AN: First of all, I am very sorry for taking so much time before posting this chapter, I've had a busy week at work is my only excuse. Mea culpa!
Chapter 6 : Monkey See, Monkey Tell.
Amy sat there at her table in the library for a few more minutes before she finally understood what Sheldon was trying to tell her; the only English word that could be formed with these four letters was in front of her eyes was oaks. Then there was the English-Spanish dictionary: what if all she had to do was translate that word into Spanish? Amy had learnt Spanish in high school but she had no idea what oaks's translation was. She browsed through the pages until she reached the right page.
Oak n (tree) : roble nm
So 'the oaks' translated into Spanish was 'Los Robles.". Los Robles! Amy smiled widely; she had cracked the code, finally! She sighed in relief; this last puzzle had clearly been the most difficult one of the whole afternoon, and she had really feared that somehow she would fail Sheldon by failing to solve it. So this outcome was really liberating.
One quick look at her watch; it was already 6.20pm. She retrieved the bookmark from the Canterbury Tales and put it in her purse with all the sheets of paper – it was an oak leaf, another clue, how could she have missed it! – then after placing all the books back on their designated shelves, she left the library and walked back to her car.
About a half hour later, she parked in front of the apartment building, and soon entered the 2311 Los Robles.
The first thing she noticed as she got inside the hall was a brown sticker directly in front of her, on the wall along the stairs. And she knew immediately that the sticker was part of the quest; it was a monkey jumping in the air and pointing its finger towards upstairs. She walked up the stairs as she assumed she was supposed to, carrying her handbag, eyes fixed on the monkeys succeeding one another as she was climbing each step. It led her to the fourth floor, as expected, but not exactly where she thought it would; the last monkey – the fourteenth, Amy counted – was stuck on Penny's door. And this last one was a bit different from all the previous ones, because instead of pointing its finger towards a direction, this one was holding a sticker where was written 'Hic et Nunc.'
Latin again! Sheldon really liked using it for his clues. And the message was clear: 'Hic et nunc' meant 'Here and now'. She tried the handle; the door was unlocked, so she got inside Penny's apartment, shutting the door behind her.
There, on the coffee table, was a cuddly monkey, medium size. It was holding an envelope in its arms, and was sitting on top of a wooden box - about the same size as the Japanese one from the coffee shop. But that one was locked with a combination lock.
Amy sat on the couch, right in front of the box, perplexed; a few minutes ago, she had been so sure that the quest was over and that she'd finally be reunited with Sheldon, and now she realized that Sheldon had prepared yet another puzzle for her. She had mixed feelings; part of her was more than ready to see Sheldon now, she was really looking forward to telling him how much she had loved his surprise, and yet the idea of another puzzle prepared especially in her honor excited her a lot.
Biting her lip, she grabbed the envelope. Then she placed the monkey on the table next to the box and had a look at the lock. It was a five cylinder lock, for which the combinations were composed of one letter each.
Amy's attention moved back to the envelope, which she opened carefully. This time, she pulled out of it a white sheet of paper displaying a crosswords grid, and a pencil.
At the top of the page, she read "Find out the 50th and you'll know what you have to do."
As she looked more closely, she realized that it was a mixed words grid with 49 definitions written below it. This was another words game that she really loved. She did not know Sheldon was aware of it, but maybe he had seen some mixed words puzzle books somewhere in her apartment.
In a mixed words puzzle, the definitions correspond to all the words that can be found in the grid, - from left to right, right to left, up to down, down to up, askew… whatever - and these definitions are arranged alphabetically. Then when all the words that correspond to the definitions are crossed out in the grid, remain only a few letters not forming any words, but once rearranged these letters provide the solution to the puzzle.
"So let the game begin, let's find this 50th word" Amy thought. She took the pen and started studying the grid.
Y-M-A-R-G-A-N-A-A-R-U-A-L-O-V-E
N-A-P-A-S-A-D-E-N-A-G-I-D-R-A-C
D-Y-D-T-I-O-B-R-Y-R-A-R-B-I-L-N
O-F-A-S-H-N-P-O-E-T-C-O-F-F-E-E
W-L-A-W-R-U-D-E-Y-C-A-M-I-T-N-I
N-O-M-R-R-U-N-I-S-F-U-L-R-E-T-C
T-W-U-Y-R-O-H-A-A-K-R-A-E-A-I-S
O-E-S-D-L-A-N-T-X-N-I-I-H-S-N-E
W-R-E-A-I-T-H-U-E-N-A-S-E-C-E-L
N-E-U-R-A-E-C-I-T-I-P-J-S-N-O-D
A-T-M-C-A-L-T-E-C-H-R-R-O-D-D-D
B-A-S-G-A-L-F-K-C-O-S-U-A-N-T-U
B-D-I-S-N-E-Y-L-A-N-D-C-C-H-E-C
E-P-R-O-M-S-E-T-A-R-O-T-C-O-D-S
Y-G-L-E-N-D-A-L-E-V-B-R-A-I-N-S
C-O-U-N-T-E-R-F-A-C-T-U-A-L-S-A
Then she read all the definitions one by one:
1. A lovely first name
2. Mine is Colored Phones
3. One of your allergies
4. I have been yours for over three years
5. You slice them on a daily basis
6. Where I can see you every week day
7. Your favorite piece of clothing
8. You love his books
9. Neither of us like it but we met in its shop
10. Our very first game together
11. One of your nicknames for me
12. A great scientist we both admire
13. Our first one was with Penny
14. It rolled when the love spell was cast
15. Where we love to go and see Mickey
16. Together, we have four of it
17. Your favorite British TV show
18. Your middle name
19. We had lots of fun with it for 232 episodes so far
20. Where you live
21. The color of your eyes
22. I've learn to love the sound of this instrument
23. You have almost ruined his franchise for me
24. Growing between us
25. A lovely discovery I made with you
26. First name of your favorite TV heroin as a child
27. You and I both spent lots of time there growing up
28. Like the star is where I grew up, and as was I before I met you
29. That strange feeling I feel for you
30. My nickname for you
31. Our favorite places to visit together, with the zoo
32. Valley where we were one year ago exactly
33. Where you spent one year after graduating
34. Where I live
35. Your current apartment's number
36. Our second attempt was very special for the two of us
37. My new friend thanks to you
38. Our first love
39. We met because of a dirty one
40. You baked a Death one for me
41. How I prefer Strawberry Quik now
42. You love those from Canterbury
43. Our favorite drink before going to bed
44. Where I come from
45. Date Day
46. Where I first kissed you
47. Where you were working when we met
48. Today is his day
49. The Doctor I prefer
Amy smiled at some of the definitions. For most of them, she knew exactly what Sheldon meant, and for others, she had to think about it more carefully.
She started with the first definition, which was very easy, then went on till the last one, 'Who' of course.
Amy could not help smiling as she once again was reminded of lovely moments with her boyfriend.
Her favorite definitions were definitely the reference to the color of my eyes, and the mention to the intimacy growing between them. And the kisses… how does he describe it? 'A lovely discovery I made with you.' "How sweet!" she could not help thinking. And the definition 'I have been yours for over three years' for boyfriend could have stood as an affirmation by itself. Yes, he had been hers for three years. Sheldon Cooper was hers, more than ever! And she was his.
It took her a few minutes to strike all the words out in the grid, revealing the five remaining letters: ARITA
Five letters. "Probably the five letters needed to unlock the lockers" Amy thought. And in the text above the grid, Sheldon had told her that she had to form a 50th word. Amy tried arranging the letters, and it did not take long for her to find the missing word: TIARA!
She used the letters in that order, starting with the cylinder on the left, and one by one, they all clicked open. She slid the padlock out and slowly opened the box. It was a beautiful jewel box, made of beautifully painted dark wood that smelled like heaven; Amy loved all these old wooden boxes, she had bought a few at flea markets over the years. But this one was really special, with the geometrical features on top; it looked very Euclidian!
Inside, Amy found a black velvet bag that she knew very well. He had giving it to her about three years ago, in that exact same apartment actually. She untied the rope and pulled it out softly: her tiara. Of course, that was the only reference to their relationship that had been missing today. Amy had tears in her eyes once again; it had definitely been one of the most emotional days of her life. As well as the most wonderful.
Amy noticed that under the tiara was another envelope. She placed the tiara and its velvet bag delicately on the table, next to the monkey, then took the envelope. Inside was a card from Hallmark where was written, on the front page: "Yay, you totally did it!" in white letters over a turquoise blue background. She opened it, smiling widely at her own success as well as at her boyfriend's both cheerful and childlike congratulations. And inside she read: "…. But it is not over yet! Come across the hall to find out what comes next."
Amy did not think twice; she placed the tiara on her head but left the jewel box on Penny's coffee table as well as the Japanese box from the coffee shop and the monkey, mentally noting that she would have to come and collect it later. She got up quickly, holding her tiara carefully so that it would not fall from her head, and placed the last two envelopes in her handbag with all the other clues from today.
Then she quickly left Penny's apartment to walk towards what was probably the final destination: Apartment 4A.
AN: Okay, so you probably guess now why it was a bit longer to write: the grid! Because it is an actual grid, that took me quite some time to build and that you can try solving yourselves if you want – I will post the solution later today, before the next chapter.
Unfortunately, it seems the letters cannot be displayed in a grid as it is supposed to, but I guess it is one of the limits of ff (or it is possible and I did not find it! If someone knows how to post a table, please help me!). Too bad because it is far better displayed as it is supposed to. :-( Maybe you can simply copy/paste it to excel if you really want to try to solve it. Else, it doesn't matter.
I have to say again how pleased I am with all your reactions to this story. You can't imagine how much fun the nerd inside of me is having creating all these puzzles, and it is wonderful to know that people appreciate it. So thanks for all the reviews, I love it!
Well done to all those who guessed the next place was Los Robles, and there were other very creative attempts I had not thought of, so well done everyone. I think everyone knows where Amy is supposed to go next, no suspense this time! Also, next chapter will probably be the last one, and we will be back to a more classic setting.
Except if you want an Epilogue with behind the scenes with Sheldon and the people that helped him. Just let me know. I can definitely do that if some of you are interested.