Secret Histories

The sides of the cube fel open and it tumbled to the floor where it flattened out

in a crosslike configuration.

But what captured and held his attention in an icy grip was the black pyramid

inside—but not like any pyramid Jack had ever seen.

Weezy was off the bed and on the thing like a cat on a mouse. She grabbed it

and held it up, turning it over and over.

“I knew it—I knewit!” Then she looked at Jack, frowning. “How’d you get it

open?”

He shrugged. “I just—”

“Doesn’t matter. What’s important is it’s open.”

But it mattered to Jack. He hadn’t done anything special, just edged his

thumbnails into the—

“Some kind of pyramid,” Eddie said. “Maybe it’s Egyptian.”

“No, the Egyptian pyramids are four-sided. This has six. And it’s engraved with

these weird-looking symbols.”

“Let’s have a look,” Jack said. When Weezy hesitated, he added, “What? Afraid

I’l steal it?”

She flashed a nervous smile as she handed it over. “Don’t be sil y.” But Jack could tel she didn’t want to let it go.

The pyramid felt cold against his skin, and Weezy was right: The symbols, a

different one carved into each face, were kind of weird. Not exactly

hieroglyphics, but not like any letters he’d ever seen either. He upended it and

checked the base. Yep. Another symbol there too.

“Maybe there’s something in this as wel . Maybe it’s like one of those Russian dol

s, you know—”

“Matryoshka,” Weezy said. “A nesting dol .” How did she knowthis stuff? Jack searched the surface for a seam but came up empty.

“Looks like this is it.”

“Check this out,” Eddie said, pointing to the flattened box. “There’s something

carved on this too.”

Jack looked and saw what he meant. Some sort of grid had been carved inside

the crosspiece of the T.

Eddie echoed Jack’s sentiments when he said, “What’s al this mean?” Jack looked at Weezy, who had retrieved the pyramid and was studying it like a

jeweler grading a diamond. Al she needed was that little magnifying

eyepiece. What was it cal ed? A loupe. Right.

“Ever see anything like this in any of your secret histories?” He waved at her

sagging bookshelf. “One of those books hasto—”

She was shaking her head. “Nothing like this at al . Trust me. I know those

books by heart.”

“Then we’ve got to ask somebody.”

“No-no-no!” She clutched the pyramid to her chest. “They’l say it’s evidence and

take it from us.”

“We don’t have to mention it’s got anything to do with the body. We’l just say we

found it somewhere in the Pines and leave it at that.”

“Okaaaay,” she said slowly. “Let’s say we do that. Who can we show it to?”

A name popped into Jack’s mind immediately. “Mister Rosen.”

Weezy made a face. “He’s just a junk dealer.”

“Yeah, but it’s oldjunk. He knows everythingabout old stuff. You even got some

of your weirdo books from him, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but—”