The Secret Bedroom Read Free

real estate agent led them into the house, closing the front door behind her. It was as if someone had turned off a bright flashlight, Lea remembered, as if the house was turning away the sunlight, shutting it out, covering them in its warm darkness.
    She had immediately been appalled by the age-stained walls, the dust-blanketed windows, the warped moldings, the threadbare, old carpets covering the creaking floors. The smell of it. The feel of it.
    Her parents, of course, had immediately fallen in love with it.
    â€œIt’s charming,” Mr. Carson had said.

    â€œThink of all we can do here,” Mrs. Carson had replied.
    Mrs. Thomas, the real estate agent, a pleasant-looking woman wearing a very smart tweed suit and a permanent smile, caught the unhappy expression on Lea’s face.
    â€œLet me show you the bedrooms upstairs,” she said, turning her smile on Lea. “They need work, of course. But they’re very large. The second bedroom—I suppose that will be your room, Lea—is the brightest room in the house. The two windows face the front, and sunlight streams in all day long.”
    â€œIt’s so dark in the living room,” Lea said gloomily. She wanted to beg her parents not to take this house, but she knew it was hopeless. They had lived in three different houses in the past seven years, all of them as run-down and creepy looking as this one.
    â€œIt won’t be dark after I install track lighting,” Mr. Carson said, eyeing the living-room ceiling, then checking out the electrical outlets along the molding by the floor.
    â€œCome on upstairs,” Mrs. Thomas said to Lea. “Be careful. The banister may be loose.”
    Lea followed her up the stairs, which swayed under their weight and seemed to groan in protest with each stair they stepped on. “The banister is easy to fix,” Mr. Carson said cheerily.
    â€œI’d like to carpet the stairway,” Lea’s mother said. “And continue the carpeting down the landing here. Something light. It’ll brighten up everything, make it look new.”

    â€œYeah, sure,” Lea muttered under her breath, knowing they would hear her, hoping they realized how unhappy she was.
    She was unhappy about moving to Shadyside in the first place. It had taken her so long to make friends back in Daly City, to feel comfortable and happy there. And just when she was starting to have a good time, her dad got transferred again and she’d have to start a new school four weeks after the term began.
    â€œWow, Lea, look how big your room is,” her mother exclaimed as they stepped into the big, square room. The two windows on the far wall glowed with yellow sunlight. Squares of warm light stretched across the worn blue carpeting.
    â€œSee? I was right about the light,” Mrs. Thomas said, her hands in her jacket pockets, her smile solidly in place. “And take a look at the closet, Lea.”
    Lea obediently walked over to the closet.
    â€œWe’ll pull up your carpeting first thing,” Lea’s father said. “And we’ll sand the floors.”
    Lea pulled open the closet door and stared into the vast, black cavern behind it. She had a sudden chill. It’s like a cave, an animal’s den, she thought. What kind of creature is lurking in this dark cave?
    â€œDid you ever see such a big walk-in closet?” Mrs. Thomas asked triumphantly, coming up behind Lea and gently resting a hand on her shoulder. Mrs. Thomas smelled of peppermint. Lea inhaled deeply, It was such a sweet fragrance in the sour, old house.
    â€œIt’s really big,” Lea said, peering in, her eyes adjusting to the darkness. “It’s as big as a room.”
    Mrs. Thomas seemed very pleased by Lea’s reaction.“Lots of closet space,” she said. “Are you a senior this year, Lea?”
    â€œNo. A junior.”
    â€œMy daughter, Suki, goes to Shadyside. She’s a senior. I’ll