What's that scrawny geek up to, and where's that stupid little brother of hers?
He turned and saw Dan approaching from the other side of the statue. One was standing thirty feet to his left, the other ten feet to his right, and he didn't know which one to go after. The thought of disappointing his dad, again, put him in a cold sweat."Hey, Hamilton!" yelled Dan. "Did you see me on that motorcycle? Better than that donkey you were riding in Cairo!"
"It was a Vespa, you moron! And come say that to my face!"Then, with Hamilton looking on, Dan signaled his sister by turning his hand as if he needed a key.
“Hey! Do they think I'm stupid?"Looks like someone's got a key," yelled Hamilton, turning to Amy as his two-way radio went off."Get moving!" boomed Eisenhower. "We've got company!"Hamilton, Amy, and Dan all swiveled toward the parking lot in unison. Ian and Natalie Kabra were pulling up in a white stretch limousine, almost as if they couldn't bother to be inconspicuous.
Eisenhower Holt started peppering the limo with meat pies from a huge bag, taking a bite out of each one before letting it fly. From a distance, it looked as if Eisenhower was unpinning hand grenades and throwing them into a bunker."Your dad is a menace. You know that, right?" asked Dan. He'd moved within ten wary feet of Hamilton, motioning Amy to toss him the glass paperweight. Amy dug inside the backpack, but Hamilton took four big steps and cornered her."What's in the bag? Come on, fork it over!" said Hamilton, looming over Amy.
He was just about to rip the backpack out of her hands when Amy said something that shocked him."The K-K-K-Kabras are closing in on us," said Amy. Hamilton could tell she was desperately trying to get her voice under control.
"How many c-c-clues do you have?"Hamilton stopped cold. "We've got plenty! More than you two losers, I'm sure."
"We have ten. You have ten?" said Dan, looking Hamilton straight in the eye. His sister shifted from foot to foot, eyeing both of them warily. Grace had taught Dan how to bluff like a Vegas poker player, and Hamilton didn't know what to think.
"You got TEN? No way you got ten!"Dad is going to freak out if we're that behind! he thought.
Police were beginning to swarm the place, making sure the mischief breaking out in the parking lot didn't spill over into the park itself."You could be a hero, Hamilton," said Amy. "You want to come back with something useful, don't you?"That one hit Hamilton right between the eyes.
There was nothing he wanted more than to please Eisenhower Holt."What have you got in mind?" he asked, glaring down at them.
He waited, watching the two Cahills as they stared at each other like each could read the other's mind.
Finally, Dan nodded. "Let's get the show on the road before it's too late," he said. "This way!"Dan led the three of them around to the back of The Motherland Calls. The base of the statue was about as wide as a skyscraper, and the whole way around, Hamilton wondered if he should clobber Dan and Amy and take the backpack.
Calm down! Let it play out! If they trick you, then you can clobber 'em!"Can you radio your dad?" Amy asked. "Tell him you've almost got what we came for and to keep the Kabras away from The Motherland Calls."Hamilton gave Amy a searching look, then pressed the button and yelled into the receiver."Holt here! Mission nearing success. Stay clear!"
"Roger that!" Hamilton turned on Amy and Dan. "Now give me the goods."Dan hesitated, then pointed to one of the stone slabs on The Motherland Calls. "Before you showed up to complicate things, I hit the jackpot," said Dan.
Hamilton took a closer look and saw the letters TSV carved into the stone above a small keyhole. Amy saw it, too. She smashed the glass paperweight against the stone pathway."Hey!" yelped Dan. "That was my job!"
"Got it!" said Amy. The key was free of its round prison, and before Hamilton's unbelieving eyes, she inserted it into the stone panel. Dan pushed hard against the secret door, but it didn't budge.
"Step aside, shrimp," said Hamilton. He shoved Dan out of the way and smashed his frame against the smooth stone. The panel gave easily, and the three of them dashed inside."Close the door behind you, big guy.
We've got work to do," said Dan.Hamilton almost shoved Dan to the ground, but he knew it wouldn't take much to injure the little jerk, and that might complicate things."This better be good," said Hamilton."Don't worry," said Dan. "It will be."* * *With the secret opening firmly shut, Dan was able to breathe a sigh of relief and take stock of his surroundings.
It was magnificent inside The Motherland Calls; wide open all the way to the top, with a web of beams and support systems all through the middle. Light trickled in from minute cracks that lined every side of the structure.
Dan felt like he'd entered the shadowy realm of a gargantuan spider."Where's Gandalf when you need him?" asked Dan."You're a weird kid, you know that?" said Hamilton.
Amy frowned at both of them.
"We have to get to the top, where the eyes are," she said."Bring it on," said Hamilton, peering up into the beams for the best place to start.
"This will be a piece of cake."Dan had already begun climbing a service ladder that ran two stories up into The Motherland Calls, but Hamilton had a different idea. He went straight for a massive steel beam running up the middle of the statue, with giant rivets on each side."See you at the top, losers!"
By the time Dan and Amy reached the final rung of the ladder, Hamilton had scaled the steel beam like a lumberjack racing up a redwood. He was way ahead of them, disappearing into the faint light above."We have to get there first!" yelled Amy.
"Come on!"At the top of the ladder, Dan saw something. The crisscrossing beams were also designed as narrow catwalks.
They were a foot wide and flat, and there was a cable running above them for holding on to. But there was no rail."They must clip into the cable for safety when they're working up here," said Dan. "We can do this!"
"A carabiner would have been nice," said Amy. Looking up reminded her of a long series of rope bridges in an old movie. One where everyone falls into a bottomless canyon.Dan grabbed the cable and began walking, first slowly, then faster and faster as he gained confidence. He was standing at the other side of the statue, twenty-five feet higher in the air before he looked back. Amy hadn't moved, and Hamilton was still fifty feet above them, traveling up the middle of the statue.
"Come on, Amy! You can do it!"Amy took a deep breath and stepped out onto the beam. She wobbled back and forth, then stopped, gripping the cable tighter."Keep moving, Dan! I'll make it. Just get there first!"Dan hesitated, his head pivoting between Hamilton ahead and Amy behind him.
It could be Christmas before she reaches the top! he thought."Get moving, Dan!" Amy yelled.
Dan took off like a monkey, arms and legs working in unison as he raced up another twenty-five feet. He turned at the other side and sped up even more. The switchback routine gave Dan an advantage overHamilton:
It was much easier going up this way than climbing straight up the middle. As Dan crossed the center of the statue for the fourth time, he overtook his larger competitor, who was gasping for air after having climbed over a hundred vertical feet.
"Nice day for a stroll, wouldn't you say?" called Dan. He was also totally out of breath, but his path to the top was way easier than Hamilton's.
The two-way radio was going off like a dinner bell, Eisenhower Holt screaming about the Kabras and demanding to know why Hamilton had disappeared.
Dan was only three switchbacks from the head of The Motherland Calls when he looked back. He couldn't see Amy."Amy! Are you down there?"Dan's voice echoed through the open air. No reply."Amy! Answer me! How far behind are you?"
"You don't have to yell. I'm right here.""No way!" said Dan, a huge smile lighting up his face. Amy had quietly caught up! She was only two switchbacks behind Dan and quickly coming even with Hamilton Holt, who had stopped moving."Double no way!" Dan heard Hamilton mutter. Hamilton had clearly had enough of climbing up the center beam. Thin support rods ran twenty feet away from the beam and connected to the catwalks, and Hamilton grabbed one as Amy walked past.