The 39 Clues Book 7: The Viper's Nest by Peter Lerangis Page B
Authors: Peter Lerangis
Tags: Fiction, General, Historical, 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's stories, Children: Grades 4-6, Adventure stories (Children's, Code and Cipher Stories, Orphans & Foster Homes, Mysteries; Espionage; & Detective Stories, Family - Siblings, Juvenile Mysteries, Ciphers, Historical - Ancient Civilizations, Historical - Other, Family & home stories (Children's, Cahill; Dan (Fictitious character), Cahill; Amy (Fictitious character)
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What if this thing is actually two parts --the top part is the code, and the bottom part is the instructions for decoding it?"
"Hmm ..." Dan looked at the last few lines of the message. "So, 'O confused letters' would be part of the instructions."
"Yup, and 'confused' could be a code for 'scrambled.' Scrambled letters means an anagram," Amy said. "And 'flee' -- that means the same thing as 'leave' in Uncle Alistair's puzzle. You have to take something away, like a letter or word ..."
"Lover!" Dan said. "That's it. He doesn't mean a real lover. He means the word l-o-v-e-r! And 'from these lines' --five letters, five lines!--wait, I think I know..."
119
AM LOST, - L = AMOST
TIRED, GONE IN, - O = TIREDGNEIN
DRIVEN NOUGHT. - V = DRIENNOUGHT
WE HIT - E = WHIT
A SHARK - R = ASHAK
Dan slapped his forehead. "Agggh, it's in Dutch."
"I don't think so," Amy said. "Churchill was a Brit, not a Boer. So now we unscramble. Okay, that second to last word is easy-- with."
"Shaka!" Dan blurted out. "That's the last word! So the final words are with Shaka! Okay, I'll get the rest of it in two minutes. Time me. Go ahead."
But Amy was staring at the first word already. "Dan, I think we hit the jackpot."
Dan's face lit up, the way it did whenever the supermarket stocked Red Sox ice cream. Slowly, he attacked the puzzle and didn't stop until he'd finished:
AMOST = TOMAS
TIREDGNEIN = INGREDIENT
DRIENNOUGHT = IN THE GROUND
WHIT = WITH
ASHAK = SHAKA
"Tomas ingredient in the ground with Shaka!" Dan blurted.
"That was three minutes seven seconds," Nellie remarked.
120
"He knew!" Amy said. "Churchill knew the location of the Tomas clue!"
"He must have found out while in prison," Dan said. "Or maybe there was a Cahill running the mine."
"So... the clue must be buried with Shaka's corpse," Amy said.
"Now we're talking!" Dan replied.
"Ew," Nellie called from the front seat. "We have to dig up a body?"
"Dan?" Amy asked. "Where is Shaka buried?"
Dan took out his Shaka book and leafed to the end. "Well, no one is one hundred percent sure. But legend has it he was killed in a place called Durban, which is in the KwaZulu-Natal province."
"Which is, uh, where?" Nellie said.
"Past the Mpumalanga province," Dan replied.
"Thanks a lot."
But Dan was looking at the bottom of the code sheet. "One thing. What about these lotto numbers?"
Amy looked at them closely. "They look like longitude/latitude coordinates. Can we find out where it is?"
Dan began fiddling with the GPS. "Have Carlos, will travel."
* * *
The phone rang just as Professor Robert Bardsley was listening to the final strains of the Mahler "Resurrection" symphony. "Oh, dear, Winifred?" he said, wiping away
121
a tear as he picked up the receiver. "You caught me at an emotional moment."
As he listened to the voice at the other end, his tears dried. He turned off the music. "You met who? Yes, I know she had grandchildren --how old? --that's wonderful. How sad she's gone. So you showed them the Churchill letter? Aha ... yes, I don't know why the secrecy, either. A rather tepid love poem, if you ask me. Oh, I'm sure they are remarkable children. Pah, not to worry, neglecting to give them my contact info was fine. Why would they want to meet a tired old academic like me? Thank you for the call... tea indeed, perhaps when I'm in Joburg in July. Yes, good night."
Hanging up the phone, Professor Bardsley packed a few CDs, a telescope, a pitchpipe, and a set of infrared glasses into a canvas bag and peered out the front door. The street was clear, as far as he could see. But he would need to take precautions.
He ducked back in, dialed a number, and reached voice mail. "Hello, Nsizwa, this is Bardsley. I will need you to take over rehearsal tomorrow morning, as I have been called away for the day." Pausing a moment, he added, "Come to think of it, I may need the group. You shall hear from me soon...."
On his way out, he lifted a floppy hat from atop his closet shelf, and a
"Hmm ..." Dan looked at the last few lines of the message. "So, 'O confused letters' would be part of the instructions."
"Yup, and 'confused' could be a code for 'scrambled.' Scrambled letters means an anagram," Amy said. "And 'flee' -- that means the same thing as 'leave' in Uncle Alistair's puzzle. You have to take something away, like a letter or word ..."
"Lover!" Dan said. "That's it. He doesn't mean a real lover. He means the word l-o-v-e-r! And 'from these lines' --five letters, five lines!--wait, I think I know..."
119
AM LOST, - L = AMOST
TIRED, GONE IN, - O = TIREDGNEIN
DRIVEN NOUGHT. - V = DRIENNOUGHT
WE HIT - E = WHIT
A SHARK - R = ASHAK
Dan slapped his forehead. "Agggh, it's in Dutch."
"I don't think so," Amy said. "Churchill was a Brit, not a Boer. So now we unscramble. Okay, that second to last word is easy-- with."
"Shaka!" Dan blurted out. "That's the last word! So the final words are with Shaka! Okay, I'll get the rest of it in two minutes. Time me. Go ahead."
But Amy was staring at the first word already. "Dan, I think we hit the jackpot."
Dan's face lit up, the way it did whenever the supermarket stocked Red Sox ice cream. Slowly, he attacked the puzzle and didn't stop until he'd finished:
AMOST = TOMAS
TIREDGNEIN = INGREDIENT
DRIENNOUGHT = IN THE GROUND
WHIT = WITH
ASHAK = SHAKA
"Tomas ingredient in the ground with Shaka!" Dan blurted.
"That was three minutes seven seconds," Nellie remarked.
120
"He knew!" Amy said. "Churchill knew the location of the Tomas clue!"
"He must have found out while in prison," Dan said. "Or maybe there was a Cahill running the mine."
"So... the clue must be buried with Shaka's corpse," Amy said.
"Now we're talking!" Dan replied.
"Ew," Nellie called from the front seat. "We have to dig up a body?"
"Dan?" Amy asked. "Where is Shaka buried?"
Dan took out his Shaka book and leafed to the end. "Well, no one is one hundred percent sure. But legend has it he was killed in a place called Durban, which is in the KwaZulu-Natal province."
"Which is, uh, where?" Nellie said.
"Past the Mpumalanga province," Dan replied.
"Thanks a lot."
But Dan was looking at the bottom of the code sheet. "One thing. What about these lotto numbers?"
Amy looked at them closely. "They look like longitude/latitude coordinates. Can we find out where it is?"
Dan began fiddling with the GPS. "Have Carlos, will travel."
* * *
The phone rang just as Professor Robert Bardsley was listening to the final strains of the Mahler "Resurrection" symphony. "Oh, dear, Winifred?" he said, wiping away
121
a tear as he picked up the receiver. "You caught me at an emotional moment."
As he listened to the voice at the other end, his tears dried. He turned off the music. "You met who? Yes, I know she had grandchildren --how old? --that's wonderful. How sad she's gone. So you showed them the Churchill letter? Aha ... yes, I don't know why the secrecy, either. A rather tepid love poem, if you ask me. Oh, I'm sure they are remarkable children. Pah, not to worry, neglecting to give them my contact info was fine. Why would they want to meet a tired old academic like me? Thank you for the call... tea indeed, perhaps when I'm in Joburg in July. Yes, good night."
Hanging up the phone, Professor Bardsley packed a few CDs, a telescope, a pitchpipe, and a set of infrared glasses into a canvas bag and peered out the front door. The street was clear, as far as he could see. But he would need to take precautions.
He ducked back in, dialed a number, and reached voice mail. "Hello, Nsizwa, this is Bardsley. I will need you to take over rehearsal tomorrow morning, as I have been called away for the day." Pausing a moment, he added, "Come to think of it, I may need the group. You shall hear from me soon...."
On his way out, he lifted a floppy hat from atop his closet shelf, and a
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