Key of the Cursed
By: Christine, 4th grade
She had no idea what she was in for…
And it had been waiting for her…
Dedications:
For my family, which I can count on,
For Ann M. Martin, one of my favorite authors,
My principal, Ms. Cunningham
And
My fourth grade class, for giving me ideas unknowingly.
Author’s note:
Dear Readers,
Before you pick up that old rusty key you found on the sidewalk, you’d better re-think. Because if you don’t, you could end up like the girl in this story – cursed. What kind of curse, I do not know. If you want to know what kind of a curse this girl had, you should read this book. If you hate terror, just put this book down and don’t even think about that key on the sidewalk…
The Author,
Christine Partington
Mary lived in Southern California in the year 2007. Her age was eleven, her grade: 5th.
She was having science class one morning, when there was a knock on the door. Ms. Applejack walked over to the door. “It’s Ms. Cunningham!” she said, clapping her hands. Ms. Cunningham was their principal. “Come in, come in!”
“Class, this is Robby,” Ms. Cunningham said. “Robby, this is your new class.”
“Hi, my name’s Robby,” he said loudly. Unlike all the other new kids that showed up all the time, Robby wasn’t shy – at all.
“Being shy is for girls,” Robby whispered to Mary.
“Do any of you children know any life cycles?” Ms. Applejack asked. Robby raised his hand wildly, almost hitting Sydney in the eye. Sydney gave Robby a fierce face before he was called on. “Yes, Robby?”
“The human life cycle,” Robby said. “First, forming in a belly; second, an infant; third, a toddler; fourth, a little kid; fifth, a kid; sixth, a big kid; seventh, a preteen; eighth, a teenager; ninth, an adult; and tenth, an old person.”
“Robby,” Ms. Applejack fake-laughed, “very… informing.” The bell rang. “You all are dismissed.”
Mary was walking home from school that afternoon with her friend Alice Johnson. She noticed a shiny object on the ground. “Alice, look!” she gasped. The object was a key, a rusty old key.
“I wouldn’t touch that, if I were you,” Alice warned.
“What?” Mary asked. “It’s not like it’s going to hurt me or anything.”
“And how would you know?” Alice asked severely.
“Because,” Mary argued, “it’s just an itty bitty little key.”
“If you’re sure.”
Mary and Alice didn’t really talk to each other the rest of the way home. Mary waved good-bye to Alice when Alice turned right onto her street, but that was all.
Mary went left, hugging the key tight to her chest.
Mary reached 2323 Maple Lane. She opened the door with a whoosh and closed it with a bang! “Mary, whatever took you so long today?” Mom asked. “The bus passed by ten minutes ago! And you only have to walk down the street!”
“Mom,” Mary said quietly. She knew her mother was ready for this. “I walked home with Alice today.”
“Alright,” Mom said. “That’s fine. But next time, call me from home and tell me.”
“I will,” Mary promised. The key was hot in her hand. “Mom, I’m going to my room,” Mary said. Her face was turning red.
“Okay,” Mom said nervously.
Mary sat down in her bedroom. She turned the key around and around in her hand. It wasn’t hot anymore.
“I wonder,” she said aloud as she turned the key over. “It’s a secret code!” Mary focused on the code. There were strange letters on the key.
Go to Min Street.
Find # 9321.
Ask to see Ms. Gelda.
Mary knew that only an expert could crack this code, but she tried to crack it anyway.
“Well,” she said, looking at the first two ‘words,’ “They both have a o. The other two letters could be anything.”
Mary looked closer and noticed that the o had tiny ‘O’s. “Those triangles are Os!” she said. She saw the triangles several other places. She wrote the code down on a piece of paper, changing the o to an O.
Go to Min Street.
Find # 9321.
Ask to see Ms. Gelda.
“There we go,” Mary said. She looked at the presents. At the top of them, an E was tied to the ribbon. The e must be Es!
“Okay,” Mary said loudly. She noticed the s was almost a backward S. Now the code looked more realistic. “I can crack a code!” Mary said happily.
Go to Min Street.
Find # 9321.
Ask to see Ms. Gelda.
“Mary,” Mom called. “Dinner time!” Mary groaned. How upsetting! “Mary, you can take what you’re doing with you. You’re going over Alice’s tonight – for several days.”
“YES!” Mary screamed.
“Now, Mary, don’t get too excited,” Mom said. “It’s only because I have to go to the hospital.
“Why?” Mary asked.
“I’m having a baby,” Mom said. Mary was silent. “You’ll still be able to go to school like you always do. Alice’s mother will take you and Alice.”
“You got everything?” Mom asked.
“Yep,” Mary answered. She patted the spot where the key and code were hidden in a box of tissues. Mom had argued that Mary didn’t need tissues because Alice and her family already had enough tissues to last a million years. But, Mary had won, and she had the tissues.
“Well, Mary, we’re here!” Mom said over the noise of a lawnmower. “Oh, boy!”
“Oh, boy, indeed!” Mary said. At the same time she was thinking Alice’s going to love this! She’s good at solving codes.
Ms. Cashier met Mom at the door. “I’ll get Mrs. Johnson,” she said quickly. She must have been busy that day.
Ms. Cashier was a maid, and that was why she was always so busy – but the Johnson family was going to hire another maid soon. Maybe even two, so that Ms. Cashier wouldn’t have to work so hard. She wouldn’t be lazy; it was just that there was so much work to do!
Imagine that you were a maid, and the family you served lived in a mansion with a hundred rooms. Now picture a family of seven. There were over two hundred paintings in the house. All that dusting! And laundry, too!
That was why they were going to hire more maids. After all, they were rich!
“Why, hello, Valerie!” Ms. Johnson said as soon as she reached the door. “And my, Hebert, aren’t you simply charming?” Valerie and Hebert were Mary’s parents. Ms. Johnson ushered Mary and her parents, shutting the door behind them. “Awfully cold out there, isn’t it?”
Valerie only nodded. Hebert shook his head. “And why’s that?” Ms. Johnson asked. “Oh, Mary, hang your coat over there. Ms. Cashier’s will get your suitcase.” Mary smiled. “I think you know where Alice’s room is.”
“Mary, you’re awfully sneaky,” Alice said when she found out what Mary had done.
“I need you to help me,” Mary explained. “Please?”
“I guess I will.”
“Thank you, Alice! You’re the best friend I’ve ever known. And the best code-cracker.”
Alice looked down at the code. “What type of writing is this?” Alice asked.
“You’re…clueless?”
“Well…I’ve always been clueless,” Alice admitted. She was starting at her bedroom floor. “But never this clueless.”
“GIRLS!!!” It was Macy Johnson, Alice’s five-year-old sister. “IT’S DINNER TIME!”
Alice groaned. “All ready?” She turned to Mary. “We’ll have to wait until after dinner.”
“Okay,” Mary said. Her face was turned upside-down in a sad little frown. Alice felt guilty, but she didn’t know why. She wasn’t hiding anything from Mary.
Oh yes you are, a voice inside of her said. No I’m not, Alice said. So you’ve told her about you and Alex? And that you and her aren’t the best of friends anymore? Alice suddenly felt as if an elephant fell on her. She was hiding something from Mary.
She and Alex were close – very close – now. And now, Mary was going to me mad at her. Better be as nice as you can, the teasing voice inside her head said. Or else! Or else what? Alice wondered.
“You know, Mary,” Alice was saying after dinner, “that G looks like a capital G. And that i has to be a lowercase I. It’s obvious.”
“So now what does the code look like?” Mary asked excitedly.
Go to Min Street.
Find # 9321d.
Ask to see Ms. Gelda.
“And I think that the . on the code is a period, since it’s at the end of every sentence. Except I don’t know why it’s in the middle of the last sentence,’ Alice said.
“On the last sentence, the word before the period could be an abbreviation,” Mary added. “Like Mrs. or Ms. or Mr.”
“I see what you’re saying,” Alice said, nodding.
“Alice! Mary!” It was Felicity. “We’re watching Samantha: an American Girl Holiday in the living room! There’s popcorn.”
“Coming, Felicity.”
By Wednesday, Alice and Mary had almost finished the code.
Go to Min Street.
Find # 9321.
Ask to see Ms. Gelda.
“Almost there,” Mary said.
"Mary, it's past 11:00. We’ve got to get to bed. Okay?"
“Just one more?” Mary pleaded.
“NO!” Alice said, meaner than she meant to.
That night, Alice was woken to the light of a lamp at eight in the morning. “Oh,” she whined. “Mary, I was planning on sleeping in! After all, it’s Saturday.” Mary hummed a tune from the school play last year called Its Saturday! Alice whispered the words.
Can’t you feel the thrill of it?
Saturday
The best day all year long –
It’s Saturday the whole…
The whole daylong!
And then, the song repeated itself once. Halfway through the song again, Mary interrupted. “What about the rest of the code?” she demanded.
“Well, I…I….Mary, it’s not that big of a deal…” Alice saw the look on Mary’s face. It could’ve melted a glacier in Antarctica. “Is it?” Alice squeaked.
“Yes…it…IS! Now, let’s finish it off!”
By the time Alice had figured the rest out, it was time for breakfast – pancakes with syrup. “Eat up!” Ms. Johnson said.
“Thank you, Ms. Johnson,” Mary said gratefully.
“Oh, Mary,” Ms. Johnson said, smiling, “you can call me Mom while you’re “living” here.”
“Mom?” Alice said.
“Yes?”
“Well, I was wondering if we could go on a walk after breakfast.
“I don’t know…”
“Please?”
“Oh, alright, but be careful, and wear your coats.”
“We have to find Min Street,” Alice said.
“I know where that is,” Mary said. “Number nine-three-two-one, right?”
“That’s what the code said.”
“I don’t see any –nine-three-two-one anywhere,” Mary said. “But it has to be here somewhere. We just have to keep on looking.”
Alice glanced at her watch tied around her wrist. “Mary, it’s almost noon. We have to get home. Take a walk? I know. But Mom didn’t plan for the walk to be this long.”
“Alice! I know you don’t want to do this. I know that you’re bored. But do you realize what we’re doing?” Mary paused and waited for Alice to say something. Alice didn’t. “We’re being detectives, Alice! Why don’t you understand? Do you even care? I miss the old you – the one that didn’t keep secrets from me, the one that was always cheerful, the one that always ran to the door when I visit.
“Alice, it’s not easy being the older of us by two years. It’s hard. But you’d never understand. You’re just too young! That’s what it is. I feel like we’ve broken apart over the years, and you don’t care! I doesn’t matter that I’m in fifth grade and you’re in third. I was looking for someone to comfort me, and you were just right – back then. And now, I don’t know what to do with you.
“You can just leave and it wouldn’t matter anymore, because you don’t need comfort anymore, Alice. That was why I befriended you – because you needed comfort – and so did I. But you don’t need it anymore. I think I’ll be better off without you, now. This is the end of our friendship. Period.”
Alice started to cry. It was upsetting when your friends didn’t play with you. It was upsetting when your best friend didn’t invite you to their birthday party. But how would you feel if your friend just – wham – and you are not their friend anymore? It’s upsetting, isn’t it? Alice kicked a rock. It hit a tree. There was a creaking sound, and the tree opened up.
“I’m not going in there,” Alice said. “Good-bye. I’ll tell Mom you stopped at Kayla’s house to play with their dogs.
“Thanks, Alice,” Mary said. She stared into the tree. It was hollow, and a tunnel went down into the earth inside the tree. “There’s a tunnel!” Mary said aloud. Alice stopped and turned around. She loved tunnels. “And there’s a license above it: nine-three-two-one!”
“Wait for me!” Alice called. It took her forever to get to Mary.
“I’m going in first,” Mary announced. Suddenly, they heard a motor. It was coming from the road. “Quick, jump in!”
Alice reacted quickly. They jumped up into the tree, and landed on a little area pushed outward, like a tab. The tree door shut in front of them. Then the car zoomed by. Mary motioned for Alice to scoot over. Alice did, and Mary jumped. Alice jumped not too far behind Mary. The tunnel was quite slippery, and so Mary and Alice had little time to rest. By the time the tunnel leveled out, Mary was ready to crawl the rest of the way. The girls walked the tunnel for a little while before stopping.
“Why’d you stop, Mary?” Alice asked. She crawled next to Mary, and almost fell. Before them was a drop-off. “We’re supposed to go…down there?” Alice gulped.
“Do you see any land on the other side? I don’t, so, yeah, we’ve got to go down there.” Mary jumped, holding onto Alice’s hand. Alice screamed. Mary shushed her.
After several minutes, they hit a ledge. There was still more tunnel to go through. Mary turned around. There was a name on the stone-edge of the tunnel. It read: Ms. Alb.
“Wasn’t there someone that we need to see?” Alice asked.
“Ms. Gelda,” Mary answered.
The next names were Mr. Beers and Ms. Coals and Mrs. Dino. “Alphabetical order,” Alice suggested. Mary nodded.
They passed Mr. Ebb and Mr. Fobs.
“Next should be Ms. Gelda,” Mary announced.
The next person was Ms. Gelda.
“Ask to see Ms. Gelda,” Alice whispered. The door opened. “You didn’t…”
“Doesn’t matter,” Mary said before a woman ushered them in.
“Hello,” she said. “I think you already know I’m Ms. Gelda. Who found the key?”
“I did,” Mary squeaked.
“The oldest, of course,” Ms. Gelda said. “I suppose you found out what the code means, since you’re here; unless you just stumbled upon the tree.”
“Both,” Alice said simply.
“Well, Alice, I’m sure you’ll find some suitable cookies in the kitchen.” Alice ran out of the room, into the only other room in the chamber. “Now, Mary, all the other people – mostly men – that found the key and me went mad after several days, because they didn’t hold the secret well enough. I cursed them, Mary. You’ve got to be careful. Well, here we go…
“A long time ago, when I was only a couple of years old, the key to the City of Gold was lost. When I turned nine, I found the key on the sidewalk, like you. The key was magical, and I played with it all the time. Then I left it on the sidewalk for other kids. You must never, ever, tell the other children, not even Alice, this secret.”
After a couple days Mary got tired. She whispered to Alice. Then, Mary realized she was done for.
Mary left. She piled everything she had into a suitcase and ran.
And she hasn’t been seen since.
Dear Reader,
Now you understand why you shouldn’t pick up that key. Because the strength is irresistible, and only the youngest can pull away…