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Chapter ten

An Important Discovery

Kara knocked on the door of the small cottage and waited.

A few seconds later a man opened the door and stared at her. He did not look very friendly.

‘Is John here?’ Kara asked.

Then John appeared behind the man. ‘It’s alright, Father,’ John said. ‘She’s looking for me.’

‘I suppose you want to come in,’ the man said to Kara.

Kara thanked him and walked into the cottage. It was strange being inside it. She had passed it so many times since she had been at Owl Hall. It was much smaller than the main house and it felt cold inside. She followed John to his room.

‘I need your help,’ Kara said.

‘What are you talking about?’ John asked. ‘What’s happened?’

Kara stood by the door, feeling awkward.

‘I think Martin has been kidnapped,’ she said. ‘I think Howard has taken him and locked him in the basement of his house. There are people inside and I can’t open the door and I promised I wouldn’t leave him. Please help me.’

John thought for a moment. Then he opened a drawer and took out a torch. ‘OK, Kara. Let’s go and find him!’ he said.

But Kara did not move. She was looking at the picture on the wall of John’s room.

‘What’s that?’ Kara asked.

John looked at the picture and laughed. ‘It’s a map of Treasure Island,’ he said. ‘It used to be my favourite book. I like islands. You know that.’

‘And what’s your favourite colour?’ Kara asked.

‘It’s green,’ he said. ‘Why?’

Kara looked at the room’s green walls. John’s room was painted in his favourite colour and there was a picture from his favourite book on the wall. In the main house Kara’s room was painted in her favourite colour and there was a copy of her favourite painting on the wall. Kara’s head started going round in circles. What was happening to her?

‘Come on!’ John said, opening the door. His father was in the living room reading a very large book. He looked up as they walked past.

‘Don’t be too late,’ his father said as they left the cottage. ‘I have to get up early to work tomorrow.’

‘I promise I won’t be late, sir,’ John said.

Then John followed Kara up the bumpy track to the house on the hill. They opened the front door and walked into the hall. Kara could still hear the voices from the basement but they were louder now and suddenly she recognized them.

‘It’s Mum!’ Kara whispered. ‘It’s Mum and Howard’s voices. What is Mum doing in the basement?’

John tried opening the basement door but it was still locked. Then he shone the torch on some shelves behind them. He lifted up a key from underneath a silver bowl.

‘How did you know the key was there?’ Kara asked.

‘I’m a spy, remember?’ John answered. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’

‘Yes!’ Kara said. ‘Unlock the door!’

So John unlocked the door and opened it. The voices were louder now. Kara could hear that Mum was upset and Howard was trying to calm her down.

‘You have to be patient, Janet,’ Howard was saying.

‘I can’t be patient!’ Mum cried. ‘It happened more than six months ago. I can’t do this anymore. I want Martin out of our lives!’

Kara followed John down the steps. There was a strange light coming from the basement and when they reached the bottom of the steps Kara could see that it was coming from a line of TV monitors on a long desk. It looked like the control room of a television studio. There were different pictures on the screens but they were not from TV shows. They were from video cameras around Owl Hall. On each monitor there was an image of a different part of Owl Hall.

And underneath each monitor there were labels which read: ‘Entrance’, ‘Courtyard’, ‘East Cottage’, ‘West Cottage’, ‘Main House Kitchen’. Kara paused. Something was moving in the ‘Main House Kitchen’ picture.

Kara moved closer until she could see Mum and Howard standing together in the Owl Hall kitchen. She could hear them talking too.

‘You told me that everything would be alright!’ Mum shouted at Howard.

‘It is alright,’ Howard replied. ‘You heard what Kara said. She said that Martin had gone.’

‘We have to find her,’ her mother replied. Then she suddenly left the room, followed by Howard. A few seconds later they both appeared on one of the other monitors - they were walking across the courtyard, past the camera hidden in the silver sphere in the pond.

‘Come with me,’ Howard said. ‘I know how we can find her.’

John took hold of Kara’s hand. ‘We have to leave,’ he said. ‘I think they’re coming here.’

Kara’s eyes were moving from monitor to monitor, she was trying to understand what she was seeing. Then she followed John back up the stairs.

He locked the basement door and left the key under the same bowl. Then they walked quickly out of the house and ran through the trees until they reached the barn.

‘Let’s hide in here,’ John said. So they entered the barn and John sat down in the blue armchair.

‘They won’t find us here,’ John said. ‘There aren’t any cameras in the barn.’

‘But where’s Martin?’ Kara said. ‘I thought he would be in the basement. I have to find him.’

‘Kara, Martin’s gone,’ John said.

‘What do you mean?’ Kara replied.

‘I mean you don’t have to worry about Martin anymore,’ John said. ‘You can live your own life now.’

Kara sat down on the ground and put her head in her arms. ‘You don’t know anything about my brother,’ she said.

‘You’re right,’ John said. ‘So tell me about ‘the incident’.

What really happened six months ago? Tell me and then maybe I’ll understand him better. Go on. What are you waiting for, Kara?’

Kara had not spoken about the incident to anyone. She had not even spoken to her mother about it or to her father. She had not spoken to the police or to the doctors. She had not even spoken to Martin.

And now, here she was, in the middle of the countryside, sitting in an old barn with her only friend in the whole world. And for the first time she wanted to speak about it.

‘OK,’ she said. ‘I’ll tell you. But you must promise not to tell Mum or Howard.’

‘I promise,’ John said.

So Kara closed her eyes and started telling her story.