A Che ning Ad nture
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Reflections of Hope and Courage
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Chapter 4 continued...
Thump! Thump! Thump!
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“What’s that noise!” moaned James.
Thump! Thump!...
Mr E had always been an early riser and the twins went to investigate while the others slept. He was digging again, always hard at work, and watching was Andrew.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Thump! Thump! Clang! Everyone stared at each other in silence.
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Mr. E tried again. Clang!
“There’s something down here. Give me a hand kids.”
Working diligently and with great interest, a massive metal cache was liberated from the surrounding earth. But it wouldn’t open. There was a sturdy combination lock holding it shut. Mr E jumped out of the hole and the twins seized their opportunity.
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“Quick! The numbers,” urged James.
“What numbers?” asked Andrew.
Sarah’s nimble fingers worked feverishly.
“… 9, 4, 1…” “It won’t open!” complained Sarah.
“Here – let me try.” But it was no use. The twins looked at each other in dismay while Andrew watched in confusion. A dark shadow fell across the children and they looked up to see a strange figure wearing googles, a facemask and gloves towering over them – a screaming machine in his hands.
STAND ASIDE KIDS!,” shouted Mr E. “I knew this PPE would come in handy sometime,” he continued - as sparks flew from the circular saw. The metal of the padlock was no match for the spinning teeth and soon the cache gave up its treasure.
“So – let’s see what pearls have been buried here shall we?” offered Mr E as he opened the lid.
In the early morning sunlight the group tried to make sense of the shapes. James lifted out a strange machine resembling a typewriter, then a velvet bag possibly holding coins. Sarah found a bottle of medicine and underneath a King James Bible identical to the one they found in the tin…
“A Vickers machine gun!” exclaimed Andrew, who had always been fascinated by such things. “A PIAT anti-tank mortar…!”
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“Whoa! Ok – we’ve seen enough here,” said Mr E, rapidly gesturing the children aside. “Andrew – get the Colonel at once. Twins, leave the guns but take the other things to the office. I’ll see you in a moment.”
Waiting in the office, the twins considered the gems that had been buried in the field.
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“What treasure would you pick? Money?” asked James, emptying the gold sovereigns on the table. “Weapons? Knowledge?” he said examining the strange typewriter. “Wait a minute…” his voice trailed off.
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Sarah picked up the Bible as she noticed something held within its pages – fragments of a letter.
Calculate the 15th word and enter it into your ‘typewriter’ to open up the solution page.