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~~~~~ (*****^-^*****) ~~~~~

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The manager led them through the casino and into an elevator, politely holding the door for them.  The elevator had a button for each of the building's five floors above them, but once the doors were shut the manager pressed several at once, as if he were entering a secret code.   When he finished, the elevator took Bree by surprise-it started traveling down to an unmarked level. 

"Are you enjoying Monte Carlo?" the manager asked casually as the elevator descended. 

"Yup," Conner peeped nervously then looked to Bree.  She looked back at him with terrified eyes, which seemed to catch Conner off guard.  ^Had he never seen someone scared? Or was she overreacting and had put on her overly scared face? Probably the latter of the two.^

Finally the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.  "Right this way," the manager said, and escorted them out of the elevator. 

To her amazement, Bree found herself at the top level of a gigantic underground courtyard.  It was like she was looking at a four-story cell block beneath them, but instead of cells, the walls were lined with rows of vaults. 

"So this is where her vault is!" Conner said, looking around with the same amazed face as Bree. 

"This isn't really a casino, it's a secret bank," Bree said as an affirmative. 

"Oh no, it's still one of Monte Carlo's finest casinos," the manager reassured them.  "But before it was a casino it was one of the world's greatest private storage facilities for hundreds of years.  The building was bought in the early 1900's on the condition that it remain a working storage facility. The vaults are not rented or leased but purchased in perpetuity, like cemetery plots."

"So there are things inside these vaults that will never be seen again?" Conner asked. 

"Usually the vaults and their possessions are inherited, but occasionally we have clients who pass on before naming a benefactor." the manager explained. 

"And those people's valuables will just be locked away for the rest of time?"

"Yes," the manager said.  "But typically when people lock away something in an underground vault, it's because they don't wish t share it with the world."

Conner and Bree gulped in unison.  The thought of what might be behind some of those metal doors gave Bree chills.

"Now, please follow me and I'll show you to your grandmother's vault," the manager said. 

They followed him down two flights of stairs to the third-highest level. 

"Here we are, vault 317," the manager said and stood to the side of the vault door. 

"Wait, how do you know for sure this is our vault?" Conner asked.  ^Good, now you're thinking with your smart brain Conner.  Just use that more often.^

"Each chip contains a small number on its side, and I examined yours before bringing you down here," the manager explained. "Each chip also acts as a key.  The sides are not ridged like normal chips but have several unique grooves and dents.  When you place the correct chip into the center of the vault's locks and spin the handles, the vault will open.  Place the incorrect chip into a lock and the chip will be destroyed when you spin the handles."

Bree thought for a moment about what he had said when a nagging question appeared in her mind. "But how do you know that we are the proper beneficiaries?" she asked.  "How do you know that we didn't steal the chip?"

"That is not a problem," the manager told her.  "According to our three-hundred-year-old policy, whoever is in possession of the chip is the right beneficiary. We give one chip to each client.  If it gets lost or is stolen, that is not our issue.  We avoid many lawsuits and robberies that way."

Bree nodded in understanding and saw Conner do the same out of the corner of her eye.

"Now please enjoy your time with whatever your vault possesses," the manager said.  "It is also policy that I leave the room before you open it, to uphold our guarantee of the absolute privacy of your possessions.  Please wait until I have entered the elevator before opening your vault.  When you have finished with your possessions, please take the elevator to the main floor."

He spoke so casually even though there was nothing casual about this place.  The manager walked off in the direction they had come from.  He climbed the stairs and disappeared into the elevator. 

"This place is intense," Conner said, looking around in circles at all the vaults encircling them. 

"This place is awesome," Bree contradicted.   "Think about what might be in these vaults- think about who might be in these vaults!"

Conner paused for a moment and looked at Bree.  His face changed from many different expressions and then rested on confusion.  He seemed to be confused at why Bree found this stuff so interesting. 

"Fingers crossed this works," Conner said.  He put the chip into the vault's lock.   He spun the handles around the lock and the door opened with a pop.   A gust of air carrying mixed scents came with it.  Both of his hands were on the handles but he didn't fully open the door. 

"What are you waiting for?" Bree asked.

"I just thought about all the potentially amazing and horrible things that might be waiting for us inside," he said.

"I know," Bree said excitedly. "Too bad my phone is dead; otherwise I'd take pictures."

Conner grunted as he pulled the heavy door open.  He and Bree stepped one foot onto the ground in the vault at the same time. Bree looked around in astonishment at all the treasures that Mother Goose had acquired over the years. 

It looked to her like the storage room of a museum. There were large Egyptian busts, small Faberge eggs, hundreds of rolled-up scrolls, portraits, canvases, dinosaur bones, clay pots and pans, and even a giant machine gun from World War II.

Conner walked over to a particularly large stack of stuff and sat down on the floor next to it started to go through it slowly, examining everything he put his hands on.  Bree walked over to the nearest stack and started to do the same.  Some of the outrageous items she came across were so crazy she momentarily forgot what they were looking for.

Bree kept searching until she found something that just looking at practically made her eyes bulge out of her head. "You don't think this is the actual Holy Grail, do you?" Bree asked, showing Conner the cup in her hands. *It probably was, just saying.*

"Probably not," Conner said.

Bree sighed with relief and tossed the cup aside. She unrolled a painting and laughed.  "Then this painting labeled 'The original Mona Lisa' with a note from Leonardo da Vinci probably isn't real either," she said, showing it to him.

"Um... that one might be legit," Conner said, looking lost in thought for a moment.

Bree suddenly felt like she was holding an explosive and set it down gently. She continued to search through the stuff around her, finding nothing except some really cool stuff that didn't help in their search.

"I wish Mother Goose wasn't such a hoarder.  It'd be so much easier finding the panpipe if she had learned to recycle," Conner said.  Bree kept searching until Conner leaped up.

"Bree! Get over here and look at this!" Conner yelled. "I found it! I found it!"

"You're amazing! *so true*"Bree said, and hugged him tightly. "Does it say what notes need to be played to activate the portal?"

Conner looked at the panpipe closely and his eyes lit up. "It says 'G-E-F-C, C-E-G-F," he said. "I'm assuming those are musical notes or maybe that's how you spell a sneeze."

"This is terrific! Now all we have to do is get to Neuschwanstein Castle and find the portal!" Bree said.

She was so excited and happy that she kissed Conner's cheek and hurried out of the vault.  When she got out of the vault, she realized what she had just done. She leaned against one of the pulled open doors, thought about it, and blushed. ^Why had she done it? Did Conner now know that she liked him? Did this change things? No.  She would not have anything change in their relationship over one excited kiss on the cheek. It was just excitement, that's all.^

Bree poked her head back inside the vault and called out. "Aren't you coming?"

"Yeah, sorry, be right there!" Conner said.

By the time Conner exited the vault, Bree had gotten her blush under control and had put on a happy face.

They shut and carefully locked the vault behind them. Conner tucked his poker chip away, and they made their way to the elevator. They rode the elevator up, thanked the manager and left the casino.

"Before we left the train station I took a look at the upcoming departures," Bree said as they ran down the stairs of the casino and stopped. "If we can make it back in time, there's a nine o'clock overnight train to Prague that stops in Munich on the way."

"Perfect," Conner said.  "There's only one thing we're missing."

"What's that?" Bree asked.

"Pearl!" he said.

They turned around and dashed back into the casino. Pearl was still by the slot machine where they had left her. However, she was clutching three buckets full of coins she had won while they were downstairs. 

"Nicely done, Pearl," Bree said. 

"Pearl, would you like to go on one last train ride with us?" Conner asked.

The old woman didn't seem to understand him but nodded sweetly.  Pearl was in for the ride as much as they were.

___

~~~~~ (*****^-^*****) ~~~~~

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THANKS FOR READING!!!
BYE BOOK-HUGGERS!!!
TLOSGEEK2-OUT!!!