Demelza & the Spectre Detectors by Holly Rivers

Author:Holly Rivers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicken House
Published: 2020-02-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

The Ransom Note

Under the broken walking stick was a note. As if in a dream, Demelza unfolded it and read:

FOR THE ATTENTION OF DEMELZA CLOCK,

IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR grandmother AND DOG Alive Again, COME to SOURBANK Bridge AT 11 P.M. ON 31 OCTOBER.

BE PREPARED TO PERFORM The Conjuring Of Resurrection.

Do not Contact the Police, and Come Alone. Failure to Comply with these instructions will Result in Very Unpleasant Consequences for Both your Grandmother and your Canine Companion.

Demelza’s stomach turned. The words in front of her began to swell in and out of focus and she felt as if she might vomit at any second. This was the Plan B that Boris had talked about earlier! Plan B was to kidnap Grandma Maeve and Shiver! To use them as leverage!

‘Oh, Grandma . . .’ Demelza cried, dropping to the floor. ‘Grandma, what have I done?’

All of her worst fears had come true. Ms Cardinal had struck and it was all her fault. Why had she taken that notebook to school? Why had she drawn those stupid, stupid pictures? Why hadn’t she made Grandma believe her suspicions?

‘HELP! HELP!’

Demelza flinched. A muffled cry was coming from the corner nearest the front door. She turned to look, but all she could see was the messy pile of coats and hats and scarves which had been thrown from the hooks on the wall.

‘Who is it?’ she demanded. ‘Who’s there?’

‘It’s me!’ came the muted voice once more. ‘On the floor. Underneath the clothes!’

Demelza groped her way along the hallway and began to rifle through the mess. She pulled back a blue anorak and there, looking up at her, was Lord Balthazar.

‘Oh, my goodness!’ Demelza yelped, picking up the Talking Head. As she dusted off his scalp, he let out a loud groan. There was a long crack creeping upwards from his left eye socket and a few of his teeth were missing. ‘Lord Balthazar, are you OK?’

‘Oh, the pain, the pain!’ he moaned. ‘My poor, poor head! One minute I was in the middle of a lovely dream about having a body and the next I was on the floor.’

Demelza set Lord Balthazar on a side table. She couldn’t think straight, fear and worry draining all of her brain-power. Halloween was tomorrow! What should she do? Set out to find Grandma now? Or was it wiser just to follow the instructions on the ransom note and go to Sourbank Bridge tomorrow night?

Just then, the telephone rang. Demelza glanced at the hall clock and was shocked to see it was gone 7 a.m. – she must have been hiding in the store cupboard for far longer than she’d thought.

She quickly righted herself. Maybe it was Grandma Maeve? Maybe she’d managed to escape and had found a phone box somewhere? All of a sudden, Demelza’s stomach was a tinderbox waiting for a spark of hope, and she sprinted to the sitting room to pick up the receiver.

‘Hello?’

‘Oh hello, Demelza dear,’ came a crackled reply. ‘Mr Barnabas here.

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