The Treasure of Netherstrand

Chapter 25

"Come on, Gracie! We gotta be brave!" Timothy said, standing up tall and straight.

They stared down the long hallway, tingling with excitement and fear. Things looked much different in the daylight, but it was still the darkest place in the house. Everything looked gloomy, and the air was thick with dust. Izzy never bothered to clean that hall very often. It was part of the servants' wing, and few of the guests ventured that far.

"What do you suppose the butler was doing down here?" Grace whispered, glancing around nervously as they crept into the shadowy passageway.

"I dunno. But he weren't alone! I'm almost sure he weren't! I 'eard another bloke's voice first, an' it didn't sound like Mr. S'bastian."

"What did the voice say?" Gracie squeezed the little boy's hand tighter and tighter as they moved step by step.

"It said, 'So now I know. You're there, always watchin' an' listenin'. An' then he said somefing about a secret."

"But who do you think the voice was speaking to? The butler?" Grace asked.

Timothy frowned in confusion. If the first voice had been speaking to Sebastian, then it seemed most likely that Sebastian would have been in front of Timothy. But when the butler had seized the child, he had grabbed him from behind.

"I...dunno," Timothy admitted at length. "What I can't understand is 'ow the fellow got away! I know I was right on his trail. An' as soon as I got t' the end o' the hall, he weren't nowhere t' be seen."

Further down the corridor, the children saw something that made them pause. It was a faint glow of light which shined around a corner, breaking the dusky shadows. Grace's heart gave a bound as one hopeful idea came into her head.

"In darkness thou shalt find an end," she quoted. Then, brightening, she gasped, "Timothy, we are in darkness right now! And there is the end of it right there where the light is shining. Do you suppose that is what Lady Denzell meant?"

"I 'oped ya might fink so," the little boy answered. "The thought did cross me mind a few times. An' ya can't come t' much more of an end than this place 'cause there ain't goin' no further once yer 'ere. Right around this corner, the hall dead ends."

They peeked timidly around the corner, and their hearts jumped into their throats as they saw two pale-gray eyes staring back at them. Both of the children gave a start and jumped back, but Tim forced himself to stay calm.

"It's a statue, Grace!" he said. "Just an awful, ugly statue. That's all!"

"Oh!" the girl cried. "I thought that we had been caught!" She laughed nervously, and again they stole a timid peep around the corner. This time, they looked the statue right in the face and studied him for a minute. There he stood on a stone platform holding a spear in one hand while the other hand pointed straight ahead of him. The odd thing was that the statue wasn't facing straight down the hall. It had been positioned so that the figure was looking a little to the left.

"What's the ol' blighter s'posed t' be, anyway?" Timothy asked, rubbing his goose-bumped arms.

"He is a knight!" Grace answered. "Don't you see all of his armor and the big sword hanging at his side?"

"What's a knight do, Gracie?" the little boy asked.

Without answering, Grace's pretty eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Her clever mind was hard at work, and missing puzzle pieces were beginning to fit into place. Slowly, she walked forward to meet this unfriendly-looking figure. She studied him from head to toe, and then a smile spread over her face.