The children followed Caprice across the lawn and down a long wisteria-covered walkway. At the end there was a gate that led into the woodland.

‘Is this really the way?’ Sloane asked loudly.

‘Of course it is,’ Caprice snipped, charging ahead.

As promised, Bunyan had remained behind once the children reached the edge of the garden.

‘Bye, Mr Bunyan,’ Alice-Miranda called. ‘We’ll see you later.’ She turned to wave but the man had already disappeared.

The children trekked along the dappled path which wound its way up and up until they emerged on top of the ridge.

‘Whoa,’ Lucas said. ‘The tower’s even more impressive up close.’

Caprice led the way until the boys ran to overtake her and sprinted to the front door. Sep grabbed the handle and turned, but it was locked, just as Mr Thripp had warned it would be.

Caprice smirked. ‘You won’t get in that way.’

‘Okay, smartypants, where’s the entrance?’ Millie said.

Caprice took off around to the other side of the building and the group followed. She pointed at one of the windows. ‘Give me a leg-up,’ she commanded Lucas.

He and Sep both knelt down so she could hoist herself up to the window and prise it open. She wiggled her way through, then disappeared from view. ‘Well, are you coming or not?’ Caprice called from inside.

Within a couple of minutes, the children had hefted and heaved each other into the tower. Sep scrambled up the wall on his own and Lucas helped pull him through.

‘This is so cool,’ Lucas breathed as he looked around.

Sloane scrunched her nose. ‘It smells awful – like someone’s stomped kippers into the carpet or something,’ she remarked.

‘Did the twins bring you here?’ Millie asked, looking at Caprice.

The girl nodded.

‘Did they say you could bring us?’

‘I don’t care what they say. They’re not here now and they can’t stop us,’ Caprice said defiantly.

‘What’s in here, anyway?’ Sep asked.

‘Follow me and I’ll show you,’ the girl said, then flounced off towards the stairwell.

Edgar turned around from where he was mixing a sludgy paste in a beaker which sat on a tripod over an open flame.

‘Hey, what’s Langley doing up here?’ he said, dropping the wooden spoon and rushing to the window. In the daylight the twins weren’t afraid to draw the curtains, but when it got dark they made sure that the drapes were always fully closed. They didn’t want to risk anyone seeing lights on in the tower.

Louis stood up from the table, where he had been fiddling with a circuit board.

‘He hardly ever leaves the palace.’ Edgar frowned. ‘And why is he carrying a hammer?’

Caprice and the children climbed the spiral staircase while holding onto the rope banister.

‘This place is incredible,’ Sep said.

‘These stairs were built for midgets,’ Sloane grumbled after almost tripping on the tiny treads.

Edgar and Louis watched as Vincent Langley approached the building and disappeared around the other side.

‘Come on, let’s go and see what he’s up to.’ Edgar turned and raced towards the door. He wrenched it open and charged through to the landing, just as Caprice’s head appeared at the top of the staircase.

‘You! What are you doing here?’ the boy blustered.

Caprice’s mouth fell open and for a minute she gasped like a fish out of water.

‘I can’t believe you,’ Louis said, coming up behind his brother.

Alice-Miranda popped up next to the girl. ‘Oh, hello boys, we didn’t know you were going to be here too. I thought you were getting your hair cut.’

‘What’s she doing here?’ Louis pointed at Alice-Miranda.

‘It’s not just me,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘We all came to look at the tower.’

A few seconds later, the seven children were standing on top of the landing.

‘You can’t be trusted one little bit, Caprice,’ Edgar accused the girl. ‘You promised not to tell.’

‘Sorry,’ the girl huffed. ‘Lucas really wanted to see the tower, and it isn’t fair to keep this place all to yourselves.’

From somewhere outside, the children heard a loud banging.

‘What’s that noise?’ Sep said.

Edgar and Louis looked at each other and pushed past the children. ‘Langley!’ they shouted in unison and took off.

‘What about Mr Langley?’ Alice-Miranda wondered aloud before turning to follow them. The rest of the group stampeded downstairs behind her.

As they reached the ground floor, the hammering stopped.

The twins ran over to the window. Louis leapt onto the small stool they had positioned beneath it.

‘Can you see him?’ Edgar demanded.

Louis shook his head. ‘I’ll go and have a look outside. He tried to push the window but it wouldn’t budge. Did you close this?’ He turned and asked the group.

‘I was last through,’ Sep said, unsure if he should be apologising. ‘But I think I left it open.’

Louis pushed against the frame but it was stuck fast. ‘It won’t budge,’ he said, shoving harder.

‘What do you mean it’s stuck?’ Sloane asked with alarm.

‘It’s stuck – it won’t open,’ the boy replied sarcastically.

‘There has to be some other way out of this place,’ Millie said. She turned and looked across the hallway at the front doors.

‘There is no other way in or out. Trust us on that one,’ Edgar said. ‘All of the windows are nailed shut and now it looks like this one is too.’

‘Do you think Mr Langley locked us in?’ Lucas asked.

‘But why would he do that?’ Jacinta frowned. She didn’t like the idea of spending the night in the spooky old tower.

‘Well, it’s pretty obvious he doesn’t like either of you very much,’ Millie said to the twins. ‘But we haven’t really done anything to offend him – except for the boys sliding down the banisters.’

‘There’s something very strange going on,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘Is there a telephone up here somewhere?’

The boys shook their heads.

‘Did anyone bring a phone with them?’ Millie asked.

There was a cacophony of ‘no’s.

‘Mr Bunyan knows we’re here. If we don’t get back before dark someone will come and look for us, I’m sure of it,’ Alice-Miranda said.

‘How does he know?’ Caprice scoffed. ‘None of us told him.’

‘Actually, I did because I didn’t want him to worry about us, especially when Mr Thripp and Aunty Gee were so keen for him to accompany us,’ Alice-Miranda said.

Caprice rolled her eyes. ‘You’re such a goody-goody.’

‘You should thank her, Caprice. When it gets late, Mr Bunyan will come looking for us and we won’t be stuck here overnight,’ Sep said.

Caprice rolled her eyes. ‘Then there’s nothing to worry about,’ Jacinta said, trying to be cheerful.

‘Except that we’re trapped here with you lot for the rest of the day,’ Edgar griped.

‘I’m starving,’ Sloane declared. ‘Can we have something to eat?’

‘There’s nothing much up here,’ one of the twins said. ‘Maybe a muesli bar or two, but you’re not having those.’

‘It’s fine,’ the girl snipped, remembering the daypacks Bunyan had given them. ‘We have our own picnic.’

‘Good, you can share it with us then.’ Louis grabbed Millie’s backpack and took off upstairs.

‘Hey!’ The flame-haired girl yelled, racing after him.