Tallitha excitedly.
This wasn’t Benedict’s sort of thing after all but he would have to play his part if his cousins were to trust him. Nervously he helped them tether the rope to the gallery struts. Tallitha stepped over the edge and began to abseil down using one of the window columns to bounce off. Benedict could not bear to watch her rapid descent. Tyaas quickly followed, laughing as he bounced down the column.
‘Wow! That was almost as good as abseiling from my bedroom window. Just look at this room, it’s like a palace, it’s incredible. Where shall we start?’ he shouted, landing with a thud in the enormous chamber.
They began searching the drawers and cupboards, under the beds and in the closets. There were girls’ clothes, beautiful velvets and silks, storybooks and sweet-scented bathing gels. This had to be Asenathe’s apartment but curiously the room appeared to be lived in, as though someone was carefully looking after all the wonderful things in it.
‘Benedict, open your eyes! Tell us what you can see from up there!’
Benedict moved a couple of inches and made a mewing noise. ‘Oh, no‒I feel dizzy.’
‘Stop being a baby or we’ll call you by that name again!’ said Tyaas, teasing.
‘There’s a metal rail in front of you, so hang on to it,’ said Tallitha, sounding frustrated.
Benedict made the same pathetic noise, unscrewed his eyes and briefly looked down. Tyaas and Tallitha were looking up at him with an exasperated expression on their faces.
‘Come on!’ they shouted in unison.
Benedict moved slightly, gripping hold of the balustrade.
‘On the top of that wardrobe, there’s something there,’ he said pointing a shaking finger towards the far corner of the room. ‘A box, I think, and a roll of something, like wallpaper. That’s it. I’m closing my eyes now. How will I ever get out of here?’ he cried pathetically.
‘That’s a good point,’ said Tallitha laughing at him. ‘We aren’t climbing back up to get you, so you’ll have to go back the way we came.’
Benedict looked green and tucked his head between his knees. Tyaas pulled a chair over to the wardrobe, climbed up and began poking around on top.
‘Anything?’ asked Tallitha excitedly.
‘Some boxes. Errh, it’s filthy up here.’
Tyaas felt about in the dust until he found a long cardboard roll and a couple of wooden boxes which he passed to his sister. Tallitha pulled the map from the cardboard roll.
‘It’s unlike any map I’ve ever seen,’ she said in amazement, spreading it out on the floor, ‘Look at the writing in this corner. Tyass! Quickly! It says the name of that place‒Hellstone Tors.’
Tyaas leapt from the chair and crouched next to her, placing the two boxes on either side on the crumpled map to weight it down. The faded map was a curious collection of scribbled writing and signs.
‘It has strange writing and illustrations. But I can’t read it. Is it in Ennish?’ asked Tyaas.
But Tallitha didn’t know.
Benedict half- opened his eyes at the interesting news floating up from below, mewed pathetically and quickly closed them again. Tallitha tried to open the smaller box but it was locked. She blew the dust from the larger box to reveal a mother-of-pearl lid which clicked open easily. Inside was a hand-written note and Tallitha read it aloud:
‘Through my window you will find what you are looking for’
‘Quick!’ she shouted.
They climbed on to the window seat and began scouring the landscape of Wycham Elva. There had to be a sign, but what was it?
‘What are we looking for?’ asked Tyaas, scratching his head.
‘Whatever it is, has to be out there, just like the stone steps in the secret passageway, but we just can’t see it yet,’ said Tallitha sighing. She pointed towards different landmarks, but nothing made sense. ‘Think this through logically. There have to be other windows in here. The plans in Mrs Armitage’s cupboard showed more rooms, so let’s find them.’
Tallitha
This wasn’t Benedict’s sort of thing after all but he would have to play his part if his cousins were to trust him. Nervously he helped them tether the rope to the gallery struts. Tallitha stepped over the edge and began to abseil down using one of the window columns to bounce off. Benedict could not bear to watch her rapid descent. Tyaas quickly followed, laughing as he bounced down the column.
‘Wow! That was almost as good as abseiling from my bedroom window. Just look at this room, it’s like a palace, it’s incredible. Where shall we start?’ he shouted, landing with a thud in the enormous chamber.
They began searching the drawers and cupboards, under the beds and in the closets. There were girls’ clothes, beautiful velvets and silks, storybooks and sweet-scented bathing gels. This had to be Asenathe’s apartment but curiously the room appeared to be lived in, as though someone was carefully looking after all the wonderful things in it.
‘Benedict, open your eyes! Tell us what you can see from up there!’
Benedict moved a couple of inches and made a mewing noise. ‘Oh, no‒I feel dizzy.’
‘Stop being a baby or we’ll call you by that name again!’ said Tyaas, teasing.
‘There’s a metal rail in front of you, so hang on to it,’ said Tallitha, sounding frustrated.
Benedict made the same pathetic noise, unscrewed his eyes and briefly looked down. Tyaas and Tallitha were looking up at him with an exasperated expression on their faces.
‘Come on!’ they shouted in unison.
Benedict moved slightly, gripping hold of the balustrade.
‘On the top of that wardrobe, there’s something there,’ he said pointing a shaking finger towards the far corner of the room. ‘A box, I think, and a roll of something, like wallpaper. That’s it. I’m closing my eyes now. How will I ever get out of here?’ he cried pathetically.
‘That’s a good point,’ said Tallitha laughing at him. ‘We aren’t climbing back up to get you, so you’ll have to go back the way we came.’
Benedict looked green and tucked his head between his knees. Tyaas pulled a chair over to the wardrobe, climbed up and began poking around on top.
‘Anything?’ asked Tallitha excitedly.
‘Some boxes. Errh, it’s filthy up here.’
Tyaas felt about in the dust until he found a long cardboard roll and a couple of wooden boxes which he passed to his sister. Tallitha pulled the map from the cardboard roll.
‘It’s unlike any map I’ve ever seen,’ she said in amazement, spreading it out on the floor, ‘Look at the writing in this corner. Tyass! Quickly! It says the name of that place‒Hellstone Tors.’
Tyaas leapt from the chair and crouched next to her, placing the two boxes on either side on the crumpled map to weight it down. The faded map was a curious collection of scribbled writing and signs.
‘It has strange writing and illustrations. But I can’t read it. Is it in Ennish?’ asked Tyaas.
But Tallitha didn’t know.
Benedict half- opened his eyes at the interesting news floating up from below, mewed pathetically and quickly closed them again. Tallitha tried to open the smaller box but it was locked. She blew the dust from the larger box to reveal a mother-of-pearl lid which clicked open easily. Inside was a hand-written note and Tallitha read it aloud:
‘Through my window you will find what you are looking for’
‘Quick!’ she shouted.
They climbed on to the window seat and began scouring the landscape of Wycham Elva. There had to be a sign, but what was it?
‘What are we looking for?’ asked Tyaas, scratching his head.
‘Whatever it is, has to be out there, just like the stone steps in the secret passageway, but we just can’t see it yet,’ said Tallitha sighing. She pointed towards different landmarks, but nothing made sense. ‘Think this through logically. There have to be other windows in here. The plans in Mrs Armitage’s cupboard showed more rooms, so let’s find them.’
Tallitha