The 39 Clues 02 - One False Note by Gordon Korman

Author:Gordon Korman [Korman, Gordon]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9780545111577
Publisher: Scholastic Audio Books
Published: 2008-12-01T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 1

1

Another vital document; another foreign language.

"It isn't German," Nellie announced.

"No?" Amy was flustered. "I just assumed, because we're in Austria -- uh, what is it then?"

Their Salzburg hotel room was small and not very nice. Dan was convinced that the management used low-wattage lightbulbs so that the guests wouldn't notice what a dump they were staying in.

The au pair squinted at the document. "Italian, I think. Not one of my languages."

The Cahills regarded her blankly. This was the first time Nellie had been unable to act as their translator.

"So how do you know it's Italian?" asked Dan.

"Spanish and Italian aren't too different. And this word --

Venezia.

I'm pretty sure that's Venice, which is in Italy."

Amy indicated the date -- 1770. "Mozart would have been fourteen years old. Don't you remember the museum exhibits? He performed all across 92

Italy around then. His father took him on tour."

"So this is" -- Dan frowned -- "an eighteenth-century concert poster, starring Mozart?"

"In Venice," Amy finished. "That's where the next clue must be hidden."

Nellie grinned. "I always wanted to go to Venice. It's supposed to be the romance capital of the world."

"Sweet," put in Dan. "Too bad your date is an Egyptian Mau on a hunger strike."

The au pair sighed. "Better than an eleven-year-old with a big mouth."

The drive to Venice took more than five hours. Sharing the backseat with Saladin, Dan nearly went out of his mind. He wasn't a fan of long car rides to begin with. And the frustration of begging the cat to eat was infuriating and worrisome at the same time.

They had so little left of their grandmother. They owed it to Grace to take proper care of her beloved pet.

To add to his discomfort, there was also a long, severe lecture from his sister, reminding him of the grave importance of their quest and how much was at stake. "The wisecracks aren't helping, Dan! You have to grow up and take this more seriously!"

"Seriously?" he echoed. "We're already up to our ears in serious! What we need is to lighten up a little! The next clue could be right in front of your nose, but you don't see it because you're too busy being serious!"

93

"Cut it out!" Nellie bellowed. "You're going to put us in the ditch! They drive the speed of light on these autostradas!"

"You

drive the speed of light backing out of the driveway," Dan countered.

"I'm not kidding! As long as I'm babysitting" -- she glowered at Dan -- "au pairing

-- you two are going to have to get along. I can handle the craziness; I can handle your nut-job relatives; I can even handle you disappearing for hours on end. But not the fighting. Understand? You're on the same team. Act like it."

Silence fell, and the argument was over as abruptly as it had begun. With the peace came a release of the tension of their Salzburg adventure. Nellie could almost feel the siblings rebooting, steeling themselves for the dangers that might lie ahead. They were Cahills, all right.

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