Chapter 1: The Beginning of an Adventure

Fourteen Years Ago

When I was 21; shortly after I graduated college, I had gotten an email from the leader of a small village in northern Alaska. He wanted to have a dog sled team, since they couldn't really afford any motorized vehicle. The problem was, he couldn't train the dogs! He had gotten eight little puppies, six Alaskan Malamutes and two Siberian Huskies, and he had raised them, and gotten them used to the harnesses, and pulling something behind themselves as individuals. However, when he'd get the team together, and there would be complete chaos! There was no team work with these dogs, and this village leader needed someone to train these dogs how to be a team. I accepted, and soon, I was on a plane heading for Alaska.

I had my work cut out for me upon arriving in Alaska. These dogs, though extremely loyal to the village leader, Lucas, were extremely aggressive to each other. Not only did I have to teach them how to pull together, in the same direction, and to the sled driver's commands, but I also had to get these dogs to decently like each other. From that point forward, I devoted myself to the six month project of getting these dogs to become the sled dogs Lucas bought them for.

I finally completed the task. During this six month project, the female husky, Shadow, had become pregnant and had given birth to the alpha dog, a black malamute named Thunder's puppies. She had eight puppies, and as a reward, Lucas allowed me to have the puppies to let me make a dog sled team of my own. Lucas found me a house to live in for the next two years, and offered to pay me to train the village people's dogs. I most certainly agreed

A year and a half passes. I had just turned 23, and my dog sled team of eight husky-malamutes was going strong. One day, I decided to take the dogs out for a sled run out in the more barren part of the Alaskan wilderness. All of a sudden, I came across a snow covered, wooden ship. I had been to this part of the wilderness, and had never seen this ship before. A little ways beyond the ship, I noticed two large snow mobiles. I had the dogs move in closer, to investigate this unknown ship. When I was within 50 feet of this ship, I stopped the dogs, and went in to explore. I saw what appeared to be a secret set of stairs leading to a lower part of the ship. The doors to this secret chamber were covered in icicles. Creeping down there, I was confronted by gunshots. Startled, I ducked behind some boxes at the side of an open door. Then suddenly, two men race out of the door. One of the men, who appeared bald, ran out yelling. The other, a blonde, looked back into some room, and I peeked into the door from behind the boxes. Suddenly, a gust of fire blew towards the door, and the man slammed the door and locked it, shouting, "Fool!" But before the door was shut, I saw two men trying to get out of this ship another way; the fire blazing all around them. Oh no, I thought as I smelled gunpowder. I obviously knew what this meant, and I ran out of the ship to save myself. I felt pity for the two men trapped inside, figuring that there was no hope for them. Right as I thought I should go back in to help them, the ship explodes; wood fragments and snow flying everywhere. Once all the debris has fallen, I looked up. Smoke is slowly rising. The ship was in ruins, certain areas continuing to burn from the fire. I sat and watched with the dogs for a little bit, to see if there was any chance the two men lived. With no sign of them, I got ready to head back home. Just as I was about to say "mush", two figures appear from the rubble of the ship. I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the two men had survived. They appeared to be heading towards the direction of the village, so I cautiously had the dogs pull in.

"Hey, who are you guys?" I asked them.

"May I ask who y-"

"I'm Ben Gates," said the taller guy after interrupting the other, "and this is my computer assistant, Riley Poole."

"Nice meeting you both," I said shaking both of their hands, "My name is Aviana Jennison. Where are you two headed?"

"Some village of coldness," Riley said.

"Or," started Ben, giving a scornful look at Riley, "we're just heading to the nearest village for some food and shelter before we head back to D.C."

"I can take you to my village," I said, "just hop aboard my sled. My dogs and I would love to take you gentlemen for a ride!"

"I think I'll p-"

"We'd love that," said Ben, once again interrupting Riley.

"I guess my opinion doesn't count," muttered Riley.

As we headed to the village, I asked Ben and Riley what brought them here to that ship. They preceded to tell me about the legend of a treasure that was thousands of years old. It had been fought over by many, many different kingdoms, empires, and dynasties. Every time it changed hands, it grew even larger than before. Then one day however, it vanished. That is, until knights from the First Crusade found the treasure underneath Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. They believed it was too great for any one man to own. So they smuggled it out of Europe to the New World, and formed the Freemasons. Then, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the treasure was hidden again to keep it safe from the British. At this point, the Freemasons included Founding Fathers such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. The Masons devised a series of clues to show where to find this treasure. They had all been lost except one, which was given to a great-great grandfather of Ben by Charles Carroll.

"The clue said, 'The secret lies with Charlotte,'" Ben explained upon arriving at my house. "The ship that we found was called the Charlotte. We did find a pipe in there that had another clue on it."

"Where will this next clue lead you?" I asked.

"Washington D.C." Ben said.

"We'll need to find a way to get a flight there," muttered Riley.

"Well…I do know where an airport is. I could take you there on one condition," I said.

"What?" asked Riley.

"If you guys take me with you. I could help on your treasure hunt! Please let me come!"

"Well, I guess you cou-"

"What are you going to do with the dogs?" asked Riley interrupting Ben.

"Well…I'd hate to part with them, but I'd give them back to the village leader."

"Ok…." started Riley.

"I'll ask Lucas if he can give us a ride to the village charter airport in the morning," I said.

"Won't we have to buy a ticket?" asked Riley.

"I know somebody who can give us a ride," I said. "I trained a group of sled dogs for a charter pilot that lives in the village. He said he'd be willing to give me a flight any time, so I'm sure he would give us a ride to D.C."

"What time will we be leaving in the morning?" asked Ben.

"Let me call Lucas and ask him when he can take us to the airport," I said.

"Who is Lucas?" asked Riley.

"The village leader," Ben replied.

"Well aren't you smart," muttered Riley.

So the next day, I was flying towards my biggest adventure yet. Heading back to Washington D.C. seemed to be no big deal for me. I lived in the area for the first six years of my life. However, I had no idea what was in store upon landing.