Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10 'That's odd,' said Flora with a hint of concern in her voice. 'Why would the lift just start working again all by itself? Something's not right.' No one had an answer to that mystery, but they were all very glad the lift was working again and that there was now something to distract Charlie from his wee-soaked hair and clothes. A moment later, the lift pinged and the doors slid open. Flora poked her head out of the lift and looked both ways. 'All clear. Which way, Wogan?' Wogan squinted at his map. 'I'm not sure. Charlie splashed some of my wee on the map, and it's all a bit blurry now. But I think it's left.' 'Well,' said Charlie, 'there's only one way to find out.' Charlie strode out of the lift, and the others quickly followed. With each step Charlie took on the marble floor, his shoes squelched and squeaked. 'Charlie!' hissed Flora. 'Your shoes are very noisy!'

'There's not much I can do about that,' snapped Charlie. 'They appear to be soaked in wee FOR SOME REASON.' Nobody had anything to say to that. At the end of the long corridor there was a large grey door. 'I think this might be it,' said Wogan, squinting at the damp map. He pushed the door and they all piled in. The door led to a small platform, which hung over a vast room. Inside the room were hundreds, possibly thousands, of chickens. They stared silently at the four interlopers. Countless unblinking eyes glinted coldly. The friends stared back. A few low, threatening clucks echoed around the chamber. 'I think,' whispered Wogan, 'this might be the wrong room.' They edged backwards out of the room, never taking their eyes off the staring chickens for a second. Wogan quietly shut the door behind them. 'We shall never talk of that room again,' said Mohsen, his face pale. They all murmured in agreement, and then ran down the corridor opposite until they arrived at another door, a huge wooden one with a gleaming brass nameplate that said: MR VAN DER GRUYNE PRESIDENT VAN DER GRUYNE INDUSTRIES

KNOCK THREE TIMES DO NOT ENTER UNLESS YOU ARE A VERY IMPORTANT PERSON 'This is it,' said Wogan. He lifted his fist up to the door and knocked slowly three times. 'Why are you knocking?' asked Flora. 'Because it says to!' replied Wogan, pointing at the nameplate. 'Flora, you really need to get your head in the game.' Silence greeted the knock. 'I don't think there's anybody in there!' whispered Mohsen urgently. 'What do we do now?' 'We go in!' Flora said, and pulled the brass handle. The door opened silently. Flora, Mohsen and Wogan padded quietly into the room, followed by Charlie, who squelched noisily into the room, each step leaving a yellow footprint on the thick cream carpet. There was a huge mahogany desk in the centre of the room with a computer on it. The walls were lined with old leather-bound books. There were no chairs in the room except the one behind the desk– clearly visitors to Mr Van der Gruyne's office were expected to stand. An antique globe, all wood and brass, stood in one corner. There was one thing missing, though. There was no safe. 'There's no safe,' said Mohsen, repeating what the narrator had just said. Maybe there's a safe hidden somewhere, thought the narrator. 'Maybe there's a safe hidden somewhere,' said Flora, as if reading the thoughts of the narrator. Get

out of my head, Flora. The four started searching. About three seconds later, they stopped searching as there was nowhere else to look. 'That's it then. We're stuffed,' said Wogan. 'It's not here. Now what do we do, search every room in the building? That could take days.' As Wogan spoke, he leaned one hand against the globe. It immediately spun, and he slipped forward, his fingers jamming between the globe and the frame. At that moment Mohsen, Flora and Charlie all heard a tiny sound. 'What was that clicking noise?' asked Flora. 'I think that was my finger breaking,' whimpered Wogan. 'No, it wasn't that,' said Flora. 'It sounded like it came from behind these books.' Flora went over to the shelf and started pulling books off. 'Maybe there's something hidden here. A lever or something,' she continued. 'Hello!' called Wogan. 'My fingers are still stuck in the globe! Could one of you give me a hand here?' 'Look! Up there!' Mohsen pointed at a book on the top shelf, which stuck out further than the others. 'Maybe the globe triggered some sort of mechanism and pushed that book out. Come on, give me a hand up.' 'My fingers really are actually quite sore,' said Wogan, still attached to the globe. Charlie rushed over to Mohsen, and gave him a leg-up.

Mohsen pulled the book free. 'There's a button behind it!' 'Well, press it!' Mohsen pressed the button and immediately a whirring, vibrating thrum filled the room. The globe suddenly started moving across the floor as if pulled by some unseen force. Wogan yelped. 'It's got me, it's got me! It won't let me go!' Charlie and Flora rushed over to Wogan and started pulling on his hand. After some serious tugging, he broke free, and all three fell backwards. The globe had stopped moving, but where it had been

a trapdoor was now revealed. And there was something coming up through it. It was a slowly rising platform, and on top of the platform was a great black metal box. It was the safe. 'It's the safe!' said Mohsen, once again repeating exactly what the increasingly frustrated narrator had JUST said. The four circled the safe, examining it. It looked heavy, and very old. There was a dial on it, and a solid slightly rusty iron handle. Charlie tried the handle. It was locked. 'I guess it was worth a go,' Charlie said with a rueful smile. Mohsen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'OK, so we found it, but how do we open it?' 'Charlie, now's your time. We need you to change,' said Flora, putting a hand on his shoulder. 'Flora!' Charlie shouted, knocking the hand off his shoulder on to the floor. 'Seriously, that thing is just creepy. Please just stick it in the bin.' 'Flora's right, Charlie,' said Mohsen. 'We can't open the safe on our own. We need animal strength.' Charlie swallowed. 'OK. I'll try.' 'Oh, you'll do more than try,' came a sudden voice. 'You will change. Or else.' The friends swung round. Standing behind them was the last person on earth they wanted to see.