18

up to the castle!

jack went stealthily out of the camp. all was quiet. there was no lamp or candle alight in any ofthe vans. the circus folk were tired out with setting up camp again, and had gone to bed early, inreadiness for their grand opening the next day.

it was a starry night, with no moon, so there was not much light. it was not pitch dark, however,and jack did not need to use his torch, once his eyes had got used to the darkness. the stars gave afaint light, just enough for him to avoid falling over anything.

he went up to the slope of the hill where the camp was placed. he came to a low castle wall. heshone his torch here and there, and found a place he thought he could climb, where the stoneswere rough and uneven.

his rubber shoes helped him a good deal. he wished he had rubber gloves on his hands, too, sothat his fingers would not slip on the stones as he tried to grasp them!

he was over at last. he looked round cautiously, not daring to put on his torch. he seemed to bein a small courtyard. he strained his eyes. he could make out the great bulk of the castle easily. itrose up high, towering about him, solid and strong. he despaired of ever getting inside – or evenof getting in touch with philip and the others!

he crept quietly over the courtyard, stumbling now and again over an uneven stone. hesuddenly walked into something that scared him tremendously, and made kiki give a frightenedsquawk.

something wrapped itself round his head! what was it? in a panic jack tore at it, and ranforward. but something flapped at him again, and covered his whole face. desperately jackswitched his torch on and off for a moment, to see what was attacking him.

when he saw what it was, he gave a laugh of relief, and felt very silly. he had walked into aline of washing! a sheet had ‘attacked’ him, that was all – and the thing that had wrapped itselfround his head was a jersey.

a jersey! jack stopped. a jersey – such things were not worn in tauri-hessia. he stepped backand flashed his torch on again. yes – it was either lucy-ann’s or dinah’s. there was no doubt ofit. so they definitely were there. good, good, good! they were quite near him, somewhere. ifonly, only he could get to them.

he stood and considered. if the children were held in secret, then it was strange that theirclothes should be washed and hung out on a line. people would see them and be surprised. perhapsthis courtyard was an enclosed space – a secret yard where nobody came, except possibly madametatiosa. would she wash the clothes though? she might, if she didn’t want anyone to know aboutthe children.

perhaps hela’s mother was in the secret too? perhaps she washed for the children, cooked theirmeals and so on? somebody would have to do that.

there must be a way into the castle from this little yard – possibly a back way into the kitchenor wash-houses. jack went towards the great walls of the castle and flashed his torch up and down.

he would have to risk being seen by someone! he would never find out anything if he didn’t usehis torch now and again.

there was a small wash house there, as he had expected. he tried the door. it was locked. heshone his torch in at the window and saw coppers and pails and washing baskets. yes, that waswhere the washing was done. what a pity the washerwoman had remembered to lock the door!

jack looked at the little washhouse. it was built out from the castle wall. he flashed his torch tothe roof of the wash house – and then higher up. he saw something that made his heart jump inexcitement!

there was a window not far above the wash house roof – and as far as jack could see it had noglass in it at all! it was a very old, narrow window and might never have had any glass, hethought.

‘now, let me think carefully!’ he said to himself. ‘if i could get up on the wash house roof –and then up to that window – i’d be inside the castle at once, and could look for the others. buthow can i get up to the roof? i really don’t think i can climb it, though it isn’t very high.’

he couldn’t. it was just too high for him to jump and catch hold of the guttering to pull himselfup. there was no pipe he could climb up, either. nothing at all.

‘a ladder,’ thought jack, desperately. ‘if only i could find a ladder.’

he began to hunt round, feeling rather hopeless. kiki sat still on his shoulder, puzzled. sheknew she must not make a sound, but she longed to, especially when a bat came swooping nearher.

jack went carefully round the yard. it wasn’t very big. he came to a small shed. it was notlocked, only latched. he opened the door carefully, horrified at the squeak it made, and flashed historch inside.

wonder of wonders! there was a ladder there! jack could hardly believe his eyes. he went overto it. it was very old, and some of its rungs were missing – but it might do. it just might do!

anyway, he would try it.

he pulled it out of the shed, upsetting a can of some sort as he did so. the noise echoed roundthe yard, sounding extraordinarily loud. jack halted, holding his breath. he quite expected to seelights flashing up in every window.

but none came. everything was still and dark. he heaved a sigh of relief. perhaps nobody hadheard the noise after all – or perhaps nobody slept on that side of the castle.

he carried the ladder over to the wash house. it was not very heavy, because it wasn’t verylong. still, it would be long enough, he was sure.

he set it up against the wash house. it reached almost to the roof. he flashed his torch at therungs to make sure which were missing. then he put his torch into his pocket, and with kiki flyinground his head in excitement, he began to climb.

it certainly was a very old ladder! one of the rungs he trod on almost gave way. he hurriedlymissed it and put his foot up to the next. he was very thankful when at last he was at the top.

now to pull himself on to the roof. he managed to get there with a scraped knee and satpanting. now for the next step – to get to the window above, in the castle wall itself.

the roof of the wash house was flattish, and jack was able to make his way on all fours. hecame to the wall. he stood up cautiously, feeling it with his hands, and then used his torch again.

‘blow! the window’s just too high for me to pull myself up,’ thought jack, in deepdisappointment. ‘i can reach the sill with my hands – but can’t get enough hold to pull up mybody.’

he wondered if he could use the old ladder again. he crawled back to it. he put his hand downand felt the top-most rung. then he pulled hard. the ladder seemed a great deal heavier to pull upthan it had been when he only carried it level. he tugged and tugged.

it was difficult to get it over the edge of the roof, but he managed it at last. he had to sit andhold the ladder by him for a while, because it had taken all his strength. he felt very pleased. nowhe could put the ladder up to the window, and getting in would be child’s play!

he managed to get the ladder to the castle wall, though it was a very dangerous business, andtwice he nearly rolled off. but at last he was by the wall, and raised the ladder carefully. it wasdifficult to find a safe place to put it.

at last he thought he had got it as safe as he could manage. now to go up. he hoped that theladder wouldn’t suddenly slip as he was climbing it. that wouldn’t be at all a pleasant thing tohappen!

he climbed up as quickly as he could, his heart thumping. would the ladder hold? he got rightto the top, and was just clambering on to the window sill when the ladder slipped beneath him.

it slid sideways, fell on to the roof with an appalling noise and then crashed down into thecourtyard. now there would be people waking up and coming to see what the noise was!

jack pulled himself right through the window. as he had thought, it had no glass, and probablynever had had. he jumped quietly down inside the window and crouched there, waiting.

he waited for three or four minutes, with kiki nibbling his right ear, not making a sound. thenhe stood up and stretched himself. he peered out of the window.

no – nobody was about. he could see no lantern or torch flashing, could hear no voices. thisside of the castle must be uninhabited then, or surely someone would have heard such atremendous noise!

dare he flash his torch to see where he was? he waited another minute and then, hearing nosound, flicked his torch on quickly and off again. but he had seen enough in that second.

he was in a small room, piled with chairs and benches set neatly on top of one another –nothing else was there at all.

‘just a storeroom for extra furniture,’ thought jack. ‘come along, kiki – we must rememberwe’ve got to find some other way of getting out of the castle – we can’t get out the way we camein! that ladder is certainly out of our reach!’

he went to the door and looked out into what seemed a corridor. not a sound was to be heard. itwas pitch dark here, so he flashed his torch on again. yes – a long stone passage without even acarpet runner on it. no pictures about. no chairs. this certainly must be a part of the castle wherenobody slept.

he went down the long corridor, his rubber shoes making no sound. he came to the end, wherethere was a window – a round one, with glass in it. he turned the corner and saw another longcorridor, high-ceilinged, a little wider than the other, but still very bare.

halfway down the corridor changed from bareness to comfort. a beautiful carpet ran down it,almost touching the walls each side. a big settee, covered in a golden damask, stood at one side.

great pictures hung on the walls.

‘this is where i’ve got to be careful’, thought jack. ‘there’s even a lamp alight on that roundtable over there – a dim one, it’s true – but still, enough for anyone to see me by!’

he went on. he passed an open door and looked cautiously inside. the light from another lampjust outside showed him what looked like a grand drawing-room. tapestries hung all round thewalls. mirrors hung there too. a great carved table stood in the middle, its polished surfacegleaming softly in the light of jack’s torch.

he went out into the passage again, and considered what to do. first – in which direction wasthe tower that hela had said the children were in? he must go in that direction if he could puzzle itout. he would have to find stairs too and climb them.

he decided to go on down the corridor. he must come to stairs soon, leading up into a tower!

he came to another door, wide open. he peeped inside. how grand this castle was! whatmagnificent furnishings it had!

the room must be a library. it had books from floor to ceiling. goodness – had anyone everread even a hundredth of them? surely not!

a noise made jack flick out his torch and stand absolutely still. it was a noise in the room hewas standing in – the library. it came from behind him – a whirring, groaning noise. kiki gave asmall squawk. she was as startled as jack. whatever was it?