Disclaimer: I disclaim anything from the movie and also this historical character that I am using.

A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm so glad that I got a lot done on my end so that I can update faster. This is very convenient. I also have some really exciting news that I'll talk about more at the end, but I'm not even really getting my hopes up. It's just gonna' rule!!!!! Thank you so much to AliuIce0814, Miss Hermione Jane Granger, Miss Fenway, daisyduke80, Majestik Moose, ink0and0paper, unorthodox yo-yo, Save the Elmo, Jedi'Pirate Jaeh, Halo, and Hulabaloo for all of your great reviews! I love every one of them. So, here we go to the next chapter!

Note: I'm taking some liberty with a historical character in this chapter, so bear with me. I know the bank I mention probably wasn't in St. Joseph, Missouri, but it does have some significance. Besides, isn't "National Treasure" mixing fact and fiction anyway? Enjoy!

Chapter 17

"And the last symbol is the letter H," Daniel concluded, shutting the book and putting it back in the plastic bag.

Ben looked down at the paper resting on his knee, which read:

THOMAS

DRAWOH

After a minute of staring at it and remembering what Riley had told him about reading Hieroglyphics, he flipped the second line so that the paper now read:

THOMAS

HOWARD

"I know that name," Ben muttered thoughtfully, looking at the name intently. "Thomas Howard. I've heard it before…"

"Of course you have, Ben," Daniel told him. "You've already proven in the past that you know a lot about American history. But here's one thing that you're not considering. When is a name not a name?"

Ben looked up from the paper and watched the people bustling around thoughtfully, repeating the question in his mind. When is a name not a name? When a name has to be protected or hidden, his mind told him, when it is an…

"It's an alias," Ben whispered, finally understanding.

Daniel nodded and smiled encouragingly, silently telling Ben that he was on the right track. Ben smiled and laughed a little himself, looking down at the paper when he realized who the alias belonged to. "Genius…"

"They're back," Daniel suddenly said, nodding toward the sidewalk.

Ben looked up and saw that Riley and Chelsea were indeed approaching them, and while the girl was happily eating her ice cream, the treasure hunter saw with fear that his best friend's face was pale and appeared to be shaken up about something. "Riley, what's wrong?" Ben asked anxiously, getting to his feet and taking the younger man sturdily by the arms. "Are you all right?"

Riley looked back at him, his eyes filled with terror. "Ben, I saw Ian. Dustin was with him," he muttered so quietly that the older man could barely hear him. "And you know that black SUV that we keep seeing? Ian was driving it."

"What?!" Ben quickly looked around them, but he saw no sign of the infamous vehicle. Well, now he knew why they kept seeing it everywhere… But they were safe as long as Ian and Dustin weren't around, at least for now.

Daniel then came up to them, looking at Riley with concern before he turned to the older of the two friends. "You dropped this, Ben," he said, handing him the Hieroglyphics paper. "I'm just glad this ended up in the right hands…"

Riley looked at the paper with excitement, momentarily forgetting about his fear from seeing Ian. "Is that the clue?" he asked quickly. "Did you decode it?"

"Yes we did," Ben answered him, handing his best friend the paper. "Here it is."

"Thomas Howard?" Riley read aloud, giving Ben a blank stare as he handed the paper back. "I've never heard that name before."

Before Ben could tell him what it really meant, he saw a blond-haired figure he recognized to be Nick standing in the crowd. He quickly scribbled down something, smirked at Ben, and then disappeared into the mass of people. A confused expression appeared on Riley's face, and he turned to look over his shoulder to see what the treasure hunter was looking at, but Nick was already gone. He may have gotten the Thomas Howard clue, but he wouldn't be able to figure out the meaning unless he knew it was an alias. Once he was sure that Nick was out of earshot, Ben smiled when Riley turned back to look at him.

"So, Riley. How much do you know about Jesse James?"

xxxxxxxxxx

Abigail set three bowls of seasoned chicken and cheddar soup on the table before setting down a bowl of regular chicken noodle for Chelsea and a small plate of cheese and crackers for Riley. Drinks followed along with spoons, and then she sat down next to her husband as they faced Daniel. He had come to their home with his granddaughter for lunch to tell them the tale of the treasure. As bored as she had been at the museum, Chelsea was playing a game on Riley's laptop that he had set up for her while she ate.

"So, this treasure really belonged to Jesse James?" Riley asked, reaching over and turning the volume all the way down on the laptop when it made an annoying beeping noise.

Daniel nodded as he took a spoonful of soup. "That it did. Oh, this is delicious, Abigail," he said, making her smile with embarrassment. "But I should probably start from the beginning. The tale begins with a seven-year-old girl named Clara who lived in the North who was visiting her grandfather who was a sheriff in St. Joseph, Missouri in the year 1882…"

Clara stretched as she walked down the sandy street, smiling in the heat from the sun. The train ride had been a long one, and she was just relieved to be able to get the chance to stretch her legs. As soon as she had arrived at the train station, a guard had given her a message from her grandfather asking if she could stop at the bank to pick up some money for them to be able to go out to eat since it was right on the way to the house. Clara smiled to herself. Spending the month with her grandfather was going to be so much fun.

Then, the girl slowed to a stop when she saw the faded sign that read Platte City Bank. Allowing a horse and rider to go past her, Clara quickly crossed and entered the building, anxious to get the money and go straight to her grandfather's house.

The line was incredibly long, and Clara began to grow impatient. The bank was even hotter than it was outside, where there was at least a bit of a breeze. What was taking this line so long?

Suddenly, the doors crashed open behind her, and Clara whirled around while everyone around her did the same. She was horrified to see that three men with revolvers had entered, and finally, a fourth one came in behind them. Her entire body froze over with terror when she recognized this man. It was the infamous Jesse James, a man that she had only heard about in stories from her grandfather and had hoped to never see. She suddenly feared for her very life.

"All righ'. Everyone jus' hand over your money an' valuables, an' no one gets hurt," Jesse demanded coolly, seeing that every set of eyes were glued to him.

Some men who were either very brave or very stupid walked forward as if in a way of challenge, and that's when bullets began to fly.

Clara screamed and covered her head, crouching down on the floor as people were killed from the bullets. Tears streaming from her eyes when more shots rang out around her as the deadly gang of men spread throughout the crowd and as screams echoed in her ears, the seven-year-old anxiously crawled toward the door in hopes of escape. But then, she suddenly ran into a pair of sturdy legs, and she looked up and gasped when she found herself looking into the face of Jesse James himself.

The eyes of a bandit, the eyes of a murderer, looked down to the floor. But when those cold eyes saw her fearful form, they strangely softened. He looked back up when he heard another gunshot, but then he put his revolver on his belt and quickly bent down. Clara screamed when he picked her up into his arms, shielding her from possible stray bullets as he carried her out of the bank. People gasped in fear and moved out of the way when they saw Jesse James come running toward them with a young girl, but they didn't dare approach him as he cut down a side alley. Clara continued to sob and tremble in his arms, wondering what he was planning on doing with her.

After running down many more alleys, Jesse finally slowed to a stop. "Where do ya' live, girl?" he asked.

Clara looked up at him with suspicious, damp eyes. "Why do you want to know?" she muttered past her tears.

"I have to get ya' home, don' I?" Jesse told her. "Ya' need to get to be as far away from tha' bank as ya' can."

"Why are you so worried about me?" Clara said as her tears slowly stopped falling. She was beginning to see that there was more to this man than his cruel exterior.

Jesse looked back down on her. "I… I have my own daughter tha's 'round your age," he hesitantly replied. "It kinda' impairs your judgment a bit. But don' go 'round tellin' everyone tha', ya' hear?"

Clara nodded, satisfied with that answer as she snuggled up against him. She could hear his heart, and she knew that there was at least some compassion being pulsed through him with every beat, and he wasn't as heartless as everyone said he was. She was now confident that he wouldn't harm her, and she was thankful to him for saving her life. Jesse looked down at her with some surprise, but then he smiled slightly when he heard the young girl whisper, "Thank you."

About a week after being saved by Jesse James and not telling anyone about what had happened, Clara walked down the street as she headed toward the drug store to pick up some medication for her grandfather. She sighed, exhausted. She hadn't gotten that great of a night's sleep since her dreams had been plagued by nightmares. Not really paying attention to where she was going, she took a right instead of a left and found herself standing in front of a graveyard. Intrigued for some reason unknown to her, Clara entered it.

The young girl slowly moved through the rows of tombstones, reading the names as she passed them. She then stopped when she saw someone who had the same last name as she did, and she knelt down in front of it curiously as she wondered who it was.

"Someone related to ya'?"

Clara gasped and looked to her left, surprised by the sudden but familiar voice. A smile appeared on her young face when she saw that it was Jesse James. She got to her feet and ran up to him, hugging him tightly. "Guess what? It's my birthday today!"

"Is it?" Jesse asked. "Well, tha's perfect then. Come, follow me." He took the new eight-year-old's hand and led her farther into the graveyard away from eyes that could possibly see them. They finally stopped under the shade of a large tree, and he sat down at the base. Clara knelt down beside him, watching curiously as he pulled a rolled up piece of parchment out of his back pocket. Jesse carefully unrolled it, revealing the picture that had been carefully drawn on it.

"Do ya' know what this is?" the bandit asked.

"A map," Clara answered, looking up into his face. "Where does it lead?"

Jesse's eyes shone at her question. "A treasure," he told her quietly.

Clara's face brightened up with excitement. "A treasure?" she whispered.

"Yep. This is the map tha' leads to the location of everythin' that I have ever taken," Jesse explained. "I can' give this to my gang since any one of 'em could easily get caught an' the secret will be ruined. They know where it is anyway. But this shows the location, an' I need you to protect my secret for me. Can ya' do tha'?"

"Yeah," Clara promised, taking the map from him and looking it over. It looked complicated and there were words and numbers that she didn't recognize, but she knew that she could probably figure it out upon further study. It appeared to be a house, but where this house was, she wasn't sure…

"Ya'll also need this," Jesse said, reaching into his pocket again and pulling out a beautiful jade cross pendant with silver lining its edges and put it around her neck. Clara looked down on it and held it in her palm, entranced by its beauty.

"What is this for?" she asked in an awed whisper, looking back up at him for the answer.

Jesse smiled back at her. "Once ya' find the door to the treasure, ya'll understand," he answered simply.

Clara looked at him with surprise again, and then she put her arms around his neck in another hug. Jesse put his arms around her as well as he faintly muttered, "Happy Birthday."

Finally, it was the day that Clara had to return to her home in the North. She had studied the map that Jesse James had given her ever since she had received it, but she still wasn't able to figure it out. So, as she made sure that she had everything with her that she needed and after she said good-bye to her grandfather, Clara headed out for the train station. But instead of going straight there, she took a detour toward Jesse's house.

Clara finally saw it, knowing its location from seeing it on his file on her grandfather's desk, a small house that was a little ways set apart from the rest of the houses. She smiled as she hurried toward it, planning on asking him more about the map and to tell him good-bye. But then, she froze when she saw two people standing in front of the window. Once she recognized as Sheriff Robert Ford and the other a sheriff that she did not know by name. Curious as to what they were doing at his window, she inched closer, seeing that her friend had just stood on a chair to straighten a picture that was hanging crookedly on the wall. Suddenly, Ford raised a rifle that he had been keeping hidden. Clara opened her mouth to scream something that would make him stop, but she was too afraid and was unable to say anything.

Then, there was a loud gunshot and the sound of shattering glass.

Clara covered her mouth to stifle her gasp of terror as tears fell from her eyes, watching as the man who was known as a bandit by all but as a kind man by the people close to him fall limply from the chair, the picture still hanging crookedly on the wall. As she watched the two sheriffs enter the house, Clara sunk to her knees to the sandy ground as one word escaped from her mouth.

"Why…"

"And Clara was never able to decode the map since she never got the chance to ask her questions to Jesse James," Daniel concluded.

When the tale was finished, everyone was staring at Daniel in awe, except for Chelsea, who was too entranced in the computer game to notice. "Wow," Abigail muttered, shaking her head. "I knew the story of Jesse James, but I never knew…"

"No one was supposed to know that he entrusted his secret to an eight-year-old girl," Daniel said quietly. "All except for Clara's bloodline."

"Let me guess. That's what I am, right?" Riley asked.

Daniel nodded in answer.

"So, has anyone found the treasure of Jesse James yet?" Ben wondered.

"No, not even Clara," Daniel replied. "As I said, she was never able to read the map. She took it and the pendant back North with her, and she never got the chance to return to the South to search. Her children, grandchildren, and descendants after have tried but failed to find it. The tradition of passing the map and pendant down to the oldest child has continued for generations. No one has found it yet, and it appears that the secret of Jesse James may remain a secret."

"Yes, but everyone who has tried to find the treasure didn't have Benjamin Gates to help them," Abigail teased, earning a smile from her husband.

Riley suddenly felt the pendant that was resting against his chest, and he pulled it out of his shirt and held it out in front of him. "Is this what he gave to Clara?"

Daniel's eyes flickered when he saw the jade cross. "Yes, that is, Riley," he told him. "Keep it close to you, and no matter what, do not let Dustin know you have it."

Abigail looked at her husband. "So this treasure would probably be hidden someplace that was significant to Jesse James," she thought aloud, bouncing the idea off of Ben.

"Yeah, but where is that place?" Riley asked from Ben's other side.

"You'll have to do some research," Daniel said with a shrug. "I'm sure the Library of Congress must have something."

Ben glanced at him, knowing that he knew more than he was letting on, but before he could reply, everyone's attention was switched to Chelsea when she suddenly exclaimed, "I win!"

A/N: So, that's it. The treasure is explained, and now they just have to go look for it. Yay! Fun! Okay, anyway, here's that exciting news that I was talking about at the beginning. You all know Johnny Depp, I'm sure. Well, his new movie is going to be filmed 2 hours away from where I live, and he's going to be in the city that I live in to hold auditions for girls who are interested. Just for fun (and so we can see Johnny Depp), my friends and I are probably going to swing by and maybe try out if we can. But hey. It's Johnny Depp! And we're going to see him in person! That's going to be this Friday, so we're very excited. And then this weekend, I'm also going to Minneapolis, so this weekend is going to ROCK! Anyway… Thanks for reading! Your reviews are much appreciated. Thank you!