This story starts at the year 1937, in Scotland, as Vladimir Walker hides something under the big, red bed of Helen, her lovely granddaughter. Helen saw it. The next day, She opened it, but realized that her grandfather had died. She cried while curling the white, fluffy feather on her black hat with a red lace. It was a code. A code that is possibly uncrackable. She was an inexpert so she showed it to her father, Eduard Walker, curiously. After they read it, Helen put it in her big treasure chest in her room.

    20 years had passed, she still remembered the code of her grandfather. She had her husband, Edwin Brookes, and her son, Michael.

    Another 50 years had passed, She died. She was buried at E. Galleon's Cemetery. About 500 people went there with black and white clothes, people sadly mourned Helen's remains.

    People had discovered something peeking out Helen's pocket when she died. It was the code. It was full of black dust. People cannot decipher it except one, David Li. Son of Charmaine Li and Mark Walker. He was a military officer. Let me put it short. He was an expert.

    He said,"These numbers and letters are the coordinates of the place Mount Rushmore, South Dakota." people was fascinated about his discovery. They found out that there was another note at the back of the small, rough paper. It said,"It is in the eyes of Jefferson--".

    Families had themselves ready and grouped. Until Michael Brookes continued to read it. "There is something that Helen has been hiding 60 years ago in the daring eyes of Thomas. After you find it, use it. You will go into a fact that will lead you that is neither good nor bad. This should be done by everybody that is part of the family. Good Luck." People were so surprised that some of them exhaled deeply while others prayed.

     The families were grouped into 5. They were named, Li, Brookes, Gonzales, McAlbert, and Waltz.

    The families just wanted to something new. They rushed to the airport and flew all the way to South Dakota.

     The families separated. They were just enjoying it.

    They climbed the steep mountain with some debris fastly falling into them. Two kids named Aldrich and Mary were the offsprings of John La Perouse Walker and her elegant wife Cherry Anne Waltz. The kids were panicking yet, they came up first. In the eyes of Jefferson, the note "Rush into Harbin, China where in tons of water made a beautiful kingdom of ice! Dig into the pool where dead fish rule and wish you luck!--by: kernel whale" was etched deeply. People saw it and began to think questions like "Who was Kernel Whale?"

    The families were tired because of the challenge. One said,"I think we're gonna--"she stopped suddenly, pointing at a large tombstone of Edwin Brookes. Beside it was a large treasure chest that looked like the one that Helen owned. "die..." she continued.

    Some people went near it and fell into a trap of quicksand. As slippery as a snake's skin, the people sank quickly. The tombstone tripped and fell, it sank too.

   "Run!" The remaining people said and ran as quickly as they could. Rain poured fastly, carrying gust of wind with it as it rushed through the north.

    While the Lee and the Gonzales family went into the airport, the remaining families are still packing up.

    "We better hurry. Time is running out. We need to get the thing as fast as possible!" Juliana Gonzales said. Juliana was from the Philippines. She grew in the city of Pasay. She got many awards when she was in the 3rd grade.

    All the families went to China on the 12th of January where in the people of Harbin are making Ice Sculptures. They followed what the note said and they found an aquarium which was carried by two men. They ran towards the men. "Stop that!" Aldrich said accompanied with a backstab from Mary. "The Chinese couldn't understand that" Mary said angrily. "Chuo na!" She continued. The two men stopped and dropped the aquarium. John La Perouse bought his samurai sword out and cut through the ice. Accidentally he cut a fish directly into half. It has a paper inside. Michael Brookes quickly opened it and said,"Kernel Whale is Helen Walker, it is her pseudonym. Now go to the Imperial Palace and get through the sticks."

    They went into the Harbin Airport. But someone with a black leather hat, in a black suit, with a blue suitcase and black shiny shoes was following them. Liz McAlbert knew that someone was following them. Terror creeped into her face. She pretended to use her mirror for beauty but it was to look at the person behind them. The man brought his gun out and shot the mirror. The bullet passed through the mirror and directly into the heart of David Li. "Help!" David said while the Li Family including Liz went near him. Liz looked back and did not see the shooter again. Charmaine Lee said "I think it's better to leave the goal than to leave my dying son." Helen's secret agent, William heard Charmaine talk about the leaving of the secret. William put his rifle out and shot a big cylindrical metal bar on top of them and killed them.

    The rest of the families continued and are now in the Imperial Palace in Japan.

    Aldrich patted Mary gently at the back with a nervous and cold body and said "I hope we can do this, Sis."
    "Can I trust you?" Mary said.
    "Of course--" Aldrich said with big eyes while staring at the flying people on top of the Imperial Palace.
    "What?" Amy said curiously and turned her head to the left to see the cherry blossoms pass by.

    A person blocked the way of the family, and said "Only the one that loves, thinks and is courageous shall get the prize." The man said.

    They went inside the Imperial Palace with a long red carpet with yellow dragons on the side. Spikes began to pop out of it.

     Two people were at the front introducing themselves to the people. "I am William, agent of Madam Helen Walker. Her command was never to back out. People with less courage will perish. I killed Charmaine." John La Perouse quickly bought his sword out of its case and swiftly threw it to William. But when the sword came closely to William's face he held the sword in the middle of his hands and threw it back to John. John was painfully pierced in the heart but his last words were,"Dear Children and Wife, continue the challenge. Good Luck."

    Another person introduced himself,"I am Ronald Thatcher" he said in a deep voice like his mouth was full of water. "I killed David." He continued.

    He snapped loudly and crossbows begin to appear from the walls.

    "Answer the questions correctly and you will have a chance to succeed. You also may give up. Here, I have the questions of Helen to all of you children." he said as the people were sighing deeply. "I have this flower what does Helen call this? Let us start from the McAlbert Family." The family of Liz didn't know so they were perished.

    The second question was "If you will give up, what do you call the weapon that will kill you?" The Waltz Family answered "Kusari-gama" They were correct so they remained in their state.

    The third was, "What were the favorite chemical symbols of Helen?" Ronald said. The Brookes confidently answered "W, Al,K,and Er"

    Families you are correct but one will succeed. Pass through these spikes and the crossbows that will shoot you.

    The whole McAlbert family ran outside the temple and were killed by the Kasuri-gama of the warriors.

    The two families carefully but fastly stepped across the spikes but while in the middle of the challenge the Brookes said "We can't do it any more!". The crossbow shot them in the mouth, legs, and heart.

    Spikes began to go back under the carpet but black heavy balls began rolling on the carpet. "Waltz, I am challenging you to come here without being hit by the black, heavy balls. They heard distractions like rumbling from above and below them, sweet songs of birds, and leaves of cherry blossoms flowing in the air to and fro.

    Aldrich and Mary succeeded so as their mother. But they really missed their father. The secret was handed to them by Ronald. It was a scroll with a pair of brown, shiny, wooden handles. Mary opened it and read "Victory is still not here.--" she stopped with a sudden glance to her mother "Dig another scroll under the case of Thomas Richard's heart. Mary repeatedly glanced back into their mother's face.

    They ran toward the airport and went into Greenland.

    They found Thomas Richard's House.

    No one was inside it but, the room was dim. When they opened the door of another room, it creaked. Corners were full of cobwebs and spiders. They found only a single candle on top of a wooden table, in front of a small box that had these words etched in it "Heart of Thomas". They lifted the box and saw a scroll. It's luster was so strong that they actually couldn't put their eyes directly into it. It had a golden vase below it. "Victory is now in your hands."

The Waltz family felt safe. They lived with the power of Helen.

The End...

By Nico Rapisora
From Philippines
Age 11