"Dan's on fire." "Help me!" "Come!" "Help!" "Think we can hold them?" "As long as we got the bullets." "Zeke!" " It's okay zeke, i'll get the doc." " Matt... the flag." "I won't let anything happened to it, zeke." "Zeke!" "There were many armed conflicts during the struggle for control of california." "But, in this particular skirmish, a small group of american pioneers... actually, two of them were europeans:" "Hans peterman and francis demarco." "They both came from new england and were both born in western europe." "Who cares?" "Uh-huh." "Anyway, general velasquez and three of his lieutenants..." " castillo, ramirez, and roya." " Oh my god." "Are you in this class?" "Well, no." "Actually, i'm supposed to be in the second year, but ah, they were full." "That's too bad." "We're supposed to be with professor elman in mackay hall." "Why did they send us here with you?" "Professor elman took a leave of absence." "You mean till the heat's off him from grabbing that girl's butt." " Tell me..." " marty." "Marty." "Since you seem to have such a firm grasp on every detail of the battle why don't you tell the class how the pioneers' bear flag was destroyed?" " Well, sure." "Except it wasn't." " Excuse me?" "The other flag wasn't destroyed." "I saw a picture of it." "They tacked it up on the saloon wall after the battle." " Ah, marty." " Mm, hmm." "We exactly did you see this picture?" " My uncle's house." " I'd really like to see it." " Okay, ah, for a price." " What kind of price?" " A date." " Not a chance." "Not with you." "No way." "Look, claudia." "He is enthusiastic." "He is intelligent." "He's fifteen." "Okay." "So he's a bit young." "But he is a prodigy." "I find that fascinating." "Then why don't you go out with him?" "Claudia, we need this flag." "September is the hundred and fiftieth anniversary of california's statehood." "They're having a conference." "Do you know what it would mean if we were able to put that state flag on display?" "All right." "Strictly business." "What's it going to take?" "I don't know, yet." "But i'm sure i'll come up with something." " Within reason?" " Of course." "I'm, like, a reasonable person." "Thankyou." " See the cross in the lower left corner?" " Thineas albert." " That's right." " The priest?" "Ah, the photographer." "The cross was his trademark." "Sure." "Whatever." "He was renowned for his photographs of east coast society." "Except for the year when he decided to join the gold rush in california a place called larivee." " The town that time forgot." " Hmmm... why don't you get a drink, try to fit in?" "Hmm, right." "Oh god!" "Oh shoot, i'm so sorry." "Oh my god." "That's okay." "Looks like you've got your hands full here." "Yeah, well, it's so busy since they reopened the mine." " Another gold rush in california." " Yeah." " Excuse me." "Can i... piller's cup?" " Don't know it." "Right, it's actually pretty simple." "Two ounces of pimm's number one." "Any good fruity liquor will do." "Three ounces of ginger ale, a cucumber, and there you have it." " Uh, bud light?" "Fine." " Draft." "Another gold rush in california?" "Yeah." "Well, for bertram corp at least." "They've got the only mine." "Owned since 1849. but it's okay." "The wages are good, and the boys need work." "Can i get you a drink?" "Oh, yeah i... uh... pardon me." "Oh be my guest." "Pardon me." "Aahhh... pardon me." "Let me know when you're finished those." "The next two are on me." "Thanks." "Is the owner around here?" "We're doing some research about the town." "You'd be better off talking to jake." "He practically lives at that table right over there." "He's ah, been in larivee all his life." "He knows more about this town than anybody." "Hey, jake." "There's some people here." "Wonder if you mind talking to them for a minute." " What are we having for dinner?" " Stroganoff." "Hannah, you're the only one who loves me." "Hanna says you've lived here all your life." "We were hoping you could tell us something about the flag in this photograph." " Why?" " We're historians." "What are you studying?" "History of kickboxing?" "Well, we're very active historians, though." "The past comes alive, and that sort of thing." "Where did you get this?" "A student of mine." "His great-grandfather had it in his attic." " What was his name?" " Billings." " He's a good man." "A bit of a wise-ass, though." " Great-grandson takes after him." "That flag was made by merrit falsey- the one behind the bar and his friend, zeke adams, at the battle of sonoma." "Zeke, didn't get out alive." "Made merrit swear that he wouldn't let anything happen to that flag." "Well, the story says the fort burned down, and there were no survivors." "Stories are like that aren't they, hm?" "Merrit got away just as the fort was over run." "Come here, opened the saloon, lost it and everything else two years later in a card game." "Took the flag with him." " You know where it is, don't you?" " What are you going to do with it?" "Put it where it belongs, in a museum so that the whole world will know what merrit and zeke risked their lives for." "Hannah likes you." "Harley doesn't." "The flag, is in falsey's grave, under his hat." " We're really going to do this, huh?" " There isn't much of a choice." "Well, you see, that's where you're wrong, actually." "We have free will and a ton of air miles." "If we really wanted to, we could..." "we could... ah... don't you guys have a chilli cook-off to go to?" "Shall we dance?" "Here." "Aah... sydney!" "Aaahh... pardon me." " Are you okay?" "Oh." " Aah... think of it as an excavation." "Nigel." " He took off real quick last night." " Do you have any idea where he might of gone?" "When he didn't show up for breakfast, i started worrying." "Jake's not exactly mr popularity around here." "He seemed like a nice enough fellow, except for the spitting." "Jake loves this town." "But if something is wrong, he doesn't pull any punches." "He's usually here until closing, working on his stuff." "But last night, he locked up his briefcase and took off around nine." " Locked it up?" " Mm hmm... he works on it here all the time." "I guess he doesn't want to haul it from home every day." "You mind if we have a look at it?" "So where does he keep it?" "I don't know." "He always puts it away himself." "California state motto." ""Eureka, i have found it."" " What would he need a slang dictionary for?" " Don't know." " Merrit falsey." " Looks like some kind of instructions," " written in riddles." " "Follow the shepherd."" " Jake was working on this last night." " He works on it all the time." " Any idea what it is?" " Looks like he was trying to figure out the clues." "See, this first one here is," " still waters." "Follow the shepherd." " Psalm twenty-three... um. the lord is my shepherd." "He leads me beside the still waters." "Still waters is the name of the general store..." " before they changed it into a pizza place." " Then it must be some kind of map." " To where?" " Hopefully to merrit falsey." "A mile and a half northeast from the still water." "Right." "That's the general store i was talking about." "It's just down this way." " What's wrong?" " Nothing." "Why?" " Do i have a rip in my pants?" " No." "You've been staring at me since we left." "No, no i'm sorrry it's nothing like that." "It's just i've never met a woman like you before." "Oh... yeah, well, i don't have a clue how to make beef stroganoff." "It's actually pretty simple." "You like sour cream?" " Can't stand it." " That won't work, then." "I should have grabbed something to eat before we left." " Hi." "Here." " Hmm." "Mmm, that's good." "What is it?" " Just something i threw together for a snack." " Mmm." "It is good." "You should sell these." "Who'd want to buy them?" "I would." "Well this is it." "The last instruction says we end up here." "Here, give me merrit's document." "There's one more instruction that's not in jake's book." ""East of the sacred earth, point a becomes ground zero where the saints rest."" "Let's break it down." "East of the sacred earth." "There." "Looks pretty sacred to me." "This should be east." "Where the saints rest, point a becomes ground zero." "Where do you suppose ground zero is?" "He's playing with words." "Ground zero, point a." "Wait a minute ground zero's a nuclear testing term." "This was written in the 1840s see, it doesn't say zero." "It's just an o." "Where the saints rest, point a becomes ground o?" "Where the saints rest is hallowed ground." "If you change the a in hallow to an o you get..." " whoa!" "Nigel!" " I believe the word is hollowed." " Sounds like some kind of cave." " I'm fine, thank you." " Oh, okay." "You didn't pack the flashlight." "Why would i bring a flashlight?" "It's broad daylight." "Oh." "I've got a cigarette lighter." "It's jakes." "He gave it to me when he quit smoking." "Great." "No, why don't you wait here?" "We'll be right back." "Oh." "Hey." "Chewing tobacco." "Chalk." "Get down." "They're gone." "This must be the bertram gold mine." " Sydney." " What?" " There's something crawling up my back." " It's probably just a bat." " A bat?" " Well, turn the lantern on." " What if it startles?" " Nigel, one little bat is not going to hurt... you..." " go." "Go!" "...ohhhh!" " Nigel!" "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... jake?" "Oh... jake." "I'm sorry, hannah." "I can't say we saw eye-to-eye on everything but i did appreciate his passion for larivee." "Look, i know you're upset." "But the fact is, he shouldn't have been down there in the first place." "And you too shouldn't have been down there, either." "You were trespassing." "You're lucky we're not pressing charges." "Oh, we appreciate that, mr bertram." "That mine is just way too unstable for people to be wandering around down there." "We realise that now." "And i realise the importance of this flag." "We'll send out a memo to our employees." "If we find anything remotely related, we'll contact you." "We're so grateful, mr bertram." " Let me guess." "We're going back in." " We going back in." "A man was killed down there." "That's exactly why we going back in." "I don't believe jake's death was an accident." "The injury to jake's head was a lot sharper than it should have been from falling in that tunnel." "Whoever killed jake was after the same thing he was." "The mine is composed of sandstone." "It would be unusual to find any jagged surfaces like that." "And why would he have gone so far into the mine without his lamp?" "We don't know jake was looking for the flag." "No, but it had something to do with merrit falsey." "And jake did say it was in his grave." "You find falsey, you'll find the flag." "Besides, with jake gone, it's all we have to go on." "Even if we did go back, how would we know where to look?" "I mean, it's like a maze down there." "Would a map help?" "I deliver lunch to bertram every other day." "Look, jake was more than just a friend to me." "He was the only family i had." "See you later mr bertram." " Hannah." " Hey." "Hi." "How's the chicken salad today?" "Terrible... it's not fresh." "The turkey... the roast beef lt's good i made it this morning." " Thanks." "Enjoy." "Well, that's it." "The whole layout." "What, you didn't think i could do it?" "No." "This morning you didn't think you could do it." "And this is everything that jake had on him." " And this?" " The x's we found in the cave?" "To mark his way back out." "We'll meet you here at two." "So how much do i owe you for the equipment?" " Oh, about forty-five." " Didn't you return the shovels?" "Well, they weren't exactly in pristine condition." " Oh, right." " Yeah." "Okay." "This is right about where his body was." "I doubt that's chinese for x." "It's a few hundred yards south east of here." "There doesn't appear to be anything here, really." "Merrit falsey wasn't exactly master of the obvious, was he?" "Maybe if we keep on walking, you'll fall into something again." " What's wrong?" " A stone in my shoe." "Ow!" " Now what?" " I cut my hand." " This rock is sharp." "I wonder what type it is." " O negative." " The rock, nigel?" " Right, um." "Granite." "Didn't you say this mine was composed of sandstone?" "Yes." "But you can't seal anything up with sandstone." " I should get something on this." " What?" "Oh, yeah." "Sydney." "Sydney!" "Nigel." "Merrit falsey?" "Jake said he kept it under his hat." "Here goes." "No flag." "Nothing." "Oh." "Doesn't look like he died of natural causes." "Sorry, merrit." "Nigel!" "What?" "You almost stepped on a box of hundred and fifty year-old nitro." " Do you know how unstable that is?" " Nitroglycerine?" "Yes." "They use it to blast out the rock." "Another cross." "Hallowed ground?" "It's the deed to this mine, in merrit falsey's name." "It is registered in 1848." "But bertram's family founded the mine in '49." "After they killed merrit and jumped his claim." "Which is why he was sealed up in here with his head cracked open." "And probably why jake was down here." "I told them how dangerous and unstable it is down here." "Should have listened to you, mr bertram." " You all right?" " I think so." "Can we leave now?" "Very definitely." "Maybe merrit falsey had another hidden entrance." " I don't think so." " Well, what are we going to do?" "I have no idea." "Hmm, i'll tell you, mr bertram i can't say the explosion finished them off, but no food, no water?" "Won't last long." " We're getting out of here." " How?" "Same way we got stuck in here." "But you said it was unstable." "It can explode without warning." "Don't worry." "I'll warn you." "Go." "Mind your step... mind your back..." "mind your head..." " nigel, shhhh." " Yeah, yeah." " Okay." "Now we just have to ignite it." " Huh?" "Whoo... i guess we need a bigger rock." "Well, i... i guess that makes us even." "I didn't think i set off two explosions." "Too bad you can hear that nitro from miles away, huh?" "Yeah." "My lawyer did a search for merrit falsey's descendants." "That's when he found that jake was the last one." "Merrit's great-great-grandson." "Grandson?" "So jake and knew the mine belonged to merrit." "Mm-hm." "That's why he hated bertram so much." "He couldn't prove anything." "Oh, i almost forgot." "I've got something to show you." "I got eight cases of mountain spring here." "I'll be right with you." "I thought about what you said, and the owner is going to let me start selling them at the bar, and if people like them, who knows?" "Come on, i don't have all day." "Hey!" "What part of "be right with you" did you not understand?" "Aren't you the least bit disappointed that we didn't find the flag?" " Who said we didn't find the flag?" " We didn't." "Did we?" "It came to me in the mine shaft." "Jake didn't mean the flag was under his hat literally." "He was playing word games." "Wearing a marble hat, dead and buried." "When merrit didn't come home one day, his wife buried his things as a memorial." "She didn't mind if anyone found the stuff in the coffin but the flag meant more than anything to her." " So she buried it under his hat." " Sorry." "I'll put it right back." "So, how was your date?" "Well, why don't you ask him yourself?" "I mean, i couldn't go out with him looking the way he did before." "I had to do something." " Marty?" " That's my name, syd-babe..." " don't push it." " Sorry." " And your date will be here soon, too." " My date?" " That's my part of the payback." "Remember?" " Yes." "I don't understand." "What do you get out of it?" "Well, your date agreed to do me a little favour." "I see." "What's the catch?" "Oh, well, there's a slight little age difference." "Unlike yourself, i'm a mature person." "I can look past physical appearances to the true person inside." "I'm sure we'll have a great time." "Well, here's the true person himself." "Professor elman?" "Oh, professor." "Before you go, there's still the matter of... yes, yes." "You have a week's extension to hand in your project." "I'm sure you'll have a great time."