The Secret of Smith’s Hill

Chapter 3: Nothing... or Something?

The story so far: The noises in the night are still mysteries, but Kelly has found a stone with what looks like writing on it near where the Clavers’ new shed will stand.

When the twins had finished washing the lunch dishes and Mom and Dad were unpacking books, Kelly put the stone with the marks on it in the dishwater and scrubbed at it vigorously.

But the writing, if writing it was, was just as indistinct as before.

“How about we put paint or ink in the cracks?” James suggested.

“Sometimes, James,” Kelly said, “I think you’re a genius.” She got some black poster paint from her room upstairs and carefully brushed it into the cracks until a seven, an eight, and a two emerged.

“Maybe it’s part of a house number!” Kelly said excitedly. “Maybe there used to be a house where the shed is going, and it was number 782.”

James looked doubtful. “But this house is only number 47,” he said. “Another house that close wouldn’t be 782.”

“Hello!” someone called at the back door. “Anyone lose this?”

James opened the door to a member of the construction crew who was holding up a rusty U-shaped piece of metal. “What is it?” James asked.

“It looks like a horseshoe,” the man said. “You never know what you’ll find around these old Revolutionary War houses. Just wanted to make sure it wasn’t yours.”

“Revolutionary War?” Kelly asked, surprised.

“You mean Concord and Lexington and Paul Revere and the Declaration of Independence?”

The man grinned. “The very same. Actually, your house was built even earlier.”

“Wow!” said James. “I didn’t know it was that old.”

“Where’d you find the horseshoe?” Kelly asked.

“Near the cellar hole. Clementine–that’s my dog– started scratching around. Then she whimpered and backed away, so I looked and there it was.”

“You have a dog?” Kelly asked eagerly. “Can we see her? Why did she whimper?”

“Sure you can see her,” the man said. “I don’t know why she whimpered. Here.” He handed the horseshoe to James. “You might want to hold on to this, for luck.”

“Okay.” James put the horseshoe on the table and he and Kelly ran outside after the man.

“Name’s Sam, by the way,” the man told them. “You must be James and Kelly. Clemmie!” he called. “Here, girl!”

There was an answering bark from the left-hand end of the cellar hole, near the corner forms. A beautiful collie stood there, her golden-brown and white coat shining in the afternoon sun.

Her front paws, Kelly could see, were covered with dirt.

“Bad dog,” Sam scolded. “You know you’re not supposed to dig.” He scuffed dirt into a hole at the edge of the form. Clemmie whined and then barked.

“It’s like she doesn’t want you to fill it in.” Kelly held her hand out to the dog, who sniffed it and wagged her tail.

Sam took a leash out of his pocket and snapped it onto Clemmie’s collar. “We can’t have her digging up your property. I’ll just put her in my truck.”

“Oh, no,” Kelly exclaimed. “Don’t do that! Could we take her for a walk instead? I promise to keep her on the leash.”

Sam hesitated. “Well, okay,” he said finally, putting the leash into Kelly’s hand. “But don’t let her dig!”

“I won’t,” Kelly promised. “Come on, Clemmie!”

But Clementine stood still. Kelly could see that she was still interested in the hole. James seemed interested in the hole, too, for he was scuffing at it.

“Come on, James!” Kelly called. “Clemmie, heel!” She tugged on the leash and at last Clementine followed.

“What were you doing?” Kelly asked when James caught up to them on the road.

“Thinking, mostly,” James said. “You found that weird stone close to where Sam found the horseshoe, right?”

“Not really.” Kelly stopped for a moment while Clementine sniffed. “The stone was on the dirt pile and I guess the horseshoe was near the cellar hole. Why?”

James shrugged. “I don’t know. It just seems odd, especially since Clemmie was so interested in the horseshoe.”

“It wasn’t the horseshoe she was interested in,” Kelly pointed out. “She whimpered at it. She was interested in digging a hole.”

“Maybe we should see if she whimpers again.” “Maybe.”

“Let’s try! Maybe it’s nothing, but...well, maybe it’s something.”

Deciding it was easier to humor James than to argue, Kelly turned Clementine back toward the house.

And when they got there and Kelly took the horseshoe outside to Clemmie, sure enough, Clemmie backed away and whimpered again. Then she pulled the leash out of Kelly’s hand, ran to the cellar hole, and started digging again, frantically.

To be continued Monday April 16 Next Time: Triple Trouble