Cragbridge Hall, Volume 2: The Avatar Battle (23 page)

Derick got up and grabbed the remaining three assailants at once and pulled them in the same direction. He loved the strength of a robot gorilla, but he hated thinking that he had not done well enough. Because of him, it had almost turned out horrifically bad.

• • •

Abby realized she had been holding her breath. Things had come so close to going terribly wrong. Luckily, Grandpa had thought quickly and moved the perspective of the Bridge over the third man and Coach Adonavich had dropped on top of him.

Now they were dragging the intruders out of the past. More people for the cells.

As Abby turned back toward the Bridge console, she caught a glimpse of a spider moving back into a small crack in the wall. Gross. Every now and then Abby was reminded that she was deep in a basement, several stories under the ground.

She had been trying to piece all the information she had together. Grandpa had said, “What if it was more than history we had to protect?” What could that mean? When they had entered the Bridge room, what was Grandpa looking at that seemed so modern?

Abby took the controls at the console of the Bridge and began to scroll upward, closer to the present in time. The scene the Bridge actually displayed on half of the room wouldn’t change unless she selected an entry. With the keys in place, could she scroll to a more recent time than fifty years in the past? She tried to work as subtly as she could, knowing that at any moment, one of the members of the Council could come and remove a key. That might change the options in time that she could choose from. And she might have to do some unwanted explaining. She saw Coach Adonavich drop the intruder she had been carrying and come closer to the console.

Abby scrolled faster, the years streaming by. She was coming close to the 2000s. Could she come all the way to the present? She didn’t know if that was possible. Was a machine designed to show the past limited to
only
showing the past?

She saw Coach Adonavich approaching out of the corner of her eye. Abby turned to face her. “Good job,” she said to Coach Adonavich, trying to act natural. She could still see the dates rising.

“Thanks,” Coach Adonavich said. “Let’s get our keys before any of these guys wake up.”

Abby reached forward as if to take her key, but watched the scrolling intently. It slowed and then stopped in 2025. Fifty years ago.

Abby was wrong.

23

In the Night

Abby yawned again. She sat in the virtual booth and looked at the other members of the Council of the Keys. It was thirty minutes before school started and she was in another meeting. She had planned to sleep through breakfast, but a message from Grandpa woke her. If this kept up, her grades would dive even more from falling asleep in class.

Grandpa stood solemnly at the head of the virtual mahogany table. “Things have gotten worse.”

Immediately a hallway appeared. Abby had seen it, or something like it, before. “This is the hall outside of Dr. Mackleprank’s room,” Grandpa explained. The light suddenly flickered out. “Our night sensors were also cut. How someone breached our security, I don’t know.”

“Another dart?” Abby asked.

“Yes,” Grandpa said. It seemed that Grandpa’s brow had formed a whole new set of wrinkles. “Dr. Mackleprank is awake now and doing fine. His dart only lasted the night. It appears as though they wanted to ensure that he would not interfere with another attempt at using an energy burst to alter time. Muns saw him through his Bridge during the incident with the
Hindenburg
and knows what a great fighter he is.”

“Where is Coach Adonavich?” Coach Horne asked. “I just noticed that we started without her.”

Grandpa bowed his head and flicked his finger. An image of Adonavich appeared. She was in a bed in the medical room next to Ms. Entrese.

A hush fell over the group. Abby’s throat tightened, her insides clenched. Not again.

Grandpa lowered his head. “She must have been attacked last night, after our incident at the Bridge. The nurse says that like Minerva Entrese, she will likely be out for months.”

Abby’s lip quivered. She blinked hard and looked around the virtual room. She noticed Horne’s fists tighten. He punched the table in front of him.

“Whoever it was left more chess pieces,” Grandpa said. “One with Dr. Mackleprank and one with Coach Adonavich. They think they’re winning this game.” He cleared his throat. “And they succeeded even more last night.” Grandpa held up an athletic shoe. “This is Coach Adonavich’s shoe, and here—” Grandpa pointed to the sole of the shoe, “—is the compartment I made to keep her key safe. When we found her this morning, it was open.”

Mrs. Trinhouse closed her eyes and whispered, “They have another key.”

“Yes,” Grandpa agreed. “However, it would be extremely difficult to get a key out of Cragbridge Hall without us discovering it. We have more security at each entrance and sensors that will detect a key.”

“But our increase in security hasn’t helped stop these attacks,” Mr. Trinhouse said.

“Good point.” Grandpa nodded at Mr. Trinhouse. “But it is still likely that the stolen key could be somewhere here on campus. After all, it appears that our attacker is still here as well. We must prevent them from gaining another key and escaping. If they do, Muns will have the ability to change time without the energy bursts. And then I don’t know if we could ever keep up with him.”

“How did they know where she kept her key?” Derick asked.

Grandpa shook his head, his wispy white beard swaying. “That is a mystery.”

Murmurs ran through the room.

“But that is not the only mystery. Watch the security footage.” Grandpa moved his fingers and a view of the hall outside of Coach Adonavich’s room appeared. The lights went out.

“Wait,” Derick interrupted. “I thought you put like extra security on the doors. Made it so no one else could come in.”

“I did,” Grandpa confirmed. “That is one point that greatly puzzles me. And you see, there is no sign the doors or their locks have been tampered with or codes cracked.”

“Could they get in past security through the window?”

“We would see that from the cameras on the grounds.” Mrs. Trinhouse pointed toward the window. It was only a virtual window, but it made her point just the same. “Do they show us more?”

“There is nothing but darkness. More of the same.” Grandpa rubbed his scalp. “Any of you can feel free to watch the footage. Security has analyzed it and can find nothing.”

Abby thought it through. Those were the only entrances, weren’t they? “Wait. What if someone was already hiding in her room when she came back in?”

“Good thinking,” Grandpa said. “But we would have footage of them entering at some time, and we cannot find it. We would also have footage of them leaving, or they would still be in the room. We have no such footage and have searched her room completely. There is no one there.”

“Can we see the room?” Abby asked.

Grandpa flicked his fingers. “This is what I recorded this morning.”

Abby looked closely. This was her time. She could be like Joseph Bell. She checked the doors and windows. They were the only ways in. Unless someone took down an entire wall and put it back up as though it was new, there was no way anyone had entered. So much for her detective skills.

“Was it one of the group we just put in the cell downstairs?” Coach Horne asked. “Every time we bring someone in, it seems that one of us gets attacked.”

“I will interview them, but fear we will get much of the same.” Grandpa stood and started to pace.

“But even if it was one of them, they wouldn’t know where Adonavich’s key was,” Mrs. Trinhouse said.

“I knew where her key was,” Abby said.

Everyone hushed and looked at her.

“I did,” Abby confirmed. “I saw her take it out to use it in the Bridge, and put it back again. And so did all of you.”

“Do you think one of us is a traitor?” Derick asked.

Everyone looked at one another.

“It may be a coincidence,” Coach Horne said, “but last night was the first time the Trinhouses were at the Bridge with the rest of us. That would have been the first time they saw where Coach Adonavich kept her key.”

“It
wasn’t us
.” Mrs. Trinhouse was out of her seat. “And I’m tired of being accused.” Mr. Trinhouse pulled her back down toward her seat, but glared at Coach Horne.

“Well, we’re the only ones, right?” Derick asked. “No one else knew, did they?”

“There is a chance someone else may have caught a glimpse somehow, spying on Coach Adonavich as she used her key to pass through the last door to get to the Bridge.” Grandpa had started his pacing again. “But there are only a certain few who even know the basement exists.”

“We’re coming down here more and more often, which increases chances,” Derick pointed out.

“And there are others with keys, aren’t there?” Abby asked.

“Yes,” Grandpa said. “Though I find it unlikely they would have seen. Coach Adonavich is especially vigilant at keeping her key a secret.”

“Then could anyone else know where she kept her key?” Abby asked.

“There is one more.” Coach Horne raised a finger. “Dr. Mackleprank.”

“But he was unconscious from a dart,” Derick argued. “He couldn’t have done that.”

“Is there a chance he could have been pretending, that it was a setup?” Mr. Trinhouse asked.

“I don’t believe that. I trust him completely,” Grandpa said, pausing to face Mr. Trinhouse.

“He is the only one who was hit with a dart and didn’t go into a coma for weeks,” Coach Horne said. “That’s suspicious.”

“I trust him,” Grandpa said, more emphatically.

“Perhaps we should all interview each other in the Chair,” Coach Horne suggested. “And that includes Mackleprank.”

24

Another Inventor and the Speckled Band

Derick knocked on the door of another apartment in the boy’s dorm. A minute later, Rafa opened it.

“
Bom dia,
” Derick said, hoping he was saying good morning. “Can I come in?”

Rafa hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Sure.”

Derick walked into the apartment, its walls plastered with digital posters. One changed from a soccer player to a jungle cat. A smaller frame rotated through pictures of an olive-skinned woman with a young boy. It had to be Rafa with his mom.

“You alone?” Derick asked.

“Yeah, my roommate is at breakfast. I’m not hungry.”

“Me neither,” Derick admitted. “Are you okay?” It was an uncomfortable question, but he needed to ask it.

“
Mais ou menos
.”

“More or less,” Derick translated. “My Portuguese class is helping already.”

The far corner of Rafa’s mouth curled up into a smile, but Derick could tell it was insincere.

“I hear Dr. Mackleprank is fine,” Derick said.

“For now.” Rafa blinked several times. “But he’s been attacked twice.”

“I know. I know. It’s out of control. I think we should move him to a different room.”

“Yeah, but that’s not the point.” Rafa wiped his eye. The room grew heavy instantly. “Someone has it in for him.”

Derick didn’t know what to say. “Well, we need to figure something out because I need you both okay and well. I nearly blew it last night. Either you or Dr. Mackleprank has to go into the past if Muns strikes again. I’ll just mess it up.”

“I’m sure you did fine,” Rafa said.

“I needed a ton of backup,” Derick admitted. “It’s not easy for me to say, but you’re much better than me. I’d like to think that I can catch you and be just as good as you, but I kind of doubt it.”

“You’re learning well.” Rafa closed his eyes then slowly opened them again.

“Thanks. But I can tell this stuff has really bugged you. Even the last time we played with the avatar club, you weren’t at your normal level of awesomeness.”

Rafa didn’t say anything.

“Look,” Derick said. “I think there is more to this than you’re letting on.” He rubbed his chin. “I mean, usually you’re like invincible, perfect. You drive me crazy.”

“Teachers are getting attacked in the night!” Rafa said, his voice rising. “Isn’t that enough of a reason to be upset?”