Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 Dan felt cheated. Nellie and Amy had convinced him that he had to come to Romeo and Juliet because it would be a good place to look for a Clue. "It's about feuding families," Nellie had said. "Don't you think that's related?" Besides, the two had told him, the play would be exciting. "Back in Shakespeare's day, theater wasn't seen as high class and literary and all that," Amy had said, practically reading the words right from the computer screen. "It was meant to appeal to common people. On the same level as the other big entertainment in Elizabethan London— bear baiting." "What's bear baiting?" Dan had asked. Amy had put her hands over Saladin's ears before answering.

"Oh, it was awful," she said. "They'd chain up a bear and then let a bunch of other animals— usually dogs—attack. Everybody would watch to see if the bear killed the dogs or the dogs killed the bear." "Sounds like Survivor," Nellie said. Her face turned grim. "Or this clue hunt." "Well, anyhow," Amy said quickly. "There are sword fights in Romeo and Juliet. Two or three of them. You'll love those." So now Dan had been sitting in the Globe Theatre for what felt like hours, and he was bored out of his mind. Sure, there'd been a sword fight. One. But Dan had missed most of it because he was leaning over to Amy and asking, "Wait—what are they fighting about? Just because the one guy bit his thumb at the other guy? What's wrong with that?" "It was a terrible insult in Shakespeare's time," Amy had explained. "Well, then—can I bite my thumb at Isabel Kabra the next time I see her?" Just then the sword fight had ended. And ever

since, the play had mostly been people saying sappy things about love. Now the girl, Juliet, was standing on a balcony that jutted out above the stage. "O Romeo, Romeo," she sighed. "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" Dan dug his elbow into Amy's side. "What's her problem— is she blind?" Dan asked. "Can't she see that Romeo dude on the stage right below her?" "It's supposed to be nighttime," Amy whispered. "It's dark, and he's hiding." "He's not hiding very well," Dan said. "Anyhow, 'wherefore' means 'why,' not 'where,'" Amy said. That was crazy. "Wherefore" sure sounded like it was supposed to mean "where." Dan's opinion of Shakespeare was sinking lower and lower. "But—" Dan began. "Shh," Amy hissed. "I want to hear this." She settled back, a dreamy look on her face. Beside her, Nellie looked every bit as rapt.

Dan glanced around. It seemed like every single other person in the theater was staring up at Juliet with that same goofy expression that Amy and Nellie had. Even the people standing in the middle of the theater where there wasn't a roof, where the rain was pouring right down on their heads. Amy had said that those people were called groundlings, and they didn't have a roof over their heads because this theater was supposed to be historically accurate, as much like theaters back in Shakespeare's time as possible. Dan thought that if he'd been standing in the rain watching a stupid play about love, he wouldn't have minded a little historical inaccuracy to keep his head dry. Dan's attention wandered further. He looked toward the top of the theater, three stories up. He and Amy and Nellie had seats off to the side, near the stage, so he had a good view of the ring of thatched roof that protected everyone who wasn't a groundling. Amy had told him it was the only thatched roof in London— and it was allowed only because they'd used special flame-retardant

thatch. The original Globe Theatre had burned to the ground. Another fire, Dan thought. Probably set by feuding Cahills even way back in the 1600s. Dan's stomach churned. This had been happening to him ever since Jamaica, ever since he'd watched an innocent man die. Dan had gone into shock right afterward, but since then he'd worked very hard to convince Nellie and Amy he was back to normal. I am, Dan told himself. Except when he thought about Lester too much, or when he remembered how dangerous the Clue hunt was. Then his stomach churned and his vision blurred and his mind blanked and he wasn't sure if he was going to throw up or faint or just start screaming and screaming and screaming…. Dan forced himself to focus very intently on the thatch. Maybe there was a Clue hidden up there and he would see it while Nellie and Amy were watching the play.

A hand appeared in the section of thatch Dan was staring at. Dan jerked back and blinked hard. Was he hallucinating? Imagining Lester reaching up out of the quicksand all over again? Dan made himself look again. He wasn't hallucinating. There was a hand holding on to the thatch. While Dan watched, a dark figure appeared behind the hand: Somebody was holding on and peering over the peak of the roof section directly opposite the stage. Two more dark-clad heads appeared beside the first. Dan tugged on Amy's arm. He reminded himself not to act like he'd just thought he was hallucinating a dead man's hand. "You didn't tell me there were going to be ninjas!" he said excitedly. "What are you talking about? There aren't ninjas in Romeo and Juliet!" Amy said. "Sure there are," Dan said. "Look!" He pointed toward the back section of roof. "How soon until they rappel down onto the stage?"