“I’m going to show Neil and Clara the secret passage this evening,” Shona announced as they were having dinner that evening.
“Haven’t you had enough exercise for one day?” her father asked, eyebrows raised.
“Going down a secret passage isn’t exercise,” Clara smiled. “It’s exciting!”
“Well, take a torch each,” Mrs Ferguson smiled, “and don’t get lost!”
Shona grinned. “We can hardly do that,” she said. “It only goes in one direction!”
“And put on an extra sweater,” her father warned. “It’s quite cold down there.”
It was chilly in the secret passage. The cold draught that wafted along made Neil realize that there must be air vents to the surface.
“It’s been well made,” Lewis said, shining his torch over the old stonework, “a bit damp here and there but not so you’d notice.”
“Just mind your head,” Shona warned. “It’s a bit low in places and mum and dad sometimes have to duck!”
Shining their torches in front of them, the tunnel stretched into the gloom. Although it only took them about a quarter of an hour to reach the castle, it seemed much longer in the dark confines of the secret passage.
“We’re here,” Shona said, thankfully, as she noticed the change in the stonework. “Not far to go now, so keep your voices down!”
They followed her up a narrow flight of steep, stone steps and soon found themselves in a tall, thin passage. One wall seemed to be made of wood and as she ran her fingers over it, Clara realized that they were walking in a space behind the walls of a room for she could vaguely hear the sound of voices.
Shona stopped and, putting her fingers on her lips, stood on a large stone. The stone had been put there for a reason and, as Clara watched fascinated, Shona balanced herself carefully, slipped back a catch and pushed a tiny piece of panelling to one side. Immediately the voices became clearer and they were very definitely American. Lewis gave Neil the thumbs up sign. They’d done it! Now, with any luck, they might find out just what the Americans were doing in Glenmorven.
“I’m telling you, it’s all over Aberdeen,” Steve was saying, leaning forward excitedly in his armchair. “People were talking about it in every shop I was in. They’re full of it and, I kid you not, they really believe it!”
“What?” Chuck said, frowning slightly. “That there are stone giants in the mountains?”
Shane looked sceptical. “You shouldn’t listen to that rubbish. I heard about it on the news and they’re playing it down big time. Somebody thinks they see a giant and all of a sudden everybody’s seeing giants everywhere!”
“I reckon it might be a good idea to go out and look for them,” Sam said, getting to his feet and moving over to a huge wall map of the area. “It’s getting kinda boring sitting around here. Whadya say, boys? Fancy a giant hunt?”
“Come off it!” Jake said. “Giants? Look, man, the weather’s bad, there’s a landslide and maybe it does, for a few seconds, look just like a giant and then — it’s gone. And what’s left? A pile of rocks and rubble.”
“Rocks and rubble,” repeated Chuck. “Say … that’s not a bad idea. We talked about it before, remember? Blowing the side off the mountain! These giants are the perfect cover. We just wait for the next thunderstorm and detonate the explosives in the middle of it.”
There was a silence. “That,” Shane said, “ought to be a piece of cake! We brought explosives with us and you’re right … the next big storm that comes along should give us good cover for an almighty bang.”
“Yeah! Nobody would ever guess,” Chuck said thoughtfully, “and if anyone did hear the explosion … well, they’d think it was thunder.”
“Or a stone giant, like you said,” laughed Sam.
Shona stepped down from her perch on the high stone to give Neil a chance to see into the room. She was seething with rage. Blowing up Morven! How could they even think about it!
Neil, in the meantime was staring in round-eyed wonder through the hole in the panelling. Not, it must be said, at the Americans. Indeed, they were now the least of his worries. He wasn’t even listening to them. He was staring, totally and absolutely gobsmacked. No one had mentioned that the castle was haunted yet he could see them quite clearly — two huge, kilted figures leaning back against an old oak chest. One had a mop of ferocious red hair, the other was dark and sported a black beard and both carried shields and heavy swords. Claymores, he supposed. He was just about to whisper the news to Clara and Lewis when he remembered that Shona knew nothing of their magic past.
“Let’s have a look, Neil,” Lewis whispered, tugging at his sleeve.
Neil stepped down from the stone, his mind in turmoil. What on earth was going on, he wondered. He tried to catch Clara’s eye so that he could warn her about the ghosts. It would be awful if she cried out in surprise and gave the game away! Clara, however, was looking up at Lewis, waiting for her turn to look through the panelling and it was as Neil leant forward to whisper in her ear that Lewis’s foot slipped off the stone.
Clara and Shona caught him as he tumbled but it was too late, the damage had been done. They looked at one another in alarm as they heard the Americans push their chairs back at the sudden noise.
“What was that?” Sam said fearfully.
“It came from the wall over there,” Chuck said, getting to his feet.
Shona reached up and quickly slid the little piece of panelling back into place as the Americans reached the wall and started tapping it.
“It’s hollow,” Shane snarled. “There must be somebody behind it!”
“It’s probably these wretched ghosts again!”
“Or rats,” Steve said, hopefully.
“Quiet, there’s someone in there,” Shane snapped. “I’m sure I heard something! Listen!”
But, by then, there was nothing to hear for the four children had already reached the steep, narrow stair and were tip-toeing very quietly back along the secret passage.
Clara and Shona looked scared but Lewis was as white as a sheet and it was then that Neil remembered that Lewis, too, was wearing a firestone. That was it! He must have seen the ghosts!
It wasn’t only the ghosts that had scared Lewis, however. He’d had another shock, a shock that left his mind reeling, for before he’d slipped off the stone he’d had a good view of Chuck, and he’d recognized him immediately. Chuck, with the funny, spiky haircut, who used to visit his mum and dad in Kuwait. He couldn’t believe it. His friend, Chuck, was one of the Americans at Morven Castle!