Part 8
Anne lay in the back of her father's car, her head on Riley's lap.
"Your dad's got a sweet ride." Riley mumbled, his eyes shut.
"I know right." She grumbled back.
"I think we should change clothes. We look kind of conspicuous, don't you think?" Ben asked.
"Ya think?"
"Go to sleep, Annie."
"I'm trying."
"I'd like to go shopping too, but we have no money." Riley interjected, sleepily.
"Here, I took this from his house. He usually tucks a few hundred dollars between the pages."
"Ha. You grabbed Dad's stash."
"Common Sense. How appropriate." Abigail said.
"When are we going to get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird." Riley groaned. "And why do I have to be the pillow?"
"Because."
"Oh alright."
Anne lay on her back on the wall across from the Franklin Institute, staring up at the sky. Riley was sitting at her feet working on the puzzle.
"Riley?"
"Yeah?"
"Last night, when you said I was hot… did you mean it?"
"Yeah…" she could hear the blush in his voice.
"Why?"
"Why did I mean it?"
"Why did you say it? I mean I'm not pretty-"
"What? Of course you are. You're perfect!"
Anne swung around so she was sitting next to him.
"You mean that?"
"Yeah. I do."
Anne tilted her head to the side and leaned closer. She saw Riley's eye flick down to her lips and back up to her eyes.
"Ahem." She heard. Turning she saw the little boy grinning. Sighing, she smiled.
"Whatcha get kid?"
"S-S-A-N-D." Riley wrote down the letters. "No 'N.'"
"That is an 'N.'"
"Doesn't look like an 'N.'"
"I must agree with our little friend. It looks more like an 'R.'"
"Ok, here. One more dollar. Got get the last four letters. Go get 'em, chief."
"What so we have now?" Anne asked.
"'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and…' Pass and what?"
"Pass and…"
"Pass and Stow!" they said together, jumping up.
"Yes!" Anne said, throwing her arms around Riley and kissing him. She pulled back shocked. "Wow…"
"You say that a lot." He said smirking.
"Only when I'm impressed."
Mean while, Ben and Abigail were finding each other's company enjoyable.
"So what's the deal with you and your sister? Are you a treasure hunting team?"
"Not really. We haven't seen each other in 5 years."
"Why?"
"Ian."
"What?"
"Ian and I were close friends and they kinda had a relationship… She was trying to avoid him."
"Were you and her close as kids?"
"Yeah. We used to play knights and when our father told us to stop we would say. 'Templar Knights never stop looking.'" He got a wistful look on his face. "I doubt she even remembers that."
"Ben! Ben!" they heard. "We figured it out!" Anne said excitedly.
"Oh we got it. 'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow.' Now Pass and Stow, referring to…
"The Liberty Bell." Ben and Abigail interrupted.
"Why do you have to do that?" He complained.
"Now what I was thinking was 'The vision to see the treasured past' must refer to a way to read the map." Anne said.
"I thought the cipher was the map." Riley said.
"No, the cipher was the way to find the way to read the map." Ben explained.
"The way to read the map comes as the timely shadow passes in front of the Liberty Bell." Abigail said, catching on.
"Crosses in front of the house of the Liberty Bell. Independence Hall." Ben added.
"Timely shadow. It must be a specific time." Anne mused.
"What time?" Riley asked.
"What time?" Ben repeated. Suddenly it hit him and he grinned at Abigail. "You're going to love this. Excuse me, can I see one of those hundred dollar bills I paid you with?" He asked the clerk.
"No."
"Well, I have this diver's watch, it's called a submariner. I dive with it. It's actually quite valuable. You could use it as collateral."
"Whatever." She took the watch.
"On the back of a hundred dollar bill is an etching of Independence Hall, based on a painting done in the 1780's…."
"Hello?" The clerk handed him the bill.
"Thank you." he took the bill. "And the artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin. It's wonderful. Hold this." He started to hand the Declaration to Abigail but stopped.
"I'm not going anywhere." She smiled.
"We need a magnifying glass." Anne said.
"If we look through this, we might be able to see the specific time." He said using his water bottle.
"What do you see?" Abigail asked.
"2:22." Ben read.
"What time is it now?" Anne asked.
"Almost 3." The store clerk answered.
"We missed it." Anne said, frustrated.
"No we didn't. We didn't miss it because…" Riley paused. "Wait you don't know this? I know something about history you don't know."
"Congratulations." Anne snarked.
"I'd be very excited to learn about it Riley."
"Hold on one second. Let me just… Just take in this moment."
"Riley?" Anne said.
"This is cool." Riley mused. "Is this how you feel all the time, except for now, of course…"
"Riley!" Abigail interjected.
"Alright." Riley snapped. "What I know is that daylight savings time wasn't established until World War 1. So if it's 3 PM now, in 1776, it would be 2 PM."
Ben grinned. "Riley you're a genius."
"Let's go." Abigail said. They started toward the steps.
"Do you know who the first person to suggest Daylight Savings time was?" Riley asked.
"Benjamin Franklin." They all replied.
Riley stomped in defeat.
They ditched the tour and ran up the restricted stairs.
"What's this?" Riley asked as they entered the tower.
"Centennial Bell. Replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876." Ben answered. They looked out at the shadow.
"There it is." Abigail whispered, amazed.
"Alright. I'll go down, and you three meet me in the signing room." Ben told them.
"3:22. My idea." Riley said.
"C'mon Genius." Anne laughed.
"Okay."
"What'd you score?" Riley asked Ben.
"It's some kind of ocular device." Ben held up the glasses. "The vision to see the treasured past? Let me take this." He took the document case as Riley took the glasses.
"They're like… Early American x-ray specs." Riley said softly.
"Look more like 3D glasses to me." Anne commented.
"Benjamin Franklin invented something like these." Abigail said.
"Uh, I think he invented these."
"What do we do with them?" Riley asked. Anne softly smacked Riley upside the head.
"What do you think we do with them?" she asked.
"We look through them." Ben said.
"Help me." Abigail unrolled the Declaration. Ben sighed.
"What?" Riley asked.
"It's just that… the last time this was here, it was being signed." Ben said.
"Wow…" Anne whispered.
"Ben, there's another tour coming." Riley reminded him.
"Turn it over."
"What do you see?" Abigail asked.
"Is it a treasure map?" Riley asked.
"It says 'Heere at the Wall'. Spelled with two Es. Take a look." Ben put out the glasses. Abigail put them on.
"Wow."
"That's my line." Anne laughed. She took them next and looked.
"Wanna see Riley?"
"Heck yeah." He said, taking the glasses.
"Why can't they say got to this place, here's the treasure, spend it wisely?" Riley asked, exasperated.
"Because then it would have been found and we wouldn't have met."
"True."
"Oh no." Ben muttered. Through the window they could see Ian and his friends.
"How'd they find us?" Anne groaned.
"Ian has nearly unlimited resources. And he's smart." Ben stated, rolling up the Declaration.
"I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted." Abigail said.
"Well, we don't want them to have the Declaration or the glasses, but we especially don't want them to have them both together." Ben stated.
"So what do we do?" Riley asked.
"We separate the lock from the key. We're splitting up." Ben nodded.
"Good idea." Abigail agreed.
"I'll take this and those." Ben took the empty case and glasses. "You take that. Meet me at the car and call me if there are any problems."
"Like if we get caught and killed?" Riley asked.
"Yeah." Ben nodded. "That'd be a big problem."
"And Riley?"
"Yeah."
"Watch out for your girlfriend, or I'll have to kill you." He cocked an eyebrow and left Anne and Riley openmouthed.
"Time to go." Abigail said.