Chapter 4

"Greatest family in history?" Cousin Rebecca yelled. "Is he crazy?"

"Stubborn?" Howard Colt shouted. "He called us stubborn?"

"No, for you Colt. It should be "Muscle Brain"." Charles smirked at Howard Colt. And all of the Colts glared at him hatefully.

"Arthur!" Stain Su 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 in this room,sir," Mr. Williams said, "you are a Churchill. Whether your surname is Churchill or not doesn't matter. Everyone here has Churchill blood. " "Even you, Mr. Williams?" Natalia Krum asked in her silky British accent. The lawyerflushed. "That, miss, is beside the point. Now, if i might be allowed to finish --"

"But what's this about sacrificing our inheritance?" Aunt Ellis complained. "Where's the money? It's just like my brother to come up with some foolishness!" "Madam," Mr. Williams 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. Howard Colt was so anxious he picked up Reyna's chair with her still in it. Eric discovered an envelope under his, stuck on with tape. When he opened it, he found a green slip of paper with a bunch of numbers and words ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND. Anna and Charles had one, too. So did everybody in the room.

"What you now hold is a bank voucher," Mr. Williams 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 Alexander Churchill or his 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... "

Arthur's gray eyes seemed to settle on Eric particularly. "... or it might kill you. One million dollars or the clue. You have five minutes to decide."

Anna Churchill thought she had the most annoying little brother on the planet. And that was before he almost got her killed.

It all started when Mr. Williams read their grandfather's will and showed them the video.

Anna sat there in shock. She found herself holding a green slip of paper worth one million dollars. A challenge? A dangerous secret? What was going on? She stared at the blank projector screen. She couldn't believe her grandfather would do something like this. The video must have been made months ago, judging from the way Alexander had looked. Seeing him on the screen like that had stung Anna worse salt in a cut. How could Alexander have been planning something this huge and not have warned them in advance?

Anna never expected to inherit much. All she wanted was something to remember Alexander by -- a keepsake, maybe one piece of his beautiful watches. Now this ... she felt completely lost.

It didn't help that Eric was jumping around like he needed to go to the bathroom. "One million dollars!" he squealed. "I could get a Mickey Mantle rookie card and a Babe Ruth 1914!"

His tie was crooked, which matched his crooked grin. He had a scar under his one eye from when he'd gone commando-raiding at seven and fallen on his plastic AK-47. That's just the kind of little demon he was. But what Anna really resented was how comfortable Charles seemed, like all these people didn't bother him. Anna hated crowds. She felt like everyone was watching her, waiting for her to make a fool of herself. Sometimes in her nightmares, she dreamed she was at the bottom of a pit, and all this people she knew were staring down at her, laughing. She'd try to climb out of the pit, but she could never make it.

Right now, all she wanted to do was run up to Alexander's library, close the door, and curl up with a book. She wanted to find Sinbad, Alexander's Egyptian Mau, and cuddle with him. But Alexander was dead, and the poor cat... who knew where he was now? She blinked tears out of her eyes, thinking about the last time she'd seen her grandfather.

You will make me proud, Anna, Alexander had said. They'd been sitting on Alexander's big four-poster bed, with Sinbad purring next to them. Alexander had shown her a hand-drawn map of Africa and told her stories about the adventures he'd had when he was a young explorer. Alexander had looked thin and frail, but the fire in his eyes was as fierce as ever. The sunlight turned his hair to pure silver. I had many adventures, my dear, but they will pale next to yours.

Anna wanted to cry. How could Alexander think that Anna would have great adventures? She could barely muster enough courage to go to school every morning. "I could get a ninja sword," Eric kept babbling. "Or a Civil War saber!" "Eric, shut up," she said. "This is serious." "But the money -- " "I know," she said. "But if we took the money, we'd need to keep it for college and stuff. You know how Aunt Ellis is."

"Anna is right. And Aunt Ellis is still the legal guardian." Charles said, Eric frowned like he'd forgotten. He knew good and well Aunt Ellis only looked after them for Alexander's sake. Anna always wished Alexander had adopted them after their parents died, but she hadn't. For reasons she never explained, she'd pressured Ellis into being their guardian instead.

For the last seven years, Eric and Anna had been at Ellis mercy, living in a tiny apartment with a series of au pairs. Ellis paid for everything, but she didn't pay much. Anna and Eric got enough to eat and a new set of clothes for every six months, but thanks to Charles. They always got birthday presents. Special treats. And allowance when he got back at his work. They went to regular public school and Anna had sometimes had extra money to buy books. She used the public library, or sometimes she'd hang out at the second-hand bookshop on Boylston, where the staff knew her, Eric made a little money on his own trading collectible cards, but it wasn't much.

Every weekday for seven years, Anna had resented Alexander for not raising them himself, but every weekend Anna just couldn't stay mad at him. When they came to the mansion, Alexander gave them undivided attention. He treated them like the most important people in the world. Whenever Anna got up the courage to ask why they couldn't stay with Alexander all the time, Alexander just smiled sadly.

There are reasons, dear. Someday, you will understand.

Now Alexander was gone. Anna didn't know what Aunt Ellis would do, but they could definitely use money. And also Charles is almost at the legal age to take care of them. It would mean they'd have some independence. They could get a bigger apartment, maybe. They could buy books whenever they wanted and even go to college. Anna was desperate to go to Harvard. She wanted to study history and archaeology. Her mom would've like that.

At least... Anna hoped she would have. Anna knew so little about her parents. She didn't even know why she, Eric and Charles carried their mom's maiden name -- Churchill -- when their dad's last name had been Trent. She'd asked Alexander about it once, but Alexander had only smiled. "It's how your parents wanted it," he said. But the stubborn pride in his voice made Anna wonder if it had really been Alexander's idea for them to carry the Churchill name.