Free The Secret of the Stone House by Judith Silverthorne

up until we both left for university.” He wound the cord back around the paint sprayer.
    Emily sat on the edge of a stack of boards. “Couldn’t you continue to see each other?” she asked, not bothering to hide her curiosity.
    “We moved to different cities at opposite ends of the country,” he answered.
    “You still could have written and seen each other on holidays. What happened?”
    “Your dad happened,” Donald shrugged his shoulders.
    “Oh.” Emily didn’t know what else to say.
    “Life’s like that sometimes,” he said, straightening up.
    Suddenly, Emily heard her name called.
    “Don’t talk Donald’s ear off, Emily,” her mom called across the yard. “We could use your help with lunch.”
    “Coming,” Emily replied, relieved at escaping from an uncomfortable situation. She turned to Donald, “See you later.”
    He nodded and headed back into the shed.
    With the five men joining them in the kitchen for lunch, Emily could easily observe Donald and her mom without being noticed. They seemed to be doing their best to avoid each other, although she did catch them eyeing one another across the table. Once Donald caught Kate looking at him and she glanced away, her face flushing. For two people who hadn’t seen each other in a long time, they sure were keeping track of one another. Emily decided she’d ask Aunt Liz more about their early romance. Her mom probably wouldn’t tell her.
    As they cleaned up the kitchen, Emily had other thoughts on her mind. She waited until they were alone, then she approached her mom, “Mom, is there any way we could keep this house?”
    Astonished, Kate stared at her. “Of course not! Whatever would you want to do that for?”
    “It’s special. Your grandfather built it. You grew up here. We should keep it in the family.” Emily felt the pride growing inside her again.
    Kate groaned. “Emily we’ve been through all this before. We have to let this place go!”
    “I know we can’t keep up with the farm, and Gerald’s letting us use the house for a while. But why couldn’t we buy it back from him? You know, just keep the house and the yard.”
    “We can’t afford the upkeep. And you know none of us has the time to worry about the place.” Kate seemed exasperated. “Subject closed!”
    Deflated, Emily dried the dishes without another word. Aunt Liz, who had just entered the room, avoided looking at either of them.
    Finally, Kate broke the silence. “How are you doing with finding the box that fits the key?”
    “Not so good,” Emily admitted. “I don’t know where to look. Do you have any ideas?”
    “None so far,” said her mom, wiping off the counters.
    “He probably hid it somewhere and forgot where,” Aunt Liz teased.
    “You know, that’s a possibility,” said Kate.
    “You’re a genius,” Emily added.
    “Not quite,” Aunt Liz said. “Just because he built secret compartments in desks, doesn’t mean he hid the box.”
    “But it makes sense, doesn’t it?” asked Emily. “We already know it can’t be anywhere out in the open. We’ve sorted, cleaned, packed, moved, and otherwise gone over this entire house centimetre by centimetre.”
    “True!” Aunt Liz agreed.
    Suddenly Emily thought about the outbuildings. “Would he have hidden it outside somewhere?”
    “I doubt it,” said her mom.
    “He would have been more careful than that,” Aunt Liz agreed.
    “Well, do you have ideas where it might be, then?”
    Jokingly, her mom said, “Let’s just hope he didn’t hide it behind a stone like in one of those old English mysteries!”
    Aunt Liz groaned. “Could you imagine trying to find a loose stone in this big house?”
    The two of them started to laugh, but Emily interrupted them.
    “That’s not such a far-fetched idea,” Emily said seriously. “It would make sense wouldn’t it?”
    Thoughtfully, they considered the options.
    “Well, it wouldn’t be just any old stone,” Aunt Liz said. “It would have to be in a