Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN "Even more pumpkins?" Ms Willow said, looking into the barn with Daffodil, as Diamond dorm unloaded a whole load of new pumpkins at lunchtime the next day. "We thought we'd try again," said Rosa brightly. "We really do want to play leapfrog." Ms Willow's eyes strayed to one of the big hay bales where they had put a pile of decorations and torches. "Hmm. Something is telling me that you might have something more planned than just a simple game of leapfrog, girls." A smile tugged at her mouth. "It's OK" she said. "I won't tell anyone. Your secret's safe with me." She left the barn with Daffodil. Exchanging relieved looks, Freya and the others began to

unload the pumpkins. Later that afternoon, Freya and Matilda headed up to the secret room. Freya's skin prickled as the wall revolved. Would they hear any strange spooky noises again? But all was quiet, and she gradually started to relax. "There!" said Matilda eventually, standing back and admiring the robot. She had given it a felt mane and tail and painted its body with delicate swirls of colour. "It looks awesome now. Thanks, Matilda," said Freya gratefully. "It's been fun," said Matilda. "You're so clever, Freya. I don't know anyone else who could build a robot."

Freya's heart swelled with pride. Building the robot had been her biggest project so far. She couldn't quite believe she'd actually done it. And she couldn't wait for Honey to see it the following night. Oh, please let her love it, she thought. She began picking up her tools from the floor. As she did so, her eyes fell on the fireplace. With everything that had happened she had completely forgotten that she had found out that the board blocking the fireplace was actually a door. She

went over to examine it. Yes, there were definitely hinges and an indent that looked like a button on the other side. "What are you doing?" Matilda asked, as Freya explored the indent with her fingers. "Just investigating." Freya pressed. There was a click and the door in the fireplace swung open. Matilda gasped as a blast of cold musty air wafted into the room. "It's a door!" Freya peered inside. "And look what's behind it. A tunnel!" A dark tunnel with stone walls and a low ceiling sloped steeply downwards. Matilda joined her. "Where do you think it goes to?" Freya glanced at her. "We could find out." "But what if we meet a ghost?" said Matilda. "We won't. Ghosts don't exist," Freya said firmly. Now she could see a tunnel she felt much happier. A tunnel behind the fireplace explained things. Someone– a person could have come up it and tapped on the door and made noises to scare them. OK, she had no idea why someone would do that but at least it was a theory that she

could believe. She fetched a torch from her tool bag. "Are you coming with me?" Matilda followed Freya through the fireplace and into the stone tunnel. Even with the light of the torch it was hard to see what was ahead of them. They were definitely heading downwards, fast. Where were they going to end up? Freya heard the drip of water. It grew louder as they continued walking and the floor levelled out. Suddenly the tunnel opened up into a small chamber. Freya shone the torch around. There were two more passageways leading away from the chamber and multicoloured water was dripping down the walls, forming puddles on the floor. "I reckon the tunnel has brought us out of the school and through the gardens," she said. "I think we're under Sparkle Lake." "I wonder where those tunnels go to?" said Matilda, pointing at the other two passageways.

"Only one way to find out," said Freya with a grin. This was exciting! She headed down the left-hand tunnel, which was slightly wider and higher. For a while it went straight and then it started to slope upwards. "Oh, no. It's a dead end," said Matilda, as they reached a stone wall. Freya shone the torch on the wall. The beam revealed some hand-and footholds carved into the stone. Glancing up, she caught her breath. Above them there was a trapdoor with light