Author's Note: Special thanks to Decoris Verbum for taking the time to read and critique my work. Thank you vewy much. Chapter Five is finally up! Please excuse the illogical parts.

Enjoy!

Chapter V

An Unexpected Finale

So that was clear. This was the last clue in the treasure hunt. But what puzzled Camden the most was that if this clue pointed to another book, wouldn’t the book show another clue that would point to the location of the treasure? Or maybe the treasure is contained within the book itself?

“Guess I’ll have to find that one out,” Camden said, once again brooding over the small, rounded handwriting. She felt a bit satisfied that she had accomplished finding this one last clue without Derek’s help. However, she seemed to have missed the times of sharing the excitement and frustration with someone.

“He deserves to be left out,” Camden told herself harshly. Once more, his words echoed in her head, banging against it sides, and causing an incomparable pain. Camden shut down the book and lay back against her bed frame. Her eyes darted towards the ceiling, lost in thought.

Maybe Derek was just kidding with me after all. Maybe he was just putting on a nice boy act so I could get him a good grade in the project, she thought angrily. Camden felt guilt and regret rise in her stomach. She shouldn’t have fallen for the fake him. She should’ve been more careful. But now, it was too late. Hurt had found her before she could run away from it.

Camden felt that all the teachers were getting fed up of finding her spaced out in class. She was always caught with her eyes glued to the window and her ears shut. Most of the pupils would giggle and accuse her of thinking too much of Derek. This, of course, she denied, even if it was half the truth.

Her mind was constantly hopping from Derek to the riddle and back to Derek again. Somewhere in the wintry mist...Do you actually think I like that weirdo...A squirrel sits with jeweled fists…Her nose is always inside books…

Camden tried her hardest to just completely forget about Derek Greyson in the course of the next few days, but unfortunately failed to do so. The spaced out sessions, however, proved to be of much worth, since Camden had already figured out the riddle once more.

During one of her classes, she was staring outside through the window when she saw a squirrel dash from tree to tree, collecting loads of nuts. This reminded her of the riddle. She once more observed the squirrel. Was there a story involving a squirrel with jeweled fists? She couldn’t remember. Maybe, as in the previous clues, this was another metaphor.

She watched the squirrel pick up an acorn from the ground and run up the tall oak tree, where hoards of acorns are probably stored. Then it struck her. Once class was over, she ran directly to the girls’ dorm, and pulled out The Prince and the Pauper from beneath her bed. She flipped to the riddle and started to reread it, hoping her new idea would fit in with the rest of the riddle. Miraculously, it did.

Somewhere in the wintry mist,

A squirrel sits with jeweled fists.

But timely apparitions come,

To change whomever he’d become.

Farewell my friends, I must admit,

That you’ll find this the End of It.

The squirrel represented a miser who keeps collecting money. And she knew no other well-known miser in the world of literature other than Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge, of course, was visited by ghosts (apparitions) of the past, present, and the future (timely) to change his life (change whomever he’d become). Camden rushed to the library, feeling her heart beat against her chest like a drum.

She swung the library’s doors open as she made a grand entrance similar to that of a fleeing ninja. At once, she looked for the shiny bright cover of A Christmas Carol in the front shelves. However, after spending another thirty minutes flipping the pages for clues or results, she found nothing. Camden was about to give up and was ready to propose another theory when an idea came to her. She walked slowly towards the dark corners of the library where the oldest books were stored. She found another copy of A Christmas Carol, its pages shabby and discolored. It was only logical that Woodward would’ve written the clue in this older, worn out book since the newer looking copy on the front shelves was non-existent a hundred years ago.

When she pulled the book from the shelf, she heard a deep rumbling noise.

At first, she thought it was an earthquake, but then an astonished expression settled on her face as the shelf slowly slid open, revealing a secret passageway winding down. Camden walked her way down the dark narrow corridor, with her heart pounding faster than ever. She pulled out a small penlight from her pocket and shone it before her, creating a dim but sufficient glow. The passageway stopped at a small room covered in cobwebs and dust which made Camden cough and shudder. With her penlight, she examined the room.

To her heart’s delight, the beam of light shone upon a small chest in the middle of the area. She walked silently, as if making the moment last. She felt so much like a famed archaeologist making a grand discovery inside a tomb of a great Egyptian king. She bent down and brushed the dust off the wooden chest and carefully felt the fine engravings on its side. With a wide grin, she picked up the chest which, she had noticed, was very light and made her way back to the entrance. She was almost to the exit, when suddenly a tall knobby figure appeared and stood blocking the way out. It was no other than Pierre Tournier!

His silver eyes shone with greed and malice. His mouth curved into an unpleasant demonic smile. Without a word, he pressed forward.The headmaster gave a wicked laugh as he snatched the chest away from Camden.

“I found that first!” Camden made an attempt to take back the chest, but Tournier held it away from her.

“You are forgetting, my child. You have found it first, yes, but you have found it in my property. I had been watching you, if you hadn’t noticed, for the last few weeks. I knew you were up to something. I had a feeling that you were looking for the treasure and I’m jubilant that you have found it. I must say, much thanks must go to you for finally unearthing this – the treasure that my family had searched for, for generation after generation after generation. And God has been kind to bestow upon me the glory of discovering Woodward’s treasure!” With that, Tournier let out another one of his laughs making him worthy of being a monster in a movie.

“What are you going to do with it? It’s not yours! It’s Woodward’s! It belongs to the orphanage!” Camden screamed heatedly.

“You should learn to keep your mouth shut,” Tournier said. He pulled out a revolver which made the girl’s azure eyes open wide in shock. The headmaster pointed it at Camden’s head and the orphan stepped back in fear. Taking advantage, Tournier slid the shelf shut, locking Camden in total darkness.

A/N: What do you think? Please review!