Patrick Carman - The Black Circle - 39 Clues 05

By the time Amy returned from the lobby carrying two shopping bags, Dan had already taken a shower and called in a colossal order from room service. He emerged from the bathroom in a fog of steam, wearing a plush white bathrobe and slippers."Just once we should get to keep these," said Dan.

His words were garbled with foam as he brushed his teeth with a complimentary toothbrush."If only we had room in our backpack. See if Hamilton Holt sent us an e-mail.""You mean Hamilton Dolt, don't you?" Dan laughed."Well, we're stuck with him now," said Amy, digging into the bags in search of something to wear.

"Better make the best of it."Dan tossed his toothbrush into the sink and joined Amy at the bags of clothes."They've got some nice stores down there. I charged it all to the room." Amy grinned. "I'm starting to get the hang of this."

Everything from new underwear to jeans and shirts came tumbling out of the bags. They retreated to their own rooms, dressed quickly, and met at the entrance to the suite as room service arrived.

"You get the laptop," said Dan, "I'll get the food."They devoured piles of steaming hot pancakes with cups of hot chocolate, and a feeling of good fortune rolled over them. They were well rested, well fed, newly clothed.

Could they be any more ready for ten hours of adventure? While they ate, Dan checked their e-mail. He laughed so hard a chunk of pancake shot out of his mouth and landed on Amy's plate."Gross!" she yelled, but she laughed, too.

She flicked the chewed-up gob of pancake onto the table and asked Dan what was so funny.

"We got an e-mail from Hamilton. Check this out."Dan slid the laptop over where Amy could see the screen. There was a picture of the Holts standing in front of the Omsk train station.

They were all wearing gigantic parkas and grinning from ear to ear. They looked like an oversize team of gymnasts about to hit the slopes in the dead of winter-- except the sun was shining and everyone else around them was dressed in thin sweaters. Below the picture was Hamilton's reply to their e-mail of the night before:

My mom made us pat these stupid things on for a family picture. She said it would make the perfect Christmas card. Whatever. Not exactly cold in Siberia this time of year, so we ditched the jackets. Dad's off looking for meat pies, Mom and the twins are looking for a bathroom.

I just got service on my laptop again-spotty out here in the tundra, har-har, But I got your message.

I'm at an Internet cafe. Had no trouble getting directions to this Dostrovinsky statue. Dude's got a weird name, But that helped, Because someone

here at the cafe already told me where to find it. Lucky me, it's right around the corner. I'll check out where the guy is looking and get right back to you. Cell phone service is choppy,

But I might get a bar or two once I'm out in the open air again. On the hunt --Hammer."Hammer?" said Dan. "He's kidding, right?"

"It must be a family nickname."Dan stuffed a wad of pancake in his mouth and held his fork high in the air."Beware fellow contestants the Hammer is on the case!"They were both giggling when they heard Nellie's phone vibrating again.

"I think we better answer it this time," said Dan, all the wind gone out of his sails.Amy walked to the phone and picked it up. Unknown caller ID.

She decided it was time to do some talking."Hello?" said Amy, picking up the phone."Amy? Is that you, Amy?"

Nellie's excited voice flooded across the line. She sounded overjoyed."It's me, we're okay!" said Amy."Yes, yes, YES! Is Dan there? IS HE SAFE?""Dan's okay, as long as he doesn't explode from eating too many pancakes."

"I was worried SICK about you two," said Nellie. "And Saladin won't stop crying. He misses you guys. Russia? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! How COULD you let this happen?""How's Saladin?" asked Dan.

Amy waved him off as Nellie continued to rant."I don't know what's gotten into you two! STAY PUT until I get there.

I've already grabbed a flight to Moscow. Where are you exactly?"Amy tried to do the math in her head... Moscow to St. Petersburg ... probably an overnight train. It was a long time to wait."We're in St. Petersburg, but we have to keep moving, Nellie," said Amy. "This hunt we're on is time sensitive. I don't think we can sit here and do nothing all day."Another call was trying to break in. It was Hamilton Holt.

"Listen, Nellie, I've got to go.

Come to Moscow and we'll call you as soon as we can. Hold tight.""NO WAY! Stay where you a-"Amy clicked the phone and switched calls. Hamilton started yelling into the phone so loudly Dan could hear it from across the room."I see it! I see what that author dude is staring at!"

"Good job, Hamilton! What is it? What's he looking at?"Dan sidled up next to Amy so he could listen in."Dad! I got this!"It sounded like Eisenhower Holt was trying to grab the phone. Amy heard Mary-Todd yell something in the background."Hey! Let go of that parka!"Reagan and Madison were howling somewhere close by."He's looking at the ground!" Hamilton yelled.

"It's all bricks, and one of them says something on it. It says-- ""Hamilton? What's it say?""It says 'Alexei's Playroom,' and there's a little symbol here, looks like a six-sided gem."

"You didn't tell the Kabras, did you?""Those losers? No way," said Hamilton."Great job, Hamilton! You did it! Um ... await further instructions.""You got it... Dad! Yo, Dad! This is getting WAY out of hand. Hammer Holt, signing off!"

The phone went dead and Amy raced across the room for the Russian guidebook."This confirms my suspicions," said Amy, riffling through pages, searching, searching, searching....She lifted gleaming eyes to Dan. "Get the backpack. We've got a royal village to visit!"

CHAPTER 8

Amy Cahill had been ripped off, bugged, double-crossed, and taken advantage of one too many times.

She was through with taking taxicabs."I have a better idea," said Dan. He put his beatnik goatee and mustache on and walked right up to the hotel bank, flashing a smile along with his passport and Visa gold card."I need a cash advance. Can you dig it?"

Amy had to stifle a laugh. Did Dan actually think he was going to get real money with a line like that?"We have fee of one thousand rubles on American cards," said the teller. One thousand rubles was about thirty bucks, which sounded like a lot of money to Amy.

Then again, it was NRR's money, not hers, and they'd just racked up more than $2,000 on their bill.

"That'll be fine," Dan replied. "And, ah, tip yourself another thousand while you're at it. I'll take a hundred thousand for myself if the card will hold it. Been spending like a sailor on leave. I must be getting close to the limit on that thing."

Dan laughed as if he didn't really care, but Amy knew better. They'd had to count every penny back home."Ahhh, is good for you," said the man, suddenly Dan's best friend. "In American dollars you have balance of six thousand. The card has forty-four thousand unused. But you know the limits of your own credit, of course."

"FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND!" Dan choked back a cough of surprise, then asked for an additional 100,000 rubles, just in case.

He leaned in close to Amy and whispered, "If rubles are anything like marbles, my backpack is going to be really heavy."The teller counted out the bills. The stack, amounting to about 7,500 American dollars, was so tall it teetered back and forth as he reached the final 1,000.

Dan's eyes got huge and he tipped the teller another 1,000."Very kind, sir, very generous. Thank you! I wish you and your young friend a good day."Amy's jaw dropped as she realized that in disguise, Dan probably looked a lot older than she did."He's not older than me!" she said without thinking.

Dan smirked and leaned in close to the teller. "You know how sensitive little sisters can be. She's impossible.""Keep it up, buddy," Amy said under her breath, "and I'll tear that fake mustache right off your dumb face."