Episode Fifteen

The Way Out

All through the night our heroes slept in the dark dungeon. At about nine o'clock the next morning they awakened. Stephanie sat up and stretched, saying, "Boy, sleeping on the ground isn't as bad as I'd imagined it would be. I must have been beat! How did everybody else sleep?" Everybody told her they slept fine, but they were not happy about being in the jail cell. "I'm not, either," Stephanie said with a sad laugh. "There's got to be something we can do."

Just then the security guard watching them stirred in his sleep. He had come in at three in the morning. Then he started banging his head against the ground. Although the group had grown not to be fond of security guards, they knew that by hitting his head on a stone floor he could suffer severe brain damage, maybe death. He appeared to be doing that in a nightmare. They all yelled, "WAKE UP!"

The security guard sat up. "I was awake," he said. "I do that every morning because I'm always groggy when I wake up. Banging my head on the floor helps me wake myself up."

Everybody smiled. This guy was such a dimwit, maybe they could trick him into letting them out.

"Uh, excuse me, Monsieur," Ben said to the security guard, "but the group and I had been doing a lot of thinking last night. Maybe we were too quick to judge Monsieur DeCoup. After all, how bad can it be to want to be rich? You can buy trips to fancy places and hotels, go on cruises, sail the seven seas if you want--the bottom line is, sir, we've been thinking about switching over to Philippe's side." The others nodded.

The security guard looked astonished. "In that case, I'll let you guys out and you can tell Monsieur that you've joined his side." And he unlocked the door and let them out.

When they were a good distance away, so far as to be out of earshot, Matthew said softly, "That was too easy."

"Yeah, the guy's such a knucklehead!" Elizabeth laughed back.

"Ben, you are such a genius!" Stephanie exclaimed, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.

"It's just a gift," Ben said, smiling.

"We'd better see if we can get your bracelets back from Philippe," Lionel said, "and then we'll fly back to Washington, D.C. and let President Bush know what's going on."

"What if Philippe's up and around?" Alexis asked. "That will be hard."

Just then they found themselves outside Philippe's office--and Philippe wasn't in it--and Ben and Stephanie's bracelets were on top of his desk! Very quietly the explorers went inside, took the bracelets, and snuck out of the building. Back into Ben's plane they got and headed for the White House. On the way Gertrude, who was sitting next to Matthew, fell asleep and rested her head on his shoulder. Matthew's face broke into a big grin, and he put his arm around her. In her sleep Gertrude could still feel that, and she smiled happily and snuggled up to Matthew some more. Elizabeth felt a little jealous, but she knew she and Matthew were just meant to be friends, anyway.

Stephanie looked behind her and smiled. "Looks like Matthew and Gertrude have found true love," she said.

"I know how good that feels," Ben said, grinning. He took Stephanie's hand and stroked it. Then they continued to fly over the horizon.

TO FOLLOW...

The longest, and final, episode of THE MYSTERIOUS CITTIES OF GOLD REVISITED. President Bush agrees to help the group. The Marines come in and arrest Philippe and his accomplices. Finally Ben and his friends get to see the other six cities of gold, and then their trip comes to an end. However, the story does not end without telling us what happens to our friends after the trip.