They Found Old Pictures And A Moving Wall!

 Marlee was getting tired of being cooped up in the camper. Yes they had gone to the ranch and visited with the horses and the other animals, but she was getting tired of doing the same old things. Her mom and dad had talked about the ranch having a silver mine on it and maybe being rich someday. What did that mean; being rich someday. Were they going home or not? She missed her Grandma B in Missouri. Her other grandma, Lollie, had come to visit, but she had gone back home. She needed somebody to play with other than her little sister, Whitlee. She suddenly had an idea. "Mom, can we Facetime, B? I miss her. I miss Willow too and Stashia, and the mini farm. I think I'm getting what they call sick of not being home. No that's not right." Her mom chuckled and said, "Homesick, Marlee. That sounds about right. I'm a little homesick myself. We can Facetime B maybe tonight. I thought maybe today we would go over to the main house and do a little exploring. The other couple said that they don't want it. They said as soon as they pay us off they will probably tear down the big house and build another new one. The thing is, your dad and I are not sure if we want to sell yet. He's in town now. He is at the courthouse checking on the  mine that that old book of yours talked about. If it still has silver in it we might move to Texas. We just have to do a lot of digging and see first before we make any decisions. Okay?"

Marlee looked at the picture of her and Willow that was on her mom's phone. "I sure do miss them. Willow is getting so big."

After breakfast that morning Marlee, Whitlee, and their mom went over to the big house to explore. It was almost empty. The furniture had sold at the auction so actually there was little to see. Marlee didn't like the big old house. It smelled funny and she could see weeds growing over the windows. They were upstairs when she heard Whitlee yelling for them to come see what she had found. They saw that there was a wall that moved. It actually moved all by itself! There were old dolls and books and stuff in there. "I'm not going in there. There's all kinds of spiders and cobwebs on stuff. Yuk!" shivered Marlee. By this time Marlee's mom walked into the deserted room. "Marlee, come here. Look at this picture. Wasn't there a picture like this in that old book that you bought?" She dusted it off on her pants and said, "Yes, I'm sure this is the same man riding a horse. It was some kind of horse show in Kansas City. Let's take this picture back to the camper with us. Maybe there is something on the back of it that can tell us who this is. Interesting room, that's for sure. Eww! What's that running around in here? Oh my gosh, I think there's rats in this house. Come on girls, let's get back to the camper. We might have a mystery here. Then how about a picnic? Sound fun? No, you can't have a doll, Whit." Even though it was a hot day in Texas, she felt herself shiver. She shook her head as she walked down the stairs. "I do love spooky stuff in movies and books, but in a real house, not so much," she thought.

  When they got back to the camper Marlee asked if she could take the old picture out of the old metal frame. Her mother said that she would do it because the glass in the frame was broken. I'm going to have to be very careful not to cut myself on this old glass."

Marlee's mom found that she had company when she was carefully picking out the broken glass. A spider scurried across her knuckles on it's way to a safer place to live. "Oh! Did you see where that spider went to? Girls! Did you see that spider? Oh well, I'll soon find it I'm sure. She needs to be outside."

Marlee said, "So how do you know it was a girl spider, Mom?"

About that time Marlee's dad came into the camper grinning. "Yes, Mom. How do you know it was a girl spider? I'm curious myself." About that time the girls ran and grabbed him around the legs and begged for him to go outside with them. "We are going to have a picnic, Dad. Mom said."

He looked over to see what his wife was doing. "Where did you get that old frame? In the attic at the main house? Can I see it a minute?" He took it over to the window and rubbed it with his thumb. The sun glinted off the frame and his smile widened when he looked at his wife. "Well, this just about sums it up, my dear. I'm thinking that this frame is silver, I mean real silver probably mined right here on this very ranch. The man at the courthouse affirmed that there is indeed a silver mine on this property, but that it is closed off because it probably was mined out and is a danger to people that might wander in. He gave me a map and instructions on how to find it, but warned me not to go inside. He said the timbers that keep the mine from collapsing are so old that a person could get buried alive in there. He said he remembered the couple that owned it a long time ago. He said his name was Edward and hers was Virginia, but they are long gone." Again his wife shivered and said, "So let's go home as soon as we can, okay? I'm not liking it here anymore. Too many unanswered questions, spiders and rats. I'm ready to pack."

"Did Mom tell you that the big house has walls that move? Did she tell you that there was a silver clock up there too? I bet there are ghosts up there in that old icky room. I bet there are!" Marlee started chasing her sister outside making scary gestures and howling noises soon to be followed by their dad who was laughing and teasing their mom. "I guess this ranch is kinda a fun place, but I really would like to go home," Marlee thought.