Rylee looked out one of the massive windows overlooking a never-ending park. “Hey, there’s Liam. I was hoping he’d come over.”
“How did he know we were here?” asked Leah.
“I texted him, didn’t I. We need to get down to him.”
“Can we go to see the Doll House now, Mom? We’re getting tired of all this old stuff.”
“Sure, luv. You may have to wait in line to get in. I’d like to stay and look around some more. We can meet in the car park later.” Mrs. Anderson went back to studying a large portrait.
Liam squirted clear gel out of a tube into his hand. He rubbed his hands together and ran them through his dark hair spiking it at the front. His face lit up when he saw the three girls come out of the castle.
“Who you trying to impress?” said Rylee as she gave him a kiss.
“Hey, a guy’s gotta look good when he’s meeting three birds.” Liam winked at Leah and Amanda. Leah’s face went as red as the velvet curtains. “What’s up with Uncle Charlie anyway?”
“We told mom we would be at the doll house so we better go there.” Leah took them down a path with a sign pointing to Queen Mary’s Doll House. On the way they filled Liam in.
“That all sounds dodgy, don’t it?” Liam scratched his head. “I think the lady you mentioned was in the bookshop. She was looking at real old books and kept looking around as if she’d lost something. I didn’t think much about it at the time. Lots of odd ducks come into the store.”
There was a line up at the doll house but soon they were inside the building that housed it. They were allowed to walk all around the small house protected behind a rail.
“Take your time,” instructed the guide. “You don’t want to miss anything.”
Amanda squealed with delight. Before her stood a replica of Windsor Castle, in miniature, completely furnished. The entrance with the marble staircase, the dining room with the long table set for dinner with tiny dishes, the paintings hanging on the walls and the sparkling chandeliers where all there. A library with mini books on the shelves, the nursery with toys scattered about and even a puppet theatre, caught her attention.
“Look here,” Liam shouted. “There is even a garage with six fancy cars, a bicycle and a motorcycle too. They’re all in perfect scale too. Blimey, I bet they even run.”
“There is so much to look at,” said Leah. “Look at the little paint box and book of nursery songs, the teeny mirror and hair brush set. It’s so adorable.”
“This would have been so much fun to play with. Do you think the princesses were allowed to play with it?” asked Amanda.
Rylee looked at the miniature garden with three inch trees and small shrubs. “Here’s a baby pram and look, birds in the trees and - even a cat.”
“Oh, I do hope Rupert is all right in the car,” said Leah.
Mesmerized by the scene before her, Amanda felt like she had entered the land of Lilliputians from Gulliver’s Travels. She wanted to disappear into the miniature building or become a princess who could spend hours playing with it.
“Amanda, Amanda,” Leah tugged at her sleeve. “We should go now.”
The sun shone fiercely when they emerged from viewing the doll house. Amanda rubbed her eyes. “This is bright, isn’t it?” She rubbed her eyes again. “Is that her?”
“Is that who?” asked Liam and Leah at the same time.
“I swear I just saw that weird lady go into the castle.”
“Well, I don’t know what you saw, but I saw those two blokes who were at the hospital, sneaking behind a statue in the garden,” said Rylee.
“And there’s Rupert. Now, how did he get out of the car?” Leah ran into the garden after him.
Chapter 16
Amanda couldn’t decide whether to follow Leah or go back into the castle and find the mysterious lady. Liam and Rylee appeared nervous as they surveyed the garden.
“Let’s get outta here.” Liam took hold of Rylee’s hand and pulled her away from the garden.
From out of nowhere, a tall, bald man wearing a dark suit and sunglasses blocked their way. “You’re not going anywhere, son. Not until you tell us where the missing book from Osborne House is.”
“We don’t know nothing about no missing book.” Liam tried pushing the man aside. “Just let us pass.”
“We know you work in the old guy’s bookstore. He was supposed to deliver some books to us, including the missing one. He didn’t deliver them to our contact.” The man glowered at Liam. “We want the book – now!”
Rupert darted out from behind a stone statue, almost knocking the tall man over. The second man, with a terrified Leah held tightly in his grip, followed. “Look what I found in the garden. Perhaps she’ll tell us what we need to know.”
“Leave her be. She doesn’t know nothin’,” said Liam.
“I don’t believe she does.” The tall man motioned to the other man to release Leah and looked back at Liam, “But you do, don’t you?”
Liam gave a huge shove and got past the man. He dashed down the path. Both men chased after him and soon overtook him. With two guys bigger than him on each side, Liam’s legs barely touched the ground as they whisked him away.
“OMG! Where are they taking Liam?” Amanda couldn’t believe her eyes.
“And, where’s Rupert?” asked a shaken Leah as she rubbed her wrist.
“I saw him run in there.” Rylee pointed to the castle entrance.
Amanda and Leah dashed toward the castle.
Rylee looked down the path Liam had just been on, shook her head, then followed the girls into the fortress.
The three girls entered a large room; all in green.
“These are like theme rooms,” said Amanda.
“There he is. Rupert is under that big, green chair,” shouted Leah.
“All the chairs are green,” said Amanda as she looked under the nearest one. No Rupert. “Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?” Amanda started to repeat the old nursery rhyme.
“He’s been to Windsor to visit the Queen.” Rylee joined in.
“This isn’t funny.” Leah picked up Rupert and held him tightly. “Those men are - scary.”
“What do you think they will do to Liam? Torture him?” asked Rylee.
“Don’t be silly. This isn’t exactly the middle ages. They don’t use the rack anymore. Honestly.”
Amanda decided the encounter with the guy in the garden had put Leah in a very bad mood.
A security guard entered the room. “I am sorry. We cannot allow pets in the castle.”
“The Queen has her Corgi dogs, doesn’t she?” commented Leah.
“Well, yes she does, and she loves them well enough. But, there is a special place in the castle just for them. They even have sterling silver bowls for food and water, and plush beds.” The guard chuckled. “But, we cannot have pets in the state rooms.”
“That’s all right, we were just leaving.” Leah started toward the door.
A tourist stopped to ask the security guard a question just as the older lady from the Tower of London appeared. She looked harassed.
“I need to speak to you girls.” Her eyes were hard and mean. “You are keeping something from me and I want it.”
Rupert, his claws out, started to hiss. Leah couldn’t hold on to him. He jumped out of her arms and lunged at the lady.
“Get that cat away from me,” she screamed. She turned and headed for the front door just as the two men entered the building. In desperation, she backed up and darted down a hallway. Amanda, Rylee and Leah followed her. They turned into another room. The heel of Rylee’s boot caught on the edge of the carpet. She fell down, pulling the carpet up.
“What’s this?” Amanda noticed a door on the floor with a large, flat, round handle. She pulled the handle up and gave it a tug. The cellar door opened to reveal a set of dark, stone stairs. “Quick, they won’t find us if we go down here.”
All four plus Rupert scuttled down the stairs. Amanda pulled
the door shut behind her, after making sure the carpet covered it. They heard loud, heavy footsteps thunder overhead. They held their breath until the footsteps faded away.
“This must be a secret passageway!” exclaimed Amanda. “We should be safe here.”
“We can’t stay here forever. Mom will start looking for us and be worried. Why does this always happen to us?” Leah looked over at the older woman shivering in a corner. “And what about her?”
The woman looked wild-eyed. “I don’t mean to hurt you. I just need to find that book those men want. The old man, Charlie, promised it to me. If I don’t get it to them, I don’t know what they will do to me. Or you.” She shivered again. “I’m allergic to cats and they don’t seem to like me for some reason. Especially that one, he hates me.” She glanced at Rupert glaring at her, the tufts on the ends of his ears sticking up like antennas.
“What do you know about the missing book?” Amanda demanded.
“Not now, Amanda. We need to get out of here.”
“I read a book about these secret passages once. You see, they were built so the army could escape from the castle when it was under attack. Then, they could sneak up on the enemy and attack ’em from behind. They were ever so clever those old blokes.”
“You read a book about the medieval wars?” Leah looked surprised.
“’Course I did.” Rylee glared at Leah. “I’m not a thick prat like you all think. I didn’t go to a fancy grammar school like you, but I went to school and learned history and all that.”
Leah looked away. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…”
“Forget it.” Rylee turned to Amanda. “What now?”
“Let’s follow the passageway and see where it leads.” Amanda led the way.
“Maybe we can find where they took Liam,” said Rylee.
“Perhaps it will take us to the car park where Mum will be waiting,” sighed Leah.
“Just keep that cat away from me,” said the lady as she trailed a safe distance behind.
Rupert ran ahead of everyone, like a scout ensuring the coast was clear.
Chapter 17
The steps led to a dark, musty passageway. The foursome had to hold onto the wall and each other, to make their way through the dangling cobwebs, tripping over lumps of unknown substances. After what seemed a long time, they saw a faint light ahead.
“Thank heaven,” said Leah as they approached another door. “I was beginning to think we were never going to get out of here.”
Amanda gave the moss covered door a shove. “It won’t budge. It must be stuck.”
“Or locked.” Rylee gave it a try, to no avail.
“Let’s all try together,” suggested Amanda.
With the weight of all four pushing on it, the door burst open. Everyone tumbled out into an open meadow overflowing with sunlight.
“Wow, is it ever great to see the sun again. I feel like I’ve been in a dungeon for years.” Amanda rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the bright sunlight. “We’ve come up behind the castle walls. You were right, Rylee.” She picked a cobweb out of her hair.
“If those two guys are the enemy, we should be able to sneak up behind them and rescue Liam.” Leah smiled at Rylee.
“You’d think.” The older girl smiled back.
They walked along the back of the high, stone castle wall until they came across a thick cluster of bushes.
“Look, I think we can get through here.” Amanda pointed to a small opening in the shrubs.
Everyone, except the woman, squeezed through. Sure enough, just like Rylee predicted, the two men were there, standing with their backs to them. Feet apart, arms crossed, they surveyed the park as if looking for Waldo.
Amanda put her finger to her lips and pointed to a large church. She led the others along the row of shrubs. Everything was going great until Rupert dashed out of the shrubs and around the men’s legs.
“What the devil! Where did that stupid cat come from?” shouted one of the men.
They both turned and looked towards the shrubs.
“There they are! Let’s get those yobs.” Both men sprinted towards the young girls.
Amanda and her friends ran as fast as they could around the corner, up the stone steps and into St. George’s Chapel.
They entered a large room surrounded with huge stained glass windows that filled the chapel with a kaleidoscope of colours. Beautiful music coming from another room drew their attention. They went into the other room and noticed a group of young boys singing like angels.
“That must be the choir boys practicing,” commented Leah as she scooped up Rupert before he disturbed the music.
“Do you think those guys followed us in here?” asked Rylee as she looked over her shoulder.
“I don’t know, but let’s hide to be safe.”
Amanda opened a small door that led to a flight of stairs. The girls climbed up to an alcove with a window looking upon a courtyard. They could see the two men looking behind bushes and around statues.
“I don’t think they know we’re in here.”
“But how are we gong to get out without them seeing us?” said Leah.
“Let’s see where else these stairs lead. By the way, where is Rylee?”
Amanda and Leah started up the stairs and turned sideways to let a monk, a hood covering most of his face, pass them on the narrow stairs. The monk threw back his hood and laughed. “Got you, didn’t I?” giggled Rylee.
“Where did you find that outfit?” asked Leah.
“In a room, up the stairs. I figure we can sneak out in disguise.”
A few minutes later, no one noticed a monk and two choir boys emerge from the staircase, venture to the front door and down the long stone steps of the cathedral.
“There’s Mum by the car.” Leah started to run towards the car park.
“Whatever have you girls been up to? Why are you dressed like that? I wanted to have a picnic, but I didn’t know where you had got to. And the cat is not in the car.” Mrs. Anderson wrung her hands.
“It’s OK, Mum, Rupert is with us. We were asked to join a little pageant in the chapel. We realized we were late, and forgot to take off the costumes.” Leah pulled her choir gown off over her head and shook out her pony tail.
Mrs. Anderson took a picnic basket and a blanket out of the car. They found a flat, green patch of grass and spread out the blanket. Everyone feasted on the wonderful goodies Leah’s mom brought along: sausage rolls, Cornish pasties and egg salad sandwiches. Rupert licked clean the can of tuna, brought especially for him, and then smacked his lips.
Just as they bit into the fresh strawberry tarts, the older woman staggered toward them and fell into the middle of the picnic. She picked herself up and mumbled an apology.
“Some people are ever so clumsy,” said Mrs. Anderson as she shook her head.
Leah and Rylee looked after the woman in disbelief.
Amanda noticed a small, folded, piece of paper on the blanket. She unfolded it and read,
I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE KEEPING THAT BOY
She gulped and quickly put the piece of paper in her jeans pocket.
“Let’s eat up so we can watch the changing of the guards.” Leah’s mom began to put things back in the wicker basket.
Chapter 18
“We’ve got to find Liam.” Rylee whispered in Amanda’s ear as they placed the picnic things in the trunk of the car.
“You might want to read this.” Amanda handed the note to Rylee.
“Come along, girls. We don’t want to miss it.” Mrs. Anderson waved at them to follow her. Leah rolled her eyes as she hung onto Rupert and trailed after her mother. Amanda and Rylee had no choice but to go along.
Down the centre street of the town came a marching band, wearing oversized fur hats that looked like woolly animals, perched on top of their heads. They marched past the castle entrance and through an iron gate into a green courtyard, where they stopped and continued to play music. Serious looking soldie
rs with the same furry hats marched behind them. Two soldiers met in the middle of the courtyard and exchanged something that looked like a huge ring of keys.
Mrs. Anderson leaned over and explained to Amanda, “These are the guards of the official residences of the Queen. The Captain of the old guard has just given the keys to the castle to the Captain of the new guard. The new sentries will now be posted.”
Soldiers marched to where solitary guards, under black and gold doorways with ER printed above, stared straight ahead. New guards replaced them, while the previous guards fell into line. Amanda thought they looked very striking in their black and red uniforms, but wondered why they didn’t smile.
As if reading her thoughts, Leah’s mom said, “They are instructed not to smile, no matter what.”
‘I guess it’s serious business guarding a queen,’ thought Amanda.
As the retiring guard marched back through the castle gates, a young soldier looked straight at Amanda and winked. She turned beet red.
“I think he fancies you,” said Leah.
Everyone laughed.
“I’m going to St. George’s Chapel to listen to the choirboys,” announced Mrs. Anderson.
“We’ve already been there and heard them,” said Leah. “We’ll just look around the gift shop.”
“I’ll meet you at the car in thirty minutes.” Mrs. Anderson walked in the direction of the chapel.
“We have thirty minutes to find Liam,” said a frantic Rylee.
“How are we going to do that?” asked Leah.
Amanda pulled the note out of her jeans pocket and passed it to Leah.
“So, if we find the strange woman, we’ll find Liam?” Leah looked around. “This could be a trick you know.”
“We can’t just leave him to the mercy of those two guys.” Amanda looked in the direction of the shop. “Let’s start by looking in the gift shop, like we said.”
The crowded shop teemed with tourists and shelves of souvenirs like Windsor Castle salt and pepper shakers and money banks in the shape of castle guards.
Amanda gasped. Behind a shelf of miniature knights, she spotted the woman who had left the note. She dashed around the counter and grabbed the woman by her arm.
Amanda in England: The Missing Novel Page 5