Sofia grabbed Tick’s arm. “The words inside. Those three words are the main part of the riddle!”
The answer hit Tick like a catapulted stone. Anna Graham. Rearranging. Tick had always loved the puzzles in the Sunday paper, everything from Sudoku to number pyramids, but one game had always been a favorite . . .
Anna Graham.
“Anagram!” he yelled, probably looking insane to his friends because of the huge smile that spread across his face. The clanking sounds of the oncoming metal-spiders grew louder.
“Yeah, but who is she?” Paul asked. “How do we find her?”
“No, no,” Tick said. “Not a name—a thing. An anagram.”
“What the heck is an anagram?” Paul asked, stealing a glance at the creatures, now only seconds away from reaching them.
Sofia answered. “It’s when the letters of a word or phrase are rearranged to spell something else.”
“Yeah,” Tick said. “Whatever we’re looking for must be an anagram of ‘the words inside.’”
“Yes!” Sofia yelled.
But their joy was short-lived. The first spider landed on their table with a horrible crash.
The boy named Henry ran, bumping into people, bouncing off them, falling to the ground, getting back up—running, always running. He’d hardly said one word to a stranger his whole life, living in fear of the metaspides and their all-seeing eye. They were always there, waiting, watching.
But he’d done his job. He’d said the words, delivered the message. In doing so, he’d made enough money to buy medicine for his mom for another six months. He knew the docs were overcharging him, but he had no choice. He didn’t want his mom to die.
The creepy man who’d offered him the job stood in the same spot, lurking inside an alcove between two pubs. The man had paid him half the money beforehand, promising the other half when the deed was done. Henry walked up to him and held out his shaking hand. When they made eye contact, he couldn’t help but take a step backward.
The man looked at the boy with fierce eyes, his brow tensed in anger, his dark hair hanging in his face. A long pause followed, filled with the sounds of the metaspides launching an attack behind him.
“You did it, then?” the man said. “You think you deserve some money, do you?”
“Y-y-yes, sir,” Henry replied.
“So you do, boy. You deserve every penny. I’m a businessman, you know, and I’ve never faltered on a deal in my life.” He reached out and tousled Henry’s hair. “It’s why I am who I am. Where do you think the metaspides came from, anyway?”
Henry shrugged, wishing with all his heart he could get away from this strange, scary man.
The tall stranger reached into his pocket and pulled out several bills, which he placed in Henry’s hand. “Take this, boy, and use it wisely.”
“Yes, sir,” Henry said, turning to run.
The man grabbed his shoulder, gripping tightly. “Grow up smart, boy. Grow up smart, and one day you may work for me.” The man leaned in and whispered into Henry’s ear. “For Reginald Chu, the greatest mind in all the Realities.”
Henry squirmed out of the man’s clutches and ran. He ran and ran until he collapsed into his sick mother’s arms.
For an instant, Paul couldn’t make himself move. He stared down in horror at Tick, who was lying on the ground, the weird metal spider thing on top of him. Its eight segmented legs of steel pinned each of Tick’s limbs while a pair
of slicing blades popped out of its silver belly and headed for his friend’s head. Somehow, in the midst of all this, Paul noticed words printed on the back of the spider’s round body:
METASPIDE
Manufactured by Chu Industries
Just like the Gnat Rat.
He snapped himself out of his daze and grabbed the closest chair. Picking it up by the back, he swung it as hard as he could and smashed it into the creature, sending it flying off Tick and clanking along the paved stones of the pathway. Tick scrambled to his feet and joined Paul; Sofia and Sally were right next to them, staring at the thing Paul had just whacked.
The metaspide righted itself, turning to look at the group, though it had no eyes as far as Paul could tell. The thing’s buddies had dropped down to the same level of the indoor mall and joined their leader in a pack, as if readying for a charge. Most of the darkly dressed people had fled the scene, somehow finding the spirit to move quickly when vicious robot spiders came calling. A few stragglers pressed their backs against the walls of the buildings, looking on in terror. The place had become eerily silent.
“I just can’t buy that Master George is doing this,” Sofia said.
“You chirrun ain’t tellin’ me the whole truth!” Sally said.
Paul tried to calm his heavy breathing. He knew the only way to get out of this was to solve that stupid riddle. An anagram of “the words inside.” He quickly started visualizing options in his head, other words those letters could spell: sword . . . died . . . snow . . . wine . . . news . . . odd . . .
It was easy to come up with individual words, but using every last letter—and only those letters—was really hard without pen and paper.
“What are they waiting for?” Sofia said.
The metaspides stood in a line, at least a dozen of them, their bodies turning and nodding, clicking and clacking, buzzing endlessly. They seemed to be communicating, deciding what to do next. It didn’t make Paul feel very good thinking that those things were smart enough to call plays, like in football.
“I don’t know,” Tick said. “Sally, where can we go? Where do you live?”
Sally grunted. “Ain’t be leadin’ them buggers to my place, no how.”
“Is there a place to hide?” Sofia asked.
“Mayhaps if we go into one of dem there stores or such.” Sally pointed to nowhere in particular.
This triggered a thought in Paul’s head. Maybe they were supposed to figure out the name of a place, and go there. Maybe they’d be winked away if they made it.
“Look at all the signs,” he said. “I bet one of them is an anagram of ‘the words inside.’”
Tick’s eyes lit up in agreement. “You’re right! Every little place here has a sign out front. That has to be it!”
An abrupt whirring sound made them all return their attention to the metaspides. The creatures had started to move, slowly spreading out in an obvious attempt to surround Paul and his friends.