‘Jack! Jack!’ Billie calls out quietly. She doesn’t want the witch to come out and catch her too! But it is no use. The door stays firmly closed.

I have to do something! Billie thinks. This is all my fault!

Just then, she remembers. The house has a side window! She sprints around the corner to see if she can spot Jack inside. Billie finds the window, but it is too high for her to see through.

Quickly, she looks around for something to climb. On the footpath by the fence is an old wooden plank.

Billie leans it up against the side of the house and wedges the end under the windowsill.

Then carefully, carefully, she inches her way up. The plank wibbles and wobbles, but Billie holds on tight. Soon her eyes are in line with the windowsill.

Billie peers through the dusty glass into the dark room. What she sees nearly makes her fall off the plank in fright.

Ghosts! Billie sees ghosts! Big tall eerie ghosts. Wide shadowy spooky ghosts. Pale white shapes in the big gloomy room.

Billie jumps off the plank, her heart beating like a drum. It’s not just a witch that lives in there, but ghosts too!

Should I go back home and get help? Billie wonders. But what if I’m too late? What if the witch has already put Jack into her bone-crushing machine? Or in the oven!

Just then, she hears voices coming from the backyard. A loud cackle and then – Jack’s voice! He’s still alive! Billie feels dizzy with relief. She runs up to the side fence.

She doesn’t want to climb it in case the witch spots her. So she searches desperately for a hole to peek through. Luckily, a piece of the rickety old fence breaks off in her hand. Billie peers through the crack.

Through the hole she sees an overgrown garden full of tall grass and gnarly old trees. All around the garden are strange metal objects of all different shapes and sizes. Some of them are like weird machines. Others look like strange clockwork creatures.

Billie hears the voices again. She pulls away some more of the wooden fence to see better. When she pushes her face to the hole, the splintery wood prickles her cheek.

‘Jack!’ she whispers. ‘Jack!’

She even does their secret rooster call quietly but he still doesn’t reply.

Then, when she is about to lose all hope, she sees him.

‘Jack?’ Billie can’t believe her eyes.