Code Breaker

by Sally Rippin

  The witch is dipping her fingernail into a bucket of red paint and using it to write big squiggly letters on a white wall. Billie knows that if she can’t work out what the code means she will never find her way out of the witch’s room.

  She wakes up shivering and shaking. ‘Mum?’ she calls out softly. ‘Dad?’

  After a moment, Billie sees the light in the hall switch on and her dad pokes his head around the door.

  ‘Are you OK?’ he whispers. ‘Mum’s asleep.’

  ‘Can you give me a cuddle?’ Billie says in a little voice. She knows she sounds like a baby but she can’t help it. ‘I had a nightmare.’

  ‘Of course,’ Billie’s dad says. He crosses the room in three long strides and plonks down on the bed next to Billie.

  She sits up and he gives her a big warm hug as tight as a bear’s.

  Billie feels her body stop shivering.

  ‘What was your nightmare about?’ Billie’s dad asks.

  ‘Witches,’ Billie says. ‘And codes.’

  ‘Codes?’ he asks.

  ‘Yes. Like codes a detective would crack. A good detective, that is,’ she sighs.

  ‘Well, I’m sure every detective has different skills,’ her dad says. ‘Some might be good with language codes and others with number codes.’

  Billie looks up at her dad in surprise. Does he know something?

  No, it’s impossible! All her friends promised to keep the club a secret.

  She decides to test him all the same. ‘What kind of code would you use to write a coded note?’ she asks, watching him carefully.

  ‘Oh, me?’ says her dad. ‘I don’t know anything about codes. You know me, I prefer baking biscuits. Especially lemon biscuits,’ he says mysteriously.

  ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Billie says, giggling.

  ‘Oh, nothing,’ says her dad. ‘I just thought I might make some lemon biscuits this week. I like to use my secret recipe.’

  ‘Secret recipe?’ Billie asked, feeling curious. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Well, I have to hide it so no-one can steal my secret,’ he explains. ‘It’s hidden in a place only I know how to find. A warm place. A very warm place, in fact.’

  Billie thinks her dad is acting very strangely. Is he trying to tell me something? she wonders.

  But before she can ask, he kisses her on her forehead and tucks her blanket in.

  ‘All right, time for sleep now,’ he says. ‘School tomorrow.’

  Billie snuggles into bed and thinks happily about tomorrow’s code.

  She hopes it will be easy for her to crack it. But it would also be nice if it was a little bit hard, so that her friends will know what a good detective she is!

  Alex is already waiting under the peppercorn tree when Billie and Jack arrive at school the next day.

  ‘It’s here!’ Alex calls, waving a brown paper envelope in the air. ‘It’s here!’

  Billie and Jack run up to him.

  ‘Pass it to me?’ Billie begs excitedly. ‘Remember you said I could look at it first!’

  Alex shakes his head. ‘We have to wait for Mika. That’s the rule.’

  ‘All right,’ Billie nods but her fingers twitch in frustration. Hurry up, Mika! she thinks impatiently, but she knows it’s not Mika’s fault she is always late.

  Finally Mika arrives, just as the bell goes. Billie, Jack and Alex run up to her at the school gate.

  ‘Quick! Quick!’ Billie says. ‘Let me open the letter!’

  Alex hands the envelope to Billie who rips it open, almost tearing the paper inside. She tips it out and the four of them stare at what is written there.

  ‘It’s backwards!’ blurts Jack. Then suddenly he turns very red. ‘Oh gosh, Billie!’ he says, clamping his hand over his mouth, a horrified look on his face.

  Billie gasps. ‘You promised, Jack!’

  ‘I didn’t mean it!’ he says.

  ‘I’m sorry! I really am! It’s just that Dad and I were doing backwards spelling only last night. That’s how he teaches me how to spell hard words. I wasn’t thinking. Please don’t be mad at me!’

  But Billie feels her heart grow as heavy as a stone. She knows Jack didn’t mean to crack the code. But she still feels hurt and her head sizzles angrily. She shoves the note into Jack’s hands. ‘You work it out then!’ she says gruffly.

  ‘I guess you’re better off without me after all.’

  Then she storms off to class, tears springing into her eyes.

  But as soon as Billie sits down at her desk she feels bad. Jack is her best friend. She knows he wouldn’t say anything to upset her on purpose.

  Then she thinks about the joke he made yesterday — that if she got any grumpier she would have no friends at all!

  He’s right, Billie thinks. This is a Secret Mystery CLUB. It doesn’t matter who cracks the codes. We’re all in this together.

  Billie makes a promise to herself that she will be much nicer to her friends in future. Even if things do seem a little bit unfair.

  When the bell rings for recess, Billie takes her time going out to the playground. Her friends are all waiting for her under the peppercorn tree.

  ‘I’m really sorry,’ Billie says to Jack, hanging her head. ‘I shouldn’t have shouted at you. I just feel so bad that I haven’t been able to crack any of the codes. You’re all so much better at this than me.’

  ‘No, we’re not!’ Mika says. ‘Mine was just easy because it was in Japanese.’

  ‘And mine was easy for me because I’m good with numbers.’ Alex shrugs.

  ‘And my dad always writes notes for me in backwards writing,’ Jack says.

  Billie frowns, thinking about what her friends have said. ‘It’s a bit weird, isn’t it?’ she says. ‘It’s like each note was meant for one of us.’

  ‘Very weird,’ agrees Mika. ‘They must have been written by someone who knows us well.’

  ‘Wait,’ says Jack. ‘If there is a note for each of us then that means…’

  ‘There’s one note left!’ Billie realises happily. ‘For me!’

  Jack nods, smiling. ‘I wrote the note out in class,’ he says, pulling the rumpled paper out of his pocket.

  They all gather around to read it.

  Jack looks up at them all. ‘There’s one last note,’ he explains. ‘And it’s under my bed.’

  ‘How do you know it’s your bed?’ Mika asks.

  Jack grins. ‘That’s what my dad calls our dog. The Beast.’

  ‘Scraps isn’t exactly a beast!’ Alex says, laughing.

  The others giggle.

  ‘So, when we crack the last code, we’ll be able to solve the mystery of where the notes are leading us,’ Jack says. ‘And I have a feeling the last clue will be for Billie.’

  Billie feels her heart soar. The last clue is mine! she thinks happily.

  The Secret Mystery Club decide they can’t wait until the next day to find the letter, so they all ask their parents if they can go to Jack’s house after school.

  As soon as they arrive, the four of them run up to Jack’s room. Sure enough, in the dust and gloom under his bed, a little white envelope shines brightly.

  Jack pulls it out and hands it to Billie. ‘The last letter!’ he says.

  The others all gather around Billie, waiting.

  ‘Open it! Open it!’ Mika begs.

  Billie sits cross-legged on the floor with the envelope in her hands. Written across the front in pale blue writing, are the words:

  Her heart is flipping about like a bird. What if I can’t crack this code? she worries. Then she reminds herself: Of course I’ll be able to! This one’s for ME!

  With trembling hands, Billie pulls open the seal and reaches inside the envelope for the slip of paper. Then she unfolds it and smooths it on the floor in front of her.

  Everyone gasps.

  There is nothing written there. Nothing at all.

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ Jack says, quietly. He puts his hand on Billie’s shou
lder.

  Billie stares down at the paper. She can’t believe it either. How could the very last note — her note — have nothing written on it? Is this an awful trick? Is there nothing at the end of this trail of notes after all?

  But then an idea comes to her.

  Someone knew Mika could read Japanese, she thinks. And that Alex was good with numbers and Jack could read backwards. She remembers her dad telling her that every detective has different skills.

  Suddenly, Billie has the answer. She looks up at her friends. ‘Don’t worry!’ she says, grinning. ‘I think I know how to read the note. Follow me!’ She stands up with the letter in her hand and dashes out of Jack’s room.

  Jack, Mika and Alex run after Billie, down the stairs, through the kitchen, out the back door and into Jack’s garden. One by one, they squeeze through the hole in the fence and into Billie’s garden.

  Billie waits impatiently for them at the back door to her house. ‘Dad’s baking!’ she says. ‘And I’ll bet they’re lemon biscuits.’

  The others look at each other, confused.

  ‘Come on!’ says Billie, leading them into the kitchen. The oven is on, but her dad has left the room. She can hear him talking to Noah upstairs.

  Billie runs to the oven and flattens the paper onto the warm glass.

  Nothing happens for a moment. Billie holds her breath, crossing her fingers. Then slowly, as they watch, pale brown letters and shapes begin to appear across the page.

  Mika gasps. ‘How did you do that?’

  ‘It’s written in lemon juice,’ Billie explains. ‘Dad and I saw it on a science show once. When the lemon juice heats up the writing turns brown.’

  As they stare at the paper five letters and a drawing appears:

  ‘What does that mean?’ Alex says.

  ‘Well, that’s an apple tree, obviously,’ Billie says. ‘SMC is us. And HQ stands for headquarters.’

  ‘Secret Mystery Club Headquarters apple tree?’ Jack says, frowning.

  Billie dashes out the back door again. ‘Follow me!’ she yells over her shoulder.

  She runs all the way to the end of her garden, with the others close behind.

  There, by the chook pen, is their enormous apple tree. Dangling from its branches is a long, thin cord.

  Billie pulls it, and a rope ladder comes tumbling down. She squeals in delight.

  Billie scrambles up the ladder and gasps when she sees what is hidden there.

  ‘It’s a treehouse!’ she yells to the others down below. ‘Oh, wow, it’s brilliant! Come up — it’s the coolest thing you’ve ever seen.’

  One by one, the others climb up the ladder to the platform of the little wooden treehouse.

  Billie feels like her heart might burst with happiness.

  It’s the most perfect treehouse she could ever imagine, just big enough for four people, and hidden away from the world. ‘This can be our clubhouse!’ Billie says. ‘The SMC headquarters. Just like it said on the note.’

  ‘This is incredible!’ Jack says.

  ‘It’s beautiful!’ Mika sighs.

  ‘Amazing!’ says Alex. ‘Who could have built it?’

  Billie peers out through the leaves across her back garden.

  From where she is sitting she has a perfect view of their kitchen. Through the windows she can see her dad inside, taking the lemon biscuits out of the oven.

  At that moment he looks up and gives a little wave. Billie smiles. ‘I think I know,’ she says.

  Jack looks down and sees Billie’s dad too. ‘Your dad?’

  Billie nods. ‘He’s been acting very weirdly lately. And he borrowed tools from Alex’s dad the other day.’

  ‘But how could he have done it without you noticing?’ Jack asks.

  ‘Well, I’ve been kind of busy,’ Billie says. ‘Following a trail of secret notes. And cracking codes!’

  ‘What? You think he wrote all those notes, too?’ Mika says. ‘But he can’t write Japanese!’

  ‘No, but your mum can,’ Billie says. ‘And Jack’s dad is very good at backwards writing.’

  ‘Oh!’ says Alex. ‘You think all our parents were in on it?’

  Billie shrugs. ‘Dad was on the phone to your parents a lot this week.’

  It is all coming together now in Billie’s mind.

  ‘But, hold on,’ Alex says, frowning. ‘How did your dad even know about our club? I thought we had all sworn not to tell anyone!’

  Billie looks at Jack. His cheeks turn very pink.

  ‘That was my fault,’ he says quietly.

  ‘I got scared when Billie was talking about the Spooky House.

  I told my mum about it. She must have told Billie’s dad.’

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ Billie says. ‘It was my fault for scaring you. And besides, if my dad hadn’t found out about the club he might never have built us this amazing clubhouse!’

  ‘Or organised all those codes to crack!’ Mika agrees.

  ‘Yeah, I guess it doesn’t matter,’ Alex says. ‘As long as it’s only our parents. But no one else, OK?’

  ‘OK!’ everyone agrees. Then Jack does the SMC rooster call just to seal the deal and everyone laughs.

  ‘It doesn’t feel like we solved a real mystery though,’ Mika sighs. ‘Now we know our parents set it up.’

  ‘Yeah, I wish we had a real mystery to solve,’ Alex agrees.

  They all look at Billie.

  Billie is thinking about something. She picks a leaf from the apple tree and rolls it between her fingers.

  Finally she turns to them. ‘I think I have the perfect mystery,’ she says, smiling. ‘Meet me in the playground before school tomorrow.’

  ‘What is it?’ says Alex, eagerly.

  ‘You’ll have to wait and see,’ says Billie. ‘But don’t worry. You won’t be disappointed.’

  To be continued …

  Code Breakers

  published in 2013 by

  Hardie Grant Egmont

  Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street

  Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia

  www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au

  eISBN: 9781743581315

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.

  A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia.

  Text copyright © 2013 Sally Rippin

  Illustration copyright © 2013 Aki Fukuoka

  Series design copyright © 2013 Hardie Grant Egmont

  Design by Stephanie Spartels