The New Champion (15 page)

WHY YOU WANT TO WIN:
Every Blue Team member who wins his or her one-on-one will earn your team an easier versus harder piece to the next puzzle.

WHY THEY WILL TRY TO BEAT YOU:
They will receive money. Thousands of dollars.
And if they try to let you win? No money for them, and 25 penalty minutes for you. How will we know if they're slacking? We know how fast they should go. We gave them two warm-up rounds and recorded their speed. Now walk to your monitors.

 

That was all Cameron needed: a warmed-up Spencer. “Warm-up round?”

“They had us do the same thing with a group of animals, then junk in a desk. They told us to go our fastest, but I didn't know it counted for anything.”

“You'd never take it easy on me anyway.”

“I might have. The more you win, the more you'll give me.”

Cameron shook his head.

A woman's voice came out of nowhere. “You have two minutes. Please find the monitor with your name. Blue Team will be on the blue side of the table; guests, on the white side.”

The setup had them face-to-face with their direct competitors, the monitors their only buffers.

Estella was glaring at her ex-boyfriend.

Clio and Janae were chatting about a trip to Washington, D.C.

Rocky and Jig were laughing at each other.

Dacey's plastered-on smile looked like it might crack her face.

“You know you're going down,” said Spencer across the two monitors.

Cameron took a deep breath and managed to look him directly in the eye. “Not if I can help it.”

Cameron's screen started a countdown. “3. 2. 1. Go!”

His monitor showed twenty kids on four rows of risers. Boys, girls. Every hair color; every skin shade; every type of clothing. He stared and stared, but how could he remember all twenty? What would happen if he didn't? Spencer would have bragging rights again, that's what. Nine seconds left. Tan girl, medium blond hair. Asian boy with black glasses. Kid who grinned like Walker. Girl with a mole near her lip. Dark-skinned girl with bright green—

The screen went blank to a chorus of groans.

“Finally!” said Spencer.

Cameron suspected that was for effect, but he couldn't let Spencer's confidence, fake or not, suck all his concentration.

The screen lit back up with the kid who grinned like Walker. Underneath him it read: “Was this person in the picture? Yes / No.”

Cameron touched Yes.

Next, a girl with medium brown hair and a pink shirt. He didn't remember her, but he couldn't rule her out. What should he do? Really, time was what mattered. He touched No. The computer didn't buzz him wrong. Was that a good sign?

Next. A boy in a baseball cap with a purple
M
. He remembered the cap, but was it
that
boy? Just go. Yes.

Tan girl, medium blond hair. Yes.

Asian girl, black glasses. Yes? No. The black glasses were on the Asian boy.

The screen blanked, then blinked back on. “4 / 5. Almost. Try, try again.”

“Doing great over here, Cameron,” Spencer said. “Doing good?”

Cameron didn't answer. He touched the screen, and all the people came back. Twenty seconds on the clock. And that girl with the pink shirt
was
there. Would they give them the same five kids? Probably not. He studied harder. The boy with the white shirt who looked like a thousand people. The kid who was a little cross-eyed. One who looked like his friend Franklin. One who looked like Darla from algebra, one—

Blank screen. Same choices?

Nope.

“Oh, man,” he heard Estella's boyfriend say. “Different people.”

“I got it this time,” said Spencer. “Beat me, Cameron. Just try.”

Cameron wished he had earplugs. Okay. Pale boy with freckles. Never saw him.

Girl with a pink streak in her hair. No.

Girl with the mole. Yes!

Bright green shirt. Yes!

Dark-skinned boy who looked like his friend Sameer. No!

That had to be right. The monitor went blank. It blinked back on: “5/5 but sorry. Spencer beat you by 0.3 second. Please take a seat in the blue chairs and remain silent.”

It was just Spencer and him making their way to ten blue chairs. If he'd been up against anyone else, he would have won.

Sorry,
Spencer mouthed. But that smile wasn't the least bit sorry.

Cameron had just sat when Clio trotted over, arms raised in victory. Janae came around, and they gave each other a big hug.

Clio raised her eyebrows.
You win?
she mouthed.

Cameron shook his head.

She patted him on the back anyway.

In just moments it was apparent that Dacey had lost to Laura, that Jig had won and Estella had, too. She took a chair as far away as possible from Stephen.

Now what? How long were they supposed to be silent?

“A-a-ahh!”
Bill ran out from near the Rainbow Maze, arms and legs flailing like a crazy man.

They all laughed.

“It was so quiet here,” he said. “I couldn't stand it. Say good-bye to our visitors. You'll see them again in a little while.” He handed Estella an envelope. “If you want to, that is.”

“Come, visitors!” He walked them back toward the Rainbow Maze wall.

Before Estella could open the envelope, Bill turned around. “You picked up a minute thirty-nine. Now go!”

“W
e're less than four behind,” said Jig. “We can do this.”

“We can,” Clio said.

“We can,” Cameron echoed with the other two.

Estella held out the puzzle card.

 

Puzzle #5

* * * * * * * * * * *

Your questions and choices are near the huge blue entry door.

 

They took off, but when they rounded the sailboat, there was no blue-lit table. There were three blue-lit doors. Embedded in each was a framed screen lit with a string of five numbers, all ones and twos.

Dacey reached for a doorknob.

Clio flew in front of her. “No. What if opening one is like opening a box?”

Dacey backed away. “You're right.”

Jig had peeled their envelope off a suit of armor. He read its card aloud.

 

Puzzle #5

* * * * * * * * * * *

Congratulations! You have earned three easier questions for this round! Answer all five questions correctly and you will know which door to open. Open only that door.

P.S. Need a hint?

 

And there was a small right-pointing arrow at the bottom of the card. Jig turned it over. “There's nothing here.”

“They tease,” said Dacey. “But where are the questions?”

One arm from the suit of armor rose and pointed behind them to a bank of five more monitors mounted on a wall. Each read “Touch Here.”

Clio touched the one on the left, and the screen fully lit.

QUESTION #1

HOW MANY COUNTRIES COUNT GLACIERS AS PART OF THEIR TERRITORY?

CHOOSE 1 IF THAT ANSWER IS GREATER THAN 18.

CHOOSE 2 IF THAT ANSWER IS EQUAL TO OR LESS THAN 18.

 

“I still don't see a hint,” said Dacey. “Where's . . . our . . . hint?” she called to the ceiling.

“Did you expect an answer?” asked Estella.

“C'mon,” said Clio. “Maybe we don't need a hint. Glaciers. All I know is they're massive bodies of ice and provide water and are shrinking with global warming.”

“If only my brother George were here,” said Estella. “He's got this thing about icebergs and glaciers. Rain forests, too.”

“What if we start naming countries with glaciers,” Clio said. “Up in Alaska, so the United States. Canada. Antarctica. Greenland.”

“Iceland?” said Dacey.

“Don't know,” Clio said. “We learned Iceland is green and Greenland is icy. Anyone?”

“Russia,” said Cameron. “China, I think.”

Dacey sighed. “If that's an easy question, we are in serious trouble.”

“Maybe not,” said Clio. “The doors will tell us.”

“Because doors talk,” said Dacey.

“No. Suppose the answer to question five is definitely two. If only one door has a two in the fifth position, it's the right door. I say we go to the next question.” Clio touched the second screen.

 

QUESTION #2

WHAT IS A NORMAL DECIBEL LEVEL FOR EVERYDAY CONVERSATION?

CHOOSE 1 IF THAT ANSWER IS GREATER THAN 85.

CHOOSE 2 IF THAT ANSWER IS EQUAL TO OR LESS THAN 85.

 

“Over eighty-five in my house,” said Jig, “over eighty-five hundred probably.”

That wasn't right. Cameron started raising his hand again, but his mouth took over. “I was at a basketball game with a decibel meter. It only got as high as one-fifteen, and it was deafening in there. It's probably number two.”

“Are you absolutely positive?” said Jig.

“Ninety percent,” Cameron said.

“Right now we need one hundred,” said Jig.

They moved to the next monitor.

 

QUESTION #3

HOW MANY DIMPLES IN A STANDARD GOLF BALL?

CHOOSE 1 IF THAT ANSWER IS GREATER THAN 200.

CHOOSE 2 IF THAT ANSWER IS EQUAL TO OR LESS THAN 200.

 

“Seriously?” Dacey said. “Hey, Bill! Which ones are the easier questions?”

“Tell me about it,” said Estella.

“But golf balls are little,” Dacey said. “I can't believe they even have a hundred dimples. It has to be number two.”

Jig let out a laugh. “And your fact-based reference is . . .”

“Fine. If no one else has anything, move on.”

 

QUESTION #4

HOW MANY SPECIES OF FLIGHTLESS BIRDS CURRENTLY EXIST?

CHOOSE 1 IF THAT ANSWER IS EQUAL TO OR GREATER THAN 4.

CHOOSE 2 IF THAT ANSWER IS LESS THAN 4.

 

“Okay,” said Clio. “There's the ostrich and emu. Also penguins.”

“What about the ones that look like penguins?” said Jig. “Puffins?”

“They fly,” said Clio. “That's one of the differences.”

“Really?” said Dacey. “And you know this because . . .”

“My kindergarten teacher was obsessed with penguins. But what's important, I think there are more flightless birds in Australia, and two more would make five. But I'm like Cameron with the decibels, only ninety percent sure.”

They moved on.

 

QUESTION #5

WHEN WAS THE FIRST JUNGLE GYM BUILT?

CHOOSE 1 IF THAT ANSWER IS BEFORE GOLLY TOY AND GAME COMPANY WAS ESTABLISHED.

CHOOSE 2 IF THAT ANSWER IS AFTER GOLLY TOY AND GAME COMPANY WAS ESTABLISHED.

 

“Got it!” Dacey said. “If you don't know, you don't deserve to be here. This is Golly's fifty-first anniversary.”

“So before or after fifty-one years ago?” Jig said.

“Oops,” said Dacey. “Not sure.”

“I might be, though,” said Clio. “My grandma has this story about getting over her fear of heights on a jungle gym, and she's, well, I think she's over sixty years old.”

“And we have nothing definitive,” said Jig.

“All we can do is use our closest guesses.” Clio pulled paper and a pen from her pocket. “More or less than eighteen glacier countries?”

Cameron, Jig, and Estella voted more; Dacey and Clio, less.

“Majority rules for now,” Clio said, writing down a 1. “But the underlining means we're not unanimous. More or less than eighty-five decibels?”

They were unanimous. She marked down the 2.

“More or less than two hundred golf ball dimples?”

Split decision, boys versus girls. She underlined the 2, for less.

“More or less than four flightless birds?”

More. Unanimous. She wrote the 1.

“Jungle gym. Before Golly or after.”

Before. Unanimous again. Another 1 on the paper.

“Let's see what matches up best,” she said.

They ran back to the doors, with their choices.

 

First door: 1 2 1 1 1

Second door: 2 2 1 1 2

Third door: 1 1 2 2 1

 

They compared those with their paper:
1
2
2
1 1

 

“If you look at the ones we're unanimous on,” said Clio, “it's the first door.”

“We can't be sure, can we?” said Dacey.

“What's the question we feel most confident about?” said Clio. “Jungle gym?”

They agreed.

“So we'll eliminate door number two.”

“If we do,” said Jig, “majority was right on the glacier question because the remaining doors are both choice number one.”

Silence. Cameron was more than ninety percent on the decibels, but what if he was wrong?

“Hey!” said Dacey. “Weren't we supposed to get a hint? Where's the puzzle card?”

There was still nothing on the back.

“Wait!” Cameron pulled the packet of lemon juice from his pocket and ripped it open with his teeth, spraying half of it on his shirt. He sprinkled the rest onto the back of the card and spread it with his fingers. Letters started appearing:
Cas . . .
But he didn't have enough juice to reveal any others.

“Genius!” Clio said.

She and Estella pulled out their packets and spread more juice over the card. It finished the first word—
Cassowary
—and started the next,
Ki
. “Two birds, I think. More juice!”

Jig rubbed his to the end of the first line, then underneath from the right.

 

Cassowary   Kiwi

                       s   l

 

Jig held the card out. “Get the rest of that line, Dacey.”

She looked down. “Weren't y'all worried the packet might burst on your clothes?”

“Perfect,” said Estella.

“We're okay,” Clio said. “We can go with what we have. The new birds make at least five, so fourth position is a one. Eliminates door number three. It's door number one, Dacey.”

She grabbed the knob. “Y'all sure?”

“It's on me if this is wrong,” said Clio. “Open it!”

It opened into the Rainbow Maze.

“If we messed up,” said Jig, “you won't regret it.”

The stunt card was attached to the yellow wall.

 

Stunt #5

* * * * * * * * * * *

WELCOME TO THE RAINBOW MAZE!

Weave in and out, and in and out.

It's last year's maze, there is no doubt.

But now, of all the paths you choose—

The reds, the oranges, greens, and blues—

You'll find no reason or no rhyme.

Dead ends will show you're wrong this time.

And stick together every turn

Or penalties will be quite stern.

Instead of sticks along your way,

You need to find four packs today.

Each of you must bring your four

Up to the very highest door.

And then . . .

 

“And then,” said Jig, “the most amazing slide. You can't even imagine.”

Or not. Things were different this year, but Cameron wasn't going to argue, not when he was in the middle of magic. For the first time ever he was happier without his camera. Nothing could capture the amazing radiance of all these colors showering down on them.

They climbed a set of purple stairs that led to their first choice—right, left, or straight. Jig was the fastest runner, and last year Rocky had come in first by running, so . . .

Jig turned right into the orange passageway without asking. No one said anything. This was a good strategy. No debating. No words, just—

Dead end. They turned around; Jig pushed to the front and led them straight to the green, up a long ramp that curved to a choice of yellow or blue hallways. Jig ran to the blue. Up ten stairs. Right to green and—

“Stop!” Cameron called from the third position in line behind Jig.

Clio turned. “Jig! Jig! Come back.”

He did.

Cameron grabbed five small tape-sealed gear bags that were lying in a shadow on the ground. “I don't think we're supposed to open these.” He slung one over his shoulder and handed the rest out.

“At least we know we're right so far,” said Dacey.

But other than that, even she was quiet. All the stairs, all the uphill running took a lot of breath, and they were only getting started.

Up through orange, which morphed into red and came to a dead end. Down and back to a deep blue, then up to red, left to yellow, and even Jig saw them: their second packs.

Halfway done with those. Unless. His stomach lurched. What if they'd been so hypnotized by the colors they'd missed one? What if they had to go all the way back?

He had to wipe away the thought because panic would pull too much breath from his lungs. Instead, he tried to memorize the color order in case they needed to double back.

But they'd gone left at purple, right at green and had to return to go up red instead, and now up more green stairs and up a spiral yellow ramp. No way to remember.

“Gear bags!” Jig called.