Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 "Rock star do not jump!" The launch was cutting sharply, its skipper calling out a phrase that bore no relationship to the English language as Amy knew it. "Rock star in a hurry!" Nellie replied, one foot on the boat's gunwale. As the skipper docked next to a beat-up old fishing boat, Nellie tumbled out onto the soggy planks. She was dressed in a black jeans vest, shorts, striped knee socks, laceless red Converse, and a Mr. Bill T-shirt. Her spiky two-toned hair lay flat, making her head look from a distance like a wet skunk. As she ran to Dan and Amy, Saladin slinked along behind her. "Oh, my God, you guys!" Nellie cried out. "You're okay! I am so happy to see you!" "Saladin!" Dan cried out, running toward the Mau.

"Saladin? What am I, chopped liver?" Nellie scooped both Dan and Saladin into a big hug as she walked. "Okay, listen up, dudes. We have to book. Yesterday, when I find you guys are, like, AWOL? I, like, freak. Yelling at everybody— where are they, why did you let them leave—the hotel people are, like, whaaaa? Anyway, I pack up all your stuff, figuring I may never see the place again, and down in the lobby I find my man Arif. I'm, like, help me, and he takes all our stuff to this launch—and then we're halfway across the sea when Arif gets this radio message, and he's all excited, but I don't know what he's saying until he's, like, 'POLICE!' in English. And we see these cop cars and somebody's getting a big old boat, so we're, like, sayonara, only in Indonesian, and we tool out into this boat-traffic jam to try to lose them, and I'm hearing these radio reports that are half English—there's been a fire and somebody's dead, yada yada, and I'm totally wigging out— Why did you do that? Why did you and your sister leave me in the hotel without even a note?" "Sorry," Dan began. "But you were sleeping—" He glanced quickly at Amy. All their lives they

had been able to communicate so much with just a look, and Amy silently gave him everything she could: …and also, Nellie, we saw that you were receiving coded e-mails from someone… …and back in Russia you also got a voicemail that said "Call in for a status report"… …plus, you just happen to be able to fly a plane… …and we hate to be paranoid, but one thing we learned on this clue hunt is "Trust no one." "Dang! Do they do this in front of you, too, Al?" Nellie said, throwing Dan and Amy each a huge backpack. "Mind-melding?" Alistair looked flummoxed. "Do they… pardon?" Nellie handed Saladin's cat carrier to Arif. She took Alistair's and Arif's arms and headed for the woods. "Don't mind us, kiddos. We're just going to hide in the trees. You can send us mental tweets from jail. Just include an explanation about why you betrayed your loyal babysitter." "Wait, we're coming!" Dan said, donning his

backpack as he ran after her. "And you're an au pair!" As they neared the woods, Amy glimpsed the smoldering remains of the house. She turned away, not wanting to see. Not wanting to think about Irina. Irina's visit to the island would not be round-trip. The thought made Amy stop in her tracks. "Why don't we use Irina's fishing boat?" she called out. "The police won't recognize it." "Far too small," Alistair said. "And I was the one who arrived on that boat, not Irina." "Then how—" Dan said. "Uncle Alistair, is there another dock on this island?" "Well, now that you mention it…" Alistair stopped, catching his breath. "Many years ago I found the remnants of a small sailing vessel in a tiny cove to the north. Why do you ask?" "We may find our escape vessel there!" Amy blurted out. "If Irina didn't dock here, she may have pulled into that cove!" "Brilliant, dear girl!" Alistair said.

"I was the one who thought of it," Dan grumbled. Pulling free of Nellie, Alistair pointed his cane confidently toward a distant tree. "Do you see that yellow mark high on the tree? It's a trail blaze. If we follow the trees marked in yellow, we will reach the cove. But the marks are quite faded, so we must proceed carefully. I shall bushwhack." He removed his jacket, placing it over his left arm, then held the arm out to Nellie. "Would you give me some support, dear girl?" Nellie held on firmly to Alistair's jacket-draped arm. Alistair was walking fast, whacking at vines and branches with his cane. Arif followed behind, muttering. Before long, the contents of one of Alistair's jacket pockets began to spill. "You're dropping things!" Dan scooped up a comb, mints, a handkerchief, and a small blue felt pouch. The pouch had Russian writing on it. "Whoa… is this Irina's?" Dan reached in and lifted out a vial of bluish liquid. Alistair turned, mopping his brow with his

sleeve. "Er, well, I saw something on the ground last night. Outside the house. I wasn't sure what it was, so…" Irina's poisons, Amy thought. Alistair took the pouch and walked away, tucking it into his pocket. He was so calm. So logical. But… she died. These were her things. This is stealing. Amy looked at Dan, but he was already running ahead, following the trail marks. "Dan?" Nellie yelled. "Yo, Indiana Jones, sound off so we know you're alive!" They stopped. A few seconds of tense silence were followed by a shriek. "AAAAAAGGHHHH! SNAKES! GET OFF ME!" Amy raced ahead. Her ankle caught on a rain-slickened vine and she tumbled over a bush and down a steep, sandy decline. She landed in mud at the bottom, stopped by Dan's filthy Converse sneakers. He loomed above