12 The First Cipher

Chapter 12 THE FIRST CIPHER Coke and Pep stared at the message written on the slip of paper IWI LLME ETY OUIN LLANO ESTA CADO A secret code, as you may remember, disguises words or phrases. A cipher disguises individual letters. For centuries, people have been using these methods to send information without letting other people—their enemies— see it. It doesn't even have to be a secret message. Any symbol or signal can represent something else. For instance, if you wanted to convey the idea of a four-legged furry creature that goes "meow," you would write the letters C-A-T.

Anybody who knows that those letters represent a real cat—that is, anybody who knows how to read—will understand the message. That person cracked the code! Of course, it's not usually that easy. Often, one letter is replaced with a different letter or a symbol to hide the meaning of the message. Sometimes the letters are simply rearranged. Governments, companies, and spies and other people have come up with incredibly ingenious ways to keep their information secret. Like this one: Shave the head of your messenger and tattoo your message on his scalp. Then allow enough time for some of his hair to grow back. Then, the only way to decipher the message is to shave his head! Coke and Pep never got their heads shaved. But ever since they left California, they had been receiving a new cipher every few days. At first, the ciphers were coming from Dr. Warsaw himself. After his "accident" at The House on the Rock, they were sent by his young madman

in-training Archie Clone. After the helicopter crash in Washington at the National Museum of American History, Evil Elvis/Aunt Judy was sending the twins ciphers. But who sent this one? Dr. Warsaw had a nervous breakdown back in Hot Springs. He probably was in no condition to be messing with their heads. Archie Clone and Aunt Judy were no longer alive. The bowler dudes were incompetent idiots. Who could be sending them secret messages now? Mrs. Higgins? Somebody else? And what could IWI LLME ETY OUIN LLANO ESTA CADO possibly mean? Unlike her brother, Pep wasn't very good at absorbing and remembering vast quantities of information. She didn't have a photographic memory. But she was excellent at analyzing information, and in fact it was a hobby of hers. She had an uncanny ability to take a series of seemingly random letters, numbers, or symbols and juggle them around to reveal their secret

meaning. "I'm stumped," Coke said after looking at the cipher for a grand total of ten seconds. The boy had lots of good qualities, but a sustained attention span was not one of them. His sister, however, had already figured it out. "Oh, come on. It's easy!" Pep told him. "They haven't even transposed any of the letters. All you have to do is group them differently. Watch." She picked up the pen from the night table and began to write directly below the message. Instead of writing IWI, she wrote I WILL. Instead of writing LLME ETY, she wrote MEET. "I will meet you!" Coke shouted, as if he was deciphering the message himself. "Right," Pep agreed as she continued regrouping the letters. "I WILL MEET YOU IN LLANO ESTACADO. Or Llano Esta Cado. What does 'Llano' mean? Or 'Esta Cado'? It looks Spanish."

"Llano Estacado is the part of the southwestern United States that encompasses eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas," Coke said matter-of-factly. "I think I should call you 'Google' from now on," Pep replied. "But how does that help us?" Coke asked. "What are we supposed to do—meet somebody somewhere in Texas or New Mexico? Gee, that's a big help. Texas is more than 268,000 square miles. And when are we supposed to meet this mysterious person?" "This doesn't help us at all," Pep said. "He's just teasing us. Or she is." Go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com). Click Get Directions. In the A box, type Durant OK.

In the B box, type Denison TX. Click Get Directions.