Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20 GUARD DOGS LIVE ELECTRICAL CURRENT ALARMED!! KEEP OUT!!! Dan gaped at the sign over the locked gate. Behind it was a stone walkway flanked by shrubbery. It led to a windowless building with six sides, constructed of pale marble that seemed to change shade as you walked. On one side, a massive air-conditioning machine hummed, and over the front door hung a sign with a corporate logo: UBUHLALU ELECTRONICS. "Well, that's cheery," Nellie said. "I— I think Mr. Mondli was right," Amy said. "We probably shouldn't do this." "How would we get in?" Nellie said.

"Do we want to get in?" Amy asked. "This could be a wild goose chase. I mean, Churchill wrote those coordinates over a hundred years ago. We don't know if the Tomas are really here. What if they moved on?" Nellie glanced skeptically at the building. "This place doesn't look very Tomas-ish," Nellie said. Dan thought for a moment. Churchill had given coordinates for a Tomas clue. Mr. Mondli's description made it sound like these people could be Tomas. But companies could be unfriendly, too. "Let's scope the place out," he suggested, heading around the side of the building, "and be careful in the bushes." "Why?" Amy said. "This is South Africa, dude," Dan replied. "Where cobras come from. And not the hot ones, like Ian." He followed the building to its opposite side, where a hill sloped gently downward. Extending from the back of the building was an ugly, rusted metal structure that looked like the remains of an old warehouse. Above it rested sheets and sheets

of sleek blue solar panels. A tidy white picket fence enclosed the warehouse, extending from the larger building's wall down the hill. A weary- looking gardener was opening a door in the warehouse. He scowled, waving for them to go away. Then he disappeared inside. "Green recycling," Amy remarked. "Old building on bottom, solar collector on top." Attached to the fence was a sign with a message in different languages. In English it said DO NOT PROCEED BEYOND THIS AREA/ENERGY COLLECTORS. "Okay, that does it," Nellie said. "I say we head back down the hill, buy some beads from the locals, crack a few antelope jokes…" But Dan had his eye on something. A vertical wooden post was attached to the bigger building, with a glass strip running down its length. A series of these posts, like stray cacti, had been placed in the grassy area between the picket fence and the solar collectors— like the remains of an older fence within the newer one. "Amy, do you have any coins?" Amy pulled out several Indonesian rupiah coins

from her pocket, which she gave to Dan. Rearing back, he tossed them toward the old building. Dzzzit! Dzzzit! Dzzzit! Dzzzit! One by one, they sparked and fell to the ground, trailing wisps of smoke. "Who-o-oa," Nellie gasped. "What'd you do?" "It's an invisible electric eye," Dan said. "Go past it, and you're nuked. The gardener must turn it on and off." "Nuking people to protect solar panels?" Amy said. "Come on, let's pay these guys a visit." Dan began sprinting back to the main entrance. Amy caught up to Dan in front of the warning sign. "'Guard dogs… live electrical current.' Who goes first?" "Maybe there's a doorbell," Nellie said. "Hey, this could be worse," Dan said. "At least it doesn't say…" Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a slithery movement in the grass. "SNAKE!" Amy rolled her eyes. "Very funny."

"No, Amy, look!" "Ghhh… gchhh…" The words caught in Amy's throat. She felt the weight across her shoe tops even before looking down. When she did, her feet were under the flowing green body of a snake at least six feet long. It slithered fast, its eyes wide. "Mamba," Dan said, remembering it from science class. Snakes were one of the only topics that kept him awake in school. "Don't. Move. As long as its head is close to the ground, you should be all right." Amy's arms were vibrating. Her face was bone white. The bulk of the snake's body was over her now… the tail… almost gone… THWACK! The building's door swung open. Amy jumped. With an angry hiss and a flare of its sides, the snake reared up out of the grass. "Dan!" Amy yelled. A man stormed toward them, down the flagstone walkway. He was dark-skinned and close to seven feet tall, with a potbelly that strained the buttons of his black shirt. A scar split his left

eyebrow, running down his cheek to his jawbone. He glared at them with bloodshot eyes. In his right hand was a rifle. The snake rose higher, eyes now on the guard. As the man approached, it lunged forward. With one fluid motion, the man lifted a stick from the ground in his bare hand. The mamba clamped its teeth down hard on the stick. Calmly, the man tossed the stick down the hillside, the snake flailing along with it. He glared at Dan, Amy, and Nellie. The anger in his eyes had turned to puzzlement. "May I help you?" On his badge was the name A. Bhekisisa. "Th-that was awesome," Dan said. The guard smiled. "Thank you. I am confused. An alarm went off. Was that you?" "Maybe," Dan said. "We got kind of lost." "We're… l-l-looking for our p-p-parents," Amy stammered. Dan groaned inwardly. Mr. Bhekisisa laughed. "I'm so sorry. The gun is