The 39 Clues: Book 8 by Gordan Korman Page A
Authors: Gordan Korman
Tags: Fiction, General, Historical, Historical - General, Children's Books, Action & Adventure, Family, Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure - General, YA), Children's Fiction, Ages 9-12 Fiction, Orphans, Brothers and sisters, Other, Children: Grades 4-6, Siblings, Adventure stories (Children's, Mysteries; Espionage; & Detective Stories, Family - Siblings, Ciphers, Historical - Other, Family & home stories (Children's, Juvenile Historical Fiction
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Amy and Nellie were passing through the Bird's Nest VIP gate when the object of their search stepped out of the emergency exit in the company of Jonah's father.
They had missed seeing Dan by fifteen seconds.
* * *
The Chinese TV network provided the surgeon who
64
stitched up the nasty cut over Dan's eyebrow where the money girl had used his face as a starting block for her bull run at the dressing room.
Jonah was contrite. "Sorry cuz. Never meant for you to end up in the middle of a feeding frenzy. My fault."
Dan tapped the Steri-Strip on his forehead. Regular people sat in the emergency room, getting coughed on and waiting hours to be seen. When you were with the Wizard posse, a private doctor came to your hotel at two in the morning. It made getting stitches almost a luxury experience.
"It's okay," Dan told him. "Thanks for the doctor."
"Least I could do. Listen, we haven't located your sis yet, and this is our last night in Beijing."
"You're leaving?" What was Dan going to do with no Amy and no Jonah? Could he make it on his own in this vast alien city?
Jonah nodded. "Places to go, people to see. Here's the thing -- I know you can handle yourself, yo. But as your cousin, I can't dump you in Beijing all alone. It's just not cool."
"I have to find Amy."
"True," Jonah agreed. "But look--we both know the real reason we're in China, and it has nothing to do with TV shows or concert tours. The next clue is here somewhere."
If there was one topic Dan wasn't in the mood for, it was the 39 Clues. "So?"
"So even though we're not on the same team, your
65
sis is looking for the same clue. The way to find her is on the clue hunt."
It wasn't hard to see the truth. Maybe Dan was out of the contest, but Amy was still hot after Clues.
"Come with us, cuz," Jonah went on. "We'll find her together. I got you."
Cold suspicion chilled Dan from the inside. I quit, but Jonah doesn't know that. To him, I'm still the competition.
What if this was a trap --a plan to strand Grace Cahill's grandchildren oceans apart from each other? Nile crocodiles were a minor inconvenience compared with losing his sister.
McIntyre's words again: Trust no one.
Yeah, real helpful advice--I've got no Amy and no money. If I don't trust somebody, I'm sleeping on the street!
Aloud, he said, "It's pretty risky. If you and Amy are working different angles, we could end up thousands of miles away from each other."
"Word," Jonah agreed seriously. "I'm not going to lie and tell you it can't happen. But you've got a better chance tracking her down on the clue hunt than by hoping to run into her in a city of seventeen million."
"But what if she's looking for me here?"
The star shook his head. "Then we would have found her by now. It's not just my pops -- we've got the whole Wizard PR machine on this job. No way she's local."
It made sense. Why would Amy waste time waiting around for Dan?
66
She probably hates me after what happened in Tiananmen Square....
"You're right, Jonah. I'll stay with you guys. Where to next?"
"Change in plan," the star replied. "I was scheduled for a state tour of the Great Wall, but that'll have to wait. Sorry if I can't give you all the details, but this is hardcore inside-baseball Janus info. One day, when you guys figure out which branch you belong to, you'll understand the code of silence they slap on you."
"I understand," Dan said, thinking darkly of his secret Madrigal identity. "I haven't told you everything, either."
"Anyway, we're going to Henan Province to a place called the Shaolin Temple. Heard of it?"
Dan was bug-eyed. "You mean (the) place where kung fu was developed? Those are the sweetest fighting skills ever!"
"The Janus are all about that," Jonah went on. "You know--martial arts? We're more than just pastels and harpsichords."
"This is going to be awesome!" Dan exclaimed. "Is it far? How do we get there?"
"Chinese TV has a private jet we can use. When you roll with me, you go first
They had missed seeing Dan by fifteen seconds.
* * *
The Chinese TV network provided the surgeon who
64
stitched up the nasty cut over Dan's eyebrow where the money girl had used his face as a starting block for her bull run at the dressing room.
Jonah was contrite. "Sorry cuz. Never meant for you to end up in the middle of a feeding frenzy. My fault."
Dan tapped the Steri-Strip on his forehead. Regular people sat in the emergency room, getting coughed on and waiting hours to be seen. When you were with the Wizard posse, a private doctor came to your hotel at two in the morning. It made getting stitches almost a luxury experience.
"It's okay," Dan told him. "Thanks for the doctor."
"Least I could do. Listen, we haven't located your sis yet, and this is our last night in Beijing."
"You're leaving?" What was Dan going to do with no Amy and no Jonah? Could he make it on his own in this vast alien city?
Jonah nodded. "Places to go, people to see. Here's the thing -- I know you can handle yourself, yo. But as your cousin, I can't dump you in Beijing all alone. It's just not cool."
"I have to find Amy."
"True," Jonah agreed. "But look--we both know the real reason we're in China, and it has nothing to do with TV shows or concert tours. The next clue is here somewhere."
If there was one topic Dan wasn't in the mood for, it was the 39 Clues. "So?"
"So even though we're not on the same team, your
65
sis is looking for the same clue. The way to find her is on the clue hunt."
It wasn't hard to see the truth. Maybe Dan was out of the contest, but Amy was still hot after Clues.
"Come with us, cuz," Jonah went on. "We'll find her together. I got you."
Cold suspicion chilled Dan from the inside. I quit, but Jonah doesn't know that. To him, I'm still the competition.
What if this was a trap --a plan to strand Grace Cahill's grandchildren oceans apart from each other? Nile crocodiles were a minor inconvenience compared with losing his sister.
McIntyre's words again: Trust no one.
Yeah, real helpful advice--I've got no Amy and no money. If I don't trust somebody, I'm sleeping on the street!
Aloud, he said, "It's pretty risky. If you and Amy are working different angles, we could end up thousands of miles away from each other."
"Word," Jonah agreed seriously. "I'm not going to lie and tell you it can't happen. But you've got a better chance tracking her down on the clue hunt than by hoping to run into her in a city of seventeen million."
"But what if she's looking for me here?"
The star shook his head. "Then we would have found her by now. It's not just my pops -- we've got the whole Wizard PR machine on this job. No way she's local."
It made sense. Why would Amy waste time waiting around for Dan?
66
She probably hates me after what happened in Tiananmen Square....
"You're right, Jonah. I'll stay with you guys. Where to next?"
"Change in plan," the star replied. "I was scheduled for a state tour of the Great Wall, but that'll have to wait. Sorry if I can't give you all the details, but this is hardcore inside-baseball Janus info. One day, when you guys figure out which branch you belong to, you'll understand the code of silence they slap on you."
"I understand," Dan said, thinking darkly of his secret Madrigal identity. "I haven't told you everything, either."
"Anyway, we're going to Henan Province to a place called the Shaolin Temple. Heard of it?"
Dan was bug-eyed. "You mean (the) place where kung fu was developed? Those are the sweetest fighting skills ever!"
"The Janus are all about that," Jonah went on. "You know--martial arts? We're more than just pastels and harpsichords."
"This is going to be awesome!" Dan exclaimed. "Is it far? How do we get there?"
"Chinese TV has a private jet we can use. When you roll with me, you go first
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