The holidays were in full swing. Jacob and Matthew were enjoying their long, warm days playing in the grounds of the medieval castle, where their Grandpa Henry lived because he was the castle warden.
Every morning, Grandpa went off to show visitors around the castle, while the boys played games, chased each other around the gardens or wandered around the castle’s corridors and staircases, exploring its nooks and crannies.
Today, the two brothers had gone to sit in the old castle library, which was full of old books. They had set themselves a contest to see who could find the oldest and dustiest book, and were carefully leafing through the volumes they had picked out. Suddenly, something fell out from in between the delicate pages of Jacob’s book. Matthew bent down to pick it up and saw that it was a strangely folded sheet of parchment. He began to unfold it.
“It looks like a map!” he exclaimed, and just then a little stone dropped out of the folded package. Jacob picked it up and examined it curiously, then looked at the map.
“Hmm... it looks like whoever drew it, their hands were shaking pretty badly…” He moved closer to see the details.
“It’s definitely an old map! And look at this symbol!” Matthew pointed excitedly at a tiny dragon emblem drawn in the top right hand corner of the map. “Do you remember how Mrs Godfrey used to tell us that old story about a dragon that guarded treasure in a cave in the forest? Look here – there’s a path to it!” Sure enough, the map showed a crooked path through the forest.
Just then Grandpa Henry came into the library, smiling as always.
“Grandpa, you’re bound to know about this.…
