I didn't have much choice but to take her down to our basement. Anyway, I wanted to know if she would hear the whispers too.
Hazel and I went down into the cellar. I showed her the trapdoor.It was still covered with dust and dirt.
I gave it a tug. It wouldn't open. I must have slammed it so hard the day before that it stuck again.
I gave it one more heave. It came loose. I fell right on my backside.
We both looked into the darkness.I switched on my flashlight.It looked like an empty hole.
I could see Hazel wasn't all that anxious to climb down there, either . I'd already done it once, so I stepped onto the ladder first. I waved her from the bottom. She climbed down after me.
"see . there's nothing here." I said . "Expect for that passageway I found."
"Let me look"she said
She got down on her hands and knees and looked into the narrow passage. I was waiting for her to say she heard the whispers. She didn't .
"This is the escape tunnel. Ill bet it was how to get away from the sheriff if he and his posse surrounded the house. Or a way to go out and rob banks without being seen."
"You don't really believe that,do you?"
"Sure. The Dalton gang used to hide out right around here."
"who?"I asked.
"wait a minute,"She said."I think I hear something."
She put her head right near the tunnel.I leaned down besides her.There it was, the whispering!!
"what is it?" I said. I was trying to keep the fear out of my voice.
"That? Thats just the wind blowing through here. But I thought I herad something else."
We both listened. I could hear the soft whoosh that I'd thought was whispering . Sure , it was just the wind.
Then I heard something else. It was a sream. It came from far away< but you could hear it as clear s anything.It sure wasnt the wind.
We heard it again, closer this time.
We didnt waste anytime. Hazel was up that ladder in two seconds and I was right behind her. I grabbed the trapdoor and slammed it as hard as I could.
We ran up the cellar steps and out into the sun.
"theres something weird in that tunnel,Max,"she said."I wish i knew what it was."
"I wish I did ,too"
"You wouldn't dare to go in there, though,I bet."
"You mean you wouldn't dare," I said . "I'd go in any day."
"How about tommorow? " Hazel said.
"Tommorow s great," I said. "We'll go in and explore."
When I went to bed that night ,I hoped tommorow would never come.
