Free Mystery in the Computer Game by Gertrude Chandler Warner Page B

have smiley faces!” Soo Lee said. “This must be a good tree.”
    Several clicks later, Violet had the computer children safely resting in the branches of the magic apple tree.
    Henry and Jessie then took turns using the mouse to guide the children through dangerous adventures until all the computer children and their dog were found and brought together.
    “All together. Just like us,” Soo Lee said.
    The computer children stood at the bottom of a hill that arose from a valley.
    “Doesn’t that hill look odd?” Jessie asked. “It’s all covered with vines.”
    Soo Lee remembered the tree with the finger branches. “Ooo. Be careful.”
    Jessie had an idea. She tipped the container of poison liquid to drop a little on the vines. Instantly the vines shriveled up. “Look! There’s an old house underneath the vines!” she cried, pleased with her decision.
    Benny clicked the claw-shaped door knocker, the door creaked open, and the computer children, along with Tracker, stepped into a cavelike room.
    On-screen, the Aldens saw a large gold bell with a rim of jewels at the bottom.
    “What do the words on the bell say, Jessie?” Soo Lee asked.
    Jessie read them aloud:
    “Behold, to find the ring you seek,
    Within your treasures you must peek.
    Present yourselves all alone,
    Not one minute do postpone.
    Make your offerings to the bell,
    Give every wish and every spell.”
    Benny tugged at Jessie’s elbow. “What should we do?”
    Jessie thought for a second. “I have a feeling the characters must give up all the magic in their packs before they can find the ring.”
    Benny wasn’t so sure about this. “We can’t! What if we need some of the spells and things?”
    Jessie put her arm around Benny. “At the end of stories and games like Ringmaster, the characters sometimes have to go through the hardest part of their quest all by themselves, with no magic to help them.”
    Each of the children took a turn clicking on the backpacks of the on-screen children.
    When the last pack was empty, another pop-up message appeared. This time Violet read it:
    “Behold, you stand before the bell
    Empty-handed, without a spell.
    Think hard and think faster,
    Ring the bell to become a Ringmaster.”
    Violet stared at the jeweled bell on the screen. She clicked on it, but nothing happened. “‘Ring the bell,’” she said. “I wonder what that really means.” She stared some more. “Wait! Let me try one more thing.” With that, she guided the mouse to place all the children on-screen in a circle around the jeweled rim of the bell. Suddenly the bell separated, leaving a beautiful jeweled ring floating by itself in the air.

    “You made a ring around the bell, Violet,” Henry said. “That’s what the message meant. Look, the Magician is coming onscreen.”
    In his royal blue robes, the Magician walked over to the ring and picked it up. “I pronounce you Ringmasters!” his voice rang out through the computer speaker. “You have found the ring. Game over.”
    The Aldens jumped up and down.
    “We won the game!” Benny yelled. “Now we’re real Ringmasters. Hooray!”

CHAPTER 2
A New Quest
    The next afternoon, the Aldens headed out for their appointment at the QuestMaster Company, just outside Greenfield.
    “I’ve never driven a car full of magic Ringmasters around before,” Grandfather said. “And here’s the place where they make the magic,” he added when he turned into the QuestMaster parking lot.
    Benny stared at the ordinary brick building up ahead. “That? It sure doesn’t look like much.”
    Indeed, there wasn’t a cave or a castle or a haunted house in sight. The small sign in front of the large brick building said QUESTMASTER in plain letters—nothing like the red-and-yellow flame letters on the Ringmaster game box.
    “Don’t be too disappointed,” Mr. Alden said when he parked the car. “My friend John Romer said his nephew, Charles, designed the building for hard work and hard play, too.