Mr. C. parked the bookmobile and everyone got out. It didn’t take long for the group to discover there was much more to the area than the lighthouse itself. Old Barney stood on the north side of Barnegat State Park, which also had an interpretive center, a picnic area, a breathtaking view of the inlet and the ocean beyond, and a maze of boardwalk trails that ran through a peaceful stretch of sandy, piney woodland.
When the group got to the base of the lighthouse, Jamal looked up and gasped. The top of Old Barney seemed to touch the sky itself.
“Okay, Coop, I admit it—that’s pretty tall.”
Cooper smiled. “Told’ja.” He rubbed his hands together and said, “Okay, let’s break off into pairs and start searching for clues. If the Jersey Devil hid the seeds here, we’re going to find them!”
Maya and Gabby went toward the interpretive center, Simon and Jamal headed for the trails, and Cooper took Chelsea to investigate the lighthouse itself. Mr. C., meanwhile, was encouraged by ‘General Cooper’ (as Cooper had begun calling himself) to wander about freely.
About an hour later, after a thorough search of the lighthouse grounds turned up nothing, Cooper decided to take the long spiral staircase to the top of Old Barney.
“Ugh,” he said, “I was hoping we wouldn’t have to do this.”
“Come on, ya’ big wimp,” Chelsea replied, pushing him from behind.
“Yeah, like you’re dying to do it, too.”
Chelsea laughed. “No, not really. But we have no choice, right?”
“Right.”
As they made their way up, Cooper began calling the others on his cellphone.
“Any luck, Team Maga?”
“Maga?” Maya said through the tiny speaker.
“It’s a combination of ‘Maya’ and ‘Gabby’.”
“Lame.”
“Lame?! Is that any way to speak to General Coo—”
“Don’t,” Maya said. “Don’t even.”
Cooper sighed. “Okay, okay. Did you find any clues?”
“No, and we looked everywhere.”
“Bummer.”
“There was some great music, though.”
“Music?”
“There was a blind man sitting in a chair playing guitar,” Maya said, “and he was awesome. Some of the best jazz I’ve ever heard.”
