The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck (12 page)

Laurie hung up with a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ever since she'd been in school, it had been the same thing, Laurie and Kimmy, Kimmy and Laurie. The wonder twins, two peas in a pod, joined at the hip. They used to talk every night.

She'd been figuring that if she found the treasure, her parents would let her do whatever she wanted. But if she wasn't going to find it, she needed to figure out another way to get to Hamilton. And fast. Or else there wouldn't be any Laurie and Kimmy anymore. Just Laurie.

Bud and Laurie sat in the cafeteria staring gloomily at the piece of paper with the notes on it. Laurie sighed. This was it then. The end of the line. Maria Tutweiler had beaten them fair and square.

“We're going to have to accept it. She beat us.”

“Oh, come on …”

“No, Bud. If it's words, we don't know them. If it's a title, we don't have it. The only thing we have left is playing the stupid song, which we can't do. Or asking for help, which we're not going to do. So we're beat.”

“I'm not giving up, Laurie.” Bud clenched his teeth.

“Fine, then figure it out.” Laurie punched Bud on the shoulder. “Work those pipes, Chorus Boy. Can't you hum it? Because that's all we've got.” Laurie tried to sound enthusiastic, but she failed miserably. Even if they managed to figure out what the song was, what good would it do? They wouldn't even know what to do with it.

Bud cleared his throat and looked around. His ears were getting red. “I could … okay. I guess.” He cleared his throat again and attempted a rusty-sounding hum. Laurie gave him a sideways glance. Did Bud even use that voice? Didn't sound like an angel to her. She didn't say anything, though. She figured if she pointed out that he sounded like a creaky iron gate, he'd clam up altogether.

After a few more awkward throat clearings, Bud seemed to loosen up a little.

“Du du du du … hmmm.” Bud hesitated. “Du du du du …” He glanced at Laurie to see if she was laughing at him, but she didn't seem to be. He relaxed a little and hummed a little louder. “Du du du du …”

“Du du du du.” Misti joined in as she threw her lunch bag onto the table. “BOM BOM BOM. Three o'clock, time to go home! I wish.”

Misti pulled out her sandwich, jerked her head at Bud, and rolled her eyes at Laurie. “Not every day, huh? Right.”

Laurie and Bud stared at her openmouthed. Misti stopped midchew and looked nervously from one to the other. “What? It's the bell-tower clock chime, right? That's what you guys were doing?”

Bud and Laurie gasped and stared at each other. “The bell-tower clock chime!”

Misti let the sandwich drop onto the table. “You guys are freaking me out.” She reached over and pulled the piece of paper toward her. “Is that it written out? What are you guys doing?”

Bud glanced at Laurie. “It's … uh.”

“Sort of a scavenger hunt, that's all,” Laurie said, not meeting Bud's eye. “No big deal.”

“Ooh, I love scavenger hunts!” Misti's eyes brightened. “Is that your ‘thing'? Can I help?”

“Well, sure, I guess—” Bud started, but Laurie kicked him under the table.

“We're not supposed to have any help,” she said. “But maybe if we get really stuck?”

Misti looked disappointed. “I guess that makes sense. That's cool, though. What class is that for? I wish I had your teacher.”

Bud looked panicked. “It's for … uh …”

“Hey, so chorus, huh?” Laurie cut him off. “You guys are going to be pretty busy, right?”

Misti perked back up. She immediately started in on an analysis of Miss Downey, of first tenor Sam Silver and his weird unidentifiable odors, and of the woeful pitch issues of Hannah Stoller. The scavenger hunt didn't come up again.

When the warning bell rang, Laurie elbowed Bud in the ribs. “It's in the bell tower. It's got to be,” she whispered.

Bud nodded. “I know.”

PART FOUR

Laurie was doing the silent reading assignment in Mr. Robinson's class when she heard the door open. She probably wouldn't have even looked up if Bud hadn't done the audible gasping-so-hard-that-you-almost-choke-on-your-own-spit thing. And what she saw made her feel sick to her stomach.

Mr. Sanchez was standing at the front of the room, talking with Mr. Robinson. Which was bad, sure, but not bad enough to make Laurie want to feign a serious and fatal illness. But Mr. Sanchez was smiling and looking right at her while he talked. Laurie and Bud exchanged worried glances. This could not be good.

Laurie knew she needed to act fast. She did a quick mental inventory.

DEPLOYING THE GET-OUT-OF-CLASS SECRET WEAPON: Pros and Cons
by Laurie Madison, grade six

SECRET WEAPON, also known as the ever-popular Vomiting on Cue.

PROS: Chance of success: very good.

CONS: New nickname—Pukey Girl.

“Good news, class,” Mr. Robinson said, clapping his hands together. He smiled that teacher smile that always means lots of extra work. Laurie eyed the door. It was too far away to make a run for it. “If you could give me your attention for a moment.”

Mr. Robinson caught Laurie's eye and gave her an extra-big smile. Laurie stifled a groan. This was so not good.

“Mr. Sanchez here tells me that there's been particular interest this year in starting a Romantic English poets' club. That would be poets like Byron, Keats, Shelley. It sounds like an exciting idea, and we have our very own Laurie Madison to thank for it. Stand up, Laurie.”

Standing up was the last thing in the world Laurie wanted to do. But apparently her legs weren't about to cross Mr. Robinson. Before she knew it, she was on her feet, swaying uncertainly. Mariah Jeffries in the second row shot her a nasty look. Mariah was not a poetry fan.

“Now if you're interested in joining this exciting club, the sign-up sheet is outside Mr. Sanchez's room, and as the club founder, Laurie can tell you all about it, so go to her with any questions or ideas. And in honor of the club, we'll be starting a new segment on the poets next week. Thank you, Laurie. Would you like to say anything about the club?” Mr. Robinson nodded at Laurie encouragingly.

“I'm going to be sick,” Laurie muttered under her breath. Apparently her vocal cords were a little less obedient to Mr. Robinson.

“Speak up, Laurie,” Mr. Robinson said.

Laurie's nerve failed her. She couldn't face going through the next few years as Pukey Girl Madison. “Keats is great,” she said without enthusiasm. “Great club. Loads of fun.”

She dropped back into her seat. Mariah was almost completely turned around in her seat, she was glaring at Laurie so hard.

Laurie put her head on her desk. But before she did, she couldn't help but notice Bud, staring straight ahead, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.

“So, how does it feel to be club founder?” Bud smirked at Laurie as he filled Ponch and Jon's water bottle.

“Shut up, Bud.” Laurie scowled, flinging gerbil food into the cage recklessly. Ponch and Jon scurried for the nearest toilet-paper tube to escape the unexpected sunflower seed flurries. “I am so not talking about it.”

Bud chuckled under his breath. Chorus didn't seem so bad anymore.

Laurie ignored the chuckle. “Besides, the important thing is getting into that bell tower. Once we do, we can find the next clue and we'll have the whole night to think about it.” She slammed the lid on Ponch and Jon's cage and grabbed her backpack. “Hurry up, okay? I'm not spending the weekend wondering what's in there.”

Bud was learning when it was best not to argue with Laurie. He gave a salute of good-bye to the irritated rodents and hurried after Laurie toward the bell tower.

Sign on the bell-tower door

WARNING
DANGEROUS AREA
NO ACCESS
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

Laurie jerked the door handle in frustration for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

“I think it's still locked, Laurie,” Bud said carefully. Laurie was going to rip her arm off if she wasn't careful. He'd never seen it happen before, but he was sure it was possible, especially the way she was pulling at that handle.

Laurie didn't answer. She just jerked the door again.

“We'll have to find another way in. I'm sure there's a key. We'll just get it somehow,” Bud said, trying to talk her down. Laurie had a crazed look on her face that Bud was sure wasn't normal.

Laurie glared at Bud and jerked the door again. “Sure, and when's that going to be? Tomorrow? The next day? Next week? I can't take a whole weekend of waiting, Bud!”

Bud knew how she felt. But that wasn't going to magically open the door. Besides, the late bus was going to leave soon, and he hadn't even looked at his dictionary pages this week. His dad was going to be really disappointed in him.

Bud tried not to glance at his watch. “It'll give us time to plan and figure things out. We need to do that anyway, right? If it's locked, it's locked. Nothing we can do.”

Laurie knew Bud was right. But that didn't mean she had to like it. Especially since it was coming from Mr. Hey-Let's-Break-Into-the-Auditorium. Nice time for him to turn all moral and law-abiding. She decided to give the door one last pull for good measure.

“Hey! You there—girlie, now, don't be tugging on that door. You're gonna hurt yourself.” An angry voice interrupted Laurie midtug.

Laurie and Bud looked up to see a lanky, slick-haired janitor hurrying toward them with a scowl on his face. He was wearing a pair of coveralls with the name Reginald embroidered on the pocket. Laurie dropped the door handle and tried to put on her innocent face, but it was too late. Reginald had totally busted her.

“Now why are you messing with that door? Can't go in there, not a couple of kids like you. It's dangerous. Can't you read the sign?” Reginald shook his head at them, like he'd had high hopes for them and now those hopes were dashed.

Bud cleared his throat. “We just wanted to look at the bells. It's for class. A project.” The project line got them every time.

But Reginald just pursed his lips in disgust. “Now don't give me that line, young man. There's not a teacher in this school who would assign you to go in there. It's too high, and not safe. Now get away from here. I've got my eye on you two. I'll know if you come around again.”