Text copyright © 2008 by Trenton Lee Stewart Jacket and interior illustrations copyright © 2008 by Diana Sudyka
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Little, Brown and Company
Hachette Book Group 237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Visit our Web site at www.HachetteBookGroup.com
First eBook Edition: May 2008
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Summary: Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance, all graduates of the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened and members of the Benedict Society, embark on a scavenger hunt that turns into a desperate search for the missing Mr. Benedict.
ISBN: 978-0-316-03237-7
Dedication
Lemon-Juice Letters and Key Disappointments
The Unseen Warning
Beyond the glass, or Windows for mirrors
The Society Reconvenes
The Journey Begins
Half-Truths and Deceptions
Bulhrogs, Pirates, and Technical Difficulties
The Significance of Weather
Directions, Recollections, and Outstanding Debts
The Old Hag, the Suspicious Gift , and the Quandary at the Castle
Awkward Exchanges and Clever Disguises
Promises and Reprieves
The Duskwort Papers
The Phone Call, the money, and the Fateful Envelope
Caught up at Last
The Boathouse Prisoner
Follow the Wind
Dusk Before Sundown
Sentries on the Silo
Pleasant Dreams and Other False Comforts
Pandora's Box, or Things Best Left Closed
The Standoff in the Shelter
The Cave at the Top of the Mountain
Old Friends and New Enemies
What Shines in Darkness
Apologies, Explanations, and Most Agreeable Notions
Acknowledgments
Lemon-Juice Letters and Key Disappointments
On a bright September morning, when most children his age were in school fretting over fractions and decimal points, a boy named Reynie Muldoon was walking down a dusty road. He was an average-looking boy — with average brown hair and eyes, legs of average length, nose an average distance from his ears, and so on — and he was entirely alone. Other than a falcon soaring high over the road and a few meadowlarks keeping a low profile in the fields on either side, Reynie was the only living creature around.
