by Ida Siegal
Just then, Shakira passed the photograph of Nellie Bly to me. I looked right in Nellie Bly’s eyes. She looked so determined. She looked so fearless. She looked so … amazing.
“The most important thing a reporter can do is help people,” Grace said. “And Nellie Bly did. She helped all the patients in that hospital by going undercover.”
“Thank you so much, Grace,” said Miss Thompson. “That was fascinating. Now, boys and girls, I want everyone to make their way to the rug for some math exercises.”
I felt like I couldn’t stand up. Nellie Bly was my new hero. She was fantastic! I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to help Sarah Spellman, and I knew exactly what I needed to do.
THAT Saturday, Melissa G.’s mom drove us both to the Jefferson Market Library.
“Have fun, girls,” her mom called from the car. “I’ll pick you up in about an hour.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Melissa called back.
We told Melissa’s mom we were going to volunteer at the library. But really, I was there to go undercover. Just like Nellie Bly. It was the only way to get into the tower to find the clues to save the princess.
Melissa and I walked toward the front door of the library. The tomato-colored brick tower shot straight up into the sky like a castle. It was actually a little intimidating. But I had Sarah’s book in my backpack, and I had a job to do. The princess was trapped in that tower somewhere.
We went straight to the children’s section.
“Hello, Melissa,” said a woman at the door. She was wearing a long green dress with a purple silk scarf tied around her neck. “Thank you for volunteering once again! Who’s your friend here?”
“Hi, Millie!” Melissa smiled. I couldn’t believe they knew her so well here. “This is Emma—she’s here to volunteer, too. Emma, Millie is the head librarian.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Millie. “But I’m afraid we don’t have any more room in the volunteer program right now. You’re welcome to grab a book and read while you wait for Melissa to do her work.”
Melissa and I looked at each other. We both knew I needed to pretend to be a volunteer so it wouldn’t look suspicious when we started searching for clues.
“Um …” was all I could think to say. I certainly couldn’t tell her I was actually a reporter on assignment. I was getting nervous our undercover plan wasn’t going to work.
“Actually,” Melissa chimed in, “Emma is my cousin. She’s visiting us for a couple weeks while her parents look for an apartment in New York City. Her family is going to move here! She’s dying to volunteer at the library so she can meet new friends. Can’t she volunteer just this once?”
I couldn’t believe what Melissa was saying. How’d she come up with that story? Maybe she really was a good actress!
“I don’t know …” Millie said.
“Emma is a good worker. She won’t be a bother—I promise! Please??” Melissa begged.
“Oh, all right.”
“Yay!” we both screamed. I was so relieved.
“Actually, we do need help with a new book recycling program,” Millie said. “We’re looking for ways to reuse old books that have been damaged, especially the baby board books. Maybe Emma can help with that?”
“That’s perfect!” I shouted a little too loudly. “I mean, great. I’ll do it.”
“Can I help Emma with the board books, Millie? They might be heavy,” Melissa pointed out.
“Yes, that’s fine. Go ahead. You’ll have to gather all the damaged books. Talk to Louis the custodian,” Millie instructed. “He can get some boxes for you. Just down the hall and make a right. Louis’s office is in the clock tower.”
What a stroke of luck! Melissa and I looked at each other with excitement. We started heading down the hallway toward the tower office. This was our chance to get inside and look around. We made a plan. Melissa was going to talk to Louis the custodian and distract him, while I snooped around the tower searching for clues.
We continued down the hallway, and it started getting darker. There weren’t many windows in this part of the library. It was even a little creepy. Suddenly I was feeling nervous.
We were almost at the tower—and I noticed something. Not something, someone. There was a trail of crumbs. We were being followed.
“Melissa, wait,” I told her as I looked behind us. “Did you see that?”
“See what?” she asked, turning around.
“I could’ve sworn I just saw someone following us down the hallway. And look at the crumbs on the floor.”
“I don’t see anyone. Those crumbs were probably there before we got here. Come on, we have to hurry. We need to get the boxes and figure out a way to snoop around inside the tower.”
“Okay, I know. Let’s go.”
We walked a little farther, and we could see a big brown door that looked like it was connected to the tower. We were just about there when … CRASH! Something crashed to the ground and made a huge noise. Melissa and I both screamed.
A PILE of books had fallen off a shelf and onto the hallway floor. Someone had knocked them over and was buried beneath them. I was too scared to dig through the books to find out who it was. The person started moving a little bit, and I saw a small patch of dirty-blond hair peeking out between the books. There was a single hand sticking out, holding what looked like a jelly sandwich.
“Adrian?! Is that you?” I called.
“Yes,” he answered softly. His voice was muffled by the books on top of him.
“What are you doing here?” Melissa yelled as she ran over to pull the books off him.
Adrian looked straight at me and said, “I’m here to help.” Then he took a bite of his sandwich.
I started feeling weird. And embarrassed.
“You want to help me?” The butterflies in my stomach started jumping out of control.
“Sure, why not?” He looked straight at me with a smile. “I got hungry waiting for you guys to finish your volunteer work. I was expecting some action.”
“Oh,” I said back. But before I could say anything more, Louis the custodian came out of his office.
“What’s this ruckus?” he asked, scowling.
“Oh, hi,” Melissa answered. “You must be Louis. Sorry for the mess. We’re volunteers at the library. All three of us …” Melissa looked at Adrian and rolled her eyes. He stuffed the rest of his jelly sandwich in his mouth.
“Millie sent us here to get boxes for the book recycling program,” Melissa went on. “Adrian slipped and knocked over some of these books in the hallway. Sorry about that.”
“In that case … come to my office,” Louis said. “I have some boxes in the back.”
Adrian quickly put the books back on the shelf, and we all followed Louis into his office, just inside the tower.
“I think the boxes are in this back closet,” Louis said.
“Okay,” Melissa responded. She followed him into the back, then gave us a signal to start snooping. I winked back at her.
“We only have a couple minutes,” I whispered to Adrian. “We need clues that lead to the princess.”
He looked excited. “What kind of clues?”
“I’m not really sure,” I said. We looked around the office. I noticed a window on the other side. There was a perfect view to a construction site across the street. Just past the window was a doorway. I walked through, and Adrian followed. There was a huge spiral staircase that went all the way up the top of the tower. Bingo.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Adrian said. I could tell he was a little nervous. I was, too.
“Yes. The princess is trapped in the tower. That means we climb the tower.”
We started marching up the stairs. So many stairs! Finally we reached a landing and another open doorway. It was a small room that looked kind of like a lounge where you go to take a break. There was a small table with a TV on top, an old sofa, a small refrigerator, and another small table with a deck of cards on
it.
“This must be where the custodian takes his breaks,” Adrian said.
“I think you’re right. Quick, look for … well … clues!”
Adrian and I searched the room. We couldn’t find anything. I took the riddle out of my pocket and read it again, “A princess in a tower, locked away for years. Please, someone save her. Don’t mind her floppy ears. I can’t tell you more. You’ll have to find the clues. She’s trapped across the way where the chirping babies snooze.”
“What does that mean?” asked Adrian. “I don’t hear any chirping.”
“I’m not sure. Birds chirp, right? There aren’t any birds in this tower.”
Then we heard Melissa. She was talking extra loud.
“Gee, thanks, Louis! Ten boxes are great! But I need just ONE more …”
“We gotta go,” Adrian whispered.
“Ugh … okay. But we haven’t found anything yet.” I started looking around the room in a panic. I spotted a closet. I ran over to it.
“What’s in there?” Adrian asked, looking over my shoulder. It was just a bunch of junk. But in the back corner … I saw a pink backpack. I picked it up. Stitched on the front pocket were the letters S.O.S.
I OPENED the pink backpack, looking for a clue. Inside was nothing but a pair of binoculars.
“What are these for?” I wondered.
“I don’t know, but we have to go. Now!” Adrian said.
I took a moment to look through the binoculars. All I saw was the same room—just really big. I spotted the window and ran over, looking out—but there was nothing there. Just a huge pine tree. And that same construction site. I could see bulldozers and dump trucks. Looked like they were working on a big project.
Suddenly I felt Adrian grabbing my arm.
“Come on!” Adrian pulled me down the stairs.
We ran down as fast as we could and got back to the office just as Melissa grabbed the last box from Louis.
“I think we’re all set,” Melissa said, sounding relieved. She gave us a let’s go right now look. We each grabbed some boxes and left.
* * *
That Monday, I brought the pink backpack to school with me to show everyone. At lunchtime, everyone crowded around our table. It was me, Melissa, Adrian, Sophia, Javier, Shakira … and even Molly and Lizzie. I looked around and I couldn’t believe it. A week ago, I had no friends, and now I had more than enough. It made me feel special.
“Did you find the princess?” Shakira wanted to know.
“Not exactly.”
“But we’re getting closer!” Adrian said with excitement.
“What did you find?” Sophia asked.
“This,” I said as I plopped the bag on the table.
“What’s that?” Javier asked.
“It’s a backpack,” Molly answered.
“It’s pink,” Lizzie added.
“It says S.O.S.,” Sophia noticed.
“Yep,” I replied.
“What does that mean? That the person who owns this bag is in danger? She needs help?” Sophia asked.
“That’s what we thought at first,” I said. “But Melissa figured it out after we got home.”
“Yup!” she said proudly. I took out the Bridge to Terabithia book so she could show them. Melissa pulled out the library card. “Javier, read what it says,” she instructed.
“October 17, 2000. Sarah O. Spellman. So? I don’t get it.”
“Sarah O. Spellman!!” Sophia yelled excitedly. “S.O.S. are Sarah’s initials! So this is her backpack?”
“It is! We found Sarah’s backpack,” Adrian announced proudly.
“Great,” Shakira said. “But is the princess inside it or something?”
“Well, no,” I answered. “Only these binoculars. I don’t know what it means. But I do know we need to go back undercover at the library!”
Everyone nodded.
“Here’s the thing. Since I’m undercover, we can’t do any more news reports about this story until it’s over. Got it? No one can say a word!”
“Got it,” they all said. I looked around the table and felt really proud. It was like I had an entire news team helping with the investigation.
“And one more thing,” I added. “I want to say sorry to everyone for the way I acted last week. Especially to Melissa G. I don’t know why I said those mean things on the playground. I think I was just feeling frustrated … and crazy things just jumped out of my mouth by accident. I didn’t mean it, and I shouldn’t have said it. Forgive me?”
“Puh-leeze,” said Adrian. “We were never mad.”
“Yeah,” said Melissa with a smile. “No problem here.”
Sophia, Shakira, and Javier all smiled at me.
I pulled out my purple reporter pad and my shiny feather pencil so I could update my clues.
Clue #7: Sarah O. Spellman left her pink backpack in the custodian’s office in the tower. It has her initials, S.O.S.
Clue #8: Inside was a pair of binoculars. Out the window I saw a big tree and a construction site.
I wasn’t sure if the tree and the construction site had anything to do with the princess, but I figured I should make note of them anyway.
Lunchtime ended a couple minutes later, so we got up from our table to head outside for recess. I was walking behind Adrian on my way to the school yard when I noticed something. There was something sticking out of Adrian’s back pocket. It was pink. Why would Adrian have something pink in his pocket? I looked a little closer. It was a pen. Adrian had a pink pen …
I RAN to catch up to Adrian. Then I grabbed his arm and pulled him outside to the school yard and over to the side.
“Why are you pulling me?” he asked.
I reached behind him and grabbed the pen out of his pocket. I held it up so he could see.
“This is why. A pink pen?”
“Oh, um, I … I … um …” Adrian stammered. “It’s my sister’s. I—I lost my other pens.”
“Adrian, come on. Really?”
He looked down without answering. And then I knew it.
“Ever since I became a famous news reporter I’ve been getting notes from an anonymous source,” I said to Adrian. “And the anonymous source always writes with pink ink. And pink hearts. Javier even found a grape jelly stain on one of the notes. And you eat grape jelly sandwiches for lunch every day! ’Fess up. You’re the anonymous source, aren’t you?”
“Okay, fine. It was me,” Adrian admitted in a quiet voice. He kept looking down at his feet, shifting around like he was nervous.
“So why did you write me all those notes? Why did you use a pink pen and write with little hearts?”
“I wrote with a pink pen because I didn’t want you to figure out it was me. I thought if I added hearts you would think a girl wrote the notes.”
He was right. I did think it was a girl. That was silly. I should have known better. Everyone knows that pink can be for boys and girls.
“And I guess I just wanted to help you. It all started with Sophia’s missing costume. Remember when you asked me if I had seen it? If I knew what happened?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“I said I hadn’t seen the costume, but I saw Molly pick it up off the floor and put it in her bag. I didn’t want to tell you because girls are weird and they get mad about stuff. I didn’t want to get Molly in trouble. But I didn’t want you guys to lose the contest, either. So I wrote you a note.”
“Wow. What about the tambora drum?”
“By then, I was watching your show all the time. It was pretty cool. When I saw the drum at Alyssa’s house, I wanted to tell you. We live in the same apartment building, and our moms are friends. My mom sent me over there to borrow some laundry detergent. Alyssa’s mom told me it was in the closet, first door down the hall. I opened the door, but it wasn’t the closet, it was Alyssa’s room. She wasn’t there, but the tambora drum was. I saw it.”
“Why not just tell me? Why did you have to be anonymous?”
&nbs
p; “Because … I don’t know. I just didn’t want to get anyone in trouble.”
I nodded. “What about the next note? You said you needed my help, and then you disappeared. What happened?”
“I just really wanted to be on the team. I wanted to be your friend. So I figured I’d make up a case so we could work together. And maybe be friends that way.”
I started getting that funny butterfly feeling again in my tummy. I liked the idea that Adrian wanted to be my friend.
“But why make up a story? Why not just ask to be my friend?”
“I don’t know. I sort of thought you might not want to be my friend because I’m friends with Melissa G. I’ve known Melissa G. forever. Since we were babies. I thought you might not like me since you don’t like her.”
Suddenly I felt guilty again. I was mean to Melissa G.
“I like Melissa G.,” I said. “Well, I like her now. Now that I know her better.”
“But you didn’t like her then,” Adrian continued. “I figured I could convince you to like me if you were helping me with a case. But I couldn’t think of one. I didn’t really need help with anything mysterious. My life was too boring. Then you started working on the case of the lost princess. I knew Melissa would be the perfect person to help you get to the tower. And maybe I could help this time. So … I … ah … wrote you another note.”
“Yes, I remember.” I pulled the note out and read it out loud, “Your enemy is your friend. The past is in the past. Make it right, and you’ll find the princess. You’ll help me, too.”
“Yeah. By making up with Melissa, you’d help me by being my friend.”
My face was turning red again. I didn’t know what to say. Suddenly recess was over. Adrian and I went back inside for class. We didn’t talk about it again. We were friends now—that’s what mattered.
I DECIDED not to tell anyone about Adrian. Papi says a real reporter never reveals her source’s identity. And now Adrian and I really were friends. I wasn’t going to do anything that might hurt his feelings or embarrass him.