AN: Okay, I don't own the 39 clues or any of the characters- duh. Oh, and this is my first 39 clues fanfic!! Hope you enjoy it!!
Chapter One: The 39th Clue
Amy's POV
I looked out the window of the hotel that Dan, the Holts and I were staying in. I saw the oak trees, the sports fields... and our old apartment. Yes, we were back in Boston. The thirty ninth clue was located here.
I picked at the Apple Jacks I was eating for breakfast. I was nervous, and I had good reason to be. Dan and I had just found the thirty- eighth clue, which had been located in the Amazon Rainforest, and now we were looking for the thirty- ninth one. Since we had an alliance with the Holts, they knew it too. Only one team could win, and soon, we would have to break off our alliance. Both of our families knew that, and neither of us wanted to do it first. We needed each other to survive! Dan and I would have died numerous times if not for the Holt family's chivalry.
Also, we were in Boston. Aunt Beatrice was here. Beatrice 'the Bloody' as Dan called her, had called off the police search because she thought we were dead, but if she saw us, that would be very bad.
And, to top off the anxiety, Dan and I still were a little unsure about who Nellie was. She had been acting strange lately, acting way over protective. She never let Dan or me out of her sight, and she kept her laptop within arms reach at all times, ever since she caught Dan snooping around on it a few weeks ago.
I heard some rustling from the room opposite of where Dan, Nellie, and I slept. The Holts must have finally woken up. One thing that I hadn't known about them before I roomed with them was that they slept in extremely late.
"What's for breakfast?" I heard Eisenhower boom in his loud voice.
"Cereal!" I shouted back.
"Aww! I want pancakes!" Eisenhower grumbled. For some reason, he had issues with cereal.
"Don't worry, Dad," Hamilton said, "I'll whip up some pancakes especially for you."
There's another random fact about the Holts; Hamilton is actually a very good cook. Almost as good as Nellie.
Hamilton came out, and went over to the stove. He made blueberry pancakes.
When the table was set and everyone had sat down to eat the amazing pancakes, I decided to tell about the alliance break.
"Um, I have an announcement to make," I said hesitantly. I didn't sound very confident, but at least my voice wasn't stuttering.
"What's up, Amester?" Hamilton asked, using the nickname he had given me.
"Well," I started, not sure how to say this. "I think we should stop the alliance. We're almost to the end of this race. Only one team can win, and I don't want to end up fighting over the last clue."
Surprisingly, the Holts nodded their heads in agreement. "You're right," Mary-Todd said. "It would be best to go our separate ways now. So... after breakfast, we'll go to a different hotel? Would that work?"
"Sure," I said. I hadn't imagined that this would be so easy.
The conversation died after that. All of us finished our breakfast in silence, not looking at each other. It was awkward.
I didn't want to leave the Holts. I had become... attached to them. Especially Hamilton. After saving each other's butts a few times, we had become pretty good friends. It was necessary though. Best get it over with now.
Dan and I escorted the Holts to the door. Nellie would have, too, but she was still sleeping. We didn't want to wake her up, because if she got less than ten hours of sleep, she was really cranky.
"I guess this is goodbye...." Hamilton said to me.
"Yeah," I said. It sounded awkward. Everything about this conversation was awkward. "Well, good luck. Hopefully one of us will win," Hamilton half smiled. "I'm glad I got to know you."
And then he did something completely unexpected. He hugged me. Just a quick hug, kind of a departure type of hug. It was comforting.
"See you around," I said halfheartedly. I wasn't quite sure what to say in a situation like this.
"Yup. Bye," And then Hamilton followed his family out the door.
I sighed. I would miss him. I hoped that if Dan and I didn't win, then they would.
"I'm going to miss them," Dan said ruefully. "Especially Reagan. She's fun to play football with."
Dan and Reagan, and Madison, had bonded quite a lot. All of them were into dangerous stuff, and experimenting. Sports, too. A lot of sports. A fair number of lamps had been broken because of footballs being thrown around.
"Where are the Holts?" Nellie asked. I jumped; I hadn't realized she had come up behind us.
"They left," Dan explained. "We broke our alliance because we are so close to the last clue."
"Oh," Nellie said blankly. "That's too bad, kiddos."
"We're not kiddos!" Dan said indignantly.
"Whoa, whoa," Nellie held up her hands, surrendering. "Sorry," She was trying to hold back a smile. That just made Dan angrier. The look on his face was priceless.
"Well," Dan said, annoyed, "I would like you to know that I have an idea on what the clue might mean."
"Really?" I exclaimed. "What?" We had been trying to figure out the riddle for the past week. It was very hard to figure out, and my brain just couldn't grasp what it could possibly mean.
"Yes!" Dan's eyes glinted. "Read over it, and see if you can figure it out!"
Ugh. Why did I have to read it? Why couldn't he just tell me what it meant?
"Fine," I sighed. I started to read it.
"Ponder the question,
Follow the trail.
Go back to the beginning,
And the truth you will unveil."
"Don't you understand?" Dan was practically jumping out of his seat.
"No! We have searched the Benjamin Franklin stuff for hours and hours! That's where we started and we still haven't found anything!"
By this point, Dan was literally jumping up and down. "That's not the beginning!" His eyes danced. "The beginning of the clues was at Graces mansion!"
