Free Edison's Gold by Geoff Watson Page A

reptile room. Follow me, Mantis.” The woman wafted out into the hallway; Tom prodded Noodle with a helpful push.
    â€œNo way, T. You better not be leaving me alone with that—”
    â€œNoodle, you’re the smooth operator,” Tom hissed back. “Be charming. Make her laugh with your jokes. Pet the puppies. It’ll buy us some time to check the place out.”
    â€œMaaaaan-tis!” Mitzi trilled from down the hall. “I’m sure we can find you a dog!”
    â€œMaaaaan-tis!” squawked Yoo-Hoo.
    â€œThat’s your cue,” said Colby. “Mantis!”

O nce Mitzi and Noodle had left the room, Tom and Colby wasted no time squeezing themselves between the two towers of stacked glass cages. In one cage, a diamond-backed snake reared back, its tiny fangs bared at Colby. She instinctively moved a little closer to Tom and shuddered. Colby was on overload, trying hard to be nonphobic in the face of all these germy animals.
    â€œOn three. Lift and slide.” As Tom’s fingertips hooked under two corners of a bottom cage, readying himself, three salamanders scurried to its other end and stared up at him with black, unblinking eyes.
    â€œOne … two … three …” The metal screeched against the wood.
    â€œShe mighta heard that,” said Colby, cutting her eyes toward the door.
    They waited, breath held, for Mitzi and Yoo-Hoo to come storming into the room, but there was no sign of them. Tom and Colby were in the clear. For now.
    Tom turned toward the now exposed brick wall behind the stack of cages. At first glance, it didn’t look too promising, so he ran his hand along its rough surface, his fingers searching the braille-like grooves for some sort of clue. And then he felt something.
    Near the bottom of the wall, in the middle of the brick, was a small indentation and a smooth patch no bigger than a quarter. He knelt, his face inches from the floor, and came eye to eye with an encircled rose imprint etched into the brick.
    â€œColb!” he whispered loudly. “Over here. It’s the seal of the Sub Rosa!”
    â€œShut up!” Her jaw was on the floor as she huddled in close next to Tom. “Up till now, this all seemed too farfetched … but …” She reached her hand out to touch the sanded grooves of the rose petals.
    The mortar surrounding the brick was a differenttexture, Tom realized. Lighter, too, as if it had been more recently replaced. Something must be hidden behind that brick.
    â€œHow can we get to it?” Tom wondered aloud. “Ugh. I never have C-four explosives when I need them.”
    â€œThat’s one sentence you are never, ever allowed to say in the presence of my nana.”
    Tom leaned against the wall and wracked his brain. Mitzi would be back soon—even Noodle couldn’t keep her occupied forever—and there was no way to get through that brick. In a week and a half, he’d be in Kansas and might never get an opportunity like this again. If he could just get his hands on a strong acid.
    Vinegar’s acidic
, Tom thought.
But not enough, unless I combine it with something corrosive
.
    Chemical combinations and reactions swirled through his mind at rapid-fire speed, years and years of basement experiments coming back to him.
    After a moment, Tom popped to his feet, snapping his fingers.
    â€œAll right, Colb,” he said, turning to her, his face the picture of focus. “We need to split up.”
    â€œUh-uh, Tom. I know that look. What’s going on inside that brain of yours?”
    â€œI can’t explain right now, but chemically speaking, this should work.”
    â€œOn second thought, I don’t even wanna know what—”
    â€œI know you don’t. But we don’t have time. You need to go to the bathroom, get us some powdered bleach, a plastic bucket if you can find one, and a whole buncha paper towels. And whatever you