A/N: Short chapter, yes, but the next one is larger. More to come with reviews - and thanks to the two that have already done so. :)
"It could be worse, you know, " Kim offered amusedly, in an attempt to cheer up the bored, disinterested visages that seemed to surround her on all sides as the group of students was led on a tour of the National Archives. "We could be forced to take a test on what we're learning here. At least it's all extracurricular."
"I wouldn't be so sure of that, were I you, Miss Brewer, " her teacher's voice said, from somewhere slightly behind her. "Those of you who are in my class will have to make presentations on the historical places and facts that we learn about during our stay here in Washington D.C."
"Not another six-hundred point project, " someone muttered to their left, eliciting a grin from Kimberly.
"And on your right, " the tour guide droned, effectively interrupting the disgruntled conversation, "is the hall housing our country's most valuable and revered documents. Within, you will find the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the letters of Silence Dogood, recently donated by an heiress ..."
Kim's mind gradually tuned out the rest of the guide's voice; he sounded rather nasal and quite boring, after all. Instead, she pondered over the script revealed from the pipe of the Charlotte. The words of Silence will provide the key to the map, from words of iron, written on the back ... Words of iron. That was undoubtedly some sort of statue, perhaps engraved with more runic symbols?
"Earth to Kim!"
Startled, the girl blinked, surprised to discover that the rest of the group had proceeded slightly ahead, while Natalie and Jessica had remained behind.
"Surely you weren't that bored?" Nat prompted laughingly. "I mean, the rest of us aren't interested in this stuff, but you're in Mr. B's class - you're supposed to pay attention, aren't you? Didn't he just say that there'd a test on all of this or something?"
"A project, a presentation, " Kimberly corrected wearily. "Yes, I know." Words of iron ...
Jessica gave her friend a concerned look as her eyes slid slightly out-of-focus, shoving an errant strand of brown hair back behind her ear. "Kim? You've been kind of distant the past few days - on the plane ride, through the tours of the museums, at night in the hotel room, and now today ... is everything alright?"
"What?" Kim murmured distractedly, forcing herself to return to the present. "Oh, um, yeah. Everything's fine. Really."
"Well, if everything's fine, then let's go raid the vending machine, " Natalie suggested with a gleeful grin. "Mr. B would never miss us, right, Kim? We could just sneak over toward the gift shop and then meet the rest of the group there, couldn't we?"
"I guess, " Kim replied with a small shrug, reaching into her pocket idly. "But I don't have any money on me. I left most of it back at the hotel for later. You did say we were going to order pizza tonight -- oops!" As she pulled out the single dollar bill that was still in the pocket of her coat, a small piece of parchment and a larger piece of paper fluttered to the floor. "Oh crap, " she muttered, bending down instantly to retrieve them. Another hand snatched both out of the way, however, before she could get to them.
"Hey, Kim, what's this?" Nat asked interestedly, staring at the scrap of parchment. "Why do you have the name 'Charlotte' written on here? And what's this?"
"Nat, give them back, " Kim demanded in return, standing and brushing her coat off indignantly. "Please."
But it was too late. Natalie had already opened the twice-folded paper containing the words from the ivory pipe, and read them with a furrowed brow. "That's a pretty lousy poem, Kim. Please tell me you didn't write this."
"I didn't, " the girl answered agitatedly. "As a matter of fact, I'll have you know that they came from my -- "
"Oh great, so now she has a boyfriend, too! Yay, I think I'm going to be sick!" Nat declared, even as she made retching noises dramatically.
"Nat. Stop it, before you embarrass us all, " Kim hissed, stalking toward the entrance of the chamber housing the nation's documents.
"That was the point, " Natalie grinned, even as she and Jess followed. "Why're we going in here? The group went in the other direction."
"Maybe to get out of the main hallway so people would stop staring at us?" Kim shot back.
Meanwhile, Jessica had peeked over Nat's shoulder and read the cryptic verse with a placid gaze. "Kim, the poem isn't really all that bad. You write well, you know. You don't have to be shy about it."
"I did not write that, " Kimberly repeated for what already felt like the upteenth time. "It came off of this really old pipe that was discovered in the ruins of the Charlotte. That's why the parchment was in my pocket with the name. It's a really, really old ship."
"But what does it mean?" Natalie persisted.
"That's just it, " Kim admitted. "I don't know. I'm trying to find out which structure the 'words of iron' could possibly refer to. I know that it has something to with Washington D.C., for the treasure of the nation has to be hidden here."
"Treasure?" Nat and Jess simultaneously echoed. "What treasure?"
"The greatest treasure the world has ever seen, " Kim responded at last in a hushed tone. "I doubt I'm the only one who's looking for it - the first clue came from an heiress's property, who for some reason, willed it to me. Maybe she was a distant family member that I don't know about. I just have to find out which statue the 'words of iron' is pointing to. That'll be the next clue for the treasure hunt. The only problem is that there are too many nicely carved statues in this city to just wander up to each of them searching for inscribed words that look like ancient symbols. We have to be certain of which one it is."
"Maybe it's not literal, " Jess murmured. "What if it's purposefully being figurative? What if it just means, really strong words?"
"Oh, that's just great, " Nat interjected. "That's about as cryptic as the rest of the darn thing."
"Strong words, " Kimberly whispered, dark eyes drawn to the immense room before her. "Strong words. Jessica, I think you're on to something! That makes more sense. The only question now is ... which document is the next clue on? There are too many of them in this room with 'strong words'."
Natalie snorted in a painfully obvious manner. "Um, Kim? Hellooo? What's the strongest document in our nation's history? You, of all people, should know that! You're the historical-Latin-knowledgeable person here among us."
Frustrated, Kim's eyes roved from document case to document case, suddenly coming to a stop upon the largest, most prominent one in the center. "Of course, " she breathed. "Why didn't I think of it before?" Slowly, she approached the glass case, staring with reverence down at the most important document in our nation's history, the one that created our very nation and split America from England, forever.
The Declaration of Independence.