I haven't had a disclaimer in a while. So...
Me: Sarah!
Sarah ((my newly-initiated Cahill best friend who has become obsessed with Hamilton Holt)): What?
Me: Can you do the disclaimer?
Ian: *appears out of nowhere* She's not going to be as good as me...
Me: We'll see.
Sarah: *taps chin* Hm...I might need some help.
Me: *sighs* Alright, I get what you're driving at...HAMILTON?
Hamilton: *walks in* Yeah?
Sarah: O.O OHMYGOD IT'S HAMILTON! *faints*
Hamilton: *pokes Sarah* Hello?
Ian: Told you.
Me: Fine. Will you do it?
Ian: Just because you admitted I was right. KTRose12 does not own The 39 Clues or any of its characters. She does, however, own the stories "Six Years Before" and "Cahills Read Fanfiction," which you might be interested in checking out...
Me: Thanks.
Ian: ...if you have no lives.
Me: IAN!
Dan was facing an army of black-robed ninjas, all with their faces hooded.
One jumped at him, and Dan grabbed the ninja's hood and pulled it back. The face of Troy Jackson leered at him.
All the ninjas had the face of Troy Jackson. They started attacking Dan, but he used his awesome wushu skills to take down one after the other.
Suddenly, Dan heard a girl's scream. He looked wildly around. "Reagan!" he yelled. The ninjas all jumped him at once, shaking him and yelling, "Dan...Dan..."
"Dan!" Amy yelled, shaking her brother awake.
Dan sat bolt upright. "Gah! Ninjas!" he cried. He looked around.
Amy rolled her eyes, used to her brother's way of waking up.
"Come on," she said. "It's quarter to 4:00. We need to catch our plane."
Dan rubbed his eyes and yawned. "I heard a scream..."
Amy winced. "Yeah. That was me. I discovered your..." She shivered, "...spider collection."
"They're not REAL," Dan protested, rolling out of bed. "It's a rubber spider collection."
"It's creepy, okay? Now get dressed and get downstairs with your bag. Nellie made a breakfast for the car."
At the word "breakfast," Dan's stomach growled. Amy left the room, and he quickly threw on some clothes, grabbed his backpack and duffel bag, and headed downstairs.
"Hamilton!" Amy banged on his door "Ham, wake up!"
There was a thud from inside the room. Hamilton, dressed in a football jersey and basketball shorts, opened the door. "Amy?" he asked sleepily. "It's still dark out. Why did you wake me up?"
Amy sighed. "Does South Africa ring a bell?" she asked drily.
Hamilton's eyes widened. "Oh my god!" he exclaimed. "I need to get dressed!" He quickly shut the door again.
Amy hoped that he was actually getting ready, and hadn't just dived into bed again.
She moved down the hall to Ian's room. Her hand was poised to knock when he opened it.
"I'll be down in two minutes," he said.
"Great," Amy said, relieved that she had one less person to drag out of bed.
Ian closed the door, and she crossed the hall to the twins' room. She knocked on the door. "Madison? Reagan? Are you two awake?"
"I am," came Reagan's voice. "I'm still working on Rip Van Madison."
"We're leaving in fifteen minutes," Amy said.
"Got it. We'll be ready. Madison, wake up!"
Amy smiled and shook her head.
Jonah emerged from his room, yawning. "Yo, y'all gonna miss your plane if you don't hurry up," he said, passing Amy.
"I'm trying to wake everyone up!" Amy exclaimed.
"I'd check on Ham again," Jonah called over his shoulder.
Amy went to Hamilton's door again. She banged on the door. "HAMILTON!"
"Wha...? I'm up! I'm up!" There was another thud, and the door swung open. Hamilton hadn't dressed yet.
"Come on, Ham!" Amy cried. "Get ready!"
"Okay, okay..." Hamilton closed the door again.
Amy counted to ten, then banged open the door.
Hamilton tumbled out of bed.
"HAMILTON HOLT!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll get dressed, I swear!"
Hamilton pulled out a T-shirt and jeans. "See? I'm getting dressed! I promise."
Amy gave him a doubtful look, but slowly closed the door again.
She turned around, and almost walked into Natalie.
"Oh! Natalie! Good, you're up. We're leaving in ten minutes."
Natalie nodded, and Amy realized that the younger girl was still half-asleep. She gently turned Natalie towards the stairs and gave her a little push to get her on her way. Natalie stumbled down the hallway and trudged down the stairs.
Reagan emerged from her room, dragging Madison behind her. Their two duffel bags, which were wrapped around Madison's ankles, dragged behind them.
Madison was still asleep.
"Reagan!" Amy exclaimed. "Why didn't you wake her up?"
"I tried!" Reagan exclaimed. "But she's not an early morning person!"
Amy sighed. "Well, bring her downstairs," she said. "Maybe the others can wake her up."
Reagan nodded, and dragged her sister towards the stairs.
"Gently!" Amy called after her. She listened to the duffel bags thump down each step.
Ned emerged from his room. "Ted's still asleep," he said. "I wanted to see you guys off."
As Fiske had told them last night, in addition to him, the Starlings, Jonah, and Nellie were staying at the mansion while the others went to South Africa.
Jonah and the triplets were fine with the arrangement, but, at first, Nellie was peeved. Amy and Dan had listened at the door of the kitchen:
"I've ALWAYS gone with them when they traveled!" she had argued to Fiske, "I've got to go! You're not going, and I'm their other guardian. They need me!"
"Nellie," Fiske had said in his usual, gentle way, "they're not eleven and fourteen anymore. Amy's seventeen now. Dan's fourteen. You have to let them have some independence."
Nellie was silent for a moment. "I just can't let them go off alone," she murmured.
Fiske chuckled. "They won't be alone," he said. "They'll have the Holts and their muscle, and the Kabras and their cunning. Trust me, Nellie, they may not be entirely safe, but the best thing you can do for them right now is stay here."
Nellie sighed. "Okay."
"Thanks," Amy said to Ned, and he went downstairs.
Hamilton's door swung open, and he came out with his duffel slung over his shoulder.
"Thank god!" Amy exclaimed. "I thought you'd never be ready!"
Hamilton grinned. "Oh ye of little faith," he joked.
He went downstairs as Sinead opened her door, rubbing her eyes.
"Are you guys leaving?" she asked Amy.
"Yeah, in a few minutes," Amy responded, going into her room and grabbing her duffel bag. She left the room again, and she and Sinead walked downstairs.
Nellie was having a panic attack.
"...and call me EVERY DAY. I want to hear about EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS."
"Everything?" Dan asked.
"Everything important," Nellie said firmly, handing Hamilton a Ziploc bag of waffles.
Hamilton's face lit up.
"You'd better give those to me," Natalie said, taking the waffles from Hamilton, "or else they'll all be gone before we reach the car."
Hamilton's face fell, and he stared longingly at the waffles.
Fiske walked through the front door. "The SUV is out front and ready to go," he said. He checked his watch. "We better be leaving," he added.
It took a few minutes, but soon all of the goodbyes were said. The whole group headed out the door.
As Ian was about to step out the door, Nellie pulled him aside. "Take care of them, okay?" she asked him quietly. Ian was surprised to see the usually tough-as-nails woman blink back tears. She continued. "I...I don't want anything to happen to them. They've been through so much, I just couldn't bear it if something happened..."
Ian nodded. "I will," he said. "I promise. I'll keep them safe. It won't be like...like last time."
Nellie gave him a grateful look. "Thanks," she said. She suddenly remembered something. "Oh, and I just wanted to warn you. In South Africa, we..."
"Ian?" Amy called from outside. "Are you coming?"
Nellie smiled. "You better get going," she said.
Ian turned to the door. "What were you saying...?"
Nellie shook her head. "It shouldn't be a problem. Nothing for you to worry about." She smiled again. "Come on, you need to get going."
They walked out of the mansion and down the front steps.
Ian climbed into the backseat with Amy and Hamilton. Fiske started the car, and he turned the SUV around.
Amy rolled down the window. "Nellie?" she called.
Nellie looked up. "Yeah, kiddo?"
"You be careful, too."
Nellie nodded, and watched at SUV drive down the driveway and out of sight.
There was another tearful separation at the airport as Dan and Amy said goodbye to their great-uncle.
The Kabras and Holts stood several feet away, letting the three Cahills have a moment.
Fiske hugged Amy and Dan. "I'd tell you to be safe, but that would make me a hypocrite for sending you on this mission in the first place. So...just take care."
Amy sniffed. "You too, Uncle Fiske," she said.
"Yeah, and no trips to Dairy Queen until we're back," Dan joked, hugging the old Madrigal again.
Finally, they broke apart. Amy waved as the seven kids walked across the terminal and out of sight.
Fiske sighed and walked out of the airport. He reached the far and climbed into the driver's seat. He started the SUV, and a flash of white caught his eye as he glanced at the rear view mirror.
He turned around, reached out, and picked up a folded slip of paper that was sitting on the seat. He unfolded it and read the note:
Dear Uncle Fiske,
I won't be wanting this. I thought it'd be best if you kept it, just in case.
Love,
Amy
And, written in a different handwriting underneath:
David Dhine
555-813-8125
Anti-climatic chapter ending. I know. But at least I updated, right?
Right?
...aaaaand I just realized that it's kind of short. And boring. Derp. More exciting chapters in the near future!
Response to Reviews:
-SlytherinGurrl: A love triangle between Reagan, Dan, and Natalie? How can I put this gently...NEVER!
Sorry, that was kind of harsh. I dislike any forms of Natan. I have no problem with other people shipping them, but Natan shall never appear in any of my stories.
Don't think I'm against your idea because I'm a Gryffindor =) Thanks for reviewing, anyway!
-TheDan547: It all comes from the deep, dark space in my skull that I fondly call my imagination XD Some things I write I don't even know where it came from...I read back and I'm like, "Whoa! Who added this to my story?"
-TribalGirl: Well, it's Thursday, so you'll only have to wait one more day to read this...although I guess you'll be reading this on the weekend, so technically you're reading this right now...ugh, I'm confuzzled now...
-FallingforWerewolves: Congrats on the longest review you've ever written. And thanks! XD
-BookwormGirl16: My head is spinning from your review. Do you talk, like, really fast? Because I seriously heard this voice reading your review aloud in my head at hyperspeed XD I like talking fast...anyway, thanks so much!
-Amian fan: Right...now.
And, finally, The Booknerds, who for some strange reason could not review my story ((darn Vespers...)) and sent me a PM instead. Thanks for putting in the extra effort to review, and thanks for the review itself!
I hate long Author's Notes, but I have the need to put in some statistics for the reviews I got since I updated the last chapter. Let's see:
Number of People Who Get Virtual Girl Scout Cookies: Everyone who reviewed...so...here ya go! *distributes*
Number of People Who Want Kurt to Stay in the Story: 4
Number of People Who Want Kurt to Stay in the Story Because They Ship Amurt ((ugh, what a stupid name...)): 0
Number of People Who Want Kurt to Stay in the Story Because They Want Ian to Beat the [censored] Out of Him: 4
Number of People Who Don't Think Kurt Should Be in the Story: 1 ((sorry, Random person. Majority rules))
So, Kurt will be soon. Oh, and one more statistic:
Number of People Who Asked for Hamead/Sinilton Since Chapter 25 Was Posted: 7 ((Although the majority were asked by people without accounts...and almost five in a row that sound very similar is verrry suspicious...))
Like I said, if there's going to be any Sinilton, it's going to be much, much later, since I already have a lot of the story written. Also, my friend, Sarah, who has been ripping through the series, finishing, like, two books a week, and is now on the Medusa Plot, ships Hamarah ((Geddit? Hamilton and Sarah?)) If she finds out that I'm writing Sinilton...*shudders* No more rainbow Twizzlers at lunch for me. So I'll think about it, 'kay?
I'm going to try to update as much as possible, I promise. My drama group at school is doing Beauty and the Beast, and I got Chip ^^ Anyway, I'm going to be at rehearsals a lot, but I'll try to update in my free time.
Okay, this note is going to be longer than the chapter if I write any more. If I don't update by Tuesday, Happy Forever Alone Day, everybody! *awkward cough* I mean...um...Valentine's Day. I'm going to be spending V-Day lying on my couch, eating ice cream and reading all the romance Valentine's Day fanfictions people are going to be posting. This isn't really an official contest, but if someone wants to write a Valentine's Day story for me and my boyfriends Ben and Jerry to read, let me know! I'll make up some cheap prize for you.
Okay, really stopping now. See you next chapter!
-KT