The Little Investigators Part 5: The Confusing Chronicle

Jacob and Matthew were in for some exciting adventures this summer! And what would you expect? After all, they were spending their holidays at a medieval castle! This was possible because their grandfather was the castle warden. He had to spend most days taking visitors around, but when he had time, he enjoyed joining his grandsons on their wanderings.

Today, Matthew and Jacob found themselves in the library yet again. This time they were in a section full of old chronicles – heavy, dusty volumes. The librarian, Mrs Godfrey, had said they were allowed to look at them, but only after they had solemnly promised her that they would not turn anything upside down. Naturally, they broke that promise exactly two minutes and forty seconds later.

“Hey, Matthew, look at this!” called Jacob, pulling out a huge, leather-bound book with metal buckles. He opened it up. The pages were full of handwritten entries, but no matter how much they squinted, the boys found that they couldn’t read the words.

“This looks like an S... or could be a Z? What language is this in? I mean, I can work out most of the letters, but the words mean about as much to me as a modern newspaper would to a mammoth,” Jacob said in frustration.

Matthew leaned in to get a closer look. “Beats me, too. No idea! But wait, that looks like a map!”

They tried turning the map around, and after looking at it for a few moments they realized that it sketched the outline of the castle walls and the surrounding area. They worked out which side must be which, but then they noticed something strange.

“Hang on, so this means the castle wasn’t always the shape it is today?” Jacob…