Drivers passed by, screaming abuse and honking their horns. Amy tried to catch her breath; the near accident had really shaken her up."You almost sent me through the windshield!"
Dan yelled.
Then his eyes lit up and he turned to his sister. "My turn to drive?"Fifty yards up was a tree-lined side road that looked much more calm than the two-lane highway. Amy put Tiny Tim into low gear, crawled to the turn, and drove another hundred yards before swinging a U-turn and parking on the side of the road. She'd finally calmed down enough to talk.
"S-s-sorry about that. Obviously, I'm not ready for prime time behind the wheel. We need to retire this thing before someone gets hurt. But here's the good news -- I know what the message means. Where's the guidebook?"
"Can I drive now?" Dan asked again."Not a chance.""Come on! Let me drive! Please!"Within the space of thirty seconds, Dan asked if he could drive nine more times before finally handing over the guidebook. Amy flipped to Siberia, to a picture she'd seen with a caption that had interested her.
"Okay, check this out. A long time ago, back when they had labor camps in these Siberian outposts, they put a lot of the political prisoners to work on this one road. It was long. I mean really long, and it was a grueling job. Sometimes, when prisoners dropped dead on the job, they'd use their bones in the road itself."
"The Road of Bones," said Dan. "That's a little bit unpleasant even by my standards.""And totally real. See?"Amy held out the picture, which showed men with shovels and spades standing in the middle of nowhere with a long white road sprawling out behind them.
"Hamilton is going to love this. The Road of Bones! You can't make that sort of thing up.""The M and the S in the stone, that has to refer to Magadan, Siberia. It's one of the three places we have left to go.""And the arrow points away, toward the pile of bones. So if someone were to start in Magadan and drive, what, fifty-two miles down the Road of Bones, they might find something?""Precisely," said Amy.
Dan held the stone in the light once more and looked at all the parts inscribed. It added up. Broken bones, the number fifty-two, the arrow pointing away from M, S."We better call Hamilton," said Dan.
Amy dialed Nellie's cell phone and hoped Hamilton would be standing by, not goofing off or having a big brawl with the Kabras. He answered on the first ring."That you, Amy?" Hamilton answered. "I hope you have something for us to do.
My dad is getting so bored he's throwing rocks at the birds. He thinks we're on a wild goose chase.""Not even close!" said Amy. "And you're doing a great job. We've got to get you to Magadan as fast as we can.""Well, then, you're in luck," said Hamilton. "What do you mean?"
"We had to clear out of Omsk. That place was un-Holt friendly in the extreme. So I figured what the heck, chances are I'm probably needed in Magadan next anyway. It was the only other place you gave me to go. We hopped a plane last night and we're already here. The Kabras followed us, though. Those guys are like a wad of gum on your shoe. They keep getting a free ride."
"Hamilton! You're a genius!" said Amy. "Finally someone noticed." Amy put Hamilton on the speakerphone. "So where am I going? Give me the news," Hamilton said.Dan did the honors, after which Hamilton just about blew a gasket."No way! This thing is real? The Road of Bones? Sweet! Dan, you are SO jealous.
Don't even pretend like you're not."Dan was so frustrated he wanted to jump out of his underwear. He couldn't drive Tiny Tim, he couldn't go to the Road of Bones. He was being iced out!"Getto work, Hamilton," said Amy.
"We'll be standing by for your next lead. And don't take the Kabras lightly. They're ruthless -- they'll do anything to stop you.""The Hammer is on the job. I'll be back in touch." The line went dead.Dan stewed in the front seat while Amy tried to get up enough nerve to start Tiny Tim again.
They were either going to Moscow or Yekaterinburg. Either way, they were getting very close to the end of the hunt, and not a minute too soon. The clock was down to eight hours and counting.
Amy jumped as the phone vibrated in her hand. Number unknown. "Hello?""Hi, Amy. It's Ian. Been thinking about me?" Ian with the silky voice that sent chills down her spine."What do you want? Wait -- how did you get this number?"
"I'm worried about you. You're in way over your head, love. You should be careful who you trust."
"I can check you and your sister off my list! And don't call me love!""Look, Amy, I've been trying to play nice. You and Dan are fun to chase, but there's something you should know."
"What's that?" said Amy. She covered the mouthpiece and told Dan who it was. Dan stuck his finger down his throat and started fake puking."You're hopelessly behind," said Ian. "I don't want to hurt your feelings, but lots of clues have already been found, including the one you're looking for."
"You're lying!" said Amy. "You don't even know where we're going. Yeah, I know all about it. You're stuck out in Siberia somewhere. Well, here's a little surprise for you, Ian. You're three thousand miles from where you need to be."There was a slight pause on the line, then a classic Kabra laugh, sly and almost imperceptible.
"Oh, Amy. If only you knew the truth. You can't say I didn't warn you."The phone clicked off, and Amy started up Tiny Tim.
She was so angry she jammed on the gas and spun the tires, her fear of driving a distant memory."He's lying. They don't have any more clues than we do, right, Dan?"But Dan wouldn't meet her eyes. For the rest of the drive they were both completely silent.
CHAPTER 10
"This way," whispered Reagan Holt, "stay low or they'll see us coming."Against all his natural tendencies, Eisenhower Holt crept along as quietly as a mouse. His huge frame was much more suited to tackling someone from behind and beating the tar out of him."Do you see anyone?" he asked."No. I think they went this way."Reagan was peering around the corner of an aqua concrete building that hadn't seen a fresh coat of paint in fifty years.
She and her father were tracking two people down a potholed street lined with decaying buildings.
"Where did they go?" boomed Eisenhower Holt. "They're like cats, those two!""Dad, will you please keep it down? Don't you know the meaning of the word whisper?"Eisenhower Holt was about to retort when he and Reagan were jumped from behind.
The bigger of the two attackers landed on Eisenhower's back, put an arm around his neck, and wouldn't let go. Reagan and a smaller assailant rolled around in the dirt while Eisenhower spun in a great circle, his captor's legs swinging in the air behind him."Sneak attack! I told you to zip it!" yelled Reagan.
She was in a serious fight, punching and kicking from below a girl her exact same size."I'll save you!" said Eisenhower."Too late," said the person on his back. "I got it!""And that's the game!" said Mary-Todd, throwing her hands up as she appeared from out of nowhere.
"This round goes to Hamilton and Madison. Nice job on the switchback."Mary-Todd Holt pulled out a well-worn pocket-size journal and made a notation."You're falling behind in the standings, sugar maple. You can do better."Eisenhower had flopped down on all fours, his usual move when he'd lost the flag. Hamilton, Reagan, and Madison jumped on board.
When Eisenhower stood up again, he shook with all his might until his children fell off in a pile at his feet."I keep telling you," fumed Reagan, "you need to be quieter. We'll never catch up if you can't learn to stalk like a cat."
"Look at the size of these guns!" yelled Eisenhower, pointing to his preposterously bulging biceps. "It ain't easy keeping these guys still. They like to fight."
"My dad is a dork," said Reagan. "Someone help me, please."Eisenhower pulled Hamilton aside, threw an arm around him, and began walking. The father and son were like two buildings, big and solid."Did you hear from them yet?" asked Eisenhower.
He knew it was past time for a father-son chat, but somehow they never went quite as planned."Just a few minutes ago," said Hamilton. Already the boy was looking defensive. "They told me where to go. I think we're getting close."
"We're putting an awful lot of trust in you on this deal. It would be a monumental disappointme
nt if they were tricking us.""No way, Dad. This is the real deal. I'm sure of it.""You better be. You fail, the whole family fails. And you know how I feel about failure."They walked a little farther and Eisenhower slapped his son on the back."You do realize we'll have to double-cross them in the end.
We can't risk falling behind here. If a clue comes our way, we need to keep it for ourselves. And don't think for a second they won't do the same to us given the chance. They're no better than their parents were in that department.""Dad ... I was thinking. We've got a lot more stuff to find before this is over," said Hamilton, tension visible in his shoulders. "Maybe a partnership makes sense?"
"You going soft on me?" asked Eisenhower. "This is a competition, not a playdate. When the time comes, we cut the cord and leave them behind. End of discussion.""But, Dad-"
"I said END OF DISCUSSION! Don't overstep your pay grade, young man. Just get the job done and leave the rest to me."Hamilton's shoulders slumped, and deep in Eisenhower's chest, his heart squeezed. But there was a chain of command that had to be followed.
Or else people got hurt. Even killed."My dad was bigger than me," said Eisenhower, his eyes on his own family. "A mountain of a man."Eisenhower fell silent as they walked back toward the twins, thinking about his father.
Eisenhower's mother had died really young and it had been just the two guys living together. A lot of sports. Not a lot of anything else. And that had been fine. Just fine."Fall in, team!" cried Eisenhower. "New orders!"
"We can't seem to shake those Kabras," said Mary-Todd, thumbing her hand behind her.
A black Land Rover had pulled into an alley, where it sat idling, spewing exhaust."We'll deal with them soon enough," said Eisenhower. He looked at his son with a mix of admiration and concern, which was the closest thing to praise he knew how to give.
"Tell us where we're going, Ham. And make it snappy!"* * *"
I have a hunch about something else," said Amy. "Do you want to hear it?"They were sitting in the St. Petersburg airport, awaiting instructions, and Dan was itching to hit the magazine stand for some junk food."Can it wait until I refill the backpack with provisions?"Amy rolled her eyes.
As they walked, Amy laid out her idea. "Everything we've found has been carved or sculpted, right?
First it was the little room in the paperweight, then the Rasputin figurine, then the coat of arms carved into wood and painted, and finally the stone with the broken bones. They're all intricately made pieces of art."They entered the store and Dan started perusing the shelves."And we keep getting this recurring color-- orange, like honey," said Amy. "The paperweight was a murky orange. Rasputin's model, it's the same. The snake was orange, the stone is orange.
At first I thought it was just a Russian thing, but I'm starting to think it means something else.""Uh-huh," said Dan, barely paying attention as he grabbed a handful of candy bars. "So what's it mean?"
His arms were overflowing with bags of chips, gum, and candy, which he dumped onto the counter.Amy leaned in to whisper, "I think when NRR talks about 'the room,' he's talking about the Amber Room.""What's that?" asked Dan."Nine hundred rubles," said the lady at the cash register.
They paid, dropped most of the snacks in the backpack, and continued walking. Amy started into a chocolate square while Dan devoured a Kit Kat bar. "It's a room made out of amber."Dan looked blank, so Amy continued.
"You know, that stuff they got the dinosaur DNA from in Jurassic Park. This room was absolutely amazing.
Wall after wall of intricately carved images. It's a priceless treasure. And guess where it was?
At Catherine Palace in the royal village."Half the Whoppers crammed into Dan's mouth sprayed out. "We were just there! Why didn't you tell me? We could have stopped in and found something important."
"It would have been a waste of time. The Amber Room was stolen by the Nazis in World War Two. And then it disappeared. No one knows where it ended up, but some think it secretly made its way back into Russia after the war.""How do you lose a room?"
"It's over a hundred and fifty feet of walls, to be precise. And they used six tons of amber," said Amy, switching over to the bossy teacher voice that grated on Dan's ears.'Tm guessing the Amber Room, if that really is the room we're after, is either in Moscow or Yakville," said Dan."Yekaterinburg," corrected Amy, popping another square of chocolate into her mouth."Whatever.
Let's just hope it's not in Siberia with the Holts."* * *
Bzzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzz.Amy and Dan had both fallen asleep in the airport while Nellie's phone vibrated. On the fourth vibration, Dan woke up. The phone sat between them on the backpack.
"Hello? That you, Hamilton?""Wooooooohoooooooo!" sounded a voice from the other end. Dan held the phone away from his ear and Amy stirred awake, rubbing her eyes."We fell asleep," she said."No, duh," said Dan. "I think I've got Hammerhead on the line.
He's in high spirits.""Hamilton here! My dad just took the wheel. We're taking turns with this thing. It's amazing!""What are you talking about?" said Dan.113"Dude, we're driving a KAMAZ truck down the Road of Bones! This thing is like a tank!""NO WAY!" howled Dan.
"A KAMAZ truck? Are you kidding? That's a classic!""What's a KAMAZ truck?" asked Amy, listening in."It's the Godzilla of all Hummers! The Russian Monster Truck! Plus, it's a Transformer ... sort of ... I mean, they use the same giant mother of a chassis and build a monster anything on top --dump trucks, army trucks, all-terrain buses -- the KAMAZ is an all-weather, twelve-gear hunk of metal! How could you not know about this?!"
"Okaaaaaaaaay," said Amy."That should be me driving!" Dan yelled into the phone."Eat your heart out," said Hamilton. Amy grabbed the phone. "What's going on? Where are you?""We're heading back.
Already made it to mile fifty-two WAY ahead of the Kabras. They bottomed out ten miles back. Reagan wanted to help 'em out when we passed by, but Dad said, 'Let 'em call a tow truck.' Dude! It's a KAMAZ!"Dan plugged his ears.
He couldn't stand the sound of Hamilton Holt having so much fun while he sat bored in an airport. Amy grabbed the phone."What did you find? Hamilton? Are you there?"
The line was
loaded with static, cutting in and out as the truck passed over the Road of Bones."Hamilton, listen to me. I can barely hear you. What did you find? We're running out of time here!""Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! It wasn't hard to see once we got there, I'll tell you that. The thing was just sitting there on the side of the road."Dan could tell Amy was about to blow a gasket while Hamilton stalled.
"WHAT was sitting on the side of the road?""Uh-oh," said Hamilton. "There's the Kabras. They are NOT happy. What the -- ? No way!"A loud crunching noise filled the cell phone speaker.
Even Dan could hear it."My dad just drove over the Land Rover! This is incredible! You GOTTA try this! What's ... oh, no ... hey!""WHAT... DID ... YOU ... FIND?" Amy yelled. She looked at Dan. "What's oh, no? Why the oh, no?"The line crackled and popped, then Mary-Todd Holt got on the line."Hello, Amy, how are you? Hamilton and his father are ... well they're having a little skirmish with a couple of very big -- oh, my, that had to hurt --PUNCH HIM BACK, EISENHOWER! ... Sorry, dear. I can tell you what we found.
There was a stake in the ground on the side of the road at mile marker fifty-two. It was in there really deep, but my strongman Mr. Holt got it out.
Yanked it until his back seized up -- that's why Hamilton got to drive the truck.
They've been taking turns. Anyway, it was attached to the strangest thing. The bottom wasn't what you'd think, like a big block of concrete, it was a -- well ... it was a head. Not a real one, mind you -- wouldn't that be unpleasant?-- I mean it was a sculpted head -- NICE SHOT, HAMILTON! SHOW 'EM WHAT YOU GOT! - Pardon me, but my boy just clobbered one of these bodyguards right over the head with... um ... the head. He's doing a fine job out there. Where was I? Oh, yes, the head. It appears I'm going to have to get back to you on that. GET 'EM, HOLTS! HIT 'EM WHERE IT HURTS!"
The line went dead."You have got to be kidding me," said
Amy. Four minutes passed before the phone buzzed back to life.
"We got 'em on the run!"It was Dan who picked up, and this time Hamilton was calling."My dad is hobbled," said Hamilton. "But he's as tough as they come. Mom and the twins are out there bringing him in.
Listen, I'm about to go a little rogue here. My dad's not too big on me telling you what we found. Dude, can I trust you? I mean really trust you? If you double-cross me, my dad will go totally ballistic.""You can trust me -- I promise."And the funny thing was, Dan was telling the truth.
Something in his gut told him he wouldn't be able to hold out after Hamilton had helped them so much."Here's the deal," Hamilton started. "I'm no history nerd, but I know this head.
Even my dad knew this head, after being here for awhile. It's that Lenin guy, the one who started the Russian Revolution.""The guy with the pointy goatee?"Hamilton started in about the driving and the cool head again, but he didn't have long before Amy ripped the phone out of Dan's hand."Fork over the information, Hamilton! We're running out of time!"
"Oh, great," Hamilton groaned. "It's the bossy one. Get a pen and I'll tell you what's written across Lenin's head."
"I'm ready," said Amy, already poised with a pad and pencil, ready to write down whatever came out of Hamilton's mouth."SKP BAL BOX4 R3 Dl 45231 D2 45102 D3 NRR.""Are you sure you got it right?" asked Amy."It's right! Stop bugging me. What do we do now?"
Amy looked at Dan, who shrugged."Um ... you've done a great job helping us. Head back to Moscow. We'll be in touch as soon as we know something.""Over and out," said Hamilton.Amy turned to Dan."Are you ready? You and I are going to break into the Kremlin."
CHAPTER 11
Ian Kabra couldn't decide what was worse: being stranded on a road of bones, or having to put up with his little sister.
"Look at me! This is a disaster!" she howled.Ian quirked his lip at that. Natalie's leggings were torn, her Prada shoes were scuffed beyond repair, and her normally sleek hair looked like it had been gone over with an eggbeater.
The Black Circle - 39 Clues 05 Page 7
