Free Click Here to Start by Denis Markell Page A

that would make different colors.”
    Isabel puts the book down and does a quick search. “Nope, nothing.”
    “So glad you agree,” Caleb says.
    “I was just making sure,” Isabel retorts.
    Time to change the subject.
    “Guys! Guys! Who says it has to be liquid? Or even light? Maybe it just refers to the order of the colors.”
    I reach down and pull off some books that are stacked on their sides. There behind them on the shelf is a series of books with different-colored jackets.
    My heart starts to beat a little faster. This is where the walkthrough let me down.
    Where
is
that last book?
    I kneel down, and the others join me.
    “Caleb, read off the numbers on the paper. Isabel, find the corresponding color, and we’ll see what happens….What’s the first number?”
    Caleb goes to the desk and peers at the paper under the light.
    “475,” he reports.
    “475 nanometers…that’s blue!” Isabel calls out excitedly.
    I pull out the colored books and replace the blue-covered book first.
    “570.”
    “That’s yellow!”
    “400.”
    “Violet!”
    I feel my hands go damp. I know what’s coming next.
    “510.”
    “Green!”
    I search the bookcase, just like I did the night before in the game. As I know only too well, there is no green book.
    “Uh, guys…there’s no green book,” I sigh, sitting back on my heels. So the walkthrough really was accurate. No book. Now what?
    There’s silence in the room. Then, unexpectedly, laughter.
    Isabel is laughing. But this time, it’s her annoying, grown-up, “I know something you don’t know” laugh. “Oh my gosh! Who would have thought?”
    “What?” I ask irritably.
    “Remember yesterday, when you said I could take home any book I liked?”
    “Yeah…” The truth begins to dawn on me.
    “You don’t mean…,” Caleb says.
    Isabel goes to her backpack and fishes around. She pulls out something and holds it in front of her.
    “Shakespeare’s sonnets. I always wanted a nice copy, so I took it home.”
    It’s covered in a beautiful green jacket. So that’s it.
    Caleb takes the book and riffles through it. “So after you read these, you can tell us if they’re any good.”
    I’m still trying to figure out how the game knew the book wasn’t in the room, so I’m only half listening to the following conversation: “They’re amazing. Some of the greatest poems ever written.”
    “Wait…you’ve actually read all these?”
    Isabel nods. “That’s nothing. There was a guy at my school who memorized them.”
    “Whoa.” Caleb whistles. “That’s some punishment. What did he do? Set fire to the girls’ bathroom or something?”
    “It wasn’t a punishment,” Isabel says simply. “He wanted to do it. It was fun.”
    That last sentence hangs in the air, refusing to go anywhere, like a fart in an elevator.
    Finally, Caleb, master of knowing exactly what not to say, pipes up. “Ted can burp the entire alphabet.” This is said with exactly the right mixture of pride and awe that Caleb must think will make any New York City private-school girl gasp in admiration.
    But somehow, amazingly, Isabel looks less than impressed.
    I realize it’s time for me to take back control of the situation.
    Carefully, I place the green book next to the others. “What’s the last number?” I ask, eyeing the remaining volumes.
    “650,” Caleb says, his voice hardly above a whisper.
    “That’s red,” Isabel adds, her voice trembling with excitement.
    “Here goes nothing,” I say as I slide the final book into place.

There is a creaking noise, and I jump back as the entire bookshelf seems to close in on itself.
    It takes a moment for me to realize it’s actually hinged in the middle, and some catch has been released.
    Holding my breath, I gently push against the center books, and the whole thing pivots, pulling back and revealing a small compartment.
    In the center is a wooden chest. I’m about to reach in, when—
    “I don’t think you wanna do that.”
    I