Chapter 14 SNIPPET AND NOSEY ARE VERY HELPFUL!
'LISTEN!' said Julian, lowering his voice, and looking all about to make sure that no one was near.
'Do you remember what you told us, George, about a secret passage from the castle to the oldchapel?'
'Yes! Yes! I do!' said George, and Anne nodded, her eyes bright. 'You mean the story that old Mr.
Finniston told us, down at the little antique shop, about the Lady of the castle taking her children insafety from the burning castle, by way of an underground passage to the old chapel¹?
Gosh, I'd forgotten that!'
'Oh, Julian! Yes, George is right!' said Anne. 'Are you thinking that the passage might still be there,hidden underground?'
'What I think is this,' said Julian. 'If the Lady and her children escaped underground, they must firsthave fled down into the cellars of the castle - and so the passage or tunnel must have started fromthere. They couldn't have escaped in any other way because the castle was itself surrounded byenemies. So she must have gone with her children to hide in the cellars - and then, when the castlefell, she took them safely down the secret passage that led to the old chapel. So that means...'
'That means that if we can find the secret passage, we can get into the cellars ourselves - perhapsbefore the workmen do!' cried George, almost shouting with excitement.
'Exactly,' said Julian, his eyes shining. 'Now don't let's lose our heads and get too excited. Let's talkabout it quietly - and for GOODNESS' sake keep a watch for Junior.'
'Timmy - on guard!' said George, and Timmy at once went some paces away, and stood up straight,looking now in this direction, and now in that. Nobody could come within sight now, without Timmygiving a warning bark!
The children settled down beside a hedge. 'What's the plan?' asked Dick.
'I vote we go to the old chapel, take a line from there to the castle-site, and walk slowly up that line,'
said Julian. 'We might possibly see something that would guide us as to where the secret passage is. Idon't know what - maybe the grass might be slightly different in colour - a bit darker than thesurrounding grass, just as it was on the castle-site. Anyway, it's worth trying. If we do see a line ofdarker grass, or something like that, we'll dig down underground ourselves, hoping the secret passageis underneath³!'
'Oh Ju! What a wonderful idea!' said Anne. 'Come on, let's go down to the chapel straight away!'
So off they all went, Timmy, Snippet and Nosey the jackdaw too. He loved being with Snippet,though he teased him unmercifully. They arrived quickly at the chapel door and went in. 'I alwaysfeel as if there ought to be an organ playing when I'm inside,' said Anne, looking round the stackedsacks of grain.

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