Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21 "We open it together," Amy said, her eyes gleaming. "Ready? One— two— three—" Inside, the box was lined with silk decorated with an elaborately embroidered whale. Two objects rested on the silk: a small roll of parchment and a little pouch. Amy unrolled the parchment carefully. The edges crackled; a few tiny pieces flaked off. The ink on the page was faded but still legible. Amy read aloud:

"Can I see it?" Dan took the parchment gently from Amy's hands. He glanced at it quickly. "WOO–HOO!" he whooped. "Finally, an easy one!" With one hand, he made a beckoning motion with his fingers. "Go on, go on, ask me," he said. Amy and Nellie rolled their eyes at each other. "Okay," Nellie said, "whatcha got?" Dan's expression was pure smugness. "I want you to beg," he said. "Dan!" Amy said, half laughing but completely annoyed. "Just kidding," he said. He held out the page and pointed to it. "See that? The word 'danngle.' It's misspelled. And it has to be, because without the extra 'n,' it wouldn't be an anagram for ENGLAND. That's where we go next!" He mimed licking his finger and then touched his temple. "Sssss," he said. "Oh, yeah, I'm good. I'm so good." More eye–rolling from the girls. In an effort to distract Dan's attention away from his self–

proclaimed greatness, Amy reached for the little pouch. It was beautifully made, lined and heavily padded and closed with a drawstring. She opened it carefully and took out a small glass vial. The vial was filled with a rusty brownish red substance, like a rough powder. Amy uncorked the vial and brought it up to her nose. She sniffed cautiously. "I don't know," she said, frowning a little. "You can still smell something, even after all this time, but I can't tell—" Nellie reached for the vial. She gave it a quick sniff. "It's mace," she said immediately. "That spice I bought. The outer covering of a nutmeg." The three of them beamed at one another. "A clue and the next location, both inside about thirty seconds!" Dan crowed. The man in gray was standing behind Nellie. They had been so engrossed in the box and its contents, none of them had noticed when he rejoined them. "Well done," he said quietly.

He sat down and took off his sunglasses. Then, to Amy's astonishment, he wiped his eyes as if they were tearing up. He cleared his throat and picked up the box. "Made by a renegade Ekat," he said. "Most ingenious, wouldn't you say? The Ekaterinas claimed this area— the Caribbean— long ago and have been very active here. By the way, I thought you would like to know that your cat is safe in Kingston. We will collect him when we leave here." He put the box back on the table. "I must apologize," he said. "First, for my earlier unpleasantness. As you will learn shortly, it was all part of the grand scheme. And second, because I've never properly introduced myself. My name is Fiske Cahill. And I would like to thank you for bringing such joy to my sister." His sister? "Grace," he said as he sat down next to Nellie. "Grace was my sister." Amy's jaw dropped.

Grace had one sibling— Aunt Beatrice. Neither of them had ever once mentioned a brother. It couldn't be true! "How come we never heard of you?" Dan asked. The man winced and slumped a little in his chair. "There is no easy answer to that question," he said, almost to himself. He paused and took a breath. "As a small child, I was painfully shy. So much so that I simply couldn't function when I was with other people. My parents allowed me to stay out of school, at home with a tutor. Perhaps that was a mistake because in the end, it made it easier for me to— to disappear altogether when I decided as a young man that I wanted nothing to do with— with the family business." He gave them a searching look, and Amy knew what business he meant: the hunt for the 39 Clues. The man laced his fingers together and stared at his hands. "As children, Grace and I adored each other. She was the only one I kept in touch with over the years, and on my terms, not hers. I would call or write once in a while, brief visits every

other year or so. It was not until she became ill that I went to see her for an extended time." He shook his head, and his already soft voice lowered to a whisper. "Of the many poor choices I made in my life, the one I most regret is not spending more time with her." Amy felt her throat clutch a little. What would it be like if Dan disappeared from her life? Then she caught herself and frowned. If Fiske Cahill wasn't telling the truth, he was an awfully good actor. He probably wanted her to think exactly what she had been thinking. She had to stay on guard…. "I hope that is sufficient explanation as to why you have never heard of me," he was saying, "because there is no other. Grace, in her last days, asked me to become involved in the hunt for clues. I could not refuse her." "Not good enough," Dan said. "You still haven't given us any real proof that you're Grace's brother." Fiske Cahill sat in silence for a moment. Then he lifted his chin, blinked his eyes, and spoke in a