She beamed in triumph. Jack applauded, but no one else did.
“What?” Andre stood up as if he couldn’t sit still anymore. “What the—What the hell do Picasso and some sheep have to do withStar Wars?”
“What is it, Lucy?” Dustin asked. “It’s killing me.”
“No, no, no.” Jack wagged his finger again. Dustin looked at Jack as if he were about to bite that finger off. “Lucy, you may be excused. And don’t give any hints on the way out. The others can play for one point for second place. Hugo, would you take Lucy to her room, get her some dinner if she wants something more substantial than a s’more.”
“I’d be thrilled beyond all comprehension to get out of here,” Hugo said as he stood up.
“A thrill can pass through the glass door,” Jack said. “But not excitement.”
As Lucy followed Hugo from the library, she heard someone moaning in abject frustration.
“Let’s go,” Hugo said as soon as they left the library. “Before things get violent.”
It sounded like he wasn’t joking.
She followed him quickly to the entryway, and then he led her up the main staircase. Once they hit the landing, Hugo looked back at her over his shoulder.
“How did you figure it out?” he asked.
Lucy winced. “I wish I could say I was a genius, but I just taught a seven-year-old boy how to spell the nameCarrie.He thought it had oneR, but it has two. TwoRs inCarrie.TwoRs inHarrison.TwoSs inPicasso.TwoEs inReese.”
“TwoOs inbook,twoFs and twoEs incoffee,”Hugo said. “Good job.”
“It wasn’t that hard.”
Someone—it sounded like Dustin—yelled out a certain four-letter word that had never appeared in any of Jack’s books. She laughed.
“Told you so,” Hugo said. “And most people don’t figure it out. They get furious, and then they give up and demand the answer. Jack writes for children. His riddles are on that level usually. Kids figure it out quicker than adults because kids are more literal.”
“I guess I’m just a big kid then.”
She remembered this hallway from her first visit. Turning left, they’d reach Jack’s office with his pet raven. They turned right instead. Hugo pushed open a set of oak double doors.
“Over here.” Hugo took a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. “Jack gave you the Ocean Room.”
He opened the door and switched on the light. Lucy’s eyes widened in shock and delight. She thought maybe the Ocean Room would just have an ocean view, but it was so much more than that. The room was painted the palest silvery blue, like the ocean on a winter morning. The brick fireplace had a white mantel, and on the mantel sat a ship in a bottle. The bed was a massive four-poster, big enough for three people.
Hugo showed her the bathroom, the closet where lanterns and emergency supplies were stored, the schedule for the week on the mantel. She ignored the schedule. The painting hanging over the fireplace had caught her attention. A shark swimming not through the ocean but the sky, chasing a flock of birds.
“Nice. One of yours?” Lucy asked.
“One of mine,” Hugo said. “It’s calledFly-Fishing.”
“It’s wonderful. I know a little boy who’d love it too.”
“Son?”
She paused, wanting to say yes.Yes, he’s my son. My son, Christopher. Christopher, my son…But she shook her head no.
“A boy I tutor. Christopher. He loves sharks.” She pulled out her phone and before she knew it, she was showing Hugo the picture of Christopher holding the toy hammerhead she’d given him.
“Cute kid. Hair like a mad scientist.”
“Tell me about it,” Lucy said. “And magical disappearing socks. Would it be too weird to buy sock garters for a seven-year-old? They keep ending up in the toes of his shoes.”
“You know how to fix that?”
