Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26 The first thing Hamilton saw was more rock. The back of the elevator led into a huge cave. All right! he thought, staring at another sheer rock wall. Holt skills rule here, too! Get out the climbing gear! But then, in the dim light filtering in from outside, Hamilton saw that there were also stairs leading down in a spiral along the wall. Hamilton considered running ahead of everyone else. He was stronger, he was faster—surely he could beat everyone else to the prize. But how would Hamilton get the prize back out past the others without his family's help? With Amy and Dan? Hamilton wondered. With Madrigals? He glanced at the two siblings, who were already pulling out flashlights and moving toward the stairs. Dan had a streak of dirt across his

cheek, and his right eye looked a little swollen where Hamilton's own father had hit him. Amy was nervously twisting a lock of hair around her finger. They didn't look like evil Madrigals. They looked as innocent as Bambi. As the Easter Bunny. As— Hamilton's childhood hadn't exposed him to many stories about cute, cuddly, innocent creatures, so he couldn't think of the right example. But it didn't matter. Even if Amy and Dan weren't evil, they also weren't strong enough to fend off all the others if there was a fight for the prize. For that, Hamilton needed someone with muscles. Hamilton needed his family. "Coming, Ham?" Dan asked hopefully, as if trying to find out, Are we still on the same team? He and Amy were at the top of the stairs, right behind Jonah, Ian, and Natalie. "Um," Hamilton said. "Just a minute." He glanced over his shoulder, back toward the outdoors. "Why don't you go out and see if your family's

getting close, climbing up the cliff on the other side of the elevator?" Alistair suggested, right at Hamilton's elbow. "If I do that, you'll find some way to close the door on me!" Hamilton protested. "No, no, I would never do anything that underhanded," Alistair said, flashing Hamilton a completely untrustworthy smile. Hamilton saw that Alistair already had his hand over something on the wall beside the elevator— another button? He's playing mind games with me, Hamilton thought. If he can't lock me outside, he wants to get me mad enough that I run ahead. And then, when I'm not watching, he'll shut the door and lock out my family. Even in sports, Hamilton hated mind games. But he kept his mouth shut and waited for Alistair to give up on his plan and start walking down the stairs. Alistair didn't move. Hamilton didn't move. Alistair didn't move.

Now Ian, Natalie, Amy, Dan, and Jonah were all far ahead of them on the stairs. For all Hamilton knew, they might already be claiming the prize. Think! Hamilton told himself. You can't always just out-muscle everyone! And then Hamilton got an idea. He dropped down low, muttering about needing to brush mud off his shoes. It was dim down near the floor. While he was crouched over, he strung together a couple of carabiner clips from his climbing kit and jammed them in the doorway of the elevator. So even if the door closed, it wouldn't close all the way. Then— and Hamilton thought this was the brilliant part—he stood up and waited a few more minutes. "Okay, guess I'll catch up with the others," Hamilton said nonchalantly. He strapped on his climbing kit and began descending the stairs, into the darkness. Once he was out of Alistair's sight, he stopped to switch on a flashlight and double-check to make sure his

jacket pockets still contained eleven small silver tubes— samples of each of the Clues the Holts had found. We'll need them if this really is the end of the clue hunt, Hamilton thought. Won't we? He was still thinking "we," not "I." They'll come! He assured himself. My family will be here soon! He listened hard as he began moving forward again. He'd only taken a few steps when he heard a whirring and then a click behind him. And then Alistair's uneven footsteps sounded on the stairs. The click has to mean the carabiner clips worked, Hamilton thought. He let Alistair pass him. He kept listening for another whirring sound that would mean his family had gotten in. There! Was that it? Hamilton wondered. Or— that? It was so hard keeping an eye on the others while also hanging back, listening for some proof that his family was right behind him.

Was that a soft footstep? Hamilton wondered. Someone tiptoeing? The Holt family wasn't known for tiptoeing or taking soft footsteps, but the Clue hunt had driven them to do lots of unlikely things. Hamilton tried to think of some way to signal the rest of his family. What would they know that no one else would recognize? Hamilton wondered. Oh, yeah… Hamilton began tapping out the rhythm of the University of Wisconsin fight song on the rock railing that lined the stairs. Jonah shot him a suspicious glance from a few steps below. "You? Trying to make music?" he asked. His eyes narrowed and he gazed around. Just then the first stone hit the back of Hamilton's neck.