RUSTLE!

There was that noise again.

Alfred and Nanny didn’t say another word. Instead, she dimmed the light on her lantern until the vault was all but black.

RUSTLE!

And again!

In a room as vast as the vault, it was impossible to work out exactly where a sound was coming from. Every step they took on the stone floor echoed down the rows and rows of boxes…

SHUNT! SHUNT! SHUNT!

…and bounced off the walls.

The sound could be coming from far away…

Or much closer than you think.

RUSTLE!

Again!

Nanny indicated with her eyes where she thought the noise might be coming from, and they tiptoed through the dark towards it.

Alfred’s mind was racing. After what he had seen tonight, he was half expecting one of the terrifying treasures down here to come to life.

A golem.

An Egyptian mummy.

A Native American thunderbird.

An Ancient Greek Hydra, a nine-headed snake.

Vlad the Impaler, so called because he executed thousands of people by stake.

Emperor Caligula of Ancient Rome.

A Minotaur.

A Cyclops.

A Chinese dragon.

Or, worst of all, the hound of Hell, a three-headed dog.

Anything was possible. The impossible was possible. Alfred was shaking with fear.

RUSTLE!

There it was again.

Perhaps it is just a rat, he kept telling himself. But it sounded way too noisy to be a rat. A giant rat? he thought.

RUSTLE!

When he and Nanny thought they were near to the source of the sound, they stopped dead still.

RUSTLE!

Whatever it was, it was hiding on the other side of a huge leather trunk.

Alfred gulped.

GULP!

Nanny gulped.

GULP!

Nanny indicated for Alfred to have a look.

Alfred shook his head.

Alfred indicated for Nanny to have a look.

Nanny shook her head.

Nanny indicated for them to go together.

They both nodded their heads.

The pair held hands and tiptoed round the trunk to find…