Beyond the Grave - - 39 Clues 04 Page 11

  "But I don't recognize him "

  "I bet it's Eisenhower Holt in disguise."

  Amy followed. Dan strode over to the man and ripped away the newspaper from in front of his face. "You're busted!"

  "Just what do you think you are doing, sir?" the man blustered in a British accent. Dan quickly handed him back his paper. "Uh, busted for wearing the best hat in the joint!" he said. "You rock!"

  Amy tugged Dan away. "While you were assaulting that guy, everybody in the lobby looked up," she whispered. "Except him."

  A man sat in the corner, a newspaper in front of his face. He was dressed in a suit the color of vanilla ice cream. Above the matching shoes, Dan glimpsed bright pink socks.

  "That's him," Dan declared. "There's only one jerk we know who can conduct high-tech surveillance and accessorize at the same time."

  He'd made a dumb joke, but it was only to cover up how crazy-mad he felt at the sight

  of his uncle. Alistair Oh had been the only Cahill to truly befriend them. At least, they'd thought so. Sure, they'd double-crossed each other a few times, but they'd also ended up working together. Alistair had saved their necks on more than one occasion. But he'd ended up being like the rest of the Cahills -- out for himself and willing to betray anyone who got in his way.

  Dan stalked over and grabbed a fistful of the newspaper, tearing it away from Alistair's face. "Surprise!"

  Alistair Oh looked up at them sheepishly. "Greetings, young ones."

  "Greetings, weasel," Dan said.

  "Perhaps an explanation is in order -- "

  "Perhaps a whomp upside the head is in order," Dan said.

  Amy took a few steps and reached for a house phone. She dialed their room number.

  When Nellie answered, she said, "Okay, you can stop now."

  "Man, that's guid news," Nellie said. "This lassie is about to pass out."

  Amy hung up the phone and turned back to Alistair. Dan faced their uncle, his arms

  crossed.

  "I realize things look bad," Alistair said.

  "Did you hear that?" Dan asked. "A dead man is talking."

  "Amazing," Amy said. "But didn't you mean to say a lying, cheating, double-crossing dead man?"

  "I had good reason for what I did!" Alistair exclaimed. "My safety depends on my being dead. Anything less wouldn't have worked. Do you see, our alliance will be stronger than ever."

  "We don't have an alliance," Dan said. "Because you lied."

  "A small necessary deception. Think about it. Now I can operate undercover. You will have a truly silent partner. The Kabras think I'm dead. Soon the news will spread out to all Cahills."

  "Your uncle thinks you're alive."

  "Well." Alistair gave a slight cough. "He might have his reasons. But he won't tell the others. We are Ekats, no matter how we feel about each other." "So why are you bugging our room?" Dan asked.

  "I knew you'd talked to my uncle back in Cairo. I wanted to see if you'd made an alliance with him. You mustn't trust him."

  "And we're supposed to trust you?" Amy asked scornfully.

  "You bug us, and if you just happened to pick up information on a clue that you could

  beat us to, well, that would be a bonus, right?" Dan asked sarcastically.

  "No, not beat you to it," Alistair said. "But help you, yes. We can do it together."

  "We're supposed to believe you now?" Amy demanded. "We trusted you, Alistair. You left us."

  Alistair sighed. He looked down and regarded his pink ankles. "I regret that you lost confidence in me," he said. He looked up and met their eyes. His warm brown gaze seemed sincere. "But I can't regret my actions. I did it for the best reasons. For our alliance."

  "You keep using that word," Dan said. "Don't you get it? We don't trust weasels!" "You must understand something," Alistair said. "This is just the beginning of the chase for the thirty-nine clues. There will be betrayals and seeming betrayals. There will be reversals. There will be victories that will turn out to be dust. What you must do is simple. No matter how things look, you must keep going. How do you do that? By following your heart. If you truly believe I'm not on your side, then walk away. But if you believe that together we can find this clue, then stay."

  What should we do?

  Dan wondered. He was still furious at Alistair. They still felt rocky over the betrayal of Theo and Hilary. Maybe Amy was right -- they couldn't trust anyone. Especially Alistair.

  Except they were at a dead end, and they might need him.

  "I have a way to find the clue," Alistair told them. Dan shook his head. "No way."

  Alistair smiled. "I am an Ekat. Way."

  * * *

  Alistair beat a path through the reeds with a stick. Mud soaked the bottoms of his cream-colored trousers, custom made for him by a very good tailor in Hong Kong. Sometimes sacrifice was necessary in pursuit of a worthy goal. He had hired a taxi to take them south of the city, then dismissed the taxi at a Nubian village. He passed out bags of candy and pens in order to chase away the village boys clamoring for baksheesh. Now they were alone, on a dirt path to the river that had gradually grown more choked with weeds.

  The surveillance device had maybe not been his best idea. He should have just knocked on the door and talked to them. But he couldn't be sure that they hadn't talked to Bae. He had to be certain they hadn't betrayed him.

  That was the problem with all the Cahills -- nobody knew how to trust. With good reason, of course. Alistair had betrayed and been betrayed more times than he could count.

  He had wanted to escape the Cahill way. He had tried with Dan and Amy. But when he saw his chance to leave, pretend he was dead ... he left them. Sometimes sacrifice was necessary in pursuit of a worthy goal. He told himself.

  But there was a difference between trousers and children.

  What was so sad was that he saw himself in them. His childhood had been sacrificed to the hunt for the Clues. His uncle had made sure of that. He had used Alistair's ingenuity, exploited it. Lied to him. Done unspeakable things in pursuit of a goal that eluded him. And now his uncle neared the end of his life and was even more desperate. And Alistair was desperate now, too. Desperate to win. Because the 39 Clues could not fall into the hands of Bae Oh. Even though he was an Ekat.

  What would happen to Dan and Amy? What would this chase do to them? What had Grace bequeathed them? She should have protected them more,

  Alistair thought with a flare of sorrow. Had the Clues corrupted her, too? Was it up to him to protect them?

  In that case, they were all in trouble. He would do the best he could, but he was no hero.

  He could see by Dan's set face that the boy still didn't trust him. Alistair felt something strange touch his heart. Affection.

  An emotion he'd left behind so many years ago as he concentrated on the hunt for the Clues.

  They burst through some underbrush and found themselves at the river. Alistair threw away the stick and pushed aside the reeds with his hands. "Behold," he said fondly. "The Ekat submersible."

  Dan and Amy peered into the reeds. A small bubble-shaped craft sat on two legs that ended in what looked like oversize duck feet. The bubble was made of green-tinted plastic. There was a small propeller at one end. "Are you kidding me?" Dan asked. "Did you buy that at Target?" "I designed it myself," Alistair said, patting it. Amy looked nervous. "Is there an escape hatch?"

  "We don't need an escape hatch. It's a flawless design. You have the map?" Amy nodded and pointed to her waist pack.

  "It's the only way," Alistair said. "Philae is right out there waiting for us." He pointed to the green water. "And we don't have much daylight left." "Dan?" Amy asked.

  Dan looked out at the water. Alistair saw the boy calculate his chances, then throw them away. He would do it. Was this a good trait or a dangerous one?

  Nevertheless, Alistair's heart lifted as Dan nodded. "Let's go find a clue."

  CHAPTER 22

  The submersible plunged downward, and w
ater closed over them. They glided deeper guided by a state-of-the-art (Alistair assured them) charting system. They all pressed forward in the small space, peering through the green, waiting to see the island appear. As the craft went deeper, the water grew more murky, dark and thick with silt. "Hope we find it soon," Alistair said. "We don't want the oxygen to run out." "Run out?" Dan asked. "I thought you said this was flawless." "Well, yes, the design is. But not necessarily the air circulation. I didn't have time to completely perfect it." Alistair jerked the controls to keep the craft on course. "Thanks for telling us!"

  "Now, Dan, don't get excited. It uses too much oxygen." "We'll try not to breathe," Amy muttered. "I wasn't expecting these currents," Alistair said worriedly.

  "Well, isn't that good news," Dan said.

  The submersible was suddenly slammed by a current and spun sideways. "Whoa," Alistair said, struggling for control. "There used to be rapids here, and waterfalls, before the dam, and I guess... there still are, just underneath the surface." "Straight ahead!" Dan called. "I see it!"

  The island suddenly appeared through the murky water, overgrown with aquatic plant life and the remnants of ancient walls. As Alistair piloted the craft closer, they struggled to match Grace's painting with what they saw. Alistair turned on an exterior light that illuminated the area around them.

  "There," Alistair cried. "Do you see the rise? And that wall? That is where the Temple of Isis was! Can you see any distinguishing features from Grace's map?" Amy moved the flashlight underneath the paper so that she could see both Churchill's painting and Grace's arrows. "See how the wall angles? And there are three large stones. One has a split down the middle." "Can you get any closer?" Dan asked Alistair.

  The craft lurched as it drifted closer. "It's hard... to keep ... on course ... ," Alistair said, struggling with the wheel. Suddenly, the craft zoomed ahead, pushed by a tricky current, and slammed into the wall. Amy gasped with alarm.

  "It's all right, we're still airtight," Alistair said, checking the navigation lights. One began

  to blink yellow. "I think."

  "Something's carved into the stone!" Dan suddenly cried. "Get closer!" They peered through the murk as they bounced through turbulence. The submersible suddenly tumbled forward like a rolling ball, knocking Amy against the side. Her face pressed against the bubble, right against the ancient wall. She could just make out two letters. K.C

  "Katherine Cahill!" she shouted. "I think the next one is numbers," Dan said. "Get closer!"

  "I see it!" Amy cried.

  Alistair maneuvered the craft closer. Fronds waved in front, carried by the current, and they had to wait until their view cleared. The light shone on the wall.

  1/2 gm M

  "One half of a gram!" Dan said. "But what's with the M and Ms?" Amy asked. "Yeah, I prefer Skittles," Dan said, peering at the wall.

  There was a sharp cut in the stone after the large M. "It looks like the big M is covering another letter," Amy said. "There must have been a word there. We can't read it!" "It must have happened when they moved the temple," Dan said.

  There was a sheen of sweat on Alistair's face. "No," he said quietly. "The M is for Madrigal. They did it."

  As if pushed by an unseen hand, the submersible suddenly rocked from side to side alarmingly. Amy and Dan grabbed the edges of their seats as Alistair struggled for control. Suddenly a red light began to blink on the console.

  "We're taking on water," Alistair said. "There must be a leak. If the submersible gets too heavy ... "

  "What?" Amy asked frantically. "We can't rise."

  Alistair yanked the controls. "The water must have gotten in the electrical system. I lost

  the rudder!"

  The current picked up the submersible like a small stick and hurled it toward the wall. "Do something!" Dan cried.

  "I'm trying!"

  Terror plastered Amy to her seat. At the very last moment, the current whirled the submersible away.

  "What are we going to do?" Amy tried to keep the panic out of her voice. Trapped under the deep waters of the lake, and nobody knew where they were ... It was as though the malevolent force of the Madrigals had worked on them from afar and led them to their doom.

  Alistair looked at the gauges. His face grew pale. "We're sinking." Amy gripped the sides of her chair. Slowly, the submersible sank to the bottom. It bumped down on the sand and tilted to one side. Everything went silent. Was this how it would end, with this terrible silence? "How much air do we have?" Amy asked. Alistair looked at the gauge. "Difficult to say." She looked at him hard. "Say it." He swallowed. "Fifteen minutes. Maybe."

  They were all silent for a long moment. Then Dan shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "No way. I'm not giving up. We're getting out of here." Alistair clicked on several buttons. "I'm sorry ... there's no electrical power at all. There's nothing we can do."

  "Look up ahead," Dan urged. "See where the bottom drops off? You can actually see

  the current. It's wicked fast. If we could catch it... "

  Ahead, Amy saw a ripple of water, a gleam of green, like a channel cutting through the murk. "I see it," she said. "But how do we get to it?"

  "We walk," Dan said, turning to Amy. "Remember? At the fairground I won the race ... " "The bubble race!" Amy exclaimed. "Let's try it!"

  Alistair watched in confusion as the two of them threw their weight against the front of the bubble-shaped craft. It started to roll forward slowly. They took another step, and it rolled forward again, another inch. "I've got it!" Alistair said. He sprang up and joined in.

  Inch by agonizing inch, slipping and sliding into each other, they rolled the bubble over the bottom, closer and closer to the current.

  "Just... a ... few... more feet...," Dan said, sweat pouring down his face. They strained with all their might. The submersible bumped off the drop-off, hit the current, and shot forward.

  Now they were caught in a screaming current, jouncing along at a rapid pace. "Woo-hoo!" Dan screamed as they zoomed along.

  They held on as it bounced and revolved, completely at the mercy of the rushing water. Amy slammed her head against the roof. Alistair clung to his seat. "It's bringing us to shallow water!" Dan cried.

  They could see the bottom of the lake rising to meet them. With a sudden whoosh,

  they bounced against the ground and popped up above the surface. Water lapped around their sneakers, but the thing still floated.

  Alistair reached over and released the hatch. "I have a pair of oars," he said sheepishly. "Great," Dan said as they bobbed in the river. "A green bubble being rowed down the

  Nile. This shouldn't attract any attention at all."

  * * *

  Luck was like Halloween candy, Dan reflected. Sure, you got to feast on Milky Ways for awhile, but before you knew it, you were scraping the bottom of the plastic pumpkin, and the only thing left was a lone piece of candy corn with fuzz on it. Then you bit it, and it broke your tooth.

  The shadows lengthened outside the Old Cataract Hotel as they stood saying good-bye to Alistair. Defeat was etched on their faces. They'd almost died, and they still hadn't found the Clue. It was lost forever, stolen by the Madrigals.

  Alistair bowed. "I apologize for almost drowning you," he said. "Grace would have been furious. I can hear her voice saying, Alistair, there are calculated risks, and then there is overconfidence."

  "Where are you going next?" Dan asked him.

  "First, back home, to my library," Alistair said. "When you hit a dead end, more research can sometimes be the answer."

  Amy felt that way, too. But in this case, she didn't know what to research. She'd failed. She only knew she was too tired to take another step.

  "I'm flying to Cairo tonight for a connecting flight to Seoul," he said. "I'll give you my new cell number. Memorize it, please -- don't write it down." He passed along a slip of paper. Dan glanced at it, then tore it up. "Are you sure you memorized it?"

  Dan gave him a you've got to be kidding
me look.

  Alistair chuckled. "Let me tell you something -- you two have unique talents. In the beginning, I thought you'd be completely outclassed. How wrong I was. If you need a place to stay in Cairo, feel free to use my card at the Hotel Excelsior. I've received word that my uncle has returned to Seoul. You'll be safe there for a night or two."

  "What about the other Ekats?" Amy asked.

  "Oh, don't worry -- nobody goes there. Everyone got sick of Bae telling them what a genius he was to put it together, and how stupid they were not to realize it. So you might say there's a boycott. Everyone prefers the Bermuda Triangle, anyway -- now, there's a stronghold!"

  Dan gulped. He'd like to explore this whole Bermuda Triangle idea, but Amy had that look on her face, like she was already planning the next step. Missing the cool stuff on the way, as usual.

  Amy nodded. "Good idea," she said. "We need a place to plan our next move." "I've received word that the Holts are operating somewhere near St. Petersburg," Alistair said. "That's an option, though the odds of the Holts doing something intelligent are very low."

  "Thanks for the tip," Dan said. "I think we'll skip it."

  "That's probably wise," Alistair said. He sighed. "The chances of finding a clue left untouched by an original Cahill... well, it was a dream, wasn't it? Now we know that there's a half gram of ... something waiting for us to discover." He gave them a small salute. "See you out there."

  Amy and Dan walked slowly back to the hotel room, too depressed to speak.

  "I don't know what else to do," Amy burst out finally. "We almost died down there! How could she have led us there like that?"

  "She didn't know that the Madrigals would cut away the stone," Dan said.

  "Even so," Amy said. "How could she think we'd be able to get under that deep water?"

  Dan gripped Amy's arm. "Wait a second. Maybe she didn't. Remember you said that Grace had tried to get the painting back? Maybe she didn't want us to find it. Maybe it's an old hint. She painted it before the second dam."

  "You could be right," Amy said as she unlocked the door. "Maybe that's why I don't remember any notes in the guidebook for Aswan. Because there weren't any. Grace told us to follow in her footsteps, but we're the ones who figured out the Isis clue. Then Hilary told us to come here. Probably because she had a plan to steal the Sakhet."