THE MYSTERY OF ROANOKE; CHAPTER 3: A LOCKED BOX WITH A SECRET (THIRD OF 14 PARTS)

The story so far: Melissa and Brian think something strange is happening in their grandparents' house. Grandma has explained that, before the Civil War, Belle Vie was a busy plantation with land and horses and many crops. There also were slaves, much to the sorrow of Elizabeth O'Donnell, the young mistress who lived there. It left a shadow over the house, but, Grandma says, there is nothing to fear. That night, while Brian is in bed, the wind blows open the doors to his balcony. Someone has written a message on the glass.

Brian stared at the strange message on the glass doors that led to the balcony. It said:

WELCOME FRIENDS

But who would have done it? And how did someone get up to the balcony? Brian looked through the doors, which faced the lawn. There was quite a drop to the ground and no ladder in sight.

Suddenly, he had a sense that he was not alone in his room. A chill came over him.

Shaking, he stepped over to the bedside table and snapped on the lamp. Then he opened the door. Down the dim hall he hurried toward Melissa's room, when suddenly ... he ran straight into someone!

He heard a gasp as he fell. Oh, please, he thought, let this be someone I know.

"Brian!" Melissa whispered loudly, like a hiss. "You scared me!" She stood in her nightgown, barefoot. Her eyes were wide. In her hands was a small wooden box.

"Well, you scared me," Brian replied, also whispering. He stood up.

"What are you doing out here?" Melissa said.

"There was someone on the balcony," Brian said. "And they wrote welcome friends' on the glass!"

"Oh, my gosh," Melissa said. "Well, at least they're friendly."

"We think they're friendly," Brian said. "What's that?" He pointed at the box in her hands.

It was about the size of the cigar boxes Grandpa gave them to keep things in. It had a tiny lock with a tiny key in it.

Melissa said, "I was lying in bed and I couldn't sleep, and suddenly I thought I saw someone in my room. I said, Hello?' but nobody answered. When I turned on the light, I realized it was my clothes on the chair that scared me. So I started to hang them up, and I found this box inside the old wardrobe."

She did not tell him that, once again, she had thought she smelled lilacs. It was so faint that maybe, just maybe, she had imagined it. And besides, she had told herself, lilacs bloom in the spring, not the fall. Not in September.

She held out the box for Brian to see. "I can't get it open," she said. She jiggled the key but it wouldn't turn.

"Let's go to my room and open it," Brian said. "I'll show you the writing on the door."

Just then there was a boom of thunder, and rain started to pound on the roof.

When they stepped inside Brian's room, the small lamp was making a peaceful glow. It did not look like a room that was haunted.

Brian looked over at the French doors to the balcony. "What?" he exclaimed.

The writing was gone.

"Brian, are you crazy?" Melissa said, shaking her head. "There's nothing there."

Brian stood at the doors and pressed his hands against the glass. The rain clattered against it like coins. Outside the trees tossed in the wind.

"Melissa, there was something written here," he said. "It looked like ashes. It said welcome friends.'"

In spite of the rain, Brian opened the doors. He ran his hands over the glass on the outside. Water ran down his arms and dripped on the floor.

"I think the rain washed it away," Brian said. He stepped back in and closed the doors. When he opened his hands, they were dark with dirt. Or was it ashes?

From downstairs they heard footsteps. The hall light snapped on. "Kids, are you all right?" It was Dad.

The twins looked at each other. Brian placed a finger to his lips and shook his head.

Melissa leaned through the doorway and whispered, "It's okay, Dad. We're just talking."

"Well, keep it down. And get some sleep, you two." He turned off the light.

Melissa came back in and sat on the bed next to Brian, who was drying his arms and hair with a towel. Melissa, who was still holding the box, placed it on the bed between them. "Give me your pocket knife," she said.

Brian got his knife from the bedside table and handed it to her. She poked around in the lock until the key moved just a bit. Then suddenly it turned all the way.

Slowly she opened the lid. Inside the box there was a small, old-fashioned Bible with a brown leather cover. "Just an old Bible," Melissa said. As she lifted it out, her fingers touched the bottom panel of the box. It moved. She pried her fingers under the edge and the panel came out.

There was something hidden inside.

Next week: A journey to nowhere.