Chapter Text
Reynie Muldoon was good at figuring things out. But the one thing he couldn't figure out was why he felt so different around Kate.
Normally, Reynie prided himself on noticing patterns—clues, causes, and effects. If something strange happened, there was usually a logical explanation. A puzzle to solve. A detail he had missed.
But lately, whenever Kate was nearby, logic seemed to abandon him entirely.
For example, right now…
Reynie sat at the long breakfast table in the house he shared with his friends, staring at a book about riddles and logic problems. Under normal circumstances he would have been completely absorbed in it. The book was fascinating, and Reynie rarely passed up the chance to learn a new puzzle-solving strategy.
Yet he had reread the same sentence six times.
Across the room, Kate stood by the window practicing rope tricks with a piece of cord from her bucket.
The rope flicked through the air in smooth loops. She tossed it up, caught it again, tied a quick knot without looking, and laughed quietly when the rope slipped from her hand and fell to the floor.
Reynie tried to focus on the book.
He really did.
But the moment Kate laughed, he realized he had no idea what he had just read.
This was very extremely immensely unusual.
Across the table, Sticky looked up from a small stack of notes.
“You haven’t turned the page in five minutes,” Sticky said.
Reynie blinked. “I haven’t?”
Sticky adjusted his glasses. “No...”
Reynie glanced down at the book. Sure enough, the page hadn’t changed.
He frowned thoughtfully. This was a mystery.
Suddenly a loud clink interrupted the quiet room.
“I’m bored,” announced Constance Contraire, dropping her spoon into her cereal bowl with dramatic annoyance.
Sticky sighed. “Breakfast isn’t supposed to be exciting.”
“Well it should be,” Constance said stubbornly.
Kate wandered over from the window and dropped into the chair beside Reynie. “What should be exciting?”
“Everything,” Constance replied.
Kate laughed.
Reynie’s brain, for reasons he could not explain, stopped functioning for approximately three seconds.
Kate leaned over slightly, glancing at the book in front of him.
“What’re you reading?”
“Riddles,” Reynie said, clearing his throat. “Logic problems.”
Kate grinned. “That sounds like your kind of thing.”
Reynie nodded quickly. “Yes. Yes, it is.”
Which was true.
Except he still hadn’t managed to read a single page.
Just then, the dining room door opened and Mr. Benedict entered.
His expression was unusually cheerful.
“Good morning, children,” he said.
“Morning,” Kate replied.
Sticky nodded politely.
Constance squinted suspiciously.
Reynie noticed something the others didn’t though: Mr. Benedict was holding an envelope.
“For today’s lesson,” Mr. Benedict announced, “I have prepared a small activity.”
Constance groaned immediately. “If it involves thinking, I’m not doing it.”
“It does involve thinking,” Mr. Benedict said calmly.
Reynie sat up straighter.
Kate leaned forward eagerly. “What kind of activity?”
“A puzzle challenge,” Mr. Benedict replied. “Hidden clues placed throughout the house and grounds. Each clue will lead to the next. The first team to reach the final location will win.”
Kate’s eyes lit up.
“Oh, that sounds fun.”
Sticky also looked interested.
Constance folded her arms. “Sounds like work.”
“There will be teams,” Mr. Benedict continued, as he opened the envelope. “Team one will be… Reynie and Kate.”
Kate immediately grinned.
“Yes! We’re going to win.”
Reynie tried to remain calm.
“Winning is not necessarily the primary objective,” he said carefully.
Kate nudged his shoulder. “Still!”
“Team two,” Mr. Benedict continued, “will be Sticky and Constance.”
Sticky nodded thoughtfully.
Constance rolled her eyes. “Great. I got the human encyclopedia.”
Sticky looked slightly offended.
Mr. Benedict placed a small card in the center of the table.
“This,” he said, “is your first clue.”
Everyone leaned closer.
Reynie read it aloud.
“Where stories sleep and wisdom waits, seek the answer among the greats.”
Sticky immediately smiled. “The library.”
“Obviously,” Constance muttered.
Kate jumped to her feet.
“Race you!”
Before Reynie could respond, Kate grabbed his wrist and pulled him toward the hallway.
“Come on!”
Reynie nearly dropped his book as he scrambled after her.
They ran down the hall, up the stairs, and stopped just inside the library doorway. Kate finally let go of his wrist.
Reynie blinked.
His brain—which was normally very reliable—had stopped working again.
Kate was already scanning the bookshelves.
“Okay,” she said. “Where would someone hide a clue in here?”
Reynie forced himself to focus.
A puzzle. Right. That he could handle.
“The wording might refer to famous authors,” he said slowly. “Or possibly the largest books.”
Kate tilted her head thoughtfully.
“You check that side. I’ll check this one.”
Reynie nodded and moved toward the shelves, trying to concentrate.
Every few seconds, however, he found himself glancing across the room.
Kate had climbed halfway up a small ladder to check the higher shelves. She balanced easily, scanning the rows of books with confident focus.
Reynie shook his head slightly.
This was ridiculous. He needed to focus on the puzzle.
From across the room, Kate suddenly called out.
“Hey, Reynie!”
“Yes?”
“I found something!”
Reynie hurried over.
Kate held up a tiny folded piece of paper with a triumphant grin.
“Told you we’d make a good team.”
Reynie smiled before he could stop himself.
She was right.
They did make a good team.
And for some reason, that thought made Reynie feel strangely happy
Reynie stepped closer to Kate, still trying to focus on the challenge instead of the way she was grinning at him like they had already won.
“Let’s see it,” he said.
Kate unfolded the small piece of paper. The clue was written in Mr. Benedict’s neat handwriting.
When the ground is far below your feet,
And climbing high cannot be beat,
Look where branches stretch and sway—
Your next clue waits above the way.
Kate’s grin widened. “Oh, that’s easy.”
Reynie considered the wording. “Branches… stretch and sway… climbing high…”
“The big oak tree outside,” Kate said immediately.
Reynie nodded. “That seems very likely.”
Kate tucked the clue into her pocket and headed for the door. “Come on!”
They hurried down the hall and out the back door into the yard (passing Sticky who was still trying to drag Constance out of her chair at the table). The large oak tree stood near the edge of the lawn, its branches spreading wide overhead.
Kate shaded her eyes and looked up.
“There!” she said.
Reynie followed her gaze and spotted a small envelope tied to one of the higher branches.
“That’s quite high,” he said.
Kate rolled her shoulders as if warming up. “Good thing I like climbing.”
Before Reynie could respond, she was already pulling a length of rope from her bucket.
Reynie watched, impressed despite himself, as Kate tossed the rope upward. It looped neatly over a sturdy branch.
She gave the rope a quick tug to test it.
“Perfect.”
Then she began climbing.
Kate moved quickly and confidently, pulling herself up with practiced ease. Within seconds she was several feet off the ground.
Reynie stood below, craning his neck to watch.
He had seen Kate climb plenty of times before. She had done far more impressive things during their adventures. But somehow watching her now felt different.
Maybe it was because she looked so happy.
Or because she trusted him to handle the puzzles while she handled the climbing.
Or maybe—
“Reynie!”
Kate’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
He blinked. “Yes?”
“You’re staring again,” she said with a teasing smile.
Reynie immediately looked at the ground. “I was not staring.”
“You were definitely staring.”
“I was observing, just in case you fell or something!” Reynie corrected.
Kate laughed.
A moment later she reached the branch and untied the envelope.
“Got it!” she called.
She slid down the rope a few seconds later and landed lightly on the grass.
Kate held up the envelope proudly. “Teamwork.”
Reynie smiled. “Yea.”
Kate opened the envelope and pulled out the next clue.
Reynie leaned closer so he could read it too.
Where water flows but cups stay dry,
Where whispers echo passing by,
Beneath the sink your answer waits—
Hurry now before your mates.
Kate looked up. “Sink?”
Reynie thought for a moment.
“The outdoor fountain, perhaps,” he said. “But cups staying dry suggests drinking water…”
Kate snapped her fingers. “The kitchen!”
Reynie nodded. “Yes, that makes more sense.”
They both started toward the house.
Halfway across the yard, Kate grabbed Reynie’s hand and pulled him along again.
“Hurry up!”
Reynie stumbled slightly as he tried to keep up.
This was becoming a pattern, he noticed.
And every time it happened, his brain reacted in exactly the same strange way.
By the time they reached the kitchen, Kate was laughing. “You think Sticky and Constance are ahead of us?” she asked, noticing the two were finally no longer at the table..
Reynie shook his head. “Unlikely. Sticky would analyze the clue thoroughly before moving, and Constance would probably insist the answer was something completely different.”
As if on cue, distant arguing echoed faintly down the hallway.
Kate grinned. “Sounds about right.”
They entered the kitchen and immediately began searching around the sink.
Kate checked the cabinet underneath.
“Nothing here,” she said.
Reynie crouched down beside him and peeked under the pipes.
“Wait—here!”
Taped to the inside wall was another folded piece of paper.
“You read this one,” she said, “finders keepers.”
Reynie unfolded the clue.
Where quiet minds go off to think,
And puzzles form in chains of ink,
Seek the desk where plans begin—
The next small clue is tucked within.
Reynie smiled slightly.
“The study.”
Kate stood up quickly. “Then what are we waiting for?”
They hurried out of the kitchen and down the hall.
As they ran, Kate glanced sideways at Reynie.
“You know,” she said, “you’re really good at this.”
“At puzzles?”
“Yeah.”
Reynie felt that strange warmth in his chest again.
“Thank you,” he said.
Kate smiled.
“And you’re really good at climbing,” he added.
Kate blinked in surprise.
“Thanks.”
For a moment they both just kept walking.
Then Kate nudged him lightly with her elbow.
“See? We do make a good team.”
Reynie smiled again.
And this time, he realized something interesting.
The puzzle challenge was fun.
Solving clues was satisfying.
But the part Reynie liked the most… was working with Kate