Nat leapt up the stairs and flung herself through the doors to the attic. In the gloom she could distinguish old mattresses and suitcases, but no Kathleen. She picked her way between piles of tatty books and coils of wire.
‘Kathleen,’ she called. ‘Are you okay?’
No reply. She pushed further into the darkness. Everything was quiet. Where had her sister gone?
‘Kathleen!’ she yelled. ‘Where are you?’ She looked around in desperation.
A muffled thump came from the wall beside her. She jumped. What was that? Again, she heard the thump.
‘Kathleen?’
‘In here,’ came the faint reply.
‘Are you okay?’
‘I guess.’
‘Hold on!’ she called.
Nat ran her hands over the wall – this was the end of the attic; there wasn’t any other space. She rapped her knuckles against it and a solid sound echoed back. This didn’t make any sense; she needed a better look. She pushed a crooked dresser out of the way. The floorboards groaned and Nat looked up. Was something else going to collapse? The attic was still. In a flurry she pushed boxes and musty coats onto the dresser. She couldn’t see anything but the wall. There was only one possible explanation.
She called downstairs. ‘Jack!’
‘Yeah?’ he answered.
‘Can you help me out, please?’
‘What do I get?’
‘My time on the computer this week.’
‘Sweet!’ said Jack.
Nat heard him striding up the stairs.
He poked his head in the door. ‘Is she okay?’
‘I think she’s trapped in some kind of secret room.’
‘What?’
‘You heard me. Can you pace out the length of the house from the kitchen to the back porch, and then compare it to up here?’
‘All right.’ Jack disappeared, and soon Nat heard even steps and counting. Then he reappeared. ‘Twenty. And upstairs it’s – hold on.’
‘Hurry up!’ yelled Kathleen.
‘Just a second,’ called Nat.
Jack reversed to the edge of the landing and then paced again, scrambling up into the attic and continuing to the wall where Nat waited. ‘Eighteen.’
‘You’re sure?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Then we have to find a way in.’
‘Dad’s going to love that.’
Nat examined the walls again. There was no sign of an entrance. Jack banged on the plaster in a couple of places.
‘This stuff is really solid,’ he said. ‘Maybe I should get a hammer.’
‘Find something up here,’ said Nat. ‘Kathleen – can you see any way to get out? Is there a door?’
‘No!’ called Kathleen. They could hear the tremor in her voice.
Nat looked at Jack. ‘We have to figure this out. She’s starting to get scared.’
‘I’ve found some tools,’ said Jack. He brandished a hammer and a splitter axe.
‘You tap the wall over here, top to bottom, left to right,’ said Nat. She grabbed the hammer. ‘I’ll do this part. There has to be a way in somehow. What’s the axe for?’
He shrugged. ‘To hit Kathleen over the head when she gets out.’
Nat glared at him. ‘Can’t you be nice?’
‘She’s learnt what to expect from me. It’d be rude to change now.’
Methodically, Nat tapped the plaster, but the returning sound was dense, not hollow. She worked her way down to ground level – nothing. Jack finished his section with the same result. They moved along.
‘I could barge it,’ said Jack. With the most energy Nat had ever seen him use, he threw his shoulder against the wall. He bounced back so hard he flew against a hat rack and landed in a tangle on the dusty floor. ‘Or not,’ he muttered.
‘What was that?’ yelled Kathleen.
‘Nothing,’ said Nat. ‘Hold on.’
She tapped the wall while she flicked through different solutions in her head. If Jack couldn’t force it, they were in trouble. Tap-tap-tap. The hammer flaked off pieces of plaster. Tap-tap-tap. She bent down and tested the last stretch, just above the floor. Tap-tap-donk. The hammer fell through something new – a thin board. Nat wiggled the hammer back and forth and it fell out easily.
‘Jack – I’ve found it.’
With the splitter and the hammer they cleared out all the board until the space was big enough for one person to wiggle through on their belly. Nat slithered in. It was a close fit.
Inside, Kathleen was covered in dust, sitting in a nest of rafters and torn hessian.
‘I’m okay,’ she said, wriggling her legs.
Nat inspected the hole in the roof. Thankfully, it wasn’t very big, and the rotten material had broken Kathleen’s fall.
Jack wormed his beanpole frame into the room. ‘What is this place?’ he said.
Every wall in the secret room had been reinforced with planks of solid wood.
‘This is rimu,’ said Nat. ‘No wonder you bounced off.’
Jack rubbed his shoulder. ‘Whoever built this didn’t want anyone to find it.’
‘They obviously had something valuable to protect,’ said Nat.
‘Then what are we missing?’ asked Jack. ‘If they went to this much trouble to keep people out… Hold on.’ He helped Kathleen up and pushed the debris against the far wall. They scanned the floor. Nothing.
‘What about up?’ said Kathleen.
‘Up?’ repeated Nat. Her gaze flashed over the walls.
‘Holy,’ whispered Jack.
At the peak of the roof, just in front of the gaping hole, sat a single shelf. On it rested a small wooden box. Jack lowered it to the floor. It was covered with cobwebs, and fastened with a padlock.
‘The key could be anywhere,’ said Nat.
Jack grinned. ‘Don’t worry about that.’
He lifted the hammer and bought it down on the padlock. It smashed instantly.
Jack offered the box to Nat. ‘Would you care to do the honours?’
Nat opened the lid. Inside was a yellowed envelope with a name on it: