something, but I had no idea what she wanted. Why would she be asking about
Cole being here as a child? What am I missing? Gram was speaking more in
riddles and gestures than just telling me what to do. This was something I would talk to her about later.
"Show me the chest with her belongings." Gram went towards the lavender
door.
Cole opened it for her without hesitation.
Excited to see if we could solve the mystery, I followed them into the
bedroom.
Cole brought Gram to Sarah's chest. Inside the room, I copied Gram's
previous movements. I ran my hands against the walls while I watched Cole
removing his mother's personal items from the box.
When he pulled out a lilac sweater, he stopped and held it to his face. I knew
he was breathing in the scent, trying to remember his mother. I understood what
he was feeling. I had done the same thing many times while I had longed for my
own parents. For the briefest moment, grief flooded his face. Leaving him alone
with his memories, I focused on searching the room.
When I reached the open closet door, I began my inspection. The shelves
were stacked with boxes above the hung clothing. My eyes scanned every inch
of the space until my gaze hit the floor. In the corner of the light tan rug, I noticed a small red spot. Upon further examination, I found it was a piece of red
thread.
“Cole, Gram,” I called out, “Can you come here? I may have found
something.”
Lifting the rug halfway towards myself, I discovered what it was hiding. A
brass ring was beneath it, stuck in the wooden floorboards.
“What did you find?” Cole knelt down to take a closer look. “Hey, how did I
not notice that before?”
“It looks like a trap door,” Gram said from behind us. “Open it, and let's find
out where it leads to.”
I moved back, beside Gram, allowing Cole ample space to pull up the
wooden door. As he lifted it, the silken threads of spider webs that covered the
opening began to stretch.
“Mara, there are flashlights in the box that I just packed on my bed." Cole
ran his hand through his hair, leaving strands of the web in his dark locks. "How did I not know this was here?” he muttered to himself.
Shaking off the urge to remove the red threads from his hair, I went to find
the light we needed. It didn't take me long to complete my task. I brought back
the silver flashlights that had been buried under my boyfriend’s books, along with other odds and ends.
“I noticed you’re bringing your doll collection with you.” I teased Cole about
the plastic figures I had seen.
“I keep telling you – they are collector's items, not dolls.” Cole accepted the
