I would like to award the Freedom of the Town of Dundoodle to the team at Bloomsbury Children’s Books for all their hard work in making The Dentist of Darkness a thing of actual paper and ink. Their patience, enthusiasm and eye for detail has made the experience a total pleasure. I’d also like to usher onto the podium all the book bloggers, reviewers and influencers who had such nice things to say about The Chocolate Factory Ghost, giving The Dundoodle Mysteries such a great start in life. I hope this book is enjoyed just as much!
An extra-large medal goes to Claire Powell for her fabulous illustrations and to the children at the Tom Fletcher Book Club launch who helped her create the fearsome Wood Waggle.
Archie stared up at the portrait of the old man. It had winked at him, hadn’t it? He was sure of it. No, he must be imagining things. This spooky old house was playing tricks with his mind.
He was sitting in the very grand library of the very grand Honeystone Hall, surrounded by books – how could anyone own so many books? – and ancient, rickety and very dusty furniture. Were all the cobwebs real or were they specially delivered by the We’ll-Make-Your-Home-Look-Creepy Company? Mum sat in the chair next to him, fidgeting like she had spiders dancing in her underwear and too preoccupied to pay any attention to misbehaving artwork. Had the portrait winked at him again? It hadn’t. Had it? It HAD! It even grinned a little. This place was seriously WEIRD.
He dragged his eyes away from the painting which hung above the very grand fireplace.
‘What are we doing here?’ he whispered for the hundredth time.
‘I don’t know,’ Mum whispered back. She gave the sparrow-like man shuffling papers, who sat in front of them, a sharp look.
‘Can we get on with … things, Mr Tatters?’ she said. ‘We’ve come all the way from Invertinkle.’
‘Of course, of course, dear lady,’ said the lawyer amiably. ‘Some of the details of this … situation are unusual. I was just checking a few particulars, but now we can proceed.’ He cleared his throat dramatically.
‘Archie McBudge,’ said Mr Tatters, peering at the boy through a pair of grubby spectacles. ‘You are a very fortunate young man. Very fortunate indeed. Great things lie in store for you.’
Archie had never thought he was destined for Great Things. A few Medium-Sized Things perhaps. ‘Medium-sized’ always sounded manageable. Great Things sounded like a lot of responsibility and he wasn’t the ambitious type.
‘Really?’ was all he could say. What was going on?
‘Whilst we mourn the recent tragic loss of your great-uncle, Archibald McBudge …’ said Mr Tatters, pointing a bony finger towards the painting – the painting! He had a Great-Uncle Archibald? ‘… owner of McBudge’s Fudge and Confectionery Company, and a dear, personal friend of mine …’ Archie’s jaw dropped. McBudge’s Fudge! He’d never even known Great-Uncle Archibald existed, but everyone knew McBudge’s Fudge. It was the softest, sweetest-tasting, melt-in-the-mouthiest, fudgiest fudge you could buy. The best in the world. Archie had always been pleased he shared his name with a company that made something so famously tasty, but he’d never thought there might be an actual family connection! And from the look on Mum’s face, she hadn’t either. She started to say something but was interrupted by Mr Tatters giving his beaky nose a good blow.
‘Whilst we mourn his loss,’ the lawyer repeated, dabbing his eyes, ‘I am very pleased to tell you that your great-uncle remembered you in his will.’ He picked up a leather-bound folder. Archie and Mum looked nervously at each other. Nobody had ever left them anything in a will before. They’d never known anyone with any money! All they knew was that Mr Tatters had sent them a letter asking them to drive all the way to the little town of Dundoodle, tucked between a mountain and a forest-edged loch, to meet him at Honeystone Hall to talk about some ‘family business’. The lawyer was reading from a piece of paper in the folder.
‘Your great-uncle writes: As my nephew is no longer alive, I hereby leave all my earthly possessions to his son, my namesake, Archie McBudge. My fortune, my business holdings and associated properties I leave to him and his heirs.’ Mr Tatters took off his spectacles and looked at Archie expectantly.
‘Oh, Archie!’ said Mum with a deep intake of breath.
‘What?’ said Archie. He didn’t understand. What were ‘earthly possessions’? ‘Has he left me his gardening tools or something?’
‘No!’ hissed Mum. ‘Archie, he’s left you everything.’
‘Everything?’ said Archie.
‘Everything,’ said Mr Tatters.
‘Does that mean I own the fudge factory?’ said Archie in disbelief. ‘Where they make the fudge and the chocolates and all the other sweets?’
‘Yes, Archie. You own the fudge factory,’ confirmed Mr Tatters.
‘And all the McBudge Fudge shops?’ put in Mum, wide-eyed. ‘There’s one in almost every town.’
‘And all the McBudge Fudge shops,’ said Mr Tatters.
‘And Honeystone Hall?’ said Archie, looking around him. ‘Can we come and live here? There must be over a hundred rooms in this place!’ And a very odd painting, though he didn’t mention that.
‘And Honeystone Hall,’ said Mr Tatters. He snapped the folder shut. ‘Fudge fortune. Fudge factory. Fudge shops. Fudge … urm, Honeystone Hall. The whole lot. Even the gardening tools.’
I must have put my lucky underpants on today, thought Archie. He looked up at the portrait of Great-Uncle Archibald. The old man in the painting winked at him again. And this time, Archie winked back.
‘There’s one more thing,’ said Mr Tatters, reaching into his jacket pocket. ‘Your great-uncle left you this letter.’ He handed Archie a crumpled envelope. A surprisingly steady hand (Great-Uncle Archibald looked ancient in the portrait) had written on it in thick caramel-brown ink:
To the heir of the Chief of the Clan McBudge.
‘The heir,’ said Mr Tatters, catching Archie’s puzzled look. ‘That would be you. Old Mr McBudge intended for you to read this in private. Why don’t you go and explore whilst your mother and I discuss the legal paperwork and whatnot? I’m sure you’ll find plenty of quiet spots in the house to read.’
He was being dismissed. The grown-ups had grown-up things to talk about. With a nod from Mum, Archie ran out of the library, clutching the mysterious letter. His head was spinning. He was … he was rich! And Honeystone Hall belonged to him. Him and nobody else. Except maybe the ghost of his great-uncle. What had been going on with that painting? He pushed it out of his mind. There were plenty of other things to think about. Great Things. It would take him a week just to explore the house, never mind the gardens and the factory.
Archie wandered along a passageway, pondering which of the doors to try first. Everything – furniture, pictures, wallpaper – looked very old and was covered in a ghostly layer of dust. The stillness was deathly. Plenty of quiet spots, Mr Tatters had said. Spots? This was practically measles.
He tried one door. It was a cupboard, filled with moth-speckled coats. Another door revealed an old-fashioned laundry room, with sinks and mangles and drying rails. So far, so disappointing. Yet there was something else. In each room Archie could feel a presence, like someone – something – had left just moments before. He shivered.
Finally, he chose a large green door with a dark metal handle. With a satisfying clunk, it opened and light poured into the shadowy passage. He took a step backwards as he was struck by the heat and smell of earth. Ferns, palm trees, vines and orchids lay before him, bathed in a balmy mist and occupied with the business of growing and flowering and generally being alive and leafy. Had he stumbled into a different world? Transported to a desert island? He half expected a dinosaur to lumber into view.
‘It’s a giant greenhouse,’ he said aloud. The glass roof was as high as the Hall itself. The warmth, light and life were a marked contrast to the rest of the house and the dreary wintry world outside it. But it had the same watchfulness about it. Something hidden had its eye on him.
Archie followed a path amongst the plants and perched on a twisted tree root that had pushed its way up through the tiled floor. He opened the envelope and pulled out a crisp piece of paper covered with the same caramel-coloured writing.
Dear Archie (the letter began),
Mr Tatters must have told you by now that you are my heir as Chief of the Clan McBudge, as well as heir to the McBudge Fudge fortune. I have no doubt this will have come as a surprise to you. Knowing you would inherit one day, but wanting you to have a normal life for as long as possible, your father kept his family connections a secret.
So Dad knew all along! Archie smiled. Dad loved secrets. He wished Dad was here now.
Your father was a clever man. Having lots of money can do strange things to people. And the desire for money can make people go bad. Very bad. You must always remember this!
But who better to run a chocolate factory than a child? Children understand fudge and sweets and chocolate far better than grown-ups. However, it is a great responsibility.
You must prove you are worthy of your inheritance, worthy of the name McBudge! So I have set you a test, in the form of a treasure hunt, to see just how canny you are …
There are six items you must collect, and six clues to find them. Once you have them all, a greater seventh treasure awaits you! But keep it secret! Others will go to any length to get it first!
Others? What did that mean?
The first clue will appear very soon. Keep your eyes open and your taste buds ready! You may find help in the strangest ways. Dundoodle is an odd place – expect the unexpected …
Good luck!
Your great-uncle, Archibald McBudge.
Archie realised he was holding his breath. His heart was beating fast. A test? A treasure hunt?
P.S. Look behind you.
‘If you ask me,’ said a voice just by his ear, ‘you’re in a whole lot of trouble, Archie McBudge.’
