The magtrain ride to Paris had been smooth sailing. The pneumatic tube to Italy had been a bumpy tumble. Now, unexpectedly, Samantha faced a bruising, class 4 white-water challenge.

She dropped through the hole in the Fountain of Neptune, fell for about five feet, and landed with a splat on a narrow half-pipe track. Fountain water and coins rained down on her. A shallow but powerful current swept her forward.

Seconds later, she heard a splash and a thump as Nipper plopped down behind her. The current grew stronger and the rushing water propelled them along. The track became steeper and they rocketed down the slide.

They banked left and right, spiraling downward and bouncing off the walls of the U-shaped track.

Samantha clutched her umbrella close to her body and shut her eyes.

For a while she coasted along on her back. Then the current tossed and flipped her, and she was sliding headfirst. Water seemed to blast at her from all directions.

“Holy cow-a-bunga!” her brother shouted.

She opened her eyes just in time to see that the slide curved upward and ended with a ramp, spraying its contents into a giant funnel.

“Yow!” she shouted as she careened up and out of the half-pipe track and sailed through the air.

Samantha plunged into the funnel. Seconds later, she heard Nipper splash down behind her. She caught a glimpse of him every few seconds as they both swirled around and around in a vortex of water and foam. It dragged her to the center of the funnel. Then there was an incredibly loud pop! She shot through a tube at the bottom—and everything went white.

Samantha couldn’t see anything but bubbles. She focused on her breathing as she rocketed along inside a bullet of foam. Slowly, the bubbles began to clear. She was back on a water slide. She coasted along again for what must have been minutes but seemed like hours. Then the track made an extra-sharp turn and flung her out of the water. She bumped into a wall and tumbled down another dark slide.

Thump!

Samantha fell out onto a damp stone floor.

Thump!

Nipper spilled onto the floor beside her.

They both lay there quietly for a while, stunned, soggy, and sore.

Nipper sat up first. He shook his head from side to side. Then he did it five more times. It reminded Samantha of Dennis.

“That is the last time we go white-water rafting without a raft,” she said.

She looked down and saw her fist clenched around the red umbrella. She’d been gripping it tightly the whole time. She eased up but didn’t let go.

She rose to her feet carefully, using the umbrella to prop herself up.

The floor beneath them was a pattern of large tiles. Samantha recognized it immediately.

“France?” Nipper asked.

Samantha nodded. The water slide had dumped her and Nipper back into the room under the Louvre. A few yards away, they could see a blinking red dot.

“Magtrain. Home,” she said.

They walked carefully toward the faint light, their shoes squishing on the floor with every step. The glowing dot was the oval button near the center seat of the magtrain car.

They climbed aboard the familiar car and took their places. Samantha tapped the button and the tiny hairs on her arms stood up. The rails began to glow, and she and Nipper sped away through the tunnel.

Samantha pushed some soggy hair away from her face and leaned back in the seat. Her neck and her arms were sore from the water ride. If giant pneumatic tubes weren’t a smart way to travel, then international waterslides were completely stupid.

Then she looked over at the umbrella resting against the rail. It was full of secrets…and danger…and pointless pain and aggravation.

Did Uncle Paul really think he was giving her a present? So far, it had gotten her bounced around, soaked, bruised, and almost sliced by ninjas. Maybe the smelly ninjas were planning to kill whoever had the umbrella, and that’s why he’d passed it to her and run away.

“Thanks a lot, Pajama Paul,” she said softly.

Samantha figured they had about twenty minutes before they would be back in Seattle. She took out her notebook and inspected it. It was damp on the outside, but the pages inside were still dry. She began to write:

If someone puts you in grave danger and then you have to leave the beautiful city of Florence in a hurry, look for Neptune’s Fountain.

Wade into the water, up to the statue with four horses. Face the second horse from the right and stick your finger in his nose….