Wel, here's number ten! Woot! I'm glad that you guys really enjoy this story.
Chapter Ten: Another Way out or Treasure?
Shippen lowers the elevator till it is level with a wider and more open area. Ben takes the torch from Abi and walks into the area followed by everyone else. Ana starts to get a bad feeling in her stomach and remembers that she still has her gun with her.
Ana looks around the room and so does Ben. Only a lantern that is hanging from the ceiling.
"What is this?" asks Riley.
"So where's the treasure?" Shippen asks Ben.
Ben looks around. A deceiving look passes his face.
"Well?" provokes Ian.
"This is it? We came all this way for a dead end?" Riley asks raising his voice.
Ana releases his hand and walks around looking for something, anything.
"Yes," says Ben calmly.
Ian gives a disbelieving laugh and runs a hand through his hair.
"There's got to be something more," Riley says.
"Riley, there's nothing more," Ben says to him.
"Another clue, or..." Riley starts to say.
"No, there are no more clues! That's it, okay! It's over! End of the road. The treasure's gone. Moved. Taken somewhere else," Ben shouts at him.
Riley looks taken back while Mr. Gates, Abi and Ana stare at him shocked that he even yelled at all. Ian gives him a skeptical look.
"You're not playing games with me, are you, Ben? Him?" Ian asks, "You know where it is."
"No," says Ben simply.
Ian looks back to Shippen.
"Okay, go," Ian says to him.
Shippen and Ian rush back to the elevator. they get on and Shippen starts moving it up.
"Wait a minute." Ben says following them.
Ana, Mr. Gates, and Abi follow Ben.
"Don't do this," says Ben.
Shippen has already raised the elevator a bit. He stops.
"You can't leave us here," says Abigail.
"Yes I can. Unless Ben tells me the next clue," says Ian from his spot on the elevator.
"There isn't another clue," Ben stresses to him.
"Ian, listen. Why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together," Riley says.
Ian pulls a gun out at Riley. Ana reaches for hers.
"Don't speak again." Ian scolds, still pointing he gun at Riley.
Ana steps in front of Riley and points her gun at Ian.
"You'll have to get through me." she hisses at him and glares.
Ian smirks at her slightly and glares at Shippen who gives a confused shrug. He really wasn't sure what just happened.
"The clue. Where's the treasure?" Ian pauses, "Ben?" he asks pointing the gun at Ben now.
When Ben doesn't answer right away, Ian cocks the gun.
"The lantern," says Mr. Gates quickly.
"Dad..." Ben says to him.
"The status quo has changed, son," he says.
"Don't..." Ben pleads with his father.
Mr. Gates ignores his son and turns to talk to Ian. Ian lowers the gun.
"It's part of Freemason teachings. In King Solomon's temple there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue," explains Mr. Gates.
"And what does it mean?" Ian asks.
"Boston. It's Boston," Ben says sheepishly.
"The old North Church in Boston where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land, 2 if by sea. One lantern. Under the winding staircase of the steeple, that's where we have to look," says Mr. Gates.
"Thank you," says Ian like he really meant it.
"Hey, you have to take us with you," Mr. Gates says taking a step forward.
"Why? So you can escape in Boston? Besides with you out of the picture there's less baggage to carry," says Ian.
"What if we lied?" Mr. Gates asks.
"Did you?" Ian asks pointing the gun at him.
"What if there's another clue?" asks Ben.
"Then I'll know right where to find you," says Ian, "See you, Ben."
Shippen raises the elevator.
"No!" Ben shouts up to them.
"There's no other way out!" shouts Riley.
"Ian, come back," says Abigail.
They disappear.
"We're going to die." Riley says in a defeated tone.
Ana rolls her eyes and uncocks her gun and puts it back under her belt. Ben rushes to a wall on the far end of the area they are in.
"It's gunna be okay, Riley...I'm sorry I yelled at you," says Ben walking back into the room.
"It's okay, kiddo," says Mr. Gates as he follows Ben back in.
Abi and Ana follow Ben and Mr. Gates.
"Okay, boys, what's going on? The British came by sea. It was 2 lanterns, not 1," Ana says crossing her arms.
"Ian needed another clue. So we gave it to him," says Mr. Gates as he and Ben look around for something.
"It was a fake. It was a fake clue," Riley states as he stands next to Ana.
Ben feels something on one of the walls.
"That means...by the time Ian figures it out, we'll still be trapped, and he'll shoot us then. Either way we're gunna...die," Riley says getting quieter with each phrase.
"Nobody's gunna die. There's another way out," says Ben looking at Riley."
"Where?" Riley asks.
"Through the treasure room," says Ben with a smile.
He pushes a button that is in the wall. The wall pops out like a door. Ben takes a torch from a wall and goes in the other room. Abi and Mr. Gates follow. Ana and Riley go in. Ana sighs and leans against the wall. Nothing.
Ben walks into the center of the kind of empty room. The only things that are left are broken pieces of pottery and other things.
"Looks like someone got here first," says Riley looking around.
Ben gives a defeated sigh. Ana looks at him with sympathy. Mr. Gates puts a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Ben." Abi says to him.
"It's gone," Ben says sadly looking at his father.
"Listen Ben..." Mr. Gates starts to say.
Riley moves to sit near the entryway. Ana slides down the wall so she's sitting down the ground a few feet from Riley. She looks up, staring at the ceiling
"It may have even been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates," says Ben.
"It doesn't matter," says Mr. Gates.
"I know. 'Cause you were right," Ben says to his father and looks at him.
"No, I wasn't right. This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure is real. You're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history because you found what they left behind for you to find and understood the meaning of it. You did it Ben. For all of us. Your grandfather, and all of us. And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong," Mr. Gates says sincerely, his hand still on Ben's shoulder.
"I just...really thought I was going to find the treasure," says Ben, moving to take a seat at a part in the wall.
"Okay, then we just keep looking for it," says Mr. Gates walking closer to Ben.
Abi looks at Ana and Ana smiles. Ana gets up and moves next to Abi.
"I'm in," they say at the same time.
Ben looks at them and back to his father.
"Okay," says Ben.
"Not to be Johnny Rain Cloud here, but that's not gunna happen. Because as far as I can see, we're still trapped down here. Now, Ben, where's this other way out?" Riley asks.
"Well, that's it. It doesn't make any sense, the first thing the builders would have done after getting down here was to cut a secondary shaft back out for air..." explains Ben.
Mr. Gates.
"...and in case of cave-ins," Ben finishes.
They move around the room, looking for something that can lead them to a way out. Ben hands the torch over to Abigail and touches the one circle that looks vaguely familiar.
"Could it really be that simple?" he asks himself taking the meerschaum pipe out of his pocket.
"The secret lies with Charlotte," he adds quietly.
Ben places the pipe in the carved out portion of the wall and puts the stem in the little spot below it and rotates it counterclockwise until it clicks into place. He then pushes the circle and a big gust of wind goes by everyone. On the opposite side of the room, a door way opens. Riley stands up from his spot and walks over to everyone else.
Hope you all liked it. Part eleven will be out maybe Saturday or possibly tonight. I'm going to be away for two days since I'm in Alaska right now. My mom wants me to take a train ride with her and stay in Denali for a couple days. So, I said sure. Please review. I'll have number eleven as ASAP!!
WAWAWEEWA!