Yes I admit it. I am lazy, I am lazy, I am lazy. For those of you who still read this thank you, and you are in for a fun chapter. Hehe, you'll see at the end. Once again a thanks to Angelic Prophecy for sending me a transcript of BOS for I apparently had lost it. Foolish me. Anyway enjoy the chapter!

The group sat in Patrick's living room while he looked over the picture they had taken of the plank.

"I can't read the whole thing, but I can tell you that these are definitely pre-colonial Native American markings." Patrick said.

"Easily five-hundred years old." Ben added.

"Easily. I can identify one symbol." Patrick continued. "Look at this. Do you know what that is?" He said pointing to one of the symbols in the picture.

"Sacred calendrical? I don't know." Ben said.

"Thats the symbol for Cibola isn't it?" Rachel said, peering over Patrick's shoulder.

"Cibola." He confirmed. "The city of gold."

Ben then dug through one of the many boxes and took out a stack of books, dumping them on the coffee table. Rachel grabbed one from the bottom of the stack and handed it to him.
"Looking for this one?"

He nodded and took it from her, opening it up to a spot near the middle. "In 1527, a Spanish ship wrecked on the Florida coast. There were only four survivors. One was a slave named Esteban who saved a local tribe's dying Chief. As a reward, he was taken to their sacred city, a city build from solid gold. Later, when Esteban tried to find the city again, he never could. But the legend grew, and every explorer came to the New World in search of it. When General Custer's search for gold ended in his last stand at Little Bighorn, it became clear none would ever find it."

"Ben, can you imagine if the Confederates got their hands on the City of Gold...My god."

"Patrick, you know what we have to do now." Rachel said, plopping down onto the couch.

"I'm going to talk to her. And you're coming with me." Ben said.

"No!" Patrick exclaimed.

"No one else can translate it Patrick. Not for ancient Native American. She's the best and you know it." She sighed.

"It's been, what? Twenty-five years."

"Thirty-two." Ben corrected.

"That long? There's a reason we haven't spoken in thirty-two years. We have nothing in common."

Rachel laughed. "Yes of course, the child you had together isn't something you have in common at all."

"Who?" Riley asked her and Abigail as Ben and Patrick continued on.

Abigail smirked. "His mom."

They walked down the university hallway past the bustling students rushing from class to class.

"Will you relax? It's gonna be fine." Ben told his dad.

"Sure. Should look at the bright side. Been a long time. Maybe she lost her memory, won't recognize me."

Suddenly a girl burst through the door they were heading towards. "I hate her!" She said angrily.

Rachel grinned. "I love her."

"We're in the right place." Patrick said.

Riley backed up. "I'm gonna take myself out of the line of fire for this one."

"Wimp." Rachel mouthed over her shoulder as she headed in after the others.

"Hi, mom." Ben greeted.

"Benjamin! Abigail! What a surprise!" Emily said. "Oh and Rachel too. Hello, sweetheart."

Patrick came in last.

"Oh." Emily said.

"You see?" Patrick said. "One syllable, a knife in the heart. Oh, no. She can do that."

"I can also track the whereabouts of my toothbrush." Emily spat back.

"I was not the one that left the toothbrushes in Marrakesh. I stowed them both in the travel case, as instructed."

"Yes, and you also insisted on loading the luggage into the taxi."

"I didn't insist. I loaded the luggage."

"Not the travel case."

"A travel case is not luggage. The case goes into the luggage. Who was in charge of packing?"

"I couldn't get the case into the luggage. It was full with that stupid rug you bought. You thought it had some secret stitching. How stupid was that?"

"It did have stitching. Six phony green leather suitcases...."

"Mom." Ben interrupted. "I need you to take a look at this."

He handed the picture to her. "What is that a picture of?" She said slipping her glasses on. "It's interesting."
"We're pretty sure that it's Olmec." Rachel said.

"It is. Yes, yes, definitely proto-zoquean."

"We were hoping that you could translate it." Patrick said hopefully.

"Yes, of course you were." Emily said, looking up at him. "Oh, this doesn't involve another treasure hunt, does it?

"Mom, this is actually very important."

"Alright. What have we got here? This...this glyph here, that means "bird." And that means...

Uh, "noble bird." Yes. "Find the noble bird, let him take you by the hand and give you passage to the sacred temple." She chuckled. "You think this is a treasure map for Cibola, don't you?"

"Well, that is exactly what it is. "Patrick said.

"No, this glyph doesn't mean "Cibola." It means "The center of the world."

"You know, you used to like it. She fell in love with me on a treasure hunt."

"That was not love. That was excitement, adrenaline, and tequila. I was trying to get course credit."

"Treasure hunting paid off, in case you haven't read the papers."

"That had nothing to do with you. That was Ben. Ben found the treasure you did nothing!"

"Emily, Patrick, will the two of you please stop arguing like two Hobbits over a mushroom?" Rachel sighed. "We really need to figure out whats going on with the plank."

If not for her use of such phrasing constantly they might have been puzzled by her use of 'Hobbits over mushrooms.' bit.

"Well, that's it I'm afraid. These glyphs are only partials. So you only have half a treasure map. I"m sorry." She then looked back over to Patrick. "Not that I'm surprised."

They left Emily and exited the building, walking over the grounds towards the car.

"At least we know where the rest of the map is." Rachel said happily.

"What? You know where it is? Why didn't you tell me?" Patrick asked.

"Obviously you have a tendency to overreact!" Ben yelled.

"I'm sorry."

"So am I." Ben replied.

"So where is it?"

"The inscription on the statue in Paris said, "These twins stand resolute." We think the map's divided between the two Resolute desks." Ben explained.

"The Resolute desk. The Resolute desk? President's desk?"

"The president? What president?" Riley asked, puzzled. "Our president?!"

"No of course not Riley. The president of the undersea world of Youaredense. Yes of course our president!"

"But that means...Wait, so we have to...The White House?" Riley groaned.

"The Oval Office...to be exact." Ben said.

"Why would I overreact to that?" Patrick shrugged.

Once again they were back in the living room as Ben flipped through books. "The Resolute desk is near the south wall in the Oval Office." Ben said.

Riley was on his laptop on the White House's website. "Guys, take a took at this." He said scrolling down. There was a banner promoting the ticket sales for the Easter Egg Roll.

"I believe it's time for you to make a date with your new boyfriend." Ben told Abigail.

"I think you're right."

Ben, Abigail, and Rachel walked over the lawn of the White House through the festivities.

"Is that Conner in the bunny suit?" Ben asked as it hopped by, giving Abigail a little stuffed bunny.

"I've never been to an Easter Egg Roll. It's kinda sweet." Abigail said.
Rachel rubbed her forehead. "I think all the happiness and cheer is giving me a headache."

"Hey, I know you." A young boy said as they passed. "Your great-great-grandfather killed President Lincoln."

"No. That would be John Wilkes Booth." Ben corrected.

"Eisenschiml says that Booth was a tool in a greater conspiracy that involved men in Lincoln's Cabinet." The kid argued.

"Absurd." Rachel snapped. "Eisenschiml's book is filled with spotty research and false assumptions. Perhaps if you had a brain in that tiny..."

Ben clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Oh, yeah? Explain why Lincoln's bodyguard left his post that night?"

The argument was getting louder.

"Because President Lincoln was never accompanied by guards when attending the theater. Listening?" Ben began.

"Especially on Good Friday!" Rachel and Ben said in unison."

"Explain why all the bridges out of Washington were closed except one, the one Booth needed to escape?"

Ben then realized the scene they were making a straightened up. "Okay, run along now, you impossible child. Run along."

The kid frowned and stuck his tongue out at them.

"What is going on with the education in America?" Ben asked them.

Rachel shook her head. "There is a good reason why I choose homeschooling."

"Hey! Hey! Conner!" Abigail called.

Conner jogged up to her. "I'm so glad you decided to come..." He then say Rachel and Ben. "with Gates."

"We just ran into each other." Abigail explained.

Ben looked at her. "Aren't you going to ask him?"

"Ask me what?"

"Nothing." Abigail said quickly.

"Well, what she means is she doesn't think you can."

"Doesn't think I can what?" Conner asked.

"She wants to see the Oval Office." Rachel told him.

"No. That is way to much to ask." Abigail said.

"No, It's, uh...I can do that." He said reluctantly.

"Really?" Abigail said happily. "That is so cool Conner. I have always wanted to see the Oval Office." She took his arm and they began to walk. Rachel and Ben followed.

"Conner rocks." They said.

Ben paused and turned to her. "You stay out here. We don't need a whole tour group of people. Hang around. And please don't pelt anyone with hardboiled eggs." He begged and then walked off.

"I can't promise your safety once you come back." She mumbled.

She tapped her foot on the grass and stared down at the light flower pattern on her skirt. What was a sixteen year old to do at an Easter Egg Roll when her two options were to join in the small children for face painting and egg rolling (hence the name of the event) or the adults for meaningless chatter where few would enjoy her special sense of humor.

Then she heard a familiar voice behind her. "You and your dad are completely wrong about the Lincoln assassination. You're probably just embarrassed that your relative killed one of the best presidents in history."

She pursed her lips and quickly thought up a good rebuttal. She turned and lent down to the kid.

"I think that you should walk away very quickly and head to the nearest library and do some research into what really happened that night before I am forced to harm you in a way that would then harm my future and probably your ability to grow further. The hardest part will be finding a good spot to hide the body. But you're so small it shouldn't be as hard as that time I needed a spot for the man at the end of my street."

"I'm so scared." The kid spat.

Okay, now she was mad. She glared a glare that would have fried a dozen eggs and stood at her tallest. "Do you think it wise boy? Crossing words with a teenage girl twice you size who is wearing heals with an unlimited supply of ammunition at her disposal? Now walk away before you find yourself a walking omelet."

The kid once again stuck his tongue out at her and walked away.

Oh what an urge she got. An urge she could not refuse, no matter what Ben had said. She sidestepped twice to a table that held the eggs for the roll and took one in her hand. Ever second lost the kid got farther away. Aiming carefully she zeroed in on the target. With a swift toss the egg flew through the air in a beautiful arch and smacked hard into the back of the kid's head. The egg shattered and bits of it clung to his hair. "Karma. I do not make the laws, simply deal out the punishments." She said and with a smug look on her face she turned and walked away.

Cookies for all who are still with me! (Mushrooms, Lembas, and salted pork are on the second table for the Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves among us)