DISCLAIMER: See Chapter 1 for Proper Disclaimer.
Author's Note: Wow, another update within a day. I'll like to thank my reviewers, especially xxrox-dogxx and PropheticIllusion, whose name I did spelt right for once...usually, it's nicknames or I mispelt them...hehe ;
PropheticIllusion-I'm really glad that Alex seems all right to you. Mostly, people say that my OC is too Mary-Sueish...but, I'm happy to hear that Alex seems very normal.
And now, without further ado...chapter four of 'Boy Next Door'!
"I told ya that it was another quest…but did you believe me? No; instead, you said that I was wrong and that it wasn't another treasure hunt," Alex said to Ben as he paced around the room.
"I did not say that—" Ben protested.
"AND…you promised 100 dollars ALONG with bragging rights," Alex continued.
"Bragging rights to what?" Riley asked.
"Nothing, Riley. Just something between Alex and me," Ben said.
"Bragging rights to the fact that this missing Booth diary page is actually part of a map to another treasure, waiting eagerly to be discovered," Alex said.
"Ok, Ms. Know-It-All, what else did Betsy add to that diary of hers?" Ben asked.
Before Alex could answer, she and Ben caught sound coming from the next room. Ben went to talk to Patrick while Alex remained behind with Riley, who was working on his laptop to break the Playfair cipher.
"Did you bet on this?" Riley asked, not once looking up from the screen.
"Yes…while we were in the car on the way to the house," Alex said.
"How come I didn't hear it?"
"Because, that was before Ben…wait, I never made that bet with Ben. Shoot, I should have, knowing him," Alex said as she swore under her breath.
"Now she remembers…" Riley mumbled as he continued with his work. "What is Ben talking about with Betsy's diary?"
"Betsy Gates was Thomas's sister and aunt to our grandfather, Charles. Now, the two of them heard Thomas's dying breath, 'The debt that all men pay'…oh, why didn't I figure this out earlier?" Alex said as she realized something.
Taking Riley's laptop away from its owner, Alex typed in the word 'DEATH' and hit 'Enter'. Then, a spew of letters appeared at the bottom of the page, 'L-A-B-O-U-L-A-E-L-A-D'.
"No way…" Alex said as Ben and Patrick entered the room.
"The answer is 'Death'. That's the answer to 'The debt all men pay'," Ben said as he neared Alex and the laptop, but seeing that his younger sister beat him to it. "Laboulaye?"
"Laboulaye…of course! How can I be so stupid…?" Alex exclaimed as she hit her hand on the table. "Sorry," she added as she saw Riley jump from the notion. "Edouard Laboulaye was the one that designed the Statue of Liberty…why am I the only one that seems to know more Global History than all of you?" Alex asked as she noticed the looks that she was given. "Laboulaye designed three statues: one in New York, one in Paris, and one in Jardin du Luxembourg. But…only one of these three did Laboulaye called his 'lady'…"
"How did you get 'lady' from the letters?" Patrick asked.
"Cause the 'y' was missing from both 'Laboulaye' and 'lady'. So, the one we're looking for is the one that's near the Eiffel Tower, which is conveniently located in Paris, France. Somebody better give me an A+ for actually staying awake for that lecture," Alex said as she punched the air with a fist and a grin on her face. "Boo-yay! I'm so good…"
The three men all stared at Alex as if she had just announced her engagement to Prince William. Riley, however, knew that Alex's intelligent was very well-known to be used at the most random times.
One flight and a day later, Ben and Riley were investigating the torch of the Statue of Liberty near the Eiffel tower; Alex was to remain back at the hotel room to set up for any last minute decisions. Alex, having been bored for about twenty minute after the two left her alone, decided to go and help the out from any 'sticky' situations. Once she arrived by the Eiffel tower, she saw two Police Officers on bicycles near where Riley and Ben were standing. Alex rushed over to the scene as fast as her flip-flops could allow her to run in.
"Excusez-moi. Est-ce que je peux vous aider des messieurs?" One of the officers asked Ben and Riley. (1)
Before any of the two could reply, Alex just reached the scene.
"Benjamin Franklin Gates…comment le DÉFI vous me laissent pour souffrir dans l'ennui à l'hôtel. Et, pour le compléter au loin, il n'y avait AUCUN bon film à la télévision," Alex said as she stormed over to Ben and hit his arm with her hand. (2) "Juste parce que vous avez traîné mon ami de la salle ne vous autorise pas à laisser votre plus jeune soeur tout seule dans la chambre. Qui sait ce qui pourrait être arrivé à moi tandis que j'étais seule à la salle ? Je pourrais avoir été attaqué, violé, ou même enlevé… et tué." (3)
"Excusez-moi…mais, vousa fait pour dire 'Ben Gates'?" the same officer asked. (4).
"Yes, this is my older brother, Ben, and I'm Alex. Why do you ask?" Alex replied, not sure why she was asked that.
"Ah, you're the one that wrote the book, "Tales of Ancient Societies". Your book is well-written for a 26-year-old," the officer's partner replied in English, much to Alex and the others' delight.
Alex blushed a little as her book from two years ago was mentioned. Riley stared bugged-eyed for a moment or two before Ben leaned over towards Riley.
"She was mostly doing research with a colleague of hers from her Ancient World History class…someone by the name of—" Ben whispered to Riley.
"Cassandra Poole? Yeah…I thought so," Riley finished for Ben.
"So…what brings you to our fair city, Mademoiselle Gates?"
"My companions and I were just wondering if you could translate this for us," Alex said as she pulled out her PDA and there was the picture that Riley had sent to Alex mere seconds ago.
"'Across the sea these twins stand resolute to preserve what we are looking for. -Laboulaye, 1876'. Is that all, mademoiselle?" the first officer asked.
"Yes it is, monsieur. Merci," Alex said as she walked over to the two men.
"Before you leave, can you sign my ticket book?" the second officer asked.
"Am I getting a ticket, monsieur?" Alex asked with a confused face.
"No, no…just an autograph."
After that was done, the two officers left.
"What just happened?" Riley asked.
"I think…I just saved you two from getting a ticket. Now, let's head back to the hotel and pack for London," Alex said as she started to walk over to where cars were passing by.
"London?" Riley asked.
"You figured out the next location, huh?" Ben asked.
"Easy: 'Across the sea these twins stand resolute to what we are looking for.' The Resolute desks at Buckingham Palace in London…" Alex replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
"So, London then?"
Alex nodded her head as she turned to the street and whistled for a cab.
"Think we might get tea and crumpets for breakfast in the morning?" Alex asked in a British accent.
"I bet we will," Riley replied back with the same accent as Alex.
"You two are really annoying when you two do that," Ben said as he shook his head.
Author's Note: Ok, you know the drill. Click on the Review button, please. Also, I mentioned Cassandra Poole here. You'll get to know more of what happened with her later on in the story.
translations are from Babel Fish and are in French:
(1) Excuse me, can I help you gentlemen?
(2) Benjamin Franklin Gates...how DARE you leave me to suffer from boredom at the room. And, to top it off, there was NO good movies on the telly. Ok, as you can tell here, Alex likes to refer to her 'proper' etiquettes ever so often to annoy Ben...just to keep him on his toes every once in a while.
(3) Just because you dragged my boyfriend out of the room does not entitle you to leave your younger sister all alone in the room. Who knows what could have happened to me while I was at the room alone. I could have been attacked, raped, or kidnapped...and killed. Hehe, ok this part was supposed to be a cover-up for Riley to stop messing with his helicopter and sent the picture to her cell phone. Also, Alex hoped that Riley didn't catch that part where she referred him as 'boyfriend'. BUT, we'll get to that at a later point in the story.
(4) Excuse me...but, did you say 'Ben Gates'?