The Maze of Bones: The 39 Clues (Clue hunt_Book1)

Chapter 14 - Part 4

"What?" Dan yelled. "You burned Grace's mansion? You set off that bomb in the museum?"

"To slow you down," Eisenhower admitted. "We should've beaten you up in person. Sorry about that."

Dan threw a rock, but it sailed harmlessly between Reagan's legs. "You morons! Get us OUT of here!"

Reagan frowned, but Madison and Hamilton started yelling back at Dan. Arnold barked.

Amy knew this was getting them nowhere. They had to convince the Holts to let them out, but she couldn't make her voice work. She wanted to curl into a ball and hide.

Then the ground shook. There was a rumbling sound like a large engine. The Holts turned toward the street and looked astonished by whatever they saw.

"You -- little -- tricksters!" Eisenhower glared down at them. "This was an ambush, wasn't it?" "What are you talking about?" Dan asked.

"A truck is blocking the gates!" Mary-Todd said. "A cement truck."

"Dad, look," Reagan said nervously. "They've got shovels."

Amy's danger sense started tingling. Dan turned toward her, and she could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"They're going to fill the hole," Dan said. "Aren't they?" She nodded weakly.

"Mr. Holt!" Dan started jumping like Arnold the dog, but he couldn't reach the top of the pit.

"Come on, you've got to get us out! We'll help you!"

Mr. Holt snorted. "You led us into this! Besides, you runts can't fight."

"Dad," Reagan said. "Maybe we should -- "

"Shut up, sis," Hamilton growled. "We can handle this!"

"Reagan!" Dan yelled. "Come on! Tel them to let us out." Reagan just knit her eyebrows and stared at the ground. Dan looked at Amy desperately. "You gotta do something. Tell them you can figure out the book!" But the words wouldn't come. Amy felt like she was already being covered in cement.

Her brother needed her. She had to say something. But she just stood there, frozen and helpless and hating herself for being so scared.

"HEEEY!" Dan yelled up. "Amy knows what the clue means! She'll tell you if you let us out!"

Mr. Holt scowled. Amy knew he wouldn't go for it. They'd be stuck down here forever, cemented in. Then Mr. Holt stripped off his warm-up jacket and lowered it into the pit. "Grab the sleeve."

Within seconds, Amy and Dan were out of the pit. Sure enough, a cement truck had blocked the gates of the cemetery. Six thugs in coveralls and hard hats were lined up at the fence, hefting shovels like they were ready to fight.

"All right, team," Mr. Holt said with relish. "Let's show 'em how it's done -- Holt style!"

The whole family rushed forward. Mr. Holt grabbed the first thug's shovel and swung it, with the guy still attached, into the side of the cement truck.

CLANG!

The girls, Madison and Reagan, plowed into one thug so hard he flew across the street and crashed through the window of a flower shop. Arnold bit the third thug in the leg and held on with jaws of iron. Mary-Todd and Hamilton tackled a fourth thug against the chute on the back of the truck. His head hit a lever and cement started spilling all over the street.

Unfortunately, two thugs remained, and they ran straight for Amy and Dan. Fear closed around Amy's throat. She recognized their faces -- they were the security guards from the Lucian stronghold. Before she could even think of a plan, Dan unzipped his backpack and took out his blinking silver sphere.

"Dan, no!" Amy said. "You can't -- " But he did.

As much as he loved baseball, Dan was the world's worst pitcher. The sphere sailed right past the two guys who were charging them and exploded under Mr. Holt's feet with a blinding yellow flash. The noise was like the world's largest snare drum being smashed with a sledgehammer. Amy went cross-eyed. When she regained her senses, she saw the entire Holt family and the guys they'd been battling flat on the ground, knocked unconscious -- except for the two thugs Dan meant to hit. They were only dazed, stumbling around and shaking their heads. Amy turned to Dan in horror. "What did you do?"

Up Next: 39 Clues: The Maze of the Bones: Chapter 14 - Part 5