Page 92 of Knight Moves

We walked easily to the far end of the gym to the door.

“Careful,” Jax called out as we got closer. “Watch where you step.”

On the floor across the room in front of the door was a horizontal, six-foot-deep red-painted strip that prevented them from gaining access to the door. Centered in front of the door almost ten feet away was another small red square that was about two by two feet wide. The door appeared to have a locking mechanism, but it was too far away to get a good look at it.

Bo stood next to the small red square and studied the door. “Why would a small red square be painted here in the middle of the floor?”

Mike walked up to the edge of the six-foot-thick red strip in front of the door, trying to determine what he could about the mechanism on the door.

“My guess is the challenge is twofold,” Wally said. “Get across the red zone and unlock the door.”

“Well, how are we going to unlock the door if we can’t stand close enough to unlock it?” Kira asked.

“There’s not enough light in here to be able to make out any details,” Mike said. “I can’t even see what kind of lock it is. It’s hidden in the shadows.”

“Okay, apparently we have multiple challenges,” I said. “Let’s identify everything we need to do so we can break up the challenges and figure out solutions. First we have to figure out how to reach the door and the lock without touching the red-painted area. Then we figure out what we need to unlock the door. I bet that’s what the ladder is for.”

As I was speaking, Jax and Bo were retrieving the ladder and carrying it back. Just from eyeballing it, I estimated it as sixteen feet. Interestingly, it didn’t appear to be adjustable. I wondered how that played into the challenge.

Bo and Jax maneuvered the ladder toward me when Bo almost stepped on the small red square. Wally grabbed his arm at the last second, saving him from stepping on it.

“Thanks, Wally,” Bo said, safely stepping over it and standing the ladder upright. He held it tightly to prevent it from toppling into the red-painted area.

“Okay, guys, ideas on how to best do this?” I asked.

Jax spoke. “It makes sense for us to place the ladder here and lean it up against the wall. Someone climbs up the ladder and takes a look at the lock on the door.”

He tried to position the ladder to reach the door at a lower angle, but the red square was precisely where he would need to set the ladder down so it could reach the door.

“Well, we now know the purpose of this small red square precisely in this spot,” he said in frustration. “It keeps us from putting the ladder’s base in the right spot so that we can easily access the lock. We have to put the ladder high on the wall or not use it at all.

“What if someone climbs the ladder and hangs upside down from the rungs?” Kira asked. “Could they reach?”

I shook my head. “Not from that angle. None of us is tall enough, not even Bo. Besides, even if we get the door open, how would the person hanging upside down on the ladder rung get through?”

“Maybe someone could swing on the climbing rope and fly in through the door?” Frankie suggested.

“First of all, we’d have to have the door open first,” I said. “But even if we get it open, the rope is too far away for us to swing through or get close enough to swing and jump, even if we were pushed.”

Jax stared intently at the ladder. “What if we had a rope?” he suggested. “We could lower someone down after they climbed on the ladder.”

“They’d have to hang upside down by their feet to reach the door,” Mike said. “That’s just crazy.”

“Actually it’s notthatcrazy,” I said. “A rope would work because we could pull the person back up and bring the ladder back to us as needed. But where would we get a rope?”

We all turned to look at the climbing ropes, but Bo shook his head. “They’re attached at the ceiling, and even if we could figure a way to detach them, it would be a long fall to the floor. Not a smart move.”

“What if some of us hold the ladder and someone else climbs up and cuts it down?” Frankie suggested.

We looked around the gym, but there were no tools that would permit us to cut the rope. Besides, this rope was too thick. I wasn’t sure we could tie it around someone’s ankles even if we wanted to.

“Wait. I have an idea,” Hala said, snapping her fingers.

To our astonishment, she raced back through the door from where we’d just come and disappeared.

“Where’s she going?” Mike asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “But we can’t waste any more time. I suggest we get some light on the locking mechanism so, at the very least, we can see what we need to do to get the lock open.”

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