Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15 The Great Wall. Even seeing it from the bus, Amy had been unable to appreciate its vastness. It had been built as protection from the Mongols, its ribbon cutting clear across ancient China's vast northern frontier. Now, walking along the ramparts of the Badaling section, Amy could see why even the Mongol hordes had thought twice before trying to attack this place. For starters, the Wall was thick— the top was as wide as the living room of their apartment back in Boston. That meant the Chinese could pack it with soldiers. There were towers every half mile or so. These served as observation posts, barracks, armories, and storehouses for supplies. The defenders could live on the Wall indefinitely. It was also high— at least thirty feet at Badaling. Any attacking army would have to climb

that distance through a barrage of arrows and boiling oil. Dan should see this, she reflected. Arrows and boiling oil were just his speed. Yet it wasn't only the Wall's military history that made her think of her brother. Rarely did a full minute pass without her recalling their ugly fight in Tiananmen Square. And now Dan was gone. Well, not exactly. He hadn't vanished into thin air. She knew who he was with, if not where he was. An unpleasant memory returned— the murky picture of a slimy ridged body and long reptilian tail. An eighteen-foot Nile crocodile, viewed by moonlight. Jonah Wizard could not be trusted. No Cahill could. It had been more than two days since she'd last seen her brother. Their longest separation since the day Mom brought the little dweeb home from the hospital to ruin her life. Now it was starting to sink in that, without Dan, she had no life. She thought back to their grandmother's funeral, the day when she and Dan had first

learned about the search for the 39 Clues. They may have signed on as a sort of tribute to Grace, but, by the time the hunt had taken them to Paris, both believed with all their hearts that the contest was the most important thing on the face of the earth. With each passing hour, Amy was becoming increasingly convinced that the whole business meant less than nothing if she couldn't get her brother back. Where are you, Dan? Is this my fault? Are you so mad that you're never coming back? She recalled his exact words: I hate you! It didn't get much clearer than that. She couldn't blame him for hating her for what she'd said about Mom and Dad. In a weird way, she was almost proud of him for defending them when she couldn't. To be relieved their parents were dead. The mere fact that she could think such a thing was like a business card with MADRIGAL printed on it. "I can't put you down, Saladin, so stop asking," Nellie was muttering irritably. "It's too crowded.

You'll get lost." "Mrrp," Saladin complained. Crowded. Amy shuddered. Was it ever! Their bus had turned out to be one of hundreds. Near the main parking area, tourists had swarmed like a plague of locusts among guides, souvenir vendors, and security guards. And the stuff! The Wall itself might have been an unspoiled ancient wonder, but beside it the goods for sale would have filled fifty malls— paper cuttings ranging from postcard size to large murals; intricate carvings from walnut shells; pictures made of seashells and feathers; silk kites, toys, figurines; traditional Chinese puzzle boxes by the thousands. Some of it was beautiful folk art; some of it was cheap junk. All of it had throngs of customers lined up with credit cards and fistfuls of yuan. The crush made Tiananmen Square seem empty by comparison. Amy had very nearly lost it. Only the refrain in her head had kept her focused: Jonah draws a crowd… find Jonah and you've found Dan…. But so far, the crowds had been sightseers, not Wizard fans. Around here, the Great Wall outdrew teenage moguls, even the wonderful and

celebrated Wiz. Nellie peered over the parapet at the purple-tinged mountain vista that seemed to go on forever. "Pretty slick. From here you could spot an invading army twenty miles away. Are you sure those emperors were Janus? This place has Lucian written all over it." Amy shook her head. "Way back then there was no Lucian or Janus. The Wall was started two thousand years before Gideon Cahill was even born." The au pair shot her a cockeyed smile. "I forgot that there are still a few things on this planet you Cahills haven't had a hand in." The sun was low in the sky now, and she had to squint to see the next tower. "Looks like a big mob ahead. Maybe it's God's gift to hip-hop." Amy nodded but said nothing. To her, the setting sun meant only one thing: They had been wandering around the Wall all afternoon, with no sign of Jonah— or Dan. They raced along the ancient battlement— this stretch arduously uphill. Nellie set Saladin down,

and the cat, happy to stretch his legs, bounded beside them. Puffing hard, they caught up to the horde assembled outside the tower— a Brazilian tour group. "Jo-Jo—?" This time Amy's stammer had as much to do with breathlessness as the presence of a large group of people. "Jonah Wizard," Nellie finished, scooping Saladin back into her arms. "Have you seen him?" "The Wiz?" The tour guide brightened. "He is here? I read his O Filho Da Gangsta bedtime stories to my nieces in S.o Paolo." Nellie was totally disgusted. "No matter where you go, or who you meet, it's all Jonah, all the time." "But," Amy added, barely able to lift her gaze from the cobblestones, "when you really need him, he's nowhere." The au pair recognized the hopelessness in the girl's voice. "Okay," she said, taking charge. "We're tired. It's time to admit that we're not going to find Dan today. We have to figure out where we're going to sleep so we'll be fresh to take up