Flight to the Far East

"I wish we could have stayed longer in Italy," ten-year-old Violet Alden said as she watched the streets of Rome flash by from the window of the car.

"I know," Violet's older brother Henry said. "But if there is a bad storm coming, we need to get to the plane right away." Henry, who was fourteen, had received a call from the copilot of the private jet they had been traveling on. Emilio told them to hurry to the airport, because if they didn't take off soon, they might have to stay in Rome for several days. A late-spring ice storm was bearing down on the city. "We'll come back to Rome someday when we can spend more time here. The Reddimus Society is counting on us to deliver the rest of the artifacts safely and as quickly as possible."

A secret society had recruited the Alden children to return stolen art and artifacts to their rightful owners. When the head of the society, Mrs. Silverton, had asked the Aldens to help, she hadn't realized a family of thieves, the Argents, would be trying to get the artifacts away from the children before they could be delivered.

"Yes," twelve-year-old Jessie said. "We'll come back when we don't have to worry about the Argents following us." She was worried because they still had four artifacts left and didn't yet know where to deliver them. With each artifact, they had received clues to help them find its destination. They had already been to New Mexico to deliver a Native American piece of pottery, Egypt to return a valuable figurine of an Egyptian pharaoh, and England to deliver a small gold piece of jewelry from the time Stonehenge was built.

"We'll be back," Benny, the youngest Alden said, "because we threw the coins in the fountain." Mrs. McGregor had told them about the legend that if a person threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, that person would come back to Rome. Benny, who was six, had a lot of fun at the fountain. "I wish I knew where we are going now though," Benny added, sighing. "I like the plane a lot, but we can't just fly around in circles. And I wish Mrs. McGregor were coming with us." Their housekeeper, Mrs. McGregor, had been with them in England and Italy. Benny was sad when she said good-bye to them as they got in the car.

"Remember she promised there will be other people to help us at our next stops," Jessie told him. "Besides, Mrs. McGregor needs to get home. I'm sure Grandfather misses her." The Aldens lived with their grandfather. After their parents had died, the Aldens ran away, afraid their grandfather would be mean. They lived in an old boxcar in the woods until he found them and they discovered he wasn't the least bit mean. He even moved the boxcar to the backyard of his house so they could play in it whenever they wanted.

"Watch must be missing her too," Violet said. "Without us there, Watch will be lonely." Watch was the Aldens' dog. Sometimes he got to go with them on their adventures, but this time it wouldn't have been easy to take him along.

Jessie picked up the package they had received at their hotel right before Emilio called. They had opened it there but hadn't had a chance to work out what the clues meant. "Don't worry, Benny. The answer to our next destination is in here. We just have to figure out what the clues mean. Once we are on the plane, we'll work on it."

The driver took them to the terminal where the private planes were parked. Then an airport official escorted the children out to their plane, where Emilio was waiting at the top of the steps.

He waved when he saw them. "All aboard!" he yelled. It began to rain just as they went up the steps. The rain was very cold.

The pilot, Mr. Ganert, came out of the cockpit. "The front edge of the storm is already here, but we can't take off until we know where we are going," Mr. Ganert said. "I need to file a flight plan. You Aldens are supposed to be so clever; let's hear the plan."

"We're working on it," Jessie said, opening up the package once more. She took out the red silk bag with a gold design on it that held the clues.

Mr. Ganert frowned at the sight of the bag. None of the children liked Mr. Ganert. He was a good pilot, but he was not very friendly. He hadn't wanted the Aldens to be in charge of the artifacts, and they knew he didn't trust them to keep the items safe.

"Well, hurry up," Mr. Ganert grumbled as he went back into the cockpit.

Jessie opened the bag and took out the clues, which were some wooden stamps, an ink pad, and an envelope with a riddle inside. The envelope had a little drawing of an owl on it. Reddimus Society agents used the owl on their messages because owls moved quietly and without anyone noticing, just like the agents tried to do.

Six of the seven wooden stamps had letters on them. Benny picked up the one without a letter. It pictured a dragon instead. "A country of many dragons? Dragons aren't real. I wish they were. I'd like to go to a country full of dragons."

Violet looked over Benny's shoulder to get a better look at the stamp. "This dragon doesn't have wings. Pictures I've seen of dragons show them with wings."

"It's really long and skinny too," Benny said. "It almost looks like a snake with legs and arms."

Jessie handed Henry the envelope. "I'll get my laptop going. If this riddle is like the others, we are going to have to research parts of it. Would you read it out loud again?"

Henry took out the riddle and started to read.

You are going to need to be very, very clever.

There will be riddles here, riddles there, riddles everywhere.

The path grows more twisted to confuse those who follow you.

He looked up. "That part means the Argents. It sounds as if we will have to solve more riddles than before to find the place to deliver the next artifact."

"I hope we can do it," Violet said. "The riddles have been hard."

"We'll manage," Henry said. He kept reading.

    Something that changed the world started with blocks like these,
    Though the symbols carved on them few could read today.
    To have books, you must first have a way to make words.
    Handwriting is good, but to spread words far and wide, something more is needed.
    Figure out what these blocks do and where they first were made,
    And you will find your next destination — a city where the dragons ruled.

Violet picked up the ink pad and one of the stamps. "We can stamp letters with these and make words. I don't understand the invention part. Is it where wooden stamps were invented?"

"I think I get it," Henry said. He read part of the riddle again. "To have books, you must first have a way to make words.

"It's printing. Wooden stamps like these were the way things like scrolls and then books were first printed. Later on, the stamps were made of metal, and then the printing press was invented, but it all started with these stamps."

"Henry is right. We...