A perplexing mystery has gripped the small town of Cooksville for five years now. A frantic search had been made to find the heir to Waxhaul Manor. true, the newest club was made up of six local 9-year-olds. But the clue they found this day would e...
Things were usually pretty quiet in the town of Cooksville. But today there was excitement brewing among the town's newest club members. The Secret Garden Club was having an unscheduled meeting because of the appearance of an old key found in the vicinity of Waxhaul Manor. Incidentally, this "vicinity" was also where the Secret Garden Club members discovered the ideal place to hold their meetings.
The place was the long abandoned formal garden of the manor. With a little work on the part of each member, it was restored to somewhat of its old original beauty. It was perfect to those who wanted to keep it secret, being surrounded by large walls that were over-grown with vines. If you didn't know where the entrance was, chances are you'd never find it. And there was no chance of it being discovered by anyone at the manor, because it had been abandoned for the last five years. Mr. Waxhaul had died unexpectedly of an illness, leaving the town scrambling to find an heir. So far, none had been found.
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As usual, Aaron was the last to arrive. He had been involved in the game on television. "I hope our meeting is for a good reason. My favorite team is playing today, and I'm missing it." Hannah walked over to retrieve a small box from behind a bush. "I think it could be something very important. Check out this key I found yesterday on my way home." Everybody gathered around to get a better look. "Cool," said Rebecca, "what do you suppose it goes to?" C. J. took it from Hannah, turned it over in his hand, and said, "I heard Mr. Bridges telling old Mrs. Parker once that the manor has a secret safe somewhere. I bet it goes to that." Jamal laughed and said, "I bet it goes to a secret door in the basement or something." Hannah sat down next to Regina and asked, "What do you think, Regina?" "I'm not sure. We need to find someone who could tell us about it." C. J. put the key back in the box and put it behind the bush again. "I could go and see what Mr. Bridges might know about it," offered C. J. Hannah said, "Good, C.J.! Aaron, maybe you could go ask sheriff Ritchie if he knows anything about it. Maybe you can take the key and show it to him." "But what if he wants to keep it?" said Aaron. "Well, I guess we really don't have much of a choice. Let's get back together after supper this evening to see what we came up with." Everyone agreed, and left to see what each one would find.
