The Old Farm,

1, Lonely Lane,

North York Moors.

Y07 5BE

12^th September 2003

Dear Mr Brown,

I am writing to apply for your advert in the newspaper last night.

I am wondering if you could give me more information about Darkwood Manor? What kind of things do you have in your Manor? What food do we get? Do we have to pay for anything once we get there? What facilities are we going to have advantage of once we get to the Manor? Does it have big, luxurious gardens? How many toilets are there going to be?

You will hardly know I am there. I do not mind animals and am not a vegetarian.

I would really like to come to your Manor!

Yours sincerely

D.B. Cox

I walked downstairs in my dressing gown after hearing the letterbox clang. I picked up the neatly sealed envelope. The writing was old fashioned and in italic.

I slit the envelope open. Inside was a piece of paper with a strange crest on the top. It was my reply from Mr Brown. It was very strange that after nine months he had replied to me……

I jumped into the taxi that had just arrived for me. It was black except for some shiny silver words on the side of it…..

I cautiously stepped out of the taxi. In front of me was a run-down, battered hotel. In big, dirty letters covered with cobwebs it said…….

The S an H tel

The w and o had fallen off. I slowly opened the door. Inside was a staircase and a door leading off to my right. I tried the door. It was locked. I crept up the stairs to a grotty bar.

I went and sat down at a table next to three ladies.

Christina Cowen, (The Beeches, 47 The Limes) was an artist.

Jenny Bell, (9 Cherrish Lane, Newby, Birmingham) was going to university.

Lisa Osborne, (Holly Cottage, 48 High Street, Edinburgh) was a vet.

They seemed to be quite nice people. I went over to the bar. Sat behind it was a man in tatty clothes. He seemed quite drunk and so did the people around him.

Just then Mr Brown stumbled into the room. He was a lot smarter than the bar man and seemed very old. He started with giving us a brief history of Darkwood Manor. Then he asked whether wanted to ask some questions. "Are you going to be sleeping in the manor?" a yell came from the crowd. "No I’m not. I’ll come back at six tomorrow morning and let you out." Said Mr Brown. Some old ladies were worried about how many toilets there were and Mr Brown said we were going to be locked in and the windows had shutters on!

After all the questions he announces that there has been an unfortunate problem and we were going to have to come back next week! An uproar of booing and hissing went up from the crowd as Mr Brown left the room. I quickly pulled out my mobile and booked a hotel further down the road.

We found ourselves a somewhat depleted group, stood a week later in front of the manor with Mr Brown at nine thirty in the evening. I stepped up the broken stone steps. The stone wolf’s eyes glistened in the moon-light. I hurried after everybody else, half scared they were going to come alive.

The door was already open and there was a musty, damp, rotting smell creeping up my nostrils. Inside it was gloomy. I could just make out some old paintings and some stuffed animal heads.

The door crept shut with a bang and gave us all a fright. I jumped and got caught on an antler. I jumped down and saw that cobwebs smothered the entrance hall. The stairs had a colour drained, red carpet on them. The floor had stone tiles on it. Mr Brown led us to a hard oak door.

Mr Brown started to take us through a series of rooms. All of which were empty until we got to the music room which had a bear’s head on the wall. The mouth seemed very wide.

The ballroom door creaked open. I stepped inside. For a moment I couldn’t see a thing, but my eyes soon got used to the dark.

The ceiling had lots of famous people that I could just make out. The panelled walls seemed oddly out of place. The ballroom door slammed behind us. I heard the squeak of a key turning in the lock. I gave a tug on the door but it had been jammed and blocked as well as locked! I went over to the far corner of the room where Christina Cowen, Jenny Bell and Lisa were making themselves comfortable. Jenny had brought piles of luggage with her.

Just at that moment two ladies walked over to us. One of them just went and plonked themselves next to me! The other one was more polite and asked if she could come and join us. (Actually I was quite pleased they came because they brought lots of food with them.)

After we had all been well fed, (especially with lots of grapes)! I found out their names were Hetty Peacock and Christina Shore (who was more polite).

A few minutes later an icy wind swept across the ballroom and what was strange was that all the torches went off together. I huddled into my sleeping bag. I heard a howling outside and knew it was a wolf. I was scared and I knew everybody else was.

I tossed and turned willing myself to go to sleep, to end the nightmare. Spiders crept over my body. The cobwebs dangled in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye I spied a rat creeping stealthily in the thick carpet, which must have seemed a jungle to him.

I got up. Nobody else was awake except… What was this? An empty sleeping bag lay on the floor stuffed with rucksacks. I walked around the room. There was no way out. I leant against the wall and sighed. Just then I felt something hard press against my back. I turned round. It was a rope! It was well covered with dust and cobwebs. I quickly ran over to Christina Cowen and woke her up. We ran over to the rope and began to tear off the cobwebs. I quickly began to climb.

We found ourselves in a dimly lit corridor. I squinted at my map of Darkwood Manor that I had just pulled out my bag. I ran down the steps back to the ground floor. I went over to the entrance door. I strained on the handle but it wouldn’t budge.

I glanced at my map. There seemed to be an exit in kitchen one. I raced over to the left hand corridor with Christina hot on my tail. Just at that moment I remembered Jenny bell with loads of rucksacks struggling through the manor and at the same moment the empty sleeping bag! What on earth was Jenny doing up at this time, with her sleeping bag stuffed with rucksacks, making it look like she was still there?

I came to a halt in kitchen one. I turned around to see Christina skidding on the wooden floor towards me! She banged against the wall just inches of me and went through the doorway into kitchen two! I heard a scream and then there was silence!

I ran through into kitchen two. It was empty. It was then I remembered the cellar. I walked over to the corner of the room. In front of me loomed a round, black hole. I found a bit of plaster and dropped it down. I waited but could not hear anything. It was either so far down I could not hear it or it’s still falling! Either way I had to go down and rescue my friend.

I started my way down the rusty, iron ladder. I kept my kept my hands and feet going. One after another until my feet didn’t touch the step. I found myself suspended in midair, my feet dangling down below me…

My hot, sweaty hands fumbled on the bottom ring of the ladder! Looking down I saw a gaping, black hole looming in front of me. Just then a shrieking pierced my ears! I hung on for dear life! Looking up, I saw a shadow of a tall, skinny person. I heard a clang as the circular piece of light above me disappeared! Blackness smothered me.

"Don’t leave me!" I cried as I heard a high-pitched laugh.

I remembered my torch in my pocket, but just as I brought it out of my pocket, it slipped through my fingers and tumbled down and down! My fingers slipped and tiredness overwhelmed me as my fingers let go and I began to tumble after my torch!

I landed with a thud and I heard a crack. I stood up. I cried out as a jet of pain seared up my arm. I pulled out my hankie and used it as a sling. I felt around for my torch and found it. I flicked it on. I was in a long, slimy passage way. My feet were covered in water. It was strange. The sea was miles away and this water? How far underground was I? I decided to take the passage to my left.

It started to go uphill. After about five minutes I fell on a jagged piece of rock.

In front of me was a grate and I could hear voices below. "Flood……mines……gold."

What did this mean? One was a woman’s voice and two men, one low, harsh and unforgiving. Despite how hard I listened I could not hear Mr Browns voice.

I was about to take off the grate when I heard footsteps coming up the passage. I squashed myself next to the wall. The light from the grate illuminated a shadow on the wall: a lady’s shadow.

In front of me walked a young lady with long, dark, brown hair, which she flicked behind her shoulder. I quickly stumbled up. "Who are you?" I asked her.

"Elizabeth Ward, but you can call me Lizzie," she said.

"Who are you?" she asked me.

"Shhh, someone will hear you! I am part of the DSAT. Detecting strange accounts Taskforce. I am working on this case because my team suspect that Mr Brown is up to something." I answered quite simply.

We followed each other up the tunnel until we came to a parting of six tunnels facing us. We were stuck. There was a click. I looked around and saw a man with a pistol. Lizzie screamed and ran down the centre tunnel.

"Leave her!" the man said, "she’ll soon starve to death!" He let out a high pitched laugh. It was then I remembered the same laugh after falling down the hole.

"Don’t move otherwise I’ll shoot!" His voice was colder now.

Glancing out of the corner of my eye, I saw a hole down one of the tunnels. It was a vertical drop down. I had no choice. I leapt and heard the shot of a pistol, but it was too late.

I landed in a thin narrow tunnel. I crawled along the tunnel.

After about ten minutes "Ouch!" my head hit a stone wall. My hand felt the slimy wall and I sighed. It was a dead end! All this way for nothing! I leant back against the wall and then I was falling…falling…I blinked. A bright light shone down on me. I turned over.

"Hurry up," an annoyed voice said. Christina Cowen peered down at me. I stood up

"Where are you going?" I asked her.

"Through the door, of course!" she answered.

"You can’t go through there. The tunnel will be blocked by the guard!"

Two men walked through a door. They were carrying a lady who was kicking and screaming. They went on through into a room. In the middle was a piece of machinery just a bit longer than me. It was just then I realised that the lady was Christina. She was strapped on top of the machine. She wriggled and squirmed but the strap was too strong. What appeared to be a syringe, but a bit bigger, loomed down on her. She screamed but stopped halfway through as the needle pierced her skin and the red liquid inside the syringe went down. They dragged the now frozen Christina off...part of the wall opened up, they walked through. The secret wall closed. They dumped Christina on the ground and went out through the door.

I twisted round. I blinked. Christina lay beside me giving little snorting noises. I twisted round onto my side. A whirring noise and part of the wall I had just been leaning on started moving upwards. I shook Christina awake. "Look!" I pointed up at the rapidly disappearing wall.

It turned out to be a long, modern passage which reminded me immensely of a hospital. Hearing voices, we ran off along the opposite passage.

After a few minutes we came to a parting. I leant against a wall to rest. Then I noticed a slight crack in the wall. I went over to it. It was a hidden door that someone had forgotten to close properly. Christina walked over to me. "What are you doing?" I put my eye to the crack.

"Shhh," I whispered. She put her eye further down. I could see Mr Brown, a man hat I had never seen before and a leg.

I heard the same footsteps that I had heard earlier on. Christina and I leapt down the passage to our right, begging that the person would take one of the other two tunnels. The footsteps disappeared. After a few minutes we came out of the tunnel. In front of us was Jenny Bell.

"What are you doing down here?" I asked.

"Follow me!" she sneered at us, as if she was hiding something. It was then I caught on.

We were led to a small, circular tunnel. She pushed us inside. A heavy cover clanged and all the daylight was extinguished. A slight sound echoed along the tunnel.

"Is that you, Christina?" I asked timidly.

"Are you playing a joke on me?" she mumbled back, but her voice told me she didn’t think I was playing a trick on her. I strained on the cover but it wouldn’t budge.

"Why are you so cautious Dennis?" she asked me.

"Erm…I work for the DSAT. Detecting Strange Accounts Taskforce. My team have been suspicious of Mr Brown for a long time. Would you give five hundred pounds to someone who you had never met in your life, just for them to stay in your house? I mean it’s rather mysterious," I said.

A roar came from the other end of the tunnel and an outline of a creature emerged from the shadows. It was small, black and hairy, exactly like a tarantula. It scuttled along towards me, its mouth open, blood dripping from its fangs! I leapt out of the way, the tarantula’s teeth snapping closed where I had been moments before!

My jacket caught on something. I pulled it free. The tunnel got slightly brighter, and I spotted a door above my head that my jacket had just got caught on. The light made me notice Christina crouched in the corner not breathing!

The spider advanced on her! I crept up behind the spider, but slipped on a stone! The noise made the spider race over to me! I ran over to the other end of the tunnel; I slammed into a wall and slid to the floor. A dozen or so tarantulas appeared from the trap door! I yelled to Christina, "Run! It’s our only chance!!"

She scrambled up to the trap door ……

I leant back against the wall. The wall gave way and I fell with rubble and a cloud of dust. I turned up in a dusty corridor. At the end of it was Christina coughing and spluttering. I went over to her. "Look at the state you’re in!"

We walked in silence to the end of the corridor. We were on a ledge jutting out above the hall below us. A barrier separated us from the drop. A JCB was crunching at the rock while a few hundred men worked up and down the wide hall. Something glistened underneath the men’s pickaxes, but I couldn’t quite make out what!

Three people were sitting down in the corner staring at a computer screen. I took out the binoculars from my rucksack. I focused them, bringing them up to my eyes. The men were looking at a video camera from outside a lorry. Men were loading crates into it. A man with a clipboard stood nearby watching the scene through his spectacles. "We’ve almost got enough gold Paul," said Mr Brown slyly.

"Then we can sell it illegally to John," spoke the other man. He was small and round, like a tomato. "People will be buying gold all over the country!" laughed Paul, "It’s only fools gold. People will think it’s real gold."

I leapt over the barrier closely followed by Christina. She grabbed a pickaxe off the ground. Mr Brown, Jenny Bell and the round man called Paul leapt up from their seats. They slowly moved towards Christina.

I leapt onto one of the chairs round the computer. I moved the mouse, hoping that the video camera was a screen-saver. It was. I double clicked on lorry files. I scrolled down the list of items. I found "stop loading". I clicked on it.

I picked up the telephone next to the computer. I dialled nine, nine, nine!

"Fire Brigade, ambulance or police?" A posh lady’s voice came from the other end.

"Police!" I said urgently.

"Run!" I yelled to Christina. She dropped the pickaxe. We ran up a steep passage. At the top were two metal doors. I pressed a button by the side of them. "Come on!" I said impatiently. The doors jolted open and standing in the space was Lizzie. "Come with us! I’ll explain later!" I said frantically to her. Christina and I leapt in the lift. I pressed ‘up’ but the lift wasn’t moving. Mr Brown, Jenny and Paul were coming closer and closer ……

The lift jerked up! The indicator next to the lift buttons showed us going up to the ground floor. I pressed the ‘stop’ button but it didn’t stop! It went up to the first floor and stopped. The lift was concealed in a wall in the master bedroom 1. A piece of paper sticking out of a drawer interested me. I ran over to it. I stuck it in my pocket.

"Come on Dennis!" said an impatient voice. We ran down the stairs and ran through the day room into the conservatory. I smashed a window with my rucksack. We all scrambled out. I heard the scream of sirens and jumped into a police car that was parked outside.

I stared at the two men and one woman. It was then that I remembered the crumpled up piece of paper in my pocket. I snatched it out. On it was a code. I tried all the simple codes but none of them worked. I then remembered a code that one of the more experienced people had used when I had just begun my training as a spy. It worked! On it was the list of places where all their secret contacts were.

A few days later I was sitting in my office sorting out some papers. There was a knock on the door and a policeman walked in. "We’re really grateful for your help towards catching all the members of the SIG, Secret Intelligence Gang. They are all in prisons across the world. You have saved the world a great fortune. They were going to sell fools gold for real gold! The reason Mr Brown asked 40 people to come and stay was to cover up their real purpose, and trick us into believing that the people staying overnight in the Manor, were the real gang! Once again, thank you!" He left the room. The telephone ran.

"Hello," I answered it.

"Hello!" Christina and Lizzie said together.

"We’re going on holiday to Spain," said Lizzie.

"Do you want to come?" asked Christina.

"No thanks," I said, "I’ve got a lot of work to do!"