Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13 The delicious smells of good things cooking greeted Amy as she wearily pushed open the door to Shep's house. It had taken her over an hour to get back. Plenty of time for her to digest what had happened. But it still hadn't taken away her fear. It was still there in her stomach, a cold, hard ball. When she closed the door, she began to shake. Now that she was safe, the horror of what had happened truly sank in. What if Hamilton hadn't saved her? She saw herself falling into that water, saw the sharks circling with their dead black eyes…. She felt so cold. She couldn't take a step, she was shaking so hard. In the kitchen area, Nellie was cooking, a bright bandanna wrapped around her hair. She stirred something in a pan while outside Shep tended to the barbecue. Dan was playing one-person Foosball, running back and forth to each end of

the table. Nellie looked up. Her welcoming smile faded as she took in Amy's appearance. She dropped the wooden spoon, splattering tomato sauce on the stove. Amy saw it bloom like blood in the water. Dizziness swept over her, a buzzing in her ears. The room started to spin…. Nellie caught her as her knees gave way. "Dan, get a blanket!" Nellie's voice was steady, but it rang through the open space. She half carried Amy to the couch. The only thing Dan could find was the leather jacket. He brought it over and Amy gratefully wrapped herself in it. "What happened?" Dan asked, his small face looking pinched. She'd spooked him. "They didn't hurt me. I mean, if I'd been thrown into the bloody fish water with the sharks, who knows? But Hamilton came by on a paraglider, so—" "What?" Nellie exclaimed at the same moment that Dan yelled, "Sharks?"

Quickly, Amy recounted how Irina had led her through the tunnel and warned her about Isabel, yet she'd wound up on the boat anyway. She explained how Isabel had offered them Lucian protection and what had happened when she'd said no. When she described Isabel calmly ladling the fish parts into the sea, Nellie turned white. But the funny thing was that as Amy told the story, she stopped shaking, and her fear went away. She told them everything, including the rosemary Clue that Irina had given her. But she didn't tell them the most important thing. That Ian, Irina, and Isabel all told her that Hope and Arthur had been murdered. And that Isabel had accused the Madrigals and Irina of the crime. "Oh, man," Dan said, throwing himself back on the cushions. "I missed it! If I'd been there, Isabel Cobra wouldn't have had a chance. We could have pushed her into the water. Or I could have gotten fishing line and tied her up. Or we could have used Ian as a battering ram!" "Dan," Nellie chided. "This isn't a game." The thirty-nine clues are like game to your

brother, yes? Dan jumped up and began pretending to paraglide over snapping sharks. Amy made a decision as she watched him. She couldn't tell him about their parents. There was a soft, secret spot in her brother that he covered up with jokes. It was all about losing his parents so young— before he could even have memories of them. She would have to try to figure it out on her own. At least for awhile. Amy touched her throat, momentarily forgetting that Grace's necklace was gone. The absence of it made her feel more alone than ever. This feeling inside— that there was something she needed to remember— was big and scary. She'd have to hide that from Dan, too. He hates when I act like a big sister. But I am one. Nellie patted her knee. "Food. That's what you need." She got up and went back to the kitchen. Amy wrapped the jacket more tightly around herself. She felt the lining tear and she groaned softly. The only thing she had from her mother,

and she'd ripped it! She moved her fingers along the lining, searching for the tear, and heard something crackle. Sitting up, she examined it more closely. The jacket had already been torn along the seam and repaired again. She reached inside the tear and took out a brittle piece of lined paper—something ripped from a notebook. "What is it?" Dan asked, coming closer. "A piece of old notebook paper hidden in the lining." Her heart pounding, Amy read the words aloud. 28 June 1937 Each stronghold I was able to enter seems shaky now. War is on the horizon, nothing seems simple or safe, from Natal to Karachi. They fear us; that is good. Left Bandung and flew to Darwin. Here we sent back parachutes to lighten load so I am including this jacket as well. GP has been instructed to pass it along to you. Tomorrow we go on to Lae. Then it is off across the Pacific to Howland. I'm sorry to report that I failed to find our

assassin H, or any real clues to his whereabouts. I was able to get to Batavia from Bandung and managed to find our contact. He told of a "scarred white man" who the natives believed had escaped the mountain. His body was intact but not his mind. What he had endured was terrible enough to break it. Here in Darwin our informer turned out to be a dead end. It was soon clear that the gentleman— and I use the term loosely, because he was quite a charlatan— was just looking for another payoff. All he offered was riddles. He even had the audacity to try to sell me a ring— it will bring you luck, he said, so I bought it in hopes it would gain me information. It didn't. When I asked again if he knew H, he said both of them were in a hole but not to worry. Then he cackled a laugh and that was the end of it. Clearly he enjoyed giving me no information… and making me pay for it. I am off into the blue. No more strongholds to penetrate. Only sky. AE "I don't get it," Dan said. "Who do you think AE is? Some Australian dude who flew a plane?"