Wide awake in Aunt Bet's Southern mansion, Annie Van Lew shivered at the rumble of distant cannons. It was bad enough America was at war, but the young Virginia girl was not used to battles being fought this close. Suddenly a floorboard creaked. Annie sat up in bed and listened. Someone was sneaking around in the dead of night.
Had a stranger broken in? Earlier, the family had heard that captured Yankee officers recently escaped from a prison nearby. In spite of her anxiety, Annie smiled. She had no fear of Yankees. Long before the Civil War, her family had taken a stand against slavery. Besides, Aunt Bet helped feed and care for Yankee prisoners.
Quietly opening her bedroom door, Annie peeked out. A slender figure in a black gown glided down the haD. It was Aunt Bet, carrying a candle in one hand and a plate of fried chicken in the other. Where was she going at this hour?
Tiptoeing, Annie followed her aunt to a steep stairway at the far end of the house. Aunt Bet climbed to the top, opened a door leading to the attic, and disappeared. Close behind, Annie crept up the stairs, crouched in the doorway, and peered into the darkness.
Aunt Bet's flickering candle cast ghostly shadows on the walls as she picked her way among dusty boxes and covered furniture. She stopped at a chest of drawers, moved it aside, and felt along the wall behind it. Slowly a door sprung open, revealing a hidden room.
Annie stifled a scream as a thin, unshaven man stepped out of the opening. He wore tattered, dark-blue pants and shirt the uniform of a Yankee officer. As Aunt Bet handed him the plate of food, the young man saw Annie in the doorway and froze.
Desperately shaking her head "no," the girl raised one finger to her lips. The officer understood and shifted his gaze. Quickly Annie slipped back downstairs and hid, waiting until after Aunt Bet left to return.
Back inside the attic, Annie dragged the chest away from the wall and pressed against several panels. Nothing happened. Undaunted, she called softly to the man inside, who told her where to find the hidden spring.
Soon the young officer stood in the open doorway. A small candle burned on a table behind him and, in its soft light, Annie studied his face. Clear eyes reflected the calm of one who faced death unafraid.
Smiling, he teased. "What trouble you would have gotten into if your aunt had turned around!"
That night, Annie learned Aunt Bet was one of many daring Southerners whose hatred of slavery drove them to risk their lives by spying for the North. The girl chatted as long as she dared, wishing her new friend luck when he said he would leave at dawn.
 Back in her room, Annie glowed with pride, determined to guard her family's secret to the end.