In the old library, Ella reached for a strange brass key. A masked villain grabbed Ella and pulled Ella through a hidden passage. “Help!” Ella shouted.
The library door slammed shut. Dust puffed from the shelves as Lucas and Ethan raced in and found Ella’s blue ribbon.
Lucas and Ethan followed the ribbon across the cobblestone street. It led to a tall locked gate beneath the clock tower.
Ethan spotted three clock marks scratched in the stones. Lucas fitted the brass key into the gate, and it opened with a loud clank.
Inside the clock tower, three puzzles waited: a turning book, a ringing bell, and a crooked wooden gear. Each answer lit one tiny lamp.
The lamps blinked on—one, two, three. Then footsteps thumped closer. Lucas whispered, “We need the last answer!”
Behind the giant clock, the villain trapped Ella and pulled the final rope. BOOM! The bell shook the tower.
Ella grabbed a loose gear. Lucas pulled the rope backward, and Ethan shouted, “The answer is three!”
The clock spun, and the door flew open. The villain tumbled into a pile of dusty cushions with a soft poof.
At sunrise, Ella, Lucas, and Ethan hurried back to the old library. The brass key hung safely on the library wall.