39 Clues - 05 - The Black Circle (10 page)

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?"109"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 pul ed

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.110"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?"111His 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?"112"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."I'm 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?"114The 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 why115Hamilton 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 to116hold 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."117CHAPTER 11Ian 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. Ian knew he

hadn't fared much better, bruised and battered after an all-out rumble with the

Holts."This clue hunt is stupid. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Natalie said, her voice

particularly shrill in the small backseat of the busted-up Land Rover. The driver was on

the phone trying to reach a tow company and gingerly feeling his broken nose."The big

guy is quicker than he looks," said Ian, trying to lighten the mood. "I'd hate to take him

on when his back is working properly.""Face it, Ian, we've hit bottom. They trashed the

car. We're sitting on a road of peasant bones, and we're stuck118in Siberia. It's a

nightmare. I WANT TO GO HOME!"That was it. Ian couldn't take one more second

confined in a small space with Natalie. He stepped out of the car and paced, dialing his

phone. Five rings later, he hung up, unable to reach his father. As usual. He dialed

again. This time, after three rings, Irina Spasky answered."I'm busy," she snapped."Our

day isn't going as well as I'd expected. I hope you have better news for me.""Couldn't

handle the Holts? Why am I not surprised?"Ian refused to be distracted by the sniping.

He gathered himself, took a very deep breath, and put in the order."You have to get rid

of them. They're working with the Holts, and I'm pretty certain they've relayed another

message. Dan and Amy are too close."For some reason, Amy's face and her stupid

stutter flashed into his mind. He paused. "Get them out of Russia."He had chosen his

words carefully. It was not officially a kill order. And yet he knew Irina would go to any

extreme to remove the risk."Agreed," Irina finally answered."Relay the details when

you've accomplished your task."Irina clicked off her phone. It was done.119* * *The

one-hour flight from St. Petersburg to Moscow gave Amy and Dan the time they needed

to decipher the riddle and formulate a plan. They were back in their disguises, and this

time they decided to leave them on until they were finished exploring the Kremlin. It

didn't seem like a good idea to visit the Russian center of power looking like two kids

who'd gotten separated from their parents.Lenin, Amy had immediately assumed, was a

reference to the Kremlin, where the preserved body of the leader of the Russian

Revolution was still on display, decades after his death.This time, the rest of the riddle

required the skills of both Dan and Amy. Amy was quick to put the first part together:

SKP, she was sure, stood for State Kremlin Palace, a prestigious concert hall on the

sprawling grounds of the Kremlin. Dan was first to suggest the meaning of the rest of

the numbers and letters."BAL BOX4 R3 must be a row of seats. Balcony Box Four, third

row, to be exact," Dan said.Amy nodded approvingly. "I don't always think you were

switched at birth with my real brother. The rest of the numbers must be some sort of

combination or code. I bet we can figure it out when we get there."A dash through the

airport and a quick cab ride later, Dan and Amy stood squarely in front of the State

Kremlin Palace, the guidebook open. They were down120to a couple of hours, and a