The Little Investigators Part 3: The Stone Seal

Matthew and Jacob’s holiday days were long and full of adventures. The brothers were spending the summer at the medieval castle where their Grandpa Henry lived and worked as the castle’s warden. Although they had already spent a lot of time exploring the castle, there was always more to discover. Grandpa Henry was often busy taking visitors on guided tours of the castle and its grounds, but whenever he had a free moment, he was always happy to join the boys.

Today, Jacob and Matthew had been wandering around one of the oldest parts of the castle. They were now standing in one of the cellars underneath the Great Hall. Judging by all the dust and cobwebs, no one had been down there for a long time. It was only used to store old pieces of furniture that weren’t needed any more.

Matthew and Jacob walked around the cellar, looking at a set of carved chairs and an old stone table. The light was rather dim, but Matthew leaned in to get a closer look at the table and he noticed something unusual on its surface – there was something round carved into it. It looked like a seal.

“Jacob, look at this!” Matthew exclaimed, pointing to the engraved shape. “Doesn’t this look like the symbol we saw on some of those old manuscripts in the library?”

Jacob walked over to join his brother.

“You mean the seal of that family that once owned the castle?”

“Yes! It must be the family seal of the Fitzhoward family - the protectors of the castle. Do you remember? Grandpa told us that their job was to protect the castle and its secrets from anyone who wanted to misuse their power,” Matthew replied. He rubbed his fingers…