I must have dozed off, for the next thing I knew the boys were shaking me. ‘What is it?’ I whispered. ‘Did you see the light again?’

  ‘Not a move on Wariff Hill tonight,’ said Doubter. ‘But listen …’

  ‘Can’t you hear it?’ asked Dan, his ear cocked at the door.

  I strained my ears. For a moment I could hear nothing except our own breathing. Then I heard it. A distant jangle of chains. ‘What is it?’ I asked him.

  ‘That’s it.’

  ‘You mean the weird noise you’ve been hearing?’

  Dan nodded. ‘What do you make of it?’

  I listened to the noise again. ‘It’s like … like the noise a prisoner would make in one of the cells we saw … pacing up and down, dragging his chains after him.’

  ‘It fits all right,’ Curly agreed.

  ‘What do the staff think it is?’ I asked Dan.

  ‘Some of them think it’s the running dead man of the legend …’

  ‘And what do the others think?’ interrupted Curly.

  ‘They think it’s the tormented soul of Sir Timothy … that it can never rest because of what he did to his daughter.’

  ‘That sounds a bit far-fetched,’ said Doubter.

  ‘You wouldn’t think that if you had to lie here night after night listening to it,’ replied Dan. ‘And the maids are not the only ones who are convinced it’s one or the other. I heard Major Boucher himself debating it with the butler the other day.’

  ‘Would there be anybody around now?’ I asked him.

  ‘Not on your life.’

  ‘What about Mr King?’ asked Doubter.

  ‘Mr Rochford-King,’ said Dan, pointedly giving him his correct name, ‘did a lot of looking for it at first, but he got nowhere, and now he just says he has more important things to do than waste time looking for ghosts.’

  ‘Come on then,’ I said. ‘Let’s see what we can find.’

  I held on to Prince to keep him from running ahead of us, and we followed Dan out and down the stone steps. We could hear the chains a lot louder now. Hugging close to Dan, we found ourselves creeping along corridor after corridor, trying to get closer to that continual, restless jangle. Each time we got to where we thought it had been, however, it seemed to be where we had just left.

  ‘This is like chasing the will-o’-the-wisp in the Cotton Bog,’ I whispered to Dan.

  ‘I know,’ he replied. ‘What do you want to do?’

  ‘Let’s stay here for a minute and listen.’

  We were now in a gloomy corridor, from the dark recesses of which stags’ heads stared down at us with unseeing eyes.

  ‘Where are we anyway?’ asked Doubter.

  ‘We’re in the Stags’ Hall.’

  ‘The what?’ asked Totey.

  ‘The Stags’ Hall,’ whispered Dan. ‘Can’t you see the stags’ heads on the walls?’

  ‘Shush,’ I said, and standing perfectly still, we listened intently. Not another sound disturbed the darkness but that floating, ghostly jangle. Then we heard footsteps too. Our hearts were thumping, and we were almost stepping on each other’s heels and toes as we edged closer together. Totey held on tightly to my jacket, and I held on tightly to Prince. One minute the chains would jangle away off somewhere, next minute they sounded close at hand. The footsteps came and went with the chains, a dull sort of plodding that stopped now and then, and always started up again with each fresh jangle of chains.

  ‘Does this go on all night?’ I asked Dan.

  ‘Only for the first hour after midnight.’

  ‘Every night?’ asked Doubter.

  Before Dan could answer, there was one almighty jangle close beside us. Startled, we shrank back. As we did so, Prince snarled and barked, and if we were surprised by that last jangle, it was nothing to our surprise at what happened next.

  When Prince barked, we heard a stumble and another jangle, almost as if someone else had got a fright and jumped back too, and, lo and behold, if we didn’t hear the sound of running footsteps accompanied by the continuous jangle of a trailing chain.

  After that, there wasn’t a single sound to be heard in the whole castle, and hardly able to contain our excitement we hurried back up to Dan’s room.

  ‘Well that’s the first time I ever heard of a ghost being frightened by a dog,’ I said when we had closed the door and put on the light.

  Curly flopped into one of the chairs. ‘What do you make of it so?’

  ‘I don’t think it’s any more a ghost than what we saw up on Wariff Hill.’

  ‘Neither do I,’ said Doubter.

  I sat down on the edge of the bed, for I was still feeling weak at the knees. ‘I think it’s all part and parcel of the plan to steal the treasure.’

  ‘How do you make that out?’ asked Dan.

  ‘Well, look at it this way. It must have been a man we heard running away. If that’s so, it can only mean one thing. Somebody’s going to an awful lot of trouble to make people think the castle is haunted.’

  ‘But why?’ wondered Totey.

  ‘Maybe to cover up for something,’ I suggested.

  ‘Like digging for the treasure,’ said Curly.

  ‘Exactly. It would cover up any noise they made – and come to think of it, it would make the staff stay clear of this part of the castle, at least for an hour each night.’

  ‘So the question is,’ said Doubter, ‘what’s on the other side of that wall?’

  ‘That’s the problem,’ said Dan. ‘There’s nothing on the other side of it. That’s the outside wall of the castle.’

  13. KIDNAPPED

  We were dumbfounded. We had heard a man running. We were sure of it. For a moment an awful thought occurred to me. Could it really have been the ghost of Sir Timothy or the running dead man of the legend after all? I tried to put such thoughts aside. No, it couldn’t be.

  ‘What about the rooms around the Stags’ Hall?’ I asked Dan. ‘What’s above it?’

  ‘Let me see – yes – the Bouchers live on that floor.’

  ‘The Bouchers!’ I exclaimed. ‘Then maybe we’re not so far wrong after all.’

  ‘But what can we do?’ asked Doubter.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Unless we could steal a look at Major Boucher’s rooms. What do you think, Dan?’

  ‘Well … I suppose we could. He’s always busy in the mornings.’

  It was at least another hour before we settled down for the night. We had discussed how we would go about getting into Major Boucher’s rooms, the ghost, the treasure, the Legend of the Golden Key and, of course, poor Cowlick. Our anxiety for him was mounting and we wished for the morning to come so that we could push on and get to the bottom of this whole mysterious affair.

  Totey slept in the single bed with Dan, Doubter and Curly snuggled into a couple of old armchairs, and Prince and I curled up on a rug near the bed. In normal circumstances, I suppose we would have put in a restless night, but it had been a long day and we were tired, and in spite of the discomfort we slept soundly.

  Next morning, Dan brought us up more food from the kitchen after he had his own breakfast, and as we tucked into it, he went out again to check on Major Boucher’s whereabouts. When he came back he told us that the Major was still downstairs, and now would be as good a time as any to have a look at his rooms. Halfway down the stone steps, he took us through a little doorway in the side of the tower, and we found ourselves in a wing of bedrooms. He led us along a corridor, round a corner, up a short flight of stairs and then along another corridor, until at last we came to a set of rooms facing onto a wide curving staircase. We took a quick look over the green marble banister into the hall below. There was no one about. Dan stepped back quickly and tried the handle of the nearest door. It opened, and we all hurried inside.

  ‘Okay, let’s try the walls for secret doors,’ I whispered and, pointing to a connecting door, added, ‘We’ll do that room first, and then this one.’

  Without further delay, we descended upon the adjoining room, which we discovered was a bedroom. Round the walls we went, sounding them with our knuckles, and twisting any knobs we could find in or about the big open fireplace. We came up with nothing there to suggest Major Boucher had some secret means of haunting the castle, and we quickly moved back out to the other room.

  While the others continued to sound the walls, I took a look at Major Boucher’s writing desk. It was one of those antique ones, with a front that rolls open and shut, and a number of small drawers inside. Starting at the top, I worked my way down through the drawers on the left, then on the right. Imagine my surprise when, in the bottom right-hand drawer, I found Felicity’s missing bracelet! It was underneath a sheaf of tattered yellow papers. Furthermore, the faded writing on the papers was about the Legend of the Golden Key and the treasure. There were also what looked like rough, hand-drawn maps with Xs here and circles there, and straight and squiggly lines in between.

  I called the others, but no sooner had they peeped at what I had found than the door opened, and we turned around to come face-to-face with Major Boucher!

  Angrily he demanded to know what we were doing in his room. We could see Dan trying desperately to think of an excuse, and after some hesitation he told the Major that we were his friends and that he was just showing us round the castle. The Major looked at his writing desk and then at us again. I could see he didn’t know what to make of us. Finally, he told us curtly we had no business being in his rooms, and ordered us out.

  I knew Prince didn’t like anyone talking to us like that, so I leaned down and took hold of his collar to keep him under control. As Major Boucher ushered us down the stairs, I couldn’t help wondering if he had seen us at the drawer, or if I had closed it in time. Whether he had or not, it was obvious from the way he was rushing us that he was anxious to see us out of the castle.

  At the entrance to the Stags’ Hall, however, we ran straight into Mr King. He was wearing riding clothes and we guessed he was on his way out to the stables.

  ‘I say, who are these chaps?’ he asked in the grandest accent you’ve ever heard.

  ‘Friends of young Moxley here,’ growled Major Boucher. ‘I’m just showing them out.’

  Now was the time, I thought. It had to be now or never, and as Mr King was about to walk on, I blurted out, ‘Excuse me!’

  He turned. ‘Yes, boy?’

  ‘The treasure,’ I said. ‘We came to warn you!’

  ‘Oh come, come,’ said Major Boucher, pulling me away. ‘We haven’t time to be listening to your fairy tales.’

  ‘Just a minute, Major,’ said Mr King, coming back to me. ‘What’s that you say about the treasure?’

  ‘Someone’s trying to steal it,’ I told him. ‘That’s why we came here – to warn you.’

  ‘Such nonsense,’ snapped Major Boucher. ‘Come now, out with you all.’

  ‘It’s not nonsense,’ I cried. ‘It’s true, and I have something that can prove it.’

  Major Boucher was fuming, but Mr King, I could see, wasn’t going to be put off now. ‘Very well,’ he said, ‘follow me. We can talk about this in my study and see whatever you say you have, young man. There’s better light in there … and, good grief boy, do straighten up.’

  I suppose I did look a bit silly as I was still holding Prince by the collar, but when I let go, he dashed off in the direction of the kitchen. I made to go after him, then thought I’d better stick with the others who were following Major Boucher and Mr King out of the hall. In that split second of hesitation, I felt a draught at the back of my neck, and before I could turn around, a hand clamped over my mouth and I was hauled back into complete darkness.

  Someone tied my hands behind my back, and I was carried along a passage so narrow my elbows brushed against both walls. I could feel myself being taken down flight after flight of steps. At the bottom I was put on my feet. I heard the bolt of a door being drawn back, and I was thrown into some sort of room, where I stumbled and fell on a heap of straw.

  As the door clanged shut behind me and my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, I became aware of a figure kneeling beside me.

  ‘Tapser,’ exclaimed a familiar voice.

  ‘Cowlick,’ I cried, ‘Cowlick, is that you?’

  To my utter delight, I found it was none other.

  * * *

  No one could imagine how glad I was to see Cowlick alive and well. If my hands hadn’t been tied behind my back, I would have thrown my arms around him and hugged him, and I’m sure he’d have done the same if his hands had been free.

  ‘What on earth happened to you?’ I asked as I struggled to sit up.

  ‘Obviously the same thing that’s happened to you – I was caught by those crooks who are after the treasure.’ Cowlick shook his head and blew upwards to dislodge a piece of straw caught in his cow’s-lick curl. ‘You remember when we spread out around Wariff Hill? Well, I was pushing my way through the briars when I tripped and fell headlong. My head must have hit a stone. The next thing I knew, I woke up in some sort of cave. It was dark, except for a candle on a box beside me. I was bound and gagged, and the broken-nosed man and his two friends were standing over me.’

  ‘I just thought it was them,’ I said. ‘We saw them here yesterday with Major Boucher. Was it them who threw me in here? I couldn’t see in the dark.’

  ‘It was, but there are more in this business besides them and Major Boucher. Anyway, as I was saying, when I woke up the three of them were standing over me. I heard one of you calling me with your bourtree whistle, and I started to struggle and shout as loud as I could through the gag, but one of them held me still and made me be quiet. I could see them listening to see if they had been heard, so the cave must have been pretty near the fort. After a while one of them went out, and when he came back he said the rest of you had gone. They warned me not to shout or it would be the worse for me, and then they took the gag off and started to question me.’

  ‘What did they want to know?’ I asked.

  ‘What we were doing there.’

  ‘What did you tell them?’

  ‘I told them we were lamping rabbits. I just thought of that on the spur of the moment, and I suppose it sounded reasonable enough. Anyway, they seemed to believe it. The one with the broken nose told one of the others to search me, and when he found nothing the broken-nosed man asked me if we had found anything on the hill.’

  ‘The spade guinea!’ I exclaimed.

  ‘Exactly … but I pretended I didn’t know what he was talking about. I could see they didn’t want to give anything away, so I kept up the innocent act, and in the end they seemed satisfied that I really didn’t know what they were talking about.’

  ‘I wonder what they would have done if they had found you with the guinea, Cowlick?’

  ‘I don’t know, but it didn’t make much difference. They wouldn’t let me go. I told them that if they let me go I wouldn’t say a word about it to a soul, as I wasn’t supposed to be out that late anyway. They just told me to shut my trap. So I told them that if they didn’t let me go they’d soon be caught, as everybody in the valley would be out looking for me. They only laughed and said I wasn’t going anywhere until they said so, and not to kid myself, that anybody searching for me would have about as much hope of catching them as they would of catching the running dead man.’

  ‘What happened after that?’

  ‘They blindfolded me. There was a pile of picks and shovels in the cave, and I could hear them lifting them and taking them with them.’

  ‘Why blindfold you?’ I wondered.

  ‘They obviously didn’t want me to see what they were up to, but from the sounds they made I could tell they didn’t leave the cave by the small entrance one of them used when he had a look around outside. While they were away, I tried to free myself but couldn’t. It must have been hours before they came back. Something must have happened, because I heard one of them saying it had ruined everything and they would have to tell the boss. So off they set, taking me with them.’

  Cowlick paused for a moment before continuing, ‘It was still raining when we left Wariff Hill, and I was slipping and sliding all over the place with the blindfold on me. Finally, I suppose when they thought I would have lost my bearings, they took it off. They weren’t far wrong either. It was a bit better without the blindfold. At least I could sort of gauge when I was going to go uphill and when I was going to go down. But I couldn’t make out where on earth I was, until I heard the sound of falling water and came to a building. I knew then they were taking me into the stone tower here on the estate. There’s a trapdoor in the floor of it, and a secret tunnel …’

  ‘I know,’ I said. ‘We followed Major Boucher and the three of them into it yesterday.’

  ‘Well, you know the cells along it? They brought me into one of them, and through a hole in the back of it into the passageway here. Then they locked me in this cell. I’ve been here ever since.’

  ‘You must be famished,’ I said.

  ‘I would have been, if it hadn’t been for Major Boucher. He has brought me something to eat two or three times.’

  ‘Poor Felicity,’ I said. ‘What will she do when she discovers her father is the head of a gang that’s stolen the treasure?’

  ‘Who’s going to tell her? Unless we escape from here. And another thing … they haven’t found the treasure. They’re still digging for it down the passageway. Furthermore, I don’t think Major Boucher is the head of the gang.’

  ‘You don’t?’