Hello hello. Finally updating, sorry about the wait. I know this chapter isn't hugely interesting, but the first part will light the way to an interesting plot twist :P

I DO NOT OWN NATIONAL TREASURE. DISNEY DOES. DUH

"Do you know what it means?" Ian asked, leaning over Abigail's shoulder as she read the one word the little boy had given him earlier.

"Yeah. It has to mean the Liberty Bell, Pass and Stow. The names of the men who cast the bell." She looked up at Ian for recognition and he nodded knowingly.

"So we go to the Liberty Bell?"

"I assume so, but there isn't enough of the clue." She thought for a second, unfazed by all the eyes of the surrounding henchmen. "These clues are ancient, much like the one on the pipe. I don't think we should be visiting the bell...I think maybe we should be going to the place it once was." Slow realisation crept over Ian's face.

"Liberty Hall?" Abigail smiled smugly.

"Precisely."

***

"Did you get it Riley?" Ben sounded eager, and who could blame the guy, it was the next clue, and every time one of those popped up he was like a kid at Christmas. Aww.

"Oh I got it." Riley grinned, pulling out his slip of paper. Ben and I listened with eager ears as he read the clue. "The vision to see the treasured past, comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow. Now Pass and Stow, of course, referring to-"

"Ooh! The Liberty Bell!" I said brightly, at the same time as Ben. We looked at each other with a knowing smile, then back at Riley, who didn't look too happy, if I'm honest.

"Why do you have to do that?" I simply shrugged.

"Well I knew the answer. I did history at college remember." I flashed him a toothy grin. "John Pass and John Stow cast the bell."

"Well what does the rest of this mean?" He still sounded annoyed. Not that I really cared, the clue was the thing that mattered at present, and I was just as excited to hear about it as Ben was.

"Wait a minute." Ben was getting that look in his eye again, the amazing 'I'm the cleverest guy you'll ever meet' look. I loved it, and his brain. "The vision to see the treasured past must refer to a way to read the map."

"Invisibility makes everything ten times more difficult." I said irritably, even though it was plainly obvious why the whole invisibility thing had been done in the first place.

"I thought the cipher was the map." Riley added, sounded equally unimpressed.

"No the cipher was a way to find a way to read the map."

I did a double take.

"Wait, what?" That made no sense. At least to me.

"And the timely shadow..." Ben mused. "crosses in front of the liberty bell, revealing the way to read the map."

Oh. It all made sense now.

"Sounds complicated." I pointed out. "Are we assuming 'the house of Pass and Stow' is Independence hall, then?"

"Exactly." Ben smiled at me proudly, making me go all funny inside. You know the feeling, when you walk past your crush in the school hall? Yeah, just like that.

"Then what's the timely shadow?" Riley asked, brow furrowed, not on our wavelength.

"It must be a specific time." Ben murmured, looking deep in thought.

"What time?" Riley and I asked at once, glancing at each other and laughing at our unison.

Ben proceeded to muse about what time it could be. Then, clearly struck by another fantastic idea, he ran over to the store clerk and asked for one of the hundred dollar bills he had paid her with. Now, I didn't blame the woman for not wanting to give it back, but her shortness with Ben made my blood boil. I opened my mouth and went to step forward but Riley grabbed my arm and jerked me back, shaking his head sternly at me. I pouted and watched as Ben haggled with the woman, finally coming out victorious and bringing one of the notes back.

"Shall we make off with it?" I teased, pretending to get ready to run. Ben rolled his eyes and laughed.

"No we can't, she has my divers watch. But check it out, this is way cooler than a hundred bucks." He held up the note. "See the picture? It's based on a painting done in the 1780's of Independence Hall." He tapped the picture of the tiny building with one finger. I squinted, noticing there was also a tiny clock on the front, with tiny little hands pointing to tiny little numbers on the face. That must have been the specific time. "The artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklins. Hold this." He passed me the quiver containing the Declaration and I swung the strap over my shoulder, holding onto it tightly. "Now if we look at the clock tower..." He took a bottle of water from the counter and held it up over the note. "-We may find the specific time." He stared intently at the picture for a few moments while Riley and I waited with baited breath. I hoped to God the time would be soon, and we hadn't missed it. I didn't think I would be able to sleep knowing where the next clue was.

"What time is it, Mr Wolf?" I asked with a playful smirk. Ben gave me a slight chuckle before reading out what he saw.

"2:22." I immediately glanced at my watch, and sighed straight after.

"We missed it."

"No we didn't." Riley sounded as though he too was onto something. "We didn't miss it because…" He looked momentarily elated. "You don't know this?" Ben and I swapped looks as Riley continued to boast. "I know something about history that you don't know!"

"I'd be very excited to learn about it Riley." Ben answered irritably. I rolled by eyes, understanding why Riley was smug, but not necessarily condoning his behavior.

"Wait a minute, lemme just take in this moment…This is…This is cool…Is this how you feel, all the time? Except for now, of course-"

"Riley, I've never punched anyone before. Do you want me to start now?" I looked at him threateningly and he appeared to visibly gulp before carrying on, this time his tone less smug. Ben looked at me in admiration, which I found amusing, considering I had just threatened to punch his best friend.

"Alright!" His snippy tone would have made someone else recoil, but I just stood there and glared at him, bolshie as I am, while he continued, avoiding my gaze. "What I know, is daylight savings wasn't established until World War one." I actually couldn't believe I had forgotten that fact. My history lecturer had gone on and on about the daylight savings thing, claiming one day it'd come in handy. So here I was, gawping like an idiot at some nerd who knew next to nothing about the history of the world, getting my intellectual ass handed to me. Awesome. "If it's three pm now, that means in 1776, it'd be 2pm." I had to hand it to the kid, he had a good eye for this stuff, and he was showing Ben up, which was kinda funny.

"Riley you're a genius." I blinked and looked at Ben oddly. He was taking it well. Then suddenly he was running off down the stairs leading out of the store. I swapped looks with Riley and then dashed after Ben, hearing him say something about who came up with daylight savings. It was only a beat before Ben and I answered.

"Benjamin Franklin!"

So everyone's going to Independence hall at the same time!? What's going to happen....? :P