Chapter 1

The Adventure Begins

It’s dusk as the children start their journey towards the creepy mansion. They follow the winding path leading up towards the gate.

It’s getting dark. The children are a little nervous, so they play a game about who they think the shadows on the path resemble to ease their nerves.

‘And that one looks like Mr Appleby from grade six,’

Cosmo chuckles, pointing to a wide shadow resembling a large person.

‘Well, I think Mr Appleby’s grown a lot,’ Leigh laughs, pushing himself along in his wheelchair.

‘Yeah, he’s now a Mr Apple Tree!’ Tara giggles.

‘I wonder who we’ll have next year,’ says Tara, checking her shoelaces.

‘Well, we might have Mr Apple Tree,’ Leigh laughs.

‘Oh, I have a joke,’ shouts Cosmo, leading the way. ‘Why do trees hate riddles?’ he asks.

Tara answers, ‘Because they’re too hard, like wood,’ she

says, shining her torch out into the fields.

‘No, because it’s too easy to get stumped!’ Cosmo laughs.

The children continue along the path playing their game, anxious to get to their destination.

Suddenly, a flock of squawking birds circles overhead. Are they announcing the children’s arrival, or perhaps warning them of unforeseeable dangers up ahead?

This maybe the children’s scariest adventure.

‘We should have left earlier,’ whines Tara, adjusting her Barbie backpack.

‘Oh, I have another joke,’ whispers Leigh, trying to distract Tara. ‘What’s a tree’s favourite drink?’ he asks.

No one replies. ‘Root beer!’ says Leigh, also feeling a little unsure.

They walk a little further and hear a rustling sound in the long grass. They stop, watch and listen.

‘Shh, what is it?’ whispers Tara, nervously looking around.

‘Something’s coming towards us.’ She shivers.

‘It could be a snake or a bear or a… um,’ Cosmo whispers,

trying to think of other animals.

The children all hold their breath and wait.

Suddenly, a bundle of white fur flashes past Cosmo and Tara and jumps up into Leigh’s lap. ‘Oh! It’s Chloe!’ Leigh sighs. ‘You scared us. She must have followed us up here, guys!’ he says, giving her a pat. ‘It’s too late to take her back,’ he adds.

They all take a deep breath and continue on their way.

They approach a small, narrow wooden bridge suspended over a muddy stream.

‘Do you think this old bridge is safe to cross?’ asks Leigh,

nervously looking over the sides of the bridge.

‘Of course, it is. Look at me!’ Cosmo quips, trying out his gymnastic skills on the bridge’s handrails. ‘But maybe there’s a mean old troll living underneath.’ Cosmo grins.

‘I’ve heard he won’t let anyone pass unless you give him lollies,’ he adds sheepishly.

‘What?’ gasps Tara. ‘I don’t have any lollies; they get stuck in my braces,’ she mumbles.

‘Then we’ll just have to run as fast as we can so he won’t catch us,’ Cosmo giggles.

‘That’s not funny, Cosmo,’ grumbles Tara and Leigh as they quickly cross over the bridge, leaving Cosmo standing alone in the dark.

Cosmo runs to catch up to the others and finds them shining their torches up on to a huge notice board.

‘What’s this?’ asks Cosmo, panting.

‘It looks like the property is going to be sold to build new houses,’ Leigh explains.

‘Oh no, when will that happen?’ asks Cosmo, looking concerned.

‘It doesn’t say. It just shows pictures of new houses all looking the same in rows of streets,’ says Tara, shaking her head.

Cosmo walks off quietly on his own, leaving Tara and Leigh to wonder.

The full moon finally emerges from behind the clouds and illuminates the pathway. Up ahead the children catch sight of an iron gate and head towards it.

The children stand motionless, staring up at this immense, foreboding structure.

‘Wow,’ says Leigh. ‘It looks like someone was trying to keep someone out.’ He inspects a heavy chain tied around the padlock.

‘Or something in,’ Tara whispers, looking behind her.

‘I’ll go first,’ says Cosmo.

‘Well, you always go first at sports tryouts.’ Tara grins.

Just as Cosmo leans in towards the gate, a strange, thick fog suddenly rolls in from the fields and slowly swirls around them.

‘Wow, that’s weird,’ says Leigh, shining his torch out into the fields.

‘Where did that come from?’ Tara shivers.

‘Probably from the smelly swamp over there, where the monsters live.’ Cosmo grins, pointing out into the distance.

‘Come on, guys, we’re nearly there. We just have to unlock the gate,’ he says while searching for the lock.

While Cosmo and Leigh continue searching, Tara checks out the strange gate. It’s decorated with unusual symbols of circles and stars and different animals. It seems to stretch upwards forever. She also discovers a broken lantern attached to a crumbling stone archway suspended high above the gate. As she shines her torch directly into the lantern, a moving black mass begins to squirm and erupts into thousands of tiny black spiders.