accepting the challenge. The passageway was tiny, dusty, and full of ancient cobwebs. Scrunching up her face, she plunged forward with Trevor close on her heels.
“What do you think old Grandfather Donnovan wanted with a hidden passageway?” Trevor asked.
“Who knows? I don’t think he was into anything illegal. Weren’t hidden rooms the thing when this old house was raised? Maybe he just liked having secrets.” The passageway turned sharply and plunged down a cramped, steep stairway. “Going down,” she warned.
At the bottom, they turned to the right and then right again. Straight ahead, the upper half of the passageway was blocked, forcing them to duck as they crawled through the narrow opening. “I think this space must be one of the dining room windows,” Trevor said. “I thought they were unusually deep.”
“I bet you’re right! Here’s the other one!” Julia ducked, crawled through, and moved on. She was so excited she didn’t wait for Trevor. Julia reached the end of the passageway and scanned a series of shelves that held volumes of leather-bound books and sheaves of paper. Several were too high for her to reach. “Trevor, could you reach those?”
There was no answer.
“Trevor?” Julia turned and flashed her light back down the passageway. It was empty.
He’s trying to scare me.
She ignored Trevor’s silence and looked back at the shelves, grabbing the nearest book.She blew the dust from its spine and coughed at the resulting cloud. “Whew!” Julia opened the pages.
Anna Serine Donnovan, 1839
“Oh! Trevor! Come quick! I know you’re there! Look what I’ve found.”
He crawled through the last window frame space and stood behind her, holding the flashlight beneath his chin to light up his face eerily. “I’m coming,” he said in a monotone. Getting only a distracted giggle from Julia, he gave up his game, and his voice returned to normal. “You won’t believe what I found.”
“Look what
I’ve
found! My great-great-grandmother’s diaries. Think of the family history stored in these. And look! She wrote a ton of them! This was Anna’s passageway, not Shane’s.”
“And if this works like the dining room passageway …,” Trevor began, searching the walls. He found an exposed wire and pulled, and an entire bookcase swung outward into the library, letting in the afternoon light.
Julia’s jaw dropped. “How in the world …”
“The dining room china cabinet moves the same way.”
“You’re kidding. None of the china was hurt moving it, was it?”
“No. Whoever designed these was ingenious. Check out the tiny lips that hold the books in place. It’s the same in the china cabinet. And the way these swing—so level and so smooth—nothing budges, even with the weight and momentum of the pieces.”
“That’s amazing. I would think that the settling of the house over the last hundred years would have thrown them off-center or something. Here, help me take some of these diaries into the library.”
Julia grabbed two more volumes from the shelves and walkedthrough the huge secret doorway into the room. She placed the books on a table near the window, which faced the lighthouse and sea, then turned to take five more volumes from Trevor’s hands. “Is this all of them?”
“That’s it.”
“What about that tin box up high? Could you grab it for me?”
“Can do.”
Trevor emerged from the passageway a moment later, then carefully shut the bookcase behind him. Setting down the tin, he went to work looking for the secret latch that opened the case from inside the room, while Julia began reading.
Finding the first of the volumes by date, she opened the first page and began reading Anna’s elaborate, flowing script.
25 December 1839
My Shane has convinced me at last. Perhaps it’s the cheery and hopeful mood that surrounds the celebration of our Lord’s birth that made me susceptible at last to his dreams and aspirations. Having made captain the same
“What do you think old Grandfather Donnovan wanted with a hidden passageway?” Trevor asked.
“Who knows? I don’t think he was into anything illegal. Weren’t hidden rooms the thing when this old house was raised? Maybe he just liked having secrets.” The passageway turned sharply and plunged down a cramped, steep stairway. “Going down,” she warned.
At the bottom, they turned to the right and then right again. Straight ahead, the upper half of the passageway was blocked, forcing them to duck as they crawled through the narrow opening. “I think this space must be one of the dining room windows,” Trevor said. “I thought they were unusually deep.”
“I bet you’re right! Here’s the other one!” Julia ducked, crawled through, and moved on. She was so excited she didn’t wait for Trevor. Julia reached the end of the passageway and scanned a series of shelves that held volumes of leather-bound books and sheaves of paper. Several were too high for her to reach. “Trevor, could you reach those?”
There was no answer.
“Trevor?” Julia turned and flashed her light back down the passageway. It was empty.
He’s trying to scare me.
She ignored Trevor’s silence and looked back at the shelves, grabbing the nearest book.She blew the dust from its spine and coughed at the resulting cloud. “Whew!” Julia opened the pages.
Anna Serine Donnovan, 1839
“Oh! Trevor! Come quick! I know you’re there! Look what I’ve found.”
He crawled through the last window frame space and stood behind her, holding the flashlight beneath his chin to light up his face eerily. “I’m coming,” he said in a monotone. Getting only a distracted giggle from Julia, he gave up his game, and his voice returned to normal. “You won’t believe what I found.”
“Look what
I’ve
found! My great-great-grandmother’s diaries. Think of the family history stored in these. And look! She wrote a ton of them! This was Anna’s passageway, not Shane’s.”
“And if this works like the dining room passageway …,” Trevor began, searching the walls. He found an exposed wire and pulled, and an entire bookcase swung outward into the library, letting in the afternoon light.
Julia’s jaw dropped. “How in the world …”
“The dining room china cabinet moves the same way.”
“You’re kidding. None of the china was hurt moving it, was it?”
“No. Whoever designed these was ingenious. Check out the tiny lips that hold the books in place. It’s the same in the china cabinet. And the way these swing—so level and so smooth—nothing budges, even with the weight and momentum of the pieces.”
“That’s amazing. I would think that the settling of the house over the last hundred years would have thrown them off-center or something. Here, help me take some of these diaries into the library.”
Julia grabbed two more volumes from the shelves and walkedthrough the huge secret doorway into the room. She placed the books on a table near the window, which faced the lighthouse and sea, then turned to take five more volumes from Trevor’s hands. “Is this all of them?”
“That’s it.”
“What about that tin box up high? Could you grab it for me?”
“Can do.”
Trevor emerged from the passageway a moment later, then carefully shut the bookcase behind him. Setting down the tin, he went to work looking for the secret latch that opened the case from inside the room, while Julia began reading.
Finding the first of the volumes by date, she opened the first page and began reading Anna’s elaborate, flowing script.
25 December 1839
My Shane has convinced me at last. Perhaps it’s the cheery and hopeful mood that surrounds the celebration of our Lord’s birth that made me susceptible at last to his dreams and aspirations. Having made captain the same
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