Palace
Sun Temple
Sacred Rock
Terraces
Samantha smiled and stopped walking.
She called to Nipper to join her and they waited until a group of visitors passed them on the trail.
“Read this,” she said, pointing to the map.
“ ‘Palace, Sun Temple, Sacred Rock, Terraces,’ ” said Nipper. “So what?”
“No,” said Samantha. “Read the first letters.”
“ ‘P…S…S…T,’ ” said Nipper. “Coincidence?”
Samantha shook her head. She took out the purple sunglasses and examined the brochure again. In a blank corner of the map, a bright yellow dot blinked.
They let other visitors pass as they made the last two zigzags up the mountain.
“The Lost City,” Samantha said, sounding satisfied.
The ruins of Machu Picchu stretched out before them—and above. The ancient citadel was surrounded on three sides by steep mountain peaks. Row upon row of stone terraces formed the mountain city. They looked like giant green staircases. Jagged ruins of stone buildings dotted the wide landings.
Samantha gave one big nod and let the sunglasses drop into place. Along a stretch of the wall, at the edge of a terrace, the letters PSST flashed. An arrow pointed to a gap in the wall. Samantha removed the glasses and checked to make sure no one was paying attention to her and her brother. She led Nipper across the grass to the wall. Most visitors wouldn’t notice the narrow strip of grass, and if they did, they wouldn’t see anything special.
Together, they walked through the gap. To their left, stairs hugged the wall leading down to a small terrace. Samantha and Nipper descended the stairs, where they found another opening, and went inside.
They stood in a square room, four feet across. It was more of a box than a room, really. Light poured in from the entrance behind them, illuminating the dark, pitted stone wall before them. It was covered with small carvings, though they were hard to make out on the stone. Most of the carvings were too old and worn to identify.
“I think this one’s an animal head,” said Nipper, pointing to a shape.
“Possibly,” said Samantha. “This one might be a boat.”
They spent a few more minutes staring at and touching the wall. They got nowhere.
“Hang on,” said Samantha, putting on the glasses once again.
A large yellow arrow appeared on the wall. It pointed to the left.
“Let me see,” said Nipper.
She handed him the glasses.
He nodded, turned left, and started examining the blank wall in front of him.
Samantha didn’t turn. On a hunch, she put both hands on the old stone wall, applied pressure, and pushed sideways.
The whole wall slid to the left—revealing a new wall!
A really new wall. This wall was shiny and smooth, with crisp, clear images carved in neat rows. A tiny silver dot sparkled between every two carvings. Samantha guessed there were more than a thousand pictures covering the wall from ceiling to floor.
“Super-sneaky,” said Nipper, handing the glasses back to her.
They stared at the wall and saw fish, birds, monkeys, and spiders. They saw mountains and boats. There were lots of faces and symbols.
“There’s a llama,” said Samantha, pointing to an animal drawing.
“Did you hear something squeak?” asked Nipper, changing the subject. He turned to another part of the wall and examined it.
They searched the pictures, looking for patterns. They tried to find hidden letters. They tapped on carvings.
And yet, nothing.
Samantha put on the purple glasses again and stared.
Still, nothing.
While she was putting the glasses away in her purse, a smell caught her attention. Cumin. She stared at Nipper’s ankles. He was still wearing the tube socks from six days ago.
“Seriously?” she asked. “You haven’t changed your socks in a whole week?”
“I used up all my other socks,” he answered. “What else could I do?”
“Laundry,” she said.
Nipper bent down and pulled up his smelly socks. A shiny coin clattered onto the floor.
“My lucky nickel!” he shouted.
Samantha rolled her eyes. She thought again about Uncle Paul’s advice when he’d given the nickel to Nipper.
“She’s one of a kind,” he’d said. “Look after her.” Then he’d winked at Samantha.
“ ‘One of a kind,’ ” Samantha repeated. She waved for Nipper to come look at the wall with her.
They studied the stone carvings once more, keeping track of images that repeated. There were dozens of identical bird carvings, and many matching boats. They found pairs of fish and triplets of lizards and frogs. Samantha counted at least five stars and six monkeys. There was only one llama.
“One of a kind,” said Nipper.
“Yep,” said Samantha. “Now look after her.”
Nipper leaned in and stared at the llama and the tiny silver dot next to its tail.
“Wait,” he said, taking out his magnifying lens. “Let me see.”
They both peered through the glass at the dot. A woman’s head surrounded by stars sparkled in the center of a silver circle.
“Feeling lucky?” Samantha asked, and waved her hand under the circle. “Go ahead.”
Nipper pressed the silver dot. They heard a click and a squeak and the dark stone began to slide away, revealing an opening to another room. A round room.
“PSST,” said Nipper, pointing up.
A banner hanging from the ceiling read:
PARTNERSHIP
OF
SUPER-SECRET
TRAVELERS
“I seeeeee you,” said Major Helium in a high, squeaky whisper.
The balloon soldier crouched on the narrow terrace. A pile of colorful deflated balloons lay in the grass by his feet. He adjusted his cap and peeked around the stone doorway to see what the boy and girl were up to now.
They hadn’t noticed him all the way from Lima to Machu Picchu. Now he was on the ground and up close. He didn’t want to be seen—not before he found out their secrets.
With their backs to him, the kids stood looking through an open doorway. Major Helium adjusted his nose ball. The boy smelled awful.
The clown took a long, skinny gray balloon from his pocket. He inflated it quickly and held it up to the terrace wall. It matched the color of the stones nicely. He began to rub the balloon against his sleeve.
“Static eeeeeee-lectrici-teeeeee,” he sang softly.
He held out the balloon, reached into the room where the kids were now standing, and poked the boy’s sweatshirt pocket. He wiggled the balloon and pulled it back carefully.
A rectangular object clung to the balloon. He squinted and saw that it was brown and bumpy. It looked a lot like oats, nuts, and honey. It was very sticky. If all the other clowns of the SUN hadn’t warned him, Major Helium would have thought it was a granola bar. But he knew better.
“The super weapon,” he snickered to himself, “is mine.”
He delicately separated the dangerous, deadly device from his balloon and slipped it into his pocket.
The kids stepped forward into the space beyond.
Major Helium crept into the small square room and continued spying.
“I’m getting read-eeeeee,” he squeaked as he took out a new balloon.
This one was narrow and black. He didn’t inflate it. Instead, he stretched it way back and aimed through the doorway at the girl.
He waited…and listened.
The world surrounded Samantha and Nipper.
Charts and diagrams covered the walls. A few maps showed the whole planet. Some world maps included Antarctica and the
North Pole, while others did not. Samantha and Nipper did not see a clear pattern. Drawings of continents appeared alongside maps of individual countries or cities. Scattered throughout, there were close-ups of buildings.
Samantha noticed several maps of the United States and a close-up of Seattle.
Drawings of people and objects completely covered the walls around the maps. It reminded her of the treasures in the Seattle magtrain station, but there were many more things to see here. The pictures also reminded Samantha of the hieroglyphics in the Temple of Horus in Egypt and the carvings on Borobudur in Indonesia. But these pictures featured modern people from all over the world.
Samantha studied the kids and adults, and some pets, too. People worked and played, read and shopped, danced and painted. In one picture, a girl rode a bicycle. In another, a boy kicked a ball. Someone cooked, stirring a pot. Someone played a saxophone. There were too many pictures to count. Together, they described what the world was all about. Nothing seemed out of place or unusual. Nothing seemed strange.
“We are in the middle of everywhere,” she said softly.
A pedestal with a shiny metal basin on top sat in the center of the room.
Hundreds of holes and tiny cracks peppered the ceiling. Light trickled in from above, scattering dots and dashes on the stone floor. Most, however, hit the basin on top of the pedestal. The basin shimmered with a thousand tiny pinpricks of light.
“Is that a birdbath?” asked Nipper.
“No,” Samantha answered. “Watch.”
Without thinking about it, she walked to the sparkling basin and flipped it over. It became a shiny silver dome.
The light filtering in hit the dome and reflected around the chamber. The maps lit up with lines and squiggles, dots and shapes, spirals, waves, and arrows.
Lines connected countries. Dots highlighted cities. Circles and arrows revealed patterns everywhere. It was like the Super-Secret Plans, but arranged neatly in order, and projected clearly onto maps of the whole world.
“This is it,” said Samantha. “All the secrets in one place.”
“Holy cow,” said Nipper, staring at her.
“What?” Samantha asked. “You’re not even looking at the walls.”
“You, Sam,” he replied. “The way you just figured out how to light up the maps. That was amazing.”
Samantha smiled as she and Nipper began to explore super secrets all over the world.
“Look,” she said, pointing to Asia. “There’s a path that follows the Great Wall of China.”
“Look at all the things that connect to Seattle,” said Nipper.
He walked to a map of the United States, found the West Coast, and tapped on a twisted line that looked like a crazy straw.
“I wonder what this loop-de-loop means,” he said.
Samantha rested her hand on a map of Italy as she peered around the entire room.
“I want to visit every amazing place on planet Earth,” she said. “I want to meet people everywhere.”
Nipper looked at the East Coast of the United States, searching for New York City.
“Okay, Sam. I’m about to prove something,” he said. “You should have helped me push Cleopatra’s Needle. I really think there may have been a secret— Hey. Look at this!”
He pointed to a note taped over Manhattan.
“Here,” he said, handing the paper to Samantha. “I’m sure you’ll think this is interesting.”
The drawing showed a pair of big rubber boots.
She frowned. She had forgotten about Uncle Paul for a moment. His mysterious messages and confusing clues. She didn’t think it was interesting. It was maddening. From “Watch out for the RAIN” to “I’ll see you in June,” Uncle Paul had produced endless unhelpful hints. Nothing made sense, and suddenly Samantha felt angry.
“That’s it,” she said. “This has got to stop.”
“Stop what?” asked Nipper. “And did you hear something squeak?”
“Just listen to me for once,” said Samantha.
She scrunched the note into a ball and flicked it across the room. She walked over to Nipper, put her hands on his shoulders, and shouted.
“Uncle Paul was in New York City and he’s probably still there! Our family’s going back in a week, and I’m going to find him! I’m putting my foot down!”
“Foot?” asked Nipper. “Where?”
“Can you stop clowning around for once?” she said.
“No, Sam,” he replied. “Foot…wear?”
She stared at him blankly.
“Footwear,” he repeated. “As in…June footwear.”
She stared at him, but not blankly.
“Oh…my…gosh, Nipper,” she said at last. “You’re right. Uncle Paul is still in Buffy’s apartment. He’s in the June footwear room. He told her ‘See you in June!’ ”
Ka-snappp!
Something lashed Samantha’s leg.
She howled in pain.
“Yow!” Samantha cried, and spun around.
She almost fell down. Her leg felt like it was on fire.
A clown in a checkered body suit stood in the doorway, grinning at her and Nipper. He wore a leather cap and goggles, and the same red nose as all the other SUN clowns. Rainbow suspenders held a silver tank to his back. A long, black, uninflated balloon dangled from his hand.
“So,” he said. “New York Ci-teeeeee.”
He spoke in a high squeal, like a chipmunk. He stretched the balloon, pulling one end over his shoulder.
“I have your super weapon, boy,” he said.
Samantha and Nipper shot each other confused looks.
“And now I know where to find your weeeeeeeeeeird uncle,” he squeaked.
He aimed the other end of his balloon at Samantha’s face.
“Now hand over your umbrella,” he said slowly, “and no one gets hurt.”
Samantha stepped between Nipper and the clown.
“Who are you?” she asked. “And why are you bothering us?”
Nipper pulled a granola bar from his sweatshirt pocket. He looked at it longingly, closed his eyes, and dropped it to the floor.
“Wruf! Wruf! Wruf!” barked Dennis from the small square chamber outside the map room. Maybe he saw a moment for greatness. Maybe he wanted to save his friends. Or maybe it was just that he heard the sound of a fresh granola bar hitting the floor.
He bolted through the doorway, ignoring the strange clown who blocked his path, and sped toward Nipper and the dropped snack. The balloon clown blocked the doorway. Dennis aimed straight for the space between the clown’s legs, but his plastic cone was too big. Instead of going through the clown’s legs, he knocked him off his feet. The clown went flying and landed hard on his rear. The silver tank clanged on the stone floor.
Samantha pulled the umbrella from her shoulder and whacked the man on the hand.
“Eeeeeek!” the clown squealed, and dropped the balloon.
He sneered up at Samantha. Then he tucked his legs in and rolled out of the room.
Nipper started to run after him, but Samantha grabbed him by both shoulders.
She heard a hissing sound—louder than a Komodo dragon but quieter than a water rocket. Cautiously, Samantha stepped forward, Nipper at her back, and peered into the square room. Nothing.
Samantha inched across the little room and peeked beyond to the terrace. The clown was gone!
“Up there!” shouted Nipper, pointing to the sky.
The clown was floating high above them. In each fist, he grasped the strings of a dozen colorful balloons.
“I know your seeeeee-crets,” his piercing, squeaky voice rang out.
They watched him rise higher and higher, until he vanished over the Andes Mountains.
Samantha’s leg still stung. A lot.
“You
are very noble,” she told Nipper.
“Huh?” he asked.
“You sacrificed your granola bar to save me.”
“Sure,” he replied. “Of course, I knew I still had one bar left.”
He reached his hands into the front pocket of his Yankees sweatshirt.
“Clowns can hurt you,” Nipper added. “But hunger can— Wait. No, no, no!”
He looked at her helplessly.
“Sam! I lost my last granola bar.”
Samantha gazed around the PSST map room again. Cities, countries, and continents twinkled, crisscrossed with dots and lines. She could easily spend months—maybe years—exploring the secrets here. But she didn’t have any time for it today.
“That creepy balloon clown knows about this room,” she said. “Soon the whole SUN will know. And about Uncle Paul, too. Let’s get moving.”
Nipper gulped.
“Do we have to go back to that shack?” he asked.
“I guess so,” she answered. “But I’ll keep you safe.”
Nipper rubbed his shoulder where the llama had bashed him with its head.
“I don’t know, Sam,” said Nipper. “That llama’s trouble.”
He raised a finger and rubbed the red bruise on his cheek.
“A lot of places are trouble,” he growled.
Nipper started pacing around the room, pointing at maps. He stopped under Norway.
“Sure, there are a lot of places to visit,” he said pointing upward. “But we keep winding up in strange places in the middle of nowhere.”
Samantha took a deep breath. She wasn’t mad at her brother—this time. But he still had a lot to learn.
“No place is the middle of nowhere,” she said, smiling.
“You’re acting like Uncle Paul again,” said Nipper.
“Yes. I am,” she replied. “Because it’s true. A lot of places seem strange before you visit and learn about them. But take a closer look. Those places are never strange to the people who live there—just to you.”
She smiled again and added, “Strangers are just people you haven’t met.”
She looked at the drawings—people around the world living their lives, doing interesting things.
Samantha Spinner and the Spectacular Specs Page 16