By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

AUBURN – When Seth and Skyler Henson went grocery shopping with their dad last month, they stumbled upon more than a good deal on candy.

They found two $20 bills peeking out of the Auburn Hannaford Bros.’ ATM.

Nine-year-old Seth and 7-year-old Skyler admit that, for a split-second, their thoughts weren’t exactly altruistic.

“I said, Wow, $40. I can buy a blender for $40,'” said Seth, a fruit smoothie fanatic who doesn’t have a way to make the drinks at home.

Instead, they turned the money in.

“They were worried to death that someone lost their money,” said the boys’ mother, Kim Knight.

The brothers barely got a “Thank you” from the store, Knight said. But on Thursday – exactly 30 days after their good deed – Seth and Skyler got something better than thanks.

They got to keep the unclaimed cash.

“Money!” exclaimed Skyler, bouncing up and down as a woman in customer service handed over the bills. “Yea!”

Seth and Skyler, Auburn elementary school students, have grown up hearing how their older brother and a friend once found a wallet stuffed with $300 in a local McDonald’s. The pair turned the wallet over to an appreciative restaurant manager, and their story was featured in the Sun Journal. The article hung on the family refrigerator for nine years.

So when the boys found $40 in the grocery store, they knew what they had to do.

“They felt like they were heroes like their big brother,” their mother said.

Even if such heroism was a little painful.

A car accident left the family without a car for a period this year, and a bad fall generated mounting medical bills. The boys had to quit their baseball team because they couldn’t get to games and practices without a car, Knight said. They had to stop swimming lessons and Seth’s 9th birthday party was canceled because the family couldn’t afford it.

“My little boys don’t have much,” Knight said. “We struggle day to day.”

So sudden cash meant a lot to Seth and Skyler. They thought, though, it might mean more to the person who lost it.

They brought the cash to customer service. The manager told them they could get the money back if no one claimed it for 30 days.

At home, the boys kept careful count. The time seemed to drag.

“It’s about a hundred years,” Seth said.

On Thursday, Seth and Skyler claimed the unclaimed money. In the parking lot, they talked what they could buy.

A slingshot. A blender. Toys.

“I might buy a kitten or a fishy,” Seth said.

Their mother smiled.

“I’m happy they get to see if you do the right thing, it’s going to come back to you,” she said.

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