The wall and the bookshelf clicked into place, on the other side of the wall.

'Well, that's cliché creepy old mansion,' Maggie thought.

Maggie was in a massive room, with the walls lined with mirrors so the room seemed infinite. There were no windows or candles, but pale grey light came from everywhere and nowhere. The roof was a dome of grey stone slabs high above her. Black tiles lined the floor, smooth and shiny like obsidian. A line of gold tiles made a path into the centre of the room, covered in patterns of purple stars and moons and comets like tiny glittering galaxies.

The golden path lead to a single pale grey pillar, intricately designed, and covered in pale flecks. What was most strange was what was on top of the pillar. A small plain chest rested, made of dark wood and iron, and stubbornly locked.

When Maggie had pulled on the book, she expected something like this secret room. But when she imagined the secret room, she thought of a bright room, the floor covered in money and large chests overflowing with jewels or treasure,  maybe the secret valt of money that John apparently had.

There was no treasure in this room, unless you counted the gold tiles. There was only the odd chest, sitting smugly on the pillar, like it thought it was the most superior thing in the world. 

Staying on the gold tiles, Maggie carefully walked over to the pillar, and picked up the chest. It didn't seem particularly menacing, nothing worth building a secret room over. Something slid around inside, but Maggie couldn't tell what it was,

Maggie went back out of the chamber by pulling the book again. The wall, bookshelf and circle of floor spun back around again, once again leaving Maggie in the office.

Exited about her discovery, Maggie ran out of the office to tell Martha. Halfway, she stopped. Martha might take it away from her. Maggie didn't know what the chest held, but she felt like it now belonged to her. So instead, she hid it behind her back as she cautiously walked up to Martha's room. 

Martha was solemnly packing the last of her belongings into a small suitcase. 

"Martha I found something." Maggie hoped Martha wouldn't ask to see it.

"Oh. Okay. If you want it you can keep it. Nothing here belongs to anyone anymore."

Maggie grinned at her, relived.

"I've finished here, if you want to go now?"

"Sure."

The car trip back was long and uneventful, with Maggie carefully hiding the chest from Martha.

As soon as she got back, Maggie hugged Martha goodbye and dashed up to her room. To her displeasure, Georgie was sitting on her bed, seeing how high he could stack her books before they fell down.

"Georgie, get out."

He stuck out his bottom lip. "Why?"

"Because this is my room."

He scowled. "I was here first."

"Only by a few months, now get OUT."

Georgie stomped out of the door, knocking over his book stack as he went. Maggie glared at him as he exited. Georgie had been born a few months before the Harrows offered to foster Maggie, and Georgie never let her forget it.

Locking the door behind him, Maggie sat on her bed and brought out her chest. Now she had the chance, Maggie studied it closely.

It was made of a simple dark wood, almost black, and reinforced by strips of dull iron. The lid was curved and the sides and base were flat like any other chest. A small keyhole sat below the joint of where the lid met the base. Now that she looked closely, Maggie could make out runes carved into the wood on the lid of the box, similar to the ones on the book that lead to the secret chamber. Maggie traced each rune with her finger.

For the second time, Maggie tried to open the chest. It stayed firmly closed. She examined the lock. Maggie tried to think where there might have been a key to open it, when she stopped herself and hit her forehead with the heel of her palm.

'I'm an idiot, I have a key.'

Maggie gently slit the golden key off her necklace. Hoping it would work, she slotted the key into the keyhole.

It fit like a glove.

Slowly, she turned the key in the lock. The runes began to gently give off a golden glow. Then abruptly, they stopped, the key fully turned, and the lid clicked open.