My first National Treasure story! Special thanks to daisyduke80, my beta reader. And to my dad for being such a history guy. He'd better read this now.

CHAPTER ONE

The air was bitingly cold, and the sky was a solid sheet of gray. Riley Poole shivered as he looked up, searching for any sign of sun. Finding none, he shrugged, cursed his luck, and went back inside. Naturally, the sky would be overcast with snow clouds on the day when he decided to experiment with a solar-powered laptop.

"Big shocker," he muttered to himself, closing the door behind him. He slipped into the tiny kitchen of his apartment and began searching the cabinets for hot cocoa mix. "I know it's in here somewhere," he berated himself, banging cabinets opened and closed. "It's got to be."

Just as his slender fingers were closing around a packet of cocoa mix, the doorbell rang. Riley groaned and hurried to the door, rolling his teal-blue eyes. He was out of luck… And had been so for some time. Sighing, he opened the door. He could not help but smile when he saw his best friend standing on his doorstep.

The look on Ben Gates' face was one Riley knew well.

"There's another treasure out there, isn't there?" said Riley, leaning on his front door with a sigh. "What is it this time?"

"Tory gold," said Ben excitedly.

Riley was silent, frowning.

"Tory gold, Riley. Don't tell me that doesn't mean something to you." Ben narrowed his eyes on his friend.

"I thought friends were supposed to be honest with each other, Ben," said Riley dryly. "And here you are asking me to lie to you."

Ben just stared at Riley for a moment, then asked, "May I come in?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sure." Shrugging, Riley stepped back, holding the door open for his best friend. "Take a seat. I suppose I don't have to ask you to tell me about this 'Tory gold,' whatever that's supposed to mean."

Ben crossed the small, slightly cluttered living room to plop on the comfy blue sofa. "Tory gold, Riley. Tories as in Loyalists, Riley."

"Oh. I thought you meant Tories as in actresses by the name." Riley had to smile slightly at his own cleverness.

"Riley."

"Sorry." Riley crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. "I'm all ears… Plus the usual human body parts."

Ben ignored the sarcasm and leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him. "During the Revolutionary war, those loyal to the crown were called Loyalists… or Tories."

"Gotcha." Riley settled into his favorite piece of furniture--an oversized burgundy recliner with armrests big enough to accommodate even the most archaic laptop. "Continue."

"Naturally, since the Patriots won the war, Loyalists got displaced from positions of power," Ben explained in that matter-of-fact, this-is-history, I'm-Ben-Gates voice with which Riley was all too familiar.

"Naturally."

"Just say you are a really rich guy, and these other guys are throwing you out of power," Ben continued. "What do you do?"

"Ah. I get it." Riley tried not to grin, but anticipation of adventure proved to be too much for him. He grinned. "They hid their treasure."

"Their gold, Riley," said Ben, his eyes intense. "Some of them managed to hide away their gold."

"So… any idea where they hid it?" asked Riley eagerly.

"Well." Ben leaned against the back of the couch and reached into his tan-colored jacket. Slowly, dramatically, he drew out a yellowed piece of paper. "I have this."

"What is it?" asked Riley, leaning forward.

Ben grinned suddenly. "You're going with me, aren't you?"

"Ben. What is it?"

"It's a letter." Ben stood and stretched his lanky frame, crossing the room to hand to letter to his friend.

Riley took the paper slowly. It was slightly yellowed, and the handwriting was flowery and elaborate. "How old is this?"

"1935. Read it."

Dear Ruby, the letter read. I've discovered some sort of family secret in my attic, and I was wondering if perhaps you could help me with unlocking it. I found a letter. It's a very old letter, from 1777. It seems that one of my ancestors was a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War. His name was Richard Cunningham. Before the rumblings of revolution began--

Riley looked up and grinned. "This person is clever. Rumblings of revolution… That's got a nice ring to it. Nicely alliterated."

"Just read it, Riley."

"Sorry."

Before the rumblings of revolution began, he persecuted any who dared speak against the crown. He amassed quite a collection of treasures--

"Treasures." Riley grinned once again. "Of course."

--treasures stolen from those who would soon come to be called 'Patriots.' When the revolution began, he hid the treasure and left clues for his descendents. I suppose no one took his treasure very seriously, because… Well, Ruby, I think it's still there. Let me know if you're interested in a treasure hunt. Naturally, we'll start our search in TONS. Looks like old Richard left some clues there, in the 'city set upon a hill' in the PM. You know where I mean. It's where we went for that revival meeting last summer. Write back as soon as you get this letter.

Your best friend,

Ruth Decker

Riley looked up at Ben with raised eyebrows. "This is very vague. I hope you have more clues."

Ben reached into his jacket and drew out another folded piece of paper. "Second letter from Ruth to Ruby."

"Ah. Good. So… Why would the treasure still be there? Looks like these two ladies were gung-ho about retrieving it."

Ben produced yet another paper. "Third letter."

Riley grinned. "So it's on."

Ben smiled back. "It's on."

Abigail Chase Gates awoke groggily from sleep and rolled over on the enormous king-sized bed to reach for her husband. Her fingers met with air, and she sat up quickly, narrowing her eyes on the empty space where her husband should be.

"Ben Gates, don't do this to me!" she muttered. Not now, Ben. Please not now. She needed him near her, had to speak to him, had to explain what was going on with her. He was obviously no mind reader, because once again, he had left on some crazy mission without warning. It wasn't any use searching for a note. She knew she wouldn't find one.

With an irritated sigh, Abigail fell back against the pillows.

Rachel lightly pressed her finger down on the yellowed ivory key. She smiled in pleasant surprise as a clear note sang through the basement of the church. The antique piano was in better shape than she had thought. Delighted, Rachel sat carefully on the piano bench, nearly sliding across it on the dust.

Shaking her long, wavy red hair back from her face, she settled her fingers on the keys. The ivory was cool under her fingers.

She couldn't help it. She had to play. Swiftly, fluidly, her fingers danced across the keys. First, she played a melody from one of her favorite movies. Next, she played a selection of Beethoven. Finally, she began to play a song of her own composition.

Just before she reached the climax of a song, there was a loud, dissonant ring from inside the piano. Eyes widening in worry, Rachel stopped playing and quickly stood. She moved around the piano to where the lid was opened and peered inside.

To her surprise, there was something stuck between some of the strings of the piano, something that had not been there before. Overcome by curiosity, Rachel reached into the piano. Her slender fingers closed around a soft paper package.

Riley's fingers flew over the keyboard, and his blue eyes squinted at the screen. "Three containers large enough for 2 metric tons…" He sighed and looked to Ben. "Nope. Not it."

Ben sighed as well, frustrated. "So there's nothing?"

"Nothing," Riley consented. He leaned back in his desk chair and raised an eyebrow at his best friend. "Maybe we should bring your wife in on this one, Ben."

"No." Ben shook his head. "Let's not. I want…" He sighed again. "I kind of wanted this to be a surprise for her, you know?"

Riley grinned crookedly. "Great idea, Ben. I can see it now. 'Hey Abigail, look at this cool treasure I found… Without you.' That will be a true Hallmark moment. Especially the part where she knocks the crap out of you."

Ben rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You have a point, Riley…"

"Riley's got lots of those," said Riley with a wry smile. "I'm practically a star."

"Well keep googling 'tons,' Twinkles," Ben said, slapping his friend's shoulder. "I'm going to get some hot cocoa. Maybe a little sugar will loosen up the brain matter." He paused between living room and kitchen. "And hey… Can we keep this from Abi for just a little while? I have my reasons."

Three hours later, the sun was setting, and Riley and Ben had yet to discover the meaning of TONS.

"I'm guessing the 'T' stands for the word 'the,'" said Riley with a dry expression. "But that's just my opinion."

"Good work, Riley. Now you need to figure out the rest of the letters." Ben rolled his eyes.

Riley rubbed his eyes wearily. "Ben, I have a life outside figuring out your puzzles for you."

"Like what?" asked Ben with a raised eyebrow.

Riley declined to respond. Ben's words stung. Riley just shook his head and stared down at the letter on the desk.

"Wow. That was… I'm sorry man," said Ben, wincing at his own words. "You--you've got your book, right?"

"Yes. I've got my book." Riley met his friend's eyes evenly. "Which you haven't read."

"I started it," said Ben defensively. "The other day while I was waiting to give a lecture on the state of Pennsylvania--" His eyes suddenly widened. "That's it, Riley! It's a state!"

"What? What?" Riley cried, his frustration lost in the enthusiasm of the moment.

"TONS. T.O.N.S. The Old North State, Riley."

Riley grinned. "North Carolina." Then he frowned. "But how do you know?"

"Because PM stands for Piedmont, the central region of the state. Look up a map of the Old North State for me, will ya?"

"That second letter mentioned a church, didn't it?" Riley asked, nimble fingers flying over the keys.

"Stony Grove Baptist," Ben said with a nod.

"And it's in a city set upon a hill…" Riley narrowed his eyes on the computer screen. "This should take just a--Aha!" He turned to Ben with a triumphant smile. "There we have it!" he declared, pointing to a dot on the screen. "Albemarle, North Carolina, the county seat of Stanly County… Just happens to be set upon a hill."

"Great!" Ben stood and began gathering the letters. "Let's go!"

"You mean… Now?" Riley raised an eyebrow at his best friend. "Ben…"

"Riley."

Riley sighed. "Fine. I'm in."