Here's the next chapter, once again out in a somewhat timely fashion! Hooray! I hope you enjoy!

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I do not own anything. –pout-

-OoOoOoO-

Nicole

"Translation of the second half of the plank says we need to find a big cat."

We had finally gotten up onto Mt. Rushmore, and I was starting to get annoyed. Daniel had had a crushing grip on my arm, and had forced me to keep quiet by not-so-subtly reminding me that there was still a gun in his possession. So they dragged Emily and me along, up the mountain.

"Benjamin would've found it by now." Emily insisted.

"I don't think so." Mitch replied, his tone equal to hers. "It doesn't exist anymore. Cougar Peak was destroyed during the last phase of construction. We've got to get to the highest point, and this is the only way up."

Our captors pulled us around a corner, wrenching our arms.

"Ow!" I exclaimed through clenched teeth. "Would you mind loosening your grip a bit?"

He either didn't hear or chose to ignore me, but I had a feeling it was the latter, because he tightened on my arm instead. I scowled, looking at Emily, who seemed just as displeased with this as I was.

We continued for a few minutes more, and just as were about to head up another staircase, I heard a familiar voice.

"Assistant Chief Peter Sadusky, FBI."

We were suddenly surrounded by a swarm of agents, and all 5 of us threw our arms up into the air in shock. The three brothers were forced to the ground.

"Please, I'm not -" Daniel attempted to speak, but a female agent silenced him.

"Don't talk!"

He looked up at me, and I almost felt sorry for him, but I couldn't really bring myself to feel totally sorry. After all, he had kidnapped me, hadn't he?

"You are under arrest for the murder of Dr. Gregory Nichols and the illegal capture and detention of Dr. Emily Appleton."

'Murder?!' My mouth went dry. 'They killed Dr. Nichols."

"That is correct." Emily agreed.

"You ladies can put your hands down." Sadusky nodded to us, and my hands quickly fell to my side as I watched the agents haul Daniel and Seth away. I was barely paying enough attention to hear the voice behind me.

"Nicole, Mom."

"Ben!" I rushed to him, throwing my arms around him. "I've never been so happy to see you!"

"You're both OK." He gave me a small smile, and I released him, heat rushing to my cheeks.

"I knew you'd figure it out." She smiled, hugging him tightly as well. It was then that I noticed the rope tied around wrists and gasped.

"You turned yourself in?!"

"Smart move." Mitch commented. "No wonder the feds are here."

Emily peered over her son's back, and then released him, appearing furious. "What have you done this time?"

"Your son kidnapped the President of the United States." Sadusky said slowly. Emily looked from Sadusky to Ben, who grinned back at her.

"You know what, sir? I'm oddly proud that he pulled that off." Emily gave Ben a small smile.

Sadusky shrugged. "Understandably."

"So, Wilkinson…" Ben began. I winced slightly. "He has the final clue, doesn't he?"

"Yes, a letter to the Confederate general Pike..." Emily began in hushed tones.

"From the Queen of England!" Ben finished loudly.

"How'd you know that?" Mitch asked incredulously, and Sadusky repeated the question in a similar tone.

Ben turned to Sadusky. "Can we talk alone?" He leaned down, whispering so only those standing very close could hear. "I took the book." He then pulled back, looking at Sadusky through his small round lenses. Sadusky frowned deeply, dragging Ben to an isolated spot without another word.

Emily and I glanced at one another, though she seemed more confused than I was.

"Do you know what's going on?" She asked. I shrugged, looking at her innocently.

"Haven't a clue."

-OoOoOoO-

Kathleen

We waited. And waited. It seems we were doing a lot of that lately. Just waiting. This time we were on Mount Rushmore, stuck in a narrow spot between two rocks. I was leaning against one side and Riley stood directly across from me. We stood there, staring at each other, studying each other's faces. There was really no reason did this except for sheer boredom, and it gave us something to do besides sit and stare blankly into space.

So I made careful notes in my head, trying to distract myself from the impending danger that was only minutes away. There were the basics of his appearance, of course. Thick, dark brown hair, some-what pale skin, his big blue eyes. Right now his eyebrows were knotted in concentration as he stared at me intently, his pink mouth clamped tightly shut. He still had a boyishness about him that made him even more adorable. He seemed so innocent and light.

But he looked tired. There were small dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn't slept well. Though no one really had that night, to be perfectly honesty.

I wondered what he saw when he looked at me. I was no great beauty; my hair was about the same color as his, straight and long. I had blue-gray eyes and I was rather pale too. I just felt that I was too… plain.

I was jolted from my thoughts by Patrick and Abigail stepping between on the two of us on his way down the rocky ledge.

"Oh, thank goodness." Abigail breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the arriving threesome, and I dashed down, pressing past them, not hearing anything else.

"Nicole!" I went past Ben and Emily, throwing my arms around her neck. She looked even more tired than the rest of us. "You're OK."

She surprised me by hugging me back, which she hardly ever did. "Yeah, I'm fine." She gave me the tiniest of smiles. "You?"

"Fine." I answered breathlessly. "I was so worried about you! Are you hurt?"

"Oh, stop that!" She shook her head. "No, they didn't hurt me." She sighed deeply. "Why am I always the one getting kidnapped?!"

I gave her a smile. "Because you like to provoke the villains?"

"Speaking of which…" She nodded her head in the direction of the fourth addition to our party.

"Looks like you got your whole family here."

"Yeah, I do." Ben agreed. It felt strange to hear him saying that. 'He thinks of us as family.'

Riley looked down from the ledge, giving Mitch a sour look. "I thought the idea was to get him arrested."

"Just so we're clear, if you touch one of them, I'll kill you." Ben threatened evenly.

Mitch sighed. "I'm only looking for the treasure, Ben. Just like you." He pushed past Riley, and I couldn't help but notice the look of severe annoyance and dislike that flickered onto Riley's face.

I grabbed Nicole's hand, smiling. "Come on, Nikki, we've got a little bit of a hike ahead of us."

-OoOoO-

After walking for what seemed like an eternity, we reached the tiny lake, and managed to get up onto the stones in the middle of the lake, hunting for the 'noble bird'.

"I still don't see it." Abigail announced.

"Alright Mitch, let's have it. What's the clue from Queen Victoria's letter?" Ben asked, sounding slightly out of breath.

"'The entrance shall only be revealed in a cloudless rain.' Figure that one out."

"So…" Riley paused. "We come back when it's raining?"

I rolled my eyes, smacking in the arm again.

"Would you STOP?!"

"Stop acting like an idiot."

"That was a legitimate question!!"

"Excuse me." Ben spoke up. "Could I interrupt for a moment? Thank you." He took a deep breath. "Cloudless mean the sun. You need a sunny day and rain. We need water."

Everyone produced a bottle of water out of nowhere it seemed, and at no time at all, we were all spreading out across the rock. I debated walking over to the other spot. I had already caused enough trouble.

"This would be easier if we had a fire hose…" Nicole mused. I rolled my eyes, dumping the contents of my bottle onto the rock.

"Nope, nothing."

Then, of course, we heard Abigail's excited shouting, and everyone gathered around. looking.

"It's an eagle." She said.

"'The noble bird'…" Ben sighed.

"'will give you passage.'" Emily finished.

"Now what?" Nicole asked.

"I think we need to join hands, and in a noble manner, pass over the bird." Everyone, myself included stared blankly at Riley for a few seconds, then started crying out their own theories. I managed to hold back a giggle when Riley started flapping his arms. He looked so ridiculous!

"We can stand around guessing for a while or I could give you the next clue." Everyone fell silent as Mitch raised his voice. "'Surrender your hand to the heart of the warrior.'"

"And the eagle is a symbol of the warrior!" Realization seemed to dawn on Emily's face. Ben moved to put his hand into the small hole in the rock, and she suddenly cried out. "Ben, no, wait, wait! That's probably a horrible trap! Tell him!"

"It's a horrible trap." Patrick repeated dully.

"It'd be a pity to come this far and not even try, wouldn't it?"

"Shut up, Wilkinson." Nicole snapped. "Getting on my nerves."

"I'll do it Ben." Riley said loyally.

"No, it's OK." Ben reassured him. His brow furrowed in concentration as he slid his arm into the hole. And though I was prepared for it, I still jumped when the screaming started. Of course, that might've been due to the fact that Riley was pretty much screaming in my ear.

Then of course, Ben's screams dissolved into a fit of laughter. "I'm sorry, I could resist!" This earned him a slap from both Abigail and Nicole. His face abruptly turned serious again. "Actually it… It feels like a latch."

He pulled it back, and of course, the entryway opened. Everyone hurried over to look at where the rocks had fallen out of place. We all scrambled to the new opening, and one by one we filed into the cave. Emily fluttered around, exclaiming about all of the ancient relics.

"Ben, what is that?" Abigail pointed at the mechanism in the middle of the room.

"Looks like a counter-weight to hold the door open."

"What's that sound?" Riley wondered aloud. He wandered dangerously close to the wooden contraption.

In spite of myself, I found myself trying to pull him back, shouting out "Riley, wait, don't-"

But I was too late. He rope had snapped, and Riley stumbled back, knocking me over in the process. It reminded me vaguely of when he'd seen the dead guy in the Charlotte. After a few seconds of collapsing, I heard the door slam shut and the bolt falling into place.

"-Touch that." I finished dully.

He scrambled up, helping me to my feet. "Sorry. You OK?"

"I'm fine." I brushed some dust out of my hair.

"Patrick, what've you done?!" Emily was already admonishing him, even though it wasn't his fault.

"Some kind of bolt. I didn't do it."

"Yeah, the credit goes to Captain Curious over here." Nicole jabbed a thumb in Riley's direction, and his cheeks went pink.

"Only one way out of here now." Mitch announced, and everyone turned to look at him. "Forward."

I sighed to myself. "Thanks, Captain Obvious." I murmured. "I'd have never figured that out myself,"

We advanced through the cave, and Emily was still excited about all the ancient stuff.

"Looks like we're going to be moving some rocks here people." Mitch cried out. "There's a tunnel back through here."

"Guys, look at this!" Riley shined his light in the opposite direction. "It's a little golden man."

I stood at the edge of the tunnel, hesitating. Something struck me, and I suddenly ran out to grab Riley's arm, attempting to pull him back. But again, I moved a second too late, because just as I moved forward to grab him, the floor began to collapse beneath us."

-OoOoOoO-

Ooh, how will Kathleen fare on the teetering platform of doom? Find out next time!

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