Into the Gauntlet

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

  * * *

  Jonah was alone, ahead of everyone else.

  When the world began to collapse around him, he could hear the others calling out names: "Dan!"

  "Amy!"

  "Hamilton!"

  "Ian!"

  No one called out for him.

  A rock hit his shoulder, knocking him down.

  Hundreds of thousands of people call out my name every night, he told himself. "Jonah! Jonah! JONAH!"

  He could hear the rhythm of his fans' screams in the rocks hitting the ground around him.

  Another rock hit his leg, pinning him to the ground.

  I'm one of the biggest stars in the world, he told himself. More rocks fell down on him. And... I'm going to die in a place where nobody cares.

  229

  CHAPTER 31

  Hamilton still had a flashlight. As soon as the rocks stopped falling, he pulled it out and shone it down at Dan.

  Dan was gasping for breath.

  "He needs ... he needs ..." Hamilton began.

  "His inhaler," Amy said.

  Frantically, she searched her brother's pockets. The dust in the air was bothering her, too. It made her eyes water, her lungs seize up, her throat close over.

  Or was that her own fear, her own panic?

  "Not Dan," she whispered. "Please not Dan."

  "Is this it?" Hamilton asked, holding up the inhaler, which had fallen out just a few inches away.

  Amy snatched it from Hamilton's hand and shoved the inhaler into her brother's mouth.

  "Breathe," she whispered.

  Dan began taking in air.

  Amy slumped back against the table leg. When did Dan start carrying his own inhaler instead of relying on Nellie? she wondered. She resisted the urge to dive

  230

  down and hug him and scream out, "Thank you for being responsible!" He would hate that.

  Amy felt too light-headed to think straight. She forced herself to calm down and look around. Olivia's table had proved to be a safe place. It was only splintered a little, with jagged bits of wood jutting out here and there. But all around it lay huge rocks -- rocks that could have killed any one of them.

  She drew in a ragged breath and looked at Hamilton.

  "You saved Dan's life," she said. "Like you saved mine back in Australia."

  She expected Hamilton to go all macho on her, maybe even brag about how he could have lifted five-hundred-pound boulders out of the way if he'd had to. But Hamilton was breathing raggedly, too.

  "I owed you," Hamilton said. "Both of you. Because of all those times my family tried to hurt you early in the clue hunt. And ..." His face twisted. "And I think maybe those rocks fell because of my family. Because they were trying to explode their way into the elevator shaft. The shock waves would have traveled here."

  Amy stared at Hamilton, who looked as anguished as Dan.

  Exploding the elevator shaft was the kind of thing the Holts would have done early on. But they'd pretty much stopped being so violent.

  231

  Oh, Amy realized. Because of Hamilton's influence? And now he's not with them, so ...

  "Maybe it was just a regular old earthquake," Amy said. It was funny how blaming an earthquake could be soothing. "They happen."

  "Not in Ireland," Sinead said. She was huddled under the table just past Hamilton. "Not usually."

  She seemed to be trying to sound as scornful as ever, but her voice trembled, almost sliding over into sobs.

  "Madrigals," Alistair mumbled. He was lying on the floor beside Sinead. Even in the weak glow of the flashlight Amy could tell that his face was clammy and his breathing was as shallow as Dan's. "Madrigals are punishing us."

  "No." Amy shook her head stubbornly. "That's not what the Madrigals are about. I know it's hard for all of you to believe, but Madrigals really are trying to make peace."

  Alistair's expression didn't change.

  "It had to be someone who's after the prize," Natalie said, her voice high-pitched and panicky.

  Amy realized that Ian and Natalie were huddled together just past Alistair, right at the edge of the table.

  Would this be good enough for Olivia Cahill? Amy wondered. Her descendants didn't sit at the table together, but we are cowering together under it: Madrigals, Tomas, Ekats, Lucians, and, and...

  Amy looked around, squinting into darkness.

  "Maybe Sinead's brothers set off the explosion," Ian

  232

  suggested in a tight voice. "Or Cora Wizard. Maybe she doesn't trust Jonah anymore."

  "Oh, no. Oh, no," Amy said. She grabbed the flashlight from Hamilton's grip and directed the beam out into the rubble and rocks. "Where's Jonah?"

  * * *

  They found him under a pile of rocks, the top half of his body wedged partially under a huge display case labeled The Madrigals' Quest for Peace.

  Lester, Dan thought weakly, his head still woozy from the asthma attack. Or maybe it would be woozy regardless. Lester, Irina, Mom and Dad. And now...

  "He's still breathing!" Hamilton announced, easing rocks away.

  "He is?" Dan said, astonished.

  "Barely," Sinead said, bending over Jonah. She began poking and prodding. "He's going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. Both legs are definitely broken, and probably a couple ribs and--"

  "Patch him up enough to keep him from dying and let's get going," Ian said tensely.

  "What?" Amy gasped. "Didn't you hear what Sinead said? He needs help! Medical treatment! Someone needs to take him back!"

  "Who would do that?" Ian asked mockingly. "And how?" He pointed. "The door we came through --it's completely blocked."

  Dan hadn't noticed this before. He'd been too busy

  233

  trying to get his breath back, then looking for Jonah. But now Hamilton turned their one working flashlight toward the original door. It wasn't even visible through the pile of rock surrounding it.

  "There's only one way out of here," Ian said, pointing now toward the opposite end of the room, where the floor began to slant. "Down to the end."

  "So why aren't you running ahead?" Alistair taunted. "Leaving the bleeding hearts behind to take care of Jonah while you win the prize?"

  "Because the Madrigals won't let me," Ian said, glaring at Amy and Dan. "They're the ones who designed this place, right?"

  Dan saw Amy give a barely perceptible nod.

  "I looked at the door ahead of us, too," Ian said. "It's another one that requires fingerprints from all five branches." He looked bleakly down at Jonah's unconscious body. "Do you think Jonah's fingerprint will still work if he dies?"

  * * *

  "You're making the others hate us," Natalie whispered in Ian's ear. "They think you might kill Jonah on purpose. And that you might kill them. Don't you remember Mum always says it's best to be charming right up until --"

  "Don't quote Mum to me," Ian growled.

  Natalie blinked back tears.

  Don't you think I hear her voice in my head, too? Ian

  234

  wanted to yell at his little sister. It was so hard to step back from everything his mother had taught him, to even consider what he might think on his own.

  He glanced back over his shoulder to where the others were bracing Jonah's broken legs with his own backpack. Then they pulled Jonah into a sling improvised from a United Nations flag from one of the display cases. Evidently, the Madrigals claimed to have helped found the UN --and every other peace-related organization in the past five hundred years.

  More lies, Ian thought. Whatever. It's not important now.

  "Hurry!" he urged the others.

  Dan, Amy, and Hamilton had started searching through the rubble, looking for another working flashlight. Sinead and Alistair were assembling an odd assortment of items -- wire, ropes, batteries, display case frames, the shattered night-vision goggles. Maybe they were trying to build another flashlight.

  "There isn't time for that!" Ian insisted. "Come on!"


  Alistair looked up from his own search through one of the display cases.

  "So eager to move along ..." he murmured. "Are you herding us toward some trap laid by your mother?"

  "No! Away from her!" Ian exploded.

  Natalie shook her head frantically, trying to signal her brother.

  "We have to tell," Ian said. "They won't listen otherwise." Natalie gulped.

  235

  "We tricked Mum," she said in a wobbly voice. "Before we went to Stratford, we told her the next clue was at the Folger Shakespeare Library. In Washington, DC."

  "She would have taken you with her," Hamilton accused.

  "She tried to!" Natalie said. "But she booked her ticket in first class and just put Ian and me in ... economy."

  She whispered the last word, as if it were too embarrassing to speak aloud.

  "So we got on the plane, but then we sneaked out and up to Stratford," Ian explained. "We knew we would have only as much time as it would take for her to fly to DC, find out we'd tricked her, and fly back."

  "Back to England, sure, but she wouldn't know you're here," Dan offered.

  "Oh, she'd find out," Natalie said. "She's scary that way."

  "We checked the flight schedules," Ian said. "We didn't think she could be here yet but..."

  "She's scary that way," Amy whispered.

  Everyone was silent, their faces dark in the dim glow of the single flashlight.

  "So what?" Hamilton said, his booming jock voice so loud it made Ian flinch. "Even if she gets to the island, how's she going to get through that?"

  He pointed to the pile of rubble that blocked the door.

  236

  "She'll use explosives," Ian said. "Again." Ian saw the others catching on: Isabel caused the first explosion.

  She wouldn't care whom she hurt or killed with more explosions.

  It wouldn't be safe in this room if she tried to explode her way in.

  "Hamilton, you and Ian carry Jonah," Amy said. "You two are the strongest. Dan, you carry the flashlight. Hold it high."

  Ian didn't want to carry Jonah. He wanted to be unencumbered so he could dash off and leave everyone else behind when they reached the final prize. But right now, it was more important to get moving.

  He lifted one end of the UN flag while Hamilton hoisted up the other. They stumbled forward, tripping every few steps. At the door out, Ian was even the one who held Jonah's finger up to the Janus button.

  Of course there was another door after the first one. It was covered with a large sign. Dan held the flashlight close so they could all read it:

  YOU ARE ABOUT TO ENTER A GAUNTLET DESIGNED TO TEST CAHILLS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF THE CLUE HUNT.

  INSIGHT AND KNOWLEDGE GAINED OVER THE COURSE OF THE ENTIRE CLUE HUNT WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO SURVIVING THE GAUNTLET. SKILLS AND TALENTS FROM EACH BRANCH WILL BE REQUIRED.

  THERE IS NO WAY TO CHEAT ON THIS.

  237

  Ian smirked.

  There's always a way to cheat, he thought.

  His smirk faded. Were those just words his mother had taught him? Or was it what he truly believed?

  * * *

  "Do you trust Ian?" Dan whispered to Amy.

  "Of course not," Amy whispered back. "But for now ... we sort of have to, don't we?"

  Ahead of them, Dan could see Ian and Hamilton working together to lift Jonah over a particularly large boulder. They were in a narrow tunnel now, with nothing but rock all around them. Dan's flashlight cast eerie shadows everywhere.

  Dan turned a corner, and another door loomed before them with more signs:

  TO PASS THROUGH THIS DOOR,

  YOU MUST ANSWER THIS QUESTION:

  WHAT WAS MOZART'S SISTER'S NAME?

  But the door was already open, hanging half off its hinges.

  Nobody bothered even to whisper "Nannerl" as they went through.

  238

  The group reached another door, with another keypad labeled with the names of the five branches.

  This door was also hanging open.

  "I'm sure there will be more doors coming up that are locked," Amy said shrilly. "That we'll need everyone for, even Jonah--"

  Dan tried to catch his sister's eye.

  We could run ahead, he thought at her. I'm holding the only flashlight. If all the doors are going to be hanging open, we could leave the others behind in the dark, and--

  Just then, the ground began to shake again, and stones began to fall from the ceiling.

  This time there was no table to shelter them.

  239

  CHAPTER 32

  Dan instinctively crouched down, his hands clutched over his head, the flashlight tucked under his arm.

  Someone tapped him on the back.

  "No! Stand up!" Alistair screamed in his ear. "Less surface area for the rocks to hit!"

  It made sense.

  Dan scrambled to his feet as the rocks kept plunging down.

  "Flat against the wall is safest!" Alistair shouted.

  Dan pressed himself back against the hard rock wall. He swung his flashlight around and saw the others standing tight against the wall, too. Jonah couldn't, of course, but Ian and Hamilton held his sling as close as possible.

  Dan saw a huge stone fall inches from Amy's face. Even with the thundering rocks, he could hear Sinead screaming, "Not again! Not again!"

  And he could feel Alistair's hand on his shoulder. Steadying him.

  "Keep the flashlight away from the falling rocks!"

  240

  Alistair shouted at him. He leaned closer. "Want me to hold it for you?"

  "No, thanks!" Dan said, transferring the flashlight to the opposite hand. He held it behind his back.

  And he flinched away from Alistair's hand.

  He wasn't trying to save my life or protect me, Dan thought furiously. He was getting into position to steal the flashlight as soon as this is over! He wants to run ahead, too!

  The falling rocks slowed to a trickle, then stopped entirely.

  "Is --is everybody okay?" Amy asked shakily.

  Ian looked appraisingly at the others.

  "We've got scrapes and cuts, but that's it," he said. "Let's move on."

  But there was a pile of rubble in their path. Hamilton and Ian had to work together to move some of the biggest rocks just so they could advance.

  Ergh! We all need to stay together because of the explosions! Dan thought.

  At least Alistair seemed to realize that, too.

  He patted Dan's back and didn't try to move his hand toward the flashlight.

  "I knew I could get us safely through that one!" Alistair said. "You know, I once promised your parents--"

  Dan whirled on Alistair.

  "Don't you ever talk to me about promises!" he hissed. "You don't even know what they are!"

  241

  WHO WAS SHAKA ZULU?

  WHY DOES A MOBIUS STRIP SEEM IMPOSSIBLE?

  OF THE SMALL NUMBER OF FEMALE PHARAOHS IN ANCIENT EGYPT, WHICH ONE HAD THE LONGEST REIGN?

  They stepped through broken door after broken door in between explosions. Even Amy barely bothered to read the questions anymore. Dimly, she saw that the Madrigals must have been trying to bond the branches together with the questions.

  Yeah, maybe a normal family would bond playing Trivial Pursuit, she thought. But Cahills? Never.

  242

  They reached another door with another sign:

  AS A PRINTER, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN COULD ORDER LARGE AMOUNTS OF THIS SUBSTANCE WITHOUT RAISING SUSPICIONS. BUT CLUE HUNTERS WHO FOLLOWED HIM KNOW THAT HE WAS ACTUALLY TRYING TO REPLICATE THE WORK OF HIS ANCESTOR GIDEON CAHILL.

  WHAT IS THIS INGREDIENT?

  Iron solute, Amy thought automatically. That was the first clue we found.

  So the Madrigals expected the Clue hunters to be so friendly by this point that they'd be sharing Clues?

  Never in a million years, Amy thought.

  * * *

  Thirty-six, Ian though
t. Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight.

  He'd been counting the doors with questions ever since they'd entered the gauntlet. He was certain that the thirty-ninth door would be the last one.

  Keeping one hand on Jonah's sling, he dodged away from the beam of the flashlight and, in the near-darkness, brushed his fingers against Natalie's arm.

  She looked up at him, her eyes huge and questioning.

  Will she understand? he wondered. As soon as I step through this doorway, I'm going to roll Jonah backward to knock down everybody else. She should grab the flashlight

  243

  from Dan and we'll take off running. Then we'll be the first ones to reach the prize.

  He couldn't be certain she'd know what to do. He had to whisper in her ear, which made the others gaze at him suspiciously.

  Never mind. They won't have time to react, Ian thought.

  He reached out to push aside the last door.

  This door was firmly locked.

  And it held a question Ian couldn't answer.

  244

  CHAPTER 33

  OUTSIDERS BELIEVE THAT THIS LOST PLAY OF SHAKESPEARE'S IS A SEQUEL TO ONE OF HIS COMEDIES. BUT MADRIGALS KNOW THAT THE PLAY ACTUALLY DESCRIBED MADRIGALS' HOPES FOR THE CAHILL FAMILY TO REUNITE.

  WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE PLAY?

  Dan swiveled his head toward Amy, ready to hear her call out a triumphant answer. But Amy was biting her lip.

  "I don't know. Sorry," she said, her face ghostly white in the dim flashlight glow. "I only had two days to study up on Shakespeare. Do you know, Alistair? Sinead?"

  "I never knew Shakespeare was a Cahill," Alistair said angrily. "How was I supposed to know anything about him?"

  245

  Sinead just shook her head.