The Hidden Beast by Christopher Pike Page B

“That might not be such a good idea.”
    â€œWhat Watch means is that we might not find anything,” Adam said quickly. “We don’t want you to be disappointed.”
    Leah hesitated. “My father said if I could decipher the map, I would find wealth beyond imagination.”
    â€œHow come he failed to decipher the code?” Sally asked.
    â€œIt’s not easy,” Leah said. “But Bryce tells me you guys are all brilliant.”
    â€œThree-quarters of us are,” Sally said, glancing at Cindy.
    â€œLet’s see the map and we’ll show you how brilliant we are,” Watch said, obviously anxious to try his wits on the code. Once more Leah hesitated, but then slowly she laid the map down on the table. But it was Adam who spread it open.
    The map was simple. On the left side was a series of triangles that seemed to represent mountains. Opposite the triangles was a set of wavy lines that appeared to be the ocean. In between was a bunch of stick trees and what looked like poorly drawn rocks. There was a large X in the middle of the triangles. That was it.
    But the clues were bizarre, far from clear.
    They were actually written as a poem.
    When the morning and evening lady stands at her tallest.
    The shadow of the white light of love shall falleth.
    In a line of darkness on the door of the smallest.
    In a hidden spot on the tallest.
    Therein lie the jewels that speak in dreams.
    The crystals that whisper words that are more than they seem.
    But beware the ancient pet.
    The fire that burns yet.
    She who remembers old debts.
    She whose breath melts every net.
    â€œNice rhymes,” Adam said as he finished reading it out loud. “But I haven’t a clue what any of it means.”
    â€œOf course you don’t,” Watch said quickly, taking hold of the map. “We have to study it for a while. But one thing is clear to me. If this is a map of Spooksville, it’s reversed. See how the mountains are on the left side, the west side, when they should be on the east side.” Watch frowned. “They’re not only reversed. I think they’re inverted as well.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Cindy asked. “Don’t reversed and inverted mean the same thing?”
    â€œNot exactly,” Watch said. “I believe the map was drawn with the help of a mirror. That if we look at its reflection in a mirror we’ll see where the X is really supposed to be. Sally, do you know where we can get a mirror?”
    â€œIt’s not necessary,” Bryce said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of notebook paper. “I’ve already redrawn the map while looking in a mirror.” He opened the folded paper and laid it on the table beside the old parchment. It was an exact copy of the original, but reversed. Bryce smiled. “Very good, Watch. It took me hours studying the map to realize it had been inverted.”
    Sally wasn’t smiling. “Why didn’t you volunteer that information from the start?”
    Bryce shrugged. “I wanted to see if one of you guys noticed it.”
    â€œThat’s not the way a team works,” Adam said in a flat tone. “If you know other things about the map, please tell us now so we don’t waste valuable time.”
    Bryce shook his head. “That’s all I know.”
    Watch continued to study the parchment andthe notebook paper intently. He spoke to Bryce with his next question. “But you do know where the X is located?”
    Bryce hesitated. “Only approximately.”
    â€œWhere?” Sally asked.
    Watch pointed to the row of triangles. “This is back in the mountains, in a minor range of peaks called the Teeth.”
    Cindy shuddered. “Why are they called that?”
    â€œBecause they’re really pointy peaks,” Bryce said. “And close together.”
    â€œWe assume that’s the reason,” Watch said darkly, staring at Bryce.