The Secret Garden of Ravenwood

Chapter 7: The Dig

Avery and Leo had been working on the garden for a few days, trying to restore it to its former glory. It had been going amazing, most of the garden was cleared up and they had even planted some of the more common plant seeds that used to be planted. It had been a struggle to find the seeds at the store in town, but they had managed to find a few.

Avery and Leo had spent that morning working on the landscaping. While they were taking a break and munching on some sandwiches, Avery pointed to a bare spot near the edge of the property, "What do you think is over there?" Avery asked Leo.

Leo looked at the spot she was pointing to, his eyes narrowing a bit but then shrugged. "I don't know, do you want to find out?"

Avery nodded eagerly, walking over to the empty land with Leo. The soil was hard and compact unlike the rest of the garden, making Avery's curiosity grow more. She kicked at the dirt a bit and then gasped. She remembered something that she had read in the notebook.

"Leo, do you remember reading about a well in the garden?" Avery asked.

Leo's eyebrows furrowed as he thought, "I don't recall reading anything about a well. But that doesn't mean there isn't one, did you read something in the book about a well?"

Avery nodded eagerly, "I remember reading something about there being an old well in the garden. I think we should try to find it, it might be a good idea to see if there's anything down there that could give us more information about the mansion's history."

Leo agreed and they both grabbed shovels and began digging. The soil was hard and compact so it was slow progress to get through the dirt. The two kept at it though, slowly digging deeper and deeper into the dirt.

After a few hours of digging, Avery's shovel hit something hard. Avery leaned in closer and brushed away the dirt, revealing the top of a stone well. Avery gasped loudly, looking up at Leo, "We found it!"

Leo looked down at the top of the well, "There is a piece of wood blocking the inside of it, are we sure it is the well?"

Avery dropped down to her knees, brushing the dirt off the top of the wood. Then she grabbed a hammer, using the back end to pry the wood off of the inside of the well. "This is it," Avery said, excitement bubbling up inside her. "This is what we've been looking for."

Leo looked at her skeptically. "What do you mean?"

Avery gave him a big grin, "When I was reading the notebook, the different things that I have been reading have led me to believe that there is something hidden in the garden. It might not be something that we have already found, it might be the well. Or more specifically, in the well."

Leo was still skeptical, "Well what do you think is down there? And what do you think it will do?"

All Avery could do was smile, "I think this well might be the key, the key to everything else that we are trying to unravel."

They both peered down into the well, but it was too dark to see anything. Leo sighed, "Well we might as well get a ladder and climb down there to see if there is anything that we can find." He walked over to grab a ladder off of the wall of the shed out front.

When Leo made his way back, Avery handed Leo a flashlight. He turned it on and pointed it down the well, but all he could see was darkness.

"Be careful, Leo," Avery warned as he lowered the ladder down.

Leo smiled, "I got it, I got it."

Avery whispered, "I will go down there to see what we find since it was my idea."