Arcade Catastrophe
Page 30
“It’s hard to ground somebody who can fly,” Lindy said.
They reached a door that led directly outside. The far side of the door held an EMPLOYEES ONLY sign. Across the patio, a group of teenagers were putting at a hole designed to look like Stonehenge.
“You ran away from home?” Risa asked Lindy.
“Maybe,” Lindy said.
“Lindy hasn’t been very talkative,” Chris told Nate.
“She’s probably not sure whether she can trust you,” Nate replied. “Which is probably smart.”
Chris shrugged. “Like I care. Instead of one team of four, maybe we can be two teams of two.”
“Fine with me,” Lindy said.
“You heard Mr. White,” Risa said. “If we don’t work together, the other teams will beat us and we’ll lose our stamps. We need to make the best of this.”
“Then let’s go,” Chris said.
“Wait,” Nate said. “My friends know I just received my stamp.”
“So?” Risa asked.
“We watch out for each other,” Nate said. “If I don’t come back, they might freak out. Let me go tell them that I’m okay, then I’ll catch up.”
“We’ll catch up,” Lindy added. “You guys can go ahead. I’ll show him the way.”
“Fine, but don’t slip up and spill any secrets,” Chris said. “Mr. White is serious about keeping this quiet.”
“Believe me, I get it,” Nate replied. “See you soon.”
Chris and Risa walked away. Nate and Lindy started looping around Arcadeland toward one of the regular entrances. Before they reached the doors, Nate checked that Chris and Risa were out of sight, then pulled Lindy to a halt.
“So what happened?” he asked.
Lindy glanced around. “Nobody included me, so I included myself.”
“How did you win 50,000 tickets so quickly?”
“Who says I won them?”
Nate hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Katie Sung asked me about stolen tickets.”
“You talked to her too?”
“She let you get away with it?”
Lindy leaned against the wall. “She was mad. After I traded for the stamp, they brought me to her. She told me how their cameras never showed me winning a single ticket. She told me seven rolls of 8,000 tickets had been stolen the night before.”
“You stole them?”
“I didn’t admit it. Not to her. I told her maybe I was wearing a disguise when I was here playing. I told her I was tricky.”
“But you stole them.”
Lindy looked Nate in the eye. “You know I see differently from most people.”
“Right.”
“I can usually see through walls and floors, at least for a ways. But a lot of Arcadeland is shielded from my sight. I don’t know if they used magic or special materials, but I can’t see underground here, and I can’t see certain areas of the building.”
“Okay,” Nate said.
“It made me curious. After Pigeon told me about Arcadeland, I came and checked it out.”
“Pigeon told you?” Nate cried.
She nodded. “I didn’t try to enter the arcade. I just roamed the outside of the building. I noticed that the storage room where they keep their prize tickets wasn’t shielded from my sight. I thought it meant that whatever was behind the shielded walls and floors must be pretty important.”
“Because you would think they would protect their prize tickets,” Nate said. “Makes sense. Maybe John Dart or Mozag are behind some of those walls.”
“The thought had occurred to me. Anyhow, after talking to Pigeon, I realized that those tickets were the key to getting a stamp, and the stamps were the key to gathering information.”
“He told you that?” Nate exclaimed.
“Keep it down,” Lindy scolded, glancing around. “Yes, he told me after I guilted him by explaining how left out I was feeling.”
“You took advantage of him.”
“Just his kindness. I really do like him, largely because of his kindness.”
“Go on.”
“I know where Dad keeps the Mirror Mints that Mrs. White left behind. He guards them pretty carefully because he hasn’t figured out how to produce more, even though he has her notes on the subject. Anyhow, the storeroom with the tickets had a full-length mirror. I went through a mirror near Arcadeland. When I came out into the storeroom, I heard an alarm go off. Somehow they had detected me. I worked quickly. Getting the tickets out was simple. I brought them in through one mirror and took them out through the other.”
“Smooth,” Nate complimented. “Fifty-six thousand tickets.”
“They were heavy. I unwound them and ripped them apart so it would look like I’d won them at lots of different games. But they knew I hadn’t because I never showed up on their cameras. The security at Arcadeland isn’t just for show. They pay attention.”
“Not well enough.”
Lindy giggled. “Katie was upset. I think she was embarrassed that a kid stole tickets that she should have protected. Thankfully, Mr. White intervened.”
“What did he do?” Nate asked, still wondering whether Jonas had revealed her true identity.
“He interviewed me. He told me he didn’t mind that I stole the tickets. He just wanted to know how. I told him about the Mirror Mints. He thought I was resourceful. He told me that in his opinion I had earned the tickets because getting them was difficult and I got away clean. Of course, he mentioned that he would be removing all mirrors from the more private portions of his arcade. But he let me keep the stamp!”
“I’m impressed,” Nate said honestly.
“You guys should have involved me from the start. I thought we Blue Falcons were supposed to stick together.”
“True,” Nate said. “But we didn’t want to disrespect Mr. Stott.”
“I know. I didn’t want to either. But with John and Mozag in trouble, I felt like I needed to help. I knew I could contribute.”
“What do you think about Jonas White?” Nate asked, trying not to give the question special significance.
“I wondered if he might be related to Mrs. White who owned the candy shop,” Lindy said. “I mean, they’re both magicians, and he set up his arcade so close to where she set up her shop. I didn’t ask, though. I was worried it might seem suspicious.”
They reached a door that led directly outside. The far side of the door held an EMPLOYEES ONLY sign. Across the patio, a group of teenagers were putting at a hole designed to look like Stonehenge.
“You ran away from home?” Risa asked Lindy.
“Maybe,” Lindy said.
“Lindy hasn’t been very talkative,” Chris told Nate.
“She’s probably not sure whether she can trust you,” Nate replied. “Which is probably smart.”
Chris shrugged. “Like I care. Instead of one team of four, maybe we can be two teams of two.”
“Fine with me,” Lindy said.
“You heard Mr. White,” Risa said. “If we don’t work together, the other teams will beat us and we’ll lose our stamps. We need to make the best of this.”
“Then let’s go,” Chris said.
“Wait,” Nate said. “My friends know I just received my stamp.”
“So?” Risa asked.
“We watch out for each other,” Nate said. “If I don’t come back, they might freak out. Let me go tell them that I’m okay, then I’ll catch up.”
“We’ll catch up,” Lindy added. “You guys can go ahead. I’ll show him the way.”
“Fine, but don’t slip up and spill any secrets,” Chris said. “Mr. White is serious about keeping this quiet.”
“Believe me, I get it,” Nate replied. “See you soon.”
Chris and Risa walked away. Nate and Lindy started looping around Arcadeland toward one of the regular entrances. Before they reached the doors, Nate checked that Chris and Risa were out of sight, then pulled Lindy to a halt.
“So what happened?” he asked.
Lindy glanced around. “Nobody included me, so I included myself.”
“How did you win 50,000 tickets so quickly?”
“Who says I won them?”
Nate hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. “Katie Sung asked me about stolen tickets.”
“You talked to her too?”
“She let you get away with it?”
Lindy leaned against the wall. “She was mad. After I traded for the stamp, they brought me to her. She told me how their cameras never showed me winning a single ticket. She told me seven rolls of 8,000 tickets had been stolen the night before.”
“You stole them?”
“I didn’t admit it. Not to her. I told her maybe I was wearing a disguise when I was here playing. I told her I was tricky.”
“But you stole them.”
Lindy looked Nate in the eye. “You know I see differently from most people.”
“Right.”
“I can usually see through walls and floors, at least for a ways. But a lot of Arcadeland is shielded from my sight. I don’t know if they used magic or special materials, but I can’t see underground here, and I can’t see certain areas of the building.”
“Okay,” Nate said.
“It made me curious. After Pigeon told me about Arcadeland, I came and checked it out.”
“Pigeon told you?” Nate cried.
She nodded. “I didn’t try to enter the arcade. I just roamed the outside of the building. I noticed that the storage room where they keep their prize tickets wasn’t shielded from my sight. I thought it meant that whatever was behind the shielded walls and floors must be pretty important.”
“Because you would think they would protect their prize tickets,” Nate said. “Makes sense. Maybe John Dart or Mozag are behind some of those walls.”
“The thought had occurred to me. Anyhow, after talking to Pigeon, I realized that those tickets were the key to getting a stamp, and the stamps were the key to gathering information.”
“He told you that?” Nate exclaimed.
“Keep it down,” Lindy scolded, glancing around. “Yes, he told me after I guilted him by explaining how left out I was feeling.”
“You took advantage of him.”
“Just his kindness. I really do like him, largely because of his kindness.”
“Go on.”
“I know where Dad keeps the Mirror Mints that Mrs. White left behind. He guards them pretty carefully because he hasn’t figured out how to produce more, even though he has her notes on the subject. Anyhow, the storeroom with the tickets had a full-length mirror. I went through a mirror near Arcadeland. When I came out into the storeroom, I heard an alarm go off. Somehow they had detected me. I worked quickly. Getting the tickets out was simple. I brought them in through one mirror and took them out through the other.”
“Smooth,” Nate complimented. “Fifty-six thousand tickets.”
“They were heavy. I unwound them and ripped them apart so it would look like I’d won them at lots of different games. But they knew I hadn’t because I never showed up on their cameras. The security at Arcadeland isn’t just for show. They pay attention.”
“Not well enough.”
Lindy giggled. “Katie was upset. I think she was embarrassed that a kid stole tickets that she should have protected. Thankfully, Mr. White intervened.”
“What did he do?” Nate asked, still wondering whether Jonas had revealed her true identity.
“He interviewed me. He told me he didn’t mind that I stole the tickets. He just wanted to know how. I told him about the Mirror Mints. He thought I was resourceful. He told me that in his opinion I had earned the tickets because getting them was difficult and I got away clean. Of course, he mentioned that he would be removing all mirrors from the more private portions of his arcade. But he let me keep the stamp!”
“I’m impressed,” Nate said honestly.
“You guys should have involved me from the start. I thought we Blue Falcons were supposed to stick together.”
“True,” Nate said. “But we didn’t want to disrespect Mr. Stott.”
“I know. I didn’t want to either. But with John and Mozag in trouble, I felt like I needed to help. I knew I could contribute.”
“What do you think about Jonas White?” Nate asked, trying not to give the question special significance.
“I wondered if he might be related to Mrs. White who owned the candy shop,” Lindy said. “I mean, they’re both magicians, and he set up his arcade so close to where she set up her shop. I didn’t ask, though. I was worried it might seem suspicious.”
