Chapter 3 * * * * *

With the bracelet safely stowed in Isaac's pocket, the boys went in search of a map. It didn't take long to find a small shop near the park that sold them. Isaac paid for the map, and they took it back to the park, found a bench to sit on, and studied it.

"This isn't going to work," Taylor announced after a few minutes. "London is too big, and I don't see anything even close to the sketch on our map."

Isaac folded the London map into quarters and studied the fourth on top for a long moment. Finally, he said, "We need to look at this logically." He pointed to a green area on the map. "This is where we are now." His finder traced a thin blue line and stopped. "This is the bridge where we found the bracelet. It seems to me it would make sense for all of the landmarks on our map to be within a certain distance of one another. I mean, why spread them out all the way across the city?"

"Yeah," Taylor said with growing excitement. "That makes sense. So we just have to concentrate on the area around here."

"So, what are we looking for?" Zac asked.

Isaac looked at the sketched map Taylor was holding next to the city map. "If whoever made this was starting at the top, then the bridge would have been the second point. We should backtrack to the first point before we go any further. Then we can jump to the third landmark."

"All right," Taylor agreed. "So…what is this?" He pointed to the landmark in question. In the sketch, it looked like a house or a building. It was square, with large, arched windows. Inside the square, someone had drawn a crown and a cross.

"I don't know," Isaac admitted. "It's definitely a building. It could be a church. That would explain the windows."

"Could be," Taylor murmured. "These symbols must mean something. A name maybe?"

"The crown could be for a king or a queen," Zac added. He was beginning to get caught up in the game, too.

"That helps a lot," Taylor said. "Half of everything in London is named Queen-something."

"Queen Cross," Isaac said experimentally. He shook his head. "That doesn’t sound right."

"Maybe it's a plus sign," Zac giggled. "Or an X that got turned on its side."

Isaac ignored the remark and looked back at the city map. "Queen Cross…Cross Queen…Queen's Crossing…" he murmured under his breath as he searched through the area surrounding the park. "Ha!" he yelled suddenly, startling his brothers. "King's Cross…it's a church only four blocks over."

"That has to be it!" Taylor said excitedly. "Let's go!" He was already on his feet.

Isaac folded the map carefully and stuck it in his back pocket as he stood. "This is crazy," he said under his breath. But the truth was, he was beginning to enjoy this game. It was better than sitting in a stuffy hotel room all afternoon, and it certainly seemed harmless enough. Almost like a scavenger hunt. Of course, they would have to turn in the jewelry when they finished, assuming that was what they were looking for at the other landmarks. The bracelet might not be real, but it was still a well made piece of jewelry and might be worth something. Someone would probably miss it. He just couldn't figure out how it had gotten under the bridge in the first place.

It didn't take the brothers long to walk the four blocks to the church. There were a lot of people out and about in the city, but no one gave them a second look. To the casual observer, the boys appeared to be typical tourists, as they marveled over the beautiful old buildings lining both sides of the street. The church itself was not as large as some of the famous churches of the city, but it was very impressive in its age. It had the air of ancient nobility, as though it had stood on the corner since the beginning of time. A large plaque beside the door declared the church as a nation landmark, giving its age as almost half a century.

Isaac was awed by the structure. He couldn't help but wonder how much history the old building had witnessed and what stories it could tell. He was pulled from its spell by Taylor's voice beside him.

"Where do we start?"

The three boys moved closer to the stone structure. Isaac began working his way to the corner of the building, his eyes taking in every detail of the church face. He reached the corner, still unsure what he was looking for and wondering how he would know it if he found it. As he rounded the corner, he was surprised to see a girl, about his own age watching him from a few yards away. She smiled at him and pointed to a low ledge about halfway down the side of the church. Isaac stared at her for a minute, then shot a quick glance at his brothers. Taylor and Zac were moving away from him, studying the front of the church. When Isaac looked back to the girl, she was gone. He looked around the area in confusion. How could she have disappeared so quickly? She couldn't possibly have made it past him to the street without him noticing, and there was no where beside the church where she could hide.

Feeling a bit nervous now, he turned back to his brothers. "Hey, Tay!" He waited until Taylor and Zac joined him before asking, "That girl you saw, the one that gave you the map, what did she look like?"

Taylor looked at Isaac in confusion. "She was about my height, long brown hair, really pretty. My age, I guess, or maybe a little older. I only saw her for a few minutes. Why?"

Isaac looked back down the side of the church to be sure she wasn't standing there. A chill worked its icy fingers up his spine. "Because I think I just saw her," he answered.

Zac looked around the corner of the building. "Where did she go?"

Isaac swallowed hard. "I'm not sure. One minute she was right here, then I turned my head for a minute, and she was gone."

"She disappeared?" Taylor was skeptical even though the girl had appeared to vanish before his own eyes twice. He was convinced there were perfectly logical explanations for both instances. People couldn't just disappear. But if Isaac said she vanished…

"No," Isaac insisted firmly. "I'm sure she's just hiding or something. Come on, she showed me where to look." He moved down the side of the building to the ledge the girl had pointed to.

The ledge was only about five feet high, so Isaac had no trouble seeing over the top of it. Nothing appeared out of place at first glance. He ran his hand down the rough face of the hand-hewn stones, still not sure what he was looking for. Three stones down, and he found it. The stone moved under his probing fingers. He wiggled it, and it came free in his hand. Quickly moving it out of the way, he found a hollow indention where it had been sitting.

Taylor stuck his hand into the indention, gasping in delight as his fingers closed on a plastic bag. He pulled it out carefully. It was similar to the one they had found at the bridge. Isaac replaced the stone and turned to watch Taylor open the bag. Inside was another pouch, identical to the first one they had found. Same black velvet, tied at the top. Same name -- Whitherby's -- stamped in gold on the side. Taylor untied the top of the pouch and shook the contents into his hand.

A gold pendant fell from the pouch. Isaac picked it up to examine it more closely. Numerous diamond-like stones sparkled in the bright sunlight as he turned the pendant.

"Wow!" Zac exclaimed. "I know, I know," he quickly added, "it's not real. But it sure is pretty. Can you imagine how expensive that would be if those were real diamonds? We could buy an island…with our own Mcdonald's!"

"Do you ever think about anything other than food?" Taylor asked in mock disgust.

Zac grinned up at him. "Not when I'm hungry."

"Even if it was real," Isaac said, "we couldn't keep it. I don't know who stashed these things all over the place, but when we finish collecting them, we're going to have to turn them in to someone. These things are well made and probably still valuable, even it they aren't real. I can't think of any honest reason for someone to hide these like this."

"You think maybe they're stolen?" Zac asked, his eyes wide.

"I can't figure why someone would bother stealing fake jewelry," the older brother answered.

"You said yourself that it was probably still valuable," Taylor pointed out.

"Maybe that girl stole it," Zac suggested.

Taylor shook his head. "No way! Why would she steal it, hide it all over the city, then give us a map to find it? Doesn't make sense."

"And she showed me where to find this one," Isaac added. "No, I don't think she stole it, but she obviously knows where it's hidden. She wants us to collect these things for some reason."

"Why doesn't she just get them herself?" Zac asked.

Isaac had no answer for that. It didn't make a whole lot of sense. Right now, they had more questions than answers. "I don't know," he admitted finally. "But maybe we can find some answers at the next landmark." He dropped the pendant back into the pouch and tied the top.

"Wait," Zac interrupted. "Can't we get something to eat first? I'm starving."

"There was a produce market a couple of blocks back," Isaac said. "Think some fruit will hold you for a while?"

"Just as long as it's something I can recognize," the youngest Hanson replied, as the three brothers headed back the way they had come. They didn't notice the girl that stepped from behind the church building and watched them walk away.

* * * * *

to be continued...