Archie's Battleflat Adventures: The Harriman Mystery by Rebecca King

“It’s now or never.” He was aware of the
soft snores of his brothers sound asleep on the bed, and quietly
stood beside Edward.
    “ Have you had a look outside?” He wasn’t surprised when Edward
nervously shook his head.
    Stifling
another yawn, Archie shuffled along the wall until he was standing
beside the shutter. He jumped and huffed an impatient sigh when
Edward bumped into his back. Shaking his head, the scolding
hovering on his lips was immediately forgotten when his attention
was drawn to the visible outline of a man beneath the tree
opposite.
    Although
it was windy out, the clouds had broken enough to allow the moon to
cast the entire area in silver and grey shadow. It was enough to
provide the boys with meagre light so they wouldn’t need a lantern
to guide their way, and risk giving away their whereabouts in the
process. It was also enough to penetrate even the darkest shadows
enough to see what was hidden.
    “ Can you see him?” Archie whispered, knowing that Edward could
indeed see the watcher staring at the house by the sudden intake of
breath behind him.
    “ Oh Lord, that’s creepy,” Edward gasped directly in his
ear.
    “ At least he is there, and not trying to break into the house
again.” Archie knew from general conversation around the table that
his dad had repaired the damage to the window frame earlier that
afternoon, rendering the house safe once more. If the killer wanted
to get into the house tonight, he would have to find another way to
do it.
    “ What are you two doing out of bed?”
    Archie
gasped at the harsh whisper directly behind them. Unused to having
young siblings in the house, Edward squeaked as he spun
around.
    “ Mr Balfour!”
    “ Ssshh,” Mr Balfour replied, raising a warning finger to his
lips as he glanced toward the two wriggling bodies in the bed.
Everyone froze as Sammy and Ben wriggled and jostled for several
moments before finally settling back down, at which point everyone
suddenly heaved a sigh of relief and imperceptibly
relaxed.
    “ I was just looking to see if the man I saw last night was
there again,” Archie admitted reluctantly, glad of the darkness
that hid his silent squeezing of Edward’s wrist.
    “ Is he?” Jack’s voice was sharp as he scowled at his son. He
moved toward the window, only to find Archie directly in his
path.
    “ Yes, directly beneath the tree opposite, but keep out of the
window or he will see you. The moon is out tonight, and you can see
his outline a bit more clearly.” Archie saw the surprised look on
his dad’s face and wondered if he had just made a colossal
mistake.
    Nevertheless, his dad did as Archie had done and used the
protection of the shutter to glance out of the window.
    “ Would you look at that?” Jack whispered, frowning down at the
solitary figure standing beneath the yew tree directly opposite the
house. Turning toward Archie, he scowled deeper than ever before.
“I know it is dark, but does it look like the man you saw in the
spinney?”
    Archie
nodded slowly. “The man was tall, and thin. The one under the tree
is the same shape, and the cloak is familiar,” Archie said, nodding
toward the silhouette. “He is definitely the man who tried to break
in last night.”
    Jack
turned to stare at the figure while he tried to decide what to do.
He could sneak out of the front door and go and get Georgie, but
that would mean leaving his family unprotected. Given how brutal Mr
Harriman’s murder had been, there was no possibility Jack was going
to leave his family vulnerable, even for a second. If he was
honest, he was surprised that the murderer had the audacity; the
sheer arrogance, to try to break into the village constable’s house
at all, let alone be stupid enough to try again on a second
night.
    Turning
toward the boys, he was unsurprised to find them watching him,
waiting for his direction.
    “ I think that we have a stupid burglar on our hands. Given he
has already tried to break in once, I need