He was right about one thing. I didn’t have friends. But he was wrong about why. By the time I got to high school, I realized the best chance for me to have the life I wanted when I grew up was to go to a good college. I studied so hard I stopped hanging out with my friends. Then they stopped inviting me anywhere. I was alone all the time, so I studied more. Eventually, the only people who tried to talk to me were just trying to study with me because I was smart. I wasn’t happy about it, but at least I would have the chance to start all over in college.
But Jason knew everyone in the entire school, and they all liked him. He could talk about me if he wanted to, but he didn’t know the first thing about me. He didn’t know what it was like being the little nerdy one. He didn’t know what it was like spending all day surrounded by people you had to compete with. Jason is popular, and a popular kid would never understand what it’s like to be me.
When Jason stood up and said, “Let’s go,” I was glad for the interruption.
He left the hotel room without looking back, with Steve following behind him. I had to jog down the hallway to keep up with them, and I tried to read the poem on the way. The paper jiggled and I couldn’t read it until we got in the elevator. It made no sense to me at all. The treasure could be anywhere. The elevator doors opened right when I took out the magazine. I had just enough time to see there were four places featured on the cover. I had no idea which one Jason was taking me to.
“Jason, where are we going?”
“Let me worry about that.”
I rolled my eyes. Now he’s the one being a jerk.
But I was worried. Jason might have the clue totally wrong. “The poem said it was crowded. Are we going to the ballpark?”
Jason didn’t answer.
“The park?” Come on, Jason, tell me something, I thought.
Jason walked faster through the hotel lobby. His eyes searched for something, but I didn’t know what. He must have found what he was looking for because he made a sharp turn before we got to the hotel front doors. We ended up in some kind of maintenance hallway. I couldn’t tell if it was part of the hotel.
“Where are we going?” I asked again.
Even though I was behind him, I could tell he was smiling. I wanted to wipe that smile right off his face. Finally I said, “If you don’t answer me, I’m taking these clues and I’m going out on my own.”
Jason just said, “Bye.”
He called my bluff. We both knew the rules said we couldn’t split up. We’d be disqualified. It would be so embarrassing if everyone got a message that said, “Team Williams Disqualified: Sibling rivalry.” So I was stuck trailing behind my brother. It was the blind leading the blind.
There were glass doors at the end of the hall, and people rushed by. Jason pushed open a door and stopped. It looked like we were in an underground mall. There was a drug store, a place that sold fancy dresses, and a market. Jason turned left. We passed an electronics store and a place that sold watches. This doesn’t fit the clue at all, I thought, panicking.
Jason rushed along like everyone else. People bumped into me, and I had to swerve to avoid them. Some of the people looked like they were coming from work. Some pulled suitcases on wheels. Some looked like they just had the worst day of their lives. I could totally relate to them. The whole time I was dodging people, I was on the lookout for Team Touchdown and Team Heartbeat. But for all I knew, they had already won.
Further along there was a big archway that said Main Concourse and opened into a large hall. Once we passed under that, I knew where we were. We were in a train station. There were smaller archways labeled with track numbers and a lighted sign with departure and arrival times.
Jason stopped to look at the sign.
“Are you sure this is where we’re supposed to be?” I asked.
He glared at me. “Are you sure it isn’t?”
“No,” I mumbled. I wanted to go off on him about running into this plan without talking to me about it first, but now wasn’t the time.
Jason seemed pretty confident this was the right place. I didn’t get a chance to read any of the information, so all I could do was follow him. He looked to be stuck now, though. I tried not to stomp my foot in frustration. My eyes darted around the crowds, looking for anyone wearing a yellow or blue tracksuit.
“Give me the poem,” he said.
I handed it to him and watched his lips move while he read it. “We need to check all the corners and not obvious places.”
“We don’t have time to check all the corners!” I screamed so loud my voice echoed. The people passing by moved away from me, which, honestly, was probably a good idea.
Chapter
24
Jason
I could tell Jaz was furious. She didn’t think I was right, but she couldn’t tell me I was wrong because she had no idea where we were supposed to go. If we lost Treasure Hunt, this moment still made it all worth it. Especially since I was positive we were in the right place.
The article about the train station had a paragraph about all of the eateries and shops in the station. It actually said the line find everything but the kitchen sink, just like the poem. Not only that, but we were trying to find something—even if we didn’t know exactly what it was. But I don’t think it was the kitchen sink. Another paragraph said they had filmed movies here. Now I just had to figure out what to do next.
While I was trying to decide, Jaz shoved me hard. I stumbled into the room where the ticket machines were. Steve jumped out of the way, then aimed the camera at me.
“Why did you do that?” I demanded.
“Team Touchdown is here,” she whispered frantically.
I tried not to panic. “Well, now we’re stuck in a room with only one way out.”
Jaz peeked out. “They’re at the information desk. Maybe we can make a run for it.”
“In our red outfits?” As soon as I said it, I knew what we needed to do. “Jaz, take off your jacket.”
“What? Is that allowed?”
“We’ll stand out in these. Just do it.” I took off mine and threw it behind a ticket machine. Then Jaz did the same.
Team Touchdown was still at the information desk, talking to the person in the booth. I led Jaz and Steve up the nearest flight of stairs. When we got there we hid behind a sign until they left. I realized we were hiding outside of a restaurant, and the waitress was staring at us.
“Are you guys okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “But maybe you can help us?”
“I’ll try.”
I knew Jaz probably thought I was wasting our time again, but I didn’t care. “We’re trying to find hidden corners or secret places in the station. Nooks and crannies.”
“Hmmm. The only thing I can think of is the Hall of Secrets,” she said.
“What’s that?” My heart thumped in my chest. I had a feeling that was exactly what I was looking for. I looked at Jaz, and instead of being frustrated, she looked as excited as I felt.
“It’s an old spot in the station—it has the most beautiful architecture. And the design makes sound travel really well. They say if you stand in opposite corners and whisper into the wall, you can hear each other.”
She gave us directions and we sprinted to the Hall of Secrets. It was on the far side of the station, and we were the only ones there. Jaz and I stood in separate corners like two boxers and faced the wall.
For a moment, I just stood there. Then I took a deep breath and asked, “Can you hear me?” I felt dumb talking to the wall.
“Oh! Yeah—I can!” Jaz’s voice came back loud and clear.
If I had time I would have wanted to figure out how it worked, but with Team Touchdown wandering around somewhere, I knew we had to hurry. Before we could figure out what to do next, a woman walked into the hall.
“Does this really work?” she asked us.
I nodded. “It’s weird.”
“Will you whisper something to me?” Jaz gave me a “w
e don’t have time for this” look, but I wasn’t going to be rude.
I went back to my corner and whispered, “Hello.”
“Hellooooooo,” she said back. “I have something for you.”
I turned around and she grinned. She walked over and handed me a key.
Our eyes widened in shock.
“What does it open?” I asked the woman.
She just smiled and disappeared up the stairs.
Chapter
25
Jazmine
I stared at the key resting in Jason’s palm in surprise. I didn’t want to admit it, but Jason had this whole thing figured out just by sitting down and looking at the materials. He had been right this whole time. We didn’t have to rush around. We needed to take some time to think. We needed other people’s help.
“Now what?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I guess we start trying doors.”
We were like spies, sneaking around the train station, looking out for Team Touchdown and Team Heartbeat. We had to duck twice to avoid Team Touchdown, but we could tell they didn’t have a key. We started by trying doors in the main hall, but the key didn’t work on any of them. After a while, we were out of doors.
Jason stopped and looked around. “The tracks,” he said.
I followed him through an archway that led to the tracks. Ramps led passengers down to where the trains stopped, but there weren’t many people waiting in the middle of the afternoon. The trains ran below us, and a walkway ran the length of the building across them.
Jason found a door tucked behind a wall. “There are doors down here. It looks like there’s a pattern. A door above each track.”
“Jason, there are at least twenty tracks. That’s going to take forever.”
He turned to me and grinned. “Well then, we better run.”
We ran from door to door trying the locks. After about five doors, I spotted Team Touchdown trying doors on the other end. I pointed them out, and Jason’s eyes got big. For once, he didn’t stand there and think about it.
Chapter
26
Jason
There was only one thing to do, even though I hated it. I gave Jaz the key. She was faster than me when she ran, even though I had longer legs. She also had a steadier hand. She was our only hope. And if Team Touchdown got to the correct door first, we were out of luck. It was all a game of chance now, and the only advantage we had was speed.
I didn’t have to tell Jaz what I wanted her to do. It was like in track, when they hand the baton to the last runner. I ran behind her as she tried door after door. A few people moved out of our way when they saw us coming. We were definitely moving faster than Team Touchdown, even though they sped up when they saw us.
There were only five doors left between us and them. Jaz was so focused she didn’t fumble at a single lock. Two doors down, the key worked.
Team Touchdown saw our door open and stopped running. They made their way to us with defeated looks on their faces. There was nothing for them to do now but watch.
Jaz pushed the door open just a tiny bit. I peeked in over her head. The room wasn’t much bigger than a walk-in closet. There were cameras in the corners and screens on the wall. We could see ourselves and Team Touchdown behind us. Another screen showed Team Double Trouble sitting in their hotel room watching us on the TV. A third showed Team Red Ponytail back at the Lindale Chamber of Commerce building watching us. The last screen showed Team Heartbeat running up and down the bleachers at the ballpark. They never had a chance.
A man sat in a chair watching the screens.
I said, “Excuse me?”
He didn’t turn around. He just said, “Be right with you.”
I tried to figure out why his voice was familiar. Then he turned around. Jaz and I cracked up. It was Mr. Beefy Burger himself. He grinned at us and said, “Fannnnn-taste-ic!”
He walked over and handed us each a bag of Mr. Beefy Burger food. “Congratulations! You must be hungry!”
“My little brother, Brian, loves your commercial!” I said, still laughing. “And your food. Can you say hello to him?”
Mr. Beefy Burger asked my brother’s name, then faced the camera. “Helllllllloooooo, Brian! Thanks for your support. Mr. Beefy Burger is a proud sponsor of Treasure Hunt, and we’re going to send you a Mr. Beefy Burger T-shirt!”
I looked at Jaz. She was already shoving fries into her mouth.
Chapter
27
Jazmine
Mr. Beefy Burger and Jason stood with me and we faced the camera. Mr. Beefy Burger said, “I have something for you!” He pulled something from his pocket.
When I saw another Treasure Hunt envelope I almost had a heart attack. We were supposed to be done. This was supposed to be where we got a gigantic fake check that said $20,000 on it. I was ready to go home. Mr. Beefy Burger handed the envelope to Jason, who looked like he wanted to cry. And not happy tears either.
Jason opened the envelope. Inside was a normal-sized check for $20,000. I screamed and hugged Jason. I didn’t think he would hug me back, but he did.
He turned to the camera and held up the check. “Bri! We did it! You’re getting a new bike, man!”
I imagined Brian’s face when he found out we won. He would be so happy. I wanted to say something on camera too.
I cleared my throat. “I have something to say. I owe Jason an apology. I said some really horrible things to him. He didn’t deserve that. He is the kindest, most patient person I know. He’s not dumb. He figured out the last clue totally by himself. I would have missed every clue in the packet, and we would have lost.”
Jason looked at the ground, suddenly all shy. Steve aimed the camera at him, and he said, “Thanks, Jaz. I know you just wanted us to win.”
I took Jason’s hand and lifted it in the air. Team Touchdown and their cameraperson clapped for us.
Steve said, “Tell viewers what you’ll do with the money.”
Jason and I looked at each other. That was the twenty-thousand dollar question. Neither one of us wanted to answer it, either. As far as I was concerned, we’d done enough arguing on camera.
“Well?” said Steve.
At the same time, Jason and I said, “Split it.”
About the Author
Nikki Shannon Smith is from Oakland, California, but she now lives in the Central Valley with her husband and two children. She has worked in elementary education for over twenty-five years and writes everything from picture books to young adult novels. When she’s not busy with family, work, or writing, she loves to visit the coast. The first thing she packs in her suitcase is always a book.
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