Cragbridge Hall, Book One: The Inventor's Secret (10 page)

“I don’t know,” Abby said. “It might be kind of nice. I like anything about food.” She opted for the mandarin chicken salad and apple juice. They found an empty table in the commons and sat on opposite sides.

“So how is your first day going?” Abby asked, still a little flushed from gym class.

“We got to watch a little Mozart and some B.B. King in music,” Derick said. “I liked them both, but there’s just something about a big black man with a guitar.” He pantomimed the famous Blues guitarist swaying with his guitar. “And zoology was
amazing
! Dr. Mackleprank says I’m a fast learner too. Maybe a natural.” He raved about his time with the squirrel monkey avatar for the next several minutes.

He didn’t tell Abby that he’d made the avatar fall from the top of the climbing gym, and Dr. Mackleprank warned him that if he broke it, he would spend the rest of the semester reading zoology textbooks.

Carol bounced down the space between benches, holding a tray of her own. “Hey, Abby,” she said. “I don’t mean to interrupt, especially if you and your friend here are talking about something private. Especially if he is your boyfriend. And if he is, all I can say is ‘wow.’ You’ve been here for a day, and you’ve already hooked up with a good-looking kid like that. I’d applaud, but I don’t want to drop my fajitas.”

It was almost like Carol didn’t realize that Derick could hear everything she said. “He’s my twin brother,” Abby explained.

“Whew!” Carol looked from Abby to Derick several times. “I mean, now that I look at you, I can tell that you’re family, but I couldn’t at first.” She raised an eyebrow. “And that means you’re not her boyfriend.”

Abby let her brother sit in the awkward moment for a few seconds before saying, “This is Carol.” She turned to Carol. “Have a seat.” Abby moved over, but Carol sat down next to Derick.

“Nice ... to meet you,” Derick said. It came out as more of a question than a statement.

“Pleasure’s mine.” Carol set her tray, heaping with food, on the table. “I just couldn’t choose, so I talked the lady into giving me both kinds of fajita and a full salad. Which is fantastic, because I’m soooo hungry. I think I’d be really dangerous right now at an all-you-can-eat place.” She spoke as fast as ever.

“So you didn’t tell me you had such a good-looking brother,” Carol said, picking the onions out of her fajitas. “I mean he’s no supermodel, but close enough, you know? Plus, he’s here, so he probably has brains, which is always a bonus.” Abby couldn’t stop herself from cringing a little. Carol turned to Derick. “Unless, of course, you’re like a super genius and want to spend all day talking about physics equations and math theorems, and then we might as well call it off right now—
boring
! I mean, snorefest 2074. You know?”

“You speak faster than most people can think,” Derick said.

Carol blushed slightly. “Thanks.”

She launched into another flood of thoughts, but Abby didn’t pay attention. She felt something. It took her several moments to pinpoint what it was. She put her hand to her chest. Something moved underneath her hand, like an insect had crawled under her shirt. She almost screamed.

But it was no insect. The locket her grandfather had given to her was ... moving. She almost pulled it out from under her shirt but remembered that Carol was at the table.

“What’s wrong?” Carol asked. “Oh, does it have to do with the locket you want to keep secret? I mean, I don’t mean to be nosey, but I can put two and two together. You wanted to keep some locket a secret, and now you’re covering your chest ... and I can see the chain around your neck.”

Abby looked at Derick.

“I’m not sure how,” Derick said, “but it sounds like she already knows about it. Let’s step out into the hall so no one else in here gets curious. Once Abby and I see what’s going on, we’ll decide if you can know more.” Carol agreed, and all three of them left the cafeteria and found an empty hall.

Carol brought her plate of fajitas and waited a good distance away.

Abby pulled at the chain until the locket emerged from under her shirt. The top of the locket had opened, the cover splitting into two pieces that had slid away from each other. “Did yours do this?” Abby asked Derick.

“I ...” Derick stalled for a moment. “I left mine in my room. I didn’t want to wear a necklace. It felt ... weird.”

The front of the locket was completely uncovered. Abby peered in, utterly confused. Inside were two items: a folded slip of paper and a small key held by two metal clasps.

“What does the paper say?” Derick asked.

Abby grabbed the small paper, which was folded into a square about the size of the tip of her index finger. She unfolded it and peered at the paper for a moment.

“It’s a Bridge code.” She pointed at the date and the numbers that followed:
Decision 08/13/2056—0005440543.

“I guess he wants us to look at whatever is logged in under that number,” Derick said.

“I guess so,” Abby said.

“Wait,” Derick said. “The Bridge can’t show you things unless they happened over fifty years ago. This date is less than twenty years old. That seems a little inconsistent, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, that is strange,” Abby said.

“I can’t think of anything special that happened on that date,” Derick said. He turned on his rings and began a quick search. “Looks like the Fryson virtual amusement park opened. Some place called Yikirotech launched a new system to preserve memories digitally. The pogoball made a comeback. DisneyUniverse opened in Texas. And Ezzie O’Neal was nominated for an award for her performance in
Drisdale’s Conscience.
”

“Doesn’t sound like anything Grandpa would want us to know about,” Abby said. “What about the key?”

“No idea,” Derick said. “Maybe it’s to some box in Grandpa’s lab or something.” They both looked at the small metal key for a few moments, trying to decide what it could go to.

“Have you guys decided if I can see yet?” Carol asked. “Or are you like looking at pictures of long-lost relatives, or staring at jewels ... or... What else would be in a locket? Oh! Eating candy!”

Abby knew this was important and that her grandpa had asked her to keep it secret, but she couldn’t bear to exclude Carol anymore. She was the only person other than Derick who had been nice to her, who had included her.

“She’s too curious now. Maybe we should show her the key,” Abby suggested. “That’s pretty simple.”

Derick was reluctant, but eventually agreed. Abby tucked the paper into her pocket, motioning for Carol to join them.

“That is one tiny key,” she said. “Do you know what it goes to?”

“No idea,” Abby admitted.

“Maybe it’s a jewelry box or something,” Carol suggested. “Or one of those tiny doors in
Alice in Wonderland.
I always thought those books were kind of creepy, and maybe even drug-induced. I think it would be more accurate to call them
Alice in Drugland,
but it just doesn’t have the same family-friendly feel to it.”

“Those are some great ideas,” Derick said, raising his eyebrows at Abby.

“I wasn’t serious about the tiny door,” Carol said. “But I do have some great ideas. Like, I think they should use avatars to bring in our luggage when we first get here, because my suitcases were really heavy. And I think some sort of milkshake bar in the hallways would really help me out after a couple classes in a row. Oh, and we should make a haunted house in this place using the projectors. That could be freaky!”

She looked at Derick. “We could go through it together. But I might get scared and have to hold your hand. Or you might get scared and have to hold mine. I’m fine with either way. I’m versatile.”

“Um ...,” Derick stalled, not knowing how to answer. “Keep thinking of more ideas,” he finally managed.

“More like the first two, or more like the last one?” Carol asked.

Abby couldn’t decide how she felt about Carol’s flirting with Derick. It made her feel awkward, which she didn’t enjoy. But it also made Derick feel even more awkward, which she
did
enjoy. “Derick and I have to go to the Bridge labs to do some homework. Want to come?”

• • •

Carol was going to do her homework in another Bridge, and had promised to sync up with a friend from home, so Abby closed the steel door to a Bridge with only Derick next to her.

Abby synced her rings, entered the date and code, and waited.

A message reading “seeking authorization” scrolled across the screen.

“That’s new,” Abby said.

“What?” Derick said.

“I need some sort of special authority to ... oh, wait,” Abby said.

A new message appeared.

Attachment recognized. Sync will continue momentarily.

“We needed my ring attachment to watch this,” Abby said.

“That’s different,” Derick agreed.

What was going on? Grandpa said that they would need the attachment for unlogged entries, including his journal. Maybe that was it—something like a journal. In a moment, both she and Derick stared at the phantom image of Grandpa Cragbridge. He stood only slightly hunched over in the center of the room. If Abby had to guess, he was at least fifteen years younger. She remembered the date she had entered. It was eighteen years ago. Her guess had been close.

“Hello,” Oscar Cragbridge said, “to whoever you may be. But whoever you may be, chances are that you are a good friend of mine, and someone I respect very much.” Abby smiled to think that what her grandpa said applied to her. She also realized there were probably more people with the lockets than just her and her brother—after all, she hadn’t even been alive when he made this message.

“If your locket has opened,” the ghost of Grandpa continued, “that means that something has happened to me. Every day before noon, I trigger the device that keeps the lockets closed. When the locket opened, it was the first day past my ability to keep it closed. This could mean that I have died of natural causes. Or it could mean that someone has ...” Grandpa paused. It looked like he was choosing his words carefully. “That someone has sought me out with other intentions.”

Abby’s heart beat faster. Could Grandpa really have died? Abby imagined him in a long mahogany casket with friends and family gathered around. Her heart felt as though it would collapse on top of itself. No. He seemed fine yesterday. He was probably safe and sound, working hard on his next project, reading an old classic, or catapulting marshmallows as her parents tried to do their work.

And what did he mean that people would seek him out with “other intentions”? Abby didn’t like the sound of that; it seemed sinister or conniving, as though her grandfather actually had enemies. The thought made Abby sick. Could someone really have done something to her grandpa? Was he okay?

Grandpa cleared his throat. “Either way, I now bequeath a great secret to you—the beginning of it, anyway. You’ll want to ...” Abby couldn’t handle it anymore. She shut off the Bridge and threw open the door. Derick followed quickly afterward.

“Hey, guys. Are you done?” Carol asked.

Abby didn’t bother answering. She selected communications mode on her rings, then set them to her grandfather’s number. She paced the lab as she waited for him to sync.

She waited longer than usual. Or did it just seem longer because she was under stress?

“Call Mom and Dad,” Abby told Derick. “We need to make sure ...” She had trouble saying the words. “We need to make sure Grandpa’s okay.” Her eyes welled up with tears.

“Already on it,” Derick said, his trained fingers moving quickly.

Abby still waited. And waited. Grandpa wasn’t syncing back. Why not? He always wore his rings. She disconnected and tried again. “I’m still not getting anything.”

“Me, neither,” Derick added.

“Try again,” Abby ordered.

For once, Carol was silent.

Nearly a minute later, Derick reported that still no one answered.

Abby burst into a sprint down the hallway.

“Abby!” Derick ran after her, Carol close behind.

Abby didn’t look back.

The three teenagers rushed down the hall and out of the building. Abby sprinted down the long sidewalk. She approached the looming outer walls of the school several yards ahead of the others. A large gate was surrounded by several guards. On her way inside yesterday, she’d noticed they were all armed.

A guard approached her. Abby slowed down, not wanting to excite him. She wiped her face with one sleeve.

The guard was muscular and well over six feet tall. “Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“I was told I could leave to visit my grandfather when ...” Abby paused as a sleek robot with arms as thin as bamboo rods seemed to be scanning her. It rolled around on a single wheel.

Just like when they’d passed through the gates the first time, the guard explained that the scan was for both the safety of the students and the protection of the inventions inside.

“You see,” the guard said, humdrum, “no one can leave without permission.” He didn’t seem interested in the rest of her explanation. “Especially when the next classes start in just a few—” A green light flashed on the side of his booth. The man stopped midsentence. “I’ve never seen that before. The man used his rings for a moment, obviously double-checking the information. “Huh?” he grunted. “I’ve never.”