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Everyone had gone to the wall. Samuel's mother was safely away, and only the challenge of finding the source of water remained before him.
    "This is our best chance," he said. They started off, fast but silent, and soon the two were up the deserted stairs, down the hallway, and in front of the door to the main chamber.
    Samuel tried the handle and found the door locked as he'd expected. Lord Phineus had been mistaken to assume Samuel wasn't a clever boy, however, for Samuel had a secret known only to him, a secret left by his father, Sir William.
    "This way," said Samuel, waving Isabel toward a second set
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    of stairs. At the bottom was a torch burning softly, and Samuel took it from its hold and carried it up the steps. They turned left at the top, and Samuel stood before the door to Lord Phineus's private room. To the right of the door sat a square box made of wood with a leafy green plant inside.
    "We need to move that," said Samuel.
    "How do you know?" asked Isabel.
    "My father told me." He glanced at Isabel and saw that she was surprised. "He used to show me all sorts of secrets about this place before ..."
    There was a long pause in which the two looked awkwardly at each other.
    "Before what?" asked Isabel.
    Samuel stepped away from the wooden box he'd been trying to move. "A year ago he fell from the Highlands, back when there was a Highlands to fall from."
    "I'm sorry," said Isabel.
    Samuel shrugged and took hold of the box once more. It was full of dirt and very heavy, so Isabel came alongside and helped.
    "Whose door is this?" asked Isabel, glancing up as they scooted the heavy box across the floor. She didn't like the dark look of it. The door appeared to be made of black wood, and there was a long crack down the middle that looked like a vein with blood running through it, as if the door were alive in the dancing flames of night.
    "It's Lord Phineus's private room," said Samuel, trying to
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    move the box with one hand while he held the torch. He was not making much progress.
    "I don't want to go in there," said Isabel, backing away. Samuel stopped trying to move the wooden box and looked at Isabel. It was unusual to see her lose her confidence.
    "We're not going inside. There are things hidden here, things we need."
    "Who hid them?"
    There wasn't time to explain everything about his father -- about how he had stood against Lord Phineus and paid a terrible price--so he offered only a little of his father's legend.
    "My father hid these things when he became suspicious of the others," said Samuel. "He didn't trust Lord Phineus or Sir Emerik. He woke me late one night and showed them to me, in case anything ever happened to him, in case Lord Phineus tried to hurt me or my mother."
    Isabel moved back toward Samuel.
    "Why would he hide something there?" she said. "It's right in front of his door."
    "My father was fond of hiding things right beneath people's noses. He thought it was the last place Lord Phineus would look. I hope he was right."
    Isabel moved Samuel out of the way with one arm, then took the edge of the wooden box in her hands and slid it to the other side of the door.
    "Hold this," said Samuel, giving Isabel the torch and kneeling down. The wall was made of stone blocks of two sizes. The
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    larger stones were about the size of the box Isabel had just moved, but interspersed between those were smaller ones, the size of Samuel's hand. He took hold of one of the smaller stones and tried to jiggle it free.
    "I'm sure this is the one," said Samuel. "It has to be."
    Isabel knelt down next to Samuel, holding the flame closer. The stone Samuel was gripping didn't look like it was at all loose.
    "Are you sure about this?" asked Isabel. "I mean, did you actually see your father put something here, or did he just tell you it was here?"
    "I saw it," answered Samuel. "It was dark when he showed it to me, but I'm sure this is the one."
    "Stand back," said Isabel. Samuel looked up, confused and irritated. Isabel