Annie Waters stood on the sidewalk outside of Square Books and peered down the street toward Old Venice Pizza. She was waiting with little patience for her best friend Robert Blake to meet her. Just as she glared into the sun in the distance, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

            “Boo!”

            Annie jumped around with her fists raised for a fight. Robert laughed at her, blue baseball cap backwards on his head, tufts of light brown hair sticking out from behind his ears.

            “You’re a jerk,” Annie announced, shoving his shoulder.

            “Did I scare ya?” asked Robert, looking far too pleased with himself.

            “No,” Annie replied before turning and entering the bookstore.

            “What are we doing here, anyway?” Robert demanded, following her into Square Books.

            “Just looking,” Annie replied, peering around the tables of new releases and best sellers to stare up at the giant shelf of Mississippi writers.

            “Why? We could be outside playing baseball with some of the guys instead of in this dark, dusty old place.”

            “Shh. You’re supposed to be quiet,” she announced, pressing a finger to her lips.

            “It’s not a library, Annie. We can be as loud as we want.”

            “You’re still not supposed to,” she answered with a frown.

            “Hey, let’s go upstairs.”

            “What’s upstairs?”

            But Annie was already taking the steps two at a time as she went, so Robert rolled his eyes and followed her.

            Once they had reached the top, Annie made her way straight to the back, passing shelves and shelves of books and heading straight for the Faulkner section. Robert followed with quick strides, trying to keep up with the girl’s urgent pace.

            When he caught up, he found her stooped behind the shelf, running her fingers up and down various paperbacks of all shapes and titles.

            “Okay, come on, Ann. What’s going on? What are you doing?”

            Annie looked up at him with wide brown eyes, and then she glanced around the rest of the floor in suspicion.

            “You promise not to tell?” she asked in a stage whisper.

            “Promise. Now, come on, what’s up here that’s so important?”

            “Well, my grandpa told me a story about a secret book that a local writer hid somewhere in Oxford a long time ago. No one has ever found the book, but Grandpa said that the first clue was supposed to be hidden in Square Books in the William Faulkner section.”

            “Are you sure your grandpa isn’t just making that up? I mean, if that’s true, why hasn’t anyone found it before? And why would they hide a clue in books in a bookstore? Someone could buy the book it’s hidden in.”

            “Maybe that’s the point. Anyway, don’t you want to know for sure?” she looked up at him with eager eyes.

            He locked eyes with her for a minute, then sighed and stooped down beside her.

            “Okay. You start on that end, and I’ll start on this end.”

            They rifled through the books, being careful to gently flip through each book and then put it back in its proper place. After ten minutes, Robert rocked back onto his heels and sighed.

            “I don’t think there’s anything here, Annie.”

            Annie frowned at him, eyes sad.

            “Come on,” Robert said, standing and offering her a hand up.

            Just as Annie was getting to her feet, something white at the very end of the shelf caught Robert’s eye.

            “Hey, what’s this?”

            He stepped up to the end of the book shelf, tugging the paper from behind the very last book on the shelf.

            “It’s a letter,” Annie whispered in awe as Robert unfolded the weathered piece of paper, faded with age.

            “Dear Reader,” Robert read aloud, “if you are holding this letter, you have taken the first step into finding my final book. Hidden all over Oxford are clues to the hidden location of my secret book. Follow the clues, and you will discover the whereabouts of this secret part of Oxford history as well as a great prize. The first clue is hidden somewhere on the corner of 14^th Street. Good luck on your journey. Signed ‘Mr. F’.”

            Robert turned to look at Annie, whose eyes were wide.

            “Come on. That clue isn’t going to find itself,” Robert announced, grabbing Annie’s hand and leading the way.