Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein Page B

that question.”
    “Will we be doing brunch here this morning?” Chiltington asked politely. “I’m not hungry, but some of my chums sure are. After all, it is eleven-thirty.”
    “The kitchen staff recently placed fresh food in the Book Nook Café.”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Tobin,” said Chiltington. “Would you like anything? A bowl of oatmeal, perhaps.”
    “No. Thank you, CHARLES. I am a hologram. I do not eat food.”
    “I guess that’s how you stay so super skinny.”
    Kyle shook his head. The smarmy guy was oilier than a soggy sack of fries. He was even sucking up to a hologram.
    Chiltington and the others traipsed off to havebreakfast, but Kyle and Akimi stayed with the holographic librarian.
    “Um, I have a question,” said Kyle.
    “I’m listening.”
    “Is the library lock-in over? Are we supposed to go home now?”
    “Mr. Lemoncello will be addressing that issue shortly.”
    “Okay. Thanks, Mrs. Tobin.”
    “You are welcome, KYLE.”
    After the librarian faded to a flicker, Akimi said, “By the way, Kyle, before we leave, you need to check out that room I slept in last night.”
    “The Board Room?”
    “Yeah. They call it that because, guess what? It’s filled with board games!”
    “All Lemoncellos?”
    “Nuh-uh. Stuff from other companies. Some of it goes way back to the 1890s. I think it’s Mr. Lemoncello’s personal collection. It’s like a museum up there.”
    Kyle’s eyes went wide. “You hungry?” he asked.
    “Not really. We ate so much last night.”
    “You think we have time to check out this game museum?”
    “Follow me.”
    The two friends bounded up a spiral staircase to the second floor, where they found another set of steps to take them up to the third.
    When he entered the Board Room, Kyle was blown away. “Wow!”
    The walls were lined with bookcases filled with antique games, tin toys, and card games.
    “This is incredible.”
    “I guess,” said Akimi. “If, you know, you like games.”
    Kyle smiled. “Which, you know, I do.”
    They spent several quiet minutes wandering around the room, taking in all the wacky games that people used to play. There was one display case featuring eight games with amazingly illustrated box tops. A tiny spotlight illuminated each one.
    “Wonder what’s so special about these games,” said Kyle.
    “Maybe those were Mr. Lemoncello’s favorites when he was a kid.”
    “Maybe.” But the slogan etched into the glass case confused Kyle: “Luigi Lemoncello: the first and last word in games.”
    “But these aren’t Lemoncello games,” he mumbled.
    The first spotlighted game in the case was Howdy Doody’s TV Game. After that came Hüsker Dü?, You Don’t Say!, Like Minds, Fun City, Big 6 Sports Games, Get the Message, and Ruff and Reddy.
    “It’s a puzzle,” Kyle said with a grin.
    “I thought they were games.”
    “They are. But if you string together the first or lastword of each game title …” He tapped the glass in front of the first box on the bottom shelf. “You
get the message
.”
    “Really?” said Akimi, sounding extremely skeptical. “You’re sure it’s not just a bunch of junk somebody picked up for like fifty cents at a yard sale?”
    “Positive.” Kyle pointed to each box top as he cracked the code. “Howdy. Dü you like fun games? Get Reddy.”
    Miguel Fernandez barged into the Board Room.
    “Here you are! We need you guys in the Electronic Learning Center. Now.”
    “Why?”
    “Charles Chiltington wolfed down his breakfast, then raced up here to finish the game he started last night so he can enter his name as the first high scorer.”
    “So?”
    “The game he’s playing is all about medieval castles and dungeons!”
    This time Akimi said it: “So?”
    “He’s escaping through the sewers. The game has smell-a-vision. You ever smell a medieval sewer? Trust me, it is foul
and
disgusting.”
    The three of them dashed up the hall and entered the stinky room where Charles was sitting in a