Then my friend Hetti asked, "How old and dangerous is Darkwood Manor?" Then Mr Brown asked somebody else in the room to ask a question. Mr Brown wasn’t a very polite and respectful man .I especially didn’t like Mr Brown, I had a feeling he had something up his sleeve

….

Then Mr Brown started to go on about the history of the Manor. I just wanted to make myself fall to sleep because he went on and on, then I eventually fell asleep. It wasn’t until he had nearly finished talking about the history of the manor that it made me jump! This was when he said the 2^nd floor was forbidden to any guests who are staying there.

A man behind me shouted out loud

At this point all the guests were screaming like mad! I myself was screaming but it did eventually die down. Everybody thought it was just a scam he was playing, but I new different. There was something very fishy going on…

I came back to The Swan Hotel after a week so that I could still get my £500. You see Mr Brown had offered £500 to 40 lucky winners in the Daily Mail. Well you’re probably thinking that’s easy, but there is always a catch! We have to spend a night there ‘till 6:00 am.

Because I come from Scotland I couldn’t go back home because it would have wasted my petrol so I stayed at The Swan Hotel for a week. Just before the second meeting I popped down to the pub. Don’t worry I’m 19 so I’m allowed to drink.

"Hi can I have a pint of Larger please?"

"Sure. You’re not from here are you?" The barman replied.

"No I’m not; I’m actually hear to stay at Darkwood Manor to gain my £500!"I said to him while drinking my pint of larger.

"I thought you might be. Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure"

"Well a long time ago my grandfather told me a story that he said was true, but I didn’t think it was. So he told me that one day a boy and his family stayed at the Manor for a couple of days. But then he started to get into mischief, and soon found himself in a secret passage. After that nobody knows what happened to that little boy, but I think the secret passage is still there!"

"WOW! Did your grandfather say how the boy got into the secret passage?" I asked with curious, but amazed look on my face.

"No he didn’t" replied the barman.

"Well it was nice meeting you sir, but I better be getting back to The Swan Hotel. I don’t want to be late for this meeting I have to go to".

"Bye love" the barman shouted back at me.

"Bye" I replied while running as fast as I could back to The Swan Hotel.

I arrived back at The Swan Hotel and quickly ran up to my hotel room to get my suitcase and bags. Then I went to the meeting.

Remember that man who was screaming behind me at the first meeting, well he must have went home because he never turned up to the second meeting. Some of the other winners had gone home as well.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is lovely to see you all again, although a few of the forty have left us it doesn’t matter!" bellowed Mr Brown. Then Mr Brown said "I hope you have brought all your stuff to take with you because I am going to take to the Manor now. Oh and by the way I am going to increase the amount of money that you to £600".

As soon as I walked through those tall, patterned gates I knew straight away that it wasn’t very welcoming and I’d got a feeling it was very unpleasant inside. It was very run-down and a very old-fashioned mansion indeed.

Well, we were all settled into our sleeping bags and we were all warmed up and I was just about to go to sleep, when I felt something crawl up my leg! I started screaming,

"Ahhhhhgh!" I woke everyone who was in the ballroom. Iranna was a very brave and skilful girl, so she went into my sleeping bag and brought out a cute little mouse. It wasn’t until I looked closely, that I realised………

Then Iranna said "I’ve found a rat in your sleeping bag!"

My face went chock white but I soon revived myself and got (nice and calmly) back into my sleeping bag.

I was half-way through my sleep, when I was getting something very strange put into my mind.

"There are rumours that there’s a secret passage at the Manor. We locals think that is where he murder was!" I suddenly woke up and tried to wake up Iranna (without disturbing any of the guests).

"Iranna! Iranna, where’s the map of The Manor?" I whispered, while constantly shaking her. She passed it to, while getting her trainers on.

We tip-toed to the door, well sort of because my high-heel boots make a little bit of noise.

We went up to the door because Iranna thought that the door wasn’t locked.

"Look Iranna are you sure that it’s not locked?" I whispered to Iranna.

"Yes I’m sure!" Iranna replied.

We had realized that Mr Brown hadn’t locked the door, he had slammed it shut. You see the latches on the door to the ballroom were very rusty and stiff because they were we couldn’t open the door.

One of the guests called Louise (who I didn’t like that much) had an oil can in her bag so that in the morning so she would of being able to fill her petrol tank but unfortunately, I took it for the latches. I whispered to Iranna "Iranna will this work?"

"Well done Rachel, but where did you get it from?"

"I stole it from Louise’s bag!"

"What did you do?"

"I stole it from Louise’s bag!"

"You nasty thing, really what am I going to do with you?"

"Who are you my mother?"

"Just give me the oil can, Rachel!"

"Maybe I don’t want to give it to you!"

"C’mon Rachel, give me the oil can!"

"OK, maybe I should!"

Iranna poured a little bit of oil onto the latches and the door opened with a loud creak. I quickly made sure that all the guests were asleep and then we quickly slipped out of the door. Iranna asked for the map so I gave it to her.

"Where actually are we going, because I don’t want to rein my brand new shoes?"

"Do you want to see if there is a secret passage or not?"

"Yes!"

"Well stop moaning then" Iranna replied.

We stepped up those terrible, wooden steps to the 2^nd floor. I can tell no girl would want to come up here it was really shocking. There were cobwebs on the walls and bite marks on the carpet. I started feeling sick just by looking around myself. We carried on walking down the very dark hallway when we to a room that had funny looking objects (that I couldn’t see).

"Where are we Iranna and what are these weird objects?" I said to Iranna while being very suspicious indeed.

"We are in the music room and those weird objects are musical instruments!"

"Why the heck have you brought in the music room?"

"Because apparently to this map the secret passage is behind this…

"Is this the opening to the secret passage, Iranna?"

"It must be!"

But it’s coded, and it’s a circle!"

"341562987!"

"Are you listening to me Iranna?"

"Are you coming Rachel or what?"

We were finally in the secret passage. It was dark, gloomy and it smelt really funny.

We walked a little further and we were looking straight ahead of us, when we came to a funny painting on the floor we both stood on it and...

"Arrahhh! Help someone?" I shouted while panicking. We had finally got to the bottom of whatever we fell down.

I looked down at my brand new high-heel boots and made a horrible look on my face.

"Errgh, look at my brand new shoes"!" I said to Iranna.

"Who cares about your boots, we’ve got a mystery to solve!"

"What do want me to look like I’ve come out of a trash can?" We carried on walking; I was still not satisfied with my boots been so dirty.

"I could strangle whoever put that thing there!" I said to myself, while feeling very angry inside.

"No you won’t, because you don’t who put it there that would just crazy!"

"How is being angry about something crazy, Iranna?"

"Because for one saying that is just horrible saying that you want to strangle someone and you’re probably get kicked out and won’t gain your £600!"

"You have a point there, Iranna, maybe I shouldn’t say that!"

"Well Done Rachel!" Iranna said while encouraging me.

"Thank you!"

"What was that stuff in that thing, because it looks like some sort of mud but it’s very sticky?"

"I don’t know Rachel but it’s giving a very suspicious feeling inside!"

I was a bit freaked out about all of this, but I soon calmed myself down and we kept on walking. As we crept forward I noticed something very strange on one side of the walls. It looked like there was another secret code, "Iranna look what’s on the wall!" I said feeling very curious indeed. Iranna was just about to type in the code when we heard a door shutting.

"Quick Iranna, let’s hide ourselves I someone coming!"...

I peeped out to see who it was. It looked a very familiar face walking through the door. It was Mr Brown!

"Iranna its Mr Brown, I knew he was up to something!" I whispered. What is he up to I thought to myself. Then suddenly Iranna grabbed me and whispered,

"Come on Rachel you slow poke, we have to follow him!"

We ran, fast but quiet, until we came into a dark room. I turned on my torch, but as I turned my torch on, I suddenly dropped it and couldn’t find it. Then Iranna turned on the main light.

"How come the light is on, Mr Brown said that all the electricity was out and couldn’t work?" I said to Iranna with a surprised look on my face.

"Yes that’s because he has only put electricity down here and not up where the ballroom is and all the other rooms are up there!"

"But why has he done that Iranna?"

"So that when he comes down here he’ll be able to see what he is doing!"

"Oh I see now!"

I found that very confusing but I eventually got what she said. We tip-toed out of the room and landed into another dark room. Now there was a light but it was high up, very high up.

"We can’t reach that, it’s well high up!" Iranna shouted in devastated voice.

"I can!" I replied.

"Oh yeah Rachel like you can reach that!"

"Well I have got these massive heels on you know!" (Me and Iranna argued for quite a while).

"Well I’m going to do it anyway!" I said in a determined voice.

I reached up and pulled the string but then I missed, so I was gutted because Iranna was right and I was wrong. So we explored the darkest and most creepy places, which I did not enjoy as well as Iranna did. I stepped on something that made me fall flat on my face. I shone my torch on it, while Iranna helped me up. I looked at it closely and realized it was a gun with dripping blood. I felt really, really sick when Iranna picked the gun up.

"Iranna is it really blood or is it red paint that someone has put on it?"

"Rachel it isn’t paint because I’ve just touched it and it is warm and fresh!"

Iranna put the gun back on the floor, then kept on walking. We came to a pinball machine; as usual I was tempted to play with it. So I had a go on it but when I tried to play on it, it didn’t work. So I kicked the bottom of it but it still didn’t work. Then I went round the back and opened the board that was covering all the wires. But to my astonishment, I did not find any wires; instead I found a dead body in a plastic, polythene bag that people use when somebody has died.

"Iranna, Iranna come quick!" I shouted. Iranna came shooting down the passage. When she saw the dead body her mouth dropped.

"Oh my goodness!" I replied while shaking like mad.

"Calm down Rachel!" she said.

"CALM DOWN! How can I calm down when I’m sat right in front of a dead body?" I snapped at Iranna.

Iranna was a bit freaked out about what had just happened. I realized what I had just done and said sorry to Iranna, and all was forgiven. Iranna taped the board up so nobody could get the body out. After that we carried on walking. As we were walking we heard a voice echo through the passage it was the voice of Mr Brown.

Slamming the door behind him Mr Brown strode through the secret passage, but not wearing evening clothes, he was wearing black clothes! He was talking to a man on a mobile phone. He had said to the man on the other end of the line,

"I’ll meet you with the dosh at the bus stop opposite the Manor; we meet at 8:00am!"

As Mr Brown was putting his mobile phone away it slipped from his hand and it had fallen underneath the place where me and Iranna were hiding. I quickly grabbed it. Then Mr Brown said," Oh I’ll find it later!"

"Pheww! That was a close one!"

"Come on Rachel we have to contact the police and tell the others!"

We took a shortcut up the ladder and then we came to a part of the secret passage. While we were walking I contacted the police, "Hello, can I have the police department please?"

"What can I do for you exactly?" replied the operator.

"Well we are at Darkwood at the moment and Mr Brown has killed someone in this secret passage and has £2400 in a brief case that he has stolen. He is supposed to be meeting a man at the bus stop opposite to the manor!"

"Thank you very much and your name is...?" The operator replied.

So I had to tell her all my details.

We hurried back and told the other guests as quickly as we could. Everybody in the ballroom was so surprised that Mr Brown would do such a thing like that. Suddenly the police arrived! We let them in through the window (shutters), and then we all told them our plan.

It had just gone 6:00am when we heard Mr Brown coming down the hallway. The policemen were in there positions and everybody pretended to be asleep!

When suddenly Mr Brown pushed over the door and bellowed "Morning everyone!"

As he was just about to walk out the door...

"Hands up you thief, murderer and criminal!" said the five policemen standing in the doorway.

"I’m innocent, honestly!" Mr Brown protested while being dragged out the door.

"Yeah? Whatever! Mr Brown!" Me and Iranna replied at the same time then laughed afterwards. In the end we all got our £600.

Well, readers that adventure is now over and now we had to say goodbye to all the guests that we have met.

But wasn’t all!

It had gone to the front page of every newspaper in the United Kingdom, and when I when I got back to the university everybody thought that there should be a celebration party. So I invited all the guests that stayed at Darwood Manor. It was a great success and all the guests enjoyed it.

Me and Iranna are keeping in touch with each other. The newspaper gossip is dying down and I can live my life again. My studies are coming on well and I am now reading more mysteries than ever! Cause who knows when the next adventure will begin...