Chapter 12: Breakfast

Maaga akong nagising kinabukasan. Malamig ang simoy ng hangin at naririnig ko ang mahinang hampas ng alon sa dalampasigan. Nasulyapan ko si Gray sa tabi ko. May unan pa rin sa pagitan namin at nakadapa ito sa kama. Bumangon ako at napagpasyahang maligo sa dagat. Hindi pa masyadong maliwanag ang sikat ng araw kaya naglakad na ako papunta sa dalampasigan at naligo.

Pagbalik ko ay natutulog pa rin si Gray kaya naligo na ako sa banyo. Matagal-tagal din akong naligo at nang nakatapis na ako ng tuwalya, saka ko lang naalala na hindi pala ako nagdala ng damit pambihis sa banyo kaya kailangan ko pang lumabas. Paglabas ko ay gising na si Gray. Nakaupo ito sa kama habang hawak-hawak ang ulo.

"Wag kang lilingon," wika ko ng lumabas sa banyo. At gaya ng sabi nila, masarap gawin ang ipinagbabawal, lumingon ito.

Nagtagpo ang kilay nito bago umiwas ng tingin. "Tsk, ano naming itinatago mo dyan?" What the hell! Ano bang problema niya sa katawan ko?

"Wala kang paki. Basta wag kang lilingon ulit if you don't want to feel my punch this early," banta ko sa kanya habang kumukuha ng damit sa maleta ko. I heard him mumbled something bago ako tumakbo pabalik sa banyo upang magbihis. Nang matapos ako ay nakaupo pa rin siya sa kama at minasahe ang ulo. Maybe he has a hangover.

"Maligo ka na, titimplahan kita ng kape kapag tapos ka na," wika ko sa kanya bago lumabas ng kwarto. Nagtungo naman ako sa kusina upang maghanda ng agahan. Naalala ko kahapon na nasa fridge ang lahat ng stocks doon. Tinungo ko ang fridge at binuksan but it can't be opened dahil nakalock pala iyon.

What?! Nakalock? I'm positive na binuksan ko ito kahapon and it wasn't locked.

Gumawa na lang ako ng kape. Namataan ko naman ang isang laptop sa mesa. I don't remember na may laptop dito kagabi, paano nagkaroon nito ngayon? I pressed the space bar at may nag-pop up doon. Hinintay ko na lumabas ng banyo si Gray. Hindi naman nagtagal ay lumabas na si Gray. I handed him a cup of coffee at nagpasalamat ito.

"Gray, look at this," wika ko sa kanya at pinakita ang nasa laptop. It says:

"Good Morning Gray and Amber! I hope you are enjoying your stay. If you want to open the fridge, crack the codes and follow to have the key. If you can't, you may have your breakfast on the nearby island using the credit card! Enjoy!"
-AB

"He really loves codes and riddles that much, eh?" wika ko kay Gray. He drank coffee from his cup at naupo sa harap ng laptop. "Well, why don't we try it?" Sinimulan na niyang tingnan ang mga naroon. Naupo naman ako sa tabi niya matapos makahanap ng papel at panulat.

Find the clues:

D.B. "TDVC," chap. 98, p. 528

What was that supposed to mean? And what's with this activity? Gusto ba ni Sir Arman na mag-Amazing Race kami ng ganito kaaga? Anong klaseng clue ba ito?

"Is it referring to a book? Chap. 98 stands for chapter 98 right? And p. 528 means the page," wika ko. Gray stared hard at the monitor.

"I guess so. Ngunit anong libro? He surely has a thousands of books here," wika niya.

Napakarami kasi talagang libro doon sa may mini-library study ng resthouse ni sir Arman. "D.B.? Do you know any author who have the initials D.B.?"

"Dan Brown?" tanong ko and Gray's eyes sparked.

"Right. Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. TDVC stands for The Da Vinci Code. Let's find that book in the study," he rose from his seat and we both hurried to the study room. Agad naming hinanap ang libro and opened it to page 528. May mga salitang binilogan doon.

The encircled parts were:

THIS WAY TO:
CLOISTERS
DEANERY
COLLEGE HALL
MUSEUM
PYX CHAMBER
ST. FAITH'S CHAPEL
CHAPTER HOUSE

If I remembered it right, it was the large sign vaulted in the passageway where Langdon and Sophie passed beneath, wherein they also found an announcement apologizing for the renovations of some areas like the Pyx Chamber, St. Faith's Chapel and Chapter House. That part was encircled.

"The C in Cloisters and D in Deanery are encircled with a pen. Maging ang house mula sa chapter house," pansin ko.

"Maybe it means that we should look in the CD piles. Find a singer or band or name of an album na may House," wika ni Gray at tumungo na kami sa CD rack. Gray found an album of the Firehouse. Agad niya iyong binuksan at may nakaipit na papel doon with an encoded code.

UNIFORM-NOVEMBER-DELTA-ECHO-ROMEO-TANGO-HOTEL-ECHO-TANGO-ALPHA-BRAVO-LIMA-ECHO.

"Easy! Phonetic alphabet. It means Under the Table. All you have to do is convert it into the english alphabet," Gray said at tiningnan ang ilalim ng mesa. He found a piece of paper which was also a clue.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28

"What's that? A mathematical joke?" tanong ko nga makita ang nakasulat sa papel.

"Maybe a mathematical formula," wika ni Gray at umupo sa mesa. He got the pen and paper at nagsimulang bumuo ng mga formula mula doon. He erased each at inis na nilakumos ang papel.

"I don't think these are formula. Damn, simpleng numero na nakasunod-sunod lang naman ito ah?" muli siyang nagsulat and tried to decode the numbers. Hidi nagtagal ay tumayo na siya.

"These clues are too simple that we complicate it that much," Gray said at tinungo ang kalendaryo na nasa may pinto. "The numbers 1-12 stand for the 12 months and these 1-28 numbers points out that we should look for the month February in the calendar since it's the only month with 28 days," he said at tiningnan ang buwan ng Pebrero at gaya ng naisip niya, may clue nga na nakadikit doon.

"Cursed, cursed creator! Why did I live? Why, in that instant, did I not extinguish the spark of existence which you had so wantonly bestowed? I know not; despair had not yet taken possession of me; my feelings were those of rage and revenge. I could with pleasure have destroyed the cottage and its inhabitants and have glutted myself with their shrieks and misery."

"What's that? A line from a poem? Or maybe a poem created by Sir Arman himself?" kinuha ko sa kanya at binasa iyon. I don't have any clue what was it.

"Silly. That's a line from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. You haven't read it?" tanong ni Gray at umiling naman ako. What? A line from a book? Did he memorized that book? Hindi ko pa kasi iyon nababasa. I already watched the movie, I, Frankenstein kaya hindi ko na binasa ang libro. Muli kaming bumalik sa study at hinanap nga ang libro. I found it at ng buklatin ay may nakaipit naman na papel doon. Geez, ano bang trip ni Sir Arman sa buhay at kung ano-ano pa ang ipinapasolve sa amin? I'm pretty sure na bukas talaga ang fridge kahapon kaya malamang may nagpunta dito habang tulog kami ni Gray o kahapon habang nasa kalapit na isla kami. That someone planted the clues and locked the fridge. Hindi ko alam kung si Sir Arman ba mismo o may inutusan lang ito.

The code was:

Clubs 6 2 1 4 8
Heart 9 7 K 6 3 4

The numbers after the word club were printed black while the numbers after the heart was in red. Wala naman akong maisip na sagot doon kaya ipinasa ko iyon kay Gray.

"Ewan ko dyan kay Sir Arman. Why doesn't he just open the fridge? Bukas naman iyon kahapon," I ranted at naupo na lang. Gray let out a smile.

"Well he just wants us to enjoy," wika niya. "Have you seen any cards here?"

I gave him a bored look. "Bakit, gusto mong maglaro ng baraha? You have no match against me."

Umiling naman siya. "No, these clues are in the cards."

Napaisip ako. I guess he's right. The numbers refer to the cards. The colors are clues. Clubs are normally black and hearts are red in a normal card deck.

Tinulungan ko siyang maghanap ng baraha at nakakita naman kami sa may ibabaw ng oven. Nang tingnan namin ang mga naroong card ay may nakadikit na stickers doon na may mga tanong. Inuna namin ang mga baraha na may clubs. They were as follows:

Club 6 Author of Kim.
Club 2 Fear of long words.
Club 1 A massive island and autonomous Danish territory between North Atlantic and arctic Oceans, and is about 80% covered with ice.
Club 4 Trilogy written by Suzanne Collins made into movie.
Club 8 Author of Pride and Prejudice.
Heart 9 Prequel of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code.
Heart 7 Hammer of Thor
Heart King Longest word in the dictionary
Heart 6 Pseudonym of Tarō Hirai
Heart 3 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's previous name for Sherlock Holmes
Heart 4 Sherlock Holmes' brother

"Like seriously, we're going to answer that? Hindi natin alam lahat ng sagot diyan and we can't even access the internet para mag-google ng sagot. This resthouse is generator powered at hindi abot ang signal dito," reklamo ko.

"No. These are so easy," wika niya at nagsimula ng sumagot. Wala naman akong nagawa kundi pinanood siya habang sumasagot doon. Kung ako ang masusunod, pupunta na lang kami sa kabilang isla at maghanap ng makakain.

"Give it up already Gray, pumunta na lang tayo sa kabilang isla,"wika ko.

I saw Gray's eyes darkened. He raised a brow to me. "Ba't ba gusto mong pumunta doon sa kabilang isla? Gusto mo na namang makita yung bansot na Cooler?" he said.

Whaaaaat? "Hindi naman bansot si Cooler ah!," depensa ko. He rolled his eyes at me at iwinasiwas ang kamay.

"Fine, if you want to go there, edi pumunta ka," he said. Arrrrggh! Ayan na naman yung pagkamoody niya!

"Sinabi ko bang si Cooler ang pupuntahan ko? Breakast Gray, breakfast!"

"Kunyari ka pa!" tinalikuran na niya ako at hinarap ang mga tanong sa cards.

"Hindi sabi si Cooler! Ano bang problema mo sa kanya?" naiinis na ako. Hindi na niya ako sinagot bagkus ay nagsimula na siyang magsulat para sagutin ang mga tanong doon sa cards.

"Author of Kim, hmmmm, it's Rudyard Kipling. Club 2, the answer is hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia," sinulat niya iyon sa papel.

"You're serious about answering that?" tanong ko sa kanya. Tumango naman siya.

"Yeah, kaya kung tutulong ka, that's fine. If not, fine too." Muli siyang yumuko doon sa papel. "Club 1, Greenland. Club 4 The Hunger Games."

Kumuha naman ako ng card na may tanong. "Club 8 Jane Austen, Heart 9 Angels and Demons," wika ko naman at isinulat niya iyon.

"Heart 7 Mjölnir."

"Mjo-mjölnir? What's that?" takang tanong ko nang isulat niya iyon.

"It's the hammer of Thor. Haven't you read about Norse Mythology?" he asked and I shook my head. Naaah, I'm not into reading Norse Mythology. Usually kasi ay Greek and Roman lang ang binabasa ko.

"It's owned by Thor, a Norse god associated with thunder. According to the myth, this hammer is one of the most fearsome weapons dahil sa nagagawa nito. It's so powerful, it can level mountains," pagpapatuloy ni Gray. Geez, myths are too exaggerated right?

"Unbelievable," I exclaimed. Tumaas naman ang isang kilay niya. "It's just a myth."

Muli niyang tiningnan ang mga cards. "Heart King, The longest word, Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis," he wrote the word at napakunot naman ang noo ko.

"That word exists?" tanong ko sa kanya. "Ano naman yan?"

"It's a lung disease. You can acquire that by inhaling tiny sand dust and ashes. Of course it exists. It's in the Oxford Dictionary," paliwanag niya. Sakit lang pala, why make it complicated?! Pwede namang gawing acronym diba? Tsk.

"Heart 6 Pseudonym of Tarō Hirai, who the hell is Tarō Hirai?" tanong niya at inilapag ang card sa mesa.

"It's Edogawa Ranpo," sagot ko. Napakunot ang noo niya. "Seriously, you don't know Edogawa Ranpo?"

Gray shook his head. "Si Conan lang ang kilala kong Edogawa. Edogawa Conan, right?" he said and smiled childishly.

"What?! You call yourself a mystery lover tapos hindi mo kilala si Edogawa Ranpo? He's a Japanese author and he's a big help in the development of Japanese mystery fiction."

His face wrinkled. "Japanese? Ano namang alam ko sa Japanese Literature? At saka I'm into Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when it comes to mystery fiction."

I rolled my eyes to him."Or atleast you should know that Kudo Shinichi got his shrunken name Edogawa Conan from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edogawa Ranpo. That's where Gosho got that name," I said amd rolled my eyes. Duh, Detective Tross said that he's called Detective Conan but he doesn't even know details about that shrunken animated detective.

"I'm not into anime. That's why I don't know. Ang alam ko lang yan yung pangalan ni Detective Conan." Muli siyang kumuha ng card. "Heart 3 and 4, I'm an expert on this. Doyle's first name for Sherlock is Sherrinford Hope. Hope is the ship that he onced on board in replacement for classmate who couldn't make it. Sumulat pa nga si Sir Doyle ng diary which was published with a title Dangerous Work: Diary of an Arctic Adventure. So it's Sherrinford Hope but it was changed into Sherrinford or Sherringford Holmes because his first wife thought that the name Sherrinford Hope is awful. That name didn't clicked so he changed it to Sherlock Holmes which was a succees. And his brother which I have read in the book is actually Mycroft," wika niya at sinulat iyon lahat.

We wrote everything and it goes like this:

Club 6 Rudyard Kipling
Club 2 Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Club 1 Greenland
Club 4 The Hunger Games
Club 8 Jane Austen

Heart 9 Angels and Demons
Heart 7 Mjölnir
Heart King Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Heart 6 Edogawa Ranpo
Heart 3 Sherrinford Hope
Heart 4 Mycroft Holmes

"What shall we do with that? It's not like it tell us where to find the key," I told him.

Nag-isip ng maayos si Gray at kinuha ang papel. "Maybe the number tells us to pick the corresponding letters."

He encircled some letters from the answers which corresponds the given number.

Club 6 RudyaRd Kipling
Club 2 hIppopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Club 1 Greenland
Club 4 The Hunger Games
Club 8 Jane AusTen

Heart 9 Angels anD Demons
Heart 7 MjölniR
Heart king (13) PneumonoultrAmicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Heart 6 EdogaWa Ranpo
Heart 3 ShErrinford Holmes
Heart 4 MycRoft Holmes

"Right Drawer! Let's look in the right drawer," kapagkuway wika ni Gray. We headed to the room at binuksan ang right drawer at naroon nga ang susi na may kasamang note.

"Congratulations for cracking the code! Enjoy your breakfast!"
-AB

We opened the fridge and its contents were just the same as before. Akala ko pa naman masosorpresa kami pag nabuksan namin.

"We're like trying to open an empty box at all." Sinara ko ang fridge at naupo na lang. Maybe I should prepare breakfast.

"No. I think there's something," binuksan muli ni Gray ang fridge at may kinuha doon. It was a note.

"Enjoy the truffles on the lower side of the fridge! And the boxes under the bed are your rewards. Enjoy your breakfast!"
-AB

"He likes giving notes, eh? Why don't you check those boxes while I prepare breakfast?" suhestiyon ko. Tumango naman siya kaya naglabas na ako ng mga lulutuin sa fridge while he went to the room. I prepared bacon, eggs and hotdogs. Nagtoast din ako ng tinapay. Matapos maghanda ay tinawag ko na si Gray. He was smiling all the way habang kumakain kami.

"Para kang timang, why are you smiling like that?" tanong ko sa kanya. "And by the way, what are in the boxes?"

"I'm just happy at dahil iyon sa mga laman ng boxes," he said and bite into his pancake.

He's happy just because of that? Tinaasan ko siya ng kilay. "Ano nga ang laman?"

"Sherlock Holmes's Novels and Adventures. All of it," wika niya at nabitawan ko ang hawak na kubyertos.

"You're not joking right?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Nope. There are two boxes, one for you and one for me. At hindi lang iyan, there are some first editions there. They look pretty old but they're treasures. Right?"

Agad akong tumayo at nagpunta sa kwarto. I confirmed what he's saying. WHAT THE HOLMES! SERIOUSLY?

Uh-oh, I guess I don't have to linger at the library that much. I'm gonna kiss Mr. Arman the next time I will see him!

#