Maze of Bones - 39 Clues 01

by Rick Riordan

  "Thank you!" Amy handed him the carrier. "He only eats fresh fish. Red snapper is his favorite."

  Mr. McIntyre blinked. "Red snapper? Ah, well ... I'll see what I can do."

  "Mrrp,"

  Saladin said, which probably meant something like I can't believe you're leaving me with an old guy who doesn't know I like red snapper.

  "Children, you should go," Mr. McIntyre said. "Your babysitter is getting impatient. Just remember what I said before. Trust no one!"

  And with that, William McIntyre retreated down the street, holding Saladin's cat carrier out to one side like it was a box of radioactive material. As they walked back to the car, Amy said, "We're going to Paris." Dan was thinking about Saladin, and his ears were still ringing from the museum explosion, so he wasn't sure he'd heard her right. "Did you say Paris ... like in France?" Amy brought out Sinead Starling's cell phone. The photo of the Benjamin Franklin letter was still on the screen -- the secret message a fuzzy yellow scrawl in purple light.

  "When Franklin was really old," Amy said, "he was the American ambassador in Paris. He was working on a peace treaty to end the Revolutionary War. He had a house in a place called Passy, and all the French thought he was like a rock star." "They treat fat old guys like rock stars in France?"

  "I told you, Franklin was world famous. He was into philosophy and he liked parties and all sorts of ... French stuff. Anyway, the secret message said he was leaving Paris, right? The letter was dated 1785. I'm pretty sure that's the year he came back to America. So he was leaving something behind in Paris."

  "Something that broke up his clan," Dan said. "That's what asunder means, right? You think he was talking about the branches of the Cahills?"

  "It's possible." Amy twisted her hair. "Dan, what I said earlier... I don't really want to give up. I'm just scared."

  Dan nodded. He didn't want to admit it, but the man in black and the explosion had kind of freaked him out, too. "It's okay. We have to keep going, right?" "We don't have a choice," Amy agreed.

  Before they reached the curb, the door of the Toyota flew open. Nellie marched over to them, one earbud still dangling from her ear. She held up her cell phone like she was going to throw it at them.

  "Guess what?" she said.

  "I just got a voice mail from Social Services in Boston!" Amy gasped. "What did you tell them?"

  "Nothing yet.

  I'm waiting for your big amazing explanation!"

  "Nellie, please," Dan said. "We need your help."

  "They're looking for you!" Nellie shrieked. "Your aunt doesn't even know where you are, does she? Do you know how much trouble I could get in?" "Throw away your phone," Dan suggested.

  "What?"

  She sounded like he'd just told her to burn money -- which of course Amy had already done that week.

  "Pretend you didn't get the message," he pleaded, "just for a few days. Please, Nellie, we need to get to Paris and we've got to have an adult." "If you think for one minute I would -- Did you say Paris?"

  Dan saw his chance. He put on a sad face and sighed. "Yeah, we were going to buy you a ticket to Paris, plus your pay, and a free hotel room and gourmet meals and everything. But, oh, well... "

  "Nellie, it's just for a couple more days," Amy said. "Please! We weren't lying about the scavenger hunt. It's really important to our family and we promise we'll be careful! Once we're done in Paris, you can do whatever you think is best. We'll swear that it wasn't your fault. But if we go back to Boston now, they'll take us away to a foster home. We'll fail the scavenger hunt. We might even be in more danger!"

  "And you won't see Paris," Dan added.

  He wasn't sure which argument was most effective, but Nellie slipped her phone into her pocket. She knelt so she was looking them in the eyes.

  "One more trip," she said. "But this could get me in huge trouble, guys. I want your promise: Paris, and then we get you home.

  Deal?"

  Dan was thinking that they had no home to return to, but he crossed his fingers behind his back and said, "Deal." "Deal," Amy agreed.

  "I'm going to regret this," Nellie muttered. "But I might as well regret it in Paris." She marched back to the car and got in the driver's side.

  Dan looked at his sister. "Urn ... about money. I figure we've got enough for three one-way tickets.

  We can get to Paris and have enough left for hotels and food and stuff for maybe a

  week. But I don't know if we'll have enough to get back. If Nellie finds out -- " "Let's worry about that when we get there," Amy said. And she ran to the car, already taking her passport out of her back pocket.

  CHAPTER 10

  Alistair Oh was just leaving customs when his enemies ambushed him. "Bonjour, Uncle." Ian Kabra appeared on his right. "Have a good flight?"

  Alistair turned to the left but Natalie Kabra cut off his escape.

  "I wouldn't try to get away, Uncle Alistair," she said sweetly. "It's amazing how many

  weapons I can carry through an airport."

  She held up a china doll in a blue satin dress. Natalie was too old to be carrying something like that, but no doubt she could charm the security guards into thinking otherwise.

  "What is that?" Alistair asked, trying to stay calm. "A gun? A bomb?" Natalie smiled. "I hope you don't have to find out. It would be quite messy."

  "Keep walking, Uncle."

  Ian put as much sarcasm into the word as possible. "We don't want to arouse suspicion."

  They strode through the terminal. Alistair's heart pounded. He could feel the Poor Richard's Almanack in his jacket pocket, slapping against his chest with every step. "So," Alistair said. "When did you get in?"

  "Oh, we took our own jet," Ian said. "We use a private airstrip where the security is

  much more ... relaxed. We just thought we'd come welcome you!"

  "How nice," Alistair said. "But I don't have anything you want."

  "That's not what we've heard," Natalie said. "Hand over the book."

  Alistair's throat went dry. "How ... how could you possibly know -- "

  "News travels fast," Natalie said. "We have informants -- "

  "Natalie,"

  Ian snapped. "I'll do the talking, thank you very much. You hold the doll."

  She scowled, which made her face not nearly as pretty. "I can talk if I want to, Ian! Mother and Father said -- " "Blast what they said! I'm in charge!"

  Natalie looked ready to yell back at him, but she swallowed her rage. Alistair didn't like the tight grip she was keeping on her doll. He imagined the thing must have a trigger somewhere, and he didn't want to find out what it did.

  "Surely you don't want another war between our branches," Alistair said, trying to sound diplomatic.

  "One phone call and I can mobilize help from Tokyo to Rio de Janeiro." "As can we," Ian said. "And I've read my family history, Alistair. The last time our branches fought, it didn't go very well for your lot, did it?"

  Alistair kept walking, thinking hard. A gendarme was standing by a security checkpoint up ahead -- about twenty meters. If Alistair could create a distraction... "The 1908 explosion in Siberia," he said to Ian. "Yes, that was impressive. But we have more at stake this time."

  "Exactly," Ian agreed. "So hand over the book, old man, before we have to hurt you." Natalie laughed. "If you could hear yourself, Ian. Honestly." Her brother frowned. "Excuse me?"

  Five meters to the gendarme, Alistair thought. Stay calm.

  "Oh, nothing," Natalie told her brother airily. "Just that you're a terrible bore. Without me, you couldn't even frighten this pathetic old man." Ian's expression hardened. "I most certainly could, you useless little -- " Natalie stepped in front of Alistair, intent on confronting her brother, and Alistair saw his chance. He stepped backwards, then sideways, and before the Kabras could regroup, Alistair was standing next to the gendarme, talking as loudly as he could in French.

  "Merci, niece and nephew!" he shouted at the Kabras. "But your parents will be worried. R
un along now, and tell them I'll be out in a few moments. I have some questions for this officer. I may have forgotten to declare my fresh fruits in customs!"

  "Fresh fruits?" the officer said. "Sir, that's very important. Come with me, please!" Alistair shrugged apologetically to the Kabras. "You must excuse me."

  Ian's eyes were so angry they looked like they might catch fire, but he managed a stiff smile. "Of course, Uncle. Don't worry. We will definitely

  catch you later. Come, Natalie." He said her name through clenched teeth. "We have

  to talk."

  "Ow!" She yelped as he gripped her arm, but he herded her down the hallway and out of sight.

  Alistair sighed with relief. He followed the gendarme gratefully back to customs, where after twenty minutes of questions and searching bags, Alistair realized quelle surprise! – he did not have any fresh fruit in his luggage after all. He pretended to be a confused old man, and the irritated customs official let him go.

  Back in the terminal, Alistair allowed himself a smile. Ian and Natalie Kabra may have been deadly opponents, but they were still children. Alistair would never let himself be outfoxed by youngsters like them not when his own future and the future of his branch were at stake.

  He patted the Poor Richard's Almanack, still safe in his jacket pocket. Alistair doubted any other team knew more about the thirty-nine clues than he did. After all, he'd been spying on Grace for years, learning her purpose. There was still a lot he didn't understand -- secrets he hoped Grace had given to her grandchildren. But soon he would find out.

  He was off to an excellent start. He now understood the true meaning of the first clue: Richard S's RESOLUTION. He had to chuckle about that. Even Amy and Dan had failed to see what it really meant.

  He made his way through the terminal, keeping his eyes open for the Kabras, but they

  seemed to have vanished. He got outside and was dragging his bags toward the taxi

  stand when a purple van pulled up to the curb.

  The side door rolled open. A cheerful male voice said, "Hey, there!"

  The last thing Alistair Oh saw was a large fist hurtling toward his face.

  CHAPTER 11

  After getting through customs at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Amy felt like she'd just lost a fight with a tornado.

  She'd endured eight hours on the plane, wedged between Dan and Nellie, who both kept their headphone volume too loud. Dan watched movies. Nellie listened to music and flipped through French cookbooks with full-color pictures of snails and goose livers. Meanwhile, Amy tried to make herself small and read her own books. She'd picked up six new ones in Philadelphia, but she'd only managed to finish one Benjamin Franklin biography and two Paris guidebooks. For her, that was terrible. Every muscle in her body ached. Her hair was a rat's nest. Her clothes smelled like airplane lasagna, which Dan had spilled on her mid-flight. Worst of all, she hadn't gotten any sleep, because the more she read, the more an idea had started to form in her head about Franklin and Paris -- and the idea scared her.

  In the customs line, she was sure she was going to lose it when the official asked about her parents, but she muttered the lie Dan and she had rehearsed -- that their parents were coming over on a later flight. Nellie's presence seemed to reassure the official, especially when Nellie started answering his questions in French. The official nodded, stamped their passports, and let them through.

  "Nellie!" Dan said. "You speak

  French?"

  "Duh. My mom taught French. She was, like, French." "I thought your family was from Mexico City." "That's my dad. I grew up trilingual."

  "That's amazing," Amy said. She was really jealous. She wished she knew other languages, but she was hopeless at learning them. She couldn't even remember the colors and numbers from kindergarten Spanish.

  "It's no big deal," Nellie assured them. "Once you know two languages, learning three or four or five is easy."

  Amy wasn't sure if she was serious, but they kept going through customs. They reclaimed their bags, changed their dollars into euros at a kiosk, and straggled onto the main concourse.

  Amy felt completely lost with all the French signs. Morning light slanted through the windows, though it felt like midnight to her. Down the hall, a crowd was gathering. People were flashing cameras and shouting questions at somebody Amy couldn't see. "Oh, paparazzi!" Nellie said. "Maybe it's, like, Kanye West!"

  "Wait!" Amy said, but Nellie wasn't going to be discouraged. They pushed through

  the crowd with a lot of excusez-mois.

  As they got closer, Amy stopped in her tracks. "Jonah Wizard."

  He was wading through the mob, signing autographs, while his dad trailed behind like a bodyguard. Jonah wore baggy jeans, a black leather jacket over a white tank top, and his standard half ton of silver jewelry. He looked fresh and well-rested, like his flight had been a lot better than Amy's.

  "Le Wizard!"

  The reporters peppered him with questions. To Amy's surprise, Jonah answered them in French.

  There were so many people Amy wanted to melt into the walls, but Jonah looked relaxed. He gave the crowd a brilliant smile and said something that made them laugh, then scanned the faces and locked eyes with Amy. "Yo!" he called. "My peeps!"

  Amy was mortified. Jonah started pushing his way toward them and the whole crowd turned to figure out who he was talking to.

  "Oh, no way," Nellie said. "You know Jonah Wizard?" "We're related to him," Dan grumbled. "Distantly."

  Nellie looked like she was going to faint. Suddenly, Jonah was right in front of them, shaking Amy's hand and patting Dan on the back and signing Nellie's T-shirt, and the cameras started taking pictures of them.

  Don't look at me! Amy wanted to scream. I'm covered with lasagna!

  Her voice didn't work. She tried to back away but her legs were frozen.

  "Jonah!" his father said. "We should get going."

  "Yeah, sure." Jonah winked at Amy. "Come with, cuz. We got stuff to talk about." Jonah's dad started to protest, but Jonah put his arm around Amy and steered her through the terminal, with Dan and Nellie and a mob of frantic paparazzi behind them, flashing pictures. Amy was sure she would die from embarrassment any second, but somehow they made it outside. The day was warm and overcast. Storm clouds were gathering on the horizon. A black limousine waited at the curb.

  "We -- we shouldn't," Amy started to protest. She remembered Mr. McIntyre's warning: Trust no one.

  "Are you kidding?" Nellie said. "A limo ride with Jonah Wizard? Come on!" She practically dove into the limo. A few minutes later, they were gliding down L’autoroute de Oest toward the heart of Paris.

  "Man, I love this town," Jonah said.

  His limo had facing backseats. Jonah and his dad sat on one side. Amy, Dan, and Nellie

  sat on the other. Jonah's dad typed notes on his BlackBerry, every once in a while

  looking up and scowling at Amy, like he couldn't believe she was still there.

  Outside, rows of gold stone buildings glided by, their windows overflowing with flower

  boxes. The cafes were crowded with people, all the chairs facing the street like they

  were waiting for a parade. The air smelled like coffee and baked bread. The cloudy skies gave everything a weird light -- as if the city weren't quite real.

  "You know my TV ratings here are even better than in the States?" Jonah said. "Eighteen points higher," his dad piped in.

  "And my new album, Gangsta Life, is number three on the French charts."

  "Number two," his dad said. "And climbing." "Oh, wow, I love your album!" Nellie said. "Thanks," Jonah said. "Now shut up." Nellie looked like she'd been slapped. "Hey!" Dan cried. "That's not cool!"

  "What?" Jonah said. "She's not a Cahill. I'm not talking to her." Amy was so shocked she couldn't respond, but Jonah just kept right on bragging. "Like I was saying, I own this town. My art gallery opened last week on Rue de la Paix. My watercolors are selling for six thousand euros a piece. I've even
got a children's book coming out."

  His dad whipped out a copy and showed them.

  Dan squinted as he read the cover. "Le... Li'l Gangsta Livre Instantane?"

  "That means 'little gangster pop-up book,'" Jonah's dad said proudly. Jonah spread his hands. "See what I mean? I'm more popular than" -- he smiled slyly -- "Benjamin Franklin."

  Something inside Amy snapped. She'd spent several hours reading about Benjamin Franklin, and she was more convinced than ever that he was the most amazing person who ever lived. To think she might be related to him made her so proud. Now to hear this conceited TV star jerk compare himself ... she was so angry she forgot to be shy. "B-Benjamin Franklin was way more important than you, Jonah! He was the most famous American to ever visit Paris. When he came here, people wore his picture on necklaces -- " "Like this?" Jonah pulled out a Jonah Wizard commemorative photo necklace. "And ... and they wore clothes like his!"

  "Uh-huh. The Jonah Wizard fashion line is doing great on the Champs-Elysees." Amy gritted her teeth. "King Louis XVI even put Franklin's picture on a chamber pot!" Jonah looked at his dad. "Do we have souvenir chamber pots?" "No." His dad whipped out his phone. "I'll make the call."

  Jonah nodded. "So you see, guys, I am the biggest thing since Franklin, which is why

  I'm the natural person to find his secrets."

  "If your head was any bigger," Dan muttered, "we could use it as a hot air balloon." Jonah ignored him. "Look, Amy, you're a smart girl. You know the family's got branches, right? Good Cahills. Bad Cahills. I'm-"

  "Jonah!" His father covered his phone with his hand. "I thought we discussed "

  "Dad, chill. All I'm saying: I use my talents to create art.

  Whatever this final treasure is? I'll use it to bring more beauty to the world! I'm not like those Lucians, man. They're vicious!"

  Amy's mind was racing. "But... Benjamin Franklin was a Lucian. We saw the snake crest -- "

  "Okay, so occasionally a Lucian did something right." Jonah waved his hand dismissively. "But today I'm the good guy. You gotta see that, Amy."

  Dan snorted. "Because you make gangster pop-up books?"

  "Exactly! Look, you think it was easy for me growing up rich and famous in Beverly Hills?" Jonah paused. "Actually, it was easy. The point is I work hard to stay that way.