Free The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 5: Trust No One by Linda Sue Park Page A

trousers and T-shirts. Amy recognized the pants as martial-arts gear, similar to what Sensei Takamoto wore for lessons. The two men were shaved bald; the woman had her dark hair in a braid down her back.
    One of them set up a boom box on the pavement, and Latin-sounding music with a syncopated drumbeat blared from the speakers. Taking up positions in a triangle, the threesome began an impressive display.
    They kicked and twirled in a mock fight, using techniques that seemed drawn from every kind of martial art: kickboxing, tae kwon do, karate. Mixed in were acrobatics and hip-hop-type dance moves.
    It was amazing. At one point, one of the men did a handstand and held it for at least a minute, changing the position of his legs, hopping around on his hands, piking so his shoulders almost turned inside out, then straightening again into a perfect vertical.
    Meanwhile, the other two went into a series of butterflies — like sideways no-handed cartwheels. The woman would do a butterfly, legs kicking right at her partner’s face; the man would duck at the last moment and spin into a butterfly of his own, almost kicking
her
in the face. If either had been a split second off in the timing, there could have been a nasty collision.
    The whole taxi line was mesmerized. The man standing next to them nudged Jake. “That’s capoeira,” he said. “Brazilian martial art. Cool, isn’t it?”
    Amy made a mental note to add capoeira to the Cahill training regimen.
With moves like that, I could have kicked Sinead’s butt!
    The music came to an end. The woman, still panting from exertion, picked up a baseball cap and went down the line. Amy threw in a lavender five-
reais
note, worth around three dollars.
    The woman bowed and set the cap down. The three capoeiristas took long drinks from their water bottles. Then the woman walked over to the boom box to start the music again.
    Amy was glad; she wanted to see more. Atticus moved over a few steps to get a better view. Another incredible display: flips and floor moves, each step precise but relaxed at the same time, the discipline of Asian martial arts infused with a laid-back Brazilian attitude.
    Then there was a little break in the action: The woman gestured to Atticus.
    “Who, me?” he said, startled.
    She smiled and took him by the arm to the middle of the pavement. The trio began doing their moves in a circle, with Atticus in the center.
    “Cool!” he said.
    The athletes continued their display. Atticus grinned at the others self-consciously. “Watch,” he said. “I’m not gonna flinch, no matter how close they get.” He crossed his arms and took on an unblinking expression.
    Twirl, flip, spin, kick. The circle seemed to be tightening.
They
are
getting a little close,
Amy thought. Beside her, Jake shifted uncomfortably.
    Atticus seemed unfazed, or at least was pretending to be. The music increased in speed, the drumbeats almost frenzied now.
    Then the woman whirled and jumped into the air doing a scissors kick. She caught Atticus behind the knees and with a cry of alarm, he went down in a heap.
    The capoeiristas stopped abruptly as Amy, Jake, and Dan rushed toward Atticus.
    “
Tenho pena
— sorry, sorry!” the woman said and bent over Atticus as he lay sprawled on the pavement.
    “Atticus!” Jake dropped to one knee beside his brother.
    Atticus gasped and coughed, but at the same time, he held up a finger to let everyone know he was okay.
    “Wind knocked out of me,” he wheezed.
    “You’re bleeding, too,” Dan pointed out.
    Atticus looked at his wrist, which was bleeding from a pavement burn. “Ouch,” he said, a little belatedly.
    Amy burrowed through her bag for a tissue and hand sanitizer. “Here,” she said. “Put some of this on it.”
    “Sorry, so sorry,” the female capoeirista said again. She stopped the music and picked up the boom box at Amy’s feet. Suddenly, she turned toward Amy with her eyes narrowed.
    “Um, dois, três,”
she