Chapter 37 - The Second Chamber
The brass key from the wooden box remained on Samuel's desk.
Attached to it, the small metal tag still read:
Second Chamber
Daniel unfolded his grandfather's map again.
The first hidden chamber beneath the house had already been discovered.
If there was a second...
It had to exist somewhere the map suggested.
Samuel enlarged the drawing.
"The compass."
Daniel looked up.
"What about it?"
"The compass wasn't just a keepsake."
Samuel placed it directly on top of the map.
Instead of pointing north...
The needle slowly rotated until it settled toward a handwritten circle marked near the edge of the Carter property.
"Magnets?" Lily asked.
Samuel shook his head.
"No."
"This compass has been modified."
The three of them walked outside before sunrise.
The needle continued pointing toward the old stone well that had dried up years earlier.
Daniel remembered playing beside it as a child.
His grandfather had always warned him never to climb inside.
He had assumed it was for safety.
Now...
He wasn't so sure.
Looking into the darkness below, Daniel noticed iron rungs built into the stone wall.
Someone had expected people to climb down.
Halfway to the bottom, Lily's flashlight illuminated a narrow steel door hidden behind decades of moss.
The brass key fit perfectly.
With a heavy metallic click...
May you like
The second chamber opened.
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