The Road to Newtopia (The Calamity Girls Book 2)

Scavenger Hunt

Marcy took us to an amazing restaurant in town one day. "Enjoy everyone, this place makes the best beetle burgers in all of Newtopia." As we began eating, Marcy pulled out her journal and wrote stuff down. "What's that?" Polly asked. "Just my journal, I like jotting down theories and observations, you know, about indigenous fauna, medicinal techniques, sometimes I even do drawings, Rowena taught me everything I know." Marcy replied. "That looks just like me!" Polly gasped. "Wow, girls, have you been keeping a journal too?" Hop Pop asked. "Oh, actually I have, I was gonna make this a surprise, but ever since the toad tower incident, I wrote about our adventures, because I never want to forget about any of these." I explained. "Look guys, I'm a strawrus, like a walrus, but with straws." Anne joked, making me and Sprig laugh. "What's a walrus?" Sprig asked. "Now, who should I give the bill to?" The waiter asked, looking at Anne. "Probably not you." "Ooh, I'll take it, it's, let me guess, 28 coppers?" Marcy asked as the waiter gave her the bill for that exact amount. "Wow, can you do math like that too, girls?" Hop Pop asked. "Marcy also was my math tutor at home." I explained. "Even like, with numbers and stuff?" Anne asked. "Can you imagine if Marcy got stuck with us instead of Anne and Rowena?" Polly wondered. "We'd be set for life!" "Hush, Polly, think those thoughts, don't say them." Hop Pop said. "Take that back!" I snapped as I tried to fight Polly, but Hop Pop held me back. "Oh yeah, well..." Anne started before an arrow was shot at the wall. "Look out!" "Someone's trying to kill us!" Hop Pop panicked. "Where have you been the last few months?" I asked sarcastically. "No, no, it's fine, it's just a message from the king." Marcy explains as she opened the note. "Oh, correction, it's a puzzle gram from the king, he's basically hiding clues around the city, and when I collect them all, I get a message, it's so fun, okay, this first symbol is a tree, so we should head towards Coral Park, now c'mon team, it's puzzle time!" "A puzzle tour of Newtopia?" Sprig asked. "Count me in." Marcy, Anne, Sprig, and I left the restaurant to start the hunt.

As we walked into town, Marcy stuck her head into her journal, leading the way. Anne, however, was looking pretty bummed out. "Anne you're not marveling, is everything ok?" I asked. "I don't know, it's just, Marcy's always been the smart one in our group, I've always just felt dumb around her." Anne replied. "What?!" Sprig exclaimed before Anne shut him up. "Don't do that, she'll hear you." Anne whispers. "Hey, maybe if you can solve the king's puzzle gram before Marcy, you're just as smart as she is." Sprig suggested. "Well, I did get us out of that puzzle dungeon that one time." Anne recalled. "Yeah, you did!" I exclaimed. "Operation: prove I'm not a dumb dumb, engage!" Anne added as she ran into a sign, falling back on me. "Sorry, Row." I helped her up off the ground as we continued to follow Marcy. "Here it is guys, Coral Park." Marcy announced. Sprig gave two thumbs up for Anne as she walked to the clue. "So, one eye open and one closed." Anne read. "What if we're not supposed to look at the trees, what if we're supposed to listen to them?" "I love it!" I exclaimed. "Me too, but I was thinking this statue is looking through a telescope, he's got one eye open and one eye closed." Marcy explains as she removed a part of the statue to reveal a hidden telescope. "Bring, so that's the first part of the message, brilliant! So the next clue is, I recognize this, c'mon, gang, let's motor." Marcy falls on her back and checked off the first clue. "Maybe you'll have better luck on the next one?" Sprig wondered. "Yeah, I can do this, let's go get that next clue." Anne said as a little girl was trying to get her pet down from a tree. "Don't worry, we gotcha." Anne and I climbed up the tree to grab her cat. I carefully tossed the cat to Anne, who safely returned it to the little girl. "Thanks ladies." She thanked. "No worries, Anne and I each have a pet back home, but with less legs." I replied. "Guys, come on!" Sprig shouted. "Gotta go, don't let that thing grow up." Anne warned as we continued to follow Marcy and Sprig.

We stopped at a building with a weather vane at the top. The clue said something about a W. "Why the W?" Marcy asked. "I mean, what's that supposed to mean?" "Let me take this one, MarMar." Anne said. Marcy handed her the clues, but she was looking kinda nervous, eventually causing her to run off. "I better go check on her, brb." I said as I followed Anne.

I found Anne looking for someone to help her with the puzzle. "Aha, an old person, old people love puzzles." Anne cheered. "Anne, aren't you taking this a bit too seriously?" I asked. "I need to prove that I'm just as smart as Marcy is." Anne replied. "Why do you need to prove yourself?" I asked. "You don't need to be as smart as her, I already know you're amazing." Anne was panting. "Fine, let's go talk to her if it'll make you feel better." We walked up to the woman. "Hey, want to solve a puzzle?" Anne asked the woman. "Ooh, looks like a juicy one, pull up some bench dearies, the name's Doris." She replied. "Anne." Anne introduced. "Rowena." I added. "Any idea what this symbol has to do with the museum?" "Ooh, my son, Harris used to work at the museum, wait, no, Harris worked at the library, Dusty worked at the museum." Doris explains. "Whoa, how many sons do you have?" Anne asked as she pulled out some photos of her sons. A few minutes later, Anne started to give Doris a manicure. "Hey, guys, so, Marcy figured out the second puzzle." Sprig explains as we left to find the last puzzle. "Hey guys, glad you could catch up, take a look at the final clue, it's referring to the big bridge downtown, c'mon." Marcy explains as we ran passed the restaurant we ate at earlier. "Hop Pop, Polly, we're going to the bridge." Sprig said. "Take me with you!" Polly cried. "Okay, one clue left." Sprig said. "Yeah, and Marcy will probably solve it before we get there." Anne grumbled. "Oh come on, so she's good at puzzles, that doesn't mean she's smart and you're dumb." I commented. "Thanks, dude." Anne smiled as we saw a giant statue of Marcy in front of us. "Oh yeah, I know, I made a few suggestions on how to increase the weight limit and they kinda like named it after me, now c'mon, let's see where this triangle fits in." Marcy said. "Okay, so she designed a bridge." Sprig explains. "That doesn't mean..." "Please stop." Anne interrupted. "Why don't you guys go ahead, I think I need a moment alone." "Are you sure?" I asked and she nodded. "Okay, just holler if you need something." Sprig added. We looked at the clue, but we were stuck. "Hey, Anne!" Sprig called. "Rowena, Marcy, and I are stumped, get over here!" Anne joined us and looked at the clue. "Alright, what do we got here? Okay, easy." Anne asked. "So, a triangle has three sides, right? Three rhymes with, uh, tea, and you brew tea with water, and there's water in, the sewer, let's go down there."

As we climbed down into the sewer, Anne led the way, even though I could tell she didn't have a clue what she was doing. "Wow, this sewer is surprisingly clean." Sprig commented. "There's actually a reason for that, I..." "Fixed the sewer system?" We interrupted Marcy. "How'd you know that?" Marcy asked. "Hey, check that out, that looks just like the circle in the clue, kinda, we obviously have to turn it." Anne pointed out, turning the wheel as a giant alligator came out of a pipe. "Speak of the devil, here comes one of my improvements, would you guys believe that in addition to eating a live meat, these babies love eating trash." Marcy explains as we panicked and ran. I tried to open sewer lid, but it wouldn't budge. "Holy frog abuse that's heavy!" I exclaimed as I heard someone selling nachos from above. "Gertie, is that you?" Anne asked. "It's me, Anne, I need help!" Gertie opened the sewer to help us, but the gator was chewing on Marcy's cloak. Suddenly, Doris, Hop Pop, Polly, and the little girl from earlier helped us out of the sewer. "Girls, what happened, are you okay?" Hop Pop asked. "Can't you two go 10 minutes on your own without getting into some kind of crazy danger?" "Aw, give them a break, Hop Pop, Anne's already sad because Marcy's so smart she makes her feel dumb and Rowena told me she's been feeling left out." Sprig explains. "Sprig!" Anne and I shouted. "What, guys, is that true?" Marcy asked. "I don't know, maybe, I guess I get a little jealous of you sometimes, I mean, you're so smart and I'm not." Anne replied. "Anne, that's insane, besides, I'm jealous of you and Rowena." Marcy said. "What for?" I asked. "You both get along with people so well, people you met today just risked their lives to save you guys, heck, the Plantars here adopted you guys and would do anything for you, yeah, sure I'm good at solving puzzles and calculating the check, but you're both really good at making connections, me, I have trouble looking people in the eyes sometimes, in fact, without you, Anne, I wouldn't have even met Rowena." "Thanks, Marcy, and Rowena, I'm sorry for making you feel like a third wheel." Anne apologized. "It's fine, maybe our connections are what make us a good team." I said. "Come here guys." Anne and Marcy hugged me. "Hey, anyone else want a snack, that nice lady gave me some nachos." Sprig offered. Anne grabbed a chip and saw the symbol from the clue. "Wait a second, look, the symbol, it's a nacho!" Anne exclaimed. "Sprig empty that tray." I said as he finished the nachos, revealing a message that revealed, "the Plantars". "That means the message is, bring me the Plantars!" Marcy exclaimed. "Oh, guys, we've been summoned, and you solved the puzzle gram, Anne!" "Self esteem boost and an audience with the ruler of this world?" Anne asked. "Win-win, baby!" I cheered as we decided to feed leftover nachos to the gator, which was still stuck in the sewers.