"I guess I'm still holding on to something that I know will probably never happen,

because somewhere deep down inside me, I have this little piece of hope that someday,

it will..."

(Told you all I would do more quotes;) Can you all guess why I chose this specific quote for this chapter? And can you all guess why I chose the quote I chose for the twenty-third chapter? LOL!)

.oOo.

I hope you all like the rest and don't worry... I will make sure and tie all the lose-ends and cliff-hangers up in the upcoming chapters:)

Mandie slowly opened the lid and peered inside. In the box was a letter. Mandie reached inside and pulled the letter out.
It read:

My dearest Amanda,
You have finally gotten to the end of all the clues.
I knew you would.
And now I will tell you what I have meant to tell you for so long.
One time, I met a woman. Her name was Elizabeth. Elizabeth Taft.
I instantly fell in love with her, and the feelings were mutual.
We got married, but my love's mother didn't care that much for me.
So, she annulled our marrige and I was sent away.
Later I learned that my darling Elizabeth had died in childbirth.
The baby was sent to me. It was a little girl. You. Your mother had named you
Amanda before she died. And I loved you with my life. My little Mandie.
Pretty soon I got married again. To a woman named Edna. I made her promise
never to tell you that she wasn't your real mother. I wanted you to feel
like you had a real family. At least for a while. I planned on telling you
when you were seventeen, but that's not an option now. But I wanted you to
know. So I thought, "What better way than to send you on a hunt!"
You always were adventurous. Not scared of anything. My little Mandie.
So, a little while before I passed on I asked some friends to help me.
I had already hidden clues one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and
ten. But, I didn't have time to hide clue nine. I enlisted a very close friend
of mine to hide it in a place that would fit and another friend to give you
the letter at the certain time when I wanted you to have it and start on the
journey. I am so sorry, you deserved to know. And, to make up for it, I have
some very special things to give you. They are under the false bottom in this
box. Hopefully you will get more answers in time.
Maybe you could visit your mother's grave for me. I love you so much, and I hope
you know that and believe it. Well, I must go now. I love you, my little Mandie.
Love,
Your father Jim Shaw.

Mandie gazed upon the letter as tears filled her eyes.
"He... he really did want to tell me. I knew it. I... I knew it," Mandie burst into tears and covered her face with her hands, sobbing convulsively. Celia had tears in her eyes.
Mandie held the letter close to her heart and kissed it. Joe wrapped both his arms around Mandie's shoulders and squeezed her tight. Mandie cried even harder, "I love you daddy. I love you. Thank you," Mandie whispered, closing her eyes and biting her lip, trying to surpress the hard sobs and tears that forced themselves out.
"I wish he would have known. I wish he could have known that she was alive," Mandie's voice cracked.
After a few moments Mandie calmed down and wiped away her tears.
Joe squeezed her shoulder, "Are you alright, Mandie?"
Mandie nodded her head and attempted a small smile, "I'm... I'm fine."
Then, Mandie thought of something. "Guys, if all that was in this box was a letter, then why did Mr. Holt and all those other men want to figure this all out? And why did Mr. Holt deliver the clue to our house if he wanted it and the rest of the clues? Why didn't he just keep it himself?" Mandie said.
Celia scrunched up her green eyes, "I have no idea."
"Remember the court trial," Joe said. "I'm sure this will all get sorted out then."
Mandie nodded her head.
"Why don't we look at what's under that false bottom like the letter said," Johnathan suggested.
"Oh yes!" Mandie exclaimed. She carefully slipped the letter back in its envelope and set it down on the bed beside her.
Mandie took in a deep breath and reached inside the box.
"I can't figure out how to get this false bottom off," she complained.
Joe reached his hands inside and felt around, "Hey. There's a catch!" He exclaimed, closing the lid.
"Why'd you do that?" Mandie complained, openeing the lid again.
Joe frowned, "When you close the lid the false bottom opens. Now, all we have to do is stick something in the box that will hold it open when we close and open the lid."
Mandie's big blue eyes widened, "Joe you're a genius!"
Joe ran his fingers through his hair. He still could not take praise - especially from Mandie - without getting embarassed instantly.
Celia grabbed a pencil off the vanity and handed it to Mandie, "How about this?"
Mandie smiled, "Perfect!" She took the pencil from Celia and placed it in the box. She slowly closed the lid, waited a few moments, then opened it again.
"It didn't work," Mandie frowned, picking up the pencil and looking at it.
"Maybe you should place the pencil closer to the side, instead of right in the middle," Johnathan stated, grinning.
Mandie raised her eyebrows and placed the pencil back in the box. This time she made sure to set it to the side of the box, instead of right in the middle like she had done before. Mandie closed the lid and then opened it again.
Mandie smiled, "It worked!" She exclaimed. The pencil was lodged in between the false bottom and the side of the box.
Mandie pulled the pencil out while simultaniously sticking her figers in its place, so as to not allow the false bottom to close again. Mandie pried the false bottom off and her three friends bent over and gazed inside.
Hidden by the false bottom was a series of old photographs and another small metal box. Mandie pulled out the photographs.
They were of Mandie's father and mother. And there was a picture of Mandie's uncle John, and pictures of her when she was a baby.
Mandie discarded the picture of her and, with tears in her eyes, gazed upon the pictures of her mother and father.
Joe picked up the picture of Mandie when she was a baby and smiled upon it with a longing look in his deep brown eyes.
"Beautiful," he whispered as he gazed upon the delicate features enhanced by the newest model camera which took the photo.
Mandie turned and her eyes found Joe. She saw what he was gazing so intently at. She blushed softly and turned back to the photos she had been looking at beforehand.
After a few minutes Mandie placed all the photos back inside the box and picked up the small box. She slowly opened it and
her eyes grew wide. Inside was an array of diamonds and rubies. All sorts of precious gems and jewels. She gasped.
"Oh my," She whispered, picking up one of the diamonds and looking closely at it. It was huge!
Celia fanned herself and Johnathan grinned, "Remember who your friends are, Mandie," he reminded her jokingly. Joe smirked.
"How... how did my father get these?" Mandie was awestruck. Joe shrugged. Celia still looked dazed, for she had never seen so many gems. None of the four of them had.
"Now I get why those men wanted to find this. They must of known about all these," Mandie concluded. "but how?"
"Another mystery," Joe said, nodding his head.
"Oh yes, many mysteries still have to be solved. Finding this is just one of them. Now I'm all fired up! I'll figure this out," Mandie exclaimed, laughing.
Her friends laughed with her, for they knew that somehow they were dragged into all this too. And they were glad of it..

So, what do you all think? I hope you all liked it!

See you all hopefully tomorrow!

.oOo.

Note: Here is something that I think Joe would say if they lived in the here and now:

"Baby I'm yours and I'll be yours until the stars fall from the sky,

until the rivers all run dry.

In other worlds,

until I die..."