Mystery In The Attic

They find an old trunk full of things that seemed to belong to their great-grandfather. As they begin to read newspaper clippings, they find out that he was arrested for murder back in 1939, while in college. This becomes a mystery that they are determined to solve and little brother, Jake joins them as they uncover the story of how their great-grandfather found the Lord while in jail waiting for his trial. What sounded bad at first, turned into something that would change the spirituality of their entire family forever!

3 children (2 girls and 1 boy, but could be easily altered) About 15-17 minutes.

Excerpt:

ANGELA: Rachel, I’m scared!
RACHEL: There is nothing to be scared of. It’s just an attic.
ANGELA: I don’t know if we should be up here.
RACHEL: Why not? It’s just an attic. If Grandpa and Grandma didn’t want us up here, then they would have said something. Besides… I thought you wanted some adventure.
ANGELA: You’re the one who wanted the adventure!
RACHEL: You said you were bored and so was I… so I decided to go exploring. I picked the attic.
ANGELA: I don’t like it. It’s dark and spooky.
RACHEL: (Talks spooky-like) That makes it more interesting!
ANGELA: Knock it off. What are we looking for anyway? Christmas presents?
RACHEL: I don’t know. Maybe.
ANGELA: If we did find some presents… and we saw what they were… then that would spoil the surprise.
RACHEL: So, you act surprised. I have a feeling there aren’t any Christmas presents hidden up here, anyway. I just want to explore. Look at all this old stuff!
ANGELA: It’s just junk.
RACHEL: I don’t think so. I think it’s neat.
ANGELA: Well… we’re going to get caught and then we’ll be in trouble and maybe they’ll take away our Christmas presents!
RACHEL: You worry too much about your Christmas presents! We won’t get in trouble! We’re not doing anything wrong! Look at this old chest!
ANGELA: (Sarcastically) Maybe it’s a treasure chest!
RACHEL: Yeah… maybe.
ANGELA: I was kidding. That ain’t going to be a treasure chest.
RACHEL: There are lots of different kinds of treasures. We won’t know till we open it. Look, it’s not even locked. (She opens it slowly and they both shine their lights inside.)
ANGELA: What is all this stuff?
RACHEL: I don’t know. Here’s a football. It looks really old.
ANGELA: What’s that? It looks like a trophy!
RACHEL: (Picks up the trophy) Best quarterback. Wait…there’s a date. 1939.
ANGELA: I didn’t know Grandpa played football.
RACHEL: Uhhhh…. Let’s do the math, Angela. 1939?
ANGELA: Math!? It’s too hard!
RACHEL: It’s just that… that was a long time ago. How old is Gramps anyway?
ANGELA: He’s old.
RACHEL: Wait! Remember when we had that big party for him? He was 60!
ANGELA: So?
RACHEL: So… in 1939, he wasn’t even born yet!
ANGELA: You’re smart, Rachel!
RACHEL: Hey! I know! This stuff belongs to Great Grandpa Jensen! That’s why it looks so old! Grandpa Joe got it when his father died.
ANGELA: Yeah… look at those newspapers… they’re all yellow.
RACHEL: They’re clippings. Must have been something important for him to save them. Look at this one. Best Football Season Ahead. Star players… there are some pictures here. Look! This one is Great Grandpa! See… it says Charles Jensen.
ANGELA: That’s him?
RACHEL: Yeah! He’s kind of cute, isn’t he? (They giggle) He was a star player!
ANGELA: Duh! He got a trophy! What’s the next one?
RACHEL: Oooh… this is weird. Football player found dead. College students being questioned.
ANGELA: Dead?
RACHEL: Yeah… it says that he was the star quarterback.
ANGELA: (Gasps) Grandpa Charles was a quarterback!
RACHEL: It wasn’t him! Obviously!
ANGELA: Oh yeah… huh! Who was it?
RACHEL: Somebody named James Hoffstedder… Hoff something. I don’t know. I bet Grandpa Charles knew him though. That’s probably why he saved the article. (Puts it down and goes to the next one) Oh look! This headline says “Jensen new quarterback!” (Reads a little) It’s talking about how many touchdowns he made and stuff.
ANGELA: So… when the other guy died, Great Grandpa became the new quarterback in his place.
RACHEL: It looks that way. (Gasps)
ANGELA: What? What is it?
RACHEL: (Reads paper) Jensen held for football murder!