The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues #1)(23)

"Whoa!" Dan said.

Amy gripped his arm. "You found it?"

"No, but look! This whole essay -- 'To the Royal Academy.' He wrote a whole essay on farts!" Dan grinned with delight. "He's proposing a scientific study of different fart smells. You're right, Amy. This guy was a genius!"

"Dan, you're such a dweeb! Keep searching!"

They scanned four more documents written by Franklin. Nothing showed up. Then, on the fifth one, Dan said, "Here!"

Thankfully, it wasn't another fart essay. The letter was something Franklin had written in Paris in 1785 to someone named Jay. Amy didn't know what it was about. She didn't have time to read it. But glowing yellow in the black light beam were lines between the lines -- a secret message in the handwriting of Benjamin Franklin:

Soon must I leave

This place of wonder

But I leave behind

What hath driven my clan asunder.

Below, drawn by hand, was a crest with two snakes coiled around a sword.

Amy gasped. "That's one of the crests from Grace's library -- the one with the L. Franklin must've been a Lucian!"

"So this is the second clue?" Dan asked. "Or a clue to the clue?"

A camera clicked. "Either way," a girl's voice said. "Nice job."

Amy turned and found herself surrounded by the Starlings. They wore identical preppy clothes as usual -- 12 khakis, button-downs, and loafers. Sinead's auburn hair was tied back in a ponytail. Her brothers, Ted and Ned, stood on either side of her, smiling in an unfriendly way. Sinead was holding her cell phone, which she'd obviously just used to take a photo of their clue.

"You lost us pretty well on the highway," Sinead admitted. "Fortunately, there were only so many Franklin sites you could've been heading to. Thanks for the clue."

She snatched the black light reader away from Dan. "Now, listen close. You brats are going to stay in the museum for half an hour. Give us a head start or we'll be forced to tie you up.

If you leave early, I promise Ted and Ned will find out about it. And they won't be happy."

Her two brothers grinned evily. Sinead turned to leave, but Amy blurted out,

"W-w-wait!"

Sinead raised an eyebrow.

"Th-there's a man ..." Amy tried to say more, but the Starlings were all glaring at her.

She felt like she'd been submerged in ice water.

"What man?" Sinead asked.

"He's been watching us!" Dan said. "Following us! It isn't safe to go out the main entrance."

Sinead smiled. "You're concerned for our safety? That's very cute, Dan, but the thing is" -- Sinead leaned in and poked him in the stomach with every word -- "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU."

Sinead and her brothers laughed, then turned and jogged toward the main exit.

Before Amy could even think what to do, a low horrible hum shook the floor. And then:

BOOOM!

Glass display cases shattered. The whole building shuddered. Amy was thrown against Dan and they crumpled to the floor.

When she sat up, her vision was fuzzy. She wasn't sure how long she stayed there, dazed. She staggered to her feet and tugged on Dan's arm.

"Get up!" she said, but she couldn't hear her own voice.

"What?" he mouthed.

She hauled him to his feet. Together they ran toward the exit. Smoke and dust filled the air. Emergency lights flashed from the fire alarms. A pile of rubble blocked the exit from the Franklin Gallery, as if part of the ceiling had collapsed. On the floor near Amy's feet lay the shattered black light reader and Sinead's cell phone.

And there was no sign of the Starlings at all.

CHAPTER 9

Dan decided that explosions were cool, but not if you were in one.

The whole way to Independence Hall, Amy cradled Saladin's cat carrier like it was her life preserver. Nellie yelled at them for being so reckless. Dan's hearing was so messed up she sounded like she was talking from the bottom of a fish tank.

"I can't believe this!" Nellie said. "A real bomb? I thought you were joking!"

Amy wiped her eyes. "The Starlings ... they just -- "

"Maybe they're okay," Dan said, but it sounded lame even to him. They hadn't stuck around for the police to arrive. They'd been so freaked out they'd simply fled, so Dan had no idea what had happened to the triplets. He didn't figure it was a good sign that they'd found Sinead's phone next to a whole section of collapsed roof.

Nellie yanked the wheel and they turned onto Sixth Street. "You guys, this is serious.

Somebody tried to kill you. I can't babysit you if -- "

"Au pair us," Dan corrected, " -- whatever!"

She pulled the car in front of Independence Hall. The sun was going down, and in the evening light, the place looked exactly like it did in school videos -- a two-story brick building with a big white clock tower, surrounded by trees and flower beds. A statue of some Revolutionary dude stood out front. The hall didn't look all that impressive compared to the huge modern buildings around it, but back in the day, Dan guessed it was probably the biggest place in town. He could imagine Franklin and all his friends with powdered wigs and three-cornered hats gathering on the steps to talk about the Declaration of Independence, or the Constitution, or maybe Ben's latest proposal for studying farts. The whole scene made Dan think of American history tests, which were almost as scary as exploding museums.