James lowered the heavy oak hatch safely back down to the floor.
He wiped sweat from his forehead with a soft blue cloth handkerchief.
Sarah sat down on the floor right beside Clara and small Lily.
Sarah: Are you feeling hurt anywhere, Clara?
Clara: Just a small scratch on my elbow, nothing serious at all.
James: What were you looking for down in that old room anyway?
Clara pulled a small black metal box from her coat pocket carefully.
The box had an old brass lock on its front side.
Clara: When the shelf fell over, this fell off the top ledge.
Clara: My father hid this away decades ago before he passed away.
Lily touched the shiny metal edge of the dusty black box curiously.
Lily: Is there gold inside the secret box, Mommy?
Clara: No, sweetie. Something much more valuable for our family estate.
James looked at the old box with a curious expression on his face.
James: Is that the original family trust document from sixty years back?
Clara: Yes, the exact papers that prove our right to keep this property.
Sarah smiled warmly as she adjusted Clara's dusty woolen coat collar.
Sarah: The lawyers said those papers were lost forever three months ago.
Clara: Everyone thought so, but my father left a hint in his journal.
Lily looked down through the small crack near the closed hatch hinges.
Lily: Will we close that dangerous door forever now, Mommy?
James: I am going to nail it shut with heavy iron spikes today.
James: Nobody will ever fall down into that dark space again.
Clara stood up slowly, keeping her left arm wrapped around young Lily.
She held the black metal box tight against her chest with her right hand.
Clara: Let us go to the kitchen and get some warm tea first.
Sarah: That sounds like a wonderful idea for all of us after today.
They walked down the wide hallway together toward the bright family kitchen.
Lily held her mother's hand tightly with both of her little fingers.
Lily: I am glad I did not leave you alone in the dark.
Clara: You were my little guardian angel today, Lily.
James stayed behind in the hallway to secure the cellar floor hatch.
He placed two heavy wooden chests right over top of the closed door.
He wanted to make completely sure nobody would ever walk over it blindly.