The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck by Emily Fairlie Page B

I’ll know if you come around again.”
    Reginald pointed two fingers at his eyes and then back at Laurie and Bud in the universal symbol of “I’m watching you.” Laurie couldn’t believe he actually did that. It was so corny.
    Besides, Laurie wasn’t about to let it go that easily. “Yeah, but—” she started.
    â€œNo buts. Now get,” Reginald barked, slapping at Laurie and Bud with his cleaning rag until they were forced to scurry away out of self-preservation.
    Bud threw a look back over his shoulder as he dragged Laurie down the hallway. Reginald was standing, arms folded, in front of the door to the Tuckernuck bell tower. “I think getting that clue just got a lot more difficult.”
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    Ways to Get Into the Locked Bell Tower
by Laurie Madison, grade six
    1. Bust down the door by physical force. Problem: Need battering ram, and battering ram rentals not listed in Miss Lucille’s ancient Yellow Pages or on Google.
    2. Pick lock. Problem: Need skills. And lock-picking set. Also not in Yellow Pages.
    3. Force Reginald to unlock door. Problem: Reginald hates us. Would definitely need some sort of weapon to force him, and would probably result in detention. Plus then secret’s out.
    4. Scale the wall from the outside. Problem: Noodle arms.
    5. Mugging Reginald? Problem: Beginning of a life of crime.
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    EMAIL
    FROM: WALKER LEFRANCO, School Board President
    TO: PRINCIPAL MARTIN WINKLE, Tuckernuck Hall
    SUBJECT: PATHETIC, WINKLE
    It has come to my attention that there is to be a Save Tuckernuck Hall rally. This is a pathetic display of cheap sentimentality, Martin, and I expect you to reign in your people ASAP. This rally will only hurt your chances with the school board.
    â€”LEFRANCO
    EMAIL
    FROM: PRINCIPAL MARTIN WINKLE, Tuckernuck Hall
    TO: WALKER LEFRANCO, School Board President
    SUBJECT: Check your Constitution
    Please note highlighted portion:
    First Amendment—Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
    EMAIL
    FROM WALKER LEFRANCO, School Board President
    TO PRINCIPAL MARTIN WINKLE, Tuckernuck Hall
    SUBJECT: Principal LOON
    You’re as crazy as that Tutweiler woman was. Do you know Picasso personally too?
    Get a grip on reality, Winkle.
    â€œDo I have to go?” Laurie looked in the mirror and adjusted her Clucker hat. She didn’t know why she bothered, though. There was no way to make a chicken hat look fashionable, no matter how you arranged the dangling legs.
    â€œAren’t you excited? It’s your school! Don’t you want to save it?” Mrs. Madison came into Laurie’s room in full Clucker regalia—new hat, shirt, jacket, even an old Clucker pin she’d gotten when she went to school at Tuckernuck.
    Laurie tried tying the legs over the top of her head like earflaps, but it wasn’t a good look for the chicken or for her. “Wouldn’t it be easier if I just switched to Hamilton? I mean, this rally. Is a rally really going to save the school? Really?” Laurie was skeptical.
    Mrs. Madison hesitated. “We might be able to get the building designated as a historical landmark. Maria Tutweiler was rumored to have high-profile friends in the artistic community—Picasso, Alexander Calder, José de Creeft, Frank Lloyd Wright. Some people even say that there were famous artists and architects who helped with the renovations that turned Tuckernuck Hall into a school. Can you imagine demolishing a building like that?”
    â€œBut is that really true? I saw some articles—they said she was just crazy. That it’s just an old building, and she didn’t know anybody.”
    â€œA lot of people are looking for evidence to prove she wasn’t crazy. I don’t