The church had stood in the center of Muhlhausen for nearly a thousand years.  It had seen hundreds of thousands pass through its doors; it had seen countless wars and blood spilled outside those same doors.  At the same time, it had given shelter and comfort to so many who needed it; the seven young women who walked in on this day were no different.

 

Kat explained to the woman they met at the entrance that they just needed somewhere to sit and rest for a few hours; the older woman, dressed in a traditional Catholic habit, led them around the side and into a large room.  She offered to bring the girls something to drink, which Kat graciously accepted on behalf of the group.

 

Five of the girls had packs or, in Denise’s case, luggage, which they happily dropped to the floor; Penelope and Lianne had put in word to the hotel in Bremen, and their things were going to be stored until they could get to them. The woman returned with some tea, and the seven of them settled down on the floor in a circle, happy to be off of their feet for a while.

 

Amanda had the idea of going around the room and each of them telling a bit about themselves; the next person would have to also add what the person before them said. It was a game Amanda knew well from her school days as a way to break the ice and get to know new people.  As it was her idea, she started, and they went around the room, finishing with Denise.

 

“Okay, I’m Denise Miller, I’m from Virginia in the U.S., and I just finished my first year teaching high school history.”  She glanced to her right as she started repeating what the others said. “Penelope D’Arcy, London lawyer and undercover spy…”

 

Penelope smiled as she heard her words repeated.  She wasn’t in the habit of divulging her ‘secret’, but under the circumstances, it was going to be hard to explain away why she was dressed in a black form-fitting suit, with expensive gadgets and whatnot.  These girls seemed trustworthy enough, and after all, they HAD just saved her from peril as well, so she decided to be upfront about who she was. 

 

Denise continued: “Lianne Shaw, secretary to Penelope, and also from London; Katrin Weber, from here in Germany, studying at the University of Art and Fashion in Berlin; Hannah Duffy, from Ireland, studying environmental science at the University of Manchester; Ciara Nightingale, from Massachusetts, studying at the University of Alexandria in Egypt, and finally, Amanda Jones, also from Massachusetts, about to start at Harvard, and an amateur sleuth whenever she gets the chance!”

 

“Wow, a teacher, Denise?” Amanda exclaimed. “And history at that! Is that what brought you over here?”

 

“In a way,” Denise replied, as the others listened attentively.  “My great-uncle served over here during World War 2.  He was involved with the efforts at the end of the war to find and save all of the stolen art that the Nazis plundered from all over Europe.”

 

“The Monuments Men,” Ciara interjected.  “I read about them, really fascinating what they were able to do!”

 

“He passed away earlier this year, and he left me all of his war memorabilia, everything he found that he kept.  I couldn’t wait for summer to get here so I could have time to figure out what some of it was all about!”

 

Denise turned, and unzipped a pocket of her suitcase, reaching in and sliding out a piece of paper.  “This was in his things.  It’s a map – well, part of one.  I came to the Berlin Library to try and find out what it was to, or to find the rest of the map…apparently, someone knew I was there and what I was doing.”  She related what she could remember about her encounter with Kristian, being knocked out and kidnapped.  “He took the original, but I have learned to always make copies of everything.”

 

“Smart girl,” Penelope grinned.  She turned to Amanda.  “So what brought you here, all the way from America as well?”

 

“I met this older Austrian man in a chatroom a while back, he and I hit it off really well, talking about history and art, and it turns out he was around at the end of the war too.  Somehow we got onto the subject of the Amber Room…and we spent hours talking about it! I had read the books on it, but there was so much stuff he told me that wasn’t in any of the stuff I read.  I had been planning to backpack through Europe this summer anyway, so I told him I would stop by, and he said he had something for me when I did.”

 

She reached into her pocket and withdrew the small, credit card-sized piece of amber.  “He left this for me…but I never did get to meet him,” she added, sadly.  “He’s an old man, I hope nothing happened to him.”

 

Kat burst into the conversation, speaking in her halted English.  “Me and Hannah, we met Amanda at a hostel a couple of weeks past. She is so fun and clever! So we joined her.”

 

Hannah nodded, taking all of this in, as Amanda continued.  “Ciara met up with us the other day – she and I have been friends forever.  Anyhow, we all met up in Konigsberg, but we ran into some trouble while we were there,” and she recanted their encounters with Billy, Steve, and Nick.

 

“Nick sounds like a dreamboat,” Denise chuckled, “you should have asked him to tag along!”

 

“I thought about it for a second,” Amanda affirmed.  “But we had just met him, and I kinda liked the idea of keeping the Summer Sleuths as a girl group!”

 

“Summer Sleuths, huh?” asked Lianne, who had been quiet for a while.  “So do you know what that piece goes to?”

 

“We think it’s some sort of key, or part of one,” Ciara replied.  “But that’s as far as we’ve gotten.”

 

Lianne nudged Penelope.  “Well, ‘Black Arrow’? Are you going to show them what you have?”

 

“Right, right.” Penelope shot Lianne a glare as she took off her right boot, and fiddled with the sole for a bit, until finally a spring released, and a secret compartment opened.  She removed the piece of amber.  “I was asked to, let’s say, ‘retrieve’ this from a museum the other night. Up until now, I had no idea why, or what I was getting myself-”

 

Lianne cleared her throat suddenly.

 

“Excuse me, OURSELVES, into…but now I think it is starting to become clear.”  She carefully handed the amber piece to Ciara; Amanda did the same.  Ciara fiddled with them for a moment, and then with a small ‘click’, the two pieces locked together.

 

“Wow…look at that!” Denise exclaimed.  The looks on the faces of the others showed their equal amazement at what had just happened.

 

Hannah turned to Penelope.  “The break in at the museum in Bremen, that was in the news, that was you, wasn’t it?”  Penelope nodded.

 

“It is almost like fate brought us together,” Amanda smiled, as she reached into another pocket and withdrew her half of the map.  “Let me see your map, Denise.”

 

“Where did you get that?” Denise’s eyes were wide as she passed Amanda her part of the map.

 

“Off of one of the guys that accosted us so awfully in Konigsberg.”  Amanda grinned as she slid the two halves together.  “A perfect match!”

 

“What are the odds of this?” Lianne gushed.  “I can’t even begin to imagine!”

 

“Ladies,” Amanda announced, “this is why we didn’t give up before.  We may be on to something really big here!”  She laid the map in front of her, on the floor, as the others gathered around it.

 

“It’s the Harz Mountains,” Kat assessed quickly.  “To the north of us, not that far away really.”  She squeezed in between Amanda and Ciara, her finger on the paper.  “That’s Herzberg.  The Herzberg Castle is there.”  She pointed to a symbol on the map.  “That might be it right there!”

 

“What is this other word though?” Denise, who was on Amanda’s other side, pointed. “Einhornhoehle?”

 

Amanda punched the name into her phone browser.  “Unicorn Cave.  The largest cave in the Harz Mountains.”  She looked back at the map again, confirming what she had typed.

 

“Why is it called Unicorn Cave?” Lianne asked.

 

“They used to think that the fossilized bones found in there were unicorns,” Ciara explained. “We learned in one of my archaeology classes that the bones are just from other prehistoric animals.”

 

“And the cave was thoroughly searched several times for missing art,” Amanda added.  “They never found anything there.”

 

“This certainly is not what I had planned when I agreed to steal that piece of amber,” Penelope mumbled.  She looked over at Lianne.  “We should probably get back to Bremen, get our stuff, and go home.”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Lianne shot back.  “The whole reason you ‘became’ Black Arrow in the first place was for the thrill of adventure, right? And this has got to be the biggest adventure any of us are going to find!  Even bigger than that whole ‘Dealer’ mess a few months ago, I think!”

 

“Dealer?”  Amanda asked, curious.

 

“Another story for another time,” Penelope grinned.  “Okay, we will tag along.  Somebody has to keep you girls out of trouble, I suppose.” She looked over at Amanda.  “So, you fancy yourself the leader of this group?  Not even at university yet?”

 

Before Amanda could speak, Ciara chimed in on her behalf.  “She does know more about the Amber Room than anyone else here, and she has gotten us this far, so I say yes.  I’m guessing you aren’t used to following someone ten years younger than you,” she added with a sly wink.

 

Penelope bristled a bit at the suggestion of her age – even though it was accurate.  “Fine. Miss Jones can lead, for now, but I expect to have some say in what we do.  Got it?” 

 

“Of course,” Amanda replied.  “We all have some say.”  She looked over to Denise.  “What about you, miss school teacher?”

 

“Maybe I haven’t been on any adventures like the rest of you,” Denise answered, “but not because I didn’t want to.  I have read SO many history books, dreaming of being a part of something, and I figure this is my chance! Do you really think we are on the trail of the Amber Room? THE Amber Room?”

 

“I do.  After all, we obviously aren’t the only ones who are following these clues.  Each of us has had an encounter already with someone who is after the same things we are.  We don’t know their intentions, but I think it’s a safe bet they aren’t as good as ours.”

 

“What exactly ARE our intentions?” Penelope asked.

 

“If we actually find the Amber Room?  It belongs back in Russia, where it was stolen from.  In their museum, in Catherine the Great’s castle.  And who knows,” Amanda added with a twinkle, “There just might be a reward…”

 

“Now we’re talking!” Lianne shouted, as the others motioned for her to keep her voice down.

 

“Alright, Leader, what’s our next move?” Penelope smirked.

 

“We get to Herzberg Castle.  Kat and I will go to the train station, see how quickly we can get a train to take us there.  The sooner the better. We have the map, and this ‘key’ thing, but we have to assume that these others are going to figure the map out; they have at least half of it.”

 

“I am starved,” Hannah interjected.  “Let’s find somewhere to get a good meal, and I’ll text you two where we are so you can meet us, ok?” She glanced over to Denise.  “And we need to get you a pack, so you don’t have to lug that around.”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Penelope stated.  “We need to get some things as well, since most of our belongings are hours away, so we will go do some quick shopping and then find somewhere close to eat.”

 

The girls stood up, as Amanda picked up the map.  Penelope took her gently by the arm.  “I think it’s a good idea if we split up the map and key.  Not that I don’t trust you, but in case we run into trouble again.”

 

Amanda paused for a moment, then nodded. “You’re right, I hadn’t thought of that.”  She took the amber apart, and handed Penelope back the half she had before.  “Ciara, Denise, why don’t you two take half of the map each? Penelope had a good idea, we don’t want anyone holding onto all of it.”

 

Denise and Ciara took the map halves, folded them up and pocketed them.  The girls headed out of the church, and as they did, Kat exclaimed, loud enough for the others to hear…”Seven Summer Sleuths!”

 
________________________________________
 

The large black van pulled up to the abandoned warehouse, its tires spinning in the gravel as it parked at the entrance.  Though in the shape of a van, it more closely resembled an RV or bus in size.  Inside, three men were scurrying about, still recovering from the escape of the girls not long before.

 

“That’s the boss,” Kristian barked at Billy and Steve.  “I hope you two knuckleheads didn’t have any plans for the rest of your lives – she is NOT going to be happy when she finds out how badly we have bungled this whole thing up.”

 

The door opened, and two men entered, one of them pushing a frail-looking, elderly woman in a wheelchair.  It was hard to determine her age by looking, but 90 would be a fair estimate. Kristian, Billy, and Steve all turned to face her.

 

“So?” the woman cackled in German, “Where is my map? Where is my key?”

 

Billy stammered, “W-we had some problems, Frau Braun.”

 

“What KIND of problems? I don’t like problems! I hired you three so I wouldn’t HAVE any problems!”  It was obvious that she had a fire in her that most her age had long ago lost.  She glared at Kristian.  “What kind of problems, Kristian?”

 

Kristian produced the map he had taken from Denise.  “I had no problems getting this.  The American girl was an easy mark, once I got her away from the other one.  These two, on the other hand, I do believe they lost the rest.”

 

“LOST?” Her face was getting red.  “Where is the one they call ‘Black Arrow’?  My men here brought her and her friend here, to find where she had hidden the amber?”

 

“The other girls, the ones we ran into in Konigsberg, they showed up here,” Steve grimaced.  “They left with the three we had here, they’re all gone,” he said, not making eye contact with her as he looked down.

 

“You still have the other half of the map, William?” she stared angrily at Billy.

 

“The Jones girl, she must have taken it.  I don’t have it anymore.”

 

“WHAT?”  She turned to the two men flanking her.  “Give me your gun,” she asked the one on her left, who obeyed immediately.  She pointed it at Billy.  “I do NOT tolerate failure.  I have been searching for this longer than you three have been alive, and now, when I am finally close, a bunch of girls get the better of us?” She turned back to Kristian.  “You told me these girls were amateurs, that they wouldn’t be a problem.”

 

“The intel I gathered gave me no indication they were professionals in any way, other than the British girl.  They may have both halves of the key, and the map; we have underestimated them, it seems.”  He, unlike the other two, seemed unfazed by the gun pointing in their direction.

 

“I should have hired THEM to help me find the Amber Room!”  She turned the gun back and forth between the three of them.  “Give me ONE good reason not to dispose of all three of you right now!”

 

Steve gulped.  “F-Frau Braun…I…I put a tracker…in the girl’s phone…we can…follow them…” He was breathing hard and sweating.

 

“A tracker?”  She looked only slightly less volatile.  “Well that is the first sensible thing I have heard since I got here.  Maybe there’s some use for you three after all.”  She lowered the gun slowly, handing it back to its owner. “Let’s get the van loaded up then.  We’ll let the bitches lead us right to it.”  And without another word, she motioned for the men to wheel her back around to the large vehicle.  The other three breathed sighs of relief as they started to pack up their equipment.

 
________________________________________
 

Rachel Fox had just stepped back into her Berlin hotel room when her phone rang.  She plopped down on the couch as she answered it.

 

“Ah, I was wondering when you’d call,” she chuckled into the phone.  “Really? There are seven of them now?  This just keeps getting more and more interesting.  The brunette? That’s probably Denise.  I met her here in Berlin.  I wouldn’t mind seeing her again, if you know what I mean…yes, I got a picture of her map.  I have both halves on my phone, I know exactly where they’ll be heading.  I figured they would have the key…no problem, right? Okay, I’m going to get a car here and head there right away.  I’ll call you when I get close, we’ll rendezvous outside the castle and plan our next move from there…Oh I guarantee you the old hag will show up again, with her hired goons.  We’ll deal with them when the time comes…all right, we’re wasting time.  Thanks for the good news, I will see you in a few hours!”

 

Rachel hung up, quickly packed up what few belonging she had, and headed own to the lobby to check out and have a hire car, or rental as she called them in the States, brought around for her.  Things were going according to plan, she mused as she headed out of Berlin, into the German countryside, towards the Harz Mountains…