Madeleine

The One Where The Camp Burns (Like Eliza Hamilton's Letters to her Husband.)

Madeleine's POV

"This is it. It's gotta be," Milo checked the Shepard's Journal and compared it to the cavern.

"Alright, we'll make camp here," Rourke declared. On the ceiling hung a glowing green lantern of some sort. "Why is it glowing?" asked Audrey.

"Pah, it is a natural phosphorescence," Mole informed which prompted Vinny to say "That thing is going to keep me up all night, I know it," with a frown.

We set up camp and once everyone was settled, dinner was served. Or, you could call it dinner because Cookie's cooking is... how do you say it in a nice way? Oh god, the nuns are gonna kill me when I say this. Cookie's cooking is nothing more than slop.

"Come and get it," Cookie jangled his triangle before proceeding to dump the food on each person's tray.
"For the appetizer, Caesar salad, escargot and your oriental spring rolls," he grinned.

"Yuck." Audrey spat.

"I wanted the escargot." Mole whined.

"Knock yourself out," Audrey shoved her tray into the geologist's hands and he cheekily stuck his tongue out.

Poor Milo was served the biggest pile of slop. "There you go Milo, put some meat on them bones. You're so skinny, if you turned sideways and stuck out your tongue, you'd look like a zipper," Cookie commented before  he went on his merry way, hauling his pot away.

I took one bite and pulled a face. "Bleurgh, it's greasier than usual," I commented before taking a big gulp of water but not even the drink could save me from the revolting taste.

"I miss my favourite meal at the diner," Milo moved his tray aside.

"Yes me too. I'm starting to wonder if Cookie is even a certified chef," I replied. Milo picked up the Shepard's Journal, squinting his eyes. "What's wrong?" I peered over his shoulder.

"This doesn't make any sense, Maddy. See, in this passage here, the Shepard seems to be leading up to
something," Milo tapped his spoon against the page, "He calls it the heart of Atlantis, it could be the power source the legends refer to but then it just cuts off. It's almost like there's a missing page."

"Maybe the page was already missing before the book landed in Iceland? I mean, it is old. Centuries-old. Anything could've happened to it." I mused. "But I suppose it's part of the mystery."

"That's what this is all about right?
Discovery, teamwork, adventure.
Unless.." Milo looked left and right before lowering his voice, saying
"They're just in it for the money."

Third Person POV

At the campfire, Dr. Sweet was having a change of heart. "You know, we've been pretty tough on the kid. What do you say we cut him some slack?"

"'Yeah, you're right" Audrey turned to look at Milo and Madeleine, "Hey! Why don't you come sit with us?" she called out to us. "Really? You don't mind?" Milo's face lit up.

"Nah. Park it here."

Milo and Madeleine headed over to the campfire.

"Gee, this is great. I mean, you know, it's an honour to be included in your " as he sat down, Mole placed a hot water bottle from behind which created a farting noise. Mole couldn't contain his laughter and fell over to the ground, clutching his wheezing stomach.

"Mole!" Sweet, Vinny, Madeleine and Audrey scolded in unison whilst Mrs Packard rolled her eyes.

"Ah forgive me. I could not resist," said the geologist with a smile. Audrey noticed Milo scanning through the Shepherd's Journal.
"Hey Milo, don't you ever close that book?" she asked. "Yeah, you must've read it a dozen times by now," Sweet replied.