“That sounded like Zoe!” shouted Lottie, as she and Isabel ran towards the sound. “It’s coming from upstairs!”

They raced to the front hall. Pip led the way, still wearing the Father Christmas hat. He was sliding all over the slippery marble floor.

“It sounded like it came from above the first floor!” said Isabel as they ran. “Could they be on the roof?”

“Quick,” shouted Lottie. “Follow me!” She stopped suddenly in front of a huge painting in the stairwell. Isabel ran into the back of her.

Lottie pushed against the painting. There was a creak, and then it swung open like a door. Before Isabel could blink, Lottie was disappearing down a narrow hallway towards a steep set of stairs, Pip galloping alongside her. Isabel followed, too curious to hesitate. The painting slammed shut behind her.

“A secret passage!” cried Isabel as they climbed the stairs. “But were does it lead?”

“To the top of the school!” whispered Lottie. After a short climb they came to a small wooden door. It was locked. Lottie pushed against it. “We can’t go any further,” she said at last. “I’ve tried before. I thought for sure the others had found the secret passage.” Pip scratched at the door like a wild animal. He was sure too.

“What’s that sound?” asked Isabel nervously. “I hear voices. It has to be ghosts! The others couldn’t have got in, could they?”

Isabel did not know that there were two ways into the attic. In fact, until that moment she hadn’t even known that Crabtree School had an attic.

Lottie had hidden in the secret passage many times. She knew there must be something behind that door at the top, but she had never been able to get inside.

“Shhhh,” hissed Lottie, putting her ear to the door. “Listen, it sounds like counting!”

“A counting ghost?” said Isabel. She leaned against the door too.

Inside the attic, Ava was counting. On the count of three, Ava and Rani and Zoe were going to run away from the terrible scratching they heard.

Outside, the weight of a seven-year-old, an eight-year-old and a very persistent dog proved too much for the old wooden door to withstand. Suddenly the downstairs detectives found themselves crashing into the attic.

After the crash came the loudest screaming ever to be heard under the Crabtree School roof. Then Lottie heard the sounds of frantic scrambling and of things being dropped. The room was filled with strange shadows as torches rolled about on the floor.

“Look!” shouted Isabel. “In the corner! Ghosts!”

Caught in a flash of light were three dusty figures. One was glowing with strange spots. Another was wearing a scary olden-days hat. The third was truly terrifying in a long ghostly dress.

The spooky figures began to run about madly, and so did Isabel. The commotion brought up smoky clouds of dust, which only increased the panic in the attic.

Amid the commotion, Pip merely stood wagging his tail at them all. The ghost-hunting dog detective was not afraid. Neither was his mistress.

 

“Stop!” said Lottie calmly, picking up a fallen torch. “Ava, Rani, Zoe, it’s just us! It’s Lottie and Isabel!”

Lottie knew that there was no such thing as ghosts. And anyway, she would recognize Ava’s fairy nightdress and Zoe’s crazy glow-in-the-dark pyjamas anywhere. Rani’s unicorn top was clearly visible in the torchlight.

“It’s you,” gasped Ava. She looked disappointed not to have seen a real live ghost.

Just then, Mrs Peabody poked her head up from the space in the floor where Zoe, Rani and Ava had climbed up.

“Girls,” she said. “You are very brave to look up here, but I think it best if you come down at once. Lady Lovelypaws would never come to the attic. There could be rats and bats and spiders up here.” Mrs Peabody trembled at the thought. The cup of tea in her hand wobbled as she went back down the ladder.

The girls hurried down behind her, and, to Lottie’s relief, the secret passage remained mostly a secret.