The Sword Thief

by Peter Lerangis

  "The Great Sword Hunt of 1588," Alistair murmured. "This is where they were kept."

  But Dan was moving past the swords, to the left. The cavern seemed to expand here, wider and deeper, with stacks that seemed to go on into the distance forever. Some of them looked like they'd been thrown there -- crowns and helmets, armor, spears, shields, saddles, stirrups. Folded robes winked with inlaid jewels, statues stood covered with dust, and tightly rolled scrolls lay in boxy containers. But one area seemed separate from the others -- a shrine, surrounding a strange triangular mirror that hung on the wall in an intricately carved frame.

  Around the mirror, huge chests had been stacked in neat piles. They were festooned with jewels and calligraphy, each fastened with a huge padlock.

  Dan grabbed one of the locks. It fell apart in his hands, rusted and brittle. As he opened the lid, the others peered in with him.

  "As they say in the US provinces ... " said Natalie, her eyes widening, "bungee!"

  "I believe it's 'bingo,'" Alistair said. "By god, these must be the spoils of Hideyoshi --the plunder seized by his forces as they conquered Japan and moved through Korea."

  Dan reached in, digging his hands into a trove of gold coins. Next to him, Amy opened another chest. "Plates, chopsticks, cups, bowls, platters -- all solid gold!"

  "Buddhas!" Ian exclaimed, peering into a third chest. "A collection of miniature golden

  Buddhas."

  "Hideyoshi worshipped gold," Alistair said softly. "According to legend, he even ingested drops of liquid gold each night for its supposed magical properties "

  "We're rich," Ian said. "Again."

  Dan smiled.

  And by the elements united is entrance granted, the highest to be revealed.

  "We're more than rich," he said, letting out a whoop of amazement. "We have discovered the next Cahill clue!"

  CHAPTER 15

  Alistair did not mind growing old. He did mind being outsmarted by an eleven-year-old nephew.

  Gold.

  Of course the boy was right. Gold was the "highest element" of alchemy. The alchemical symbol -- the "elements united" -- was the key to entrance. No doubt this came from the mind of Hideyoshi. Being a son of Thomas Cahill, he would also be a student of alchemy!

  Alistair cursed himself inwardly. He should have detected it from the beginning. He could have saved all this trouble, all this danger. All this unnecessary risking of his nephew's and niece's lives.

  This was bound to happen.

  He was bound to discover a Clue he had already known.

  He tried to smile. To the Cahill children, this was all new. They had not been searching for a lifetime as he had. They were dancing now with the Kabras, doing dance moves they called hip-hop, which, when he attempted to join, made his hips hurt.

  He kept his eyes on the Kabra boy. Surely the Kabras knew this Clue also. The Lucians had been collecting Clues as long as the Ekats. Perhaps they were just better actors than he.

  "Brava!" Ian cried out, lifting Amy in the air. "I knew this cooperation between branches would pay off!"

  As he let her down, she allowed her face to brush gently against his.

  Alistair felt his blood go cold. The gambit with the Kabras had proved profitable. Without Ian's coin, they could not have found this cavern. But this was not the sort of alliance he'd imagined.

  "I -- suggest we leave now," Alistair said. "Perhaps we can discuss what to do next over dinner."

  "Not so fast," Ian said. He was walking away from Amy now, intent on the mirror. "Correct me if I'm wrong. It seems to me that whenever you find a clue, you seem to find a lead to the next one."

  "Right, Euro-boy," Dan said. "But don't tax your brain. I'm betting the next clue is not

  rock dust."

  Ian was eyeing the mirror now. "What do you suppose these letters mean?" Alistair joined him, shining a light on the triangular mirror frame. Along two sides ran a strange set of symbols.

  "Greek to me," Natalie said.

  "Guys, I know those letters!" Dan exclaimed. "From the inscription we found on the sword in Venice. Remember, Uncle Alistair, when we were looking at those tattoos? I told you there were some letters missing. Here they are!"

  "I don't think this is any one tongue," Alistair said, running the letters through his knowledge of thirteen languages. "Perhaps some kind of secret message?"

  Natalie began brushing her hair in the mirror with a gold-handled brush. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the richest and smartest and hottest and -- "

  "That's it, Natalie!" Dan said.

  Natalie blushed. "Thank you, I amaze myself sometimes... "

  "No! Words on a mirror ... mirror writing!" Dan quickly pulled out a mechanical pencil and his paperback copy of Classic All-Time Movie Comedies.

  Ripping out a blank sheet in back, he turned the book sideways for support and began copying the letters onto the sheet. Then he held them in the mirror.

  It was still nonsense.

  Amy cocked her head. "The letters are symmetrical," she said. "The top of each one is a mirror reflection of the bottom. Maybe each letter is a mirrored half letter. So if you could see the half letter alone, you'd know what it was?"

  "That is the stupidest, most far-fetched thing I've ever heard," Dan said. Amy grabbed the paper and began erasing half of each letter: Slowly, she began filling in each letter: ahstkael

  "Ahstkael..." Amy said. "Isn't that a health food chain in Sweden?"

  "Our next clue is in Sweden?" Natalie said eagerly. "I do need a new fur."

  Dan tapped his chin. "Um, dudes, these are English? Shouldn't we be trying to make Japanese

  letters? Or Korean?"

  "Hideyoshi was the son of Thomas Cahill," Alistair said. "It stands to reason that English was spoken in the home. Hideyoshi would have been fluent. And because the East had not yet opened to the West, words using English letters would have been an unbreakable code."

  Dan was scribbling furiously again. He began arranging the letters crazily, in all different combinations.

  ALT SHAKE

  THE SKALA SHEA TALK

  LAST HAKE LAKE TASH

  Lake Tash! Is that it?" Natalie shouted.

  Dan nodded. "Lake Tash ... " he said under his breath. "That's Kyrgyzstan ... "

  "Our next clue is in Kyrgyzstan ?" Natalie said.

  "Brilliant," Ian said with a smile. "Well, it was nice to work with you. This time, I'm afraid we will have a distinct advantage." "But -- but -- " Amy sputtered.

  Alistair watched his niece's expression drop. She would push for the alliance to continue -- which would be disastrous. "I will arrange for transportation back into Seoul immediately," he quickly said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "There, we will –“

  "Oh, you won't get any reception in here," Ian said, stepping toward the entrance with

  his sister close behind.

  At the cave opening, Natalie grinned, hands in pockets. "In fact, I wouldn't expect much reception for another, oh, five hundred years." When she pulled out her right hand, she was holding a tranquilizer dart gun. Alistair scrambled to step in front of his niece and nephew, but Amy pushed him aside.

  "Natalie ...?" she said.

  "Guys, this isn't funny," Dan said. He stepped toward them, but Natalie pointed the gun at his face.

  "Dan!"

  Amy screamed, pulling him back.

  Ian glanced at Amy. For a moment, she thought she saw a flicker of -- something. Doubt? Some kind of indication this was all a big, sadistic joke? Then the look seemed to vanish as quickly as it came. He looked down and pulled the philosopher-stone coin from his pocket. "Oh, by the way, thanks for this."

  "How did he get that?"

  Dan blurted, glaring at his sister.

  "I-I-" Amy couldn't get the words out. "He -- "

  "Family heirloom," Ian said. He backed through the opening now, inserting the coin into the mouth of the Bald Rat. "Don't worry. When we win the Cahill challenge, when we amass
power that is rightfully ours, maybe we'll come back and pay you a visit. If you're still able to receive us. Meanwhile, my friends, I recommend you conserve your batteries. And your oxygen."

  The cave shook. Slowly, the door swung back.

  The last thing Alistair saw before the entrance thumped shut was the retreating muzzle of Natalie Kabra's dart gun.

  CHAPTER 1 6

  Idiot.

  Moron

  Fool.

  Amy stared at the door, at the absence of light where Ian Kabra had been standing. It had all been one big joke. He had wrapped her around his fingers and then yanked her inside out.

  How could it have happened? How could anyone do that?

  Tears made rivulets down her cheeks and fell to the ground, tapping lightly like the flap of moth wings.

  Behind her, Alistair and Dan were ignoring her, discussing strategies, trying to figure out how to escape. How to prevent themselves from dying.

  Too late,

  Amy thought. She already knew what that felt like.

  Slowly, their voices filtered into her brain. "I am going to search for another exit," Alistair was saying. "Amy, you and Dan look for any weakness in the rock wall. If bats live here, there must be some source of air, some kind of hole." Amy nodded numbly.

  As Alistair's footsteps receded, Dan squatted next to her. "Hey. I want to strangle him,

  too."

  "It was my fault," she said. "I-I believed him. I played right into his trap "

  Dan helped her to her feet and swung the light around, examining every square inch of the wall. The place was pitch-dark, and after a few minutes, Amy already felt like she was growing short of breath.

  Alistair's voice echoed toward them from the distance. "No other exits. I just checked the whole W. It goes on much longer than I'd thought. We are totally sealed."

  A tomb, Amy thought. He buried us alive.

  She felt a hand on her shoulder. "I am so sorry, my darling niece," Alistair said gently. "Had I seen you were falling for the boy, I would have done something. It passed over my head, and it should not have."

  Amy sighed. "How could I have let him trick me? How could I think that anyone would actually feel... "

  The words got stuck in the back of her parched mouth.

  "I know this will not make anything better," Alistair said, "but you must believe me when I say I know how it feels to be betrayed."

  Amy glanced up into Alistair's barely discernible face. "Really?"

  Alistair looked as if he were going to say something, then changed his mind. "Think only of this, Amy: Your parents loved you. It was in their eyes, even when you weren't around. You must think of them, and they will be there for you."

  "Did you –know them?" Amy asked.

  "AGGH!

  Gross!" Dan shouted from another part of the cave. "I think I stepped on a bat! Can you guys continue the conversation at a later time -- if there is one? If we don't all die and become a banquet for bats?"

  Alistair raced away, leaving Amy with a mouthful of questions.

  "Dan, you must never, ever give in," Alistair said encouragingly. "A problem is merely a

  solution waiting to be found. We will make it out of here -- and I predict we will beat the Kabras to Lake Tash -- "

  "Dude, we're not going to Lake Tash," Dan said. "I made that up."

  Now Alistair was staring at him. "But -- the anagram -- " Amy said.

  Dan sighed, shining his lantern on the sheet where he'd unscrambled the words. "I saw the real answer right away, but I didn't trust them. I threw something out to test them. The real answer is, like, a no-brainer -- "

  He began scribbling another word on the sheet, but Amy was looking past him, at the odd reflections of lantern light in the mirror.

  "Wait!" she blurted out. "The mirror who ever heard of a triangular mirror?"

  "Uh, a triangular mirror designer?" Dan said.

  "Or an alchemist!" Amy said. "Think, Dan. Alchemy is all about symbols.

  The planets, the elements, everything had its own funny shape!"

  "So what was the triangle?" Dan asked. Amy tried to picture the image on the page. "Air? Gold?"

  "Wait... wait... I can see it... " Dan said. "Water! That's it. Wait. No. With the point down,

  it represents water ... but with the point up, it's fire!"

  Dan swung the lantern back in the direction of the mirror now, raising it high above his head.

  Just above the mirror, beyond his reach, Amy noticed several greasy-looking, stringy objects. Her stomach turned. They looked like rat tails. "Are they ... alive?"

  Suddenly, Dan glanced toward the ground. He crouched now, scraping something with his fingers. "Charcoal," he said. "It must be leaking from above."

  Alistair looked up. "What's up there?"

  Choking back nausea, Amy forced herself to follow his glance. To her relief, the hanging tails were way too long to be what she thought they were. They seemed to be just strings, leading into a big crack in the rock.

  And she became aware of a very particular smell. "Oh, my god ... " she said. "Guys, what do you smell right now?" "Bat turds," Dan said. "Rotten eggs," Alistair volunteered. "And that rotten-egg smell," Amy said, "is caused by -?"

  "Chickens?" Dan said. "Sulphur!" Amy said.

  Dan smiled. "Oh, right -- I learned that in chem lab last year! I snuck this test tube into Mandy Ripkin's lunch box? With this, like, really loose cork? So when she opened it”

  "Charcoal ... sulphur," Amy said, wracking her brain for something she'd read in science class. "They go together with some other ingredient to make ... what is it...?" "Smelly barbecues?" Dan asked.

  Amy suddenly remembered. "Not barbecues, you cheesehead," she said, glancing up into the stringy void. "Gunpowder."

  "Uh, you think there's gunpowder up there?" Dan said.

  "Gunpowder indeed existed in the sixteenth century," Alistair said. "It was developed in China hundreds of years earlier and spread throughout the East."

  "Dan, I think these strings are there for a reason," Amy said. "They're fuses!"

  "Brilliant, my girl -- you are a genius!" Alistair said. "So the mirror has two functions. It points upward, directing our gaze, and it is the symbol for fire. This is exactly like Hideyoshi -- ever the wily warrior, he developed a failsafe escape for this hideout, in case of sabotage."

  "Dan, do you still have the matches from the Thank You Very Much Hotel?" Amy asked.

  "You dummy, we can't just blow this thing up!" Dan said. "We could die." "Gunpowder is not dynamite," Alistair said. "May I remind you, we are surrounded by a lot of schist."

  "Watch your language," Dan said.

  "Granite schist is extraordinarily dense," Alistair continued. "Blasting through rock in modern times requires far more explosive power than can be provided by gunpowder. Any blast is likely to punch open only a small targeted area. In fact, it is entirely possible the blast will not be strong enough. We will be more than safe with schist."

  Alistair was trying to sound reassuring, but Amy could hear the shakiness in his voice. She glanced at her brother. The lantern's shadows on his face made him look like an old man. But even in the distortion of the dim light, she could read his mind.

  Do you believe him? his face said.

  I'm not so sure, she thought.

  Me neither. So we all get crushed instantly under tons of granite, he was thinking.

  Or...

  Dan looked away.

  Or die a slow, painful death from starvation, was what he didn't want Amy to see. But she felt it.

  And the choice, to her, was clear.

  "I guess it's the only chance we have to get out and do horrible things to Ian Kabra," Dan said.

  Amy smiled, swallowing back a stab of fear that laced through her. "Go for it," she

  said.

  Dan turned to Alistair. "You're taller," he said, handing him the matches.

  The old man struck a match and raised it. The flame licked the
bottom of one of the strings, flared slightly, surrounded it, and then finally guttered out.

  "The fuses are old," Alistair said, tossing the dead match to the ground.

  He opened the matchbook to reveal only three matches left. "What happened to the rest of them?"

  "Um ... " Dan said sheepishly.

  Amy winced, remembering all the matches he'd wasted on the plaza outside the hotel in Tokyo.

  Alistair took a deep breath. "All right, then. Pray."

  He lifted another match. It too circled the bottom of the limp string.

  FffffFFFFT!

  "Woo-hoo!" Dan cried out, as Alistair lit another string, and another. The flames shot upward into the rock.

  "Move!" Alistair cried, grabbing Dan and Amy. They ran into the cavern, scuttling

  around the bottom corner of the W.

  Boom!

  Boom! BOOOOM! KKKRRRRO-O-O-OK!

  An explosion of rock showered down into the cavern, dinging against gold objects, smashing treasure chests. The mirror teetered, finally falling forward and shattering on the ground.

  Above them, light poured in through a small hole near the top of the rock wall.

  "We did it!" shouted Dan.

  All three ran to the spot, stumbling over rock, debris, and broken glass.

  CRRRRRACK!

  More rocks spat down from above. Amy and Alistair put their arms over their heads, skittering away.

  "The rock is cracking!" Dan called out, dragging a wooden box to just below the hole.

  "Come on!"

  Alistair climbed onto the box, reached down for Amy, and lifted her over his head. He was surprisingly strong.

  Amy stretched her hands upward, but her fingertips didn't reach.

  "One ... two ... three ... alley-oop!" Alistair gave her a thrust upward. There. "Got it!" she shouted.

  Her fingers dug into a broken section of rock. As she pulled herself upward, Alistair put his palms against the soles of her shoes and pushed.

  "Hunhhh!"

  She gasped at the blast of fresh, oxygenated air. Her fingertips grasped hold of a root that had dug itself into the rock. She jammed her elbow into a section of rock and pulled herself clear.