Patrick Carman - The Black Circle - 39 Clues 05

"Leave now, alive. Someday you'll thank me."Dan and Amy watched her leave with open mouths, feeling like two small fish that have watched a great white shark swim by. Then they came to their senses and hustled along the canal in the opposite direction.

When Dan was sure they'd lost Irina, he put a hand on Amy's arm."Did you find what NRR wanted us to find?"He held his breath. If Amy hadn't discovered anything hidden on Rasputin, they were at a dead end."I got it," said Amy.

"And that's not all. There was something about the exhibit that's got me very curious. I think we're one step closer to figuring out who NRR is."Amy reached into her pocket and pulled out the next piece of the puzzle.

CHAPTER 7

Amy was fine with a little bit of luxury if the opportunity presented itself, but the Russians took decadence to a whole new level.

"How did I ever let you talk me into this?" she asked, staring at a grand piano in the middle of their hotel suite.

They'd taken the risk of hailing a cab, after which Dan had held up his Visa gold card and said, "Take us to the best hotel in St. Pete's."They'd arrived at the Grand Hotel Europe, one of the fanciest hotels in all of Russia.

But as they entered the $2,000-a-night suite, Dan decided it wasn't up to snuff."What a rip-off!" said Dan. "Sixty-eight thousand rubles and there's no pinball machine?"Dan raced from room to room, past all the expensive furniture and paintings.

"They don't even have a big-screen TV or a Coke machine!"

"It has two nice big beds and unlimited room service. Works for me," said Amy, rubbing a small item between her fingers.

It was the object she'd discovered in Rasputin's pocket at the palace: an oblong wooden token painted with a coat of arms and a set of words:

WHERE HE LOOKS NO MAN SHOULD FEARCRIMINALS BE NOT PUNISHED HERE

She'd understood the words right away, a reference to one of her favorite books. Criminals be not punished here had to mean Dostoevsky's classic Crime and Punishment.

Amy loved her books big and sprawling, and this thing was a doorstop.It was Dan, with his keen eye and incredible memory, who had recognized the coat of arms. The Russian guidebook had a whole section on heraldry.

He'd correctly identified this one as belonging to Omsk, the very place the Holts were headed. Too bad they were being tailed by the Kabras.Amy pulled out Nellie's phone and charger and searched for an outlet.

They'd been too busy to contact Nellie, and the growing guilt had been knotting Amy's stomach for hours."I can't believe we let her worry about us for the entire day and night. For all she knows, we're still out looking for doughnuts in Cairo."When she glanced over, she saw that Dan was on the hotel phone dialing room service. He had a giant68English-Russian menu spread across his lap.

Amy shook her head as she plugged in the phone and watched the little screen do its start-up dance."You don't have PB and J on the menu, either? Rich people food is no fun!" said Dan. He'd also

asked for orange soda, chocolate chip cookies, and onion rings."I'm calling Nellie," Amy interrupted. "Do you want to listen in?""Hang on," said Dan. He hung up, grabbed his laptop and the power cord, and joined Amy on the floor.

The two of them sat next to each other, the wall outlet between them."All this beautiful furniture and we're sitting on the floor. What's wrong with us?" asked Amy."I guess we're not too good at living the high life.

Good thing. Wouldn't want to end up like the Cobras."Amy couldn't help thinking Dan had fallen under the spell of a Visa gold card pretty quickly."Dan, look at this. She's got messages."The voice mail light blinked green on Nellie's phone. Amy pressed the RETRIEVE button and activated the tiny speakerphone."You have seven new messages," a female voice offered.

Amy pressed the 7 key and the first message came through, although it was a bad connection and they couldn't catch the entire thing."If you guys ... CALL ME! It's taking a long ... get those doughnuts. The hotel number is ..." The message crackled so badly at the end they couldn't decipher the rest.

Five more messages were of equally lousy quality, all from Nellie, her voice becoming more concerned with each effort to reach them."She's going to kill us," said Dan.

"You got that right," Amy agreed.She clicked to retrieve the last message. It wasn't from Nellie."Call in for a status report," said a man's whispery voice.

"We haven't heard from you."Dan and Amy stared at each other."Do you know who that was?" asked Amy.

"It's not a voice I've ever heard, have you?""No," Dan said, and shook his head hard, as if trying to knock a bad thought out of it.

They stared at each other for a second, and then Amy deliberately changed the subject."I hope Nellie is okay. I'm worried about her.""I wonder how Saladin is doing," said Dan, a glint of concern rising in his voice.

"Let's e-mail her instead of calling," said Amy. "Just let her know we're okay. That way we don't have to worry about her freaking out on us. I'm not sure I could handle that right now.""And we'll tell her to take good care of Saladin," said Dan.

They jumped online and found a string of e-mails from Nellie that sounded a lot like the phone messages she'd left.

She was careful to let them know that Saladin was doing just fine, dining on fresh fish from a Cairo marketplace and taking long naps in the hotel room."You see there?" said Amy. "Saladin is doing great." Amy took the laptop and banged out a short message.

Dear Nellie, We stumbled onto a trail we couldn't turn back from. Before we knew it, we were on our way out of Cairo and into Russia.

It all happened really fast. We know you probably can't come get us, but don't worry-- we're okay.

No problems so far. Please take good care of Saladin. We promise to check back in tomorrow morning. Please don't worry-- we're fine! Amy and Dan."How's that?" asked Amy."I think it'll do the trick.

Send it."Amy clicked the SEND button. At least Nellie would know they weren't dead."We should send something to Hamilton, too, don't you think?" asked Dan.Amy had almost forgotten.

Of course! The trail led into Siberia next, right where Hamilton Holt would arrive by early morning on the Trans-Siberian Railway. She started typing out a message as Dan retrieved Hamilton's e-mail address from their backpack.

Hamilton - Your tarn. We've found the next item and it leads right to where you're going. When you get to Omsk, look for a statue of Dostoevsky. He's a famous Russian writer, so if you ask around you shouldn't have any trouble locating him. Here's the important thing: You have to figure out what Dostoevsky is looking at. Follow his eyes. Whatever he's staring at is the next thing on our hunt. Our guess is it will lead back toward us. Let's stay ahead of the competition!

Call our cell when you figure this out. Amy and Dan."It's ringing," said Dan. Nellie's phone was vibrating softly on the carpeted floor.

Dan looked at the screen."It must be Nellie. She must have been sitting by a computer just waiting for us to contact her. That's good, right?"

But Amy wasn't so sure. She was exhausted, and the man's whispering voice from Nellie's phone seemed to reach for her. Call in for a status report. We haven't heard from you."Let it ring," she said. "Let's get some sleep."* * *

When Dan woke up, Amy was gone. For a split second he freaked out, running back and forth between rooms until he saw the note stuck to the post of his bed.

Gone out to find us some new clothes in the hotel lobby.

Ours are getting gross. Back in a flash. Order breakfast, sleepyhead.Dan breathed a huge sigh of relief. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was already after nine in the morning. He did a quick mental calculation.

If NRR was to be trusted, they only had ten hours left before "the room" would close, whatever that meant.