It was about one o'clock in the afternoon when the children, refreshed after their lunchtime stop at Bendover in the Marsh, but still somewhat damp in hitherto unexpected crevices from their activity, reached the village of Much Puddling. "Bloody hell! What a place!" exclaimed Dick, stopping so suddenly that he shot off the saddle and landed heavily astride the bike frame. For the next five minutes he remained strangely quiet with a rather pained expression on his young face. The others brought their bikes to a controlled halt and looked around them. Dick was certainly right, it was a strange place. The ancient wood-framed houses were grouped unevenly around the village green, and even from the road Julian could see that the term "green" had to be used figuratively since moss was by far the predominant foliage, and what grass survived was a dirty brown colour. Anne sniffed the air. "Is that you again, Timmy?" she said, screwing up her nose, but Timmy was far too busy with Dick's bicycle pump to be guilty this time. George leaped to his defence. "No it's not," she said, her eyes watering against the acrid smell. "It's coming from over there." and she pointed at the pond, the oily surface of which rippled every few moments as bubbles of methane broke through the scum. Julian held his handkerchief over his mouth. "Where's the Manor, George?" he asked, though he had to repeat the question several times before his muffled query could be understood by his cousin. "It's up the hill," she said, swinging round her handlebars. "About another ten minutes I think." "Then let's hurry up," said Julian. "I don't know how much longer I can stand this stench!" And so the children pedalled off up the leafy lane, Dick finally following as he managed to dislodge Timmy from his pump. With a friendly "Woof", Timmy nipped at his ankles and then ran ahead to be next to his mistress.

Seven minutes later the big black metal gates of Flushing Manor loomed ahead of them, and leaving their bikes leaning against the high brick wall that surrounded the property, the four children looked through the wrought iron-work. Down the far end of the long straight drive lined with elm trees they could see the old Elizabethan house, its red brickwork standing out against the green of the neatly mown lawns and the white of a large marquee erected to one side. There were lots of cars parked in front of the house, and Julian whistled softly. "Gosh!" he said, "There are absolutely heaps of wealthy people there. Look at those cars! There are Bentleys and Rollers. Nothing cheap about that lot!" "Cash is no sign of quality," said Anne, remembering the etiquette lessons from last term taken Miss Joan Broody. She recalled the teacher's favourite phrase, "Give me a gal at twelve and she's mine for the next forty minutes" which was always greeted with gales of laughter from the Upper 5^th. George strode to the centre of the gates and boldly tried the big round handle. To her amazement the latch lifted, and without so much as a squeak, the gates swung open. "Blimey!" expostulated Dick, "I didn't expect that! We've never had such an easy entry. I don't like the look of that." "Well," said Anne, ever the practical one, "we can't change them now, they're the only gates we've got!" and she chuckled at her joke whilst the other children looked at her with a mixture of despair and malice. "Come on then," said Julian, "we can't pass up this chance. Let's see what's going on," and retrieving their knapsacks from their bikes, the children passed through the gates and made their cautious way up towards the big house, keeping as much under the cover of the trees and bushes as possible.

From their vantage point in the undergrowth behind the trunk of a huge old elm, the four children, together with Timmy, who was keeping very still by George and just giving her buttocks the occasional lick, surveyed the scene. The cars were all empty and there was no sign of any activity at all. "What now, Ju?" asked Dick. His brother thought for a moment. "I suppose we really need to see what's going on inside, after all. there's got to be people around somewhere because of all these cars." "Why don't we see if there's a window we can peek through?" said Anne. "Jolly good idea, sis!" said Julian. "That's exactly what we'll do. Why don't you go with Dick around the left side of the house, and I'll go with George and Timmy round the right, and we'll meet up at the back and tell each other if we've found anything." "Spiffing!" said Dick, "Bags I explore any passages we find!" "Okay!" agreed Julian. "I know how you always look forward to poking around down strange openings." "Wizzo!" said Dick, "Come on, sis, let's see what we can find!" and he and Anne crept off through the bushes. Julian and George took a good look around before they darted across the gravel drive to the shelter of the trees on the opposite side, Timmy bounding along with them. Cautiously they made their way down to the side of the Manor and began to move along the wall. "They're all too high, Ju," said George, looking upwards at the large mullioned windows with their leaded glass, a good foot or so above their heads. "We'll never see anything through them." "We need something to stand on," said Julian. "Let's look for a box or something, or better still, a ladder! Let's have a poke in that old greenhouse over there." Julian pointed to the somewhat dilapidated structure half-hidden by huge rhododendron bushes a few yards away. "We haven't got time for that, Ju," said George. "We need to find something to stand on," and she led the way across to the old glass-house. Timmy was first through the half-open door, with the two children close behind. Inside everything was covered in thick cobwebs and dust, but to one side, lying on the dirt floor, was an old wooden ladder. "Just the job!" said Julian. "Give us a hand, George," and picking it up they manoeuvered it out of the doorway and across to the wall of the house.

Meanwhile, Dick and Anne were cautiously making their way along the north side of the Manor, but they too were finding the windows impossible to reach. "I don't know how we're going to see inside," said Anne, "There's no way we can reach them, they're much too high." "I know," said Dick. "We'll just have to carry on and see if there's anything round the back that will help." Together they carefully turned the corner of the house, Dick suddenly grabbing Anne's arm! "Anne!" he exclaimed, "There's our chance!" and he pointed towards the back door which was half-open, showing a tantalising glimpse of a back passage. He was just about to hurry forward when Anne suddenly pulled him back. "Dick! Wait!" she cried. "Look!" Propped up against the wall next to the door was an old bicycle with a wicker basket attached to the front of the handlebars. "Don't you recognise that?" she cried. Dick took a second glance and then hurriedly pulled his sister into the cover of the hollyhocks. "I've seen that bike before," he said. "I recognise the basket and the scratched paintwork! It's Alice's!" "What's she doing here do you think?" said Anne. She should be back at Kirrin Cottage doing her pantry duties and helping Joanna." "It's a mystery all right, sis," agreed Dick. "Let's find Julian and George and tell them what we've discovered."

George and her cousin, with a little interference from Timmy, carefully propped the ladder against the wall to one side of a window. "It doesn't look all that safe, Ju," said George. "The wood's old and some of the rungs are rotten." "It'll be okay, George," said Julian. "I don't weigh that much, and I'll tread carefully on the edge of each rung where the wood's thickest. We've got to see what's going on inside." "Be careful," said George, and putting his rucksack down on the ground and slapping his bare thigh, Julian began to make his way up the ladder. Reaching the level of the window he carefully leant over to his left to look through. At first he could see nothing, for the bright sunlight reflected off the diamond panes of old glass, but raising one hand to his face he began to make out figures inside. "They're some people in there," he whispered down to George, who was standing with her feet wedged against the bottom of the ladder to stop it slipping. George looked up, and was somewhat disconcerted to notice that she could see straight up her cousin's shorts, the white of his Y-fronts gleaming against the dark corduroy. She hurriedly looked away, only to see Timmy licking his private parts. She tried to concentrate. "What are they doing?" she asked. "I can't quite make it out," said Julian. "I need to get a little higher. Hang on a minute." Carefully he edged his way up another couple of rungs so that his head was level with the top of the window frame. "That's better," he said, "I can see more clearly now. They're all sitting in chairs facing a man at the front who's got a large blackboard behind him. There's something written on it but I can't quite make it out. If I just edge a little more round, I should be able to ..." His words were broken off by a loud crack as the old timber of the ladder gave way. With a cry Julian was thrown forward onto the window, his left shoulder shattering the glass. As Dick and Anne came round the corner of the house they were just in time to see Julian's body fall through the breaking glass into the room inside. Anne screamed as he disappeared, and ran forward, Dick close behind her. As the remains of the ladder and fragments of glass showered around her, George fell backwards onto the grass, covering her face with her hands. Loud voices and shouts could be heard from inside the room. Dick was the first to regain his composure. "Come on," he cried, "we can't stay here!" and he hurried the other two children away into the safety of the bushes, Timmy running alongside. "Oh Dick!" cried Anne, "what are we going to do?"