Danny Leach's Diamond by Jim Hibbert

Author:Jim Hibbert
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jim Hibbert
Published: 2018-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

9 Ramona Supremo

On the following Monday morning some vehicles arrived at Pottydorm. Men put up wire net fencing to form a passageway from the road to the boarded-up entrance to the Monster Tunnels. Then they started to remove the timbers that sealed the entrance to the mine. The word soon went round that these people had come to start renovating the tunnels and to bring the monsters back to life, or at least the semblance of life.

‘We’ve got to do something soon,’ Danny said to Peter as they ate their meal that evening. ‘Anytime now they could seal off that door that leads from the house to the tunnels.’

‘We’ll need torches again,’ said Peter. ‘Maybe Ross has still got them here. At least they might have ours; they dropped theirs in the mine.’

‘If we ask for torches, they’ll know what we’re doing and they’ll want to come with us again. We’ll get a bus to the shopping centre after school ends tomorrow and buy two torches.’

‘Good idea,’ said Peter.

On Wednesday evening, Danny and Peter set off, with their new torches, on a roundabout route to the Leach house.

There was still an hour of daylight left when they reached the house. There was no sign of life as they quietly walked up to the front door. They could see that the lock had been changed, as Penny had said it would be.

‘That’s good,’ said Danny. ‘No one should be able to come in through the front door. Let’s see what’s round the back.’

The back door of the house had a mortise lock. The big old-fashioned door latch and the escutcheon round the keyhole looked old and rusty.

‘The key I saw was up there,’ Peter said, pointing to the top of the doorframe. Danny gave him a leg-up, so that he could feel along the top of the frame. Dust and bits of dead leaves showered down. ‘Here it is,’ he said excitedly. ‘Got it.’

They looked at the key, which was rustier than the latch. ‘Try it,’ said Danny. ‘Don’t forget one of us will have to run to the front and enter the alarm code as soon as the door opens. I hope they haven’t changed the code as well as the front door lock.’

Peter tried to turn the key in the lock. Nothing happened. ‘It won’t turn,’ he said. ‘Maybe it’s not even the right key.’

‘Keep trying,’ said Danny. ‘Wiggle it about.’

Peter wiggled the key. ‘It turns a bit,’ he said, sounding more optimistic.

‘Try spitting on it.’

Peter took the key out and spat on it. He tried again. ‘It’s going,’ he said. ‘It’s turning.’ The lock opened. They waited a moment until they felt calm again, then Peter pushed at the door. ‘It’s still fast,’ he said. ‘Someone must have bolted it.’

‘Try again,’ said Danny.

Together they shouldered the door. This time it sprang open. It had just been sticking against the jamb.

They stood looking into the kitchen of the house, then Peter said, ‘Quick – the alarm!’

Danny ran through the kitchen and along the passageway to the entrance hall.

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