They spread the torn pages across a table.
Jonah sat beside them.
His mother began reading.
After several pages she became very still.
“Where did you get this idea?”
Jonah shrugged.
“I dreamed it.”
“What about the letters?”
“I made them up.”
His mother stared at one paragraph.
“Jonah.”
“What?”
She pointed to the name of a ship.
THE ANNABELLE.
Mrs. Chen frowned.
“Is that significant?”
Jonah’s mother didn’t answer.
Her face had gone pale.
“That was my sister’s boat.”
Jonah stared at her.
“You have a sister?”
Silence.
Mrs. Chen looked between them.
Jonah’s mother had never mentioned one.
She continued reading.
The story described a lighthouse, a storm, and a small red box hidden beneath a stair.
Her hands began shaking.
“Jonah, who told you about the red box?”
“No one.”
“Think.”
