The 39 Clues Book 7: The Viper's Nest (18 page)

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was quicker than they expected. After passing through the scanner, they followed the sign for the boarding gates, but a man with a mustache gestured toward a motor cart. "This way, please," he said.

"No, thanks," Amy replied. "We'll walk."

The man moved closer. "This way."

"Just give him some baksheesh and tell him to go away," Dan murmured.

"Wrong country, dude," Nellie said.

The man stepped quickly in Dan's path. In his right hand was a small knife.

"What the --?" Dan looked around frantically.

Behind him, Nellie drew in a breath. "Better do what he says. Now."

Amy trembled. She and Dan climbed into the back of the cart as Nellie took the front passenger seat. The man sped away from the gates, driving out a back door and across a tarmac. Small craft buzzed overhead and cargo carriers rolled by.

Soon they raced around the corner of a hangar. If the coast was clear, they could make a run for it.

Dan poked Amy. She eyed him and nodded ever so slightly. The driver swerved around the building.

Suddenly, Dan felt a bag come down over his head.
"Hey!"
he shouted.

Amy and Nellie were screaming. Dan tried to stand, but his arms were yanked behind him. He felt a coarse rope tightening around his wrists and a gag around his mouth.

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In moments, he was being shoved from behind. They were walking on concrete. A rush of wind lifted his shirttail as a low-flying plane passed.

He felt himself being pushed through a door. Then two hands were shoving him downward, into a chair. On either side of him, he could hear Amy and Nellie grunting against the gags.

"One ... two ... three ... all present." The voice felt like a scrape of acid down Dan's back. "Let's be civilized about this, shall we?"

The bag was pulled up over his head, and he was staring into the face of Isabel Kabra.

* * *

"Diamond," Isabel Kabra said, filing her fingernails and looking out of place in a molded plastic chair. "You came to South Africa and discovered the clue was diamond. Aren't they clever, children?"

"Hope it wasn't too ... erm,
hard
for you," Natalie said, snickering.

"A pity you had to strain yourselves," Ian continued, "when we could have easily told you."

The mustached man squatted behind Amy, Dan, and Nellie, tying their legs to the chair. Isabel, Ian, and Natalie faced them across the cement floor of a storage shed. Shelves were crammed with cans, boxes, tools, and parts. Behind Ian's head was a huge, dented propeller lying sideways on a machine with a fan belt.

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Amy pulled at her restraints. Isabel knew about the Clue. Somehow she'd tracked them down. But Amy was no longer surprised at Isabel. No longer scared. At this point, all she wanted to do was one thing.

Get her.

"How did you know? Dan sputtered. "This was a Tomas clue!"

"Churchill was a Lucian, dear," Isabel said with a chortle. "He found the Tomas clue a hundred years ago. Did you really think we wouldn't know?"

"Indeed," Ian piped up. "Well put, Mother."

She shot him a glance and he shut up.

"So ... if you know it already," Nellie said, "why are we here?"

"I missed you, darlings," Isabel replied. "Ever since our awful little tête-à-tête with the sharks, Amy--for which I apologize -- I've had a bit of a reawakening. I've been wondering about your health."

"You didn't seem too concerned about it when you set that fire, you animal!" Amy said.

Dan glared at her, his face rigid with fear.

But Isabel just shook her head sadly. "Animal. This is a strong word for someone who murdered Irina Spasky."

"Me --
murder?--
it was YOU!" Amy shouted. "Really? Hmm, that's not what the newspapers are saying," Isabel said. "Are they, children?"

"Indeed," Ian said.

"Is that all you can say?"
Isabel snapped, then turned

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back to Dan and Amy. "You know, it is not easy being international fugitives. People tend to want you in jail. You wouldn't like it. Although I suppose it's in the genes. After all, Mr. and Mrs. Nudelman were masters."

Amy's stomach knotted. "Another lie!"

"Ah, the drama," Isabel said, smiling. "I see you recognize the name!"

"What do you want from us?"
Amy demanded.

Isabel leaned forward. "I know how you feel about me, and I don't blame you. But I am in need of a few good young minds. And you, my dears, are in need of something more profound." She shrugged. "A family."

Dan looked at her in disbelief. "You want to
adopt
us?"

"Would you like a token of my good intentions?" Isabel reached into her bag and pulled out a vial of green liquid. "Voila!"

"Your kids stole that from us!" Amy said. "In Paris!"

"And I am willing to share it with you," Isabel said. "You have no idea how important this is to the search for the thirty-nine clues. With it, you will be shoulder to shoulder with the winning team. Think about it. We will fold you into the Kabra family. You will lend your skills and knowledge to us. You will be like brother and sister to Ian and Natalie."

Natalie blanched. "Please! Distant poor cousins, perhaps..."

It took all Amy's strength to keep from laughing out loud. Isabel had something in mind --but if she was

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serious about
this,
she was truly insane.

She met Isabel's gaze. The eyes were like a lizard's, cold and bloodless. But for the first time -- even as helpless as she was--Amy felt no fear. Fold into the Kabra family? She would rather die a hundred times.

"Amy?" Isabel said with a magnanimous smile. "I know, perhaps you need a moment to let this extraordinary opportunity sink in ..."

Amy smiled back. "Actually, I don't need a moment," she said sweetly. "You can shove it."

Isabel recoiled. Nellie let out a hoot of laughter.

"Amy!" Dan cried out.

"So be it," Isabel snapped. "Some people just like to make things difficult." She held out the vial to her son. "Ian?"

Ian rose uncertainly. He placed the vial on a shelf just beyond the horizontal propeller. He paused for a moment, as if trying to decide something, then flicked a switch on the wall.

The propeller began to spin. It made a low humming sound that quickly grew into a roar. It was only about four feet off the ground, and the wind it created was strewing papers everywhere.

Isabel gestured toward the green vial. "One by one! Come and get it!" she trilled.

The mustached man grabbed the back of Dan's chair. He angled it toward the spinning propeller.

And he began to push.

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CHAPTER 26

"NO-O-O-O!"
Amy was shrieking from behind Dan.

Dan pulled at the ropes. The propeller was screaming in his ears, a silver blur, the blades coming closer. He smelled the burning motor, the grease.

Too
tight.

Dan jerked his body, trying to tip the chair.

Ian Kabra looked queasily from Dan to the propeller.

Now the blade was inches from Dan's neck. He leaned back, eyes closed, his mind seeming to detach. He heard a scream and wasn't sure if it was his.

But he did feel his chair tilting. And his head hitting something, hard.

"Get him!"
a voice commanded.

Isabel.

Dan opened his eyes. He saw Amy hurtling across the room, still tied to her chair, ramming her head into Isabel Kabra.

Suddenly, he felt himself rolling backward. "Dan! Dan, can you hear me?" a deep voice asked.

"Owwww..." Dan's hands were suddenly free. He

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staggered to his feet. Across the room, Amy was on top of Isabel, pinning her to the floor.

A hand shoved him toward the door. "Go. We must not waste time. Make a left and head for Hangar Three. I will join you."

Professor Bardsley was pushing him. Three of his students wrestled with the Kabras while untying Nellie and Amy. The propeller was slowing.

Dan felt his neck, just to be sure. Then he ran to grab his sister. "Let's go!"

They raced to the door, with Nellie close behind. Isabel was shrieking, her voice piercing through the rumble of the slowing blade.
"THIS IS AN INJUSTICE!"

As Amy and Natalie scurried out, Dan ducked back in to get Saladin. Then he ran around to the other side of the propeller and grabbed the vial of green liquid off the shelf.

Racing outside, he stuffed the vial into his pocket.

He caught up with Amy and Nellie just outside Hangar Three. The door was open, revealing a prop plane under a thick canvas.

"Are you okay?" Amy asked. "Oh, my God, Dan, I thought you were going to--" She swallowed the rest of the thought.

"What you did to Isabel was awesome," Dan said.

Professor Bardsley was sprinting toward them now. "Children, we are leaving," he said breathlessly. "You cannot stay in South Africa any longer. The Kabras can be subdued, but they will not be stopped. And there is

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someone else--" He glanced over his shoulder.

"Who?"
Dan asked.

But Professor Bardsley ducked into the hangar, calling out, "Hall-ooooo!"

Two uniformed workers came running. "Do you have flight-path clearance, Professor?" one of them asked.

"Please get it for me--ASAP!" Professor Bardsley said.

The man ran off as the other worker helped Professor Bardsley unsheathe the plane.

Its sides were yellow, with red piping and a name in fancy script:
The Flying Lemur.

"It's Grace's plane!" Amy exclaimed.

"Grace taught me to fly," Professor Bardsley said. "When she knew she was dying, she gave me permission to keep this old girl in business. Now, let's take her for a spin, shall we?"

Amy ran around to the other side and jumped into the passenger seat of the cockpit.

"Hey! I want to sit there," Dan protested.

"Dude, you weren't fast enough," Nellie added, sliding into the rear.

Professor Bardsley turned the ignition. The propellers spun. "Go!" the airport worker was shouting. "You have the green light!"

"They let you cut in front of everybody, just like that?" Nellie asked.

Professor Bardsley grinned. "Don't ask questions. Get in, Dan!"

Nellie pulled Dan into the backseat.

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Dan plopped in beside her, fuming. "You guys think I'm not
fast enough?"
he said. "You think it had nothing to do with the fact that I'm holding Saladin, so maybe it was unfair for Amy to jump in like that?"

"Mrrp,"
said Saladin in agreement.

Nellie shrugged. "You
could
have done rock-paper-scissors for a half hour or so."

"Ha-ha. You just yuk it up with my sister." Dan folded his arms and sat back as Amy shrank in her seat.

"Dude, where are you taking us?" Nellie asked.

"If anything, he will be
expecting
us to land in Swaziland," Professor Bardsley said.

"He?" Nellie asked.

"They,"
Professor Bardsley quickly replied. "Anyone who may be on your tail. So I will take you to Mozambique. There you will board a plane to Germany, where I will arrange transport to -- wherever it is you need to go next."

The plane rolled out of the hangar and taxied onto the runway, propellers whirring.

"Why are you doing this for us, Professor Bardsley?" Amy spoke up.
"What's
going on?"

"Because your work is done here," he replied. "Because you have found a clue. Because even though I am not a part of this, I respect that you are doing your grandmother's bidding."

"How well did you know Grace?" Amy pressed. "Did you know which branch she belonged to?"

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As Professor Bardsley yanked back the throttle, the noise was deafening.
"What?"
he said. The plane lurched forward.
"YEEE-HAH!"
Nellie shouted.

From the backseat, Dan leaned into Amy. "You really think I'm so slow? Well, if I'm so slow, how come I was the one who remembered to hold on to this?"

He was shoving something in her face now. The Kabras' green vial.