A few minutes later, Riley's computer started beeping annoyingly.

"Are getting closer?" Ian asked.

"Assuming Ben's theory is correct, and my tracking model's accurate, we should be getting very close. But don't go by me. I broke a shoelace this morning." Ian and Ben looked at him strangely.

"It's a bad omen." He and I said at the same time. He looked at me. I could swear I was blushing; my face became hot so suddenly.

"All omens are bad, though." Nicole pointed out. "Unless there's a good omen I don't know about."

"Should we turn around and go home?" Ian asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Or we could just pull over and throw them all out here." Ben laughed.

"I'm glad you're enjoying our company." I said sarcastically.

"All we did was get sucked into my TV!" Nicole said innocently.

"Right… the magic TV again." Riley replied.

"Shut up Riley!" Nicole cried. I was fed up with all the fighting, which made me extremely mad. And when I get mad I do very stupid things. Like shouting something about a person who's 2 feet away…

"Don't tell the cute one to shut up, Nicole!"

Needless to say, every eye turned on me. If I could have, I would have just jumped out right then and there. But on the other hand, that would have meant leaving Riley and Nicole alone. If they really got into it. Only one would come out alive. And if I know her well, it would be Nicole.

As I contemplated stabbing myself, with Ben's pocketknife, I mentally kicked myself over and over for being so stupid.

"You think I'm cute?" Riley asked. I couldn't tell if he found it funny or strange that an 18 year old had a crush on him.

"I-I-I…" Just as I was about to respond, I was saved by the beeping of his computer, signifying we'd reached our destination.

"Great, I'm cold again." Nicole shivered as she climbed out.

"At least you didn't completely embarrass yourself in front of Riley." I muttered. Meanwhile, Riley had just finished explaining to one of Ian's henchmen how a ship would get out here. Nicole walked over.

"But he's no expert, so I wouldn't trust him." Nicole said. Riley glared at her.

"Do you ever shut up?"

"No. Kathleen's the quiet one." Nicole pointed at me. Riley looked at me again. I felt myself immediately drawn to his bright blue eyes. I could practically lose myself in those… No, now is not the time for that. I need to get on with my story.

Well, anyway, he just looked at me. And he looked amused.

"Out of you two, you're my favorite." Riley smiled at me. My face grew hot, again, but I was saved again, this time by Ben making some kind of commotion.

"I found it! It's over here! I found it!"

------------------------------

After almost an hour, the Charlotte was up above the snow. We descended into the bottom of the ship. Ben pulled up a door with some very sharp looking icicles on it. Nicole snapped off the end of one and started poking me in the back until I grabbed out of her hands and threw it, accidentally hitting a henchman in the back of the head.

"Sorry." I whispered as I passed him. He looked confused. We wandered, and I was just waiting for the moment…

Then Riley started freaking out, and he actually fell on top of me.

"Get off!" I tried to say, but it came out more like "Geof!" He quickly got up off me.

"You handled that well." Ben said. He can be sarcastic! Who knew?

"I…uh…sorry." Riley apologized to me. Then he quickly walked away. I think it was his turn to be embarrassed.

"This is it." Ben called from the front of the pack. "The cargo hold." He opened the door and looked inside the room, which was full of barrels

"You think it's in the barrels?" Riley asked. We slowly spread out around the hold, looking in the barrels. I giggled a little when Riley accidentally pulled a cork from one of the barrels and dropped it. Ian, meanwhile, sniffed the dark powdered substance.

"Gunpowder." He said. After seeing this movie so many times, I wasn't surprised that he knew what gunpowder was. Suddenly Ben called out from across the hold.

"I think I found something." We all huddled around. I knew what was going, but kept my mouth shut. "Do you guys know what this is?"

"Is it a pipe?" Nicole asked. I could tell she was being her usual sarcastic self.

"Is it a billion dollar pipe?" Riley asked.

"It's a meerschaum pipe." Ian took it from Ben, holding it carefully

"Is it a million dollar pipe?" Riley persisted.

"I want to go home. I'm bored." Nicole whined.

"You know how this works. We can't go home until the movie is over." I reminded her. Then Ben cut his thumb with a pocketknife. I saw Riley cringe.

"What? Can't take a little blood?" I smirked at him.

"Are you asking to get that infected?" Nicole cried. "Don't smear it on that pipe! Do you know where that thing has been?" I rolled my eyes. Ben pulled out his pocketbook, ignoring her. He rolled the pipe over the paper.

"Templar symbols…" He murmured.

"Who cares?" Nicole asked irritably. Ben glared at her, giving her a look that said "I do."

" The legend writ,

The stain affected,

The key in Silence, undetected,

55 in iron pen,

Mr. Matlack can't offend."

As Ben walked around, he rambled.

"Blah…blah…blah… That's all I'm getting." Nicole said. "No wonder Abigail likes him.

"Who?" Ben asked suddenly.

"Never mind." I said quickly. I smacked Nicole in the head. "You need to shut your mouth." I warned her.

"Fine." Nicole plopped herself down on a barrel and crossed her arms. If only she wasn't making this so difficult…