EPISODE TEN:

WELCOME ELIZABETH (PART TWO).

"I can't believe your sister just took the airplane!" Ben exclaimed. "I just hope she knows how to fly it."

"She doesn't know much about aviation," Stephanie said with a sigh. "Oh, I hope she's not crashed somewhere. That would be devastating!" She started to cry. Ben put his arms around her.

Matthew walked away, looking glumly at the ground. "This is all my fault! I shouldn't have made those comments about her being a little girl playing dress-up! If she crashes and dies, I will never forgive myself!"

Stephanie broke out of Ben's embrace and went to Matthew. Touching his cheek gently, she said, "It's not your fault. I never expected Elizabeth to just take off like that, either. I'm so sorry I called you an idiot and hit you."

"It's OK," Matthew said. "I deserved it."

Ben looked at them seriously. "Enough talking," he told them. "Stephanie, we've got to go find your sister! Let's get Lionel and Alexis!"

The three teenagers went to get Lionel and Alexis. They told them everything that had happened. Lionel and Alexis were, needless to say, very concerned for Elizabeth's safety, so they went with the three teenagers to walk through the Andes mountain range so they'd find Stephanie's sister.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth, though having no experience with flying a plane, learned how to use everything pretty quickly. She flew all morning and all afternoon. When dusk came, though, she landed the plane. "I flew a plane for a whole day for the first time, Matthew!" she shouted. "Let's hear you call me a little girl now!" She walked around the Andes mountains, admiring their beauty. But soon it got very dark and she became sleepy. After wandering higher into the Andes, she saw a large building with a long set of steps. Though the steps were hard and it was very cold, Elizabeth was very tired, so she lay down on the bottom step and fell asleep.

The rest of the explorers had walked through the Andes all evening. After a while they'd found the airplane. And it didn't look like it had crashed. They'd looked inside to see if Elizabeth was in it, but there was not a sign of her anywhere. It was getting late, so they all decided to get some sleep so they could circle the area and find Elizabeth the next day. But actually, when everybody'd settled down to sleep Stephanie had still been awake. She kept tossing and turning and crying.

Ben had woken up. "Steph, what's wrong?"

"I can't sleep," Stephanie said, sobbing. "I'm too scared."

Ben put his arms around her and held her close. "I know, Steph, but we'll find her. Let's keep praying and having hope." He kissed her on the forehead. "At least we know the plane didn't crash, so the accident we were afraid of didn't happen."

Stephanie nodded. "You're right," she said. "I just love my sister so much. She's my best friend. Ben, will you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything. What?"

"Hold me tonight, and I can sleep."

Ben gave Stephanie a squeeze and held onto her, and Stephanie snuggled against his chest. Both of them fell asleep.

The next morning the five travelers awakened an hour after dawn. Ben climbed back into the cockpit, and off they flew to continue their search for Elizabeth. When they circled for a few hours and didn't find her, Lionel suggested that they fly up higher into the mountain range. Ben did, and they were surprised at what they saw. There were buildings made of pure gold with long sets of steps on them!

"Wow, cool! We found the first city of gold!" Matthew exclaimed.

"I know I was enthused about that before," sighed Stephanie, "but right now all I want to do is find my sister."

Alexis noticed somebody sleeping on the bottom step of one of the buildings. She soon realized that the person was Elizabeth! "Land the plane, Ben! That's Elizabeth!" she cried.

Ben floored the plane, and he and the others ran out to the step on which Elizabeth was lying. Stephanie shook her awake. Elizabeth opened her eyes and sat up. When she realized Stephanie was there, she gave her a big hug.

"Elizabeth, how could you scare us like this?" Stephanie asked as she cried with joy.

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth said. "I wanted to prove I'm not a little girl, so I did something daring."

Matthew hugged her, too. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have called you a little girl. I was insensitive. Do you forgive me?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"You know, you'll make the right guy really happy when he comes along," Matthew told her.

"For a little girl, you sure made a BIG discovery," Alexis told her.

Elizabeth looked around her and gasped and smiled. "The first city of gold!" she exclaimed. Everyone hugged each other with excitement and just stood there admiring the city.

TO FOLLOW...

Stephanie and Ben use their bracelets to open the doors to the buildings of the Cities of Gold. However, some inhabitants of that area accuse them of trying to destroy their beautiful rich city and capture the travelers. They separate them and plot to kill them all. How will our heroes escape? Read the next episode of THE MYSTERIOUS OF GOLD REVISITED.