The Magician's Bird by Emily Fairlie Read Free Book Online Page A

clues for what seemed like hours, but they couldn’t agree on anything. And the things they could agree on were pretty much guaranteed to be nixed, unless the school safe or banister knobs were suddenly acceptable hiding places.
    Laurie nodded. “And then you call Misti and see what’s up at her house.” There was no way she was making that phone call herself.
    â€œOkay.” Bud got up and went to shove his notes in his backpack, but as he unzipped it, Laurie made a hissing noise.
    â€œWhat the—” Bud started.
    â€œShh!” Laurie hissed. “Listen!”
    Bud pricked up his ears and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. There were voices coming from behind the door in the corner. The door they hadn’t investigated.
    â€œAre they coming in here? Should we hide?” Bud said under his breath. Not that there were a lot of hiding places in the room. All anyone would have to do is open the door and they’d be caught. But he didn’t think they had time to make it to the main door.
    â€œShh!” Laurie whispered again, not moving. They could still hear the voices, but they didn’t seem to be getting any closer.
    Laurie got to her feet and silently crept over to the passageway door. Then, with a significant look at Bud to keep his mouth shut, she opened it a crack.
    The voices were louder now, but they didn’t sound like voices in the passageway. They sounded farther away.
    Laurie pulled the door open and stepped inside. It was dark, but up ahead she could see small, dim squares of light on the floor. She crept up to the first one and gasped.
    â€œBud!” she whispered. “Look!”
    â€œWhat?” Bud did not want to get caught. He hurried forward and hoped Laurie knew what she was doing.
    ----
    Things to Say If You’re Caught Sneaking Around in a Hidden Room and/or Passageway
by Bud Wallace, rising seventh grader
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  1. Yeah, I just found this!
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  2. No, really! Just this second!
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  3. Nope, no idea it was here. I would’ve told you.
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  4. For real!
----
    â€œWhat is it?” Bud asked, hurrying up to Laurie. He really hoped she wasn’t flipping out. But it really looked like she was, because she was just standing staring at the wall.
    Laurie pointed at the wall.
    Afraid of what he was going to see, Bud looked at the wall where Laurie was pointing. And gasped.
    It was the library. It was hazy, like they were looking through a screen or something, but it was definitely the school library, just on the other side of the wall. Miss Lucille was in there talking to Mrs. Hutchins, and they were leaning over something on the table. A paper or something. They both looked upset.
    â€œOh, man,” Bud breathed. “Secret passageway?”
    â€œIt keeps going, too, farther that way,” Laurie said, pointing down the passage. “We can see and hear everything they’re doing.”
    â€œOH, MAN,” Bud said, a little more loudly than he intended.
    Mrs. Hutchins looked up and scanned the library,then went back to the paper on the table.
    â€œOh, man,” Bud said again, in a much softer voice. “This is so awesome.” He pointed toward the corner of the library. “Look, you can see Ponch and Jon!”
    Ponch and Jon were standing in their deluxe gerbil habitat, clenching their tiny fists and shaking with rage. It was like their gerbil superpowers had alerted them to Bud and Laurie’s presence, but they were powerless to do anything but shriek and hop in fury.
    â€œWhere are we?”
    â€œI think we must be on the other side of that weird abstract map on the wall in the library. It must be a secret screen or something,” Laurie said. She couldn’t believe it. She’d looked at the stupid map a thousand times and had never once suspected it was a secret viewing screen. “No