To Spencer, Collin, Zoe, and Luke, enjoy the ride D.B.

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1 SCHOLASTIC INC.

2 To Spencer, Collin, Zoe, and Luke, enjoy the ride D.B. Copyright 2013 by Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since SCHOLASTIC, THE 39 CLUES, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY Library of Congress Control Number: ISBN /0 Book design by SJI Associates, Inc. Book illustrations by Cheung Tai and SJI Associates, Inc. for Scholastic. Compass p. 46: Division of Political History, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution; case pp. 46, 136, and 165: wood textures from CG textures; banner p. 115: photo by Ken Karp for Scholastic; back endpaper photo: character photo by Ken Karp for Scholastic and background from CG textures. First edition, March 2013 Printed in China 62 Scholastic US: 557 Broadway New York, NY Scholastic Canada: 604 King Street West Toronto, ON M5V 1E1 Scholastic New Zealand Limited: Private Bag Greenmount, Manukau 2141 Scholastic UK Ltd.: Euston House 24 Eversholt Street London NW1 1DB

Talking the whole time, the four excitedly left the museum. Jake and Dan showed the others the pictures they d taken of the compass, front and back. Can you enlarge your image so we get a better look?

3 Talking the whole time, the four excitedly left the museum. Jake and Dan showed the others the pictures they d taken of the compass, front and back. Can you enlarge your image so we get a better look? Amy asked Jake. He nodded and did so. They fixed their gazes on the photos and kept commenting on various ideas and theories as they walked along. So preoccupied were they with this that they didn t see the four black SUVs screech to a stop on the street next to them until it was almost too late. The doors opened and men poured out. One leaped at Amy, but the six-foot-two-inch Jake leveled him with a textbook football tackle. The man flew backward and crashed into two other men climbing out of one of the SUVs. Amy shouted, Scramble, now! Go, Att, go! yelled Jake at his little brother. DAY OF DOOM

4 THE 39 CLUES The four ran off in different directions. This was a maneuver that Amy had had them practice for a long time. Four different directions meant that their pursuers would have to split up, too. And it increased the odds that at least one of them would escape. As Amy sprinted away she glanced across the street and saw Isabel staring at her with unconcealed hatred. When Isabel saw that Amy had spotted her, she turned and ran off down an alley. Amy quickly formed a plan and slowed down to let the two men chasing her catch up. Amy had trained hard to become a world-class fighter. But even with all that work she still had doubts about her combat abilities. Even now she could feel the nerves building inside her. But she didn t have time to be nervous or doubtful. So she just let her training take over. When the men were about to grab her, Amy executed a spinning kick right to the first man s knee. Her blow bent it backward and the man screamed and went down to the pavement. Amy knew that when you took out the knee, you took the fight right out of an opponent for two reasons. First, he couldn t stand anymore. And second, it hurt him too much to think about fighting. The second man slowed and started to pull his gun. Amy never let him get there. She went low, supporting herself on one arm, pivoted, and hit the man with a whip kick, lifting his feet from under him. He crashed

5 back on the pavement. Before he could begin to rise, Amy finished him off with two hard elbow strikes to the jaw. Then she was up and running hard after Isabel. The woman was not going to get away this time. She was probably the only leverage they would ever have over Vesper One. Amy flew down the alley. There was no way the older woman could outrun her. Amy could sprint like a gazelle. She was thinking, too, that despite what Ted s Morse code had implied and what they had learned previously, Isabel might very well be Vesper One. If she was, they could use her to turn the tide and wreck the Vespers plans to destroy the world. At the very least they could find out why Isabel was so interested in the compass. Amy started to slow down as the alley grew narrower, darker, and definitely more sinister. It was like day had turned into night here. She stopped when she rounded a corner and found that the alley was a dead end. She was staring up at a brick wall that was six stories high. But what had happened to Isabel? There was no door, window, or fire escape. Nothing. But, no, there was something. A big blue dumpster. Amy assumed her favorite martial arts fighting stance. She took a few steps forward. She was confident that she could kick Isabel s butt, but Amy had to DAY OF DOOM

6 admit that Isabel terrified her. After all, this was the woman who had burned Amy s parents up in a house and had very nearly killed her and Dan a slew of times. Even now she could feel the cold dread spiking up her spine. And her mouth was so dry it was like someone had stuffed it full of cotton balls. But now was not the time for her courage to fail. She had to keep her wits about her. Amy knew she would have to be wary of poisons, a staple of the Lucian branch. Isabel might have a hidden needle in a ring, or perhaps embedded in her shoe. Whatever the case, Amy would be ready. This was one-on-one. And she was going to take Isabel down, finally. She balled up her courage and prepared to face one of her worst nightmares: Isabel Kabra. THE 39 CLUES

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