Thank you for all the loverly reviews! ShadowOnTheMoon—Sarah's going to get her time to shine sooner or later! And Meredith, we'll see more Ben! A little in this chapter, and probably some more later.

BTW, I don't own any of this stuff except for Sarah and the plot itself. But you already figured that out. Anyway, onto the next chapter.

The restaurant they went to for lunch nice enough, but Sarah felt detached from all the breezy elegance in her cutoffs and T-shirt while scholars and politicians and celebrities swirled around her. This was Abigail's new life, she found. She did not belong anywhere in this boundless chapter of her older sister's journey.

Abigail tried to get her to talk—about school, about Mom and Dad, about everyone back home. "Do they remember me?" she wanted to know. "Do they ask about me?" And Sarah could have killed her. No one would ever forget Abigail Chase; with or without the treasure, she was indelible.

Didn't Abby see that? For all her degrees, training, adventures couldn't she see what was under her very own nose? Did she have to rub her perfection in Sarah's face?

Ben, too, tried to make conversation. Sarah felt bad for him: he seemed like a nice enough guy, but he didn't have a clue. She did not want to talk to him or anyone, and she was making it very obvious.

Riley was the only amusing one. Sarah though she could actually get used to him—he seemed out of place in this sophisticated world, just like she. And he was funny. And cute. She shot him a flirty smile.

"Sarah? Are you feeling all right?" Abigail forced herself into Sarah's line of vision.

Sarah had to grip on the arms of her chair in order to stop herself from strangling Miss Treasure Heroine. "Yes, Abigail," she muttered. "I am perfectly fine."

Abigail smiled. "Lovely. Check, please!" A waiter went scurrying. "Now, Sarah. Ben and I would feel very much obliged if you would accompany us to the museum here. They recently acquired several pieces of the treasure—some absolutely exquisite Middle and Late Egyptian pieces."

Riley grinned. "My goatee guy."

Abby ignored this. "So, dear, we'll be leaving as soon as we get the check. Okey dokey?"

This was becoming too much. Abigail was morphing into a suffocating mother figure before Sarah's very eyes. "Dear"? Sarah wished she could roll her eyes. As it was, she went a different route in alerting Abigail to her dissatisfaction.

"Oh, shut up!" Sarah stood up so quickly she knocked her plate to the floor. Spiced tofu and rice flew up in a gust of lettuce and the white porcelain shattered into hundreds of pieces. Thousands of well-known eyes turned her way. The flash of a camera enveloped her.

And Abigail looked shocked. A little angry, but mostly shocked. Up until this moment, everything in her life had been a divinely constructed story woven by the gilded quill of providence. And now her little sister was ruining it.

"I'm tired of you treating me like some stupid baby, I'm tired of you using the damn treasure as an excuse to be even more snotty and perfect, and I'm tired of you making me follow in your shadow! My life sucks more than you could ever possibly imagine! It's always been about you and now I'm just an extension of your perfect life for a whole summer!"

Abigail's deep brown eyes just stared at her. Sarah could tell she was torn between sadness and anger and mortification.

Ben was looking from Abigail to Sarah and back. Finally he sighed and pulled his car keys out of his pocket.

"Riley, could you please take Sarah home? And, um, we'll be along later."

Riley—who had been woken out of his stupor by Sarah's yelling—nodded reluctantly. He stood up as Sarah slipped her coat on and turned to Ben.

"Forget it. He's not even awake. I'm driving."

Ben cringed. "Do you, um, even have your license?"

Sarah shrugged. "I've got my permit. Not sure if it's valid in this—would you call it a state?—but whatever I do with the car is hardly more dangerous than what you two have done."

"Good point," chirped Riley.

Abigail drew herself to her feet. "Sarah Chase, you cannot just run off like this. Not after everything you've done here."

"No, but it's perfectly okay for you to help steal a national monument, isn't it?"

"Sarah—" Abigail stopped. And sighed. "Fine. We'll meet you back home."

Sarah turned on her heel and stalked out of the restaurant as fast as she could. Abigail crept up behind Riley.

"Go with her, Riley. Make sure she's okay."

He nodded. "I'll try." He departed with a skeptical backwards glance at Ben.

The remaining Chase sister sank down beside her husband. "I can't…I didn't realize…" She sniffed. "I feel terrible. She's never been herself…she's never known a life without me."

Ben gently took Abigail's hand. "She will shine, eventually."

A tear ran down the normally calm Abigail's cheek. "She hates me."

Ben searched for words. "Um…well, she'll warm up to you. Sooner or later."

Another sniff. "Fifteen years, and she still hasn't. She's never thought of me as her sister. I'm just a competitor."

Ben gave her a quick kiss and tasted her salty tear. "Give her time."

And they sat there, silent, as Sarah commenced her drive home.

She never made it.