That night, before I’d even pulled into the driveway, I’d called Inez Castillo. She’s been my attorney and friend for fifteen years. I’d asked her to pull everything she could find on my parents’ property and accounts.
Dad reached under his cot and pulled out an old cookie tin.
Inside were property tax receipts. Insurance papers. Photographs. Old envelopes.
“The deed Derek knows about is in the filing cabinet in the house,” Dad said. “A copy.”
“And the original?”
Dad lifted the rusty key on its blue thread.
I stared at it.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
He stood up.
“Come with me.”
Mom got up immediately. “Manuel.”
“It’s time, Carmen.”
She looked from him to me. Then she sighed.
“All right. But quietly.”
We slipped out the side door and crossed the dark yard. Dad didn’t head toward the house.
He walked toward his old workshop.
I grew up in that workshop. When I was a kid it smelled like cedar shavings and varnish and coffee. Dad built dining tables in there. Bookshelves. Church pews. Rocking chairs. Once, an enormous walnut desk for a judge who insisted on paying him double.
Derek and I used to sweep up sawdust for pocket money.
Dad unlocked the door with an ordinary key. Moonlight fell through the dusty windows. His tools still hung exactly where they always had.
He walked to the longest workbench.
“Help me move this.”
It was heavier than I remembered. We slid it away from the wall.
Behind it was a narrow wooden panel.
Dad pressed one corner.
The panel swung open.
Behind it was an old iron lock.
“You built a hidden compartment?”
“Your grandfather did.”
Dad put the rusty key in the lock.
For a second, it resisted.
Then it turned.
Inside was a wooden box.
No cash. No jewelry. No treasure.
Documents. Letters. An old ledger. Several sealed envelopes.
Dad carried it all to the workbench.
“What is all this?”
“Our history,” he said.
Ethan Blake is a skilled Creative Content Specialist with a talent for crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives. With a strong background in storytelling and digital content creation, Ethan brings a unique perspective to his role at TheArchivists, where he curates and produces captivating content for a global audience.
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