Treasure Hunters: Book of Secrets

Seventeen: The Golden City

"Riley, you first!" shouted Ben. 

Riley made a run for it and jumped, just making it to the ladder.  

The platform gave a great lurch right as Ben jumped - he just made it too. 

"Did you see that? Did you see that?!" cried Riley, hauling himself up onto the ledge.

"I saw it," Alex smiled. "You were great back there!" She threw her arms around him and they shared another kiss.

"So, forward then?" interrupted Mitch.

The others scowled but followed onward. 

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"I hope Mom and Dad are okay," said Alex.

"Yeah, me too," agreed Ben.

Up ahead, they filed through a narrow doorway.  Beside the doorway there were a couple of torches.  Ben used one of their flares to light them.

Once the room was somewhat illuminated, they found that they were standing in a wide cavern housing various waterfalls and streams. 

"It's a dead end," called Abigail.  "There's no way out. There's no forward!" she had to shout over the rushing water.

"It's not forward, it's down," said Ben. "Look under the water!"

"Gold!" cried Alex, shining her flashlight at their feet.  Indeed, gold glimmered beneath the water's surface.  This was a good sign.

"All this water has to go out somewhere, otherwise it would be filled up," Ben explained.  An old wheel resembling that of a ship's wheel sat in the centre of the cavern.  "Help me turn this wheel." 

The five of them all grabbed one of the wheel's handles and started walking in a clockwise circle. The old wheel creaked and turned with their effort. Small dams slid down and cut off the water flow to reveal-

"Another doorway," said Riley, his voice dripping with fake enthusiasm.

The others were already rushing through the doorway to see what lay beyond. 

"Oh my," cried Alex as they entered another wider cavern.

That's when they saw it: Cibola, the Lost City of Gold.  

Golden structures rose in and out of the rocks all around them, the gold causing the cavern to glow, as though from within.

They had found it. 

Alex gripped her brother's arm.  "It's beautiful."

"It sure is," he agreed with a nod. 

"Ben! Alex!"

Relief swarmed them when they caught sight of Patrick and Emily on the other side of the cavern.

"Mom, Dad!"

"WE FOUND IT!" Ben threw up his arms and cheered. 

"Thomas was right!" shouted Patrick.

"No, you  were right!" Ben shouted back. 

Patrick and Emily cautiously made their way across the cavern towards the others while everyone began exploring the fascinating lost city.