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The backyard was perfectly quiet, the afternoon shifting into evening gear Mr Eckhardt’s house was still and dark--he obviously hadn’t called the police It didn’t ht he’d decided to back off And anyway, Officer Leprechaun would probably write , at worst At best, he’d probably help ot a shovel froe--berry bushes needed a an to dip I couldn’t res in the evening? It didn’t ardless of what Trey or Mr Eckhardt thought, I had a feeling those bundles of roots were hearty and waiting for the opportunity to burrow in

I put e the shovel deeper in the soil, getting perilously close to Mr Eckhardt’s property line I glanced again at his house, but it was still dark I needed to dig out a section just under the fence between us Technically, it was right on the dividing line, but getting to it required standing on his side toas swiftly as I could,over the fence posts When I reached the corner, I was reasonably sure the angle wouldThen again, he probably had supersonic bat ears and could hear even the subtlest shift of the dirt

I sloorked the shovel into the soil, brought up a wedge, and gingerly dropped it onto round with a thunk, and I ietting the shovel in pretty deep When it was ready, I decided to dig out just a little bitif it was too deep I could fill it in a little, but if I’d misestimated, I didn’t want to have to return to the Eckhardt side of the fence

When I pushed the shovel in onesound, so in Had I hit a stone?

Oh as line? Was my whole property about to blow?

Carefully, I twisted the shovel and realized it was scraping againstsas line, and buried in between the two properties, right under the fence I skulked back over to rass With a shiver of exciteround like a puppy I used the shovel to loosen the edges of the hole and dug soh dirt to pull what I now realized was a uys used It was heavy but had handles at the sides, and, squatting, I hoisted with all ofbackhen it came free Then I tucked it under my arm and ran inside like a quarterback

"What do you think is inside?"

Jackie eyed the dirty, rusted box on my kitchen table ary skepticism "Could it be from the fifties, like when everyone had a bomb shelter? Maybe there’s Yoo-hoos and Twinkies inside"

"It could be a boave her a look, and she flushed "Well, you never know"

Deciding I wanted coconspirators to deal with possible unearthed treasure, I’d texted Jackie and Glynnis, and both had acceptedto overanalyze They’d coht snacks and wine As far as I was concerned, this was a party It was Saturday night, and I hadn’t actually cared about a Saturday night in years

When I could see the box more clearly, I could tell it was old, but not that old, and notnu us out Jesse’d once bought bolt cutters when he had a brief flirtation with handy if my natural curiosity would win out overI would have a hard ti lint in her eye "What if it’s full of lass Howher pale red curls adaavesomeone’s privacy Buttechnically it was half on my property, and I was curious as hell I slipped the nose of the cutters underneath the lock With soh the metal "Are you ready?"