The Secret Garden of Ravenwood

Chapter 8: Secrets, Secrets Everywhere

Avery and Leo were determined to find the hidden room in the mansion that the letter in the wooden box had mentioned. They spent hours searching every inch of the mansion, but it seemed like a dead end. Every nook and cranny of the house was searched, but it seemed like they were looking for a needle in a haystack.

Avery sighed and sat on the bottom of the stairs, asking, "Do you have any idea what the riddle was talking about? Because so far, we have nothing."

Leo sighed and shook his head, "No clue, we have searched pretty much everywhere in the house. I have no idea where else we should search."

He nodded and they got back to work, searching as much as they could. They spent days on end searching the entire house, but it was as if the room that the letter was speaking about just did not exist.

One day, around two weeks after the day that they had found the letter, Leo burst into the house, "I've got it!"

Avery glanced up from where she was sitting at the table, jumping to her feet, "What did you get?"

Leo grinned, "I think I have the answer to the riddle."

"Well tell me what it is!" She was bubbling with excitement, clapping her hands together.

Leo grinned, "Think about it. The floor's on top, and the roof's beneath, which means that the roof that is above our head is now under us. You rarely leave, yet with the passing of each day, a new horizon greets my gaze. That probably means that it is a window that is high up."

Avery looked a bit impatient now, "Okay, but what does that mean?"

Leo grinned, "It's the only place we haven't looked at yet." Avery was about to kick him in the shin, but Leo jumped away, "Hey, hey, no violence."

Avery just glared at him, her arms crossed, "I have waited for two weeks for us to find this hidden room, get to it then!"

Leo grinned, "We need to go to the attic."

Grandma Jane looked up from her spot at the table, "Oh no kids, we can't have you going up into the attic. It's dangerous up there. Why don't you two continue playing in the garden, or in the living room."

Avery groaned, "Grandma, we aren't 'playing', we are investigating. And we will be careful, I promise." Leo nodded his head in agreement.

Grandma Jane shook her head, "I would rather that you two don't. I need to go out into town for a food run, but you two better stay out of the attic. I mean it!" She got up and went to the door, slamming it behind her.

Leo grinned, "Attic?"

Avery grinned and agreed, "Attic." Avery was hesitant, as the attic was dark and dusty, but she knew he was right. There was going to be something up there that they find, and she was hoping it was going to be the hidden room.

They climbed the stairs to the second floor, searching the ceiling to find the entrance to the attic. They soon came up to the little door on the ceiling, and Leo grabbed the string and pulled down the folding ladder. They glanced at each other before they slowly climbed up the stairs into the attic.

The space was filled with old boxes and trunks, and it was clear that no one had been up there in years. Dust coated everything in the room, making it feel dusty and damp in the attic. One of the walls was lined with books, like a mini personal library with books that hadn't been touched in years.

They started to dig through the boxes, hoping to find something that would lead them to the hidden room. There was nothing around there that they could find, all of the boxes filled with old clothes or objects that were of no use to them.