Chapter Five
Alistair Oh was covered in soot from head to toe and looked absolutely terrible.
He managed to make it to his car and start it up. He placed the book in the passenger seat and pulled out of the driveway. He sped away from the burning mansion, going way past the speed limit.
He did it. He got the book with all of the notes. The Poor Richard's Almanack was his. Alistair Oh felt a little guilty when he saw Amy and Natalie's faces. The poor kids. The book was their only lead in the hunt and now it was gone.
Alistair knew the kids would never trust him again. He could live with that.
It was only a matter of time before the authorities arrived on the scene.
Amy and Natalie were riding in the back of a police car. It was quiet. An officer had tried questioning them earlier, but Amy was too heartbroken to speak while Natalie just looked downright murderous. Even adults knew when to stay away from her.
The police detectives said that it could not have been an accident because it spread too quickly. Natalie didn't even try to tell them about Alistair Oh tricking them, or the underground library, or the man in black.
"Who was that man, anyway?" Amy whispered.
Natalie shrugged. "It couldn't have been Alistair."
"Mr. Holt?" Amy guessed.
"No way," Natalie snorted. "He couldn't have pulled that off. Besides, didn't he and his family already leave like, hours ago?"
"True..." Amy murmured.
"I got it!" Natalie snapped her fingers. "It was the Kabras!"
Amy threw Natalie a look that said, "You're kidding me, right?"
"I bet Daniel was standing on Ian's shoulders. Maybe they even stuffed the coat with a bunch of old newspapers to look bigger." Natalie personally liked this idea because it would be the perfect blackmail. She knew both Ian and Dan's passwords for their CliqueMe accounts. They wouldn't mess with her again after the pictures went up.
"Natalie, we both know that as hilarious as that sounds, they weren't there." Amy sighed. What was with her sister and the Kabras anyway? Sure, Dan could be immature and irritating. And Ian was...Amy didn't want to finish that sentence.
"Well, let's just be more careful from now on. No more involvement with senior citizens." Natalie vowed.
"We'll have to be more careful about everybody." Amy pointed out. "Anyway, Mom was involved in the clue hunt!"
"The contest just started today. Mom died." Natalie replied stiffly. "It's impossible."
"It was her writing. We just have to figure out what she meant by Follow Franklin, first clue. Maze of Bones." Amy insisted.
Natalie turned and looked out the window. Why did Amy have to know so much about their parents? She could even recognize their handwriting, while Natalie barely even remembered what color her Mom's eyes were.
"But what can we do if we don't have the book?" Natalie asked.
"First, we'll need an adult. We'll need one to travel."
"Travel?" Natalie's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas.
Amy leaned closer to Natalie. "We both know that Aunt Beatrice is going to call Social Services soon since we turned down the money. We need to get home, get our stuff, and get out. If anyone finds out we've been disowned, we'll be taken to a foster home. How would we find the clues then?"
Natalie recoiled at the thought of living in a foster home. She thought living with Aunt Beatrice was bad. But a foster home? Dozens of kids who she didn't even know would be sharing a room with her. Natalie shuddered.
"We need to find someone who'll let us do what we want. They can't be suspicious of us, and they'll have to be old enough to look like a responsible guardian." Amy explained. "I can't think of any Cahills like that."
"Mrrp," Saladin pawed at Natalie.
"Achoo!" Natalie sniffed and said in a nasal voice, "I think I know someone."
"Alright kids, here's your stop." A gruff voice from the front called out.
Natalie got out first, followed by Amy. The police car then sped away from the brownstone apartment complex.
"So why are we standing in front of Nellie's apartment?" Amy asked. She peered at Beatrice's apartment a few doors down. "Aunt Beatrice could be back at any minute. It's a good thing she's a slow driver." Amy muttered.
"Alistair didn't say our chaperone had to be a Cahill." Natalie looked at one of the doors.
Amy smiled slightly, understanding the plan. She gripped Grace's jewelry box tighter as Natalie knocked on a door.
No answer.
Natalie put her ear to the door. She heard the faint sound of Nellie's heavy metal music. Natalie turned the doorknob and the door swung open. It was unlocked. Typical.
Their au pair, Nellie Gomez was sitting on the couch. Her eyes were closed and she was bobbing her head vigorously to the music while shoveling ice cream into her mouth. It was a normal day for her.
"NELLIE!" Natalie screamed at the top of her lungs.
Nellie looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw the condition her au pairees were in. She took out her earbuds and placed her very special iPod on the coffee table.
"What happened to you guys?"
"We were at Grace's funeral." Natalie stated simply.
Nellie shook her head. "Oh, sure. What did your crazy family do to you? Burn you to the ground?"
"You could say that..." Natalie said under her breath.
"Nellie, we need to ask you something." Amy started.
"Shoot."
"Is that French Vanilla?" Natalie pointed to the carton in Nellie's hand.
"Maybe," Nellie scooped up some ice cream and popped it into her mouth.
"That was mine!" Natalie whined.
"So what do we need to talk about, kiddo?" Nellie blinked and turned to Amy.
Today, she was wearing dark purple eye shadow with glitter. She was wearing a lot of mascara and had a new silver snake nose ring. Natalie thought of Ian and Dan being trapped in Nellie's nose and giggled.
"We've got a deal for you. It's a babysitting...thing." Amy took a deep breath. "And it pays a lot of money."
Nellie set the ice cream down and stood up, looking at Amy eagerly, which was rare. Nellie only acted eager when it came to money, food, or hot guys.
"Talk." Nellie commanded.
Natalie looked over at Amy and thought she might crack at any moment, but she seemed to be handling herself decently.
"It's like, a trip. You would be our chaperone." Amy said carefully.
Nellie raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't your aunt tell me about this?"
"She passed out at the funeral." Natalie lied.
Amy glared at Natalie.
"Passed out?" Nellie repeated slowly.
Natalie nodded. "These ambulances came to get her. I guess she's getting old. She'll be in the hospital for a while, though. So we figured that we should go on a trip. Uncle Alistair said that we would need an adult, so we came to you."
"It's like a scavenger hunt." Amy added. "It's a family tradition. We visit places all over the world and have fun."
"Yeah, we don't even know where to start. But the scavenger hunt could take us anywhere." Natalie finished.
Nellie's eyes gleamed. "For free?"
Amy and Natalie nodded in sync.
"It could take a while, but we would travel to exotic places where there's lots of...foreign food and foreign guys." Amy said.
Nellie tapped her chin with a finger and said, "That sounds interesting." which translated to, "Exotic food plus exotic guys equals let's go!"
"We would need you to buy the airline tickets and to check into our hotel. You would have a lot of time on your own to sightsee and eat and meet...guys." Natalie concluded.
Nellie nodded, agreeing with the plan. "But how are you going to pay for this?"
Amy revealed the jewelry box behind her back and dumped the contents on the coffee table. Pearls, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, and rubies.
Nellie's jaw dropped. "Did you guys steal that?"
"No!" Amy shook her head. "It's from our grandmother. She wanted us to take the trip so she gave us this."
Natalie was impressed. Who knew that stuttering, shy Amy Cahill could lie?
Nellie stared for a long time. Then, she picked up her cell phone and dialed.
Natalie bit her lip. Was she calling Social Services? She imagined getting dumped in a foster home with a bunch of screaming babies pulling at her luscious hair.
"Hola, Papa." Nellie said into her phone.
Natalie looked at Amy and they both smiled.
I think the plan worked!
Yes, Captain Obvious. I'm surprised at how well you lied.
Is that a compliment?
Sure, sister.
"Yeah, it's for the Cahills. It pays a lot of money." Nellie nodded. "Uh, we're traveling...across the world."
Nellie pulled the phone away from her ear while her dad yelled on the other line in rapid Spanish. "Just a few months-" More yelling. "I think I can take more hours in the spring. Well, if you let me go to cooking school instead of community college, we wouldn't have this problem."
It was silent for a few seconds. Then more Spanish came.
"Que, Papa? I'm going through a tunnel. You're breaking up. I'll call you when I'm out. Te amo, BYE!" Nellie yelled, ending the call.
Natalie and Amy looked at their au pair expectantly.
"He's totally cool with it." Nellie grinned. "I'm in!"
"How can I just pack one bag of clothes?" Natalie muttered to herself. She looked around her cramped room and pondered on the ways to fit her whole closet in one pink backpack.
Natalie opened her closet door and flipped through the shirts like they were pages in a fashion magazine. She would have to take the purple silk ruffle shirt her rich friend Alana bought for her last Christmas. And she had to take her custom-made jacket. It was the first thing she made herself. Natalie knew she had to take a pair of sneakers, but she so desperately wanted to bring her brown suede boots.
Natalie sighed and instead began packing the essentials. A passport, toiletries, girl needs, a hairbrush, a backup hairbrush, lotions and creams, and her cell phone. Then she picked up her sleek black laptop that Grace so graciously gave her. It would help them, for sure.
Now her backpack only had room for about five shirts, six, if she figured out how to move everything around so more stuff would fit. Of course, she couldn't forget about pants either. Natalie moved back over to her closet and pulled out the purple shirt, her favorite jacket, a white tank top, a pink T-shirt, a black T-shirt, a gold T-shirt, and a blue dress. She picked out two pairs of jeans, a white skirt, and some pajama pants.
She heaved the large bundle over to her backpack and began folding each article of clothing neatly. Then, after moving the things around, everything fit inside perfectly. Natalie smiled, victorious. She had solved yet another puzzle.
Natalie was almost done. She went into the back of her closet and picked up a photo. It was torn and burned around the edges. It was the only picture that survived the fire. She had the half with her dad, Arthur. He was standing in a big room with Mexican decorations. He was wearing a sombrero that covered his eyes. Natalie knew that they traveled frequently. She guessed they went to Mexico. Arthur was tall and tan with salt-and-pepper hair. He was smiling to the right. Natalie figured out a while ago that the other half of the picture had Hope, her mom.
Natalie sighed, stuffing the picture at the bottom of her backpack. Arthur and Hope were her parents. Amy looked like Hope. Natalie didn't look like Hope or Arthur. Where did she get her long, silky black hair from? Why was her skin tone so much darker than Amy's? Was she adopted? No, that couldn't be it. Natalie shook her head slightly and zipped up her bag.
She wanted answers. She wanted to know what Grace didn't tell them. She wanted to know what branch she was in. She wanted to know who killed her parents, if they were her parents.
"Hey, Natalie," Amy stood in the doorway. "You almost done?"
Natalie nodded. "I'm done."
Amy had taken a shower and changed back into comfortable clothes-a green T-shirt and some jeans. She looked at Natalie's slightly bulgy backpack and smiled sympathetically. "Do you wanna take an extra backpack? Or maybe a purse or something?"
Natalie looked longingly at her closet. "No. I don't need those clothes anymore." She knew she wouldn't be coming back. "Amy, how much money will we get for the jewelry?"
Amy fingered Grace's jade necklace. "Um...I'm not sure..."
Natalie knew about money. The jade necklace was probably the most expensive thing in the box. If Amy kept it, they wouldn't get as much. "They'll only pay us a few thousand, which is a small fraction of what the jewelry is worth."
Amy sighed. "We'll need transportation for three people. And we'll need to stay in a hotel...and food."
Natalie closed her eyes tightly and said very quickly. "I'm selling my clothes."
Amy's mouth dropped open. "What? Natalie-"
"Alana bought me a lot of stuff that's worth a lot. I know a place where I can sell my clothes for a good price. If I sell my dresses too, then we'll get around five thousand." Natalie kept her eyes shut tight.
Amy's eyes were wide with shock. Natalie giving up clothes was like a cat barking. It was impossible. "Natalie, your clothes are like your life! Are you sure about this?"
For whatever unfathomable reason, Natalie was sure. She strangely wanted the clues more than her clothes. She wanted to find the thirty-nine clues and uncover the secret. She would also make her parents proud. Natalie didn't care if they were her parents or not; she would make them proud.
"I'm...sure." Natalie opened her eyes.
At that moment, Amy did something that Natalie would never forget. She hugged her.
"Agh, Amy, stop! You're ruining my dress!" Natalie wriggled out of her grip. "I need to go take a shower and then wash my face and then find some way to clean up this dress-"
"Make it fast, like fifteen minutes. We need to book a hotel in town for tonight. Then tomorrow...we'll start the hunt for real." Amy said.
Natalie picked up her bag and walked down the hallway with Amy following behind. "So what exactly are you on about now?"
"Mom said to follow Franklin. Benjamin Franklin started as a printer here in Boston."
"So we're just going to look around town?" Natalie asked, entering the bathroom.
Amy stood in the doorway. "We're going to follow his footsteps, like where he went next in his life. When he was seventeen, he ran away and started his own printing press in Philadelphia."
"We'll need Nellie to book three train tickets." Natalie turned on the sink faucet.
"Exactly," Amy nodded.
"When we get there, what are we going to look for?"
"I'm guessing...a secret that could get us killed."
"Yes, because those are so easy to find." Natalie sighed.
Here it is. Sorry for the, er, delay. I'm surprisingly busy in the summer and I couldn't find time to get on my computer to put up this chapter. Like always, REVIEW! I know that there are a lot of people who put this story on story alert and stuff but never reviewed. You heartless people... *sobs in a corner* Anyways, if you read this author's note, thne put the word "sushi" in your review somewhere. :) Muchas gracias!
-Sky