“I thought trap doors usually had rings in them for pulling them open,” Alice said.
“In the middle of the room, such a thing would be a tripping hazard,” Harry reminded them. He hooked his fingers into the notch, lifted the plywood square and set it to one side. “Let’s see what’s down there.”
“Hang on a minute,” Alice said. “Let me get the battery-powered trouble light from the garage.” She ran out.
“There’s a ladder in there,” Bertie said.
“Yeah.” Harry shone his light up and down the ladder. “I don’t know how sturdy it is.” He walked out and looked around the main part of the shed. An aluminum ladder was standing against the wall beside the main door. Harry took it in and lowered it down into the hole, standing it up against the old one.
“Not much space for getting down there,” Alice said as she came in and handed Harry a very bright light.
“I don’t need much. I’m only going to look around.” They watched as Harry’s head disappeared below the floor.
“Is there anything down there?” Alice asked.
“What do you see?” Bertie chimed in.
“Hang on. Give my eyes a minute to adjust. One good thing, the air doesn’t smell stale so I’m guessing the trap door isn’t exactly air-tight.”
“Tell us what’s down there, ” Alice said.
“Another room… ”
“Are you kidding?” Bertie interrupted.
“Nope. It’s about half the size of the one up there, from the hatch back to the end where the table is. There’s another small table down here… one chair… and an old suitcase on the table.”
“Oh dear!” Alice’s voice was shaky. “I think you may have found it.”
Seconds later, Harry’s head and shoulders appeared above floor level. He looked at Alice. “Found what? Was I supposed to be looking for something?”
“No. We haven’t been actively looking because I thought it was just a story,” she said. “Come on up. We can go inside and I’ll tell you about it.”
“Shall I bring up the suitcase?”
“Yes, please,” Alice said eagerly. “It could be very important.”
Bertie laughed. “Are you hoping for treasure? Jim said you love mysteries.”
Alice grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe something more precious than that.”
Harry went down again, retrieved the suitcase and passed it up to Alice. She took it carefully. “Okay, let’s go inside.”
Inside the warm, cosy old farmhouse, they took their coffee into the living room where Jim was sitting in a recliner with the footrest up. Alice handed out plates and passed around a tray of tea buns, cheese and grapes. Then she laid the tray on the coffee table and sat down.
“Jim, do you recall exactly what Mom said Grampy Sam told Nana about having something hidden in a secret place?”
