to see why. He fell back against Kate, horrified, because a black figure was now blocking the secret passage. Then the figure spoke:
"Jack and Jill went up the hill."
"Pogo!" Kate exhaled. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
In a trembling voice, George marveled, "She speaks?"
Kate thought about that. "Sort of."
"Well, can I ask her questions?"
"You can try."
George straightened himself up and asked, "Whose room is this? What is it used for?"
Pogo replied:
"For many a stormy wind shall blow
E'er Jack comes home again."
"I thought so," Kate explained. "You can ask her questions, but her answers won't match them."
Lightning flashed on the roof. It was dimly visible through the rotating door. Pogo took the lantern from Kate and led them around the bookcase into the center of the room.
She held the light high to illuminate a portrait hanging on the left wall. It was a likeness of Cornell Whittaker Number Two, like the one in the lobby, except that he was wearing a black robe and a black floppy hat.
"Why is he dressed like Mickey Mouse in
The Sorcerer's Apprentice?
" George asked.
Pogo didn't answer.
Kate approached the floor-to-ceiling bookcase, rose up on her tiptoes, and pulled out a leather-bound book. "Check this out, Uncle George."
Kate pointed back to the portrait. "It's his. He wrote down everything. All of his weird doings."
George commented, "I wish we could check it out. We could take it home and read it."
Kate looked hopefully at Pogo. "Could we?"
But Pogo, by way of reply, took the book away from Kate, hopped up, and popped it back onto the shelf.
Pogo then moved the lantern to shine on the Holographic Scanner. George bent to look closer at its glass top. He ran his fingers over the bronze plaque and read aloud, "Ashley-Nicole Singer-Wright.' You hear that name a lot around here. She's all over the school's website, too. She invented some type of amazing holographic tape. One piece of it can store more information than all the computers in the Pentagon."
"What good is that in a library?"
"It's extreme overkill for a library. But for the Pentagon, it's cutting-edge technology."
George pressed his fingers down on the glass top. "This must be it. This must be the scanner that she used for her experiments." George leaned over and picked up the electric plug. "I wonder if it still works."
Pogo moved her hand, as if to stop him. She whispered:
"Will you wake him? No, not I,
For if I do, he's sure to cry."
George said, "I'm sorry. What was that one?"
But Pogo would not repeat it.
The lightning flashed again, followed closely by a clap of thunder.
"Uncle George, she seems to want to communicate with us. So why does she keep talking gibberish like that?"
George replied in his knowing voice. "That's not gibberish, Kate. Everything she's said is from Mother Goose. She's speaking in Mother Goose rhymes."
Kate grabbed her own hair and pulled it. "But why?"
"Because of what you said. She's grateful to you. She's trying to warn you about something, in the only way she can."
Pogo turned away with the lantern, leaving them in darkness. They hurried to follow her back through the secret passage. One by one, they took hold of the iron rungs of the ladder and climbed up into the brighter and brighter flashes of lightning.
Once Pogo closed the mushroom cap on the roof, the secret room below should have turned as black as a tomb. But it did not.
Over by the wall, the unplugged Holographic Scanner began to glow red under its glass pane, a hot and frightening red, like the fires of Andrew Carnegie's hell. Then, from deep within, a cloud of wispy white lines rose up and swirled beneath the glass. The lines formed, disintegrated, and then formed again, casting ghostly shadows on the ceiling and walls of the secret room.
19. A Guided Tour through an Old Scrapbook
After school on Friday, Kate pulled out a set of six photographs and spread them across her bed. They were photos of Charley Peters, her absent
"Jack and Jill went up the hill."
"Pogo!" Kate exhaled. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
In a trembling voice, George marveled, "She speaks?"
Kate thought about that. "Sort of."
"Well, can I ask her questions?"
"You can try."
George straightened himself up and asked, "Whose room is this? What is it used for?"
Pogo replied:
"For many a stormy wind shall blow
E'er Jack comes home again."
"I thought so," Kate explained. "You can ask her questions, but her answers won't match them."
Lightning flashed on the roof. It was dimly visible through the rotating door. Pogo took the lantern from Kate and led them around the bookcase into the center of the room.
She held the light high to illuminate a portrait hanging on the left wall. It was a likeness of Cornell Whittaker Number Two, like the one in the lobby, except that he was wearing a black robe and a black floppy hat.
"Why is he dressed like Mickey Mouse in
The Sorcerer's Apprentice?
" George asked.
Pogo didn't answer.
Kate approached the floor-to-ceiling bookcase, rose up on her tiptoes, and pulled out a leather-bound book. "Check this out, Uncle George."
Kate pointed back to the portrait. "It's his. He wrote down everything. All of his weird doings."
George commented, "I wish we could check it out. We could take it home and read it."
Kate looked hopefully at Pogo. "Could we?"
But Pogo, by way of reply, took the book away from Kate, hopped up, and popped it back onto the shelf.
Pogo then moved the lantern to shine on the Holographic Scanner. George bent to look closer at its glass top. He ran his fingers over the bronze plaque and read aloud, "Ashley-Nicole Singer-Wright.' You hear that name a lot around here. She's all over the school's website, too. She invented some type of amazing holographic tape. One piece of it can store more information than all the computers in the Pentagon."
"What good is that in a library?"
"It's extreme overkill for a library. But for the Pentagon, it's cutting-edge technology."
George pressed his fingers down on the glass top. "This must be it. This must be the scanner that she used for her experiments." George leaned over and picked up the electric plug. "I wonder if it still works."
Pogo moved her hand, as if to stop him. She whispered:
"Will you wake him? No, not I,
For if I do, he's sure to cry."
George said, "I'm sorry. What was that one?"
But Pogo would not repeat it.
The lightning flashed again, followed closely by a clap of thunder.
"Uncle George, she seems to want to communicate with us. So why does she keep talking gibberish like that?"
George replied in his knowing voice. "That's not gibberish, Kate. Everything she's said is from Mother Goose. She's speaking in Mother Goose rhymes."
Kate grabbed her own hair and pulled it. "But why?"
"Because of what you said. She's grateful to you. She's trying to warn you about something, in the only way she can."
Pogo turned away with the lantern, leaving them in darkness. They hurried to follow her back through the secret passage. One by one, they took hold of the iron rungs of the ladder and climbed up into the brighter and brighter flashes of lightning.
Once Pogo closed the mushroom cap on the roof, the secret room below should have turned as black as a tomb. But it did not.
Over by the wall, the unplugged Holographic Scanner began to glow red under its glass pane, a hot and frightening red, like the fires of Andrew Carnegie's hell. Then, from deep within, a cloud of wispy white lines rose up and swirled beneath the glass. The lines formed, disintegrated, and then formed again, casting ghostly shadows on the ceiling and walls of the secret room.
19. A Guided Tour through an Old Scrapbook
After school on Friday, Kate pulled out a set of six photographs and spread them across her bed. They were photos of Charley Peters, her absent
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