Fifteen

To Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore - spectacular in itself, and even more so when you knew it was a cover up. Riley could not get over this.

"Positions everyone-"

They all scattered themselves about, preparing to cut off Mitch. Abigail pretended to be asking a guide a question, while Riley and Alex pretended to be taking photos of the scenery.

"Hello Mitch," said Ben, turning around to face him when he marched up the steps, Emily in tow. Alex couldn't help but grin at the look of shock that passed over the rival man's face at the sight of them.

"Benjamin, Alexandra!" Emily cried, a wide smile spreading across her face. "I knew you'd figure out the riddle I gave your father."

"The hummingbird was good." Ben nodded. Then he turned to the other man. "Let her go, Mitch."

"We're the ones with the firepower and you're giving me the orders?" Mitch sneered.

"They're armed!" hissed Riley.

"I kidnapped the president," Ben replied casually, causing his mother to shoot him an incredibly shocked look. "The FBI are on their way right now to arrest me, and I'm sure they'd love to meet you. They'll find us both and arrest us both, and that path doesn't lead to the City of Gold, now does it?"

"This man has information you need," jumped in Emily. "He's got a letter-"

"Sent from Queen Victoria to General Albert Pike." Ben remained calm and casual.

"How do you know about that?" demanded Mitch.

"We read about it, in a book."

"Well I'm afraid he's burned it," said Emily. Mitch gave a smug grin.

"Well you've had me do all the work so far so why stop now?" Ben continued. "You tell me what you know, I'll find the City of Gold, prove Thomas's innocence, and you can have the treasure and all the glory."

"What?" piped up Riley.

"I'm going with you," Mitch declared. "And if anyone's going to be credited with finding the City of Gold, it's gonna be me."

"That's basically what he just said," said Alex.

Ben nodded in agreement with Mitch. "Fine, but your partners stay here, and all the guns."

"What makes you think I'd agree to that?"

"Cause you need that treasure - believe me, I know."

There was a tense moment before Mitch gave in and nodded. "Alright Gates, we'll do it your way. But believe me, I don't need the guns." With that, they headed off, Ben leading the way.

"Uh, Ben, are you really sure about this?"

"Not now, Riley."

"He kidnapped the president?!" Emily hissed to Patrick.

"I thought it best not to tell you."

They headed further into the park, keeping on the lookout for the 'noble bird'. After nearly an hour of unsuccessful searching, Ben turned to Mitch. "Alright Mitch, let's have it. What did the letter say? What's the clue from Queen Victoria?"

Mitch looked up from where he sat on a rock while the others all stood around actively searching. "'The entrance shall only be revealed under a cloudless rain.'"

That was a beautiful riddle, but a riddle nonetheless. There was a moment of silence as everyone pondered over it.

"Figure that one out," Mitch said smugly.

"So, we come back when it's raining?" suggested Riley. "Like one of those rain showers where it's still sunny."

"Yes, yes Riley!" cried Ben.

Riley looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yes. 'Cloudless' could simply mean the sun, and rain. We've got the sun, now all we need water."

Riley gestured to the lack of just that. "Water..."

Ben took off his backpack and withdrew a water bottle, dumping the contents on the rock's surface. "The water makes the rock darker. Everybody, try the water."

He tossed out some more full bottles and soon everyone was pouring the water across the rocks.

"This is ridiculous, are we going to water the whole thing?" Alex heard her mother mutter. She did have a point - there was a lot of rocks, and they only had limited water.

"Over here!" Everyone stopped at Abigail's gasp. "I found it! Over here!"

They all scrambled over the uneven rock surface to where she was crouched down by a smaller rock, where an image of a bird had appeared, head held high, wings outstretched.

"It's an eagle."

"'The noble bird will give you passage.'"

"Okay now what?"

"I think we need to all join hands, and then, in a noble manner, pass over the bird - nobly," said Riley. This was met by silence.

Then everyone began muttering over each other, trying to work through the riddle.

"I still like my idea," Riley mumbled. Alex gave him a pat on the arm.

"You can stand here and guess for a while or I can just give you the next clue," Mitch said casually. They all fell silent and turned to him expectantly. "'Surrender your hand to the heart of the warrior.'"

"The eagle is the symbol of the warrior," said Emily.

They all looked to a narrow space in between the outline of the bird's body on the rocks. Ben reached his hand forward towards the hole.

"Ben wait!" his mother cried. "Stop! That could be a horrible trap." Then she turned to Patrick. "Tell him!"

"Uh, it's a horrible trap."

"It would sure be a shame to come all this way and not even try," said Mitch.

"You want to try?" Alex retorted.

"Like your brother so kindly offered, he's doing all the work."

"I'll do it, Ben," offered Riley.

"It's okay," Ben assured everyone. Slowly and hesitantly, he reached into the hole. Alex grasped Riley's hand tightly.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Everyone jumped when Ben let out a scream. Alex and Riley answered with screams of their own, hanging on to each other.

Ben's screams quickly faded into laughter though. "Oh I am sorry, I just couldn't resist."

Abigail delivered a punch to his arm while Patrick laughed at his son's humour.

"That wasn't funny," Alex scolded.

"Sorry, like I said, couldn't help it." Ben felt around beneath the rock. "It - it feels like some sort of latch-" He pulled.

There was rumbling as rocks across the lake began to fall, revealing a narrow doorway.

"Alright!"

"Cool!"

The group made their way over, stepping through the doorway one by one. Although it was dimly lit, they could just make out intricate Aztec carvings in the stone.

"Oh!" Emily cried in excitement upon seeing the carvings. "Look at all this! It's beautiful!"

"What's this?" Riley inspected a tall wood and stone mechanism.

"It looks like a counterweight to hold the door open," Ben said, inspecting it from afar.

"Huh." Riley barely touched the rope, which snapped, and the counterweight collapsed. A large round stone rolled behind them, sealing the entrance way shut.

"Sorry!" Riley called from where he'd landed on the ground.

"Well, there's only one way outta here now," said Mitch. "Forward." He began to lead the way.

"How about from now on, we don't touch anything," Alex said to Riley.

He gave a nod. "Good idea."

Wow, it has been forever, I'm so sorry! But don't worry, despite having so many stories and various writing projects on the go, I haven't forgotten about this one! ;)

Thank you for sticking with me! As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)