When 14-year-old Tiffany Windsor and her twin brother Asher find out that everything they know isn't what it seems, they spend their extra time discovering the secrets of magic and mystical creatures. Suddenly, their family's million dollar mansion...
I ran into the house with Magnus and Asher close behind. As soon as we walked in we saw Spades, waiting to offer us some sort of help. He was more of a friend to the family than a butler, (So was Linda) but he still did his job very well.
"Hey Spades, can we talk to you?" said Asher and I at the same time.
"Certainly," he said, "What's the occasion?"
"Well," I responded, "We found something."
"Something of my interest?"
"Sort of," Asher said, looking around the room to make sure nobody was listening in. "We found a keyhole which we opened up and there was another key inside but then it got stuck and something about superglue an-" Asher rambles.
"If I may interject," Spades interrupts, "Where was the location of the original keyhole?"
"That information is classified," Asher says, suddenly becoming very serious.
"As your superior, I demand to know." Spades fires back, equally as serious.
"Technically Spades, you work for us, you aren't our superior," I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Now let's get down to business," Magnus says, folding his arms and putting on a pair of dark sunglasses. I look at him, confused.
"Where exactly did you get those?" I ask. He walks up to me with another pair in his hands and slides the arms behind my ears, smirking. I high fived him and sat down at the dining room table. Asher got our act and pulled out a chair for Spades.
"Where are my sunglasses..." he grumbles quietly.
I intertwined my fingers and leaned down. "We think you know more than you're letting on. We think you know exactly what we're talking about. Now tell me, David," I said, using the butler's real name in a harsh tone, "What exactly do you know?"
Spades looked at each of us, thinking. "One-hundred and thirty-seven." He said. "Oh, and Asher? It isn't super glue. It's more of a... cement."
♤ ♤ ♤
We started to walk to the shack in the garden, much to Magnus's protest. He wanted to drive the golf cart, but Asher insisted we walk. We were about halfway there an-
"Hey!" Asher said, interrupting my thoughts. "Where did Magnus go?" I looked around. Asher was right, he was nowhere to be seen. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and texted him;
'Hey, Where did you go?'
He responded quickly.
'Meet you there ;)'
"Why did he wink?" Asher asked, raising his eyebrows.
"I don't know, Magnus is a dork. Let's just go." I replied, starting to run.
♤ ♤ ♤
We arrive at the garden, only to see Magnus already there, leaning against two golf carts, smirking. My jaw drops. Magnus gets up and walks over to me, pushing my mouth closed with two fingers.
"Magnus Everheart, you are the biggest dork I know," I said, punching him in the arm. "And what's with the second golf cart?"
"Um, Ow! That hurt!" he said, covering his bicep with his hand. "Also, I don't know. It was there when I got here."
I shrugged. "What do you think I was trying to do?" I pushed open the gate and we walked back to the shed. After talking it over, we realized that Spade's hint made no sense to any of us, but we came back to explore our options anyway. I walked around the shack to the keyhole and inspected it carefully.
"There's nothing here!" Magnus said, clearly aggravated.
"On the contrary," said Spades, walking towards us on the garden path. So that's where the golf cart came from...
"Alright then, butler. Spill the tea," said Asher.
"My last advice, Asher, is that you simply look at the issue from a different angle." said Spades, walking out of the garden.
"WAIT!" yelled my brother. "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!" But the rest of us were just as confused as he was. Asher and Magnus sit at the small wooden table with tree trunk chairs and discuss ways that the butler's hints could be helpful. I walked around the pole but found nothing.
Until I looked up.
About halfway up the pole (18 feet tall), there was a thin metal rung. About six inches up and there was another one. It was a ladder to the top! But how could I reach the first rung? It was almost eight feet above my head. I looked at the shack. It was about 7 feet tall. If I jumped...
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I walked into the shack.
"Get up," I told the boys.
"Wh-" Asher began.
"Just move!" I said. They both stood up. I stacked the logs on top of each other, about three feet tall when I put them together. I climbed onto them and then scanned the wall.
Where was it?
I was almost sure it was here... There!
In the middle of the wall, there was a loose brick, and then another a few inches higher. I pulled them halfway out of the wall and climbed onto the roof.
"How did you know that there were loose bricks?" Asher asked.
"Remember our cousin, Ruby? When she kicked a soccer ball at the shack and the bricks fell out? I was hoping they would still be loose, and I was right!"
"Wow," said Magnus, walking behind me.
"Whatchya lookin' at down there?" I said, teasing Magnus.
"Oh, " he said, mocking me. "I'm sorry if I don't want my best friend to fall onto rock hard ground and break her leg."
"I'm joking," I said smiling. I thought for a moment.
"Catch!" I yelled, pretending to jump. Magnus fell backward onto the ground.
"My hero," I said smiling. I turned to face the pole. I jumped towards the ladder, relying on the strength of my own legs and nothing else. I grabbed onto the second metal rung and hit the pole, hard. One of my hands slipped off on impact.
"Tiffany!" Magnus yelled, suddenly at the bottom of the pole.
"I'm okay Magnus!" I yelled, but I wasn't completely sure if I was telling the full truth. My hands started to sweat, and my arm was shaking.
