A/N: Sorry it took so long. I have been really busy and have been worrying about my grandfather who is very sick right now. I saw him yesterday and he isn't looking very good. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story. I worked hard, through all I have been doing this past week.
"Looks okay." Riley said, stopping the car near Ben's father's house.
Ben pointed down the road. "Park a couple blocks away.
Riley nodded, starting the car, and did what Ben told him to do. "Well, how long do you think we got?" he asked Ben.
"Give them a couple of hours at least… I hope." Ben said as Riley parked the car.
"What do we do about her?" Riley asked, pointing to Abigail. "I think we have some duck tape in the back." Abigail looked insulted.
"No, that won't be necessary. She won't be any trouble." Ben turned to Abigail addressing her. "Promise you won't be any trouble?" he asked her.
She nodded, glaring at Riley. "I promise."
Ben turned back to Riley. "See, she's curious." He got out of the car and we followed him. We walked up to Ben's father's house and Ben rang the doorbell.
Ben's dad opened the door and Ben smiled. "Dad."
Ben's dad looked around at all of us. "Where's the party?" He asked, stopping to look at me. "Caylen, how are you?"
"I'm fine." I told him, snuggling into my jacket. Riley put his arms around me, probably to keep himself warm or to help me keep warm.
"Well, I'm in a little trouble." Ben told his father. Patrick raised his eyebrow, looking between Abigail and me.
"Which one of them is pregnant?" He asked. Abigail's eyes bugged out while I started choking on air. Riley patted my back to help me.
"Well, Dad, if the girls are, would you leave them out in the cold?" Patrick let us in and Ben walked in first.
Abigail looked at Riley. "Do we look pregnant?" she asked him. Riley shook his head very quickly. We walked inside.
"This better not be about that dumb treasure. Well… have a seat. Make yourselves comfortable. There is some pizza. Still warm, I think." Patrick rambled.
"Dad, I need the Silence Dogood letters. Yeah, it's about the treasure." Ben said standing by the television.
Patrick looked over at Abigail, Riley, and me. "And he dragged you three into this nonsense?"
"Literally." Abigail said, meaning it. Riley looked at me and then back at Patrick.
"I volunteered." He said.
"Well unvolunteer before you waste your life." Patrick told Riley, before turning to me. "Caylen, did you volunteer or did someone drag you into this?"
"I wanted to help, but I guess Ian kinda dragged me into this. I'm not really sure." I said thoughtfully. Riley jumped over the couch and grabbed a piece of pizza and started eating it.
"Well, that's too bad." Patrick said.
Ben sighed. "Knock it off, Dad." I sat next to Riley on the couch. I leaned my head back on the couch, knowing that there might be a fight.
"Of course, I know. I'm the family kook. I have a house, a job, health insurance. At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. What do you have? Them?" Patrick pointed over at Riley and me. We looked up, Riley with his mouth full, making me laugh.
"Look if you just give us the letters, we're gone." Ben told his father.
"You disappoint me Ben." Patrick said, shaking his head sadly.
Ben looked angry. "Maybe that's the real family legacy. Sons who disappoint their fathers." He said, glaring at his father.
I looked over at Riley and whispered, "uh oh. I think this is going to start some trouble." Riley nodded.
"Get out. And take your troubles with you." Patrick said, pointing to the door. Ben sighed and calmed down.
"We found the Charlotte."
Patrick eyes widened. "The Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah, she was beautiful, Dad. It was amazing."
Patrick looked very interested now. "And the treasure?" He wanted to know.
Ben sighed and shook his head. "No, but we found another clue that led us here…"
Patrick cut his son off. "And that will lead you to another clue. And that's all you'll ever find is another clue. Don't you get it Ben? I finally figured it out. The legend says the treasure was buried to keep it from the British. But what really happened was the legend was invented to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth."
Ben shook his head. "I refuse to believe that."
Patrick nodded. "Well you can believe what you want. You're a grown person. What am I doing? Do what you want Ben, do what you want."
Abigail broke up the father-son conversation. "He's probably right. You don't know if there is another clue."
Ben looked at her. "Well I can think of a way to find out. And we can find out right now." Ben took Abigail's hand and dragged her into the dining room. Riley looked at me, and I shrugged. He smiled, grabbed my hand and followed what Ben had down.
When we had gotten to the dining room, Ben and Abigail had gotten lemons, gloves and were setting the Declaration of Independence. "Take some gloves, you guys." Riley took 2 pairs and gave a pair to me. I nodded to thank him and he nodded back.
Patrick walked by just as we were about to get started, carrying trash that he was going to throw away. "Looks like animal skin. How old is it?" He asked referring to the Declaration.
"At least 200 years." Ben told his father.
Patrick raised an eyebrow. "Really? You sure?" He asked, just to make sure Ben wasn't kidding.
"Pretty darn." Ben said.
Riley looked at Ben. "Now if this thing is invisible ink, how do we look at it?" I smiled at him. Apparently he didn't know how to see invisible ink.
"Throw it in the oven." Patrick told us like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"NO!" Riley, Abigail, Ben and I yelled, throwing our hands over the document to protect it from Ben's father.
"Higher sulfate inks can only be brought out with heat." Patrick informed us.
Abigail nodded. "Yeah, but this is…"
Ben cut off Abigail. "It's very old. Very old. And we can't risk compromising the map."
"You need a reagent." Patrick said.
Ben nodded. "Dad, it's really late. Why don't you get some rest?"
"I'm fine." Patrick said and walked into the living room.
Ben sighed. "Lemons." Abigail handed him the bowl and he grabbed a lemon slice. Ben held the lemon above the Declaration and was about to squeeze the lemon when Abigail grabbed his hand. I looked at Riley and mouthed 'They really like each other.' Riley nodded, agreeing with me.
"You can't do that." Abigail told him.
"But it has to be done." Ben argued.
"Then somebody trained to handle antique documents is going to do it." Abigail argued back, taking the lemon out of Ben's hands.
"Okay." Ben said impatiently.
"Okay. Now if there is a secret message, it will probably be marked by a symbol in the upper right hand corner." She said.
"Right." Ben agreed with her. Patrick walked back in and sat across from Abigail and Ben.
"I'm so getting fired for this." Abigail said as she grabbed a q-tip and rubbed it on the lemon. She let out a deep breath and hesitantly rubbed the q-tip across the upper right hand corner. We waited for something to happen but nothing did. I put my head in my hands and sighed. We went through all this for nothing. Riley put his hand on my back and rubbed it soothingly. I looked up at him and smiled softly.
Patrick looked at all of us. "I told you, you need heat." He said. Ben and Abigail looked at each other and blew softly on the corner. A symbol appeared and Ben and Abigail smiled at each other. "See." Patrick said, smiling.
"We need more juice." Ben said, getting up.
"We need more heat." Abigail followed Ben out of the room to get more lemons and heat.
I looked at Riley. He smiled and got really close to me, making the butterflies come back. "You look tired. As soon as we get a chance, you are going to sleep." He pulled back a little. "Okay?" I nodded at him, and turned to lay my head down on the table. Riley rubbed my back and I dozed off, waiting for Ben and Abigail to get back.
