Off to Buckingham Palace! Bets dropped me off in the back where the kitchen was. I took a roll and ate a little of it along the way. One of the bathrooms was available and I changed into a maid, my day clothes passed on to a fellow Society member in the Palace. One of the biggest rules we have is to never go somewhere without your pin. The pin gets you resources and communication; never let those go to waste. I wired myself with the earpiece and a microphone in a British flag pin so I could listen to Ben, Riley, and Betsy as we got into places.

"Hey Esther. Blondie at Ben's 6 o'clock."

"Not really telling me much."

I took a vacuum and headed up the elevator.

"Yeah, but you know the blonde."

"Ooohhh." I already knew by then the whole sting was probably sunk.

"I'm going to video tape the whole thing," Betsy giggled.

Cool. Then I can watch the hysterical conversation between the couple, hopefully after we get what we came for.

"Abigail," Ben stated, shocked.

"Abigail? What's she doing here?" Riley commented.

"What're you doing?"

Wow. Very one-minded like.

"Your dad called me. Said your next clue was here."

"She's really there?"

"Ben..."

"Drop her. Lose her," Riley pushed

"I want to help."

This is about to get good.

"That's very nice, but it's a bad time right now."

There was a slight pause after Ben informed Abigail.

"A bad time, right now?"

"It's a bad time."

"OK, I just flew all the way to London to offer my help..."

"Remember the plan," Riley reminded.

"You don't need it?"

"You're the one making a scene."

"I... I'm not making a scene right now."

"No, we want to make a scene."

Yep. And the fun starts… now.

"Well then, fine! If that's what you want, let's have it out now!"

"Ah, so subtle."

I sighed with my mouth closed as I listened in. I texted to Betsy quickly: you better have this on video.

Betsy: oh yeah. I'll burn a DVD copy for you when we get back home.

"Let me guess? It's the wrong time. It's the wrong place. I'm wrong again! Wrong about us, wrong about Thomas Gates, wrong that you'd like the Queen Anne chair!"

"You're wrong to assume I'd like the chair."

"You see? Everybody, listen to this. This is more interesting than that. She thinks that even when I'm right, I'm wrong! Isn't that right? Abigail, just because I answer a question quickly doesn't make it wrong."

At that point, I wasn't sure if I really wanted to hear the rest of the act because it didn't sound like an act anymore.

"Not if the answer's something we need to figure out as a couple. That's what couples do!"

Betsy: here come the Bobbies.

"Sir. You and your missis, take it outside."

"Now look what you've done. You've brought the little Bobbies down on us! You take the missis outside. I'm staying right here."

"Ben!"

"Whee!"

Betsy: down the banister.

"Good afternoon, sir."

"Hello."

Did he just use a cockney accent?

"Been drinking, have we?"

Ah. That would explain the little bottle he had this morning.

"Just a nip. Popped down to the pub for a pint! Bit of all right! Going to arrest a man for that? Going to detain a blighter for enjoying his whiskey?"

"Sir, that's enough."

"Bangers and mash.

"What?"

"Bubbles and squeak. Smoked eel pie."

"Sir!"

"Haggis!"

"That's it! Dismount the banister!"

"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts! Here they are, standing in a row! Small ones, big ones, some as big as your head!"

"That was brilliant."

"Really, Riley? I hadn't noticed," I commented to him sarcastically.

"They're headed to security."

"Thank you, Betsy. Make sure everything else is okay."

"You got it."

I shook my head and continued working on the chores your average maid was assigned, so long as I stayed on the floor of the Queen's Office. Ben and Abigail discussed about where they had figured out it was a fake argument and how Ben was often lucky.

"You guys are so great together," Riley intervened.

"Tell me about," I chuckled.

Ben explained to Abigail his theory about there being a clue in the Resolute Desk in the Queen's Office. And then he said that Abigail was staying behind.

Stubborn. Just let her come along.

He did, after insisting that she get in the service elevator. I had to assume that a maid or someone was coming and Ben had no choice but to bring Abigail. I moved closer to the Queen's Office so that I could keep a closer eye on the couple. Let me tell you: it's not that easy. The good news was that I could hear everything on the earpiece.

"That's it."

"The Resolute Desk."

"We're looking for...writing, patterns in the carvings. Could be anything. Hey, look at this. 'Malcolm Gilvary, 1880.'"

"Hold on one second." Riley did a quick search. "Here we go. Malcolm Gilvary. Well, he didn't make furniture. He made Chinese puzzle boxes."

Simple Chinese puzzle boxes tended to have numbers or letters and acted like a lock combination. Depending upon the secret or item being kept, the combination was harder with 4 or more digits/ letters. The really complex ones had buttons and sliders all over the place. It was a mess for me to open one from the 9th century. It's a long story that I don't intend to tell.

"I think these drawers work like tumblers in a safe."

"OK, four drawers... Four-digit combination? What about a year?

"Uh, let me see. Queen Victoria, born 1819."

"So you go one... Eight. One. Nine."

"Any luck?"

Nope.

"OK... 1876 was on the inscription on the statue in Paris. Let's try that."

"One."

"Eight. Seven. Six."

I glanced at the pair. They stood up and went to the side of the desk.

"Uh oh. New rules. These markings, like Incan or Aztec."

Or Olmec?

"I have never seen any symbols like this. I mean, this looks centuries older than Civil War. What do you think it means?"

"I doubt it has anything to do with the plot to assassinate Lincoln."

AAAAAALLLLLLLEEEEEEEXXXXXXXXX!

"Uh oh. Mayday. Mayday. Ben, get out of there."

I made my way downstairs as fast as I could.

"Riley, now might be a good time for a little diversion," I muttered.

"OK, let's make some noise."

Not that kind, Riley!

I found the bag Betsy told me about and changed into street clothes. The fire alarm system went off in Buckingham Palace. I was not entirely happy.

"Uh oh. God save the queen," Riley mocked with a British accent.

I laughed a little. It was amusing, but I had to get out quickly. I grabbed the bag, leaving behind the maid costume, and moved to where the huge crowd of people were, searching for Ben. I grouped up with him and Abigail and Riley, glad to have the group back together again. We walked over to the car. A shiver went up my spine.

"Thanks for waiting for me. Can I see the thing?"

Ben gave Riley the map.

"Went to Buckingham Palace, all I got was this wood?"

"Look at the symbols. Never seen anything like this. It's an incredible discovery."

I tapped Ben's shoulder and we looked behind. He was here in England. I pressed the emergency button on my pager to alert Betsy.

"Wilkinson."

We all broke into a run.

"He's the one after the treasure!"

"I'll drive."

I got into the back seat behind Ben. There was only one problem with Riley's statement.

"We're in England."

He started up the car. In the rear-view monitor of the car, a man pulled out a gun. I immediately opened my bag and readied my tranquilizer. I don't shoot a real gun unless it's a fight to the death.

"It's a gun! Get down!"

Shots fired and glass shards fell on my head. I wasn't injured, unless you count pride.

"We're trapped!"

Really, Riley? I hadn't noticed!

"Hang on! Keep your heads down."

I see no need why I should!

Besides, my gun was loaded and set. I pointed at the man and tried shooting, but my aim was poor. I made a mental note to practice my aim. Ben drove in reverse for a while and he almost hit a dog. It just decided to lick the camera on the back of the car.

"Sorry."

We drove off with two cars tailing us.

"Ben, they're getting closer."

"What is their problem?"

Don't know and don't care.

"Go left! Go left!"

"Hold on."

I looked in my bag once more to find some bungee cords and hooks.

Perfect.

I climbed out the back window and attached the hooks to the car, thus giving me a grip to the top of the moving vehicle. Not the first time, I can tell you that.

"Esther are you crazy!?"

"A little. But then again, most of my ideas wouldn't work if I wasn't crazy."

I pointed my gun at the cars and began shooting. The only problem was that the darts weren't sharp enough to pierce the glass. The upside was that I distracted some of the driving.

"Abigail! Under the seat! Hand me the belt!"

She did as I asked and I attached the belt, holding two swords, to my waist. The Brits thought I was absolutely crazy. Well, wouldn't you think it was crazy for a 17 year-old to be on top of a moving vehicle going at least 30 miles per hour?

The black SUV Wilkinson was driving sided up against Ben's. I almost fell off, ALMOST! I'm too good to die or lose such a pathetic challenge. The guys in the SUV were astonished by the sight me. I smirked and held my gun in my hand.

"Turn, turn!"

Oh great! A double decker! Just what I need!

"Watch out!"

We crashed into it sideways. I lost my focus and missed the target.

"Everybody OK?"

"Other than missing my target, I'm good!" I replied sarcastically.

We continued en route away from Wilkinson.

"He has a first name, Essie."

Oh golly gee. I didn't quite catch it.

"I'll tell you later since you're a little busy at the moment."

Thank you, Alex. I am a little busy trying to STAY ALIVE!

We were slowing down with an alcohol delivery truck in front of us. I put away my gun and turned to see what Wilkinson was about to do. The man next to him seemed to be getting a gun ready.

"Come on, come on."

"Ben, I'd hurry if I were you!"

That's when the guy pulled out his gun. I drew my sword from my belt and got ready to deflect.

"Look out!"

He shot at the car and the truck. I deflected 2 of them, missing civilians and people altogether. One of the shots released the barrels of alcohol into the streets. I pushed one of them above me and a few to the side, trying to stay alive and not banged up. It wasn't helping that we were behind the truck that was losing merchandise. I felt no pity for the customers or the buyer. One of the barrels took off the head of a statue.

"Ben, do something!"

He finally did. He drove up the side of the truck and went reverse once in front of it, thus halting the vehicle. I forgot what it was like to have the adrenaline running. It was awesome.

"Go. Go, go, go, go!"

We got going. I still didn't come off the top of the car. My ears twitched at the sound of a high pitched ringing.

"What is that? Someone's phone."

"It's him."

"Have his number in your speed dial?"

Shut up, Riley.

"Mitch, this has got to end before someone gets hurt."

Too late for that. I have alcohol on my clothes and nearly got decapitated!

"Tell that to my father."

Is there something you want to add now, Alex!?

"Later, Essie! Focus on the situation at hand!"

The truck was in the enemy's hand. I wasn't going to like most of the ride to get away from the bulky vehicle. We went under a building bridge, which was very uncomfortable. Mitch, now that knew his name, wasn't going to stop until he got his hand on the plank leading to the treasure. Abigail's phone camera was broken and we didn't have anything else. I didn't even have a basic throwaway camera.

"Hang on. We're going to run a red light."

Oh, so NOW you tell me we're going to do something illegal!?

Good news? I was wearing a sweater with a hood. I covered my head and laid flat on top of the car as we ran a red light. The police would be surprised I'm sure by the sight of a person on top of a car. It wasn't long before we were on a bridge over the Thames. Mitch drove right next to us. I pulled out my sword, ready to defend. The man next to him held his gun, ready to shoot. Ben put out the plank for him to grab.

"Get it!"

The man put away the gun and reached his hand out. Ben threw the plank over me into the Thames. I thought he was crazy but realized why we ran a red light: they took pictures of the stupid people driving through the light. We continued to get away from Mitch and his gang until we arrived at the hotel. Betsy was sitting down in the room near the door.

"You're soaked." She sniffed me. "Ugh! You smell like rotting fish."

"I'll take that any day at this point. Any clean clothes?"

"Yeah. Tell me what happened."

"Found wooden plank in desk. Ancient Native American, by the way. Bad guys found out. Car chase. Alcohol spilled onto me after bullet went into delivery truck with barrels. Ran a red light. Threw the plank into the Thames. Here I am."

"And I missed out on all the fun. Did the costume work out for you?"

"What do you think? Clothes. Dry. Now."

Betsy giggled and handed me a pile of clean clothes for me to change into. I rinsed off the smell of alcohol and dressed into the dry fabrics. Betsy played with my hair, styling it in the end.

"Anything else, Esther?"

"No thanks. I'd just like to sleep now."

And that's what I did. But I entered a nightmare. I was put onto a battlefield with grays and blues going at each other. Something about the landscape seemed familiar. A wagon came by and loaded up with wounded blues. I hopped on as it hurried off to a camp. The sight of blood and smell of iron almost made me spit out my meal.

"We need all the help we can get."

I lent a hand to where I could: giving meals, carrying water, bringing in the injured, and so on. I was exhausted. So exhausted that I collapsed and woke up to reality. I panted and hyperventilated. I got a grip, gulped, and walked to the balcony. It was only 2 in the morning and the city looked as beautiful as ever.

How can something so terrible lead to something wonderful?

It seemed impossible, and yet here I was, standing in London in a world free of racial slavery. Sure, there was human trafficking, but it wasn't like the enslavement of African Americans. I wondered what the world would come to when I was gone. How different would it be? People changed over time. New generations came up with their ideas and changed history and shaped the world. How would I do that? How would I live? How… why do I really have this gift? It's a cruel gift. I see the horrors of the world that only a small percentage of the populous sees. I see the truth of the gilded earth. I see… everything that someone should never see.

I shook my head. I became too worldly in a few minutes. I packed my bags to be ready for our trip back to the United States. I took a quick shower, dressed and went out for a morning walk when no one would care. I saw criminals and apprehended them before the police arrived. They wouldn't be able to identify me as it was too dark for them to do so. When I got back, everyone was awake and didn't notice I was gone, or that I came back. I sat down for breakfast with the group and we went to the nearest airport with a flight back home.