.•IT CAN'T BE REAL•.

Chapter Sixteen: .•ms. avery•.

Rory adjusted his tie, knocking on the screen door. The original door was wide open. He was about to turn around when he heard a faint, "Come in." Rory opened the screen door, making sure once inside to close both doors. "Hello, Ms. Avery." Rory spoke loudly. "Hello, King! Could you quiet down some?" Ms. Avery was quite old looking, yet she sounded like Rory's mom. "I-I-" Rory choked on his words, it seemed. He was questioning if lying to her would be too good. After all, old people are said to be wiser than kids. "My friends and I a-are doing a fundraiser.... for the missing kids.. W-we were wondering if you had any photos of the kids, like the ones from the missing poster— we figured you'd have those photos." Rory finally said. "What's the fundraiser called?" Ms. Avery sat down in her rocking chair. Rory froze. You've gotten yourself into some real deep crap right now, Rory Charles King. "O-oh, the name?... W-we haven't decided yet." "Well, tell them they're doing good things." Ms. Avery said, "Which photos do you need?" "These." Rory showed her the missing posters.

   "Here you go." Ms. Avery gave him the photos. "Oh, and do you have one of Bryson Summerfield?" Rory asked. "No, I'm sorry. I've never heard of him before." she said quietly. "It's all right." Rory forced a smile. "T-thank you." "You're welcome." she replied. Rory exited the house, forgetting to close the original door.

   Yvonne inspected the photos. "I see nothing." "Look on the back." Landon flipped it over for her. "Oh. But what does it mean?" "Maybe a code." Jason said. "Of course it's a code." Amanda giggled. "Morse code." Rory spoke up, "It's written on these three." Rory beat the table to mimic "... - .-. --- -. --." so they could hear it. Jason did the same, to "... .... --- .- .-.. ...", but faster. The last one was long.
... --- ... --..-- / .-- . / .- .-. . / .. -. / -.. .- -. --. . .-. .-.-.- / .-- . / -.. --- -. .----. - / .-.. .. -.- . / .. - / .... . .-. . .-.-.-

   It wasn't long before Lee decoded it. The first one was "strong," the second one was "shoals," and the third one was "SOS, WE ARE IN DANGER. WE DON'T LIKE IT HERE." The last one was written frantically in crayon. It must've been a kid. Lee's thought was cut off by Jason, "Muscle Shoals. Strong may mean muscle, shoals. Muscle Shoals. It's across the Tennessee River. Just either go on the dam or the metal bridge and you're there." "Good thinking." Ansley told him. "Well then, pack your bags." Lee said. "What?" Yvonne's ears pricked. "Let's go to Muscle Shoals. We want to find Logan, correct?"  Lee asked, them nodding in return. "Then pack your bags and let's go." Lee zipped her backpack shut and walked off.