Page 61 of Stick Side
“Just checking,” Ben replied with a winning smile before moving toward the desks.
After checking the desk drawers and finding them empty, he went to a wall of books so tall it required a ladder to reach them all. Thankfully, one had been provided.
Thinking to do a thorough, systematic assessment of the bookshelf, he gripped the sides of the ladder to roll it all the way to the left when Penny stopped him.
“Wait!” she cried. “Don’t you remember what I told you? Don’t overcomplicate things. If there’s a clue to be found by climbingthe ladder, odds are the ladder has already been placed in the right spot to lead you to the desired clue.”
Since he would far rather lose by following Penny’s advice than win by gainsaying her, he left the ladder where it was and climbed up the rungs. He scanned the books, looking for anything unusual. Finally, one book caught his eye:The Adventures of Tim Sawyer. That was wrong. The real book wasThe Adventures ofTomSawyer.
“I think I found something,” Ben called to the group as he plucked the book from the shelf and proceeded to climb down the ladder. Penny raced over.
He turned the book to face her. “The Adventures ofTimSawyer,” he read before handing her the book.
“Good find,” Penny praised. She took the book in hand and riffled through the pages. Something on the back cover seemed to catch her eye. “A puzzle piece!” she cried. He heard the sound of Velcro as she ripped it off.
The group assembled and looked at the clue over her shoulder. It had two words on it. “‘At which,’” Penny read aloud.
He could practically see her brain working. “It’s not enough,” she lamented. “We need more clues.”
They retreated to their corners to search for more oddities. Ben got back up on the ladder and scoured the books, but he didn’t see anything else out of the ordinary.
“I found another one!” Melody cheered after some length of time. She held up a chalk brush for everyone to see. Another puzzle piece had been wedged between the folds.
“Me, too!” Angela announced with excitement. She waved a children’s book above her head. “Himpty Dimpty, my foot. As if any parent wouldn’t know it should be HumptyDumpty.”
“Fantastic!” Penny enthused with a competitive spirit Ben could see being a great asset on the ice.
Penny collected the new puzzle pieces from Melody and her mom before moving to a desk where they could be laid out flat. Like the first piece, words were inscribed on each. When Penny fit the puzzle pieces together, they were able to piece the words together into a sentence.
“‘The temperature at which books burn,’” Melody read.
“Okay,” Ben mused. “Let’s think about this. Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius, 212 degrees Fahrenheit. The melting point of gold is around 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, so a little over 1,000 Celsius.”
“I guess it pays to be an architect, huh?” Melody remarked.
The question brought a smile to Ben’s lips. “It definitely taught me some useful things.” Not that he was sure any of it would help him in this situation.
“You’re overthinking. You must be,” Penny observed. “Escape rooms are hard, but they’re designed to be solvable for everyone, not just people with particular schooling. What are we missing?”
“Okay. Let’s think,” Melody mused “We’re in a library. In the event of a fire, of course we’d be the most interested in the temperature at which books burn. Is there any chance you remember the temperature at which paper burns?”
Ben racked his brain, but if he’d ever known, the information was presently eluding him.
“Wasn’t there a book about this?” Penny’s mom contributed after a few moments of thoughtful silence. “Fahrenheit-something-or-other?”
“That’s it!” Ben said, racing back up the ladder. He scanned the shelf until he found what he was looking for. He used his forefinger to pull out the slim volume. “Fahrenheit 451by Ray Bradbury.”
“Penny,” Ben directed, “Try keying four-five-one into the padlock.”
Penny didn’t waste any time rushing over to the locked door. “Four. Five. One.” She spoke deliberately as she keyed in one number at a time.
For a second, nothing happened. Then, when he thought they would have to go back to the drawing board, they heard the dramatic click of a door unlocking.
“Woohoo!” Penny cried. “We did it!”
“We did.” Melody laughed, accepting Penny’s enthusiastic hug.
“Would you like to do the honors?” Ben asked Penny, gesturing to the now-unlocked door.
