Page 40 of Halloween with a Daddy
“Most of these doors are locked, so that’s the end of the tour.” I clear my throat and motion to the door we came through.
“The keys don’t work?” My grandfather points to the ones in my hand.
“Edgar said some keys have been lost over the years, since they didn’t use this part of the house.” I shrug. “I don’t think anyone has been in here much since the fire.”
“Hmm.” My grandfather walks over and starts inspecting the walls.
“What are you looking for, dear?” My grandmother eyes him. “If you say dungeon…”
“No, I’m looking for this.” He pushes a button and a passage opens. “After seeing the ones upstairs, I figured out what to look for. We passed a few on the way here.”
“Really?” I blink in surprise. “Well, we probably shouldn’t go in there. I don’t know if it’s safe.”
“We’ll be fine.” My grandfather reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. “Get your flashlights out. We’re going spelunking!”
“This isn’t a cave.” My grandmother shakes her head. “But I will not turn down a chance to see what’s in there.”
Against my better judgement, we go into the passage. There’s dim lighting like the ones upstairs, but my grandfather insists on using the flashlight on his phone. We find a door that’s barricaded shut on the other side. My recommendation is to leave well enough along, but my grandfather is tenacious and pushes it open enough to see that furniture is blocking it. Another push slides it away and we enter the room.
“See, look at what we would have missed if we didn’t go exploring.” My grandfather looks around. “It’s a storage room!”
“Yeah, I think most of this stuff is rotten by now.” I look around and notice furniture in various states of decay.
“Well, you found your spooky room, dear. Ready to head back?” My grandmother doesn’t seem impressed.
“Let’s look around some more.” My grandfather motions for us to follow him back into the passage.
We look through a few more dusty rooms and I sneeze several times, so we decide to only do one more. Unfortunately, the door is barricaded and my grandfather isn’t able to push it open, despite his best efforts. Just when I think he’s going to give up, he comes up with another idea. We go to the passage door next to it, enter the room, and go out through the regular door.
“Let me see those keys.” My grandfather points to the ones in my hand.
“I don’t think they’ll work.” I shrug and hand them over.
He tries each one of them without success, then pulls out his pocketknife.
“I can pick it, I think.” He studies the lock. “This key almost works, but it just needs a nudge.”
“I’m not sure we should do that.” I wince and look at my grandmother.
“He’s stubborn, Bethany. You know he will not stop once he’s on a mission.” She shrugs.
“I want you to have the full tour.” He winks at my grandmother. “I’m sure Edgar will appreciate it if we get the door open anyway. Who knows what kind of stuff is inside? There might even be something valuable.”
“I don’t think you’ll get a finder’s fee or anything, grandpa.” I laugh and lean against the wall.
I’m not sure if Edgar will be appreciative or upset, but at least I’m not doing it on my own. My grandmother seems interested. Even if we’re poking around places we shouldn’t. It takes my grandfather several minutes and several failed attempts, but the lock eventually pops so he can turn the doorknob.
“Ah ha!” He pushes the door open.
“I did not know you could pick locks.” I perk a brow.
“Misguided youth.” He motions for us to follow.
“I told you there a few stories.” My grandmother grins at me and walks in.
“Apparently.” I follow them both inside.
The room doesn’t yield lots of treasure, like my grandfather hoped. It looks like a bedroom, but there’s no mattress on the bed and the only furniture is a wooden trunk that has an antique lock attached to the front.
