The Mysterious Benedict Society Meets the Mysterious Miss F

Chapter One

These characters belong to Shannon Messenger and Trenton Lee Stewart. 

Reynie Muldoon sat in a circle with his friends for a meeting of the Mysterious Benedict Society. Kate Whetherall reorganized her bucket while Sticky Washington swiped at his spectacles and Constance Contraire munched on some candy. The meeting had an exciting energy to it and everyone (with the exception of Constance as she was carelessly eating sweets) was somewhat nervous. After all, it had been months since something actually interesting had happened to the Society. 

With Mr. Curtain not posing as a threat anymore, along with his Ten Men, the Society had been tasked with "normal life"... or as normal as it could be. Over protective parents, delicious pies, and secrecy laying atop Mr. Benedict's house were what the children faced each day. 

Until today, when Reynie Muldoon and Kate Whetherall had "passed by" Mr. Benedict's office and heard something strange. 

They were going to tell Mr. Benedict that dinner was ready, but Number Two strictly instructed them that he was in a very important, very secret meeting that even she didn't know about. Of course Reynie and Kate were curious. Though he didn't consider himself a nosy person, Reynie was worried that Mr. Curtain or the Ten Men were up to something and that Mr. Curtain wouldn't tell them about it. Kate, of course, excited for finally seeking something different than the boring days ahead of them, eagerly wanted to hear what Mr. Benedict had to say.

They had just barely walked to his office when they heard Mr. Benedict say, "She is?" He paused and said, "Well, our threat is currently in custody," that must be Mr. Curtain, Reynie thought. "Are you sure? Wouldn't that be... I don't want to put them at any more harm than what they have already been through..." Mr. Benedict's voice seemed worried. "Well, I'll suppose they would have to meet at some point... can't it happen here?" Another pause. "Ahh, I see... you and your elves..." He chuckled as Reynie heard someone laugh about "humans". 

Reynie frowned. Elves? Humans? Aren't we all humans? Kate, on the other hand, was grinning widely and pointing to the stairs. Carefully, the two crept up the stairs (for Kate, it was more like gliding up the stairs) and, naturally, Kate got there first. 

That was when they quickly told Sticky and Constance that they were having a meeting, this time with something interesting to talk about. They were holding it in Constance's room, since she refused to get up from her bed.

"We didn't hear much," Reynie told Sticky and Constance after repeating what they heard.

"But they were talking about elves! Or at least, that's what I heard," Kate said, reaching for a piece of candy that Constance immediately took out of her reach. Kate sighed as Constance glared at her, while at the same time somehow looking triumphant. 

"Mr. Benedict was probably making a joke," Sticky replied, flicking pieces of paper that were all over Constance's messy room. 

"That could be... he did laugh at the end. The weird part was that on the other end, it sounded as if a similar joke was referenced, but instead of the word 'elves' it was 'humans'", Reynie responded. 

"He probably knew you were spying on him," Constance finally said after (somehow) staying quiet, "he caught you last time, you know. He probably wanted to catch you off guard."

It made sense but... Reynie had a feeling that there was truth in Mr. Benedict's "joke" and he closed his eyes as he contemplated how to find out what it meant. "Your right, Constance," Reynie said abruptly, opening his eyes back up. "I mean, your right about him knowing we were spying on him. The question is: What is he going to do about it? Will he tell us who he was talking to? What he was talking about?"

Constance opened her mouth to share a new poem about how much trouble Reynie and Kate would be in, when Number Two burst through the door. "We have news for you spies," Reynie and Kate looked at her guiltily, " and Mr. Benedict wants to see you immediately." 

"About the Black Swan, Constance."