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Disclaimer: If we owned National Treasure, this would actually be happening in the movie.
After lots of digging – and complaints from the girls about the work – the Charlotte had finally resurfaced. Jennifer and Elizabeth stood by the head of the ship.
"I wonder who that was…" Elizabeth said thoughtfully, observing the figurehead. Jennifer rolled her eyes.
"Of course you do," She caught sight of her friend staring at Riley again, and sighed deeply. "Why don't you just talk to him?"
"You know I can't do that!" She retorted. "I'd get all giggly and trip over myself and make myself look like a total idiot!"
"Well I'd talk to him," Jennifer skipped off toward the other end of the ship. "You want me to do it for you?"
"No!" Elizabeth cried, her eyes growing wide. "Jenn, you-you can't!"
The girls looked around, suddenly realizing that they were alone. They clambered onto the deck of the ship and into the hold, in such a hurry to catch up that they ran right into a panicking Riley, who let out a shout of surprise.
"Oh, it's just you two," He breathed a sigh of visible relief, putting a hand over his heart. "I thought…" He quickly shut his mouth, not going on any further. The girls looked at each other and giggled, following Riley to the other end of the ship.
"This is it!" Ben said loudly. "It's the cargo hold!" He pulled open the frozen handle, to only reveal a room full of barrels.
"You think it's in the barrels?" Riley asked, quirking an eyebrow. The girls exchanged looks as everyone spread out across the hold. Elizabeth sighed, wandering aimlessly into the room while Jennifer remained in the doorway, trying to decide what to do next. Elizabeth, not paying any attention to where she was going, took a few steps and tripped over Riley's boot, falling flat on her face.
"Oh, sorry!" Riley cried out, helping the teen to her feet. "You OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," She nodded, her cheeks going pink. "I just tr-tripped." Riley laughed a little bit at her stumbling over her words while Jennifer came over, rolling her eyes.
"Come on, Liz." She took her friend by the arm, guiding her around to where Ben was standing. "Hey, Ben, whatcha got there?"
He shrugged. "I don't know." He shook the package, weighing it with his hands. "I found something, guys."
Suddenly everyone was gathering around the group, pressing in to get a closer look as Ben opened the box. He pulled out the pipe, lifting it up to show the others.
"Do you guys know what this is?"
"Is it a… billion dollar pipe?" Riley guessed. Elizabeth giggled, causing the others to stop and look at her. She bit her lip and stood back, waving.
"It's a meerschaum pipe." Ian said, turning back to Ben. "It's beautiful."
"Yeah, sure." Jennifer seated herself on one of the barrels. "Real special. Now can we get on with this?"
Elizabeth elbowed her, and she winced, leaning back.
"What was that for?!" Jennifer yelped. Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
Ben sighed, holding up the pipe. "No, Riley, this isn't the treasure. It's a clue." He took apart the stem from the rest of the pipe, and Riley's eyes grew wide.
"Don't break it, man!"
"It's not broken; it's supposed to come apart like this." Ben explained. He looked around nervously. "Uh, would anyone happen to have a bottle of ink in their pocket?"
Everyone else shook their head, and Ben sighed, pulling out his pocketknife. He pressed it into his thumb, and crimson blood began to flow. Elizabeth's stomach heaved, and then she fainted. Jennifer and Riley fell to her side.
"Should've known that would happen." Jennifer sighed. "She hates blood."
"I see." Riley mused, gently touching Elizabeth's face. The teen bolted upright, her eyes snapping open.
"What happened?!"
"You fainted when Ben cut his thumb." Riley replied. Elizabeth nodded as Jennifer helped her to her feet.
"Ugh." She backed a few feet away from Ben. "Hurry that up, please. Before I throw up all over you."
Ben winced, smearing his bleeding wound on the pipe. He pressed it down on the paper, reading off the message as it appeared.
"The legend writ…
The stain affected…
The key in Silence undetected….
Fifty-five in iron pen…
Mr. Matlack can't offend…"
There was a moment of stunned silence. Finally, Ben spoke.
"It's a riddle. I need to think." He started re-reading bits and pieces of the riddle to himself, musing over it. The girls looked on, half-interested.
"It's no fun when you already know the answer." Jennifer grumbled, keeping quiet so that only Elizabeth could hear. The other girl shushed her gently, watching Ben decode the riddle.
"Invisible? What do you mean invisible?" Ian cut in.
While Ben explained, the girls floated around the ship. Jennifer ended up seated beside Ben, while Elizabeth stood between Riley and Shaw. The latter was visibly nervous; frankly, she didn't want to be anywhere near the Charlotte when it exploded. Jennifer, on the other hand, was quite excited about the forth-coming explosion, because it was going to be the start of an awesome adventure.
The girls remained silent through the rest of the boringly familiar dialogue, with the exception of a few giggles for Riley and Shaw. For the most part, they simply waited anxiously.
Finally came the moment they had been waiting for, excited or not.
"Ian, I'm not going to let you steal the Declaration of Independence."
"Okay. From this point on, all you're going to be is a hindrance."
And with that, Shaw pulled his gun from his holster, aiming it straight in Ben's face. Elizabeth let out a frightened squeal, burying her face in Riley's back, while Jennifer remained calm.
"Scaredy-cat." She said under her breath, looking at her friend as she peeked over Riley's shoulder.
"Ben, you have to help me here. Or I'll shoot all of your friends." Shaw turned the gun to Riley and Elizabeth.
"Hey!" Riley shouted in protest. Ben's eyes flickered between the three people still on his side, trying to stay calm. Jennifer could see the flare he had stuffed up his jacket sleeve, and noticed the light bulb turn on over his head. He reacted quickly, lighting it.
"Ben!" Riley's eyes grew wide with terror.
"Look where you're standing!" Ben shouted to Ian and Shaw. "Gunpowder. If you shoot me and that goes up in flames, we all go down."
"Ben!" Riley's eyes grew wide with terror.
"Just tell what I need to know, Ben!" Ian was growing frustrated now. Ben smiled smoothly.
"You need to know… If Shaw can catch!"
EVIL CLIFFHANGER OF DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! XD XD XD please review!