Treasure Hunters: Book of Secrets

Chapter Seven: Paris!

"This is, like, impossible what you're doing," Alex commented, watching as Riley used his remote-control helicopter to scan the Paris Statue of Liberty.

"Glad you're enjoying it," he replied with a smile, a flirty edge to his voice.

"Ah hem-" Ben cleared his throat. As much as he had been rooting for his sister and friend to finally get together, he hadn't thought much of the consequences: seeing his friend and sister be all flirty and romantic. This was probably how Alex felt watching him and Abigail. "I agree, it's really cool, but could we please focus. Laboulaye had to leave a clue somewhere on here. Try moving in on the torch."

"Okay, just a second, it's not as easy as it looks-"

"Oh, can I try, please?!" asked Alex.

Riley placed the controller in her hands and showed her how to work all the buttons.

Someone speaking French caught their attention and they turned to see two police officers on bicycles ride up.

"Excuse me officer, may we help you?" said Ben.

"Ah Americans. Of course you see no problem with disturbing everyone's pleasant morning with your buzzing there."

"Do you know how much our constitution was influenced by your man, Montesquieu?" Ben asked. The policemen here impressed by his knowledge of Montesquieu and they began a conversation, providing enough distraction for Riley and Alex to continue the search. Well done Ben.

"Got it," Riley suddenly said.

"You got it," she said excitedly.

"Ben!" They hurried across the street to join him and the officers. "We found it! Hope you read French." Riley handed him the control which displayed a picture of the clue he'd taken with the helicopter.

"May I?" asked one of the officers.

"Thank you." Ben passed him the control.

"He's a cop," Riley hissed.

"Let's see... 'across the sea these twins stand resolute to preserve what we are looking for. Laboulaye, 1786.'"

"It's a clue!" cheered Riley.

"'These twins stand resolute'." Ben thought for a moment. "Let's see... Resolute twins..." He began the classic Ben pace and mutter of history facts until they all aligned. "Oh - but how about a ship?"

"HMS Resolute?" said Alex.

"That's a ship?" questioned Riley.

"Bingo! A British ship that got lost in the Arctic in the 1800s, then salvaged by American whalers and sent back to England by Congress."

"And when the ship was finally retired Queen Victoria had two desks made from its timbers," added Alex. Now the siblings were standing close, facing each other, both wearing the same looks of excitement.

"And there you have it," announced Ben. "Resolute twins!"

"Uh..." The officers looked astonished. "And where are the desks now?"

"The closest one would be in London. Hey Riley, how fast can we get to Buckingham Palace?" asked Ben.

"I don't know, why don't you ask your new best friend?" mumbled Riley.

The officer who had been speaking to them said something in French to the other officer who rode away. "He's going to call you a cab."

"Thank you."

Then the officer turned to Riley. "And that helicopter's yours, yes?"

"Yes it is," Riley said proudly.

"Okay, then you get the ticket."

Riley gave a fake laugh. "Great!"

--------------------------------

"I can't believe we're actually going to break into the Queen's office," said Alex. She, Ben, and Riley were crowded around Riley's laptop trying to figure out how to obtain their next clue.

"So the Queen's office is here." Riley pointed to the diagram he had pulled up on his computer. The three were in their hotel room in London. "The elevator'll get you close, but the only direct access is through security."

"Well that should be exciting," said Ben.

"Nothing our great Riley Poole can't handle," said Alex, patting the young man on the shoulder. Her cellphone rang then and she saw that it was her dad. She couldn't wait to fill him in. "Hey Dad!"

"Alex-" He cut in almost immediately. "-The house was broken into last night, I was attacked."

Both Ben and Riley turned sharply to face her when she gasped. "Oh my God-"

"What?" Ben whispered, coming over.

"Call the police, we're coming home."

"What good would that do? They didn't take anything, and besides, I'm fine."

"But Dad-"

"What happened?" Ben pressed.

"Someone broke into the house and attacked him!"

"Can I?" Ben held out his hand for the phone and she gave it to him. "Hi, Dad? What happened?" He listened and sighed. "You're sure? Okay, well we're in London now, we think the next clue's in Buckingham Palace. We have an appointment with the curator tomorrow afternoon. Okay, thanks Dad, bye." He hung up and handed the phone back to his sister. "Someone else is after the treasure."

"Of course there's someone else after the treasure. It's the axiom of treasure hunting," said Riley.

"Well," said Ben. "We just have to get there first."

(Sorry for the delay, school's been crazy busy lately! But, here's the Paris chapter, I hope you enjoyed :) Thanks so much for reading!)