Jude Watson - A King's Ransom

“I don’t know!” he shouted.

They heard running footsteps behind them, and they knew Casper had recovered.

“I hear something,” she gasped out. “Listen!”

“Ludwig was mad, bro

But he also was bad, bro

Was his own ‘Iliad,’ bro …”

“Jonah!” Amy breathed. Where there was Jonah, there would be a crowd.

Ahead of them, Casper suddenly appeared from around a bend. He must have found a way around them. He lifted a hand and snapped open another knife. And smiled.

They stopped. From off to the right, Amy could hear Jonah’s voice. But it was fading , not getting louder.

“Before, I was annoyed,” Casper said. “Now, I’m mad.”

Amy took a deep breath. “OMIGOSH JONAH WIZARD !” she squealed. Just like millions of girls shrieked all over the world. The sound bounced off the walls of the tunnel.

Casper looked at her as though she’d lost her mind.

It only took a moment before they heard Jonah’s voice. Coming closer . And fast.

“NEVER WORE PLAID, BRO!”

Amy almost wept in relief.

Jonah burst into the main tunnel at a run, surrounded by a crowd of giggling girls. Castle security flanked them. Hamilton hurried up to them. He followed Amy’s gaze and saw Casper. His fists tightened at his side.

Casper surveyed the crowd. His gaze lingered on Hamilton’s fists, the security officers, the way Jonah moved, pushing the crowd so that it would squeeze Casper against the wall. He stepped off to the side as the crowd rushed by, Amy and Dan safely in its midst.

As they passed him, he drew his finger across his neck in a classic “you’re dead” signal and pointed at them.

“Later,” he mouthed.

The sunset was spectacular, and they were safe in the minibus with the students from Estonia who were on their way to Salzburg for the Sound of Music tour. Jonah sat up front with the girls and led a sing-along.

Who would have guessed that the hip-hop star knew all the words to “Climb Ev’ry Mountain”?

Amy, Dan, and Hamilton huddled in the back of the bus.

“Why would Casper and Cheyenne want to kill us?” Amy asked. “It doesn’t make sense. Why go to all the trouble of kidnapping Cahills and getting us to help if they’re going to kill us before we finish?”

“Maybe Vesper One doesn’t know about it,” Hamilton said. “Maybe they’re going rogue. Like they want to impress him or something. It’s the kind of thing my sisters would do,” he added sheepishly.

Amy and Dan stared at him.

“I mean, what do I know?” he said, shifting uncomfortably. “Nothing, right?”

“No, that’s brilliant,” Dan said.

Amy nodded. “The only problem is, we have no way of telling Vesper One.”

“And they’re probably counting on that,” Dan said.

“Great,” Amy said. “Now we’ve got the Wyomings as well as Interpol breathing down our necks. And time’s running out to find the map.”

“I’m going to check with Attleboro,” Hamilton said. He scooted away and took out his phone. They had already sent Jane’s notation to Massachusetts.

“You were great in there,” Amy told Dan. “When I saw Casper, I couldn’t move.”

“You kicked that knife out of his hand.”

“Only because you nailed him so hard with that can.” Amy bit her lip. “I was so scared, Dan. I couldn’t think.” She shook her head. “I feel so ashamed of myself. If it wasn’t for you, we would have been toast.”

“Whoa,” Dan said. “If you’re throwing a pity party for yourself, don’t invite me.” He poked her. “You were the one who got Jonah to find us. Awesome lung power. I thought you only used that volume to get me out of the bathroom.”

Amy smiled, but the heaviness was still in her heart. She looked out at the dark mountains. They seemed to be pressing against them. “But what if the day comes when we don’t figure it out? When – ”

“We are not going to lose.” Dan’s gaze was fierce. “I remember what Nellie looked like on that video. And Fiske, and Phoenix, and Ted, and all of them. And we are not going to lose. No matter what. ”

Amy should have felt comforted. But there was something about Dan’s confidence … what was it?

It wasn’t confidence. It was more like desperation.

Hamilton slid back into the seat. “They have a lead for us. Look.”

THE V WITH KEPLER HUNG US UP FOR A BIT. IT MUST STAND FOR VESPER. IF THE WORLD-FAMOUS SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ASTRONOMER JOHANNES KEPLER WAS A VESPER.

Amy quickly typed in a response:

WAS A MANUSCRIPT BY KEPLER STOLEN BY NAZIS?

YES. EARLY COPY OF MYSTERIUM COSMOGRAPHICUM. WAS HELD AT NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE. BOOK NOW IN POSSESSION OF LIBRARY OF PHILOSOPHY AND COSMOLOGY IN PRAGUE.

“That means that Jane could have found a record of it in the castle,” Amy said. “ Repatriated means ‘returned to the country of origin.’ So maybe she slipped the de Virga in with the Kepler book? I don’t know what ‘resting with teacher and victim’ means … yet. But she’s trying to tell us something.”

Dan nodded. “And that means we’re going to Prague.”

Prague, Czech Republic

The Library of Philosophy and Cosmology had existed in Prague for four hundred years. Originally attached to a monastery, it was now housed in an ultramodern building designed by a world-famous architect who was fond of using stainless steel like ribbon candy. Dan didn’t know whether to enter the library or take a bite out of it.

They walked inside a paneled foyer that held only a polished-steel umbrella stand. It was empty. “Remember, we’re Sarah and Jack Teague,” Amy murmured. “The Farleys are history.”

Glass doors swung open as they walked forward. A curved desk of dark polished wood was ahead of them. Through glass doors they could see the great reading room of the library, shelves rising to a second-level gallery. Long tables ran the width of the room. Only a few people were scattered around, heads bent over books and laptops.

The woman sitting at the desk looked up from her computer. She wore glasses with heavy black frames that somehow made her look cool instead of nerdy. Shiny black hair was scraped back in a tight ponytail.

“May I help you?”

“We’re American students,” Amy said. “We’d like to look something up in your library.” She smiled, trying to ingratiate herself.

“Do you have a letter of reference?”

“No,” Amy said.

“This is a private library,” the woman said. “For invited scholars only. I’m sorry. There are other libraries in Prague that would be able to accommodate you, I’m sure.” She turned back to her computer.

“But …” Amy started. She desperately tried to think. How could she bluff their way in? “This is the only library that can help us.”

“Can you tell me the subject of your research?”

“Uh, the early books of Johannes Kepler.”

“We have only one.”

“We know,” Dan said. “The one that was rescued from Neuschwanstein Castle at the end of the war.”

She pressed her lips together. “That is one of our most valuable books. We cannot allow just anyone to handle it.”

“Is there somebody else we can speak to? The director, perhaps?” Amy asked politely.

“I am Katja Mavel, the director of the library. I am afraid I am your last resort.”

“My sister and I are students of Dr. Mark Rosenbloom,” Dan blurted.

Amy tried not to look surprised. Mark Rosenbloom was the father of Jake and Atticus, the boys who had turned them in to Interpol. Sure, he was a world-famous archaeologist, but they’d never met him.