Free The Rules by Nancy Holder

that Beth had picked out a college.
    Thea was mostly studying her own feet, as if she was afraid she would step on a land mine or something. There was sufficient broken glass and debris on the ground to necessitate shuffling along with intense care. Tripping up here could mean a tetanus shot.
    They reached the edge of the cliff and aimed their flashlights downward. Watery light pierced through the swirling fog, revealing patches of ice plant and the outlines of a tile roof. Beyond that was forest; below, the Pacific rushed and retreated in a syncopated rhythm.
    “This path is practically vertical,” Thea muttered. “This must be a false lead. August wouldn’t make us go down there.”
    “Soap on a
rope,
” Robin said triumphantly.
    “Oh, yeah, duh, huh. You’re right,” Beth said happily. “So, we’re looking for rope or a boat or something they have in common.”
    Thea moved back from the edge of the cliff and shifted her weight. “They both have four letters and an
O
for the second letter.”
    “And when we’re playing Scrabble…,” Beth began.
    “Be nice.” Thea sounded hurt. She gave Robin her full attention. “What do
you
think?”
    “Well, you tie a boat to a dock using a rope, don’t you?” Robin said.
    Thea brightened while Beth seemed to ponder this.
    “So maybe we have to find a piece of rope that’s tying up a boat, or at least by a boat. And boats are by the water. And the water is at the bottom of this vertical drop.”
    “And there you have the fine mind of Robin Brissett!” Beth cried.
    “Which is down there in the depths of watery death,” Robin added. “Thea does have a point.”
    “Oh my God, are you channeling Edgar Allan Poe or what? It will be fine.” Beth took the first step off the cliff and down the path. “See, no slipping. No monsters. None at all.”
    Thea crossed her arms. “I’ll wait up here.”
    “We all have to go,” Beth insisted. “Or we’ll be disqualified.”
    “He never said that.” Thea hesitated. “He didn’t, right, Robin?”
    “He has spies,” Beth countered.
    “Who? What if we run into some stranger and we don’t know if they’re one of the spies or some child molester?”
    “Oh my God, Thea,” Beth said. “This is the real world, not some cheesy horror movie.”
    Thea frowned. “Or Jackson. What if Jackson shows?”
    “He has no idea where you are,” Beth said.
    “But—”
    “I have two words for you:
test answers.
” Beth turned to Robin with a devilish grin. “I mean, Thea dearest,
your
specific prize is a loaded credit card, and of course you and I will choose the limo for our team prize because the test answers are immoral. So, Mick Jagger’s butt on the same leather as your butt.”
    Robin smiled to herself. Her prize would be coffee with Kyle. Kyle au lait.
    “Your smile is freaky,” Beth said. “Is it because you’re fangirling on Mick Jagger?”
    Robin smiled some more.
    “
Robin,
stop it. You’re acting all weird,” Thea said.
    “Ladies, we’re wasting time,” Beth said. “Thea, no one is going to try to kill us.”
    “Okay,
okay
!” Thea cried. “But if we die, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
    “I’ll go first,” Robin volunteered. “We can put Thea in the middle so if someone attacks us from behind, they’ll get Beth.”
    Beth made kissy noises at Robin. “I love you, too.”
    The loud wail of an electric guitar bounced off the buildings and arced overhead like a comet as they formed a line. Robin heard the distant
popa-popa-popa
of the generators.
    This night is already pretty crazy,
she thought.
I wonder how far these people will go to win this game.
    And then she began her descent.
CAGE’S RULE #1: Winning is good; working for it is bad.
    Morgan’s clue card read:
Taking someone else’s measure
    Gives you such sadistic pleasure
    Cage’s page was a series of pictures:

    Cage took Morgan’s clue—the poem—and held it below his. He considered various possible solutions, none of which