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Mystery at Mandrake

by Munazah Alam
. . . Now our heroes face the problem of climbing walls. But what awaits on the other side ? Will they make it or is there another danger ahead. Read on to find out about the rest of Mystery at Mardrake. . .
I didn’t say anything Slowly I got to my feet, mas soglng my sore neck What had I tripped over? Il was nt a root. It was too hard for that! Ukc metal metal ?
As quietly as I could I scrambled back to where 1 h.vl fallen with a startled Chris at my heels.
On my hands and knees I groped about until my hands closed around what I had been looking for — a metal handle Clearing away the layer of mud around It. I took out my torch and switched it on. Yes. tt was what I thought It would be — a lid A lid that al a guess opened into the coal cellar But here ? I thought you got that kind of thing only In Britain
"WowT a wide eyed Chris broke into my musings.
"Don't stand there wowing at me. Chris." I whispered back, help me lift this."
Together we lifted the lid. Al first It did not budge be cause of the rust which had formed due to the long stages of neglect. But Chris and I were determined We cleaned away the best part of the rust with our penknives, and then, as we applied more and more pressure on the lid it finally moved, though only a little. Quickly Chris put a stone In the narrow gap After that it was easy work and the lid lifted to reveal the coal-hole we had expected. Yes. it was a coal-hole all right, although there wasn’t any coal in the cellar, as we noticed when wc shone our torches Inside
We made sure that there was no one in the cellar and then lowered ourselves Into tt one by one It was empty ex cept for the Inch-thick dust everywhere.
With Chris leading the way we slowly climbed up the cel lar steps to the door. But un fortunately, we saw that the lights In the next room were still on since the glow showed under the door We would have to wait until the occupants of the kitchen left. 1 peeked through the key hole but my view was blocked by a key. At least wc would be able to unlock the door If It was locked!
Impatiently wc waited ten minutes Hut not a sound came from the other room within that lapse of time Unable to contain myself any longer I gently, depressed the door handle And opened the door slightly (It had nt been locked). Nothing happened. No shocked eyes staring, no angry voice shouting, nothing. In fact, there was nt a single soul in the kitchen! Once I was sure of that I svent and switched off the kitchen lights, not reallz Ing until it was too late how disastrous that action might have been had someone sern me through the windowl Thank God. no one did!
There were only two other doors leading away from the kitchen. One opened outside, so we went through the other one to find ourselves In a small, narrow passage, which opened out into a large, dimly lit hall.
The hall was empty At one end there was an ancient, marble stair-case leading to the second floor. Four oak doors opened from the hall but at the moment all of them were closed.
Everything was so still thai we stared all around us, rooted to the ground The silence had an expectant quality about it. as though something were about to happen. Something did. We were rudely shaken out of our trance by the sound of approaching voices from the other side of one of the doors - but thank God it was the one farthest from usl
The instant we realized our Imminent danger wc retreated. quick as lightning, to the shadows from which wc had emerged. Neither of us managed to see either of the two men: doing that would have given us away Nor could we hear what they said as both men talked tn low tones. They did not pause In the hall but moved on, disappearing through another doorway. The murmur of their voices died away and once more, silence reigned
Our search of the first floor proved fruitless. The four oak doors opened into passages and rooms, none of which concealed anything suspicious, and which provided us with further access Into the house Fortunately, we weren't disturbed by anyone during our investigation, which was nt very satisfactory anyway
A little low tn spirits, we ascended to the second floor, not by the statr-caae in the hall, but by another one in a corridor. But here too. we were as unfortunate as ever.
Our luck changed for the better while we were on the third floor. Chris and I were walking down a corridor on this last floor when the sound of an angry feminine voice greeted our ears! I jumped violently. sure that it was Chris and me who were being ad dressed! But then, another voice — Diane's voice — an swered back! We could not catch anything of the converse tlon that followed for we were not close enough to the speak era. But we had found them — finally!
To be continued