77 The National Portrait Gallery

77 The National Portrait Gallery The parquet floor on the other side of the door was cold. Peanut found herself wedged in a small gap between the opening and some kind of wooden plinth directly in front of her. She stood up. As she did so she bumped the plinth slightly, causing whatever it was holding to wobble worryingly. Instinctively, Peanut reached up to steady it. It was a marble bust. Carefully, she edged out to find herself in a dimly lit room with very high ceilings and walls lined with large paintings. 'Where are we, Peanut?' She turned to see Little-Bit emerge from behind the

bust, which she could now see was a sculpture of Queen Victoria. 'I'm not sure. An art gallery of some sort, I think.' 'Whoa, that was a bit of a squeeze,' said Rockwell as he slid his way out to join them in the rather ornate room. 'So, what is this place?'

It's called an art gallery. I don't suppose you've ever visited one before, have you?' As it happens, I haven't. First time for everything though. It's, er, nice, isn't it?' Peanut looked at her watch. 'No way,' she gasped. 'What?' said Rockwell. ' Well, according to my watch we've only been gone for about three hours!' The children tiptoed their way through the deserted gallery. Just as they were passing a large portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, a very tall security guard with huge shoulders and a neat white beard appeared at the end of the corridor. They froze. He appeared to be looking straight at them. The children held their breath...

A voice came from a room somewhere to the guard's left. ' Stanley! Do you want a cup of tea?' To the gang's amazement, he turned towards it and shouted, 'Er, yes please. Milk and four sugars.' The guard looked back towards the children and Peanut could have sworn she saw the slightest hint of a smile play across his lips. Then he walked away. ' Phew! That was close,' said a relieved Rockwell. The group carried on walking, careful not to make a sound, and eventually discovered a door that led them outside into the cool morning air. They found themselves on a busy street. 'We're in London!' shouted Little-Bit. 'Look!' Sure enough, a couple of black cabs and a bright red bus drove past them towards a huge square to their right. It had a towering column in the middle of it, surrounded by statues of lions and topped with a solitary figure looking down over them. 'That's Nelson's Column,' said Peanut. 'We're right next to Trafalgar Square.' She looked behind her at the door they'd just come out of. Ah, so it's the National Portrait Gallery! That means Leicester Square tube station is just around the corner. She grabbed Little-Bit's hand. 'Come on, we're late for school.'