The Key Under the Step
A new caretaker finds a note from the person who looked after the house before her.
The key under the step did not fit the front door. It did not fit the back door, the shed, or the rusted gate. Inside the empty house, Eva found a note: You will know when you need it.
She disliked mysteries, particularly the kind left by a retiring caretaker who would not answer his telephone.
For a week she carried the key while learning the house. She repaired a tap, aired the bedrooms, and cleared the path to the greenhouse. On the eighth morning a child from next door asked whether the little library would ever open again.
Eva followed him to a wooden box hidden behind the hedge. Its glass door had a tiny brass lock.
The key turned without resistance. Inside were books, a packet of borrowing cards, and another note. This one said: You don’t have to look after everything. Just keep one small door open.
Eva put in three books of her own and left the key on a hook inside the box.
That evening, when the old caretaker finally called, she told him the house was doing well. Then she told him about the door she had decided to keep open.