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"Euess there’s only one other place to go"

We gazed up at the far porch Its darkened s gave e of the driveway, staring at the footprints embedded in the snow in front of us

"It doesn’t look like anyone’s been doing ho the porch boards with his foot before approaching the front door "Iapart" Yellow paint was peeling off in huge strips, and most of the ere either broken or boarded up

A breeze made the shutters creak, and I pulled up the neck ofbehind us at the sun setting behind the trees as we slipped through the door

The foyer was cold and stale, with dust suspended in the air, thickening it Work boots covered in cobwebs sat on the floor, and graying paper hung off the walls Noah flipped the light switch, but nothing happened

The hallas dark, and as weto avoid a side table

"You go ahead," he said

"Thanks," I h that he couldn’t see h the farmhouse was covered in a film of dust, it seemed somehow lived in The sofas and love seats were antique and dilapidated, but the pilloere all out of place, as if they had just been rearranged And the imprints in the cushions looked almost like they were fresh I bent down to touch one, half expecting the spot to still be war a picture of three e block of ice up to the ca an article framed on the wall There were dozens of the back to the 1800s "It says they cut blocks of ice from the lake, insulated them with hay, and trucked them around to houses in local towns to use in ice boxes before the refrigerator was invented"

"That aze out theIn the distance was a large frozen lake speckled with a flock of blackbirds gathered on the surface

"An ice farht "I wonder how this place fits in with the riddle"

"I don’t know," I said, though what I didn’t understand hat this place had to do with Dante

"Should we explore?" Noah said "Where do you think it would be hidden?"

We went through each of the downstairs roo for the last piece of the riddle, under furniture, behind paintings, and beneath rugs, until we found ourselves on the second floor, in a large bedroo the door for rin It was a puritanical old place, plain for the , save for a canopied bed with yellowed lace fabric cascading down the sides

There was a simple chandelier in the center of the roo happened "I don’t think anyone’s been here in years," he said, opening the closet doors He glanced around inside to check for anything inscribed in the wood, but the walls were bare

We scoured the roo outside, and the overhead light out in the room, it was difficult to see, so we used our hands instead, running our fingers beneath the dresser, the night-stand, the arrainy wood of the floor and the uneven plaster of the walls We kneouldn’t be on furniture, because the ninth sister would have been smarter than to leave the last clue to i everywhere, we found nothing

"There’s only one place left," I said, brushing off my knees

We stared at the bed I had found the first part of the riddle beneath a hospital bed

"After the lady of the house," Noah said, giving me a little bow as he lifted the lace of the canopy to letbeneath it, I dropped to my hands and knees and reached beneath the bed skirt But no matter how many times I ran my pal

"I don’t feel anything" I inched closer, trying to reach deeper, but stopped when I felt so sharp jab my ankle

"Ow!" I cried out, and squir by my side "Are you okay?"