into a book, I’d put a secret door in here.” Her fingertips traced the sides as she looked around. She glanced down at her feet, then turned a little. “Oh my god, I think there’s a seam in the floor.”
A little hit of excitement made my heart speed up. “Seriously?”
She moved out of the way so we could see. I pulled out my phone and shined the light on the pantry floor.
Sure enough, there was a square seam.
“Do you think it opens?” she asked.
“Only one way to find out.”
I pulled my Swiss army knife out of my pocket and wedged the tip into the crack. I loosened it carefully until one side popped up enough to get my fingers underneath. Then I pried it loose. The whole thing came off in one piece and I set it beside me.
The hole revealed a spiral staircase leading into a dark cellar.
“Oh my god, Gavin,” she whispered. “You were right.”
“Do you want to come down with me?”
I expected her to at least hesitate—or maybe say no—but she nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Fucking awesome.
I went first so I could make sure the steps would hold. They creaked, but felt sturdy. I climbed to the bottom and Skylar came down after me.
We found ourselves in a dusty room with dark walls and a wood floor. I shined the light on shapes covered with sheets of fabric, mostly stacked against the walls, like someone had once used this room to store old furniture.
Skylar got out her phone for more light and turned in a slow circle. “I just got like five new story ideas from this room alone. This would be such a great place for a serial killer to hide his victims.”
“Right? Creepy basement with a hidden door? It would just need some sound proofing and it’s perfect.”
“Exactly,” she said, excitement in her voice.
We peeked beneath the sheets, but it was just old furniture. Skylar found a dresser, but the drawers were all empty. So was the writing desk.
“Look at this,” Skylar said, lifting another sheet. “It’s an old chest.”
“Is it locked?”
She pushed the sheet back and tried the latch. The chest opened with a puff of dust. “I guess not.”
I watched while she opened the lid. This one wasn’t empty.
“Holy shit,” I said softly.
Inside we found old books and leather portfolios filled with yellowed paper stacked on either side of another, smaller chest.
Sky opened it and we both gasped. It was mostly empty, except for a handful of shiny round coins at the bottom.
“Are those what I think they are?” I asked.
She picked one up and I shined the light on it. There was a fancy M stamped into the metal.
“I think this is a gold coin,” she said, her voice slightly breathless. “Do you think this is it?”
“The Montgomery treasure? I don’t know, there’s not much in there.”
She gasped again. “What if it’s a decoy?”
“Or a clue, like a scavenger hunt.”
“The M has to be for Montgomery, right?”
“Must be. What else is in there?”
She put the coin back and closed the lid, then gently shuffled through the rest of the contents. She lifted a small book out of the pile.
“This one is monogrammed,” she said. “SRM. You don’t happen to know Sarah Montgomery’s middle name, do you?”
“No, but I bet we could find out.”
Using just the tips of her fingers, she opened the book and gingerly turned a few pages. The script handwriting was faded and hard to read, and suddenly I wondered if I should have tried harder to learn cursive.
“Oh my god, Gavin, this is amazing. They’re letters, and they’re all signed by Sarah.”
“Letters in a journal?”
“Sometimes people used to write two copies of their letters, one to send and another in a journal so they could keep them. These first ones are addressed to an Aunt Ruth.”
“What do they say?”
“This one just talks about having tea with another aunt named Pollyann, and she sends her regards, and stuff about learning to play piano.” She turned the page and I waited while she skimmed the next one. “This one is kind of the same, although she does talk about having a row with cousin Betsy.”
“A row?”
“It means an argument.”
“Oh. Drama.”
She laughed softly. “Yeah. I wonder if these get better later.” She carefully opened to one of the last pages and gasped.
“What?”
“She wrote to Eliza.”
I crouched down closer. “Seriously?”
Even I could read the words Dear Eliza at the top of the page.
“Dear Eliza,” Sky read aloud. “It has been months since I last