Chapter 3

Chapter Three IN WHICH There Are Many Riddles Jared looked around the room. It was a smallish library, with one huge desk in the center. On it was an open book and a pair of old-fashioned, round glasses that caught the candlelight. Jared walked closer. The dim glow illuminated one title at a time as he scanned the shelves. They were all strange: A Historie of Scottish Dwarves, A Compendium of Brownie Visitations from Around the World, and Anatomy of Insects and Other Flying Creatures.

A collection of glass jars containing berries, dried plants, and one filled with dull river stones sat at the edge of the desk. Nearby, a watercolor sketch showed a little girl and a man playing on the lawn. Jared's eyes fell on a note tossed on top of an open book, both coated in a thin layer of dust. The paper was yellowed with age, but handwritten on it was a strange little poem: In a man's torso you will find My secret to all mankind If false and true can be the same You will soon know of my fame Up and up and up again Good luck dear friend He picked it up and read it through carefully. It was as though a message had been left here just for him. But by whom? What did the poem mean? He heard a shout from downstairs. "Mallory! Simon! What are you doing up?"

Jared groaned. It just figured that Mom would get back from the store now. "There was a squirrel in the wall," Jared could hear Mallory say. Their mother cut her off. "Where's Jared?" Neither of his siblings said anything. "You bring that dumbwaiter down. If your brother is in there..."

Jared ran over in time to watch the box disappear down into the wall. His candle choked on wax and sputtered from his sudden movement, but it didn't go out. "See?" Simon said weakly. The dumbwaiter must have showed up, empty. "Well, where is he then?" "I don't know," Mallory said. "In bed, asleep?" Their mother sighed. "Well, go on, both of you, and join him. Now!" Jared listened to their retreating steps. They'd have to wait a while before they snuck back down to get him. That is, if they didn't just figure that the dumbwaiter had taken him all the way upstairs. They'd probably be surprised not to find him in bed. How could they know he was trapped in a room without a door? There was a rustling behind him. Jared spun around. It came from the desk. As he held up the makeshift lamp, Jared saw that something had been scrawled in the dust of the desk. Something that wasn't there before.

Click clack, watch your back. Jared jumped, causing his candle to tilt. Running wax snuffed the flame. He stood in the darkness, so scared he could barely move. Something was here, in the room, and it could write! He backed toward the empty chute, biting the inside of his lip to keep from screaming. He could hear the rustling of bags downstairs as his mother unpacked groceries.

"What are you?"