EIGHTEEN
Later, JimJim and SueSue were in JimJim’s room. They were trying to figure out what to do. They thought and thought. They tried hard to figure out what to do.
SueSue looked at the stuff on JimJim’s shelves. She picked up things and then sat them back on the shelf. She saw something she didn’t recognize. It was laying beside TT’s old ball cap. She picked it up. She looked at it. She turned it over. She shook it.
SueSue said, “What’s this? I’ve never noticed this before. Where did you get this?”
JimJim looked at what SueSue was holding. It looked like a little book with buttons on it. He stared at it some more. It looked familiar. Yes, that was it. It looked exactly like TT’s gadget. It was smaller but they looked the same. It was a little gadget. That was what it had to be. It was definitely a little gadget.
JimJim said, “This is very hard to believe. That is a little gadget. It’s like TT’s gadget. It must be TT’s little gadget. He must have left it here.
“He hasn’t been in this room for a long time. He left his old ball cap when he was here. He must have left the little gadget then too. It must have been under that old ball cap all this time. It’s like TT hid it there. What does it do? Why did TT leave it here?”
The voice caught JimJim and SueSue by surprise. “What is up here?”
They turned to stare. They couldn’t believe it. It was PosterGuy. It was definitely him. He was right there on his poster sticking to the wall.
PosterGuy explained that he had popped into JimJim’s room from Council Headquarters. He had been hanging out there for a while. It was getting very boring in the Great Council Hall. Not much was happening there.
The other Council Kids were just hanging out. They were sitting around the Council table like they were having an important meeting. They drank some milk. They ate some cookies. They pretended like they were doing important business but they weren’t. They didn’t want everyone to find out that they were scared just like JimJim. They tried to keep it a secret.
Each Council Kid thought about what happened. They thought about their mission. They thought about their responsibilities. They worried about JimJim and SueSue.
When the Council Kids were sitting around the Council table, PosterGuy cleared his throat and said, “I’m worried about JimJim and SueSue. I’m scared too. I’m afraid TT and the other Shadow Kids will come back. I’m afraid that the purple shadows will return.
“We can’t use fear as an excuse. Remember our mission. Remember our responsibilities. We are Council Kids. We have to strike back. We have to just do it.”
The Council Kids talked about it for a while. There was some head nodding. There was more talking. There was more head nodding. That was when PosterGuy had finally popped out to find JimJim and SueSue. Things were back on track. Shadow Kids BEWARE.
In JimJim’s room, PosterGuy saw the little gadget SueSue was holding. He didn’t talk. Instead, he pointed first at the little gadget and then at the shelf. He motioned for SueSue to lay it back on the shelf. SueSue started to say something but PosterGuy put his finger to his lips. He wanted SueSue to put the little gadget quietly on the shelf and not talk.
JimJim understood what PosterGuy wanted. At first, SueSue didn’t understand but then she did. She quietly laid the little gadget on the shelf.
PosterGuy got JimJim’s and SueSue’s attention. He pointed at the door to JimJim’s room. JimJim and SueSue both nodded.
The poster slid down to the floor, under the door, and into the hall. JimJim opened the door. He and SueSue joined PosterGuy in the hall. SueSue pointed at another door. They all went into SueSue’s room. She quietly shut the door behind them.
The poster stuck to the wall behind SueSue’s desk. PosterGuy popped off his poster. He walked across her desk and sat on the edge of her dictionary. JimJim sat on the corner of SueSue’s bed. She sat on her desk chair. They were ready to talk.
PosterGuy said, “That’s how he does it. That is how TT and the other Shadow Kids know what is going on with us. They use that little gadget to listen in. Maybe there are some other little gadgets hidden here and there. Maybe they even have one in the Great Council Hall. Maybe that is how TT controls the purple shadows. He probably uses the little gadgets to spy on us. It’s just more of his genius stuff.”
The Council trio stared some. They thought some. They nodded their heads. JimJim said, “We definitely need to talk.”
