Read The Secret of the Skeleton Key Online
Authors: Penny Warner
The Secret of the Skeleton Key (7 page)
Jezebel rolled her eyes at him.
That's all Cody neededâher mother showing up to arrest her. “Iâ¦we⦠”
Quinn slipped on his aviator glasses and said, “We were just looking for her cat. We saw him run into this yard. Blackish orange? Long tail? Yellow eyes? Maybe you saw him?” He pretended to look around the front yard.
“No, I ain't seen no cat.” Jezebel rolled over onto her knees and stuck her behind in the air in an attempt to stand up. The kids almost laughed out loud. “Jasper! Help me up, you old fool!”
Jasper grabbed her fleshy arms and tried to pull her up, but she was too much for him. She finally shoved him away and pushed herself to standing, using a nearby sculpture for support. Jasper brushed off the leaves and weeds that clung to her dress, but he couldn't reach the ones stuck in her big bouffant helmet hair. The red lipstick smudge on her cheeks and chin matched the streak on Cody's arm, and gave Jezebel a hideous, deformed-looking mouth.
The four club members began backing up to the front gate. “Sorry to bother you, ma'am,” M.E. called. “We're leaving now. No need for the police.”
She made a dash for the opened gate, followed by the others. They broke into a run toward school and away from the angry glares coming from Jezebel and Jasper.
Cody glanced back just before she turned the corner at the end of the street and caught a last glimpse of the couple. They were still standing in the yard, their arms crossed over their chests, their eyes intent on the kids.
Cody looked down at her outfit. She wondered if they had noticed that her clothes were covered in soot. If they had, they'd know the truth: that the kids had been inside the house.
Snooping.
W
ith two minutes to spare before the first bell, Cody and M.E. stopped by the girls' bathroom to clean off the soot. After the fifteenth paper towel, Cody knew it was a wasted effort. All they'd managed to do was smear the black spots into gray streaks. Lucky for M.E., she was wearing red tights. The gray stripes just made them look cool, like an abstract painting. Unfortunately, the stripes on the back of Cody's shorts made her butt look like a mutant zebra's.
“Hee-haw!” Matt the Brat snorted at Cody. “Awesome stripes. Is there a zebra missing from the zoo? Or did you escape from Alcatraz?” He laughed, sending drops of flying spit everywhere.
Cody glared at the school bully as she passed him on the way to her seat. Today his green-sprayed buzz cut looked like a lawn in desperate need of a mowing. The color matched the fake tattoo of a two-headed snake on his puffy arm. His oversize skull-and-crossbones T-shirt barely reached the waistband of his sagging, baggy jeans, and every now and then Cody caught an unwelcome glimpse of his tighty whiteys. It was enough to make her lose her breakfast.
Even though Matt the Brat acted like a jerk and smelled like peanut butter and called everyone names, he didn't really scare Cody. She'd seen him cry once, after he'd come out of the principal's office. In fact, he'd been in trouble so many times, he had his own special chair there. Cody knew if Matt the Brat even burped too loud these days, he was apt to be expelled from Berkeley Co-op Middle School.
As soon as she sat down in her assigned seat behind Matt, Cody checked her backpack. She unzipped the largest compartment and felt around inside, bypassing her school notebook, codebook, pencil, and other supplies.
She shuddered.
The case the kids had found at Skeleton Man's house was gone.
Quickly, she unzipped another compartment and jammed her hand inside. Nothing except some ABC gum and a few cat-shaped erasers. She tried another compartment, then another. In the last compartment, the smallest one that she rarely used, she felt the cold hard metal against her fingertips.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
The case! Thank goodness.
If she lost Skeleton Man's metal boxâthe one they'd discovered hidden behind the certificateâ she'd never hear the end of it from the Code Busters. Luckily, she'd had the presence of mind to stuff it into her backpack when Jezebel and Jasper had arrivedâeven if she'd forgotten exactly where.
She pulled the case from its hiding place and turned it over in her hands. Ms. Stadelhofer was busy calling roll, so Cody didn't have to pay close attention until her teacher got to the
J
s. She checked the case more closely. While the box resembled a mint container, it appeared to be handmade. The metalâdark and rustyâreminded her of the kind of metal Skeleton Man used for his yard sculptures. Turning it over again, Cody searched for a way to open it.
“Dakota Jones?” Stad called.
Cody was so deep in thought while trying to open the box, she was startled to hear her name. Matt the Brat turned around in his chair, grinning wetly.
“Uh, here,” she said, raising her hand.
Before she could lower her hand, Matt made a swipe at the case, knocking it to the floor with a loud
clink!
The whole class turned toward Cody. She blushed as she leaned over to retrieve the case.
“Dakota?”
Cody looked up at the face of Ms. Stadelhofer looming over her, frowning.
“Iâ¦dropped myâ¦,” she started to say.
Stad held out a freckled hand. “I'll take that. You may have it back at lunch. Until then, it remains on my desk with the other confiscated objects. You know the rules.”
Cody slowly placed the case in Ms. Stadelhofer's outstretched hand. Matt the Brat snorted, and Cody knew he was enjoying her humiliation immensely. Matt's philosophy was: If Matt the Brat couldn't have it, nobody could. No matter
what
it was.
As Stad walked back to her desk, Matt whispered, “What's so special about that stupid box anyway? Do you keep your little treasures in there? Or is that your makeup caseâ”
“Matthew Jeffreys,” Ms. Stadelhofer called from her desk. “Turn around. Eyes front. Pencil in hand.”
Cody gave Matt a wicked smile as he turned to face the teacher. She'd have to keep an eye on the Brat until she got that case back.
Worried about the metal case, Cody could hardly keep her mind on her social studies the rest of the morning. Luckily, Matt the Brat seemed to have forgotten all about it. He was busy bugging other kids and hadn't paid much attention to her after the incident.
All during a long and boring “trip” to some ancient civilization, Cody kept shifting her attention from the other confiscated items on Ms. Stad's deskâ a silver iPod, a charm bracelet, a headset, some gummy worms, and a coded note that Samantha the Snoop had intercepted between Cody and M.E.âto the classroom clock hanging on the wall by the door.
On the dot of 11:59 a.m., she checked to make sure the metal case was still on Ms. Stad's desk. Quickly, she lifted the top of her desk, retrieved her books and papers, unzipped her backpack, stuffed everything inside, closed the desktop, and sat up straight to wait for the lunch bell. She stared intently at the clock, willing the long hand to click over to 12:00 noon.
The bell rang. Along with everyone else in class, Cody stood up and hoisted on her backpack. She ran for the teacher's desk, through the crowd of kids all trying to exit at the same time.
When she reached Ms. Stad's desk, she blinked in disbelief.
The case was missing.
And so was Matt the Brat.
“It's gone!” Cody said, grabbing M.E. on her way out of her classroom.
“What's gone?” M.E. frowned at Cody's worried face.
“The case! Ms. Stadelhofer took it and put it on her desk with the other stuff, but when I went to get it, it was gone!”
“Oh no,” M.E. said. She waved over Quinn and Luke, who were headed for the cafeteria.
“'Sup?” Luke asked, as he and Quinn joined the two girls.
“The
case.
It's gone!” Cody squealed.
“Skeleton Man's case?” Quinn asked, lifting his sunglasses to eye Cody. He didn't look happy.
“Duuude,” Luke said, which could have meant “No way” or “Not good” or any number of things.
“I
know,
” Cody said, near tears. “I think Matt the Brat stole it!”
M.E. scanned the school grounds, then turned back to the group. “We've got to get it back. Let's spread out and see if we can find Matt. Cody, you try the cafeteria. Luke, check out the playing field. Quinn, he might be in the boy's bathroom, so look there. I'll see if he's hiding in back of the school.”
The other three nodded and took off for their assigned areas. Cody headed for the cafeteria.
The noise level inside the large cafeteria was deafening, but Cody hardly noticed, intent on searching for Matt the Brat and getting back the case. After scanning the room twice, she finally spotted Matt sitting at a table with a tray full of food. His plate was untouched, definitely not normal for him. Cody immediately saw why. He was fiddling with something small in his hand.
Skeleton Man's case.
Cody moved in closer to make sure, being careful to keep herself hidden behind some other kids in case Matt looked up. At the moment, he was too busy trying to pry the metal box open with a fork to notice her. Luckily, it was a plastic fork. One of the tines broke off and flew across the table, landing in Samantha the Snoop's apple crisp opposite him.
“You dork!” Samantha said.
She shoved the dessert over to Matt to show him what he'd done. He ignored her and continued trying to open the case with the broken fork.
“What are you doing?” Samantha asked. “You can't open that with a plastic fork, dork. Try this.” She pulled something out of her backpack.
A knife?
Cody wondered. Boy, was she going to be in trouble.
Cody inched closer. She was only two tables away.
It wasn't a knife. It was a protractor from math class. Matt the Brat snatched the math tool from Samantha and began digging at the side of the case with the sharp end.
Great!
Cody thought.
He's going to break it open
with that thing!
Frantically, she looked around for some way to stop him. She knew she couldn't do it alone.
That's when the idea hit her.
Cody ran out of the cafeteria, nearly knocking over a kid carrying a tray full of meat loaf and potatoes, and sped around the corner toward the school office.
She peered in and found the room empty. The secretary must have been on a bathroom break.
Yes!
She ducked into the supply room, where the public address system was kept. Every morning the principal made announcements on the PA systemâupcoming events, changes in the daily schedule, honorable mentionsâalong with a couple of lame jokes. Otherwise, it was used only in case of emergency.
That would be no
w
,
Cody thought.
Cody closed the door and sat down in the chair opposite the microphone. She'd have to work fast before the secretary heard the sounds over the loudspeaker and came back to see Cody making themâthat would mean detention for sure. And then her mother would kill her.
But she had to get that case back.
Switching on the “All-Campus” button, she turned the volume to high and began tapping on the head of the mic.
Code Buster's Key and Solution found on pp. 202, 207.
W
hen Cody was finished, she switched off the PA system and quickly slipped out of the office before the secretary returned and caught her. If the woman heard the tapping, Cody hoped she'd think there was some malfunction with the system and wouldn't recognize Morse code.
Moments later she met up with Luke, Quinn, and M.E. at the door to the cafeteria.
“Got your message,” Luke said, scanning inside the room. “Where is he?”
Cody pointed out Matt the Brat, who, thankfully, was still working on the case with the sharp end of the protractor. They headed over, trying to keep a low profile so they wouldn't attract Matt's attention. As they got closer, Cody noticed Matt wasn't poking at the case anymore.
He was stabbing it.
Repeatedly.
It was sure to break open at any second.
“What do we do?” Cody whispered.
Luke looked down at a tray of leftover food on one of the nearby tables. He picked up a hard roll and threw it at Matt's hand. Being the athlete he was, it was a direct hit. The protractor flew out of Matt's grasp and landed on the pizza at the next table.
“Ow!” Matt screeched, shaking his hand and dropping the metal case. The case fell under the table. Right next to his giant smelly shoe.
Matt spun around and spotted Luke with a second roll in his hand. His face reddened with anger as he muttered, “Stupid code kids⦠”
Before Matt could bend down and retrieve the case, the pizzaâminus the protractorâcame flying at him from behind like a Frisbee. It bounced off the back of his head, leaving bits of salami, cheese, and tomato sauce glistening in his green buzz-cut hair. Matt grimaced as he reached behind him and pulled the pizza toppings off his head.
He stared at the mess in his hand for a second, his eyes wild, his face a blotchy red. Reaching for a chocolate-frosted brownie from a nearby tray, he grabbed it and shot-putted it in the direction of the pizza thrower.
Unfortunately for Matt, the brownie was intercepted by Ms. Stadelhofer, who had just stepped over to stop the budding food fight.
She took the brownie right in the face.
The Code Busters ducked under a table. Before Ms. Stadelhofer could blow her whistle, food started flying everywhere. Pizza, meat loaf, biscuits, brownies, and at least two kinds of vegetables went airborne, landing with splats around the chaotic lunchroom. Stad, wearing the remains of chocolate frosting on her nose, suddenly “got milk” when an open carton of low-fat milk hit her in the chest and drenched the front of her lavender silk blouse. When she managed to blow her whistle, the sound was ear piercing.
The Code Busters certainly know how to create a distraction,
Cody thought, watching the food fly from under the table. Searching the area, she spotted the metal case about three feet away, under the next table. Crawling over, her knees collected bits of lime-green Jell-O with pineapple bits. She reached for the case.
A big shoe intercepted and kicked the case out of range.
Cody took a moment to wipe the green slime on someone's pant leg, then again crawled toward the case. This time when she reached it, she pounced on top of it. With it safely beneath her, she slithered backward under another table and then sat up. Before anything else could happen to the case, she stuffed it into her pants pocket.
Cody waved at Quinn, still under the first table, to get his attention. He removed his sunglasses, and she gave him a thumbs-up. He passed the signal behind him to M.E. and Luke, then gestured, military style, for the others to follow him, as he zigzagged on hands and knees beneath the connecting cafeteria tables until they all reached the exit.
They were about to spring to their feet when Principal Grunt appeared in the doorway. His face wasn't wearing its usual “school pride” expression. Instead, he held a megaphone in one hand and a whistle in the other.
Cody winced at the shrill sound as Principal Grunt blew the whistle with a mighty breath.
“Matthew Jeffreys!” Grunt's voice boomed through the megaphone. Students decorated in a rainbow of cafeteria foods stopped midthrow and turned to the principal. They stood frozen, open-mouthed and wide-eyed.
All eyes followed the principal as he marched straight for Matt the Brat, who was holding a handful of soggy french fries in his raised hand.
The Code Busters took advantage of the distraction and ducked quietly out of the cafeteria doors. Standing in the doorway, Cody glanced back at Matt, his face glistening with sweat and some kind of sauce.
Principal Grunt stood facing Matt, arms crossed, his head shaking in disgust at the student he assumed had started the food fight. But Matt wasn't looking at the principal. He was staring straight at Cody, his sauce-covered face twisted in anger. Even at a distance, she had no trouble reading his lips as he mouthed the words: “You're
so
dead.”
Cody didn't see Matt the Brat the rest of the day, thank goodness. She hoped he was in detention for the rest of the semester. When Ms. Stad appeared in class after lunch in a fresh blouse, her nose was shiny from washing off the brownie and milk. She spent the rest of the class time talking about the dangers of food fights and had the students break into “tribes” to “problem solve” future situations.
Cody could barely keep her mind on the topic, wondering what was inside the metal case that had caused so much trouble. She'd handed it over to Quinn as soon as they were away from the cafeteria, and Quinn had tucked it safely in his zippered jacket pocket. Her only worry now was Matt the Brat's threat: “You're
so
dead.”
Detention wouldn't last forever.
When the last bell rang, Cody had to fight with her desk to get a book out. When she got out to the hall, M.E. had disappeared. Cody headed for the flagpole, the Code Busters' usual meeting place, but there was no sign of any of her friends. Uh-oh. It looked like she'd have to walk to the clubhouse by herself.
Alone.
With Matt the Brat's threat hanging over her.
Not to mention the mountain lion.
Cody kept glancing behind her to check for Matt as she made her way down the street. Once she headed up the hill toward the clubhouse, she kept her eyes peeled for the lion. There was no sign of either one, although she jumped twiceâ once when a dog barked, and a second time when something behind one of the eucalyptus trees rustled. Running the rest of the way up the hill, she didn't know which was worseâa hungry mountain lion or an angry bully.
When she finally reached the clubhouse, she gave the secret knock and password. The bolt was removed and the door opened, and Cody sighed with relief at finding Quinn and Luke there. But when she realized M.E. was not among them, she recalled Matt the Brat's words before he was hauled off to detention. Matt knew that even though Luke had started the food fightâ
Matt
had gotten blamed. Cody's relief quickly turned to concern for her friend.
“Where's M.E.?” Cody glanced down the forested hill before closing the door and removing her backpack. She sat cross-legged on her hoodie to protect her legs from the cold sheet metal that made up the floor and hid their secret stash.
Quinn shrugged. “I haven't seen her since lunch. She usually comes with you.”
Cody frowned. “I hope nothing's happened to herâ¦. ”
Luke shook his head. “I know she's not the bravest person on the planet, but M.E. can take care of herself. She's quick and small, and she can talk her way out of anything. She's probably justâ”
A familiar knock at the door interrupted Luke.
“That's probably her now,” Luke said, rising to his feet. But before he opened the door, he asked, “What's the password?”
“
Yadsruht
,” came a muffled voice.
Luke unbolted the door and opened it. It was M.E., all right.
But she wasn't alone.
“Dude! Who's your friend?” Luke gawked at the newcomer.
Cody leaped to her feet. “You found Punkin!” She took the orange cat from M.E.'s arms and stroked him. “Where was he?”
“I found him hiding behind one of those metal sculptures in Skeleton's yard,” M.E. said. “He was meowing and clawing at the dirt.”
“You went
back
there?” Cody asked, surprised at M.E. Normally, she was the first to chicken out when there was any kind of danger involved.
“I knew you missed him, Cody,” M.E. said. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“That's so sweet! You even cleaned the soot off him,” Cody said, nearly tearing up as she rubbed the cat's soft fur.
“Hey,” Luke said. “Let's make him the Code Buster's mascot. We could name him Decipher.”
“I think we should name him Lucky,” Quinn said. “He's lucky to be around.”
“How about BondâCat Bond?” M.E. added in a funny British accent. “He'd make a great spy cat. Double-o-nineâ¦lives.” She giggled.
Cody shook her head. “Sorry, he already has a nameâPunkin.” She reached under the cat's neck to show them the personalized collar she'd made for him. But when she searched his fur, the tag felt different. She pulled it out and examined it.
“That's weird. The tag I made for him is covered with a sticker. And there's a small key attached.”
She showed the tag and key to the others. “It's handwritten. It says, âFrancis Scott.' Is that the cat's name?”
“Francis Scott?” Luke and Quinn said at the same time.
“What kind of a name is that for a cat?” Quinn grimaced.
“It sounds familiar,” Luke added.
“You're thinking of Francis Scott Key,” Cody said. “He wrote the âStar-Spangled Banner,' remember?”
“Hey, that's cool,” Luke said. “There's a key, and his name is Francis Scott. Get it?”
“That reminds me⦠” Quinn pulled the metal case from his zippered jacket. “Look at this.”
Luke squinted at the case. “What?”
“There are letters written on the side,” Quinn answered. “You can see them when they catch the light.”
“What do they say?” Cody asked, surprised that she had missed them when she'd had the case.
“They're really faint,” Quinn said, “but the soot from the fire makes them easier to read.”
“Let me see.” Cody took the case from Quinn's hands and looked at it closely. The writing was fancy and old-fashioned, like something she'd seen in books at museums. She could just make out three letters.
“F S K,” Cody said.
“That's not a word,” M.E. said.
“What's it supposed to mean?” Luke asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Good question,” Quinn said, taking the case back from Cody.
“Maybe they're initials,” M.E. suggested.
Quinn shook his head. “But the old man's name is SkeletonâI mean
Skelton
. That's his last name, not his middle name. Maybe the initials stand for something in code, like in that framed CIA certificate we saw. FSK. Federal ⦠Secret ⦠Ka ⦠” He shrugged and placed the case into Luke's outstretched hand.
Luke studied it intently, then said, “Dude, I got nothing. If we don't have the key, we can't break the code.”
Cody sat up. “That's it!”
“What's it?” Luke asked.
“What you said about the key, Luke,” Cody continued. “Mr. Skelton stuck that note on the tag, wrote that name, and attached a key. It must mean his name isâ”
They all said it at once: “Francis Scott
Key
!”
Cody looked at the cat.
“The âkey' to the metal case is around the cat's neck!”