{"id":166,"date":"2009-08-13T18:41:15","date_gmt":"2009-08-13T22:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?p=166"},"modified":"2009-08-13T18:42:03","modified_gmt":"2009-08-13T22:42:03","slug":"chapter-9-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?p=166","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ari was having a very difficult time concentrating on the usual subjects at school the next day. During math, Jimmy Jasper\u2019s off-key humming didn\u2019t distract him nearly as much as the verses on the old note, which were replaying themselves in his head completely uninvited. What were the chiseled stones? Who was Charlie Krew? And who in the heck was Yumigawa?<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tAt recess, instead of playing dodgeball, Ari sat on a swing, next to some first-graders, and stared at the the words. How could a baby be an apple? And what in the world could the prize be? <\/em>And that totally weird middle of the night visit from Dewey Daylatch…if it had really happened at all. Was there a clue in anything else Dewey had said to him?<\/em> But the note wasn\u2019t the only thing on Ari\u2019s mind. He couldn\u2019t stop himself from wondering whether Uncle Ellery really had a plan to save the deli. Or would he decide to fight Dudge Hunker?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA love note for your girlfriend?\u201d yelled Finbar Fenker. Ari had been so lost in his thoughts that by the time he noticed Finbar hovering closer and closer to the swingset, Finbar had snatched the old note right out of Ari\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFlossie!\u201d yelled Finbar. \u201cAri\u2019s written some very special words for you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFenker!\u201d yelled Ari, leaping off the swing and making a grab for Finbar. He missed by a hair as Finbar jumped giddily away from his grasp and made a dash for a cluster of girls playing hopscotch. <\/p>\n

\n\tAri\u2019s blood was boiling hot enough that he knew he could take down Finbar in a matter of seconds when, suddenly, Finbar went sprawing into the grass without any help from Ari at all. And then Ari noticed what Finbar had tripped over. It was Arden Feeny\u2019s foot, which she\u2019d quietly stuck in front of Finbar as he passed the black walnut tree where she was reading volume 5 of the New Student Encyclopedia. As the note flew from Finbar\u2019s fist, Arden neatly snatched it and looked at Ari. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJealousy, jealousy!\u201d bellowed Finbar as he got back on foot and scampered away. \u201cThe green-eyed monster! Feeny-weeny\u2019s got it bad!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThanks,\u201d said Ari as Arden held out the note for him. \u201cIt\u2019s just some kind of weird riddle or something that I found. I\u2019ve been trying to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCan I look?\u201d said Arden.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSure,\u201d replied Ari. He unfolded the paper and handed it back to her, then sat down in the grass. \u201cI found it in an old statue,\u201d he said as if that explained everything. \u201cIt\u2019s probably not even any good anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tArden stared at the writing for a few minutes. \u201cSome are dog-eared, few are older…\u201d she read.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOld dogs?\u201d suggested Ari.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNo,\u201d said Arden. Ari thought she almost smiled, but he wasn\u2019t sure. \u201cDog-eared,\u201d she said. She riffled the edges of the Encyclopedia, where the corners of several pages had become bent from use. \u201cLike this. Dog-eared means the pages are bent. You\u2019re supposed to find a book.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA book,\u201d repeated Ari. \u201cOkay. An old book, I guess. Like where?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhere I moulder…,\u201d <\/em> said Arden. \u201cSomewhere where they keep old books. Like rotting away in an attic. Or maybe just the library.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat actually makes sense,\u201d replied Ari. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ll go to the library with you,\u201d said Arden, as if there were no sense arguing about it. \u201cAfter school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFor some reason–and Ari didn\u2019t really understand why–it seemed perfectly reasonable to be walking to the DiRosa Public Library after school with Arden Feeny. <\/p>\n

\n\tHe wasn\u2019t worried about the dirty look and offended sniff from Flossie Beemis as he and Arden passed the flagpole, but there was one thing that worried him. What would he tell Arden about where he got the note, and how he knew to look there? A crazy story like Dewey Daylatch in the Deli in the middle of the night was sure to start her glaring at him through her glasses again.<\/p>\n

\n\tLuckily, Arden didn\u2019t seem to feel the need to say much as they walked from DiRosa Elementary, up Spoke Street and right on South Street, to the Public Library at the south end of town, but she seemed quite purposeful as they entered the building. She pointed to a window-enclosed room behind the circulation desk.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Archives,\u201d she stated simply. \u201cThat\u2019s where they keep the oldest books.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMay I help you?\u201d asked the tall, gray-haired librarian behind the counter, whose name badge said Mrs. Timms.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re looking for an old book,\u201d answered Ari, \u201cabout a bunch of people with weird names.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAn old book,\u201d repeated the librarian, turning up her nose as if to think, while looking at Ari and Arden from under her spectacles. \u201cLet me get Mrs. Simms.\u201d She disappeared into the glass-enclosed room. Moments later, an even older, white-haired librarian plumply tottered out, carrying a long box full of very worn file cards.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat book do you want to see dears?\u201d asked Mrs. Simms, setting her box on the desktop.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe don\u2019t know what the title is,\u201d said Arden, taking charge, a little to Ari\u2019s relief, \u201cbut some of the characters are Myrtle Mutt and Yumigawa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou don\u2019t say?\u201d said Mrs. Simms, putting a wrinkled finger to her chin. \u201cBut you say, you don\u2019t know the title?\u201d She adjusted her glasses, and picked up the box. \u201cI\u2019d better get Miss Samms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMrs. Simms disappeared into the archives room, and soon, the oldest, wrinkliest old lady Ari had ever seen creaked slowly out of the glass-enclosed room leaning heavily on a wooden cane. Miss Samms had almost no hair at all–just wisps of colorless fluff dancing around her scalp like a halo.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWho?\u201d squeaked Miss Samms. \u201cWho did you say was in the book you\u2019re looking for?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOh, all kinds of people, I guess,\u201d replied Ari. \u201cMyrtle Mutt, Charlie Krew, Yumi-something-or-other…and maybe some angels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMiss Samms smiled which made her face look as squishy and lined as a dried apple.
\n\t\u201cThose aren\u2019t storybook characters dearie,\u201d she said with a chuckle. \u201cMyrtle Mutt was my first grade teacher. Yumigawa used to have a candy store on Spoke Street. And Charlie Krew…\u201d (at this point Miss Samms\u2019 eyes looked so dreamy and faraway that she almost reminded Ari of Flossie Beemis,) \u201c…well dearie, if it hadn\u2019t been for that saucy Effie Luckinbill, I might be Mrs. Krew instead of Miss Samms!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo these people aren\u2019t in a book,\u201d sighed Ari.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOh, they\u2019re not anywhere now,\u201d Miss Samms assured him with a trace of pride in her voice. \u201cI\u2019ve outlived every one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWell,\u201d said Ari. \u201cThanks anyway.\u201d He shrugged at Arden and turned to walk out of the library.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m sorry Ari,\u201d said Arden, hurrying to keep up with him. \u201cMaybe whoever put that note in your statue meant for it to be found when those people were still alive. Maybe you were supposed to be able to ask them for clues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYeah, maybe,\u201d Ari replied. \u201cBut then why did Dewey tell me about it? Why did he come now?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNow Arden did glare, right through her glasses at him, and somehow he\u2019d been expecting it.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWho\u2019s Dewey?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow would he answer?<\/em> Something about having Arden as an ally felt really comfortable and he hated to give her any reason to think he was crazy.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s an old guy who came into the Deli once,\u201d replied Ari, \u201cand told me where to find the note.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOh,\u201d said Arden. \u201cIn the statue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA yellow mailbox halfway up South Street said \u201cFeeny.\u201d Arden stopped and turned to Ari. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMaybe one of us will think of something over the weekend,\u201d she said. Then she picked up a tabby cat which had been rubbing against the mailbox post and walked into her house.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Ari reached the deli, Granny Frappler was sitting in her rocker on the sidewalk squinting ferociously at a pocketwatch while a well-dressed lady in a pink suit looked on intently. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAri!\u201d squawked Granny Frappler. \u201cHand me that magnifyin\u2019 glass will ya\u2019?\u201d She gestured to a box on the sidewalk. <\/p>\n

\n\tAri rummaged through some coins, pens and rulers, then pulled out a large round magnifying lens with a handle.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThanks,\u201d said Granny Frappler, taking the glass. \u201cDon\u2019t pay gettin\u2019 old. Cain\u2019t use yer eyes, cain\u2019t use yer ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYou\u2019re not so old, Granny Frappler,\u201d said Ari, who had the librarian, Miss Samms, fresh in his mind.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNot so old?\u201d cackled Granny Frappler. \u201cI can hear\u2019em chiseling my name on a headstone now!\u201d She turned her attention to the lady in pink, and waved the pocketwatch. \u201cI\u2019ll give you three-hundred for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChiseling your name<\/em>…thought Ari, opening the deli door with a jingle. Chiseled…on a stone…a headstone<\/em>… He took the old note out of pocket and spread it open on the deli counter…First you have to guess my name, \u2018mongst chiseled stones begin the game…<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cRight!\u201d he said aloud, to no-one. To find the name of the book…we have to look in the graveyard!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ari was having a very difficult time concentrating on the usual subjects at school the next day. During math, Jimmy Jasper\u2019s off-key humming didn\u2019t distract him nearly as much as the verses on the old note, which were replaying themselves in his head completely uninvited. What were the chiseled stones? Who was Charlie Krew? And […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=166"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166\/revisions\/169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}