Lila Spencer - The Pirate's Treasure




CHAPTER ONE

Lila Spencer sat cross-legged opening a dusty old cardboard box. "This one
looks to be more clothes," she said as it contained various sweaters and
shirts inside.

"That one will also go to the Salvation Army," Ashley Emerson replied while
checking off a list on a clipboard she carried.

"You know ... " Tina Palermo spoke up, " ... all this dust here is not helping
with my allergies ... Aaachoooo!" she suddenly sneezed loudly.

The girls were assembled in Ashley's grandmother's attic, who had passed away
two weeks ago. Her mom was executor of her estate, and was selling the house
in which she grew up in. Ashley volunteered Lila and Tina to help with
cleaning out the spacious attic before the open house next week.

"I can't believe anybody would collect so much stuff," Lila announced at the
seemingly endless amount of boxes and containers all around her.

"You can thank my grandfather for that as he was the biggest pack-rat anybody
ever knew," Ashley replied candidly.

"Well, it's gonna like take a month just to go through all this junk," Tina
said disdainfully as she pulled out her pink bandanna she carried and blew her
stuffed nose in it.

"Mom says we only need to go through the larger boxes, the rest she was going
to have someone carry it out to the junkyard," Ashley offered some reprieve.

"From what I've heard, it sounds like your grandfather was some big world
traveler," Lila said in deep fascination of what it would be like to see far
off lands and exotic locales.

"When he was in the Army during the fifties, he did see a good part of the
world and brought back many artifacts. He was such a history buff, telling me
and Courtney all about his adventures ... " Ashley said very fondly as she
thought about him. "Of course my grandmother would later tell us that he was
the biggest exaggerator there ever was."

Lila grabbed an old-looking chest in one corner of the attic and slid it away
from the pile of boxes around it. She unclasped the latch and opened it up.
Looking inside, she saw an array of strange looking items. "You guys, take a
look at what I found," she called out to her friends. Ashley and Tina
converged over to her seeing what the fuss was all about.

Tina cocked her head slightly as she looked baffled at the contents before
her. "What is all that stuff?"

Ashley took a closer look, "This must be some of the things he picked up while
serving overseas ... " She pulled out some wood carvings of what appeared to
be African trinkets.

Lila grabbed an old leather cylinder and pulled out a large rolled up piece of
paper from inside. "Ooooo ... what's that?" Tina asked in enthrallment as Lila
unrolled it on the wooden floor of the attic.

"It's looks to be some sort of map ... " Lila replied as she studied the
strange markings scrawled on the weathered parchment paper. "I never
remembered seeing this before," Ashley spoke as she too took an interest in
this find.

Tina's dark brown eyes suddenly widen as she quietly read something on the
map, "Tenedor del Diablo ... "

"What did you say?" Lila asked her in bewilderment.

"It means 'The Devil's Fork' ... " she responded plainly. "You guys ... I
think this may be the treasure map of the pirate Fenn Shyser!"

"A pirate's treasure map? ... " Ashley spoke in total disbelief.

"My grandfather used to tell me when I was little about the stories of Captain
Shyser who used to sail these waters around here long ago ... and the Devil's
Fork was his emblem, see?" she pointed to a small symbol of a three-pronged
pitchfork. Lila pulled something also out of the trunk""a small round
medallion bearing that exact same symbol in the center of it. She was
beginning to get really excited at what Tina just said. "Now this is something
worth investigating."

"No ... " Ashley interjected, " ... these belong to my grandfather, we can't
just take them to find something that probably doesn't even exist."

"Wrong ... " Tina spoke up, " ... it used to belong to your grandfather, and
now it belongs to us. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, you know."

"Come on, Ashley ... " Lila said encouragely. "Even if there is no treasure it
would be fun to decipher this map. And who knows what really lies at the end
of it."

Ashley, ever the doubting Thomas, thought for a moment, and then smiled as she
too was curious what this map may reveal. "Okay ... but if we find anything of
value, we split it evenly three ways," she said and stuck out her hand.

Lila and Tina both smiled as well and placed their hands on Ashley's as the
"Three Dudettes" were going on a treasure hunt ...

CHAPTER TWO

Lila came to the stark realization that if they stood any chance at finding
anything from that map, they would need to read it. Tina had done her best at
translating""which wasn't very much""so she suggested having her dad take a
look it, since it was his father that told her of the pirate stories, there
was a chance that he may know something useful.

Tina had arranged it for Lila and Ashley to come over at her place for dinner
tonight. However, Ashley regretfully declined for she had prior commitments
with her mom and sister. They were going to dinner at the Rainforest café and
take in a little miniature golf for some much needed family time in the wake
of her grandmother's recent passing.

Mrs. Emerson dropped the two girls off at Tina's house after Lila phoned her
parents regarding her dinner plans. The Palermo residence was a large
two-story Spanish style house nestled on a hill. Stepping into the kitchen
through the mud room door""which everyone uses""the aroma of sautéed peppers
and onions with garlic lingered succulently in their nostrils. "Lila, what a
pleasant surprise seeing you," Angie Palermo said and hugged her warmly like
she was one of her own daughters, which technically she was since Lila was an
unofficial member of the family.

"I've saved you a seat over there," she pointed to the corner of the large
rectangular table in the open dining area. Also entering in the kitchen, Lila
saw the smiling bearded face of Victor Palermo. "I didn't know that one of the
prettiest girls in Spring Hill was eating here for dinner," he said with a
Cuban accent as he also gave her a warm hug. "How is your father lately ...
Still trying to perfect that putt of his?" Victor and her father play golf
occasionally together at the Green Shores Country Club.

"He's doing well, and says that he's still waiting for that rematch."

"Hey, he's the one that got two balls in the drink. I can't help it if he lost
his concentration while driving down the fairway," he said in his defense.

"Victor, you know very well the only reason he sliced those shots is because
you kept sneezing loudly," Angie shot back at him for Susan had told her what
really happened.

"I had allergies!" he retorted while cracking a little smile at the same time.
Lila always liked him for he had such a wonderful sense of humor.

One by one the Palermo brood started making their way to the table for the
evening ritual of a good home-cooked supper. Tina's ten-year-old brother,
Raymond, sat next to Lila for it was well known that he has a major crush on
her, which she doesn't share with at all.

After Victor said grace at the table, everyone began eagerly passing plates of
food around for everything smelled so good. Lila placed a piece of smoked
sausage on her plate and passed the platter over to Raymond. "I could've
gotten that for you," he offered all googly-eyed to her. "No, thanks ... I'm
good," Lila responded looking as though she was going to throw up.

"So, I hear that you two got attic duty," Tina's stunning seventeen-year-old
sister Rachel said while taking a corn-on-the-cob. She was in the same class
as Lila's brother, David. In fact her best friend on the cheer-leading squad
was dating him.

"Yeah ... " Lila replied a bit feebly, " ... but it is for a good cause
though."

"I always said you make a good girl scout, Lila ... " fifteen-year-old brother
Joey spoke up. "Too bad Tina flunked in that department," he snickered.

"Shut up, doofus!" Tina yelled back angrily, causing little seven-year-old
Olivia""the youngest of the litter""to start giggling for she loved it when
her older siblings fought.

"Christina Marisol, that's enough!" her mother said in her authoritive voice.
"Now let's please just all eat quietly." The mood quickly calmed down for
every time Angie Palermo addressed any of her children by their middle name
you knew that she meant business.

After dinner was over, Lila stepped into the large screened-in porch out back
and sat at one of the two patio tables there. She always liked the view from
their house as you can see most of the town. A nice cool breeze blew in from
the otherwise warm August day.

Tina entered soon after with her father trailing. Sitting down with Lila,
Victor spoke anxiously, "So, what is it that you wanted to see me about?"

Lila reached over behind her and pulled out the map, unrolling it on the white
table. Victor's brown eyes grew wide in astonishment as he carefully gazed at
it. "Where did you get this? ... " he asked softly.

"In that attic we were cleaning today, it belonged to Ashley's grandfather,"
Lila replied. "Can you read it?" she asked hopefully.

"Well, the writing here is faded in some places, and it seems that the wording
is cryptic, like some sort of code. Probably to keep others from deciphering
it."

"See, that's just what I said ... " Tina complained to Lila in her defense at
her inability to translate it before.

"Is there anything that you could still do?" Lila pleaded with him as her
hopes began to dash.

"Well ... " he spoke in thought, scratching his graying beard, " ... there is
someone I know that could help you a lot better than I can. I'll get you his
name and number."

"Thanks, Mr. Palermo," Lila beamed along with Tina who grinned happily.

Getting up to his feet, he began to walk out when he stopped and turned to
them for a moment. "You girls are not actually thinking of trying to find that
treasure, are you?"

"Who us? ... " Tina said in a mock innocent tone. "We're just interested in
the rich history of this," Lila added deceptively.

"Okay ... " Victor said relieved and strolled out. "But legend has it that the
treasure was cursed ... " his voice trailed off inside the house.

Lila and Tina both looked at each other spooked. "Cursed? ... " they said
tensely in unison.

CHAPTER THREE

The next day, Lila stopped by at the public library on her way to another day
of cleaning out the attic with Ashley and Tina. "Excuse me ... " Lila spoke
quietly to the librarian sitting at her desk, " ... but could you please tell
me where I may find Dr. Leonard Bowman?"

Before the attractive middle-aged woman could answer, a voice called out from
behind her, "Lila Spencer?"

Lila turned around and saw a short older-looking man in a tweed suit standing
before her. "Dr. Bowman, I presume?" she asked cordially ...

Stepping into his office was like a paying a visit to a museum as Lila was
enthralled with the multitude of worldly artifacts covering almost every inch
of the smallish room. "You'll have to forgive the clutter ... " Bowman said
flustered, "I know this isn't what the head of the library's office should
look like."

"It's quite alright," Lila spoke reassured.

"Please, have a seat," he gestured to the padded chair in front of his small
desk. Lila sat down still gazing at his bizarre collection. "I used to be an
archeologist back in my younger years""it's where the 'Dr.' in the name comes
from."

"You've been to all these places?" Lila asked in wonder.

"Yeah ... being in my line of work meant doing a lot of travel," he replied,
"so I had to bring something back to show for it."

"Ahh ... Mr. Palermo suggested that you could help me with my little problem
... " Lila said wanting to get right down to business as she removed the map
from its case, and carefully unrolled it on his desk.

Putting his reading glasses on, Bowman studied the tattered parchment with an
interest only a scientist could convey. "Looks to be possibly 17th Century ...
" he spoke more to himself rather than to Lila who listened with complete
attention. "Writing is strange, almost like it was written in some form of
code ... "

"Exactly what Mr. Palermo said," Lila spoke up. "Can you translate it?" she
asked this time with her fingers crossed.

"Maybe, with some time ... Do you mind if I hold onto this for a while?"

"Sure ... I have an all-day errand to do anyway. Let me give you my cell
number and you can call me when you're done." Lila scribbled down her number
on a small post-it note.

"I can't guarantee anything, but I'll certainly do my best," Bowman replied
sincerely as they both rose from their seats.

"Anything would be a great help," she said heartily, " ... and thank you
again." Lila shook his hand and left the office promptly.

Bowman sat back down in his seat deep in thought as he too felt stumped at
what that strange writing meant. Then his blue-gray eyes lit up and he flipped
through his small rolodex. Picking up the phone, he punched in a number, and
based on the amount of times he pressed the small buttons, it indicated that
he was making an international call. After waiting for several seconds he
spoke, "Ennio, buon giorno ... " He smiled warmly as he listened on the other
end. "Yes, I know it's been quite some time since we last spoke. Listen, I
have something I want to fax over to you for I need your expert linguistic
skills ... "

CHAPTER FOUR

As a thank you for all their hard work in cleaning out the attic, Mrs. Emerson
treated the girls to dinner at Johnny Rockets Café""a popular chain of the
nostalgic '50s burger joint. After dropping off the map to Dr. Bowman, Lila
checked out a book on pirates in order to learn more about Fenn Shyser on her
own, and spent every bit of her free time during the day time engrossed in it.

Reading of what Tina remembered from her grandfather's stories, Captain Shyser
was a notorious pirate during the late 17th Century who sailed the seas from
Cuba up to the Florida gulf coast in his ship, the Devil's Fork. His exploits
were legendary at the time for he looted and pillaged over fifty ships, but
his biggest claim to fame was the acquisition of the fabled lost treasure of
Atlantis, which was enroute to Mexico by the Spanish explorer, Juan de Paolo.

After Shyser stole the treasure, the Spanish Armada was after him. In an
effort to keep the treasure for himself, he buried it and produced a map to
find it afterwards. However, he was killed sometime later during a fierce
ambush by the Armada as he refused to be taken prisoner. In the wake of his
death, the Spanish searched everywhere to find the treasure, but Shyser hid it
very well for even of his own men that survived didn't know where it was. Only
with the map could it be successfully located, and that had somehow
mysteriously vanished ...

When dinner was over, the three girls convened over at Ashley's place for a
sleepover so that they could do a little treasure planning. All dressed in
their nightshirts for the evening, Lila unrolled the map on the carpet in
Ashley's bedroom, and included with it were Bowman's lengthy handwritten notes
he graciously provided.

After finishing with painting her toenails, Tina took the notes and began
reading them silently. She then looked at the map at where the starting point
would be and pointed to it. "According to what it says here, the starting
point is listed as the old Spanish Mission, which is right outside of town."

The Mission was one of the oldest structures on the Florida west coast, dating
back to the time of Shyser's era. Lila recalled in her mind where that was
located. "It's pretty far out, but we could make it there on our bikes." Lila
had her bicycle presently stowed in the garage for she rode it over here this
morning after taking the small detour to the library.

"Yeah, but I don't have mine ... " Tina complained for her mother dropped her
off instead.

"You could borrow Courtney's. She doesn't ride it anymore since she says it's
too juvenile now," Ashley offered to her friend.

"Then it's settled ... " Lila spoke, " ... we get up early in the morning to
find the treasure of Captain Shyser."

CHAPTER FIVE

Dr. Bowman opened the front door of the library prior to opening as he
reported in for another day at his retirement job. He liked the steady hours
and the laid back atmosphere there, a far change from the constant traveling
across the globe looking for ancient artifacts.

"Marilyn?" he called out as he did not see her anywhere. Marilyn Herschel, the
librarian on duty, opens up in the morning for she lived close by. She always
sits at her desk and greets him when he walks in. He figured she might be in
the restroom for a change.

As he walked by her large desk, he heard the sound of thumping coming from
over there. Curious, he walked around it, then dropped his briefcase at what
he saw before him!

Marilyn was sitting hunched underneath her desk, securely bound in a ball-tie
with rope, and gagged & blindfolded with duct tape. Her muffled mewls
indicated that she was sobbing. "Oh my God! ... Marilyn!" he screamed and
rushed over to aid his captive co-worker.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you ... " a strange European accented voice
suddenly spoke from out of nowhere.

Looking around from where he heard the mysterious voice, Dr. Bowman suddenly
saw a group of men""seven to be exact""standing nearby. They were all dressed
in black head to toe.

"What's the meaning of all this? ... " Bowman spoke shakily, but steadfastly.
"Why is Marilyn tied up?"

"It was necessary to keep the woman restrained until your arrival," the man
with that voice said coolly as he began approaching slowly.

"I-I don't understand? ... What do you want with me? ... " Bowman asked again,
this time in fear.

"The map you have in your possession, I want it," the man spoke very
deliberately.

"How do you know about that ... and who are you people? ... " Bowman asked
softly in utter confusion.

He stopped in front of the frightened head-of-the-library, looking icily at
him with his cold blue eyes. "Who we are is none of your concern right now,
and as for the map, your friend that you contacted yesterday for help ... he
unwittingly let it be known to us of his work at decoding the writing." He
began to slowly pace around as he continued speaking, "But we were unable to
intercept the fax he sent back to you in time." Bowman had only made copies of
the text portions of the map.

"What did you do to Ennio? ... " Bowman spoke again quietly.

"I think you should be more interested in what will happen to you if the map
is not handed over to me right now ... " the man spoke this time only mere
inches from Bowman's sweaty face.

"I-I don't have it anymore, I swear ... " he stammered in response.

Studying his body language very carefully, the man could tell that he was in
fact telling the truth""a pity ... "So tell me, Dr. Bowman ... who then has it
now?"

* * *

Arriving at the old Spanish Mission, the three girls stopped their bikes right
in front of it. Ashley looked uneasy as she examined the dilapidated building
while stepping off her bicycle. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea coming
here after all ... " she said warily of the foreboding structure.

"What's to be scared about, it's just an abandoned building," Tina said
pointedly for she was eager to get this hunt started.

Lila walked up to the rusted steel door and pulled at it to see if it would
open, which it did a little. "Come here ... " she called out to Tina and
Ashley, " ... I need your help in getting this door open."

Each of them grabbed hold of the immense door and pulled it with all of their
youthful might. There was approximately a two-foot gap, plenty of room for a
bunch of thirteen-year-old girls to pass through. It was fortunate that this
area was deserted for there was no one around to see them trespassing as they
crept in.

Inside looked much worse as there was garbage strewn all around for it looked
like people had been in here recently. "Looks like some wild party took place
here," Tina said judging by all the smashed beer bottles, empty containers of
food, and the burnt-out makeshift fire pit in the center of the expansive
room.

"Let's hope they don't come back here anytime soon ... " Ashley spoke
nervously, her high-pitched voice echoing off the large concrete walls.

"Oh, man ... I'm gonna ruin my nice shoes walking through this mess!" Tina
complained as she carefully stepped through the broken shards of glass in her
red ballet flats, for which she wore with a pink & white striped short-sleeved
top and denim blue miniskirt.

"What did you expect this outing would be ... " Lila called out to her
fashion-conscious friend, " ... a walk through the park?" Lila and Ashley both
dressed a bit more sensibly for this trip as Lila had on a lemon yellow
sleeveless top, white shorts with white Skechers sneakers, and Ashley sported
a light blue T-shirt, faded denim shorts, and white Nike sneakers.

"I can't help it if I want to look good all the time," Tina defended herself
adamantly, "it's the Cuban blood in me." It was a known fact that the Palermo
women took great pride in their appearance, even if it went against common
sense.

Unrolling the map, Lila looked at it, then carefully scanned the perimeter of
the large room they were in. Tina wore the medallion around her neck since it
was she that knew the symbol, while Ashley carried a green knapsack on her
back filled with various supplies they figured they would need.

"There's gotta be some kind of clue here leading us in the right direction ...
" Lila's voice trailed off as she continued looking all around her. Tina and
Ashley also looked carefully at other parts of the room.

"Over here!" Ashley suddenly shouted. The other two ran over to their brainy
friend who was pointing at something on the wall.

"It's the Devil's Fork!" Tina exclaimed at seeing a small depiction of that
symbol carved in the white stone.

"Good eyes, Ash!" Lila praised. "Now, there should be something of interest on
this wall here as well."

As the other two were searching thoroughly at different parts of the wall,
Tina placed her fingers over the engraved pictogram, then looking at it up
close she noticed a very faint crease in the stone all around it. Taking the
medallion, Tina placed it over the carving and noticed to her surprise that it
fit perfectly! She then rotated it a quarter-turn clockwise, and a deep
rumbling noise was suddenly heard.

All three of them looked in fascination as a whole section of the wall began
to move slowly away, revealing a secret opening on the other side!

"Whoa, Tina! ... " Lila said amazed, " ... how did you know to do that!"

"I remember seeing something like that on National Treasure, figured it was
worth a shot."

Lila smiled at Tina's ingenuity for it looked like she was not just the pretty
one in the group anymore. She then walked over behind Ashley and opened up the
knapsack, pulling out a flashlight. "We're going in there?" Ashley peeped
tensely at the darkened passageway looming in front of them.

"Yep ... " Lila responded plainly, turning on the light ...

CHAPTER SIX

Even after threatening to end his life through grueling torture, Dr. Bowman
still would not divulge the name of the person who has possession of the map.
The man found his courage to be admired, but pointless in the end for he was
going to find out what he needs to know. Two of his men went searching through
his office trying to find some sort of clue, and as luck would have it, one
was found. Looking at the small post-it note he saw the name written on it
with reference to a map ... Lila Spencer.

Leaving Bowman and his co-worker tied up in the restrooms, the mysterious
group of men locked the library up and headed for their van parked at the rear
of the building for a quick getaway.

Dialing the number listed on the note, a voice mail of that of a young girl
was heard asking cheerily to leave a message. Hanging up the phone, he looked
perplexed for what would a child be doing with the map in the first place? He
then turned to one of his associates, who was busy typing away on a laptop.
"Have you found anything about our target?" he asked anxiously for he felt
that time was slipping away as he didn't want anyone else getting to that
treasure for the consequences would be grave.

"I have a home phone number and an address," he replied quickly. "Shall we
proceed over there?"

Shaking his head he replied, "No ... Since it's a young girl we're apparently
after now, asking about her will only draw undue attention to ourselves for we
must maintain a low profile."

"I could track her cell phone's location ... " the associate proposed with
smooth confidence.

He grinned at his suggestion for he had some of the best people when it came
to finding someone. "Do it ... " he replied.

* * *

Walking carefully down the aged, stone passage, Lila took that lead aiming the
flashlight directly ahead of them. Tina strolled along at her right side
slightly behind, while Ashley followed very close behind grasping Tina's
shoulders in utter fear.

Lila paused for a moment and stared in wonderment of the place they were in.
"Just think, three hundred years ago actual pirates built this tunnel," her
voice echoed.

"Yeah, really great ... " Tina replied sarcastically while she shivered
slightly. "I should've brought a sweater with me ... it's freezing in here!"

Lila shivered a little herself, but didn't seem to mind for she was still too
fascinated with her surroundings. "It was very clever of Captain Shyser to
hide his treasure underneath a Spanish Mission for he figured that would be
the last place the Spaniards would think to look," she said recalling of what
she read in that book.

Just then, a shrilling noise was heard, sending the girls in a shrieking
fright, especially Ashley who screamed loudly. Lila quickly recognized the
sound as being her cell phone ringing. Calming down, she pulled it out of her
shorts pocket.

"You still get service down here?" Tina asked in surprise. "Because if so, I'm
signing up with your phone plan."

Lila looked at the number on her caller ID and didn't recognize it, probably
some telemarketer for she gets them from time to time. "We must not be that
far in the tunnel for the signal to still get through," she replied to Tina's
comment.

"It seems like we've been in far enough," Ashley spoke timidly as she too was
getting cold.

"Look, Ash ... " Tina said agitated to her scared friend, " ... if you don't
want to go any further, then there's the exit." She pointed back towards the
lighted end of the tunnel.

Ashley seriously contemplated on leaving for this adventure was just getting a
little too nerve-racking for her. A rumbling sound was then heard from behind
and the three girls turned in shock at seeing the entrance close back up,
leaving the tunnel in complete darkness, save for the flashlight.

"S-so what do we do now? ... " Tina spoke in a hushed frightened voice not
that dissimilar to Ashley's.

"I guess we have no choice but to press on further ... " Lila responded with a
nervousness in her controlled voice.

The three of them huddled closely together as they slowly made their way
deeper in the cold tunnel ...

CHAPTER SEVEN

The bicycles lying out in front of the abandoned Mission instantly told him
that were indeed at the right location for the trace worked perfectly, and
judging by the décor of them they were now dealing with three young girls ...
how interesting ...

Inside, the eight men searched around the cluttered place figuring out where
those girls had went off to. "I found something!" one of them yelled out,
causing the rest of them to converge over to him. Pointing at the ground near
a wall was fresh groove marks, and nearby on that wall was the unmistakable
symbol of The Devils Fork.

The man's brow furrowed as he looked deeply troubled. "I was afraid of this
... they also have the medallion." It was bad enough that the map was
discovered by someone else, but the presence of the medallion made the
situation even more urgent.

"What do we do now, sir?" someone asked as his men all looked at him
anxiously.

"Blow the wall ... " he responded simply.

* * *

Trudging through the darkened passageway for quite awhile, the girls soon felt
drops of water splashing on them. "Just great ... " Tina spoke up
despondently, " ... first it gets cold, and now we're gonna be drenched. There
better be a really good treasure waiting for us for I'm gonna need a serious
spa & makeover when this is all over."

"Sounds like the princess misses her castle," Ashley responded jokingly for
she was dealing with her fear with some doses of humor""a little trick her
mother had told her whenever she was afraid.

"We must be near some kind of underground spring," Lila theorized as the
ground they walked on was completely soaked.

Soon after up ahead, the flashlight revealed a closure in the tunnel. "Well,
that's just perfect ... " Tina complained again, " ... we go all this way just
to reach a dead end."

Lila inspected the blockage carefully. "There doesn't seem to appear any
evidence that there was a cave-in, it's just as if they stopped digging ...
but that doesn't make any sense." Pulling out the map again, Lila handed the
flashlight over to Tina while she unrolled it. Tracing where they were headed
did seem to point out that it was indeed a dead end.

"These pirates certainly have a cruel sense of humor ... " Tine spoke glumly.

Ashley looked at the map as well, and stepped in between them. "Ever since
last night in my room, I noticed that there were slight creases in it like it
had been folded at one time." Ashley took the corners of the parchment and
began carefully refolding it. A portion of the map was placed over where the
dead end was indicated""revealing a connecting tunnel!

Lila's blue eyes brightened at this revelation, "Good work, Ash ... Now to
find it."

Tina began aiming the flashlight at the tunnel walls looking for perhaps
another Devils Fork symbol carved into it, since she realized that this
medallion she wore was some kind of key""and sure enough she found one.
Stepping up to it, she placed the medallion over it and rotated it to the
right again.

Another rumbling sound was heard as a section of the wall opened up, revealing
an adjoining tunnel perpendicular. Lila placed the map back into its case as
Tina entered in first with Ashley following close behind while she now took
the rear.

Suddenly, the ground shook momentarily along with a distant rumble sound.
"What was that?" Lila asked.

"It felt almost like an explosion," Ashley speculated. "Maybe there's some
kind of demolition work going on close by."

"Well, at least this tunnel is dry," Tina spoke happily as she continued
walking through it.

It wasn't very long until they reached the ending of this new passageway,
however upon reaching it, the three young girls were forced to a halt as a new
problem surfaced ...

"You have got to be kidding ... you expect me to cross that?!" Ashley
exclaimed in alarm at the presence of a makeshift rope bridge hanging
precariously over a wide chasm, which seemed to drop forever. Some light
coming from above bathed the entire area in a muted bluish hue.

Tina carefully pressed her small foot on one of the wooden planks, which held
her weight. "It seems sturdy enough ... "

"Well, you can cross first and we'll wait right here," Ashley suggested evenly
for she was deathly afraid of heights.

"Fine by me ... " she replied plainly. After handing the flashlight over to
Lila, she began slowly traversing the bridge. Tina may be afraid of some
things, but surprisingly heights wasn't one of them. About half way over, she
turned back to her friends. "See ... nothing to be worried about. Just walk
slowly," her voice echoed audibly off the chasm walls.

Ashley looked scared for she still didn't move. "C'mon, we'll walk through it
together," Lila offered in a comforting voice.

"Okay, but you go first," she said hopefully.

"Uh-uh ... I'm making sure you don't chicken out," Lila replied sternly.

Ashley exhaled and placed her sneakered foot on the first plank then slowly
placed the other one onto the next plank. Lila began to follow her when she
heard a noise coming from behind. Gazing into the darkened tunnel, she aimed
the flashlight into it. The noise, which was getting increasingly louder,
sounded a lot like the rapids on Sawmill River.

Suddenly the light caught something in the darkness, and Lila's blue eyes went
wide with panic as she saw that the entire tunnel was becoming engulfed with
rushing water!

CHAPTER EIGHT

"What's wrong?" Tina asked urgently as she noticed Ashley and Lila rushing
across the bridge, causing it to sway dangerously.

"Tina ... get to the other side, now!" Lila yelled out.

No longer being afraid of crossing the bridge now, Ashley was almost upon Tina
when she reached the other end of it. Lila, however, stumbled as her foot
broke through one of the planks causing her to fall a bit further behind them
when just then, WHOOSH! ... a huge stream of water gushed out of the tunnel
and down into the chasm. The force of the water was so strong against the
fragile bridge that the aged ropes began to snap against the tremendous
pressure.

Lila felt the bridge begin to buckle as the end behind her was weakening. She
ran as fast as she could against the uneven planks, when suddenly the bridge
collapsed! Lila screamed as she held on for dear life, swinging towards the
other side of the chasm at full speed!

Slamming really hard against the solid rock wall caused Lila to lose her grip
and began to fall into the abyss below, but somehow she managed to quickly
grab hold one of the ropes, halting her descent. She noticed her flashlight
falling down the chasm until the darkness deep below swallowed it.
Fortunately, the map case was strapped around her torso diagonally, so it
still hung onto her. Lila hung there motionless, frightened beyond belief. Now
I'm not so sure that this was such a good idea ...

"Lila, are you there?!" the frantic cries of Tina echoed loudly over the
deafening noise of the water pouring.

"Y-yes ... " she managed to say. She then looked up to see Ashley and Tina
staring down at her.

"Are you hurt?" Ashley asked immediately.

"No ... I'm alright, just a little shaken up," she replied weakly.

"Can you climb up?" Tina asked worriedly.

Pressing her foot on one of the planks, Lila began the slow ascent towards her
friends. "Just take your time, you're almost there," Ashley spoke with a
reassuring tone in her voice for she often handles herself well under
pressure.

Lila reached out with her arm and Tina grabbed her hand firmly pulling her up
with Ashley helping by wrapping her arms around Tina's narrow waist. The two
girls with their combined might pulled their distressed friend out of harm's
way as Lila now laid on the floor of the tunnel, thankful to be still alive.
Ashley and Tina rushed to a still shaken Lila, helping her up and giving a
great big group hug.

The water flowing at the other end of the chasm began to diminish and
eventually stopped altogether.

"What the hell was that?" Tina asked in total bewilderment in regards to that
sudden deluge.

"That tremor we felt must've weakened the walls of the tunnel releasing the
water on the other side of it," Ashley replied in one of her analytical
explanations.

"I lost the flashlight ... " Lila spoke up for she still seemed a bit
shell-shocked from her terrifying experience.

"Who cares about a stupid flashlight? ... " Tina replied heartily, giving Lila
another quick hug, " ... I'm just glad we didn't lose you!"

Ashley reached into her knapsack""which was off her back at the moment""and
pulled out a smaller light, but it still shined just as bright. "I took the
liberty of packing a spare ... just in case." Lila smiled for Ashley always
came prepared.

"Come on ... " Lila said with renewed strength in her voice as she took the
light from Ashley, " ... we gotta keep moving."

"Yeah ... hopefully there aren't anymore surprises waiting for us ... " Tina
replied warily as they all headed down this new tunnel.

CHAPTER NINE

"Another dead end?" Tina exclaimed at the sight of an abrupt ending of the
tunnel they were traversing through.

"It seems like these Pirates really didn't want anyone to just simply walk to
the treasure," Ashley offered her thoughts as the trio stopped.

Aiming the small flashlight at the walls, Lila looked carefully for another
small carving of the Devils Fork, while Tina and Ashley did their own search
by feeling through the dark on the bumpy surface of the tunnel. Ashley stepped
her sneakered foot down and suddenly the ground gave way, squealing loudly as
she fell.

By some miracle, her hand managed to grasp a thick root, which halted her
plummet. Lila and Tina rushed over quickly to where they heard their friend.
Lila aimed the flashlight down to reveal a large open pit in the ground.
Looking up toward the shining light, Ashley looked happy at seeing her
friends, but soon noticed the shocked looks on their faces for they were
looking past her below. Turning her head down, Ashley gasped at what they were
seeing""two very old human skeletons impaled by large spikes at the bottom of
the deep hole. Ashley quietly gulped at almost meeting those corpses' fate.

Turning her head away from that ghastly sight, Ashley noticed something nearby
on the wall of the pit where the flashlight was shining""the Devil's Fork
carving!

"Tina ... " she spoke up, "I need to borrow your medallion ... I found another
carving."

She removed it from her neck and knelt down, handing it to Ashley's
outstretched arm. Lila looked nervous, hoping that large root would hold
Ashley's weight while she extended herself.

Placing the medallion right over the carving, Ashley turned it clockwise, but
it didn't move, so she turned it the other way.

A rumbling sound was suddenly heard as a section of the tunnel wall slowly
moved away, revealing another adjoining tunnel! Lila and Tina both looked
happy at seeing that, however, another rumbling noise came from the ground as
a huge slab of rock was rising up, separating them from where Ashley was! The
slab was wide enough to seal off the entire tunnel.

"Ashley!" Lila yelled through the roaring sound, " ... turn the medallion back
to its original position!"

"I can't ... it won't move!" she screamed back in a panicked tone.

Thinking quickly, Lila attempted to leap onto the slab in an effort to
retrieve her trapped friend, however, Tina stopped her. "Are you crazy, that
rock will crush you!" she noted as the slab was almost up to the ceiling.

"We can't just leave her!" Lila cried out in tears.

Ashley struggled to get herself out of the pit, while being careful not to
slip and fall on the deadly spikes below. She saw the slab reaching its apex
and wailed out, "NOOOOOOOO!!!! ... "

Her scream abruptly stopped as the slab sealed the tunnel shut. Lila pounded
her fists in futility on the rock face, "Ashley, can you hear me!?"

There was not even a peep coming from the other side for even though Ashley
was just ten feet away from them, she might as well have been back at the
Mission for that slab was utterly soundproof.

Just then the opening of the adjoining tunnel began to slowly close. Tina
started moving towards it, but noticed that Lila remained where she stood.
"C'mon Lila, before it closes in on us."

"We can't leave Ashley behind!" Lila cried out again.

"If we stay here, we may very well be trapped in this small space and run out
of air to breathe," Tina said quickly for the door was closing ever so more.
"Ashley can make it back to where the bridge was ... we can find her when we
finally get out of here!"

"But she has the medallion! What if we still need it!?" Lila exclaimed back.

Seeing that the passage was almost sealed, Tina grabbed her friend by the arm
and pulled her into the other tunnel just as the wall closed up.

CHAPTER TEN

Ashley finally crawled her way out of that pit and touched that cursed stone
slab that blocked her way. It was completely dark all around her that she
couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. She tried her utmost best
to regain her composure and not give into blind fear, for she was still alive
and had to believe that she was going to make it out of there. Seeing no other
choice available, Ashley began the trek back towards the chasm""at least there
was some light so she can see.

Staying close to the tunnel wall, she was able to make her way through the
darkness quite easily. Her thoughts immediately returned to Lila and Tina, for
she prayed for their safety. This little "game" of finding lost treasure has
spiraled way out of control now for it seems that their very lives were
hanging in the balance. Feeling the medallion dangling around her slender
neck, Ashley hoped that they would no longer need it for Lila still had the
map, which hopefully would get them back to the surface""and to rescue her.

A few minutes later, Ashley could see some light shining around a bend in the
tunnel, at first she thought it was the chasm, but the light was more luminous
than that dull blue-gray hue. Just then, she also heard the unmistakable sound
of footsteps approaching. Her first thought was that it was probably Lila and
Tina. But how did they backtrack from where they were? Perhaps they found
another tunnel and got around me ...

Excited, Ashley began running towards the light. However, upon reaching it,
she suddenly got the vague impression that whoever held that flashlight was
not her friends. Maybe it was someone trying to rescue them. But no one knows
they're down here as far as she knew.

Ashley began stepping back when suddenly strong hands grabbed her slim arms,
her feet dragged against rocky ground as she was being pulled forward.
Standing right in front of the blinding light, she saw a large hand reach for
her and snapped the medallion off of her neck. "W-who are you? ... " she asked
nervously.

"Where are your two friends?" a European-accented voice spoke coolly.

"I don't know ... we got separated ... " she responded meekly.

She could make out his hand rising up, then another man with a light ran past
her through the tunnel.

Ashley's eyes suddenly widen as a thought entered her mind. "That noise I
heard before the tunnel flooded, that was an explosion of the stone wall back
at the Mission. That was the only way you could've made it down here."

"Very smart girl," he replied evenly.

"But how did you know we were down here?" she asked a bit more confidently
now.

That other man returned back as Ashley heard him approach from behind. "She's
right ... " he said, " ... the whole tunnel is blocked off."

"We'll have to get through the efficient way again ... "

"Who are you people? What do you want?" Ashley asked urgently, fearing for her
friends as well as herself.

"I think you've done enough talking for now," was his only answer, and Ashley
suddenly felt her arms being pressed behind her back and something wrapped
around her thin wrists, binding them tightly together.

"Ahhhh ... " she moaned out, but her voice was cut short as she felt something
soft being forced into her open mouth, then was covered over by what felt like
a wide strip of tape, effectively muffling her cries. She squealed and writhed
in panic as she then felt her ankles being bound together as well.

Ashley began sobbing quietly for she was completely helpless and at the utter
mercy of these mysterious men ...

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Making their way carefully down this newest tunnel, Tina stopped for a moment
and turned to Lila, shining the flashlight between the two of them. Lila could
see that her brown eyes were filled with tears. "I-I'm sorry ... about leaving
Ashley back there ... " she muttered between sobs, "I just ... reacted to the
situation."

Lila embraced her friend as she too began to weep. "It's okay, Tina ... " she
soothed, "I know now that there wasn't anything we could've done to help her."
She stepped back, wiping a long tear from Tina's cheek. "I too also just
reacted," Lila confessed. "But right now we need to focus on getting out of
here and rescue Ashley," Lila spoke determinedly. "Knowing her, she'll most
likely be waiting for us at the chasm. We can get the police to blow that wall
back at the Mission."

Tina then blew her nose with her pink handkerchief she carried along. "You're
right ... as always," she said with a slight chuckle to her voice, then her
face became serious again. "But what if we need the medallion again in order
to get out of here?"

Lila tried not to think about that too much, for hopefully the usefulness of
the medallion had now run its course in this treasure hunt. "We still have the
map, so that's gotta count for something," she replied optimistically. Tina
turned around, aiming the light deep into the tunnel, and proceeded to follow
where it led to.

A few hundred feet down, the tunnel had ended into a large cavern. Tina swung
the flashlight around and it shined onto some kind of structure""like a
house""in the center. The two girls made their way over there.

Reaching the entrance of it, Lila pulled the map out. "Tina, I need some light
here."

Moving her eyes carefully at the aged parchment, Lila soon pinpointed the spot
where they were presently located. There was some writing next to it, so she
grabbed her notes. "You must enter the house of judgment ... for only the
virtuous can pass through," she quoted from the translation.

"What do they mean by that ... virtuous?" Tina asked perplexed.

"I guess we need to find that out in there ... " Lila spoke cautiously as she
looked upon the large wooden door in front of them.

The old door opened with a loud creak, and just then the interior was
illuminated as torches mounted on the two walls suddenly burst to flame.
Stepping inside slowly, Lila entered first as she quickly scanned the spacious
one-room interior. Situated on either side were these weird looking armored
suits that sort of resembled the old Spanish explorers. They were fashioned in
an upright sitting position, facing each other. Other than that, the room was
empty. At the far end, Lila noticed another door""their destination.

After Tina stepped inside, the front door suddenly closed shut, sealing them
in! She tried to open it, but it was locked tight.

"So all we need to do is just walk across these statues? ... That doesn't
sound so hard," Tina reasoned.

Just then, Lila caught the smell a slight sweet aroma in the air, like from a
scented candle. Walking towards the other door, she thought she saw one of the
statue's "head" rotate at her! Rubbing her eyes, she looked again and saw that
it was still facing straight, like all the others. It was then she felt her
head begin to spin a little.

Turning back to where Tina was, she saw her friend suddenly rush at her with a
crazed look in her brown eyes. She threw herself onto Lila, knocking her down
hard on the wooden floor. "Tina ... what the heck is the matter with you!?"
Lila yelled as she struggled to pull her maniacal friend off.

Tina didn't answer as she grabbed some of Lila's long hair and began pulling
it furiously. "Get off of me ... Oooowwww ... !" she screamed out.

Using all her body weight, Lila rolled over on top of Tina who had managed to
lose her grip on Lila's auburn tresses.

Pinning Tina's arms down on the floor, Lila looked into her face and saw this
blind animal rage, which completely baffled her. All of a sudden, Lila saw
Tina's face began to change into some grotesque form. "Aaaaaahhhhh ... !" she
yelled in fright while pushing herself away from her.

Lila then all of a sudden began feeling aggressive and felt compelled to
attack her, so she lunged at her, but Tina""still lying on the floor""saw that
and grabbed Lila by the ankle, causing her to stumble head first into one of
the statues seated with a loud CRASH!

The impact had dazed her mind, which cleared it for a moment, and she realized
what was going on. That odor in the air must be some sort of hallucinogenic
gas, designed to drive those insane enough to kill each other!

Getting back to her feet, Lila quickly bent down on one knee as Tina rushed at
her again. At the right moment, she launched herself at her crazed friend,
picking her up bodily by the shoulder. Lila had only mere seconds left before
the gas would completely overcome her as she made a mad dash for the other
door.

Reaching it, she tried opening it while Tina squirmed violently in her grasp.
Lila began feeling really lightheaded again, but fought it off with every
ounce of strength she had left as she finally opened the door and ran out with
Tina scratching her brutally.

Once out of that room and free of the effects of that revolting gas, Tina's
head began to clear and she looked at her injured friend with tremendous guilt
on her face. "Oh, Lila ... " she cried out, " ... I'm so sorry. I-I don't know
what came over me, but I just couldn't stop myself. Please forgive me!"

"It's alright ... " Lila replied sympathetically, " ... that gas was so
powerful, I almost succumbed to it." She winced at the raw pain from the deep
scratches on her bare arms. "Just do one thing for me please ... " Lila said,
" ... keep your fingernails trimmed."

Tina helped Lila up to her feet, and she took notice at their new
surroundings. The other end of that house was connected to a new tunnel for
which Lila now took the lead with flashlight in hand, hoping to soon find the
end of this hazardous journey ...

CHAPTER TWELVE

Appearing at the cavern's entrance, the mysterious man surveyed the
surroundings with his flashlight, settling on the quaint looking structure up
ahead. There were, however, seemed to be no sign of the other two girls
around. Perhaps they made it past here ... or perhaps not ...

"Fan out and search ... " he spoke purposely. Six of his men then immediately
spread out into the spacious grotto. Stepping up behind him was the largest
member of the group, who grasped over his shoulder, a bound and gagged, and
very frightened Ashley. She whimpered softly through her sealed lips as she
couldn't keep herself from crying since her captivity.

After a few minutes of waiting, one of the other men returned back. "There's
no sign of anyone, sir," he reported dutifully.

"Then they must've went in there ... " the leader pointed at the building.

Walking towards it, another member of the team approached him. "Excuse me, sir
... " he said quickly, " ... but I think I may have found a passage leading
out of here."

Turning towards him, he replied evenly, "Take another man and confirm it."

The rest of the group then converged at the entrance to the building where the
leader examined the rudimentary architect. He pointed to two of his men
standing close by and motioned them to the door. They obediently opened it
stepped carefully inside. The door closed shut behind them followed by
silence.

A minute later, the sounds of screams from inside were heard, which then
abruptly ended. Ashley reacted upon hearing that as the noises sounded like
cries of agony.

"Well, that ends that ... " the leader spoke dryly as he quickly turned and
headed to where his other two men were located at the far end of the cavern.

Reaching it, he looked down and noticed some steps carved into the stone,
leading down to a partially blocked opening. Light appeared from it as the two
men appeared through.

"It definitely leads out, but I'm not sure how far, and I can't tell if those
girls went through here," he reported back to the leader.

He walked over to their little captive, grabbing her chin with his
black-gloved hand. "You must've saw the map ... is this an exit out of here?"

Ashley trembled at his cruel touch, and just looked at him with a confused
look in her terrified blue eyes.

Seeing little choice available, he climbed down the steps and went though the
opening followed by what remained of his team. Ashley closed her eyes, praying
that Lila and Tina would somehow make it out safely, and also that she would
be able to see her mom and sister again.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Traversing down yet another tunnel, the girls soon came upon a junction
showing three different routes to take. "Now which way?" Tina spoke a little
queasy as she was still recovering from the effects of that strange gas.

Opening the map, with Tina providing some light, Lila followed on it the
tunnel they were in, but the three different routes were not shown as it just
ended into nothing""she had a gut feeling that they must be close to finding
the treasure. "The map doesn't give us any help on where to go ... "

"So what do we do ... turn back?" Tina groaned for she did not want to go back
into the death trap that had barely escaped. "Maybe there's some sort of clue
here that could point us in the right direction," she said hopefully, and
shined the flashlight all over the tunnel walls. "Look! ... " she beamed
excitedly, " ... there's a marking of the Devil's Fork on one of tunnels ...
That must be the one to take!"

"Hold on ... " Lila replied sharply, " ... that sounds a little too easy."
Looking at the map more carefully, she noticed something of interest. "There
are some faint folding marks at where our tunnel ends." Using the same trick
that Ashley had figured out, Lila carefully refolded a section of the map, and
it revealed another marking at the juncture. "It's a weird looking 'C', sort
of like the Euro symbol."

Tina shined at the other two connecting tunnels and found it etched on the
right-ended one. "That was a clever ploy ... " Tina observed, " ... without
the map, someone would've been going in the wrong direction."

"Speaking of wrong directions ... " Lila interjected while still studying the
map, " ... I just found something here I didn't notice before""another passage
leading out of that cavern, and there's some writing next to it." Pulling out
the translations again, she read it aloud, "Avoiding the House of Judgment
will lead you into the Pit of Despair ... "

Tina had an ominous look on her face upon hearing that. "Whoa ... I guess we
sidestepped one nasty passageway by the sound of that ... "

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The group of six men (and one girl in tow) trudged along in single file
through the narrow tunnel. The leader, of course, led the party with
flashlight in hand, all the while trying to mask the building excitement over
his typical icy disposition at the thought that the long lost treasure Fenn
Shyser was finally within his grasp. He had been searching for it for most of
his life now that nothing else mattered to him. He just hoped that those other
two meddling girls didn't get to it first ...

He suddenly stopped""as everyone behind him did just the same""and furrowed
his brow in frustration at the presence of another blockage ahead. It's good
that we brought enough explosives ...

"Shall I set the charges, sir?" one of his men spoke quickly.

Shining the light around the obstruction, his brown eyes lit up at something.
He stepped closer to it and discovered that it was a carving of the Devil's
Fork imbedded in the rock. Remembering one of the purposes of the medallion,
he placed it firmly over the carving and rotated it to the left""nothing
happened.

Waiting anxiously for several more seconds, he motioned to his man with the
explosives to come forward. It was just then that a soft rumbling sound was
heard, which seemed to be coming from everywhere. The eerie noise grew slowly
louder, and in conjunction, the tunnel began to vibrate.

"I've got a really bad feeling about this ... " another man said in a hushed
nervous tone.

Ashley darted her green eyes fearfully all around the darkened tunnel as she
guessed that those men had just activated some type of trap, which she felt
with a nauseating sensation in her stomach that none of them""including
her!""will make it out of here alive.

As if everyone was expecting something dreadful to happen, the noise and
trembling suddenly stopped, and an equally eerie silence then followed. No one
in the tunnel made a sound, as the place was deathly quiet.

Without any warning the ground underneath suddenly opened up""two of the men
standing in the middle of the party were quickly swallowed up as the hole
began to slowly expand. The other two that were furthest from the blockage
began running back the way they came, but were abruptly stopped as a heavy
stone slab fell from above, trapping them all! Ashley was dropped to the
ground rather roughly as the large man that carried her began frantically
clawing away at the makeshift stone wall.

Meanwhile, the leader tried turning the medallion back to its original
position, but it wouldn't budge! "Blow the wall!" he shouted to his companion
standing close by.

"But were too close ... the blast could kill us," he responded back shakily.

"Destroying the mechanism that triggered this death trap, may be the only way
of stopping it, otherwise we're all dead anyway!"

Lying on the ground, Ashley squealed through her gag as she tried desperately
to slither away from the ever-expanding hole while it approached her bound
feet.

After planting a small charge on the rock surface, the two of them made their
way as close to the edge of the widening hole as possible. "Fire in the hole!"
he shouted out, and everyone left in the tunnel crouched down with their heads
tucked between their legs. One of the men near Ashley also wrapped himself
over her in an effort to shield the defenseless girl.

A deafening BOOM! was then followed as rock and debris were sprayed
everywhere. The leader felt his hands give way as the ground receded from
where he was crouched, but it suddenly stopped before going any further. He
managed a weak smile under his controlled fear as it seemed as though his idea
had worked.

Standing up to his feet, he walked back to what remained of the blockage only
to reveal more stone behind it""as if the pirates had just stopped digging.

"The hole doesn't appear to be that long ... " the demolition man spoke as he
observed it with his flashlight, " ... we can still repel over it and blast
the other end to escape."

"And go where ... ?" the leader responded in exasperation, " ... back to that
house where Simmons and Carthage were 'dispatched'?"

"Then where did those other girls go, if not in that house or though here?" he
attempted to reason with his frustrated leader. "Having that map is the means
to finding the treasure."

Banging his gloved fist forcefully into the blown-out rock in aggravation at
having to endure yet another obstacle in his life-long quest, the leader
suddenly felt a slight draft coming from there. "It seems that we may have a
third option available to us ... "

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

After walking for what seemed like a half-hour, Lila and Tina noticed a spark
of light in the tunnel ahead. Excited by that, they ran towards it with hope
that their little quest was finally over. As they approached, Lila could see
that the light was coming from another chamber.

"Do you think this could finally be it?" Tina asked eagerly as she was now
running ahead of her auburn-tressed friend.

"I hope so ... " Lila replied between breaths as the entrance to the chamber
grew larger by the second.

Just as she was about to enter, Tina tripped on a small rock lying in the
middle of the tunnel. Landing hard face first, the flashlight slipped out of
her hand and sailed ahead across the ground. Upon reaching the entrance, the
flashlight was then instantly smashed to pieces as a very large mallet-type
object made of stone came swiftly plummeting from overhead.

Lila went to help Tina pick herself up, and the two girls watched in shock as
the mallet repositioned itself back up in its hiding place.

"Wonderful greeter at the door ... " Tina half-joked, wiping the dirt off her
top. "There's no way to get past that without being turned into a pancake."

"There must be someway of disabling that device ... " Lila spoke more to
herself. "We came this far that we can't turn back now." Thoughts of Ashley
alone and scared came coming back to her.

"Got any bright ideas?" Tina asked almost mockingly, but hoped that her
resourceful friend did have one.

After thinking for a few moments, Lila's blue eyes lit up. "There was
something I noticed back in the tunnel that just might work!" Running back
deeper in the tunnel, Tina followed her. "But we don't have the flashlight,
how're we gonna see!" she shouted back.

"It wasn't that far down, the light in here should be enough for us," Lila
replied quickly.

Stopping suddenly, Lila began searching all around the walls of the tunnel.
Reaching her, Tina stopped as she was a bit out of breath. "So what exactly
are we looking for?"

"Walking through here, I happened to notice what appeared to be some sort of
tree trunk."

"A tree all the way down here?" Tina responded flabbergasted.

Finding it protruding out from the tunnel wall, Lila touched its rough
surface. "Just as I thought ... it feels like it's fossilized. Probably been
buried here for millions of years."

"Okay, now you're starting to sound like Ashley," Tina gibed, but her thoughts
suddenly drifted back to their missing comrade as well ...

"Help me try and pull this out ... " Lila said, grabbing the wide trunk with
both arms. Tina grabbed another section and began pulling as well with all her
might. "This feels more like rock than wood ... "

"That's because it's 'fossilized' ... " Lila retorted back, " ... didn't you
learn anything from Mr. Foreman's Earth Science class?"

"Never had a thing for science ... too boring for me."

Lila could begin feeling the trunk start moving from its spot as she had hoped
that the tunnel walls were not so solid. "Almost there ... " she said,
stepping back slowly.

The trunk then fell to the ground with a banging thud. It was maybe only five
feet long as it was just the lower end of a much larger tree. "You really
think this is gonna stop that giant hammer?"

"As you said, it feels more like rock, so with any luck it'll be strong enough
to withstand the force of that mallet," Lila responded with a sense of
optimism. "C'mon, let's get this over there."

Being that the aged truck is cylindrical made it easier to roll it down the
tunnel, but the heaviness of it made that task rather cumbersome. After
finally reaching the entrance to the chamber, the girls pivoted the trunk 90
degrees so that it would fit easily through the opening while still providing
sufficient clearance for them.

"Okay, now we push really hard and fast to get it right over the opening,"
Lila said to her fatigued friend as she regained her strength. Both girls
placed their hands on the end of it and started pushing again with all their
might. Just as the trunk was over the threshold of the chamber, that huge
mallet came hurling down again, ramming itself against the fossilized object.

Lila saw to her delight that the trunk didn't shatter upon impact. "Go ...
now!" she shouted to Tina.

Crawling down on all fours, Tina scurried past the trunk without looking back.
Lila was quickly on her heels, but noticed while she was right alongside the
trunk, it began cracking all over for the pressure was becoming too much for
it to take. And just as she cleared the trunk, the mallet came crashing down,
landing mere inches from Lila's sneakered feet.

Standing back up, Lila looked in complete awe with Tina at the immense chamber
they now stood in. Numerous torches were situated all around providing
adequate light to see. Positioned against the walls were these long
rectangular boxes""like coffins but without the lids""and standing in them
were these skeletal remains, some still wearing tattered clothes.

"Who do you think they were?" Tina asked with a fearful tone at the ghastly
sight of them.

"Probably the men that dug these tunnels and hid the treasure," Lila replied
with some certainty.

"But if those men couldn't make it out of here, how're we going to?"

"The map made it out of here, so there must be a way out somewhere," Lila
tried to sound confidently.

Resting on a raised pedestal at one end of the chamber was the unmistakable
image of a treasure chest. Stepping up to it, Lila noticed of where the
keyhole would be was that recurring "Devil's Fork" symbol engraved on it.

"Just great ... " Tina complained in despair, " ... it looks like we really
did need that medallion after all."

"Hold up there ... " Lila interjected and inspected the symbol more closely.
"Look here ... " she said pointing at it, " ... there's these jagged lines all
around it."

"Yeah, so?" Tina spoke defeated.

"Well, that medallion was completely round at its edges, so maybe there's
another key that opens this, and maybe that key could be here."

Suddenly looking more positive again, Tina spoke while looking around, "Okay,
so if I were a key, where would I be hiding?"

"I'd start with those skeletons first," Lila reasoned as it was likely that
one of them carried it to his death.

"Eeeewwww ... gross!" Tina waved her hands in disgust at the nasty thought of
touching one of those hideous remains.

"Fine, I'll check them out ... you go look over there," Lila pointed to a
corner of the chamber that was not too well lit. "That is if you're too afraid
... " Lila snickered, which was followed by a dirty sneer from her more girly
friend.

Tina didn't like that remark Lila had made, but she was right about her
unwillingness to do nasty tasks, like inspecting some three-hundred year-old
dead person. Some things were just not meant to be carried out by a girl ...

Reaching the corner Lila suggested, Tina searched all over the area, but could
not find anything save for some rocks lying around. Turning back to leave, she
suddenly felt being grabbed from behind as strong hands seized her. She opened
her mouth to let out a scream, but was hindered as another hand clamped itself
tightly over it, stifling any cries she could utter. Her legs flailed in
futility as she was quickly dragged away from out of sight.

Meanwhile, Lila was too engrossed with her task of inspecting the "caretakers"
of this place. The skeleton she was currently looking at had an actual
eye-patch over its left eye, but still no sign of the key she was searching
for. However this particular skeleton had a plaque that was hanging around its
neck with some strange writing scrawled on it. Unrolling the map, Lila hoped
that maybe this writing was also on it as well for she would have it
translated.

As luck would have it, she managed to find the exact same grouping of symbols.
Retrieving her notes, she read the inscription aloud, "Those who would find
the treasure, be warned that the curse of Atlantis would ... "

" ... would inflict those that attempt to take it, a horrible fate ... "
another voice with an Eastern European sounding accent suddenly spoke from
behind her.

Twirling around in surprise, Lila saw this tall handsome-looking man dressed
in black staring down at her.

"Miss Lila Spencer, I presume? ... "

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Lila was still in complete disbelief at the thought that they were being
followed right from the very beginning! She glanced over at her two terrified
friends, who sat next to her on the ground, bound and gagged with duct tape.
The thought of Ashley being held captive all this time by these monsters made
Lila's blood boil with anger. However, she was now in the same predicament
herself as her hands were currently bound behind her back, and her ankles were
presently being wrapped securely together with that infernal tape.

Her mouth was at the moment, free to talk, so Lila did just that in order to
get some answers. "Who are you people, and how did you know that we were down
here?" she asked sternly to the leader as he stood over his little captives
with a slight smirk on his well-chiseled face.

"That seems to be the question of the day," he replied wittily, "but since you
so graciously helped lead us to the treasure, I guess I could accommodate your
request."

The man that tied up Lila had then grabbed a balled-up piece of cloth and was
moving towards her mouth""she cowered at that gesture. "No ... " the leader
announced to his man, " ... I wish for her to still speak."

Thankful that she wasn't about to be gagged (at least for the time being),
Lila spoke again, "I figured the only was you could've discovered that we had
the map was from Dr. Bowman."

"Right again ... " he replied coolly. "He played an unwitting role in this
quest."

"Then who are, judging from your accent, you must've traveled a long way to
here."

"You are certainly a very bright young lady," he marveled at her quick,
dead-on deduction. "My name is Maximilian Vaughn and I represent an order that
predates the Catholic Church. We're called the Centauri."

"Centauri ... " Lila mumbled softly. "I never heard of them."

"And you wouldn't," Vaughn continued, "We're a secret organization, whose
purpose is maintaining throughout history the balance of this planet."

"I don't understand ... " she said in total bewilderment.

"You've read about it on the Internet, watched it on the news ... Terrorism,
famine, global warming ... the world is spiraling fast down into an abyss from
which it will never climb out of."

Now Lila was getting really confused. "And taking this treasure is going to
solve all that? It's just some lost riches supposedly from Atlantis."

He crouched down on one knee, facing her eye to eye. "Oh, you disappoint me
... I thought you were so clever, maybe it's just your generation ... too busy
with your video games and text messaging each other that you've lost all touch
with the wealth of knowledge from history."

"I just happen to like history," Lila retorted sharply, "I've even read an
entire book on the legend of Fenn Shyser and his lost treasure."

He shook his head in disgust. "Then you've only read part of the story ... "
Lila could see a gleam in his brown eyes. "The value of this treasure here is
far more powerful than anything found on this planet."

Giving him a double-look, Lila asked, "Are you telling me that the fabled lost
treasure of Atlantis is actually from outer space?"

"That's precisely what I'm saying." He then stood back up, walking towards the
large chest. "History books only tell you part of the story, but the real
truth, that comes from actual documents that weren't tainted by centuries of
ignorance and censorship. Have you ever read about the lost city of Atlantis,
and how it was apparently destroyed?" Lila nodded 'yes' to his question.
"Well, you see the 'treasure' was actually responsible for that. Long ago, a
huge meteor crashed to Earth, leaving a good portion of it in one piece. The
Atlantians recovered it and discovered a powerful energy source inside still
intact. Believing that this was a gift given to them from the Gods, they
harnessed that energy, which was used to flourish their empire. Unfortunately,
as time went on, that alien energy proved too much for them to handle and it
literally blew up the entire continent off the face of the Earth in an
explosion more powerful than the combined nuclear arsenal of the United
States."

Lila sat there in stunned silence as she kept on listening intently ...

"After the treasure was discovered some three centuries ago, we attempted to
intercept it from the Spanish, but that rogue pirate, Shyser, got to it first,
and hid it very well where it was never to be found again. Then almost fifty
years ago an excavation team had uncovered a wreckage off the coast of
Portugal, and preserved inside were the map and medallion of Shyser's
treasure. Before we could acquire them it was stolen by one of our own
actually, for he felt that the power of the Atlantian treasure shouldn't
belong in anyone hands""he was so naà¯ve. We're not sure exactly what he did
with it, if it even still existed, but based on Dr. Bowman's account of the
map from you girls, I had ascertained that the stolen contents must have been
transferred unknowingly into the hands of a one Sgt. John Bateman, an U.S.
army soldier stationed in northern Italy at the time where our fugitive was
last known seen."

Ashley's green eyes bulged in surprise at the mention of her grandfather's
name, which now explains how he had acquired those artifacts.

"And now with the treasure finally in our hands, we will use it in a more
appropriate way by releasing its awesome power by way of a missile high up
into the atmosphere where it will explode sending out this catastrophic
electro-magnetic pulse that will disable every single electronically-powered
device worldwide, effectively shutting down the entire planet."

Lila finally exhaled after hearing that alarming monologue. "But you can't do
that ... everything will turn to absolute chaos! How will that bring balance
back? ... "

"The world will just simply start over again once the dust settles, and every
nation will be on the same, how you say ... 'playing field' ... " Vaughn
smiled wickedly at her, chuckling softly.

"Please, I beg you, don't ... ugggmmpphh! ... " the cloth was now thrust into
her mouth followed by a strip of tape placed firmly over it.

"It was enchanting speaking with you, Miss Spencer ... but I'm afraid that
business must be conducted."

Lila struggled furiously against the tape that bound her wrists, but she
couldn't break free of them. This maniac has got to be stopped! ... She saw
Vaughn holding the medallion in his hands and was twisting it along its edge,
suddenly these jagged protrusions popped out around its circumference. He then
placed it into the carving in the keyhole, and it was a perfect fit! Turning
it clockwise, then counter-clockwise, the lid of the chest suddenly popped
open at the seams with an ominous WHOOSH!

The other three men joined their leader as the girls were left alone. Lila
positioned herself in back of Tina, who was sitting right next to her, and
clawed at Tina's hands in an effort to remove the tape that bound them.
Meanwhile, Ashley focused her attention on the four men standing in front of
the chest with wide-eyed fascination.

The lid was raised as the contents within were finally revealed. A light
shined from inside followed by a very low, soft pulsing sound, which
reverberated across the entire chamber. Vaughn looked ecstatic as he gazed
upon the mystifying alien ore.

Ashley was completely enthralled by what was happening for she wished that she
could see it as well. Just then, a noise close by interrupted her fixation,
and she turned her head to the source of it. Looking at one of the skeletons
placed in the upright tomb, her green eyes went wide in utter disbelief and
shock as she saw one of its arms begin to move!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Despite the fact of being bound hand and foot, Ashley could not move at all as
she was paralyzed by absolute fear! Lila and Tina were too preoccupied with
freeing themselves that they didn't have the faintest clue of what was
stirring just behind them.

Lila had managed to grasp the tape end on Tina's wrists and was in the
grueling process of unraveling it. As Tina watched as best she could the slow
progress of her release, a shadow passed by in her peripheral vision. Glancing
her brown eyes towards it, her face slowly turned with an expression of a
person who had just seen death staring straight at them.

As if instinct took over, Tina began gingerly swatting her bound hands at Lila
to stop. Confused by her sudden erratic behavior, she looked over at Tina and
saw it also ...

At the now-opened treasure chest, the four men standing felt as though God
himself was gazing upon them""it was such a euphoric feeling. "What about the
curse? ... " one of them suddenly spoke faintly regarding the legend.

Vaughn just couldn't take his eyes off as he replied, "The curse is nothing
more than a myth, designed to frighten those who would seek the treasure, and
here we are ... no curse." As if right on cue, a shuffling noise was heard and
one of the men turned to it.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! ... " he screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the other
three to see what was happening ...

It was a sight seen only in fantasy films as the skeletal remains were now
suddenly animated by their own power walking purposely towards the horrified
quartet. Vaughn could not believe his eyes of what he was witnessing""it was
so surreal, so ... inexplicable.

One of the skeletons, the one wearing the eye patch, carried in his bony hand,
a long curved sword! He then raised it high over his grimy skull, and in a
flash, lunged it down at the man closest to him. Clutching at his abdomen in
intense pain, the man went down and lied on the ground motionless. That broke
the stupor of the other three, and they bolted into action fighting off the
hellish onslaught that had been unleashed upon them.

It took several moments for Lila to finally regain her senses, and continued
with her task at freeing Tina with a rush of urgency as if their lives
depended on it""which now it most certainly did. Tina could feel the pressure
around her wrists begin to subside, and she squirmed her slender hands through
and out of the sticky tape. Tina didn't even bother to free her gag as she
feverishly untied her ankles, then quickly went to work on freeing Lila's
hands. Meanwhile, Ashley still stayed transfixed in complete astonishment of
the other-worldly spectacle that was occurring right in front of her eyes ...

One of the other men""the one who carried Ashley""grabbed his nine millimeter
pistol and aimed it at a skeleton approaching with a dagger pointed at him. He
fired off a clean shot at the wrist, blowing the hand (with dagger) right off!
Looking down at his fallen appendage, the skeleton turned back up at his
assailant and moved his jaw up and down in a rapid motion, like as if he was
chuckling at him.

Taken aback by the sudden behavior, he aimed his pistol again. However, he did
not get another shot off as he felt a sudden jarring pain in his back. Turning
around he saw another skeleton facing him and realized that he had been
stabbed. His body started to become numb and he fell to the ground""the two
demonic wraiths descended upon him as he cried out in terror.

As soon as her hands were free, Lila ripped the tape from her mouth and spat
the wad of cloth out. Unwinding the tape from her ankles, she could see Tina
(with her mouth no longer gagged) attending to Ashley's bound hands. Lila
tried very hard not to look at the melee at hand for just hearing the wailing
screams of the men was too much for her to take. Finished with her feet, she
crawled her over to her brainy friend, and pulled the tape from her mouth in
one quick swipe.

Ashley didn't seem to notice that as she kept staring straight passed Lila
with the balled-up cloth still lodged in her mouth. Plucking the sodden fabric
out with two fingers, Lila spoke over the noises behind her, "Ash ... are you
okay!" She didn't register at all as she was in some kind of hypnotic trance.
"Ashley! ... " Lila yelled again, this time followed by a hard slap on her
cheek.

Blinking her wide green eyes, Ashley focused her attention over to Lila with
fear still in them. "Ash ... where did you enter here from?" she asked her
while in the process of removing the tape from her ankles. Moving her lips
slowly, she spoke shakily, "O-over in the far corner behind me ... "

Once Ashley was free, the trio stood up and hurried for the location Ashley
spoke of. Lila figured that those men had to have entered this chamber via
another access tunnel, and besides, heading back through the main entrance was
just too risky to chance with that lethal mallet there.

Reaching that corner of the chamber, Lila could see an opening leading out up
ahead, but a skeleton suddenly appeared right in front of them, impeding their
escape. Tina shrieked out loudly while Ashley became petrified again. Lila
backed up fearfully against her terrified friends as she saw the gleaming
sword in his hand!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The vile skeletal figure advanced methodically towards the trio of frightened
girls with his sword pointed dangerously at them! Lila could tell that he was
leading them back to where his friends all were""and that was one place she
didn't wanted to go. Trying to think of something to get past this
monstrosity, Lila glanced over to her right and happened to spot a long metal
rod lying on the ground close by""an idea formed in her head. "Guys ... " she
spoke softly not knowing if this thing has the capacity to hear her, " ...
when I give the signal, I need you to start throwing some rocks at it."

Tina nodded that she understood, but noticed that Ashley was back in her
trance again. "Snap out of it ... " she bopped her on the head, of which
Ashley looked over to her friends. "Sorry ... " she replied meekly.

After three more steps back, Lila yelled ... "Now!!"

In a flash, Tina and Ashley bent down grabbing some palm-sized rocks, and
began hurling them at their attacker. Lila made a leap for the rod and seized
it with both hands. "Run!!" was her next command, and the girls ran opposite
ways around him.

The skeleton raised his sword and was going after Ashley with it. Just as he
was about to cut her down, the sword slammed against the metal rod with a loud
CLANG! Lila was bent down on one knee as she struggled to hold off the attack
on her friend. For a dead person with no muscles, Lila found that he was
surprisingly strong, so she needed to act quickly before he gained the upper
hand and make mince meat out of her.

With all her strength, she lunged the rod forward causing the sword to move
away from her, then in one fluid motion, she swung it down and whacked it so
hard against his leg that it severed it from the knee down.

With only one leg to stand on now, the skeleton immediately dropped to the
ground. Not missing a beat, Lila dropped the rod and stood up, running over to
her friends. Just then, she suddenly stopped and fell face down hard. Looking
over she saw that the skeleton had managed to grab her ankle. Lila tried to
break free by pulling herself, but the grip on that bony hand was just too
tight.

Tina rushed over to Lila's aid by grabbing her hand and pulled as hard as she
could. Ashley ran over and helped as well by taking her other hand. The
combined strength of the two teen girls was making some progress as Lila was
being slowly dragged towards them, but the skeleton would not yield his
supernatural grip on the distressed sleuth.

Just then, a bright flash of light overcame the entire chamber followed by a
sudden burst of air. After the light subsided, the room began to tremble. Low
rumbling sounds were heard and then cracks started to suddenly appear on the
ground! One of those cracks had formed right underneath the skeleton holding
Lila. As it widen, the skeleton began to sink into it along with Lila, who
screamed out wildly.

Tina and Ashley's feet were being dragged along the loosen dirt surface.
Ashley managed to gain some traction with her sneakers, but Tina was some
having trouble in her smooth ballet flats that she kept on sliding. Lila's
lower half was now over the edge of the newly formed chasm as the skeleton
still maintained his grip on her.

Dangling precariously over the edge now, Lila furiously kicked with her free
leg at the hand holding her in a desperate attempt to break it free before she
gets dragged down into the seemingly abyss below. After a few good poundings,
the bony fingers began to crack off ... then suddenly, the hand detached
itself from her ankle, and the long dead pirate, plunged into the deep chasm.

With the extra weight now released, Lila was pulled up fully back on the
ground. With no time to spare, the trio rushed again over to the other exit
again. Lila managed a quick look over where the treasure chest was, and saw
Vaughn""the last man now standing""being overtaken by the cadre of demonic
skeletons as he tried in a hopeless attempt to fight them off. "The treasure!
... " he yelled over the increasingly rumbling noise of the chamber, " ... to
wait three hundred years for it, only to lose it again! ... " The chest behind
him was now emanating this eerie red color, while portions of the ceiling
began to break apart.

Two skeletons noticed the girls trying to escape, and advanced towards them,
but before they could reach them, a large chunk of rock from above came
smashing down, crushing the two wraiths. Finally reaching the exit, the girls
hurried through it one at a time. Lila was the last to go in, and it was just
then that the entire chamber had completely collapsed unto itself and
plummeted into an immense hole.

Out of the chamber, however, did not mean out of danger as the shock waves
continued into the passageway they were in. Running at top speed, the girls
soon entered into a large cavern that was naturally made. Stalactites from
overhead began to tumble as a result of the intense seismic vibrations.

Rushing over to the cave wall to escape the falling stone missiles, Ashley
miraculously managed to find a small alcove. "Lila ... Tina ... over here!"
she shouted. Tucked inside the confined space the three girls held onto each
other tightly, waiting dreadfully to be buried alive. So this is how it ends
...

After another minute more of trembling, everything suddenly became strangely
quiet and still, for the earthquake had ended. Coughing up all the dust around
her, Lila cautiously stuck her head out and noticed to her absolute delight, a
ray of bright sunlight shining from up ahead as the tremor had just revealed
to them a way outside!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Lila sat down at one of the patio tables on the spacious deck of her house
with a paper plate full of grilled food. Tina and Ashley sat across from her
with their plates of hamburgers and hot dogs along with Tina's mom's famous
homemade potato salad. The Palermo family was invited over for a day of
barbeque and swimming in the spacious in-ground pool out back.

It's been three days since their flight from that underground mayhem, and
neither one of them had spoke about it to anyone. As far everyone else knew,
they spent the day riding their bikes""of which they had to trek through the
Florida countryside in order to get them back at the Mission.

Of course news of the unexpected earthquake was all over the media as it was
Florida's first tremor in over fifty years, not to mention one of the worst
ones on record in the state. Thankfully though, no one was hurt, but property
damage in the surrounding communities totaled in the tens-of-thousands.

Despite the festive ambiance of the social gathering around, the mood at the
table was rather pensive as the three teen girls all sat quietly while they
ate""knowing that they were very lucky to be still alive. "What do you think
happened to the treasure? ... " Ashley asked to no one in particular after
taking a bite from her hot dog, " ... do you think it will ever be found
again?"

Lila looked over in the distance as she seemed to be lost in thought for a
moment, then turned and faced her friends. "Judging by what happened in that
chamber, I think it's very safe to say that the pirates saw to it that it
remains hidden, hopefully for all time ... "