Page 93 of Knight Moves

“How are we going to do that?” Bo asked. “There’s only one small window up there.” He pointed up at the window in the corner of the gym where a sliver of light was shining through and hitting the gym floor. “There’s no other light in here.”

“Not again.” Frankie sighed dramatically. “What’s with the no-light, dim-light thing?”

“It’s like they’re purposefully making it hard for us to see the lock,” Kira said. “Why?”

I watched Jax turn around in a slow circle, surveying everything in the gym. Suddenly, he ran over to one of the ballet mirrors and ripped one of them off the wall.

“What are you doing?” Frankie cried aghast.

As soon as I saw him coming back with the mirror, I knewexactlywhat he had in mind. I ran to meet him where the sunbeam struck the floor.

“Over here,” I said.

“This should get us some light,” Jax said setting the mirror on the floor.

Together we positioned the mirror and, with some adjustments, cast a direct reflection of light onto the door mechanism.

“Okay, that’s just smart thinking, dude,” Mike said as he got as close to the red strip as possible, peering at the door to see if they could make out what was on it.

“It’s a numerical keypad with digits ranging from zero to nine,” Kira reported excitedly. “Looks like a punch-in combination.”

I looked up at the timer, which read 40.

“Okay. We’re running out of time,” I said. “We need to find the numerical clue. It has to be here somewhere. Spread out and look around.”

Everyone started lugging various gym equipment near the red zone in front of the door, examining it for numbers, as we tried to brainstorm a solution. Suddenly Hala appeared with several ropes wrapped around her body.

We stared at her.

“Where did you get those?” Bo finally asked.

She smiled. “The tents.”

“You ran all the way back to the first challenge to get those?” Jax said.

“I’m a fast runner,” she said, taking off the ropes and dropping them at her feet.

“But what about the periodic table challenge?” Wally asked. “How did you get from the platform through the door?”

“I remembered the pattern,” she said. “Plus, you forget, I’ve been doing gymnastics for years. If Bo could make the jump, I knew I could do it, too. And I did. Anyway, here’s my idea. We tie one of the ropes to the top of the ladder so we can lower it slowly to the wall and then pull it back afterward as desired. I will climb up the ladder and tie one of the other ropes around my ankles, so I can hang upside down from the ladder. Someone on this side can lower me to the lock so I can see what’s there. Just don’t drop me on my head. I’m used to hanging upside down. Plus, I’m light, which will make it easier for you guys to raise and lower me.”

“That could work,” Mike said thoughtfully. “But not unless we find the combination for the door lock.”

“There’s a combination lock on the door?” Hala asked.

“A punch-in-number lock,” Bo explained. “The problem is, however, even if we do get the door unlocked, how would we get everyone through after we pull you and the ladder back up?”

“That’s easy,” Hala said, looking around as if she couldn’t understand why we were clueless. “Once I unlock the door and open it, you pull me up and I’ll untie the rope from my ankles and climb back down the ladder on this side. I’m going to jump across the red zone, and Bo, you’re going to have to help me. You stand as close as possible to the red zone with your hands cupped. I’ll take a running start and jump into your hands with one foot. All I need from you is a giant push to get to the other side. After the platform jump, this one will be a breeze. When I get there, throw some weights through the door after I get out of the way. Then slide the ladder down to me and I’ll prop my side up with the weights. You do the same on this side and we’ll use it to walk across the zone. Nothing touches the red zone. Simple, right?”

It was far from simple, but it was a pretty ingenious, as well as ambitious, plan. But it would be all for nothing if we couldn’t find the combination to the door lock.

“Let’s do it,” I said with resolve. “But first, everyone look for a series of numbers that could be the combination.”

Wally, Mike, and Kira were already examining the gym equipment for strings of numbers or some kind of code. Jax, Frankie, and I walked around the gym looking for some clue to jump out at us, while Bo and Hala worked out their part of the plan.

Once again, it was Frankie who saved us.

“Hey, what’s that up there?” she said squinting at something high on the wall to the left of the door.

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