The Map of Stars by Laura Ruby

Author:Laura Ruby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-03-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Jaime

For one scary second, it looked like Tess was going to fall right on top of them. She somehow managed to catch hold of one rung on the ladder, but that didn’t stop the barrage that rained down on Jaime and Theo. They crouched and covered their heads while they were pummeled with jingling velvet bags, weird bits of machinery, books, papers.

When the storm was over, Jaime stood, coughing, in a cloud of dust. Theo stayed in a crouch. “I disapprove of ladders,” he said.

Tess let herself fall back to the ground. “What’s all this?”

They knelt to look through the treasure. True to the articles they’d read about the time capsules, they found bags of coins, illustrations of such machines as “the self-acting spinning mule” and a mechanical hand, the complete works of Shakespeare, a box that contained an ancient camera, sets of gears and other bits, an article about a sea monster sighting, and what looked like a clockwork machine with a doll’s head.

Tess picked up the doll and read the tag attached to it. “‘A model for a crawling doll.’”

“That is the scariest thing I’ve seen . . . well, today,” said Jaime. “It’s the scariest thing I’ve seen today.”

“Not something you want to cuddle with.”

“I think we should give it a proper burial,” said Jaime.

“It had a proper burial and we just opened the casket,” said Theo.

“Ach, Theo,” said Tess.

“Ach, yourself. It’s true,” Theo said. “What else do we have?”

Jaime picked up a yellowing piece of paper. “It seems we have the Declaration of Independence.”

“Oh wow,” said Tess. “Do you think there’s a clue on the back?”

“I think we’re going to get arrested,” said Jaime.

“We’re not going to get arrested, we’re just—”

“Borrowing this stuff. Yeah, I know. It doesn’t feel like that,” Jaime said. Absently, he patted Ono.

Ono whispered, “Kings.”

“Kings,” said Jaime. “Anyway, this declaration looks like a declaration. There’s nothing on the back.”

“Maybe there’s something hidden. Something written in invisible ink?”

“If there is, we’ll have to wait until we get out of here to figure it out,” Jaime said. He opened a nearby velvet bag. “More old coins in here. Just these coins alone are probably worth a fortune.”

“Jaime,” Tess said.

Borrowing, borrowing, borrowing. “I know.” Still, he couldn’t help but think about the two cops who had come to see him about Ava. How they’d taken down every word he said. The pictures of the other women they’d shown him. Who were those women? What had they done? What did the cops think they had done?

What did they think Jaime had done?

He shook these thoughts away and focused on the pile of “treasure” in front of them. Some pictures, some postcards, more articles. Nothing looked particularly clue-like—or maybe everything looked particularly clue-like—until he came upon a scroll tied with a dusty ribbon. Attached to the ribbon was a message: Who can find justice in the Halls of Justice?

“Guys?” he said.

“What?” said the twins together.

He held up the scroll and showed them the message.

“The Halls of Justice?” said Theo.

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