"Ladies and gentleman, please," Mr. McIntyre said. "If you will direct your attention to the screen, prehaps Madame Cahill can explain things better than I."

My heart rate quickened and my breath caught. I would finally see what this woman looked like, what she talked like, how she presented herself. The projector on the cieling hummed to life. Shouting from inside the room slowly stopped as a woman known as Grace appeared on the screen.

Grace Cahill was sitting on her bed with a cat on her lap. She wore a black gown, like she was mourning at her own funeral. Dan seemed to have been suprised, Grace must have looked different from the last he had seen her. Amy had quiet tears streaming down her nose. Grace must've been so great to them.

"Fellow Cahills," Grace said. "If you are watching this, it means I am dead, and I have decided to use alternate will. No doubt you are arguing amoungst yourselves and giving poor Mr. McIntyre a hard time about this contest I have instituted." Grace gave the camera a dry smile. " You always were a stubborn bunch. For once, close your mouths and listen."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Eisenhower Holt protested, but his wife shushed him.
"I assure you," Grace continued, "this contest is no trick. It is deadly serious business. Most of you know you belong to the Cahill family but many of you may not realize just how important our family is. I tell you the Cahills have had a greater impact on human civilization than any other family in history."More confuses shouting broke out. What was Grace talking about? There was no way a lowly orphan could be part of the greatest family in the world. The cousin with the weird nails stood up and yelled, "Silence! I wish to hear!"

"My relatives," Grace's image said, "you stand on the brink of our greatest challenge. Each of you has a potential to succeed. Some of y0u may decide to form a team with other people in this room to purse the challenge. Some of you may prefer to take up the challenge alone. Most of you, I'm afraid, will decline the challenge and run away with your tails between your legs, Only one team will succeed, and each of you must sacrifice your share of the inheritance to participate."

She held up a manila envelope sealed with red wax. Her eyes were bright and hard as steel. "If you accept, you shall be given the first of thirty-nine clues. These clues will lead you to a secret, which, should you find it, will make you the most powerful influential human beings on the planet. You will realize the destiny of the Cahill family. I now beg you all to listen to Mr. McIntyre. Allow him to explain the rules . Think long and hard before you make your choice." She stared straight into the camera, maybe giving Dan and Amy some kind of special message. "I'm counting on you all. Good luck ann good-bye."

The screen went dark. I saw Amy grip dan's hand. Her fingers were trembling. And I, not for the first time, wished I could have something like they did. But the small moment was ruined by everyone around us talking at once.

"Greatest family in history?" a cousin shouted yelled " Is she crazy?"

'Stubborn?" Eisenhower Holt shouted. "She called us stubborn?"

"William!" Korean cane dude's voice rose above the rest. "Just a moment! There are people here I don't even recognize, people who may not even be members of the family. How do we know-"

If you are n this room, sir," Mr. McIntyre said, "you are a Cahill. Whether your surname is Cahill or not doesn't matter. Everyone here has Cahill blood."

Even you, Mr. McIntire?" Natalie Kabra asked in her silky British accent.

The old lawyer flushed. "That, miss, is beside the point. Now, if I might be allowed to finish-"

"But what's this about sacrificing our inheritance?" Dan and Amy's aunt complained. "Where's the money? It's just like my sister to come up with some foolishness!"

"madam," Mr. McIntyre said, ' you may certainly decline the challenge. If you do, you will receive what is under your chair."

Immediately, forty people felt around under their chairs, Eisenhower Holt was so anxious he picked up Reagan's chair with her still in it. I reached down to discover an envelope stuck on with tape. I opened it to find a green slip of paper with numbers and the words ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND. Amy and Dan had one, too. So did everyone in the room.

"What you now hold is a bank voucher," Mr. McIntyre explained. "It shall only be activated if and when you renounce your claim to the challenge. If you so choose , each of you may walk out of this room with one million dollars and never have to think of Grace Cahill or her last wishes again. Or. . . you may choose a clue- a single clue that will be your only inheritance. No money. No property. just a clue that might lead you to the most important treasure in the world and make you powerful beyond belief . . ."

William's gray eyes seemed to settle in our direction, Dan particularly. ". . . or it might kill you. One million dollars or the clue. You have five minutes to decide."

9 months... I haven't updated in 9 months. A baby could be born in that amount of time. I am truly sorry. At least it wasn't 12 years.