Patrick Carman - The Black Circle - 39 Clues 05

Panel after panel of glowing orange framed delicately carved amber. The superb craftsmanship must have taken years to achieve.

It was like the pyramids in Egypt or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Yet Dan and Amy stood within the golden light of its walls."Here it is," said Amy. She'd found a table made entirely of amber, upon which sat an outrageously ornate golden clock. Dan crossed through the center of the room, past a massive sculpture of a man on a horse high on a pedestal and a bank of ominous black file cabinets.

They were standing in a room almost no one had seen since before the Second World War.

They'd been pushed and pulled all over Russia, but they'd prevailed. As far as the outside world was concerned, this was a priceless treasure that had long been lost forever. Dan's heart welled with pride as he looked at Amy."We need to turn the clock dial to midnight," said Amy.

"Then one, then midnight again."Dan crept a little closer to the clock and felt around for a dial that would allow him to change the time."Got it," he said, spinning the dial until the clock read midnight."Now forward to one o'clock," said Amy.

Dan dialed it forward, then back again to midnight, and the face of the clock came open on a single gold hinge.Inside, Dan found a bead of amber, inscribed with the words 1 gram melted amber.

"The clue's been right under our noses the entire time," said Amy, marveling at the bead in her hand."I hate it when that happens," said Dan. But he smiled at his sister. They now had five Clues and were five steps closer to claiming what Grace had called the Cahill destiny. But the Clue was not all they had come for.

Dan and Amy turned to the row of flat black file cabinets, an ominous absence of color against the softly glowing amber."What do we look for?" Dan asked. "Cahill? Trent? Hope and Arthur?""All of them. You start on that side, and I'll take the other. And hurry."Dan opened the first drawer and rapidly flicked through the thick manila files. Angola Mission. Arkangelsk. Assassinations.

The neatly printed labels concealed a wealth of dirty Lucian secrets."Dan!" called Amy, and he looked up to see Amy holding out a slim file, her face set and scared."Mom and Dad?" he asked."No," she whispered. "Madrigals."

Amy opened the file and reached for the loose papers inside. She riffled through a series of short notes handwritten in Russian. On the back, the letters had been translated into English with a ballpoint pen.She read the first aloud: Tsar Nicholas - My brother - I am very close to gathering all the materials and have begun experimentation with mixing.

We are within weeks. The world is nearly at our feet. Your faithful brother, Constantine 2.1.1826

"Dan, this is really strange," said Amy. "I read about these two. Constantine gave up his right to the throne and let his brother Nicholas become Tsar of Russia. But this seems to indicate he did it for a purpose, so he could bring together all the clues.""Does this mean the Lucians have all the clues?" Dan's face was pinched with anxiety.

"Read the next one."Amy set the yellowed page aside and read the words on the next piece of paper:

My brother - There are but a few ingredients I lack, though this is only half the battle. The amounts and the order are confounding. I may need a month or more. Constantine 6.23.1826

"What if they really do have all the others?" asked Dan. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what was on the last slip of paper. If the Lucians really had won already, then everything he and Amy were doing was for nothing.

They'd already lost."Oh, no," said Amy. She was scanning the last note."They have it, don't they? The Lucians have already finished us off."Amy looked at her brother and then in a trembling voice read the last note:

My brother - They found me. They have destroyed everything. I have failed us.

Beware the Madrigals. I fear they are coming for you next.

Constantine 10.07.1826

A heavy silence fell over the room."The Madrigals are more powerful than the Lucians! They maybe even had the royal family murdered!"Amy nodded, then whispered what was on both of their minds.

"And the man in black is a Madrigal.""Let's get out of here," said Dan."Wait!" said Amy. "There might be something about Mom and Dad!" The kids rushed back to the files, riffling frantically until Dan found it, a thin manila folder labeled simply CAHILL, HOPE AND TRENT, ARTHUR.

His heart thumped against his rib cage.Amy looked over. "Dan! What is it?"With trembling fingers, they opened the file together.

Inside were two Australian passports stamped CONFISCATED. Amy opened one."It can't be," said Dan, leaning in for a closer look.

Amy opened the second. "It's them," she said, looking at the two pictures. The names were fake, but the faces were unbearably familiar."Mom and Dad," said Dan. "They were here."Amy flipped through the passport pages, crammed full with stamps from different countries. Egypt. South Africa. Nepal. Japan. Indonesia. France.

"They were searching for clues, just like us.""Only they never finished," said Dan.

Dan's whole world narrowed to the two faces staring up at him. His mom and his dad, young and hopeful, taking on the world just as he and his sister were doing now. And failing.Tears poured down Amy's cheeks.

"It's like they've come back to help us.

Almost like they're watching over us.""They're not the only ones watching you." Irina Spasky entered through the vault door.* * *

"What have you done?"Irina's voice betrayed none of the horror she felt. How could the children have been so stupid? Of all the places in the world they could have tried to break into, a Lucian black circle was the most dangerous.

There was only the slimmest chance....

She advanced on them quickly, crossing the room like a black cat until she had them cornered."Tell me what you have found. Quickly!"

"Nothing yet. We're still looking," said Dan. It was a pathetic attempt. Irina could see he held a hand behind his back and was trying to stuff something in his back pocket.Irina surveyed the room, careful to keep them cornered."I see you've taken something out of its folder," she said, spotting the yellowed paper on the floor. "And you've opened the face of the clock.

Clever. Too clever! Someone has helped you. Tell me who!""We didn't find anything important," said Amy.

"Just some old papers.""Give them to me at once! Your lives are in danger!"Irina glanced toward the door.

There are minutes at best, she thought. But she was wrong. "We'll take it from here."Irina whirled around.

Two men, both with veils of black over their faces, blocked the entrance to the Amber Room. In unison, they pulled back the folds of their gray jackets, revealing the Lucian crest set in a black circle.

"We are authorized by Mr. Kabra," one of them growled, holding his position at the door. "What is your clearance?"

"I created the black circle," Irina spat out. "I have the highest clearance."The men looked at each other, sizing up the situation.

Irina Spasky stared back at them, knowing what their presence meant. She had no choice now.

She would have to kill the Cahill children, or these men would do it for her and kill her as well."I was about to clean up this situation," said Irina. "Cover the door."The two agents retreated into the shadows, but Irina could feel their dark presence.

She hadn't thought it would come to this. Two more minutes and I could have dealt with them, taken the secrets, and gotten them safely out. She moved in closer, reaching behind her for the dagger concealed at her back.The girl seemed to sense the coldness that was coming.

She pressed herself in front of her brother, protectively. "We'll give you what you want," said Amy. "Just let us go. Please."

"It's too late," said Irina. "I tried."When you lose a child, you lose your soul.The dagger felt like ice in her hand.