Archie Appleby: The Terrible Case of the Creeps by Kaye Baillie

Author:Kaye Baillie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: early reader;mystery;fun;adventure;boys;plants;herbs;young readers, Krista Brennan, Kaye Baillie
Publisher: Wombat Books
Published: 2017-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

The next morning there was a loud knock on Archie’s door. ‘Who is it?’ he mumbled.

‘Aunt Ruth, of course. Rise and shine. It’s time for porridge.’

Archie dragged himself out of bed. He’d hardly slept a wink with the rain, thunder and lightning. Then there was the tapping and the horrible hissing sounds from the basement.

‘How’s the porridge?’ asked Aunt Ruth. ‘Here, have some more. It’s good for you,’ she said, standing ready with a ladle full.

‘No, thanks,’ said Archie, putting his hand over his bowl.

‘Righto, well here’s the plan for today. We’ll do the dishes, then head straight out to the garden. There’s pruning and de-snailing to be done.’

Archie pushed his bowl aside. ‘I heard weird tapping sounds coming from underneath my room last night. What would that be?’

Aunt Ruth spun round. ‘Tapping. Hmmm. Well, I don’t know.’

‘The basement’s right under my room, isn’t it?’ said Archie.

‘Yes. Must be rats, I suppose. Bob does his best to keep the numbers down.’

‘I heard hissing sounds too. Are there snakes down there as well?’

Aunt Ruth snorted. ‘It’s nothing to worry about, Archie. Might be a burst pipe.’

Archie stood up. ‘That sounds serious. Let’s go take a look.’

‘To the garden!’ ordered Aunt Ruth.

Archie pushed the wheelbarrow to an overgrown section of the garden.

‘We’re going to tidy this up,’ said Aunt Ruth. ‘Over there, Harold has started preparing my new greenhouse. And Jock can’t stop me this time! He’s never appreciated my gardening skills. I’m going to display my incredible creation and invite horticultural experts to see what I’ve done. I’ll be famous!’

Famous, alright, when the police get hold of you.

‘Morning, you two,’ called Mr Cronk. ‘I’ve brought back the shears I borrowed from Jock way back. Reckon we’ll be needing them for this job,’ he chuckled.

Mr Cronk and Aunt Ruth walked off to a secluded part of the garden and began whispering. Archie decided now was the perfect time to check out the basement.

He scurried inside, down the hall and stood at the top of the basement stairs. He tried the light but it didn’t work, so he ran to his room and fetched his torch. Down, down, down the stairs he went, until he came to the door at the bottom. He turned the rusted doorknob slowly …

‘ARCHIE! Is that you down there?’

Archie’s heart jumped. He looked up to see Aunt Ruth at the top of the stairs with Bob beside her, barking like mad. ‘What are you doing? I left you pruning.’

‘I ... I ... got bored and thought I’d go for a walk. Then I dropped my, umm, torch down these stairs. Luckily it still works … see.’ He shone the torch in Aunt Ruth’s face.

‘Put that away. I don’t want to see you anywhere near the basement again. Do you hear me?’

‘Yes, Aunt Ruth.’

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