the book she was looking through and pulled it out.
Carthage Museum,
read the text message.
Atticus and Jake had gone back to their father’s to look for clues, while she and Dan stayed behind and researched Uthman and his reign. Looked like the others had hit on something first. Amy packed up the notes she had been taking and then slid down the ladder.
She went to the study room Dan had been in all morning, but her brother wasn’t there. The table was covered with a clutter of books, papers, and candy wrappers.
Dan,
she thought
.
She could remember a time when his messiness drove her crazy but now . . . .
Amy neatened the books and threw the wrappers away. She was about to put Dan’s notes in his backpack when she saw a sheaf of brightly colored papers sticking out from it. Curious, Amy pulled one out.
It was a brochure advertising something called Bartleby’s World-Famous Clown Academy. There was another for a baseball camp, and another for an astronaut camp. An application for the American School in Rome sat at the bottom. Each page was printed in bright jewel colors and covered with pictures of boys Dan’s age. Boys running through parks or juggling torches. Boys sliding into home base.
Amy felt a dark hole open up inside her.
He’s already making plans to leave.
She leafed through the brochures again. How long had Dan been hiding these? She’d tried to convince herself that his talk of leaving was a passing thing, but now . . . her last family member, the person she trusted most of all, had one foot out the door.
“Amy?”
Amy stuffed the brochures back into his pack and turned around.
“Everything okay?” Dan asked.
“Y-yeah,” she stuttered, unable to meet his eyes. “Jake texted. They’re at the Carthage Museum.”
Amy pushed past Dan before he could say a word, nearly running into the hall outside. It was like the sheaf of papers stuffed inside his pack was a bomb, and she had to get away before it went off.
Amy stepped out of the gloom of the library, shielding her eyes from the Tunisian morning light. The buzzing sound of the call to prayer seemed to come from every direction at once. Everything seemed overloud and overbright. Dan appeared behind her and raised a hand out over the traffic until a cab skidded to a stop at the curb. Dan told the driver where they were going and the car pulled away from the library and joined the Tunisian traffic.
“Amy?” Dan asked. “You find anything helpful?”
She shook her head, eyes fixed out the window. “I just took some notes. Whatever seemed worthwhile.”
They left the city traffic and moved onto a highway that spanned Lake Tunis. The glare of the sun on the steely water hit Amy’s eyes like spikes and she had to look away.
Dan was sitting across from her with his arms wrapped around his backpack, holding it close to his chest as he looked out the window. A corner of bright blue paper stuck out the top of the pack. She wanted to say something to Dan, but what?
Don’t go? How could you?
For the first time, there was something between them too immense for words.
He’s really going to do it. He’s really going to leave.
Amy couldn’t breathe.
The rest of the trip passed in a blur. The cab lurched to a stop and Dan piled out and headed up the sidewalk to the museum, his backpack bouncing on his shoulder. Jake and Atticus were waiting. Everything suddenly snapped back into focus. They had work to do. Amy shook herself and paid the driver.
“What have you got?” she asked when she joined them at the museum’s entrance.
“We found this in Dad’s living room,” Atticus said, handing over a scrap of paper. “When we thought he had been kidnapped, we figured all the mess was just Pierce’s goons ransacking the place, so we missed this.”
Amy unfolded the piece of paper. “Dr. Abdallah, two P.M. ”
“He’s a researcher here,” Jake said. “We called and told him we were coming.”
Jake pulled open the glass door to
Carthage Museum,
read the text message.
Atticus and Jake had gone back to their father’s to look for clues, while she and Dan stayed behind and researched Uthman and his reign. Looked like the others had hit on something first. Amy packed up the notes she had been taking and then slid down the ladder.
She went to the study room Dan had been in all morning, but her brother wasn’t there. The table was covered with a clutter of books, papers, and candy wrappers.
Dan,
she thought
.
She could remember a time when his messiness drove her crazy but now . . . .
Amy neatened the books and threw the wrappers away. She was about to put Dan’s notes in his backpack when she saw a sheaf of brightly colored papers sticking out from it. Curious, Amy pulled one out.
It was a brochure advertising something called Bartleby’s World-Famous Clown Academy. There was another for a baseball camp, and another for an astronaut camp. An application for the American School in Rome sat at the bottom. Each page was printed in bright jewel colors and covered with pictures of boys Dan’s age. Boys running through parks or juggling torches. Boys sliding into home base.
Amy felt a dark hole open up inside her.
He’s already making plans to leave.
She leafed through the brochures again. How long had Dan been hiding these? She’d tried to convince herself that his talk of leaving was a passing thing, but now . . . her last family member, the person she trusted most of all, had one foot out the door.
“Amy?”
Amy stuffed the brochures back into his pack and turned around.
“Everything okay?” Dan asked.
“Y-yeah,” she stuttered, unable to meet his eyes. “Jake texted. They’re at the Carthage Museum.”
Amy pushed past Dan before he could say a word, nearly running into the hall outside. It was like the sheaf of papers stuffed inside his pack was a bomb, and she had to get away before it went off.
Amy stepped out of the gloom of the library, shielding her eyes from the Tunisian morning light. The buzzing sound of the call to prayer seemed to come from every direction at once. Everything seemed overloud and overbright. Dan appeared behind her and raised a hand out over the traffic until a cab skidded to a stop at the curb. Dan told the driver where they were going and the car pulled away from the library and joined the Tunisian traffic.
“Amy?” Dan asked. “You find anything helpful?”
She shook her head, eyes fixed out the window. “I just took some notes. Whatever seemed worthwhile.”
They left the city traffic and moved onto a highway that spanned Lake Tunis. The glare of the sun on the steely water hit Amy’s eyes like spikes and she had to look away.
Dan was sitting across from her with his arms wrapped around his backpack, holding it close to his chest as he looked out the window. A corner of bright blue paper stuck out the top of the pack. She wanted to say something to Dan, but what?
Don’t go? How could you?
For the first time, there was something between them too immense for words.
He’s really going to do it. He’s really going to leave.
Amy couldn’t breathe.
The rest of the trip passed in a blur. The cab lurched to a stop and Dan piled out and headed up the sidewalk to the museum, his backpack bouncing on his shoulder. Jake and Atticus were waiting. Everything suddenly snapped back into focus. They had work to do. Amy shook herself and paid the driver.
“What have you got?” she asked when she joined them at the museum’s entrance.
“We found this in Dad’s living room,” Atticus said, handing over a scrap of paper. “When we thought he had been kidnapped, we figured all the mess was just Pierce’s goons ransacking the place, so we missed this.”
Amy unfolded the piece of paper. “Dr. Abdallah, two P.M. ”
“He’s a researcher here,” Jake said. “We called and told him we were coming.”
Jake pulled open the glass door to
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