Four weeks later, the Spinner family sat in the kitchen sharing amazing true facts and strawberry waffles. Samantha had completely stopped power moping, and her father had stepped up to become the new breakfast maker.
Samantha and her mother sat next to each other at the table.
Mrs. Spinner was busy filling out another Unexplained Vanishing Person Form. The last one had come back because someone had listed Uncle Paul’s first name as “Uncle” and his last name as “Paul.”
Samantha was studying her sketch from Edfu.
“I think that’s Cleopatra’s Needle,” said Mrs. Spinner, looking over at the drawing.
“That seems awfully big for a needle,” said Mr. Spinner, glancing down at the table. He held a plate piled high with fresh, hot waffles.
Samantha could never tell if her dad was brilliant or a grown-up version of her little brother. And was it a real needle, or something else? She looked up at her mother.
“What and where is Cleopatra’s—”
“Hold that thought,” said Mrs. Spinner. “I almost forgot.” She took out a postcard. “This came in the mail yesterday, too.”
The card featured several overlapping pictures, including the Statue of Liberty, Yankee Stadium, and the Empire State Building.
Samantha’s mother read it out loud.
“Dearest Mother, Father, Sammy, and Little Nipper,
I have wonderful news.
I spent most of the money and it looked like I was going to have to head back to dreary Seattle. Then, just in time, I got a call from the famous Broadway producer Horace Temple. He wants to cast me in his new musical show!
I hope you come and see my singing and dancing debut!
Kisses,
Scarlett Hydrangea
PS: If you must write back about your boring lives, be sure to send the letter to my new address in New York City.”
Mr. Spinner shrugged. “I didn’t think Buffy could sing or dance.”
“Horace Temple?” asked Mrs. Spinner. “I’ve never heard of a famous producer named Horace Temple.”
“It almost sounds like it could be an Egyptian name,” said Mr. Spinner.
Samantha raised her eyebrows.
Nipper pretended to pay attention, but he was actually listening to the sports news blaring from the living room.
“Twenty-four games in a row!” a voice shouted.
The New York Yankees were setting a record…for the longest losing streak in the history of baseball.
“Some sports experts think that the Yankees are losing every game they play because of a terrible ancient curse,” another announcer chimed in.
“How about that, old pal?” Nipper whispered to Dennis, who rested at his feet.
“Wruf!” the little dog barked.
Ten million candlepower’s worth of pure white light shot out from below the table. The intense rays reflected off windows, silverware, and appliances, filling the room with the glare of the X-27B lightbulb that Nipper and Samantha had absolutely forgotten to remove from Dennis’s collar.
Mr. Spinner dropped the waffle plate and tried to shield his eyes. It fell to the floor with a crash, scattering waffles and strawberries everywhere.
“I recognize the color balance of that light,” he said, bending down and reaching for the Blinky Barker.
Dennis bolted for a waffle…and seized it triumphantly, dashing out of the room and leaving a trail of syrup and powdered sugar.
Nipper and his parents chased the sticky pug. Samantha could hear them running from one brightly lit room to another, bumping into chairs and knocking over the coffee table. The sound of a lamp breaking came from upstairs.
Alone at last, Samantha glanced down at her notebook. She looked at the drawing of the mysterious obelisk.
“Horace Temple,” she said. “Horus Temple?”
Something went thump and the kitchen table shook.
Samantha bent down and looked around. There was nothing to see.
Or was there?
She took a closer look and saw something she’d never noticed before: three of the table legs were square and one was round. She put her hand near the top of the curved leg where it connected to the tabletop. A stream of air pulsed from a seam in the leg. She pushed gently on it and there was a click. When she pulled her hand away, a small curved door flipped open.
The leg was a pneumatic tube!
She pulled a small plastic cylinder from inside. She popped open the top with her thumb, and a pair of sunglasses dropped out onto the table.
They had silver frames. The lenses were purple and shaped like octagons. A small paper tag was tied to the bridge of the glasses. Samantha read the note.
Watch out for the SUN.
—Horace
Samantha smiled. It was Uncle Paul. He was alive, and Samantha was going to find him.
She stood up. Nipper was actually the very first person she wanted to tell about this discovery.
Then she heard several crashes overhead, and the sounds of her family chasing Dennis from room to room.
She sat back down and looked at her notebook.
The little black book had started out as a gloomy and depressing journal. Now it was becoming a guide to amazing places around the world, loaded with secret instructions. Samantha planned to add entries about the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the other places she’d visited. And many, many other places she was going to visit.
Samantha flipped through the book until she found a blank page. Still smiling, she began to write.
There’s a little bit of Nelly McPepper in all of us.
It’s easy to believe that our hopes and dreams have been jacked up on a massive flatbed truck and hauled away for good.
But take a closer look at things and you’ll find there are possibilities everywhere.
All around, the world is waiting to reveal special secrets and amazing adventures.
We have many places to go…and a lot to do!
• Benjamin Franklin is on the $100 bill. President Woodrow Wilson appears on the $100,000 bill. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing printed 42,000 of them from December 1934 to January 1935.
• The “Upside-Down Jenny” is a 1918 US postage stamp featuring a picture of an airplane. On one hundred of the stamps, the plane was accidentally printed upside down. This error has made them famous and prized by collectors. If you find one, it may be worth $500,000 or more.
• Action Comics #1 is the most valuable comic book in history. It was printed in 1938 and it includes the first appearance of Superman. A copy of it sold for $3,200,000.
• Honus Wagner, “The Flying Dutchman,” played baseball from 1897 to 1917. He is on the world’s rarest baseball card. Only 57 of them are known to exist. If you find one, it could be worth more than $5,000,000.
• The full value of the New York Yankees, including the baseball stadium and all the players’ contracts, is about $2.5 billion.
The Secret Word Search: There’s a word search hidden in the ID tags at the top-left corner of Samantha’s journal. Stack them in order beginning with Section 01 on the top and see what happens. How many countries can you find?
Did you find the names of all thirteen countries in the secret word search? Now go back and take a closer look at things. The leftover letters will spell something important.
The Snoddgrass Code: There’s a secret message hidden in everything Missy Snoddgrass says. Follow the numbers at the bottom of any page where she speaks. There’s one digit for each of her words. The number tells you which letter to look at in the word. For example, the number 3 and the word the means the letter E.
The Magtrain MPH Message: There’s another secret message, hidden in the magtrain speedometer. Each pair of bold numbers sta
nds for a letter of the alphabet. 01 = A, 02 = B, etc. But…what could this possibly mean? Is it another clue? Is it a secret website? Do you have the foggiest idea?
The Umbrella/Hand Lens Enigma: Each chapter has umbrellas and hand lenses at the beginning. It turns out there’s a point to them. A point. Get it?
Use these super-secret decoders to discover the message.
This is R, for example. (The handle is pointing to the right and the tip is pointing to R.)
This is K. (The handle is pointing to the left and the tip is pointing to K.)
And this is U. (The handle is pointing to U.)
To learn more about all these puzzles, and a whole lot more secrets, go to samanthaspinner.com.
And if you can’t get to a computer, or just want some help, keep reading!
Everyone needs a little help sometimes! Here are the answers to the puzzles hidden in this book.
THE SUPER-SECRET WORD SEARCH
The Puzzle:
There are thirteen countries hidden in the puzzle.
The leftover letters spell this message:
The Answer:
MISSY KNOWS ABOUT THE UMBRELLA
THE SNODDGRASS CODE
The Puzzle:
At the bottom of any page where Missy speaks, you will find a row of numbers. Each number signifies which letter in each of Missy’s words to keep.
For example, when Missy says: “I know all about that,” and “Impressive.” The numbers at the bottom of the page are: 0005250000000005. Each digit coincides with a word Missy says. The number refers to the position of the letter in that word to use to solve the puzzle. 5 means the fifth letter of the word. 0 means no letter. Thus, the hidden word in this example is T-H-E.
The Answer:
The complete message is:
THERE IS A SECRET WEBSITE
SNODDGRASS DOT COM
THE PASSWORD IS HULA HOOP
THE MAGTRAIN MPH MESSAGE
The Puzzle:
The MPH readout on the magtrain conceals a secret message, too! All of the pairs of digits that appear in bold represent letters according to their alphanumeric value.
01 = A, 02 = B, 03 = C, etc. This is sometimes known as the A1Z26 Cipher.
The complete Magtrain MPH Message is:
03 C
08 H
09 I
14 N
03 C
08 H
09 I
12 L
12 L
01 A
04 D
05 E
12 L
09 I
22 V
05 E
18 R
25 Y
03 C
15 O
13 M
The Answer:
CHINCHILLADELIVERYCOM
(Go check it out!)
THE UMBRELLA/HAND LENS ENIGMA
The Puzzle:
At the beginning of each chapter you will see small illustrations of umbrellas and hand lenses.
Depending on which way each one is oriented and which way the umbrella handles are pointed, each drawing secretly represents a letter. (Hint: You need to use the decoder wheels on this page.)
Did you get it?
The Answer:
NELLY MCPEPPER WORE WHITE
BECAUSE IT WAS HER KARATE UNIFORM
SHE IS A MARTIAL ARTS MASTER
This book exists because of three people.
Eva Ginns. You jump-started this story. You introduced me to Scarlett Hydrangea and Nelly McPepper. We haven’t seen the last of each other.
Kevin O’Connor. Agent, advisor, and creative coconspirator. What would this book be without you? Half as successful and one-third as good, that’s what.
Krista Marino. At first I thought you were like Orson Welles in The Muppet Movie, making things happen. It turns out you’re like Sherlock Holmes or Cousin Vinny. Nothing escapes you. Also, I suspect you might actually be a Spinner.
Then there’s Michael Artin, Dr. Carole Karp, Alex Alben, Courtney Nguyen, Darren Cahr, Wendy Bronfin, and Jonathan Maier. You all deserve strawberry waffles.
As a writer, I owe a debt to the works of Louis Sachar, James Morrow, and Sebastian Wreford.
Thanks to Sheldon Ginns and Jonathan Ginns for sharing your love of art, architecture, and exploration.
And here’s a big thanks to you readers who are taking a closer look at things. How many people read acknowledgments? If you’ve made it all the way here, then you deserve to know that this story has many more secrets. See you online!
Russell Ginns is a writer and game designer who specializes in puzzles, songs, and smart fun. He’s worked on projects for Sesame Street, Nintendo, NASA, UNICEF, and Hooked on Phonics. He once had a poem published on the back of an Alpha Bits cereal box. Russell lives and writes in Washington, DC. To learn more about him, visit samanthaspinner.com.
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Samantha Spinner and the Super-Secret Plans Page 13
