Read Online The Impossible Race: Cragbridge Hall, Volume 3 by Chad Morris - Free Book Online

picture of a simple metal key filled the screen. Abby stared at the image in disbelief. She looked at the design on the top of the keys and the series of notches along the bottom. There was no denying it. This wasn’t just any key, but the same kind Abby kept in the secret compartment of her belt—a key that allowed her to interact with the past. “When the winning team presses their fingertips to the box, as it unlocks, it will automatically send them a message with a full explanation of the awards and opportunities your key will open.”
    “Trust me,” Landon finished. “This will be better, more monumental, than any secret prize ever.”
    Abby swallowed hard.

 
    Decision
     
    Well, there it is,” Derick said. “That had Muns written all over it.”
    Abby agreed, walking beside her brother and Carol. It felt great to be out of the hot and stuffy gym, but only on the outside. Abby’s insides were scrambling.
    “I guess there’s a chance,” Carol said, “that it’s a completely different key and it just happens to look exactly like the most important keys in existence that protect one of the most powerful secrets ever.” Derick and Abby looked at Carol incredulously. “You’re right,” Carol admitted. “It was completed, stamped, and signed by Dr. Doomsface himself.”
    “ Oi pessoal ,” Rafa called out from behind them. “Wait up.” He jogged to catch up, his dark ponytail bouncing on his shoulders. He hadn’t been with them at the dance. He was a year older than them, after all, and had other groups of friends. “I bet I can guess what you’re talking about.”
    Everyone nodded.
    Abby looked around—the hallway was filled with other students walking. “Let’s step into a study room.” They followed her into a small room outside of the commons and closed the door behind them.
    “Do you think they really have a key they are going to give away?” Rafa asked. No one sat on the chairs around the table.
    “I don’t know,” Derick said. “But I guess we have to treat it like they do.”
    “How did Muns get a key?” Carol asked.
    “I wish we knew,” Abby said. “Does everyone here have theirs?”
    Everyone nodded. They had all double-checked. “I sent a message to my mom too,” Rafa said. “She has hers. She’s checking with Mr. Sul about those on the other council.”
    “Good,” Abby said. “We’ll also have to double-check where we hid the others, but I can’t imagine he had a way to find them.” She blew out a breath of frustration. “But if we can find who got that key, we find someone on Muns’s side.”
    “That’s assuming someone didn’t just give it to him,” Derick said.
    Whether someone working for Muns stole the key, or someone voluntarily gave it to Muns, Abby didn’t like it.
    “Back to the Race,” Rafa said. “If the winners only get one key, they can’t really change time, right?”
    “True, but they also learn the secret,” Derick said. “And that’s a big deal.”
    “Wait, let me think this through,” Carol said, lifting her hands.
    “Um,” Derick said. “You don’t usually pause to think. You just talk.”
    “I didn’t say I was going to think in my head,” Carol clarified. “I think out loud: Only the team who wins the contest gets a key and learns the secret, right? Maybe they wouldn’t even believe it. I mean, the idea that your grandpa discovered time travel and keeps the giant machine in a secret basement below the school is kind of crazy.”
    “It is,” Derick agreed, and sat down in one of the chairs. Rafa followed his lead. “But it’s also true. And chances are that they will at least be curious and check it out. Then we’ve got a group of students that we don’t know if we can trust with a lot of power. And,” he said, raising a finger, “nothing is going to stop them from sharing the secret with others.”
    “Not everyone is as good at keeping secrets as we are,” Abby said, playing with the back of the seat in front