We checked all over for entry points, loose stones, anything that might reveal a way in. But the wall was solid. The minutes ticked by, and nothing moved except our hands and our torches.

‘Bryce, maybe it’s just graffiti. Maybe it’s nothing,’ Becky whispered.

‘No, it’s got to be here. There’s got to be something,’ said Bryce.

‘Why?’ I asked.

We’d been in the tunnel for twenty minutes. I was worrying about Luci.

‘Hey, everyone! It’s here!’

On the other side of the tunnel, Bubba was on his hands and knees, pushing a big square stone into the wall.

‘Careful, Bubba!’ Bryce warned. ‘That could be the entrance to the Hoods.’

The stone to the left could also be pushed in, creating a hole similar in size to the wooden panel entrance at the Sandhurst library.

‘Okay, this is it. Let’s go,’ Bryce said.

Bubba crawled through first, followed by Becky, then Bryce and me. We stood on a raised landing. A short flight of stairs led down to the right. From this side we could see the two hunks of stone had handles. Maybe the stones could be pulled out if you were entering the tunnel from this direction.

We left the stones as they were and slowly descended the stairs.

I knew straight away that something was wrong. The damp smell was stronger, and yet there was another smell, too. We passed two openings to smaller tunnels in the first fifteen metres. It was spooky. After about ten metres of walking we stopped.

‘Bryce, we’re heading back. Now!’ Becky hissed.

And then came the sound of voices.

‘Bryce!’ Becky was frantic now.

The sound of a door crashing open and banging against stone thundered through the tunnel. Becky let out a scream and pushed past Bubba.

‘Torches off, quick! Grab hands and follow me!’ whispered Bryce.

We stumbled forward and then turned into a side tunnel on our left. We pressed ourselves up against a wall in the darkness and waited, afraid the sounds of our breathing would give us away.

‘Get out here, quick!’ an ugly voice called from further down the tunnel.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the tunnel.

‘Someone’s got in,’ came the cry. I knew that voice.

‘Totem, go seal Ascot end. Snake, take Leech and seal up Sandhurst.’ The footsteps and curses receded.

We were trapped. We had found the Hoods, and they had found us. There was only one thing in our favour: Bryce. And he did the most stupid and most brilliant thing you could possibly imagine.

He boldly took us deeper into the Hoods’ lair. We went back into the main tunnel and discovered the door that had been flung open. On the other side was a chamber-like room. Inside were chairs and a table, an old couch and cupboards. A bare light bulb hung over the middle of the room, suspended from a tattered cord. It was gloomy and horrible. And then I saw it. Over on a small table to one side stood the football trophy. I went to grab it.

‘No,’ Bryce said quietly. ‘Leave it for now. C’mon.’

I stared at him, speechless.

‘Mitchell, c’mon!’ he called.

The others had raced over to a set of ascending stairs in the corner of the room. I could hear footsteps approaching.

‘Is anyone there?’ a voice called from beyond the open door. Bryce, Bubba and Becky had reached the first landing, where they hid in the darkness. I hurtled over to the stairs. The walking footsteps quickened to a steady jog.

I bounded up the stairs two at a time, but on the last step I missed my footing. I reached out. For a moment I felt myself falling backwards with nothing to grab onto.

Then someone grabbed my hand. I clung to it with all my might and heaved myself upright. Becky had caught me.

We stood, frozen, as the kid who’d been calling out entered the room. There were scuffling noises and the scrape of a chair.

Then the light went out.

I felt a tug and we were moving again, up the stairs. Silently, we tiptoed up another flight of stairs to a bigger landing. From here, light started to filter through, breaking up the blackness. We made the final flight of stairs and pushed open a door at the top. We stumbled into a room full of mops and buckets, reeking of disinfectant. Pushing open another door, we burst into a corridor.

It was the school on Wetherhood Street. We ran to the end of the corridor and across the ovals, then scrambled over a low fence.

I never thought I’d be so relieved to be on a pavement, with houses and a road. I don’t think any of us looked back. I certainly didn’t.

We thought we would give Luci the fright of her life when we walked through the library’s main entrance. But, as she told us later, she got an even bigger fright when she heard strange voices coming from behind the panels in the library. Fortunately, she didn’t respond. Had she done so, she would have found herself talking to a couple of Hoods.

I tossed and turned in bed for hours that night. When I fell asleep, I dreamt that I had fallen down a flight of stairs into a circle of Hoods. They were holding basketballs and chanting spooky words. The circle got tighter as they closed in. Then they started tossing basketballs at me. I woke up sweating and gasping for breath.