“That’s so cool!” said Daisy.
“What’s so cool?” said Oliver.
Daisy explained to Oliver what she had seen.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” said Oliver matter-of-factly. “There is always, always a secret passageway in a castle like this.”
“Well, children,” said Patrick, “I have made a booking for us to stay the night. I think we all deserve a break in a haunted castle.”
They all laughed so much that the staff wondered what was so funny. In fact, a waiter came over and asked them why they were laughing.
“It’s just the fact that this castle’s haunted,” said Patrick.
“Oh, you like it, then?” said the waiter, and he grabbed a white tablecloth, put it over his head and went “Whoo! Whoo!”
“How haunted is this place?” asked Penelope.
She thought she could use the story for the magazine she wrote for: Paranormal Investigations.
“Well,” said the waiter, whose name was Jack Rose, “it’s supposed to be haunted by a cook named Annie Shoreditch, a knight named Henry Bodenham, and a young girl named Ella Louise Levens. Some people say they have seen them all.”
“Goodness me!” exclaimed Penelope.
Daisy just looked at Oliver. They realised they had seen all three of the ghosts within minutes of being in the castle. They found it very exciting.
Jack Rose took them all upstairs to their rooms. When he opened the door of Patrick and Ponelope’s room, they were astounded. The floor was transparent, so they could see the people below in the lounge.
“Don’t worry,” said Jack Rose, “it’s only transparent one way; they can’t see you.”
“Where is the bed?” said Patrick.
“It is tucked away in the wall.”
“It’s very modern for a castle,” said Penelope.
Then Jack Rose flicked a switch, and suddenly the old-looking floorboards of the castle reappeared and the bed lowered down from out of the wall.
“Actually,” said Jack Rose, “the transparent floor is just an optical illusion - a hologram. The owner of the castle designs holographic images and optical illusions.”
The owners of Cough Castle were Lord and Lady Smedley-Barrington.
Then Jack Rose flicked yet another switch, and on the back wall of the room there was suddenly a scene of a battle going on, with knights on horses and soldiers in battledress. It looked so real. Jack Rose flicked another switch and the screen showed the moat around the castle, where a celebration was taking place. It looked like a medieval party. The drawbridge was down and the celebration party was taking place on the bridge itself. The scene reminded Patrick of King Arthur and the knights of Camelot. One of the ladies looked like Queen Guinevere.
Jack Rose flicked another switch and the hotel room was back to normal - as normal as it ever would be. Patrick and Penelope thought it was fantastic.
Then Jack Rose showed them all Daisy and Oliver’s room, which contained a little alcove with a bunk bed in it. There were tartan blankets on the beds. Jack Rose flicked a switch and the bunk bed moved. It went up, up to the ceiling, but it could also move sideways or it could move as if it was on a merry-go-round. The room was almost circular. In the middle of the floor was a transparent area, and, on the far side of the alcove where the bunk bed was, a doorway led to a balcony.
Jack Rose flicked another switch, and in the middle of the floor a huge eye appeared. From the pupil of the eye a huge tube-shaped object popped up, and other tubes appeared from the centre of the first tube. These tubes grew longer and longer until they joined to the bunk bed.
“What on earth are those tubes?” asked Patrick.
“It’s a chute,” said Jack Rose. “It leads to a bouncy castle, where you can have good fun bouncing around.”
“You should try it, Dr Laugherty,” said Jack Rose.
“Do we get a chute ride in our room?” asked Penelope.
“Only the rooms with bunk beds have the chute rides, but you can book for the chute-ride game.”
“OK, then. Penelope and I will both be entered for that, please, because that sounds like fun,” said Patrick.
All of the Laugherty family were very happy about this enchanted castle in deepest Dorset. Lord James Smedley-Barrington and Lady Eve Smedley-Barrington had certainly transformed the castle with all the latest gizmos and gadgets.
Jack Rose took the family into the dining room of Cough Castle, and they sat at the longest castle dining table you ever did see. It was crowded with guests.
When they finally went to bed, they all wondered what on earth the chute-ride game was all about and if the bouncy castle was like other bouncy castles they had seen and been bouncing on. They would soon find out how different it was! They all thought Cough Castle was such fun, and they wished they could stay for longer. They had forgotten about the three ghosts of the castle, but they were destined to bump into them again on the chute-ride game.
As Patrick and Penelope lay in bed, suddenly outside the castle window they heard an owl hooting. Although it was midnight, they didn’t feel sleepy; they felt wide awake.
The Stonehenge Midnight Dance
When the Laugherty family had left the shop in Weymouth, Mabble Merlin took out his crystal ball and placed it on the counter. Suddenly it clouded over and became a misty-green colour. As the scene became clearer, Mabble Merlin realised he was looking at a place in Glastonbury.
Mabble Merlin loved Glastonbury. He loved the areas close by - the little towns of Frome and Shepton Mallet - and other interesting places further afield, such as Bridgwater.
The scene changed, and Mabble Merlin could see the inside of a pub. A man with thick sandy-coloured hair was standing in front of a log fire, and Mabble Merlin knew the man was thinking of buying a mirror to put above the fireplace. The man was named Seamus O’Reilly, and he was the owner of Seamus O’Reilly’s Irish Bar in Glastonbury. He’d lived in Glastonbury for eight months, and he had inherited £100,000 from his grandfather, who had owned a farm in Limerick in Southern Ireland. Seamus had always wanted to live in Glastonbury, and so he’d bought the pub and spent several months renovating it to his taste. Seamus was hoping to purchase an antique mirror engraved with a Celtic design. He doubted whether he would find such a mirror, but he didn’t know that Mabble Merlin was watching him through his crystal ball.
As Seamus strolled down Glastonbury High Street, Mabble Merlin’s shop suddenly appeared next to a shop named Earth Spirit. On the site there had been an empty shop covered in scaffolding, but, as if by magic, the scaffolding had disappeared and Mabble Merlin’s Musty Old Magical Curiosity Shop was in its place.
Seamus walked along. With his sandy hair, green eyes and unusual dress sense, he looked an interesting character. He wore a black hat, a paisley waistcoat and scarf and stripy trousers. As soon as he came to the Musty Old Magical Curiosity Shop he stopped in his tracks. He felt sure he hadn’t seen the shop before, and he was intrigued, so he immediately went into the shop.
Mabble Merlin was dressed in a very similar style. He wore a tall hat with a paisley waistcoat, a lime-green scarf and striped black-and-green trousers. The lime-green scarf had four-leaf clovers printed on it.
Seamus spoke first: “Good day to you, sir,” he said in a broad Irish accent.
“How are you today?” asked Mabble Merlin.
“I’m very well. I am looking for a mirror - something a bit special in a Celtic design.”
“Is this what you had in mind?” asked Mabble Merlin.
He walked quickly over to a corner of the room and there, hanging on the wall, was a beautiful mirror in a frame with a Celtic pattern.
“That is exactly what I had in mind!” exclaimed Seamus.
Mabble Merlin wrapped it up in brown paper and Seamus carried it proudl
y back to the pub, where he hung it above the fireplace.
Seamus had a black Labrador named Guinness.
“Come and see this, Guinny,” shouted Seamus. “Don’t you think this is the real McCoy?”
The dog barked at the mirror, and that was strange as the dog hardly ever barked. It was normally such a soft, placid dog.
“Do you think it’s haunted, Guinny, hey, boy?” Seamus asked the dog.
Then the dog suddenly fell fast asleep in front of the log fire.
As usual, that night Seamus had some local Irish musicians in the pub. Sometimes Seamus played along with the musicians, as he liked to play the bodhrán, but he decided not to play that night. His mind was on the mirror. At times he thought he could hear music coming from the mirror, and he began to think it was very strange the way he had found the very mirror he had been thinking about. And, of course, Mabble Merlin was a very strange shopkeeper. Seamus couldn’t wait for the last customer to go, but at last he locked up and quickly went back to the lounge.
He looked into the mirror and he felt mesmerised. It looked as if the mirror was made of liquid silver. He bent over and prodded the mirror with his finger. The glass seems to be quivering, and suddenly, without warning, Seamus was sucked into the mirror. There was a popping sound, like a champagne cork being pulled out of a bottle, and then Seamus was falling downwards.
He stopped falling, and, as if by pure magic, he found himself at Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain.
He looked around him at the green rolling hills of the English countryside in the distance, and directly in front of him were the huge Stonehenge standing stones. He’d always wanted to go to Stonehenge, and it felt like a dream come true. In fact, he thought it was a dream. Coming from Limerick in Ireland, he had learnt to expect the unexpected, and so he was open to the strange and unusual.
Up until now he hadn’t had the time to go to Stonehenge; he’d been working so hard renovating the pub. But now here he was, so he made up his mind to enjoy the moment.
“It must be a magical mirror,” he said out loud. “No matter! No worries!”
He put his hand on one of the huge stones, and the stone lit up with a bright lilac glow. Another stone turned bright orange when he touched it, and another turned a bright yellow. He felt a tingle of energy up his spine.
He said out loud, “I’ve got the power.”
Suddenly a voice boomed out, “Welcome to the Stonehenge Midnight Dance.”
Then in the middle of Stonehenge a group of little people popped up from out of the ground and they began to play their musical instruments.
Seamus thought they looked like leprechauns - the little people of Limerick. One of them played the fiddle, one played the Irish flute, one had a banjo and one played the bodhrán. Then the craziest thing of all happened. Seamus suddenly felt as if he could dance. He’d always wanted to be able to dance really well, and suddenly he could. He danced to Irish jig music, weaving in and out of the standing stones. He weaved this way, then that way, in and out, faster and faster and faster and faster until he became a blur and he thought he might meet himself coming back. He was thrilled and enchanted by the power of the dance, with the Irish music playing loudly in his ears and the standing stones flashing different colours.
Suddenly he began to slow down, and then the music changed. He danced into the centre of the standing stones, jumping up into the air, kicking his legs and doing somersaults and cartwheels. He didn’t want to stop, but eventually the music slowed down and came to a complete stop. As if he was a famous dancer on a stage, he took a bow.
Now, for the first time, he noticed he was wearing green velvet trousers and a green velvet jacket and a lime-green scarf patterned with four-leaf clovers. He was also wearing a green velvet trilby, and green shoes decorated with gold four-leaf clovers and a huge gold buckle.
The musicians were only two feet tall - or maybe three feet at the most. They ran over to shake hands and to hug and kiss him as if he was the star of the show. They were just like the little people of Limerick; he’d always been told about them making dreams come true.
They did look a bit peculiar. One had a flat, round face with great big eyes, huge eyelashes and hair stuck up on end. This strange-looking creature was female, and she played the tambourine and the maraccas. Another one had a face like a crumpled prune, with huge purple eyes and lilac hair. This one was male, and he played the violin. Another one looked like a cute hedgehog, with little eyes like pieces of coal, a hedgehog nose and sky-blue hair stuck out in all directions, like a loo brush. She played the bodhrán. Another of the musicians had the look of a typical leprechaun. He had big bulging eyes, a pot belly and black straw-like hair. He played the banjo. Another had a face like a squashed tomato. She had pink hair, and she wore ruby-red lipstick. She played the Irish fiddle. They were stranger than any people Seamus had ever heard of, that’s for sure.
They all said, “Thank you, Seamus,” and then he suddenly felt himself falling.
When he stopped falling, he was back in his pub in Glastonbury, standing in front of the antique mirror. His Labrador was still asleep.
He looked at the clock - it was 1 a.m. - and he remembered that it was midnight when he first looked in the mirror.
He just thought, ‘Wow! That was a very strange experience.’
He decided to go upstairs to bed, because he felt so sleepy after all that dancing. He knew he would never ever forget his magical experience of the Stonehenge Midnight Dance.
As he climbed the stairs to bed, he was humming the tune of the Irish jig music, and he looked forward to playing the same Irish jig music with the local Irish musicians when they came back to the pub.
In the Closet
When the Laugherty family arrived home from Dorset, they told Miles about Cough Castle. They told him about the chute and that they had played a game in the middle of the night where the castle was under siege. They had ridden in little bunk beds through secret passageways and underground caverns until they had come to a bouncy castle. By means of antigravity they had floated above the floor in a large room where everything was made out of a soft foam material that looked exactly like wood. Castle guests seemed to be dancing in the centre of the floor, but they were only holographic images and it was possible to float right through them.
Miles listened intently.
“That sounds so exciting,” he said when they finished, “but it doesn’t sound like you got any sleep.”
“And the castle is haunted by three ghosts,” piped up Oliver.
“And - don’t tell me,” said Miles: “you saw them all.”
“We all saw the knight and the cook, but only I saw the young girl, Ella, carrying her rag doll!” Daisy exclaimed excitedly.
“Well, it was very different from a camping holiday in Wales,” said Patrick. “I rather enjoyed the chute game. It was a bit like Disneyland inside a real castle.”
“The upstairs rooms had glass floors, with little bunk beds in alcoves, and the beds could move about at the flick of a switch,” said Oliver.
“It sounds more like Fantasy Land than Disneyland,” said Miles, handing round cups of tea.
They talked for thirty minutes without pausing for breath, before they finally all sat down on the sofa in the living room and had a cup of tea and biscuits. Miles was glad to have the family back.
After a while Miles went into the kitchen to make more tea. He noticed that Milly was still not showing the correct time. He took the tea on a silver tray into the living room, where the tired family were sitting. Then Patrick unwrapped the French kitchen clock, Claudette de Seconds, and Penelope unwrapped her Egyptian jewellery.
Patrick asked Miles to take Milly off the wall and put the new clock in her place.
Miles immediately went into the kitchen and put Milly on the shelf in the closet in the hall.
When he put Claudette de Seconds on the wall, the kitchen immediately felt very regal, like a French court. Everyone had to sit up straight and had to speak properly - or it felt a bit like they had to.
Poor Milly sat on the dusty shelf in the closet. She couldn’t help it, but she started to sob.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!” she kept saying.
Then suddenly she nearly jumped off the shelf with shock when she heard a voice pipe up: “Oh, heavens! What is the matter with you?”
The voice was coming from something wrapped up in gift paper sitting on the shelf below her.
“I’m London Melody. I’m a new picture clock. I was purchased recently, but I am sure my new owners have forgotten about me.”
“Oh, hello, London Melody. I’m pleased to meet you. I know it’s so silly, but I’m very sentimental and someone new has arrived: Claudette de Seconds has taken my place.”
Milly started to cry again, and in a moment she was sobbing her heart out, unable to speak.
“Come on, Milly - don’t be so silly,” whispered London Melody. “There must be something we can do to help you.”
“Well, Mog Og would help if he knew I was in here, but the door is closed and he can’t hear me. I expect he is sleeping as usual.”
“Oh dear!” exclaimed London Melody in her posh London accent. “He doesn’t sound much help, does he? Do you know anyone with special powers?” asked London Melody.
“Well, there is one clock, Polly Quazar, who is telepathic. She may be able to get a message to Mog Og.”
“Well, then,” said London Melody, “let’s get a telepathic message to Polly Quazar. As a matter of fact, I want to get out of this dusty cupboard too. I ought to be put on a wall, where I can be admired by the family. I’m supposed to be a birthday present. I’ve been getting rather fed up in this cupboard with no one to talk to.”
The Musty Old Magical Curiosity Shop Page 7