Apologies to those of you in London. I have taken liberty with the locations of the landmarks in this story in order to make the plot work.

Chapter 2

It took over an hour of questioning to finally find someone that recognized one of the landmarks on the map. Even then the description and directions were vague. Isaac took charge of the expedition by unspoken consent. Before setting out on the adventure, he insisted that they all tuck their hair under baseball caps and don sunglasses to avoid having to deal with fans while they searched. Leaving a message for Mr. Hodges at the front desk, they left the hotel by a back exit, turning in the general direction of the first landmark on the map.

The landmark in question was definitely a bridge. Taylor was certain of that. According to their dubious source, it was, in fact, Brighton's Bridge, a small footbridge across the Serpentine in nearby Hyde Park. Though the bridge was close enough to have walked, the boys decided to take a taxi to save time. Once there, they paid the driver and set about looking for clues.

"You know," Isaac pointed out, "this would be a whole easier if we knew what we were looking for."

Taylor grunted agreement and headed for the grassy slope that lead to the underside of the bridge. As he approached the structure, flash of movement caught his eye. He let out a gasp as his eyes focused on the figure moving into the shadows. Beside him, Isaac and Zac turned concerned gazes to him.

"What's wrong, Tay?" Zac asked.

"It's her!" Taylor explained as he began jogging toward the area where the girl had been heading. The grassy slope met the cobblestone path where the foot bridge began, running under the bridge for a couple of dozen feet, then fell away sharply toward the river below. By crossing closely to the railing of the bridge, the boys were able to duck into the shadows under the concrete structure.

Taylor stopped short as he rounded the turn and gazed through to the other side. His brothers bumped into him before coming to a stop themselves. There was no one in sight!

"That's impossible!" Taylor stammered. "She was right here, I saw her." He turned confused eyes to the other two boys. "You saw her, didn't you?"

Isaac slowly shook his head. "Sorry, Tay, I didn't see anything."

Zac shook his head, also. He was briefly tempted to make a joke, but one look at Taylor's face convinced him it would be a bad idea.

"Are you sure you saw someone?" Isaac asked. "Maybe it was a trick of the light."

"No, I saw a girl duck under here," Taylor insisted. "It was the same girl that gave me the map, I'm sure of it."

"Well, where did she go?" Zac asked.

"There's no where to hide under here," the oldest Hanson pointed out. "And I don't think she could have made it to the other side that fast."

"I know what I saw!" Taylor insisted once more.

Isaac frowned as he considered the area. If Taylor said he saw the girl, Isaac was inclined to believe him. Taylor wouldn't joke about something like that. There had to be a logical explanation. Giving up on finding one for now, Isaac started forward into the shadows. "Okay, we'll figure it out, but for now, let's see what we can find."

They moved silently closer to where the bridge met the ground, searching with their eyes for...what? Taylor had no idea, but he had a feeling they would know it when they found it. The fact that he had seen the girl only convinced him that they were in the right place.

The first pass through, they found nothing, but Taylor was not discouraged. He turned around and headed back, determined to spot something out of the ordinary. They were almost back to the place where they had started when Zac let out a cry and pointed up. Taylor sweep his eyes up and saw a dingy yellow scrap of plastic sticking out of a deep crack between two concrete blocks that made up this part of the bridge. It could be almost anything, but Taylor knew instinctively that this was what they were searching for.

Isaac must have felt the same. His tone was tinged with excitement as he said, "That's too high for even me to reach." He gestured for Zac. "Come here, I'll hold you up, and you can get it."

He squatted down and waited for Zac to climb on his shoulders, then stood carefully and moved under the plastic. "Hurry up, squirt! You weigh a ton!"

Zac reached over his head for the plastic, that he could now see was a bag someone had shoved into the crack. His fingers were almost on the bag when Isaac swayed, pulling him further away. "Hold still, Ike! I've almost got it."

"Hurry, elephant butt!"

Zac's fingers brushed the plastic. He exhaled loudly and stretched up with all of his might, finally snaring the elusive bag and tugging it free. As the bag fell down, accumulated dirt came with it, showering the youngest brother. He sputtered and spit the debris from his mouth, dropping the bag in the process. Taylor bent to retrieve the parcel as Isaac bent down to allow Zac to jump from his shoulders.

"You have GOT to go on a diet, shorty," Isaac said, rubbing his sore shoulder muscles.

Zac made a face at his brother, then turned to watch Taylor. The middle brother squatted down and tore open the plastic bag. He poured the contents onto the ground before him. It was a small velvet pouch, stamped on the side with an unfamiliar name...Whitherby's.

"What is it?" Zac asked in an almost whisper.

"Oh, suddenly I have x-ray vision?" Taylor replied sarcastically. "Give me a minute to open it." He grabbed up the pouch and untied the strings at the top. Then he turned the pouch up and shook the contents into his open hand.

All three brothers gasped in surprise as a bracelet fell into Taylor's hand. The piece of jewelry sparkled brightly as the dim light caught on the multitude of diamond-like stones set the gold band.

"Wow!" Zac muttered. "Is it real?"

"Of course not, kidneys-for-brains!" Isaac quickly refuted. "Something with that many diamonds would be worth a least a million dollars. Why would someone hide a million dollar bracelet under a bridge?"

"Maybe it's stolen," Taylor suggested. "Maybe it was part of a heist and the robbers stashed the stolen jewelry here until they could come back for it."

Zac straightened suddenly and looked cautiously around, suspicion in his eyes.

Isaac laughed. "You've watched too many movies-of-the-week, Tay." He took the bracelet from his brother's hand and examined it closely. "It can't be real. It's probably just a really good imitation, and may be worth something anyhow. We should give it to the police."

"Maybe," Taylor agreed, "but don't you think we should check out a few more places on the map first? There may be other pieces of jewelry at those places."

"Problem, Einstein," Isaac said. "We don't know what the other landmarks on the map are."

Taylor picked up the torn plastic bag and stood as he thought about what Isaac said. "We could buy a map, a real map, and see if any of the landmarks match," he suggested.

Isaac put the bracelet back into the pouch and shoved it into his pocket before answering. "This is not exactly how I planned to go siteseeing around London."

"Come on, Ike," Zac took up the argument. "We have hours still until Mr. Hodges needs us. Isn't this better than sitting around the hotel staring at the walls?"

Isaac gave in with a grin. "Okay, we'll buy a map and check it out. But I'm not making any promises. If the other landmarks are too far away, we're heading back for the hotel. I mean it. Okay?"

"Okay," the younger two boys said in unison.

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