What. Is. Happening. Why is this happening to my family?! Why not Abby & Carla Benson, the richest, snootiest girls in town?! I wouldn't mind if their family did not exist. Shelby tells me that we have to find 16 pages of Ben's journal. From her research she said that sometime in his life he wrote the antidote formula on exactly 16 pages. She said according to historians, they are found in 4 areas, and for each area there is 1 clue. So as I was looking at the old rusty brown chest that holds the previous letters, we found a letter that was barely legible. It read
, "Go to the place at which ink was printed by me as I trained to work, the steps are barren so look closely."
We are still tying to figure out what this means. Shelby is looking up facts about him on her phone.
Ok we have it. This is a good thing, since frankly I am a college student, I can be Shelby's "guardian" since she is still a teenager. The place we need to go is England, to where Ben trained as a printer.
Ugh, flight is delayed for 45 minutes. Every second counts.
Finally we are in England. The scenery is honestly amazing! I wish we could stop and enjoy it, but we can't sadly.
"Oh, that old building? It is located next to that street over there." A woman said when we asked if she knew where Ben had trained in printing.
This road is super creepy.
The building is at the very end of the street. A no outlet sign is stuffed in the cold, muddy dirt.
We finally reached the building.
The door creeps madly. Suddenly it shut behind us.
"Sorry girls! We don't have the best lighting here. So, how can I help you?"
I ask her if this is the place where Ben trained as a printer.
She nods.
"Do you think I can examine those steps?" I ask.
"Why do you.. I mean sure!" She responds to me. She looks very suspicious.
"The steps look fine over here!" Shelby calls.
"Shhh! Ok! I'm checking over here!" I tell her.
The steps have strange markings. I wonder what they are for?
Shelby comes and examines my side.
"I've read about this! Benjamin apparently crated his own language for secret codes and such! I can probably decode it."
Shelby translates the markings as best as she can, but some of the faint, birch wood and scratches makes it more difficult. You can tell that the stairs have been polished over and over. Lining the walls there are carvings of important heirlooms of the generations of Franklins.
"Need some help?" The woman comes out of her dark corner, finally revealing her features. Her long think blonde hair and her white cardigan with a gray, velvet dress, it almost seems as if she has somewhere important to go. The shadows of light make her cheekbones stand out and you can clearly see her jawline.
"Well, you see, I too am looking for the pages. I know you are part of the Franklins, as am I."
"How do you know that...." Shelby grimaces.
"Well, in the underground bunker, you might have seen, is a painting of every person in our family. You and I are one of the paintings. I know what is happening, too. We could possibly work as a team?"
"I don't see why not, I guess..." I respond.
"Splendid!" she cheers.
We start to decode the mysterious language together.
After hours of decoding, we finally know that the message says 'under the loop and through the bend the herring glows in its den.'
"I wonder what that is supposed to mean?"
"Oh, and by the way, I am Carry Hostings. That's my married name, but technically Carry Franklin."
"Nice to meet you," I say, trying to light up the scene, "so do you have any idea what the thing means?"
"Hmm, possibly the old bridge? There might be herrings under there!" Carry says, her face lighting up with joy.
"I guess we should give it a shot." Shelby and I say in unison.
We start off to the old bridge across town. The town here seems very small and quiet. I haven't seen much townsfolk about on the streets.
"Ahh, here we are. Be very careful and still."
KAKAAWW! The herring squawks so loud!
Soon I see a small carving of some letter or symbol imprinted on her stomach.
"Hey look on his stomach!" I yell, a little to loud.
"According to this website this is the symbol that represents the Franklin Family." Shelby states.
