Lucy took off as fast as she could, the soles of her new shoes echoing off the wooden boards of the walkway that ringed most of the island.
Andre was taller than her, bigger, faster, but she was closer. It was neck and neck as he ran up the beach, and she ran down it, the house just ahead five hundred yards, then four hundred…Lucy’s heart felt like it could burst from her chest. Three hundred yards…she wanted to throw up. Two hundred yards. She slipped on a loose board but caught herself before hitting the ground. Had those two seconds of delay cost her the win? She kept running. Andre was close, but so was she. Lucy ran up the cobblestone walkway to the front door with a last explosion of adrenaline and burst into the house. Andre was only a few steps behind her. Now she had to find Jack. Her best guess was the library. But Andre was heading up the stairs, maybe seeking out Jack in his office. Had he seen Jack up there in the window? Was she going to win the race only to lose by picking the wrong room?
Lucy burst into the living room, and there was Jack standing at the fireplace, a cup of coffee in his hand.
And there was Melanie standing with him, also with a cup of coffee. She was smiling.
Lucy collapsed onto the sofa. Andre came in one second after her and stared at the scene in front of him.
“Damn,” he said and kicked the door shut behind him. The sound made Lucy jump.
“Sorry, kids,” Melanie said with a shrug. “Like Jack said, no points for second place.”
Lucy didn’t begrudge Melanie her moment of triumph. She wasn’t going to be a sore loser like Dustin.
“I might as well go home,” Andre said, though he didn’t sound heartbroken, merely resigned. He sat on the sofa, shoulders slumped, looking defeated. “My wife was right when she told me girls were smarter than boys.”
Good to see he still had a sense of humor about the whole thing. Lucy wanted to cry, but she would save that for later.
“Ah, don’t give up, son,” Jack said, patting Andre on the back and winked. Andre smiled. The tension lifted a little in the room.
Andre scoffed. “No offense, Jack, but maybe this would have been fun when I was eleven, but now? It’s stressful as hell.”
Jack didn’t seem surprised or offended. “I’m only giving you what you kids wanted back then—to make a wish and play a game and win the prize.”
That wasn’t what Lucy wanted. She loved the books, and she daydreamed about being a character in one of them the same way her friends dreamed about going to Hogwarts or Narnia. But what she’d truly wanted was what Jack jokingly offered in his letter—to be his sidekick. She’d wanted to live here with him, help him, be a daughter to him, let him be a father to her. As much as she’d loved the books, she wanted the reality, not the fantasy.
“What’s the next game then?” Andre asked Jack. “I’m not giving up yet.”
“You’ll find out tonight after dinner. But until then, have fun. This is Clock Island, not the gulag.”
* * *
—
Lucy’s hot streak wasn’t just over, it was dead and buried. That night they played “Clock Island-opoly,” which was the Clock Island version of Monopoly. Andre, a corporate lawyer, won without breaking a sweat. Melanie came in second. No points for Lucy. She’d never played Monopoly before. She might have enjoyed learning how if it hadn’t been such an important game. Instead of going straight to jail, they went into the Clock Tower, and they were not allowed to collect two hours. Time was money, said the box.
By the end of night two, the score stood at:
Lucy: 2
Melanie: 3
Andre: 2
On the third day, there were more games. A Clock Island trivia game. Lucy won easily. Melanie came in second. Then they played a variation on “Mother, May I?” called “Mastermind, May I?” out in the garden. Finally, after dinner, they played a Clock Island–themed game of Charades. It was incredibly embarrassing to act out scenes from the books while Hugo watched from the back of the library, trying not to laugh too loudly at them.
Lucy noticed a strange thing happening over the course of two days. They almost forgot why they were playing. Especially during Charades, when Andre had to act out the Lord of October fighting the Pumpkin Boys and their ghost army. How did one mime a ghost army, exactly? Surprisingly, he found a way. And then Lucy had to act out Astrid climbing up the side of the lighthouse to find her missing brother who’d been stolen by the infamous Clock Island bandit, Billy the Other Kid.
It was anarchy. And it was fun. So much fun she had to keep reminding herself to stay focused. Christopher needed her to win. She couldn’t forget what was at stake.
By the end of the third day, the scores were too close for comfort.
Lucy: 5
Melanie: 6
Andre: 5
But they still had two more days of games. Anything could happen. Anyone could win.
After the Charades game ended, they all lingered in the library. Kitchen staff appeared and passed around hot chocolate with a mountain of whipped cream to everyone. They sipped their hot chocolate as a low fire simmered in the fireplace.
“Okay, Jack,” Andre said after taking such a big swig of his hot chocolate he ended up with whipped cream on his nose. “I apologize for saying I wasn’t having any fun.”
“Don’t be hasty with those apologies,” Jack said. “Tomorrow won’t be much fun at all.”
Melanie and Andre looked at each other. Lucy glanced over her shoulder at Hugo. He gave her a wink that made her temperature shoot up a degree or two.
“What’s tomorrow?” Andre asked.
“You don’t know?” Jack asked, pointing his finger at Melanie, then Andre, then Lucy.
“I know,” Lucy said, looking back at Jack. “I think I know. Maybe.”
“What is it?” Melanie leaned forward. She looked nervous. They all did.
“We’re in a book, right?” Lucy asked Jack. “You said we’re playing like the kids in the Clock Island books.”
“Indeed,” Jack said.
“Well, it goes like this—first a kid comes to the island, then they answer riddles and play games, which we’ve been doing. Then they—”
“Face their fears,” Andre said. “Right? That’s what the Mastermind always says to the kids—‘Time to face your fears, my dears.’”
“Very good,” Jack said, nodding.
Andre said, “I always got nervous when the Mastermind said that. It meant it was about to get real on Clock Island. I had nightmares for months after reading The Ghost Machine when that boy was chased by that ghost that looked just like him? I mean, what the hell, Jack?”
“My editor tried to talk me out of that scene,” Jack said.
“Why?” Melanie asked.
“Because she said it would give children nightmares for months. I said it wouldn’t. I might owe her an apology.” He tapped his chin. “She won’t get it, but I do owe her one.”
“You’re really gonna make us face our fears?” Andre asked. He sounded skeptical, as if he were too old to be afraid of anything anymore.