The Black Tower by Betsy Byars

an amusement park where no danger is real.
    As if the matter was settled Herculeah said, “Here’s what we’ve got to do tomorrow. Something was thrown at you from the tower, and it wasn’t a stone.”
    â€œ No.”
    â€œAnd,” Herculeah continued, “I don’t think it was anything that would have done you harm. I think the old woman was trying to tell you something or warn you of something.”
    â€œWhy me?”
    â€œMaybe because she needed someone and you were there. We’re getting close. Whatever fell from the tower is the answer to the mystery. We’ve got to find it.”
    Mrs. McMannis glanced at Herculeah in the rearview mirror and smiled sweetly. Herculeh never trusted Mrs. Mac when she smiled like that.
    â€œOh, Albert won’t be able to go with you tomorrow.”
    Herculeah said quickly, “You don’t have to worry about him, Mrs. Mac, I’ll be with him every second.”
    â€œNo, I won’t worry about him.” Now her smile changed as she looked at Meat, but Herculeah didn’t trust that smile, either. “Albert, guess who called this afternoon. And it wasn’t Steffie.”
    Now she looked at Herculeah. They were stopped at a red light now, so Meat’s mom was free to smile triumphantly without causing a wreck. “I’m not sure you remember Steffie, Herculeah. She’s that girl that was visiting and was so crazy about Albert.”
    â€œI remember Steffie.”
    â€œAnyway, it wasn’t Steffie this time. Albert, it was your dad. You need to stay home tomorrow so you won’t miss the call.”
    The light changed. The car moved forward, but the three people inside had nothing more to say.

16
    THE THINK COCOON
    Herculeah took out her granny glasses. She put them on, hooking the thin metal wires behind her ears.
    Herculeah had gotten these glasses at Hidden Treasures, a secondhand store where she often shopped. Herculeah bought some of her clothes there, and other useful things. Once when she had been in Hidden Treasures, she had tried on these glasses. She couldn’t see anything out of them, but she discovered she could think better. The world seemed to blur into a mist, making her ideas stand out. “It’s like being in a think cocoon,” she had explained to Meat.
    She was sitting on her bed, waiting for her thoughts to clear when her mother came and stood in the doorway.
    â€œHave you got on those ridiculous glasses again?” her mother said. “You’re going to ruin your eyes.”
    Herculeah couldn’t see her mom, but she knew she was there. She pushed the glasses to the top of her head.
    â€œHi, Mom.”
    â€œSo what was the phone message about? Why did you need me to come pick you up?”
    â€œOh, that. I meant to erase it. Meat’s mom came and got us. It was nothing. Meat fainted.”
    â€œFainted?”
    â€œOh, Mom, he faints all the time.”
    â€œI didn’t know that. So what was the excitement you mentioned?”
    â€œMeat was standing out in the yard and someone threw something out of the tower window, and Meat got dizzy watching it and fainted. End of story.”
    Herculeah sincerely hoped it was.
    â€œSomeone was in the tower?”
    â€œYes, the sister.”
    â€œI thought it was locked.”
    â€œThe new nurse said there are keys if you know where to look.”
    â€œHow would she know that? The woman’s only been there one day.”
    â€œGood question.”
    â€œI’ll have to talk to the lawyer. There’s been enough tragedy connected with that tower.”
    â€œI know. Meat’s mom told us. Someone threw a stone from the tower and killed the governess.” She eyed her mother, pretending to be critical. “You could take some lessons from Mrs. Mac.”
    Her mom knew Herculeah’s opinion of Mrs. Mac. She smiled. “How so?”
    â€œShe tells us things. For example, if she