Summary

Astrid sees the house in the middle of the woods in The House on Clock Island. When she and Max ring the doorbell, they hear a riddle, “What can’t be touched, tasted, or held but can be broken?” (69). Max is afraid and wants to go home when Astrid realizes the answer is a promise, and they are let in.

In Chapter 7, Hugo watches as staff come to the island to help with Jack’s plan. When a writer from a literary blog calls him, he thinks about Jack and how he suddenly came up with the idea for the contest. Jack will not give Hugo any real answer as to why he is throwing the contest, and Hugo wonders if he ever really knew the man. Hugo remembers when he first came to the island. He came because...