{"id":245,"date":"2009-08-15T11:31:46","date_gmt":"2009-08-15T15:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?p=245"},"modified":"2009-08-15T11:31:46","modified_gmt":"2009-08-15T15:31:46","slug":"chapter-23-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/?p=245","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 23"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was an elegant meal for a kid. Candlelit tables, in a room full of leather upholstery and charbroiled steaks. Flossie Beemis, stretched languidly across the ebony grand piano, sang sultry songs about walnut trees and fluttered her lashes at Ari, while Finbar Fenker, in a waiter\u2019s tux, presented him with a sterling silver dome covered dish. Finbar lifted the lid with a flourish, to reveal an artistically arranged meal. In the center, a baked apple, brimming with raisins. And at four points corresponding to north, south, east, and west, were gears, sprockets, and springs, roasted to perfection.<\/p>\n

\n\tAri stared at the plate.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s what you ordered sir,\u201d said waiter Finbar with a cackling laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s what you ordered.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n\tAri snapped awake and stared at his bedroom door in confusion. Uncle Ellery! Uncle Ellery had won the boxing match! He didn\u2019t need to find Dewey\u2019s compass anymore!<\/p>\n

\n\tAri jumped out of bed and into clothes. He practically fell down the stairs and into the deli. Uncle Ellery was off his feet during store hours for the first time Ari could remember, while Seamus Angus and one of the teenage cashiers handled customers.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe bruise on Uncle Ellery\u2019s cheek had turned more colors than Ari had ever seen on a person.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDo you want more ice for that?\u201d asked Ari.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cProbably won\u2019t help,\u201d replied Uncle Ellery, \u201cBut why not?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAri got a plastic bag and went to the freezer for ice. Several pieces slipped from his hand onto the floor, and Ari squatted to pull them out from under the freezer. The paint on the wooden floor here, like in other high-traffic areas around the store, had rubbed away from use, revealing the bare wood and some black markings underneath. Black markings? Ari bent down for a closer look. A letter maybe? Why had he never paid attention to this before?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDo we have paint remover?\u201d asked Ari, tossing the bag of ice to Uncle Ellery.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIn the basement,\u201d replied Uncle Ellery looking at Ari quizzically. \u201cBut what are you doing to my floor?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAri barely heard him. He flew down the basement stairs and rummaged among some cans of paint in the corner. Strip-o-matic <\/em>read the label on one can. Ari charged back up the steps with the can and grabbed some paper towels from behind the counter.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGonna redo the floor, are yeh?\u201d chuckled Mr. Fitzanderson who was clomping down the canned goods aisle with his four-pronged cane, filling a basket with pickles and applesauce.<\/p>\n

\n\tAri dabbed some remover onto a paper towel and rubbed vigorously at the turquoise paint to reveal more of the black shape underneath. \u201cI\u2019ll repaint it, I promise,\u201d he assured Uncle Ellery who was watching with raised eyebrows. The black shape was unaffected by the paint remover, but as the turquoise over it wore thin, it became clear that the shape was an elegant curly W.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s compass markings,\u201d insisted Ari. He glanced excitedly around the store trying to scout out the likeliest locations of east, north, and south. \u201cIf west is the freezer, north must be…\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOver by the chips,\u201d said Arden, who had just walked into the deli. \u201cIt can\u2019t be much farther back, or you\u2019d run out of space for east.\u201d She paused for a moment, and handed Uncle Ellery the bag of ice which he had not yet put to use. \u201cI came to see how your face is,\u201d she said. \u201cYou need to use this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUncle Ellery forced a painful smile, and applied the ice to his cheek.<\/p>\n

\n\tArden targeted a spot on the floor in front of the tortilla chips. \u201cRight here,\u201d she said. \u201cStart right here.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tAri rubbed paint remover all around, giving the floor a polka-dot pattern of bare wood patches.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere!\u201d cried Arden as he rubbed near the pretzels.
\n\tAn N was emerging, as curly and clear as the W had been.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHow weird,\u201d said Ari. \u201cThere must be one in all four corners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhich is why,\u201d added Arden, \u201cJolene…I mean Miss Samms, called this place Jolene\u2019s Four Corners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOkay,\u201d said Ari, admiring the newly exposed N. \u201cIt should be easier to find east and south now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe don\u2019t need to find east and south,\u201d Arden said. \u201cGot some string?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cCatch!\u201d said Seamus Angus, tossing a ball of string from behind the deli counter. Mr. Fitzanderson chuckled as the cashier rang up his pickles and applesauce. \u201cKids these days!\u201d he said. \u201cWhat\u2019ll they think of next?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAll we need to find,\u201d said Arden, \u201cis the compass rose. So if we run a string from the N, and another string from the W, the right angle where they meet has to be the rose!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThat would be great,\u201d agreed Ari, eyeing the layout of the deli, \u201cif the string weren\u2019t running into shelves every four feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ll get close,\u201d insisted Arden. She tore a bit of packaging tape from the deli counter and and taped a string end to the N. Then she draped the string over the canned goods and stopped in the middle of the store. Ari did the same from the W, and their strings crossed right under the deli counter booth where Uncle Ellery was sitting.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPaint thinner,\u201d requested Arden.<\/p>\n

\n\tAri rubbed a bit here and there under Uncle Ellery\u2019s feet. \u201cMaybe we don\u2019t have a right angle,\u201d he suggested. They each grabbed a string and adjusted a bit, then rubbed some more.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cRed,\u201d said Arden suddenly. \u201cLook, it\u2019s red there!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was a tiny, triangular tip of red, brightening up the bare patch in the exact spot where Dewey had been tapping his cane on the night that Ari first saw him in the deli. Arden grabbed some more paper towels off the counter, and they both rubbed away turquoise paint until they could see that the shape materializing on the floor was a sort of starburst in shades of red and gold, about the size of a lunchroom tray, with rays radiating north, south, east and west.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s the rose alright,\u201d said Ari. \u201cSo now…we have to look under it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFind something to pry up the floor!\u201d said Arden excitedly.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNo and no,\u201d cut in Uncle Ellery. \u201cThat\u2019s a negative. I have no clue what you\u2019re looking for, but trashing the floor, as creaky as it is, is not an option.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBut Dewey\u2019s treasure is under the rose!\u201d insisted Ari.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDewey\u2019s treasure, eh?\u201d said Uncle Ellery with a facetious wink. \u201cI take it you mean Dewey Daylatch.\u201d He chuckled. \u201cI\u2019m sure it was a common activity in those days to bury treasure in floorboards, but…very fortunately…we happen to have, in this very building, a completely uninsulated basement. That means, that if you go downstairs and look up, if there\u2019s something under this floor, you\u2019ll see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGo Ari!\u201d insisted Arden. \u201cI\u2019ll tap on the rose up here, so you\u2019ll know where to look!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAri scuttled down the wooden basement stairs one more time. The basement was lit by bulbs mounted on the ceiling with strings to pull, and he also grabbed a flashlight from a peg on the stairway wall. Arden had begun to tap on the rose above, so he followed the knocking sound, pulling lights on as he went. <\/p>\n

\n\tArden\u2019s rapping was now right over his head, above a stack of boxes full of paper supplies. Ari switched the flashlight on, and shined it at the ceiling above him. At first he saw nothing but the usual wooden joists, spaced every sixteen inches, with subfloor running above them diagonally. Electrical wires were tacked to the joists in running bundles, and besides that, there seemed to be nothing but cobwebs. <\/p>\n

\n\tBut Arden kept rapping, and he stared a little harder until he made out a protrusion on the side of the joist just overhead…like a box, about the size of a grapefruit. It was the same wood and color as the ceiling, and very hard to see until he shined the light straight at it.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s something here!\u201d he yelled, hoping his voice traveled through the floor above. He knew it did when he heard Mrs Stoutling–no doubt refreshing her onion bagel supply–say \u201cMore trouble Ellery? I certainly hope it\u2019s not mice!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNo mice, Mrs. Stoutling,\u201d Ari heard Uncle Ellery reply. \u201cMy nephew\u2019s in the basement looking for…supplies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThen he heard light footsteps hurrying down the basement stairs, and seconds later Arden was staring at the ceiling too. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ll get a ladder,\u201d said Ari. He pulled a paint-splattered aluminum step-ladder over, and spread its legs under the mystery box. Then he climbed to just above the last safe rung and tugged sharply on the box. To his surprise, it pulled away from the joist with a squeak, and he found himself holding a small wooden crate with nails sticking awkwardly out of it.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBring it upstairs,\u201d urged Arden. She scampered up the stairs ahead of him, and he followed more slowly, afraid to shake or drop the box.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOkay,\u201d said Ari, placing the box gently on the table in front of Uncle Ellery. \u201cLet\u2019s see what we\u2019ve got here.\u201d He pried the lid off with the help of Uncle Ellery\u2019s screwdriver to reveal a wadded up (and possibly used, Arden observed,) silk handkerchief. Under that, another handkerchief, this one wrapped around an object. As Ari gently unrolled the second handkerchief, flashes of blue and yellow glinted from the jewels bedecking a tarnished silver disc-shaped object.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cDewey\u2019s compass,\u201d said Ari, though he\u2019d been certain all along that that was exactly what he\u2019d find. He pressed a tiny button on the side, and the lid flipped up to reveal the compass\u2019s mother-of-pearl face, and its gently bobbing needle pointing straight at the pretzel shelf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was an elegant meal for a kid. Candlelit tables, in a room full of leather upholstery and charbroiled steaks. Flossie Beemis, stretched languidly across the ebony grand piano, sang sultry songs about walnut trees and fluttered her lashes at Ari, while Finbar Fenker, in a waiter\u2019s tux, presented him with a sterling silver dome […]<\/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\/245"}],"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=245"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245\/revisions\/246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}