Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4 As soon as the taxi joined a raging river of traffic on a main street and they were sure they hadn't been followed, Nellie gave the driver the name of their hotel. Then she crashed back against the seat and sighed. "You two owe me, big-time. I just left my soul mate waiting for me to get back from the ladies' room." "Don't worry," Dan said. "You'll always have cardapop." "Cardamom," Nellie corrected. "We'll make it up to you," Amy said. "Anyway, we found something." Amy held up the leather tube. She unwound the old, worn straps and popped off the top.

Turning over the tube, she shook it gently. They gasped as a small fragment of rolled parchment fell out of the tube into her palm. It was dry and crumbled at the edges. It was so fragile Amy was afraid to even breathe on it. "I think it's an old letter," she said. "Or at least part of one." She unwrapped it slowly. Dan groaned. "Not French again!" "Translation?" Amy asked Nellie. "'And for the greater glory of the descendants of Luke and my Emperor, the clue is now en route to the palace o… '"Nellie stopped, tilting her sunglasses down to read. "'…du la Paris'? Of the Paris? That isn't correct. Unless L is an initial?" "So who could L be?" Dan wondered. "Well, there were an awful lot of kings of France named Louis," Nellie said. "One of them lost his

head, but he had a palace called Versailles." "Anyway, some clue was shipped off to some palace by the Lucians," Amy said. "But I wonder who B.D. is." She sighed. "I was hoping it would be a message from Napoleon." "Does this mean the clue is back in France?" Dan wondered. Amy carefully put the paper in her waist pack. "If we just keep digging, this will make sense sooner or later." They had been so intent on the letter that they hadn't noticed when the taxi turned off a main street and into a quieter neighborhood. Palm trees lined the boulevard. Bougainvillea bloomed in explosions of pink and purple. "Wow," Nellie said, cranking down her window and sticking her head out to sniff the air. "I smell rich people." The taxi pulled into a long, curving drive. Amy and Nellie gasped, and Dan cried out, "Sweet!" as the hotel came into view. It was a big white sprawling mansion of a building. Long green lawns stretched up to its front porch. A couple dressed in white terrycloth

robes strolled across a side patio toward a turquoise pool. A pool boy rushed up to lead them to a cabana. Waiters glided through the chairs, balancing trays of iced drinks. Across the Nile loomed the great pyramids of Giza, appearing through the yellow air like a dream. Nellie whistled. "A lifestyle to which I am ready to become accustomed." "How can we afford this?" Amy asked. "We do have the money from the Kabras," Nellie said. "Which totally belongs to us now. We earned it." "We sure did," Amy said, remembering Ian's double-cross. Mr. McIntyre, Grace's lawyer, had told them Trust no one at the very beginning. She shouldn't have forgotten that for a moment. Instead, she'd looked into Ian's dark eyes and fallen for his lines. Dumb. Really dumb, Amy. She had no trouble with lessons at school. But when it came to real-life emotions, she'd score an F. "Still, we could run out of cash pronto at a place like this," Nellie said. "Maybe we should try someplace else."

The taxi had already pulled up. A snappily dressed bellman ran to open the door. Another raced to collect their bags. Before they could protest, they were ushered out of the taxi, and the driver was heading back down the drive. The bellman hung their shabby backpacks and battered bags on the rolling cart as though they were fine luggage. Nobody gave their T-shirts and crumpled jeans a second look. "Welcome to the Hotel Excelsior," the first bellman said. "Follow me, please." They trailed behind him as Nellie smoothed her hair, Amy tucked in her shirt, and Dan tried to grab his backpack from the cart. There were more wide smiles from the clerks at the front desk. One slim, handsome gentleman waved them over. "Please, welcome to the Hotel Excelsior. May I inquire the name of your party?" "Uh…," Nellie said. "Oh…" Dan said. "Oh?" "Oh," Dan said firmly.

"I'm sorry, the reservation is not showing up," the man said, consulting the computer. "I can recommend several other hotels…. Excuse me," he said as the phone rang. His posture grew even more erect as he listened for a moment. He looked at them, then turned a shoulder and spoke quietly into the receiver. "Ah, certainly, sir. I'll arrange that right away for you." He hung up and turned back to the computer screen. "Oh. Of course. The Oh reservation. We've reserved the Aswan Suite, as usual." "Suite?" Amy blurted. "At the usual family discount, of course," he added. He pushed the register toward Nellie. "If you would just sign." Amy peeked at the price. To her surprise, it wasn't much more than the price of the fleabag hotel in Paris. Nellie signed the register and the desk clerk handed over three card keys. He reached over to ding the bell. "The bellman will show you upstairs." "Family discount?" Amy hissed. "We are family," Dan pointed out.