Epilogue
X was the jump button, right? OK, X was jump. The fox charged forward into the jungle, and the fox spun. The end of the level was just ahead. Maybe this time the holy grail of Jungle Fox Jump could be attained: Beating Elena's legendary high score. For thirteen years of trial and error, Elena's high score had stood strong. It was near futile to try differently. If the score could be beaten, then Jungle Fox Jump could finally be put away for good. Until then, it was a long-standing war. There was the end of the level! The fox jumped into the portal and the level ended. The scoreboard came up. Elena's high score: 3,500. Score this round: 3,499. The TV turned off. There, putting down the controller, was a girl, about thirteen years old. Sitting beside her was a young golden retriever. It was Nathan and Elena's daughter Cassie. She sighed and checked her watch. They should've been back by now. Nathan and Elena had gone off to get some scuba gear, but they were very late. After they bought Jameson Marine, Nathan and Elena had moved to Malaysia themselves. They lived in a beautiful and comfortable beach house that looked like a Hawaiian paradise. Cassie had grown up with an adventurous childhood some kids couldn't even dream of. "Where are they?" Cassie asked petting her dog's head. The dog shook its head and wagged its tail, happily. Cassie had a twin bed with a blue blanket. Her room was filled with exotic decorations and souvenirs from her worldwide travels. There was a lucky waving cat from China, an Eifel Tower miniature from Paris, a "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster from London, and many other trinkets. There was a bookshelf on the wall filled with adventure novels and action packed comic books. There was a saltwater fish tank beside her bed with clownfish and other tropical reef fish. She had asked for a moray eel one time, but Elena had given her the thumbs down on it. Inside her bathroom, there was a boogie-board sitting in the bathtub, dripping wet. She had gone body surfing a few hours ago before going back inside. She was practicing for the junior women's surfing competition, which was taking place next week. Cassie was average height, thin, and pretty, with her mother's blonde hair and her father's adventurous spirit. She wore a pair of glasses, something she didn't inherit from her parents. Nathan and Elena had never told Cassie about their adventures prior to buying Jameson's Marine. She knew nothing of El Dorado, Shambhala, Iram of the Pillars, or Libertalia. She walked to the other end of the room, with the walls covered in photographs, and posters. She saw a laundry basket filled with clean laundry. "I should really clean this up," she said. She looked at it, then waved the notion off, "Nah, later," she said. She left her room and walked into the hallway. "Mom! Dad!" she called. No answer. Cassie walked into Nathan and Elena's bedroom. They weren't in there either. She noticed a photo album sitting on the windowsill. She picked it up and started flipping through. There were Nathan and Elena's wedding photos, but where those photos used to end, they now continued. There were two photos of Nathan and Elena smiling, holding their newborn baby. Cassie grinned, toothless, inside her tiny pair of onesies. The next photo was Sully holding Cassie well away from him, Cassie wailing loudly. Cassie chuckled, "Sorry Sully," she said. The next photo was four year old Cassie attempting to train their new puppy. Turning the page, she chuckled. They were photos of the trip they had taken to Cairo Egypt when Cassie was nine years old. One photo was Cassie smiling, riding a grumpy looking camel with Elena. The next one was a laughing Cassie piggyback riding Sam, who looked as proud and happy as if Cassie was his own daughter. The last two photos were Cassie in front of Mount Hood in Washington State, and Cassie riding their yacht at home in Malaysia. Nathan and Elena's room was filled with more exotic décor, some African style, some Asian. There were family photos and other posters hanging on the wall, each mostly Cassie's schedules. She heard the dog barking in the hallway, and she walked out to the main room. She looked up on the to-buy chalkboard. What were they even gone for anyway? There were four items on the list: Scuba gear, lunch, underwater camera film, and fishing rods. She walked over to the countertop and saw a letter. She recognized the handwriting as Sully's She read it, "Well I'm sitting in a tiny café in a busy Havana street, drinking what might be the best blasted espresso I've ever had in my life. No job. Nobody chasing us. Retirement is weird. Good, but weird. Sam wants me to tell you to stock up the fridge with less crappy champagne before we arrive. Sam's words, not mine. Sam is also reminding me that you lose the bet – to both of us! 12 months and counting and no smoking, and I'm in Cuba for crying out loud! That's how good I've been. Anyways, send the girls our love. Tell Cassie to warm up the backgammon board. I want my rematch! Looking forward to seeing the gang in a few weeks. Your pal, Victor." Cassie smiled, "Oh cool," she said, "Sam and Sully are coming for a visit!" She grinned, backgammon was one of Sully's favorite games, and he had taught Cassie how to play. He forever regretted it, since Cassie had become an even better backgammon player than Sully. When they visited last, Cassie had won five games to Sully's two. Cassie wanted to beat her record this visit. She looked around. She walked over to the front door and opened it. The dog flew out of the door, blowing past Cassie. "Hey!" she shouted. The dog didn't listen, just joyfully ran across the beach. She walked onto the front porch, a hammock on one side, a table and chairs on the other. Their home was right in front of the beach, and they owned a small private island, paid for by Captain Henry Avery himself. Elena hadn't wanted any neighbors, she just wanted to be alone in paradise with her two favorite people. The wind chimes tinkled in the gentle tropical breeze. There was a travel guide to India laying on the table. She picked it up with a smile, "Taj Mahal, here I come!" she said, "Just a few more weeks." They were heading to India to film an episode of Elena's TV show, and she had agreed to let Cassie come. She put it down and walked down the back steps, and onto the white sands. The ocean water was almost turquoise, and it shimmered in the cloudless sunlight. There were no waves on the beach, since they were in the middle of a chain of islands. She sighed contentedly, "Perfect day," she said, "Now all I need is the rest of our boat crew." She walked over to the driveway, and the car was there. Cassie sighed, "They must've walked to the store," she said, "Now they'll take twice as long." She walked back onto the beach and passed the canoe rack. She walked onto the dock and up to their yacht. The dog was sitting at the end of the dock, wagging its tail. Nobody on the yacht. She looked over to their second building, which they used as their office and studio. She walked inside and opened the door, "Hello?" she asked. No answer. She sighed. Looking around, she saw their cleaning tables, where they would clean new artifacts. There was a large chunk of green rock, with a golden cross half chipped out. "Whoa…" Nathan said, "Good job cleaning this up." She walked over to the wall, which was covered with news articles and magazine covers, all of which featured the Drake family. Elena had even created their own magazine, D&F Fortunes, which were filled with exciting stories of artifacts and archaeology. Cassie was on the covers of many of them. However, Cassie's favorite was her appearance on the cover of the prestigious Adventure Life magazine. The cover story, "Treasure hunting runs in the family," talked all about her and Nathan and Elena. She walked into the next room, and looked at one of Elena's favorite photos. It was Sully and Elena, each smiling in front of the camera. Sully's snow white hair shining in the sun. Beside that was a journalism award for Elena Fisher. Fisher was Elena's maiden name, though she now proudly took the name of Drake. Cassie looked over to what Nathan called the "Forbidden Cabinet." It was a tall cabinet Nathan always kept locked, and even from a young age Cassie had never been allowed inside. She looked at it and sighed, curiosity eating at her. She looked back at the table and noticed something on the table. It was her dad's keys. She suddenly noticed they were the very keys he used to keep the cabinet locked. She gasped, and took them, "There's no way," she said. She put the keys in the keyhole, and turned it. The lock clicked and she looked inside. She looked around. There was a silver skull, a strange crucifix made of wood and gold, and a gun holster. Cassie looked at it, "uh, nice…gun holster, Dad," she said. She never remembered her dad carrying weapons. There were other trinkets, and photos she had never seen before. She opened a drawer inside and saw Nathan's journal, though she didn't know who it belonged to. There were a bunch of old notes, and drawings of skeletons and pirate captains. She looked through it, confused. What was all of this? She looked below that to see a white journal with the initials CM on it. She opened it and looked inside. There were many theories about history and other things. She spent a good twenty minutes reading it. When she turned the page she saw an old Polaroid photo with two young kids, one wearing a samurai helmet, the other wearing a David Livingstone safari hat. "Whoa…" Cassie said, "Is that dad?" She turned the page again, and there was a large photo that took Cassie's breath away. On the back of the photo were the words, "The treasure of El Dorado." The photo showed Sully, Nathan, and Elena all standing around huge chests of gold. Elena was sitting one of the chests, and Sully pointed at the camera, a cigar in his mouth. It was Nathan that made Cassie's eyes widen. He was smiling broadly, a pistol grip shotgun over his shoulder. Suddenly Cassie heard Nathan and Elena talking outside the building. "Oh crap!" she said. She frantically ran over to the cabinet and shut it, but she left the journal on the table. It was too late, Nathan and Elena were already coming through the door. She stood in front of the journal, making sure to hide it completely behind her. "Hey, there you are!" Nathan said with a smile when he saw Cassie, "Been looking for you. What are you doing in here?" Nathan's hair was greying, though he was still strong and young at heart. Elena smiled, wearing a white t-shirt and shorts. "Uh, looking for you guys," Cassie replied nervously. "Come on, we loaded up the boat, it's ready," Elena said beckoning out the door. "Cool," Cassie said, "I'll catch up with you guys in a sec." Nathan and Elena stopped. They looked at Cassie, then at each other. "Why?" Elena asked putting her hands on her hips. Cassie tried thinking of an explanation, "I uh…I just need to uh…I…" Nathan walked forward intimidating, "What's up Cassie?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Cassie sighed and closed her eyes, "OK," she said, "Don't be mad." She slowly slinked to the side and revealed the journal. Nathan's face looked shocked, then it turned to anger. He walked off to the cabinet and opened it. Not locked. He sighed, "Hey, I said don't be mad!" Cassie said. "Keys." Nathan said holding his hand out. Cassie sighed herself and put the keys in Nathan's hand. Nathan walked over to the journal and picked it up, "So," he said, "What did you see?" "Nothing really," Cassie replied, "Except for that photo of you two and Sully…With a bunch of Spanish looking treasure…And a shotgun." Elena smiled a bit and looked at the ground, "Yeah…" she said. Elena took the picture while Nathan locked the cabinet. "This was bound to happen sometime," Elena said, "Maybe we should just tell her." "She's not ready yet," Nathan replied. "Not ready for what?" Cassie asked, "All that crazy stuff in there? You guys are literally keeping skeletons in your closet! Or at least a silver skull of some kind." Nathan sighed, "You know I don't think I'm ready for this. Really." Elena looked at Nathan. She shrugged, "Nate…Time to have the talk." "Yeah! It's totally time!" Cassie begged, before she squinted, "Wait, what talk do you mean?" "She's just a kid!" Nathan said. Elena gave Nathan a look, "She's older than you when you started all this with Sam." Nathan scoffed, "That is different and you know it." Cassie broke in, "Hey look, if you guys were into some shady stuff it's totally OK! But I think I'm old enough to know about it, right?" Nathan chuckled, "Old enough. How old are you again?" Cassie sighed, "Ha, ha. Funny." She looked at Elena, "Mom?" Nathan sighed, "alright," he said. Elena started the story, "Well let's see um…For me it started when this guy called me up with the scoop on some massive historical find." She chuckled, "he sounded like a complete fraud." "Yeah, handsome fraud," Nathan interjected. Elena laughed, "I didn't even know him yet," she said. Nathan nodded, "Oh she knew," he said, "she knew." Elena laughed and continued, "So this fraud says, if you fund the trip, then I'll give you the coffin of Sir Francis Drake." "And for the record," said Nathan, "I totally delivered." Elena walked up next to Nathan, "Yeah, you delivered us into the hands of Indonesian pirates." "Oh come on, you know I had nothing to do with that!" Nathan defended himself. Cassie shook her hands, "OK, whoa, guys, time out. You're saying you were attacked by pirates, after you found the coffin of Sir Francis Drake. Is that right?" Nathan and Elena nodded, "Yeah, that's pretty much it," Nathan said. "Alright, so keep going!" Cassie begged. Nathan stood there. After a pause he looked at Cassie with a smile, "You know what?" he said, "The sun is up, boat's ready, wind's just right. You want to continue the story? I say we do it on the water. Come on." With that, Nathan made his way towards the door, Cassie following close, "Well wait, what did Sir Francis Drake look like? Was is gross?" Nathan shook his head, "Actually he wasn't in there," he explained, "Yeah, just his journal, and a map to El Dorado." Nathan and Cassie walked down the front steps but Elena held back, smiling at her husband and daughter. She knew Nathan had been itching to tell her their stories for years now. She looked as they walked into the boat, "El Dorado?" Cassie asked with awe, "The city of gold!?" Nathan shook his head, "Ah, that's just the legend. Turns out it was just a statue. But, back to that later, anyway, the map led us to the middle of the Amazon jungle…" Their voices melted away, and Elena walked back inside the house. She went up the journal and holding the photo, she chuckled and laid the photo down. She looked at it a few seconds, before walking off to join Nathan and Cassie. A new adventure was about to begin.
The End