Treasure Hunters: A National Treasure Fanfiction

Chapter Fourteen: 3:22

The group headed straight for Independence Hall. They joined in a tour around the hall until Ben broke away from it, the others following him up a blocked-off staircase. The stairs led up to the Independence Hall steeple.

"Good stuff," said Riley as they emerged at the top. "Hey, what bell is this?"

"The Centennial Belle, it replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876," Ben explained. He went first, helping Abigail up. Riley came next and Alex came last. Riley offered her a hand up.

They all stood around for a couple of minutes, Ben looking down at his watch, waiting for the exact moment. Finally, the clock struck 2:22 p.m. 1776 time. The shadow created by the steeple pointed the way: to a cluster of bricks on the outside wall.

"There it is." Abigail smiled.

"Okay, I'm going to go down there and then I'll meet you guys in the Signing Room," instructed Ben.

"We'll meet you there," corrected Alex.

"Okay," Abigail agreed, motioning for Riley to follow her back down the steeple stairs.

"3:22, my idea," mumbled Riley.

Alex smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "See you soon." Then she went and joined her brother.

From the steeple they headed out onto the roof over to where the shadow pointed. They stared at the bricks bathed in shadow. One had a Freemason's symbol in the corner. Brother and sister exchanged an excited glance. Then Ben pulled out his pocket knife and flicked out the blade, using it to carve out the marked brick. When he finally pried the brick from the wall he removed it and reached inside the now empty space, but feeling only more brick inside.

"Wait, Ben look!" cried Alex. "It's hollow." She took the brick in one hand, dumping out its contents into the other. They peered down at what they had acquired, the next clue: a pair of old-fashioned glasses with little coloured lenses over the actual lenses.

Now they exchanged a triumphant grin. "Let's go," said Alex, tucking the glasses safely into her pocket. Ben returned the brick and they headed back over to the steeple. Looking back they found the shadow had passed. They had just made it.

"Hey what'd you score?" asked Riley when the siblings reached the Signing Room. Ben held his hand out for the glasses and Alex handed them to him.

"Some kind of ocular device. 'The vision to see the treasured past.'"

Riley took them. "They're like early American X-ray specs."

"Benjamin Franklin invented something like these," Abigail said, also inspecting them.

"I think he invented these." Ben took the case and removed the Declaration.

"So what do we do?" asked Riley.

"We look through it." Ben unrolled the Declaration. Then he paused. "Wow," he breathed.

"What?"

"It's just, the last time this was here, it was being signed," Ben reminded them. He sighed contently again.

"Ben, there's another tour coming!" cried Riley in exasperation. This was no time to bask in historical facts.

"Right, turn it over," Ben instructed.

"Carefully," added Abigail.

Carefully, the four flipped over the document so that the back now faced them.

"Spectacles." Ben held out his hand and Riley passed him the glasses and he put them on. "Wow," he breathed.

"What do you see?" asked Alex eagerly.

"What is it? Is it a treasure map?!" pressed Riley.

"It says 'Heere at the wall,' 'Heere' spelled with two E's. Take a look." He removed the spectacles and held them out. Riley reached for them but Abigail snatched them away.

She put them on. "Wow!" she gasped.

"Why can't they just say 'go to this place, there's the treasure, spend it wisely'?" Riley said, sounding frustrated.

"What would be the fun in that?" Alex said with a smile, nudging him.

She noticed them first: Phil and Powell standing out on the front grounds. She went over to the window and peered out. "Uh oh. Guys we've got company."

"How'd they find us?" asked Riley, joining her by the window.

"Ian has almost unlimited resources, and he's smart," said Ben.

"I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted," said Abigail, speaking all of their thoughts aloud.

"Well we don't want them to have the Declaration or the glasses, and we certainly don't want them to have them together," said Ben. "So we'll separate the lock from the key: we'll split up."

"Good idea," said Abigail.

"Here, you take this," Ben said, handing her the plastic container holding the Declaration, removing it from the case. He put the now empty case over his shoulder. "And I'll take this and the glasses. Meet me at the car and call me if you have any problems."

"Like if we get caught and killed," said Riley.

"Yeah that would be a big problem. Take care of her." They weren't sure if Ben meant Abigail, Alex, or the Declaration, but the three all said in unison, 'I will.' And with that they set off in their opposite directions.

(Off they go! Haha thanks so much for reading, more to come soon! :))