Maeve dusted the shelves for the umpteenth time in four weeks. For all the particles that continually collected there, it seemed the very ceiling and walls must be shedding. It couldn’t be the cat. She’d just let him inside an hour ago.
He had disappeared into some distant corner to stalk his prey. He was welcome to it, as long as he didn’t eat it on the furniture. Maeve hated dealing with mouse traps. Ghost would handle both the capture and the elimination for her.
The microfiber rag in her hand snagged on a splinter above a hardcover book left behind by the former resident. When Maeve tugged it loose, a small section of the wall pulled forward. She gasped, “Oh, no! Go back together! I can’t afford any more repairs.” But upon closer inspection, she could see that the bulging section was perfectly rectangular.
Grasping two edges with the rag, she slid it toward her. It glided forth like the tray of a cash register. The entire piece came out of the wall. The portion facing her was covered with paneling that matched the surrounding area. Lowering it, Maeve looked down to find a metal handle lying almost flush with the top surface.
She climbed down off her stepladder. Bringing the mystery object over to the kitchen table for better lighting, she dusted away the wall dander and gingerly set it down. Fearing whatever lay inside might pop out like a jack in the box, she stood about a foot away and pulled ever so gently upward on the handle.
Nothing jumped up from within. There, lying on a cushion of red velvet, lay a folded piece of stationery. Whether yellowed by time or by design, she couldn’t tell. When she picked it up, it appeared to be in good condition.
Maeve’s fingers fumbled on the paper’s edges. Finally, her finger caught the gap between the folds and lifted the sheet open. Fancy black script, perhaps written with a calligraphy pen, read: Above the beams, beneath the sky, the treasure holder keeps me dry. Embossed in gold at the bottom was the name of the home’s former owner, Max Stafford.
Maeve let the paper fall back into the box. “Really? A dead person is sending me on a scavenger hunt?”
Ghost let out a shriek and tore through the room at top speed. He wound up under the recliner.
Maeve put a hand over her heart. “If you do that in the middle of the night, you’re going to give me a heart attack. You most definitely will not be sleeping in my room.”
Ghost responded with absolute silence.
Shutting the lid on the clue, Maeve said, “I’ve got a job interview at the bookstore in less than two hours. I don’t have time for games right now.” She picked up the box and started walking toward the shelf to replace the missing chunk of wall. As she lifted it above the book, her hand brushed across another handle on the bottom.
Sighing, she turned the box over. “A hidden compartment. How cliché.” Shaking her head, she tugged the slat upward.
A dazzling green emerald pendant shone up at her. “Whoa!” Suddenly, the game didn’t seem so trite.
Perhaps she would play along, after all. But it would have to wait until she got back from the bookstore. She didn’t want to risk becoming so engrossed in the hunt that she’d make herself late for the interview.
She held the pendant in her hand, caressing its facets. “If you’re real, then my house just became worthy of being broken into.” She glanced out the windows and doors from her position on the stepladder. “Can’t risk anyone seeing you.” She slid the emerald back into its secret spot. Making sure to shove the box in until the paneling clicked back in place, she dusted the area once more before coming down to ground level.
Glancing in the direction of the couch, Maeve said to her invisible cat, “This house just got much more interesting.”
Ghost let out a muted mew to say he’d heard her, but he didn’t exactly agree. From what he’d seen, the home had been full of intriguing things from the moment he’d stepped inside. But cats always notice more than humans do.
Intriguing I’d love to read
Thank you! I appreciate that.