbed with another like it, can produce fire, is called a Flame _____. (5 letters)
4. The tea that can put anyone to sleep immediately is called ________ tea. (8 letters)
5. The ___ is the restricted, underground chamber in the Pedipurr that only Lords and Ladies can enter. (3 letters)
6. The tree cottage where we lived, and where you live, is in _______ Wood. (7 letters)
7. The main bank in Bimmau is owned by the _______ family. (7 letters)
9. Gandgoon is a city in the Desert of _____ Kings. (5 letters)
10. A _________ is the smallest unit of money in Bimmau and is made of little mud patties. (5 letters)
11. The open-air parliament in Darling Tea Hills is called the “Rule of ________.” (8 letters)
12. You, your father, and your mother have all been slaves of the mail service called the _______. (7 letters)
13. The drink that triggered your memory in Mellifera is Marbled _____. (5 letters)
17. To unlock your house, you must insert the claw on your ____ paw into the keyhole. (4 letters)
18. In the Original Raison D’Être, the entry about Brittle’s Map reads: “The clues to the key are ___________ in one mind so that the key only he can find.” (11 letters)
19. Wedded ____ is the drink that triggered your first memory. (4 letters)
21. The fruit used to make a Pretty Pith is a _____. (5 letters)
22. In the desert, free water can only be found at an _____. (5 letters)
24. To make Marbled Honey, the Queen Bee opens her mouth, shapes her lower ___ into an O, and blows out soft, golden vapor. (3 letters)
25. The animal who guards the spring in Gandgoon is an old, wise _____ with two humps. (5 letters)
26. From the memory unzipped after you drank the tea: “Where kingly ghosts roam on ___ sand.” (3 letters)
28. From the memory unzipped after drinking the oasis water: “ _____, my son,
the power you wield.” (5 letters)
30. In spring, when the mice pick the first batch of leaves, it is called the first _____. (5 letters)
32. What type of nut does your head look like, even though it is a bit squashed on the top? _____ (5 letters)
33. From the memory unzipped after you drank the Marbled Honey: “_____ ten leaves from richest soil.” (5 letters)
34. In Mellifera, the outer wall is made of rows of tiled wax ________; these shapes make the wall very sturdy. (8 letters)
36. After the two stones were stolen from Darling Tea Hills, ____ disappeared from the mice city and made it hard for them to have heat or light at night. (4 letters)
39. At a wedding, the bride and groom each say a Wedded ___ to each other in order to get married. (3 letters)
40. Mellifera is always ruled by the ________. (Two words; no space between the words; 8 letters)
41. A ______ is a wooden square that is worth less than a guffling but more than a gromm. (6 letters)
42. In the Original Raison D’Être, the entry about Brittle’s Map says: “The Code of the _______ states that the bonds of slavery can be broken if the words in Brittle’s Map are spoken.” (6 letters)
45. In the memory unzipped after you drank the Wedded Wine, you were asked to find “A ______ as a recipe.” (6 letters)
47. A _____ is an institution where kittens, cubs, puppies, kids, and all other young ones are educated. The best one in Bimmau is at the Pedipurr. (6 letters)
51. The spearlike body part of a bee is called the _______. (7 letters)
52. At a wedding, both the bride and groom take a sip of ______ Wine. (6 letters)
54. The town that “speaks of gold” in the desert is called ________. (8 letters)
59. In Gandgoon, everyone likes to ______, especially during Blackstubbs season. (Rhymes with bramble; 6 letters)
61. The white cream that the Queen Bee is always drinking is called _____ Jelly. (5 letters)
63. When the Queen Bee dances, the part of her body that moves the most is her _____; and everyone else begins to move their bodies as well. (5 letters)
ACROSS
8. The county where you live, with the Pedipurr, the Wagamutt, and Priggle’s Bank, is called ______. (6 letters)
11. The inscription “A Gift from Me” is in a thick, red leather book full of _______. (7 letters)
14. The last two words of the dish Peppered Urchin with Zesty Zucchini in ________________. (Two words; do not leave a space between the words; 16 letters)
15. Each of the thirteen wise rulers of Darling Tea Hills is called a _______. (7 letters)
16. From the memory unzipped after you drank the tea: “Where ______ ghosts roam on red sand.” (6 letters)
20. From the memory unzipped after you drank the tea: “Back to back she hunts for ____.” (4 letters)
23. The black substance that makes Darling Tea Hills rich is ____. (4 letters)
26. From the memory unzipped after drinking the Marbled Honey: “Return what has long been stole; For that, my dear son, is your ____.” (4 letters)
27. In order to hide from a Kowa, you must maintain pin-drop _____. (7 letters)
29. In order to smell something, you put your nose in the air and _____. (Rhymes with whiff; 5 letters)
31. The drink that you drank at Darling to unzip the memory was ___. (3 letters)
35. To follow the recipe for Peppered Urchin with Zesty Zucchini in Lavender Emulsion, you must “First check the ingredients and make sure they are ____.” (4 letters)
37. The last liquid was hidden in the ______ of Blood Kings. (6 letters)
38. In the Original Raison D’Être, the entry about Brittle’s Map reads: “So, if the map is used by those ______ of heart, slavery could reign in every part.” (6 letters)
43. One puzzling recipe reads: “Drizzle the emulsion ____ the wok-fried urchin and zucchini.” (4 letters)
44. The memory you unzipped after drinking the Wedded Wine told you to “find and ___ liquids three.” (3 letters)
46. The circular bar at the Pedipurr is called the ___________. (No space between the words; 11 letters)
48. The high-society country club for cats is called the Pedi____. (4 letters)
49. From the memory unzipped after you drank the Marbled Honey: “Find stolen stones that you ___ need.” (3 letters)
50. In the Original Raison D’Être, the entry about Brittle’s Map reads: “The ____ of the Map of Brittle is that a slave is the lowest critter; he is property to be traded and sold to the highest bidder.” (4 letters)
53. In the Original Raison D’Être, the entry about Brittle’s Map reads: “Brittle’s Map is a string of words more powerful than a thousand ______.” (6 letters)
55. The key that you have been looking for is the key that decodes the Map of _______. (7 letters)
56. The last drink to unzip a memory in your brain was the clear, cool, crystal _____ from the desert. (5 letters)
57. From the memory unzipped after you drank the Wedded Wine: “You’re wed, my ___, now you’ll see.” (3 letters)
58. The “hills of heart” refers to _______ Tea Hills. (7 letters)
60. The walled city of bees is called _________. (9 letters)
62. The special drink you got from the Queen Bee is called _______ Honey. (7 letters)
64. The animal who owns the PetPost is a ________ called Bacchu Banoose. (8 letters)
65. The Lion’s _______ is the chamber in the Pedipurr with all their volumes of books and encyclopedias. (7 letters)
The crossword puzzle holds the key to Brittle’s Map
It can make your dreams come true, but I warn you, it’s also a trap.
To find the key, you must first solve the crossword based on what you’ve seen,
What you’ve heard, and where you’ve been.
Next, find the three circular rows when the puzzle is complete.
Notice that in these three rows no consonant does repeat.
Pluck each consonant from circular rows one, two, and three in order,
And carefully copy each in turn into the table below; son, be a diligent recorder.
So if D is the first and T is the last,
Then this table is properly cast.
And Brittle’s Key is actually this very table,
For it makes Brittle’s Map readable.
Note that vowels remain as they are,
As they are the most true and steady letters by far.
But every time you see any consonant in the Map of Brittle,
Replace it with the letter underneath it, in the second row of the table.
Similarly, to understand the secret words below,
Substitute the consonants in row one with those in the bottom row.
And if you manage to decode the secret words underneath,
Then you, my son, can read Brittle’s Map, which is no small feat!
Quz dot, cg mod, hof zxe zfijwg lafz,
zxe zfal I cedziodeb qehofe
A jxoije zxaz im mo bihhijukz iz tikk fojw gou zo gouf jofe
Koow ayaid adb feab zxe zxfee fotm cabe oh mlxefem
Zxeg afe zxfee dacem mxididy zfue—
zxe hifmz goudy adb zto okb, xekb beaf
Zxe hifmz mzfil im gouf dace, gouf cozxef’m mejodb, adb gouf
hazxef’m im zxe zxifb
Zxe hifmz dace tikk yine gou zto yihzm, yihzm kiwe a qifb
Gou tikk bimjonef gouf dazufak lotef,
a lotef zxaz I bimafceb
Hof, ih gou xab aktagm qeed txo gou afe, gou toukb xane qeed xafceb
Gou dot wdot zxe dacem oh goufmekh, gouf coc adb bab
Adb gou lfoqaqkg tadz zo zekk enefgode gou wdot zxe dace gou aktagm xab
Hof iz jad yine gou hfeeboc adb enefgzxidy gou enef tadzeb
Mkanefg tikk do kodyef qe id gouf mzafm,
gou tikk do kodyef qe xaudzeb
Quz zxe zfal im zxaz zxeme zxfee dacem afe Qfizzke’m Weg
Adb ih gou zekk iz, iz ti
kk hakk idzo zxe enik xadbm zxaz qe
Zo lfozejz gou, I xib gouf ibedzizg hfoc ened gou zikk dot
Quz gou xane lfoneb gou afe feabg hof zxe jxakkedyem axeab—mo, cg mod, zawe a qot.
“We’re done!” whispered Des.
Squirrel stared at the table—the table that was Brittle’s Key. Then he stared at the lines of gibberish under it. When he spoke, his voice was as soft as cotton. “Des, we have Brittle’s Key. Only you and I have the code to read Brittle’s Map. We have this incredible secret that we need to guard.”
“We cannot tell anyone about the key, Squirrel. I’m not even telling Cheska. We have to pretend it does not exist. We may be the new Keepers of the Key,” said Des somberly. He scratched his head and continued. “Mate, only we know that every letter in the map stands for another letter—and only we know which letter stands for which.”
Des frowned and carried on. “Every letter except for A, E, I, O, and U. Look. They’re nowhere in the table. It’s just the consonants—every time you see a consonant in the map, you need to switch it for the consonant in the bottom row of the table. And the vowels remain what they are. Do you think that can be right?”
Squirrel felt his heart flutter like an excited firefly. “We can check. The instructions say that to understand the secret words below the table, we have to replace the consonants in row one with those in row two.” He paused, flipping what he was going to say over and over again in his head. “If we replace each consonant in the second half of the instructions . . . with the letter below it in the table . . . then the words should make sense. It says in the instructions that if we can read the words below, we will be able to read the Map of Brittle.”
“Woof woof!” barked Des. “Let’s do it.” He grabbed a blank piece of paper from Squirrel’s desk and shoved it in front of Squirrel. “Let’s hope it works.”
Squirrel looked at the nonsensical instructions below the table. He took the first word—it was Quz. He looked at the table, found Q in the first row, and looked at the letter below it. It was B. Squirrel wrote B.
The Tale of a No-Name Squirrel Page 21