Jimmy took one good look at all the weeds and said, “I don’t think this is such a good idea, especially since I know I’ll be elected a committee of one to cut down all these weeds.”
“Why, how did you guess it, young man! You are getting keen,” laughed Penny. “But this really does look like a big job, and I’m sure Phil and Mal will lend a hand, too.” Jimmy looked relieved at this suggestion and here they were at the shed.
“Pat says that even your Uncle John never made use of this shed for anything, and that it must have been a sort of stable back in the old days,” explained Mal. “See, one of the side walls is pretty badly broken up, but the roof has been patched and the framework seems strong. There are a pile of boards and some poles behind this shed. Looks as though somebody once had the idea of repairing it. That wood back there is well seasoned and with the help of the repair man from the village we could get it fixed up this week.”
Penny took hold of one of the supports, to which a few boards were clinging loosely.
“Be careful how you lean against that,” Philip cautioned her. “That’s the broken wall and we don’t want you to fall through it.”
But just as he finished saying it Penny gasped and slipped out of sight. For a minute the others stood there with their mouths open, then Phil and Jimmy quickly went into action. Mal poked his hand through the wall where Penny seemed to have disappeared and Marjorie called, “Penny, Penny, answer—are you hurt?”
Phil and Jimmy ran to the outside of the broken wall but there was nothing there but the old pile of lumber Mal had mentioned. They called Penny, and then there was a muffled sound that seemed to come from the very wall itself.
Phil climbed right up on top of the pile of lumber and reached over as far as he could toward the wall when he noticed a sunken place between the wall and the lumber. It looked like an old well and it was partly covered. He called to Penny and this time he heard her answer. As quickly as they could, they all started to move enough of the lumber so that they could get closer to the old well. Now they were sure Penny had fallen into it, and Marjorie ran back to the house as fast as her feet could carry her to get a strong rope and more help.
It seemed like hours, but it was only a few minutes before Phil and Jimmy were able to lean over the well and start calling down to Penny.
She answered them this time and they heard her say quite clearly: “What happened?”