The Mapmaker and the Ghost(41)

No-Bone looked up (or would it be down?) from his headstand.

Spitbubble held the backpack away from him dismissively. “Throw this in the river. If that girl ever comes looking for it, I want to be sure that she never sees it again.”

No-Bone flipped onto his feet, grabbed the bag from Spitbubble, and walked out of the cavern.

“Serves her right,” Spitbubble said with a sneer. “Thinking she could outmaneuver me.”

Brains frowned. That was just the thing; Goldenrod Moram was actually pretty smart. “Spitbubble…,” Brains began.

Spitbubble leaned back into his armchair. “I know.”

“You do?” Brains said, somewhat relieved. He was starting to feel like maybe he was just being paranoid for no reason, but if Spitbubble was having some doubts too, then they could definitely convince the other kids …

“I’m not gonna lie, you do have some reason to ask for this,” Spitbubble said. “You sorta … deserve it.”

Huh? Brains blinked in confusion.

“I know that without that crazy brain of yours, we wouldn’t be able to come up with half the stuff we do. And I want you to know that I am grateful. And, yes, after this mission we can work on giving you a slightly higher position. A second-in-command sort of deal, officially.”

Brains was taken aback. It was the first time Spitbubble had so openly acknowledged his contributions.

“Now, I don’t want you getting too full of yourself,” Spitbubble said with a smirk.

Brains shrugged. “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up, right?” he said quietly.

Spitbubble gave a short, loud snort, which was as close as most of them ever got to hearing him laugh. He rose from the chair and gave Brains a quick pat on the back. “We should get going soon, right?”

Brains nodded. It was stupid to doubt himself. No one else did. They all relied on him, even Spitbubble, so of course he could do this. They had thought about and rehearsed this plan for so long; everything was going to be completely fine. Morams or no Morams.

All he had to do now was find Snotshot.



When Goldenrod saw Meriwether next, he still had the ghostly manacles on his wrists and the wreath of flames around his head, but the fact that he was grinning from ear to ear somewhat ruined the effect.

“It worked?” she asked him.

“Indeed!” Meriwether said and pointed to a spot in the clearing that looked freshly dug up. “I made her bury it in case you were not the first person to come in here after her.”

“Good thinking,” Goldenrod said.

“I should say the same to you,” Meriwether said with a little bow.

Goldenrod grinned. “I have just enough time to get the roses out of here before this afternoon, and then tomorrow … What’s wrong?” she asked as suddenly she saw Meriwether’s expression go from elated to apologetic. He was kicking one of his ghostly chains with his toes.

“Er … right. About that,” Meriwether said. “The thing is, I may not have told you about the entire quest.”

“What do you mean?” Goldenrod asked.

“As it so happens, this blue rose is only the twin of another blue rose. And you need the second blue rose to get this one out.” Meriwether smiled at Goldenrod hopefully.

Goldenrod was not amused. “What?”

“This blue rose,” Meriwether said louder, “is a twin—”

“No, never mind. I heard you the first time. But what are you talking about? What do you mean twin blue roses?”

“Um. Well, I’m afraid I can’t tell you that part,” Meriwether said sheepishly.

“You can’t tell me?”

“It’s part of the quest, you see. For you to figure out.”

Goldenrod stared at Meriwether. “You’re saying, you knew this whole time that I wouldn’t be able to take the blue rose out of the forest without this other blue rose.”

“Right,” Meriwether said.

“But you chose not to tell me?”

“Oh, no, no. I didn’t choose not to tell you. I couldn’t tell you. It’s part of the quest—”

“Oh, forget the quest,” Goldenrod said angrily. “What was the point of this whole thing if I could never even get the rose out of the forest?” She turned on her heel and started to stomp out of the clearing.

“But Goldenrod, it shouldn’t be so hard for you, really. You have almost a full week to figure out where the other blue rose is. Goldenrod, come back!” Meriwether called in a panic.

His voice was getting fainter as Goldenrod marched out of the forest, her anger outshining all of her other tangled-up emotions.





29

THE PLAN IN ACTION


It was nearly 4:00 p.m., but the sky was still blazing like it was high noon. No-Bone was sweating again in his leather jacket. Somehow he’d convinced himself it would be good luck to keep it on.

They were in the back lot of the Pilmilton Science Museum, leaning against the gray building. Lint was holding on to the shopping cart he had taken from the small supermarket across the street. They were all being much quieter than any of them had ever been before. No-Bone could tell they were all at least a little nervous. Not him, though. He lived to perform.

The museum was closed on Thursdays, so there was no one in the back parking lot—which was strictly reserved for museum visitors—except for one lone purple sedan parked in a corner. No-Bone assumed it belonged to the security guard on duty.