TWENTY-TWO
It was later that night before The Council trio got a chance to talk. They decided to link arms and pop in to the Great Council Hall. All of the Council Kids needed to hear JimJim’s idea.
The Council Kids were all there. They were sitting around the big table. JimJim told them about the Shadow Kids’ trouble making strategies. They decided to watch to see which kids were using the trouble making strategies. Maybe there were only two other Shadow Kids but maybe not. There might be a lot more Shadow Kids. The Council needed to identify all of the Shadow Kids.
JimJim said, “That’s the first part of my idea. Here is the second part.
“When TT captured the Council Kids in the Great Council Hall, it was a video trick. At first, we all thought it was the real deal. It wasn’t. Instead, we were watching a huge video screen. It was just a genius trick TT was playing on us.
“Here is what I figured out. He played another video trick on us. He made SueSue, PosterGuy, and me think something really scary was happening in my room. We saw the huge purple shadow. It was so bright it hurt our eyes. We heard the clanging bell. It hurt our ears.
“This is the real genius part. TT made us think his face was in my room. It was like a scary monster. That is not all. We thought the booming voice was TT talking to us. We were terrified.
“It wasn’t TT. It was another video trick. It came out of his little gadget. It was definitely a genius trick but it was only a trick.
“At school today, TT made another one of his purple shadows appear. There was a clanging bell too. That is something he has added to his purple shadow show. It worked in my room. It scared us. I don’t know how he does what he does but it’s a trick, a very clever trick.”
The Council Kids thought about JimJim’s idea. A long time passed before SueSue said, “JimJim is right. TT is playing some very clever tricks on us. He likes to scare us. He uses his gadget to fool us. We have to figure out how to stop him and the other Shadow Kids.”
The Council Kids all nodded. SueSue was definitely right.
PosterGuy smiled and said, “JimJim has figured this all out. He is right about the trouble making strategies. He is right about TT too. He uses his gadget to trick us. He isn’t a very nice person.
“Here is what I have figured out. Some kids are trouble makers. They use their trouble making strategies to get trouble started. They stop just in time so they don’t get into trouble. They laugh when other kids get into trouble. They think it’s funny when kids get timeouts.
“A few kids are bullies. That is what TT is. He is a bully. He uses his gadget to scare kids. Other bullies have different strategies to scare kids but TT uses his gadget.
“Trouble makers like to start trouble so kids get timeouts. Bullies like to scare kids and act like they are powerful. That is who the Shadow Kids are. They are trouble makers and bullies.”
The Council Kids sat around the big table and thought. They finally knew about the trouble makers and their strategies. They finally knew about TT and his clever tricks. They didn’t know how TT did it. It was still a mystery but it was definitely a trick. There was a lot to think about.
The next day, JimJim and SueSue were home. They both had a busy day at school. After school, they were sitting in the swing in the back yard.
SueSue looked at JimJim and said, “It was very clever how you figured out about the Shadow Kids. It’s good to know about their trouble making strategies. It’s even better to know what the deal is with TT. He makes me really angry. I feel like grabbing that gadget of his and smashing it.”
JimJim nodded and said, “Me too. I’m getting really mad about what those Shadow Kids are doing. It has to stop. We have to make it stop. That goes double for TT. We have had enough of his purple shadows and clanging bells.”
JimJim and SueSue quietly swang for a while. They both thought about how angry they were. There had to be a way to stop TT and the Shadow Kids. They had to stop all of the trouble making. They couldn’t just do nothing and let TT keep scaring kids with his purple shadows and clanging bells. Someone had to stop him. They had to stop him.
PosterGuy startled JimJim and SueSue when he said, “The two of you look like you are doing some serious thinking. Are you as angry as I am about this stuff with TT and the Shadow Kids? I definitely hope so. we have to figure out how to stop those Shadow Kids. I don’t know how yet but we have to do it.”
JimJim and SueSue looked up. There was PosterGuy. He was right there, on his poster, stuck to a nearby tree. Neither of them said anything. They just nodded. PosterGuy was right. They had to stop the Shadow Kids.
