The Magic Misfits - Neil Patrick Harris Page 0,32

she’d been working on since the end of the summer—the long crate that was lying on the floor beside the workbench. Reaching for her tools, she attached another wheel to its underside and realized that she’d been constructing a different kind of puzzle box all this time.

She had a feeling that, very soon, it might just come in handy.

The next day stretched out like a rubber band.

Ridley could barely concentrate on the lessons that Ms. Parkly had planned for her. In the back of her mind, she wondered if maybe her teacher could have been responsible for the Misfits finding the puzzle boxes. Ridley made sure to not mention their discovery to her.

When the doorbell rang shortly after three o’clock, Ridley was still in the middle of some reading that Ms. Parkly had assigned, so her teacher answered the door. “Come in, Theo,” Ridley heard her say. The bell rang twice more—once for Leila and Carter, and the other for Olly and Izzy. Ridley directed them to the back of the house.

Mrs. Larsen called down from the top of the stairs. “Who keeps ringing the doorbell?” In the kitchen, the Misfits hushed. Ridley felt a flash of fear that her mother would find her friends gathered together, flip out, and then send everyone home. Ms. Parkly must have seen Ridley’s worry because she ran to the foyer to intercept Mrs. Larsen before she could come down past the landing. Was she actually trying to help them? Ridley wondered.

“Sorry about that,” said Ms. Parkly, giggling characteristically. “Ridley and I were just finishing up for the day. A lesson about… er… sound!”

“Right!” Ridley called out from the living room, her chest tight. She glanced through the kitchen door and waved her friends toward herself, silently directing them to stand against the wall, away from her mother’s view.

“Oh, Mrs. Larsen!” Ms. Parkly proclaimed suddenly. “There was something I wanted to ask you about. In private. Could you join me outside?”

Ridley wanted to cheer at the sight of her mother following her teacher through the front door. Was Ms. Parkly familiar with the concept of misdirection?

“Quick!” Ridley whispered. “Follow me.” Within seconds, the Misfits had assembled inside Ridley’s lab, safe and sequestered. “Sorry about the sneaking around,” Ridley told her friends. “My mother is liable to lose it if she finds a bunch of people in the house.”

“Nice of your teacher to distract her,” Carter said. “Did she do that to help us?”

“Yes, but I still don’t trust her,” Ridley replied. “We can’t trust anybody these days.”

The Misfits nodded grimly as they gathered around the table in the center of the room where Ridley had arranged the five puzzle boxes.

Theo handed over the final one. “Just like I promised.”

“Thank you. Late last night, I was playing around with the boxes when I had a realization.” She reached out and flipped each box onto its side. “When they’re placed in the right order like this, the decorative inlay lines up to form a picture.”

Leila held her hand to her mouth. “Is that…?”

“Jeepers,” whispered Carter.

“It looks like a ring,” said Theo.

“With a jewel,” said Izzy.

“An emerald,” Ridley added with a smile. “See the green pieces of wood?”

“Shiny!” Olly exclaimed.

Ridley was so excited, she could barely hold it in. “Exactly. But the puzzle was still missing one piece.” She held up the box that Theo had brought with him, the one with the MXM marking. “Ready?”

“You bet,” said Carter.

“I’m worried,” said Leila.

“Should we cover our heads?” asked Izzy.

“I cover my head when I cough,” Olly added.

Ridley reached out and placed the final box in the center of the stack. The inlaid decorations finally matched up to form a whole image—an emerald ring spread out across the six old boxes. Immediately, strange sliding sounds came from inside them. This was followed by six separate clicks.

“What happened?” asked Theo.

“Nothing,” said Carter, crossing his arms. “Maybe all of this was misdirection.” He glanced around nervously. “Wait… what aren’t we paying attention to?”

“Look,” said Ridley. Keeping the other boxes in place, she reached out to the one closest to her. She pulled the top of the box lengthwise, and a compartment opened, the lid sliding within finely crafted wooden grooves. The others gasped. “The boxes needed to be together in order for the inner workings to be released. Could be some sort of system of magnets?” She went up the stack, sliding each of them open, and then pulled them all apart. “Go on,” she told them. “Take one.”

Theo, Leila, Carter,