Persistence Pays Off

         Grandpa always retold his grandparents' stories of helping slaves travel west to freedom.  He spoke of the little bungalow down by the stream where they had lived during the Civil War before the larger farmhouse was built. 

         "They said they hid many a slave family in 'the secret room'.  By the time my brothers and I were allowed to go exploring there on our own, Gram and Gramps were long-since gone and we were never able to find the room."

         During renovations to the family farmhouse we found documents and letters confirming Grandpa's hand-me-down stories.  "Mike, let's go and find that secret room," I urged. 

         "OK, Trystan," he agreed.

         We'd spent summers searching that bungalow to no avail.  Now, as teenagers and with concrete evidence to go on, I was determined that we'd succeed.

         We collected flashlights and batteries, packed a lunch, filled our canteens and headed off early one morning.

         By noon we had accomplished nothing, and as the day wore on we grew dirtier and more disappointed.  "We'll never find it!" I cried, frustrated, hitting the floor hard with the broom handle. 

         "Hey!  Do that again," Mike cried.  The sound echoed beneath our feet.  We were able to remove a floor board and there found a ring to lift out a section. 

         "It was beneath our feet the whole time," I said, heading down the rickety ladder. 

         At the end of the cellar-like room was a blocked passageway.  Over the next few weeks we cleared it and traversed its length, exiting over a mile away, across the border into Kansas!

         Grandpa's stories had been true: our family had a hand in the famous Underground Railroad.  Historians and history buffs alike soon visited our humble farm to see the bungalow and the documents we'd found. 

299 words

Flash fiction prompt:  Write a story about a house with a secret room.