Ari struggled to stay as far as he could from Finbar Fenker for the rest of the day, and when Arden spotted Finbar rap-dancing by the main entrance after the dismissal bell rang they made a quick detour through the kindergarten room and headed out a side door.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe quickest route to the library from school took them south, along the harbor, by Town Dock Park, which was looking unusually lively for a Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey must be setting up for Founders\u2019 Day,\u201d suggested Arden. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cRight,\u201d said Ari. \u201cI forgot. No school on Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHey kids!\u201d called a lady wearing a sandwich-board sign with a big grinning image of Dudge Hunker on it. \u201cHave a free sample of Hunka-vites vitamins?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNo thanks,\u201d said Ari, \u201cnot interested.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cBut they\u2019re fruit flavored,\u201d insisted the lady, \u201cand shaped like tiny bar-bells.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAri!\u201d said Arden steering him away from the vitamin lady. \u201cLook over there!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tA platform had been assembled in the middle of the park\u2019s green lawn, and several workers were threading ropes through posts at the corners.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s the boxing ring,\u201d said Ari. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to use it though. The fight\u2019s not going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHow sure of that are you?\u201d asked Arden. \u201cYour uncle seems pretty determined to go through with it, and we don\u2019t even know what we\u2019re looking for…or whether it\u2019s even worth finding.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI know what we\u2019re looking for,\u201d said Ari. \u201cA compass. Dewey\u2019s compass.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDewey\u2019s compass?\u201d asked Arden. \u201cThat fancy, sparkly one he was looking at in the church? He hid that before he died?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAri nodded. \u201cWilton Daylatch knows we\u2019re looking for it. And he wants it,\u201d replied Ari. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cSo it must be valuable,\u201d said Arden thoughtfully.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cValuable enough to pay off the loan, I bet,\u201d replied Ari.<\/p>\n
\n\t \u201cAri, I think we\u2019d better watch out if we think we\u2019re anywhere close then. I don\u2019t trust that guy. At all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tA rough, smirking voice broke through the murmur of a crowd which had gathered around a table at the edge of the lawn. \u201cYou tellin\u2019 me there\u2019s someone in this town who can take on Dudge Hunker?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOf course,\u201d said the oily voice of Wilton Daylatch from the center of the crowd. \u201cA lopsided fight is no sport at all! Hunker\u2019s opponent is an alumnus of my school. I know his skills well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAri turned away from the crowd in disgust. \u201cLet\u2019s get out of here,\u201d he said. \u201cWilton\u2019s a criminal. If he thought it was a fair fight, he wouldn\u2019t have bothered to set it up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDon\u2019t think about it,\u201d said Arden. \u201cLet\u2019s just get to the library.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n *****<\/p>\n
\tThis time Arden knew to ask for Miss Samms the first time, and soon the ancient librarian tottered out with her cane and smiled her wrinkled, dried-apple smile at them.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe know what book we need,\u201d said Ari. \u201cIt\u2019s called Blackeye\u2019s Guide to Orienteering.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIt seemed impossible, but Miss Samm\u2019s wrinkled nose wrinkled even more. \u201cThat must be a very old book honey,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t recall anyone ever asking for it before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAri looked at Arden, wondering if they could be wrong about the title.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cBut I think we have it,\u201d continued Miss Samms. \u201cI think we do.\u201d Her few wisps of hair bounced as she turned and tottered creakily back into the glass-enclosed archive room.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cCould we finally be getting somewhere?\u201d wondered Arden aloud as Miss Samms tottered back out, clutching a very slim book with a brown leather cover.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m sorry to say,\u201d said Miss Samms as she placed the book carefully on the counter in front of Ari and Arden. \u201cThat this old book spent far too many years in someone\u2019s musty basement.\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\tAlthough the gold letters on the cover had worn to a dull sheen, they clearly spelled out Blackeye\u2019s Guide to Orienteering.<\/em> Under the title was a picture of a tree, it\u2019s branches spreading across the brown leather cover. Miss Samms carefully opened the book, revealing nothing but the flaky stubs of a few disintegrated pages.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere aren\u2019t any pages?\u201d asked Ari gaping at the tattered page stubs. \u201cI can\u2019t believe there aren\u2019t any pages!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNot a one,\u201d replied Miss Samms. \u201cI\u2019m sorry to say that they\u2018ve all fallen out. All we have left here is a cover.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThis was supposed to be our next clue,\u201d said Ari with a sigh.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWell,\u201d said Arden as she examined the stained drawings on the inside of the book\u2019s cover, \u201cmaybe it still is. Look at this stuff.\u201d \n\t\u201cCan we borrow this book?\u201d Arden asked Miss Samms.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMore accurately,\u201d added Ari, \u201ccan we borrow this book cover?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMiss Samms\u2019 face crinkled into a wrinkly grin. \u201cI\u2019m sorry to say,\u201d she began, \u201cthat there may not be much left of it, but it\u2019s still for reference only.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSurely we have a copy online,\u201d butted in Mrs. Simms from the reference desk. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSurely we do,\u201d added the lanky chief librarian. She quickly punched some instructions into a keyboard. \u201cAha,\u201d she said. \u201cNo pages, but I\u2019ll print a copy of the cover art.\u201d She gave her keyboard one more decisive click, and after a whirr and a buzz she handed Ari a reproduction close enough to the original that it even showed the mildew stains.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThanks,\u201d said Ari. \u201cI hope this is what we need.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWait honey,\u201d said Miss Samms. She rummaged through a desk drawer behind the counter and pulled out a small business card. \u201cTake my card. You can call me if you have any more questions.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThanks,\u201d said Ari even though he couldn\u2019t imagine why he\u2019d need it. He tucked the card in his pocket, then put the photocopy of the book cover on a table in front of Arden. \u201cWhat do you think we\u2019re supposed to do with this?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a map,\u201d she replied. \u201cSo it\u2019s got to be a map to something.\u201d She pointed to a sketch at the top. \u201cLike Daylatch Academy, right here.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAnd here\u2019s St. Zita\u2019s,\u201d added Ari. \u201cBut we already know where those places are. This doesn\u2019t help. There has to be something here we don\u2019t already know.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHere\u2019s something in the middle of town called \u2018Jolene\u2019s Four Corners,\u2019\u201d said Arden. \u201cI wonder what that is.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAri looked up. Had Miss Samms just giggled? It seemed unlikely.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAri,\u201d said Arden suddenly. \u201cI found Blackeye!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou found Blackeye?\u201d asked Ari. He grabbed the paper to study it more closely. \u201cThere\u2019s a pirate on the map?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNo, not a pirate,\u201d replied Arden. She pulled the paper back and pointed decisively to the sketch at the left edge. \u201cHere\u2019s our school…and here\u2019s Blackeye.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAri squinted at the line drawing which clearly represented the old building which housed DiRosa Elementary, with a tree–the same tree as appeared on the book\u2019s front cover–sitting squarely in front of it.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s Blackeye,\u201d said Arden confidently.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s a tree,\u201d said Ari skeptically.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYes, Blackeye,\u201d she said nodding. \u201cBlackeye the black walnut tree. And it\u2019s still there, in front of the school.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHow does that make any sense at all?\u201d asked Ari. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cA hunch?\u201d she replied. Then she frowned. \u201cMaybe it doesn\u2019t make any sense. I don\u2019t know. Why would Blackeye be a tree?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAri sighed, then picked up the paper and stared at it. He looked at the map on the left, then the compass on the right. He looked at the right, then back at the left. \u201cWait a minute,\u201d he said. \u201cI think you\u2019re right. I think Blackeye is the tree!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhy?\u201d asked Arden cautiously.<\/p>\n \n\tAri pointed from the compass to the map, then back again. \u201cNorth,\u201d he said. \u201cNorth. Daylatch Academy. East, east…St. Zita\u2019s Church. South, south…right here, the library…\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tArden pulled the paper closer to her. \u201cAnd West, west…\u201d she said, pointing first at the compass, then at the school and tree on the map. \u201cWe\u2019re going in a circle. A clockwise circle. We\u2019re covering all the points on the compass!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDewey\u2019s a compass nut,\u201d agreed Ari. \u201cIt makes sense that he would hide clues at the four major compass points.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSo we go back to the tree,\u201d said Arden.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYep,\u201d agreed Ari. He folded up the map, and stuck it in his pocket with Miss Samms\u2019 card. \u201cWe go to Blackeye. Tomorrow. After school. We\u2019ll wait until everyone\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ari struggled to stay as far as he could from Finbar Fenker for the rest of the day, and when Arden spotted Finbar rap-dancing by the main entrance after the dismissal bell rang they made a quick detour through the kindergarten room and headed out a side door. The quickest route to the library from […]<\/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\/215"}],"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=215"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215\/revisions\/222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\tOn the left side of the otherwise empty open bookcover were the compass markings N, E, S, and W, with an arrow pointing north at the top. Exactly the sort of diagram you\u2019d find at the bottom of a map to tell you which way was which. And on the right side, a roughly sketched map, showing several streets and a handful of labeled buildings.<\/p>\n