Kingdom Keepers IV(20)

“Then the flag,” Amanda said.

“A red, triangular flag,” Jess added.

“And then the photograph,” Charlene said. “But what’s any of it mean?”

The girls all looked to Philby.

“As to the first,” Philby said. “There aren’t any waiters at the Norway bakery. It’s a cafeteria with outside seating.”

“We didn’t look inside,” Charlene admitted. “Maybe we should have.”

“Waiters deliver menus, food, and drinks,” Professor Philby said, breaking the clue into smaller pieces. Philby was more like a college student than a freshman in high school. “What else? They take stuff away after we’re through.”

“The bakery sells all sorts of stuff,” Maybeck said. “Meals, desserts, drinks.”

“Just deserts,” Willa said. A brainiac like Philby, Willa understood language the way he understood anything technical. “What if it’s a play on words? Wayne does that kind of thing. ‘Just deserts’ is with one s. It means ‘giving people what they deserve.’ Maybe the clue has something to do with giving the Overtakers what they deserve.”

“That’s way too random, even for Wayne,” said Maybeck.

Heads nodded in agreement.

“But a play on words isn’t,” Philby said, sticking up for Willa. “When I was washing my hands just now—you know those signs telling employees to wash their hands?—well, some wise guy had crossed out ‘Cast Members,’ and had written, ‘Servers.’ It’s not ‘waiter,’ but ‘server,’ ” Philby said. “We all need a server now and then. It’s server, not waiter. ‘We all need a server now and then. Some can get a server’s attention faster than others.’ It’s a computer server.”

“That works!” said Willa.

“Wayne knows I’ve messed with the DHI server before,” Philby said.

Amanda said, “So the full translation would be: we all need a DHI server now and then.”

“Yes,” said Philby.

“You guys and who else?” Amanda asked.

“The OTs,” Maybeck said. He looked cruelly at Charlene. Finn thought he was the only one to pick up on it.

Willa said, “And the gnome turning around like that?”

Jess read from her notes. “The exact mission was to ‘find a friend around front.’”

“A friend spinning around?” Charlene asked.

“Not spinning,” Philby said, “A friend…turning his back on you.”

“Or hers,” Willa said innocently. “A friend betraying you.”

“Us,” said Maybeck, still fixated on Charlene.

“A red flag,” Amanda said. “The flag was red.”

“A red flag means something you need to notice,” Willa said. “Something you shouldn’t miss.”

“That everyone needs a server,” Philby said, “and that a friend has turned his or her back on us.”

“We’ve been betrayed?” Willa gasped.

Charlene said to Maybeck, “Quit staring at me. Why are you doing that?”

Finn caught himself holding his breath. Maybeck and his big mouth could ruin it all now. Finn caught a look from Philby—he was thinking the same thing: It’s now or never.

Maybeck said, “I’ve just never seen you prettier.”

Willa giggled. Amanda and Jess watched intently as Charlene blushed and said, “Seriously? Terry? What’s with you?”

Maybeck took another step toward her while maintaining constant eye contact. This was Maybeck-the-mouth in action. The self-proclaimed chick magnet trying to prove himself.

“I don’t know if it’s the lighting,” he said, “but you look like an…angel. Like a movie star. Like one of those girls on the front of a magazine—the ‘it’ girl, the girl everyone wants to be. The prettiest, smartest girl in the room…”

“Terry?” Charlene said again, her voice quavering.

He was a single step away from her now as he stopped.

“One memory,” he said, “is all I ask.” He reached up and cupped her head in his hand, his thumb stroking her ear. She tilted her head slightly toward his hand. Her eyes looked sad and happy at the same time.

Charlene, her voice strong once again, said, “I mean, come on!” She pushed Maybeck back with both hands. “You really think that stuff will work on me?”

The other girls erupted in nervous laughter. For a moment they’d seemed so close to a kiss. Amanda was blushing. Jess returned to her sketching, her head down, giggling.

Finn could see it was a face she was drawing—an upside down face—of a boy or a man. She hadn’t put on the finishing touches yet. He couldn’t be sure. But in the back of his mind a small voice asked: Who?