Moving is never easy.
Moving from a big city like Chicago to a small country village is even harder.
Just ask the Barth children.
"There's nothing to do here!" complained the oldest, named Cy.
"I don't see any shops," whined Anthea, the second eldest.
Among her siblings, her nickname was Panther.
When her younger brother, Bobby, was little, he couldn't say Anthea.
He called her Panther instead, and now the others did too.
"What do you mean, we won't have Internet?"
cried Bobby, looking up at his father.
"Eeek! What's that?" Jane screamed.
A little brown field mouse scurried from under the steps and into the grass.
No one in the family had wanted to move to Aunt Martha's house.
But Father had lost his job, and they had no choice.
"It's only for a short while,"
Mother said, trying to comfort the children as they sat at the kitchen table.
"And there're lots of things to do around here," said Aunt Martha.
"Yeah, like catch grasshoppers?"
Cy said in a rather nasty way.
"Grasshoppers? Where?" screamed Jane.
To make matters worse, Mother and Father left the next morning.
Father had some job interviews in Chicago.
The children stood alone on the steps as the car pulled away.
"Baa, baa," cried the baby happily.
"Oh, Lamb. Nothing makes you sad, does it?" Panther laughed.
Hilary, the baby, got his nickname because the first word he said was "baa," just like a little lamb.
The children didn't want to go back inside the house.
There was nothing to do there.
Behind Aunt Martha's house was a thick forest.
And since no one had a better idea, they set off to explore the woods.
"Look!" Bobby pointed excitedly at a family of raccoons.
"Smell these!" Panther said, as she bent over some colorful flowers.
All day, the children searched the forest for new discoveries.
After a while, they found themselves in a thicket of trees.
"It's awfully dark in here," Panther said in a worried voice.
"Maybe we should go back," Jane added.
"Hey! Look at this!" Cy called out excitedly.
Cy had found an old, dried-up well.
"Can you see anything?"
asked Jane, as they all peered down the well.
"Nope! But there's a funny smell," replied Cy.
"Is there any water?" Bobby asked.
The children stared deeper into the well, their eyes getting wider.
"I wonder if this is a wishing well," said Jane.
"Wait! Look here," said Panther.
Next to the well, Panther had found an old wooden bucket attached to some rope.
"Let's lower this bucket and see what's down there," she said.
"What's she doing?" Bobby said, pointing to Jane.
Jane's eyes were closed, and she was holding onto a coin.
"I'm making a wish," she replied.
She turned around and threw the coin over her shoulder and into the well.
Clink, clink, clonk.
"Ouch!" a voice cried from the well.
"Did you hear that?" whispered Bobby.
"Hello, down there!" Cy shouted.
"Hello, down there!"
his voice echoed inside the well. Then silence.
"I'm sure I heard something," said Bobby.
"Do you think it's an animal?" Jane asked worriedly.
"There's only one way to find out," Cy said excitedly.
He lowered the bucket down the well.
"Can you feel anything?" Panther asked.
"Hurry up, will you?" Bobby said impatiently.
Cy pulled the bucket back up.
It was full of mud, soda cans, an old shoe, and some rocks.
Cy lowered the bucket again several times.
If there was something in the well, he was determined to find it.