William Johnston - And Loving It!

“Could you explain that to me, Max?”

“99, while we were having dinner with Buckley and Guru Optimo, Brattleboro had plenty of time to wander around the castle. It’s my guess that this isn’t a wild goose chase he’s on, that he knows exactly where Guru Optimo’s room is located.”

“But why wouldn’t he share the information with us?”

“Because, while we were roaming around in these corridors, chasing that goose, he would have time to go straight to Guru Optimo’s room and talk him into rejoining KAOS.”

“Max, maybe, but-”

“Come on, 99,” Max broke in. “We can’t let that light get out of our sight!”

They moved quietly down the corridor in pursuit of Brattleboro.

“Max, what’s the rest of your plan?” 99 whispered.

“We’ll let Brattleboro lead us to Guru Optimo’s room, then we’ll put Brattleboro out of commission-temporarily, of course-then we’ll talk Guru Optimo into rejoining Control.”

“Max. . I lost the light. Do you see it?”

“I haven’t taken my eye off it since Brattleboro first lit it, 99. There it is, right up ahead. It seems to have stopped. Let’s get closer.”

They crept nearer.

“Max,” 99 whispered, “that doesn’t look like the light.”

“I tell you, I’ve had my eye on it every second.”

“But, Max, that looks like the moonlight from that window over there shining on a suit of armor.”

“Exactly what Brattleboro wants you to think, 99.”

“You mean-”

“Isn’t it obvious? Brattleboro has clouded our minds, making us think that he’s a suit of armor with the moonlight shining on him. Very romantic, but it won’t work. You’ll notice that the suit of armor is standing by a doorway. That doorway leads to Guru Optimo’s room. As soon as we leave, thinking we’ve lost the light, Brattleboro will enter the room and do his dirty work.”

“What can we do, Max?”

“Since we now know where Guru Optimo’s room is located, we no longer need Brattleboro to lead us to it. I’ll stroll up to that suit of armor, pretending I’m lost, then I’ll suddenly turn on it and put it out of commission with a karate chop.”

“All right. But. . careful, Max. .”

Max meandered up the corridor, looking as if he were lost. Then, reaching the suit of armor, he abruptly raised an arm and chopped it across the back of the neck.

There was a clanging sound.

“What happened, Max?” 99 called.

“I think I broke my hand, 99.”

“How is Brattleboro?”

“I don’t know. But the next time I see him, I’ll tell him that you asked.”

“You mean-”

“It’s a suit of armor with the moonlight shining on it.”

Hurrying, 99 joined Max. “Then we’ve lost Brattleboro,” she said. “Oh, Max, we’ll never find him now!”

“99, if he’s in this castle, we’ll find him,” Max promised her. “Remember back there where we took a left turn and saw this suit of armor? Well, Brattleboro must have taken a right turn, instead. So, we’ll just go back to where we started, and next time, turn right instead of left. That ought to take us straight to Brattleboro.”

“Unless, after he made a right turn, he made another turn-a left turn, maybe? Or a right turn again? Or two right turns and a left turn? Or-”

“Well, we’ll just hope that we’ll be able to spot that light again.”

“After all those turns, Max?”

“Well, we’ll yell for him.”

“Max, let’s face it, there’s no chance in the world that we’ll ever find him again. Your plan- Max! Look!”

Several yards ahead of them a moving pinpoint of light had appeared.

“Yes! It’s-”

The light was gone.

“Max, that was him, I’m sure of it!” 99 said. “He must have been in one of the cross corridors!”

“Why would the corridor be cross, 99, living in a nice, comfy castle like this?”

“I mean one of the corridors that crosses this corridor.”

“Oh. Yes, that was probably it. Hurry! Maybe we can catch him!”

They ran to the next corridor, then stopped and looked both ways.

“Nothing,” 99 said disappointedly.

“There!” Max pointed. He raced down the corridor in pursuit of a pinpoint of light.

“Max! No! That’s-”

There was a clanging sound.

A moment later, Max returned, looking crestfallen.

“Are you all right, Max?”

“Fine, 99. Fine, that is, as long as there’s no compelling necessity for shaking hands with anyone.”

“Max. . shall we give up?” 99 said gloomily.

“Well, 99, I hate to admit defeat. But it looks as if-”

A pinpoint of light suddenly appeared from around a corner and moved toward them. Max and 99 watched it, fascinated. A few moments later the light reached them.

“Are you two lost too?” Brattleboro’s voice said.

“What gave you that idea?” Max asked cagily.

“I thought you might be having trouble in the dark. Somebody’s been knocking over all the suits of armor.”

“No, no, we’re fine,” Max said. “We’ve been going about this very systematically, checking from room to room. How about you? Any luck?”

“Some.”

“Good.”

“No, it was bad luck. I fell down some stairs.”

“Lucky you weren’t carrying a match,” Max said. “You would have lost your light.”

“That’s not so lucky. I haven’t been able to light my cigar.”

“In that case, too bad you don’t have a match instead of that flashlight.”

“It doesn’t matter. I broke the cigar when I fell down the stairs.”

“Are we going to stand around the rest of the night talking nonsense like this?” 99 asked. “I thought we were supposed to be looking for Lucky Bucky’s and Guru Optimo’s rooms.”

“I knew I was carrying this flashlight around for some reason,” Brattleboro said. “It must be to look for that snake charmer’s room-it’s certainly no good for lighting cigars.”

Brattleboro moved on down the corridor.

“Did you get that conversation?” Max said to 99. “He’s trying to make us think he’s a harmless imbecile.”

“Which part of the conversation, Max? What you said or what he said?”

“99, I was just playing along. I wanted to make him think his trick had worked. He doesn’t want us to know how clever he is. He thinks he’s thrown us off the track. And now, as you’ll see in a second, he’s heading straight for Guru Optimo’s room, convinced that we think that he’s just blundering around blindly.”

“You mean we’re going to follow him again? ”

“Come on, 99, before he loses us!”

Moving quietly, they set out after the light once more.

All of a sudden it disappeared.

“Oh, Max! Gone!”

“Aha! But this time I saw where it went!”

Max hurried, with 99 at his heels. A second or so later they reached a door.

“This is the place!” Max whispered. “This is the door to Guru Optimo’s room. And inside we’ll find Brattleboro.”

“Careful, Max. .”

There was a creaking sound as Max turned the knob. Then he flung the door wide open-and peered at a pinpoint of light that was staring back at them.

“Brattleboro?” Max said warily.

“Boy, am I glad to see you!” Brattleboro’s voice replied. “I blundered into this closet, then I couldn’t find my way back out!”

There was silence for a moment. Then Max said, “Look, maybe you better let me take the light.”

“That might be best,” Brattleboro agreed. He handed over the flashlight.

“Thank you,” Max said. “Now, perhaps we can get something accomplished.”

“Take this too,” Brattleboro said, putting two small objects into Max’s hand.

“What are they?”