The Little Investigators Part 6: The Secret Tunnel

The holidays were almost over and it was time to get ready for school again. Matthew and Jacob were soon to go back home to the city. They weren’t too happy at that prospect, since it meant leaving the castle and leaving Grandpa, too. Summer holidays with their Grandpa Henry, the castle warden, were their favourite time of the year. They loved all the mysteries and quests the castle held in store for them.

Today, the brothers were strolling pensively around the castle grounds and didn’t even feel much like talking.

Matthew mindlessly kicked a boulder at the edge of the path. To the boys’ surprise, a hollow thud echoed from beneath it.

“Did you hear that?” Jacob asked, taking a step back.

“Could someone have hidden something under this rock?” Matthew wondered, kneeling down to have a closer look. With both of them lifting and shoving they managed to push it away, revealing an old wooden trapdoor underneath. Much of it was covered with moss, and the grass had grown over its edges, but they could see a large metal hoop in one corner.

With bated breath, the boys scraped away the grass and moss to uncover the hatch. It took them quite a bit of effort, but eventually they managed to pull it open. The hatch revealed a dark opening and they could make out the first five rungs of a narrow wooden ladder leading downwards into the unknown.

“Great, just what I needed – another dark hole full of spiders,” sighed Jacob.

“Come on – there might be something amazing down there!” Matthew encouraged him, already scrambling down the wooden ladder.

“What if all we find is spiders? I suppose we’ll discover it’s a spiderweb history museum?” Jacob muttered sarcastically.…