Crow Hall (2 page)

Then they heard a strange sound in the dark.

“What's that?” asked Edgar. At first the sound was a gentle flutter. Then the noise grew louder.

“It sounds like the beating of wings,” whispered Mary.

The sound grew louder and louder. It was as if the room was full of huge birds. Mary felt feathers brushing against her face. She screamed. A terrible screech
filled the air.

Then the room was silent again.

Mr Blood lit his candle and found Mary. She lit her candle and they looked around the room. The dust had not been disturbed. There were no birds in the room.

But something was missing. Mary gave a cry. Edgar had gone!

 

Chapter 3

The Search

“Edgar? Edgar!” Mary called. There was no reply.

Mr Blood pulled out a length of rope from his bag. He tied one end of the rope around his waist, and the other end around Mary's waist.

“We must stay with each other,” he said.

“Where can he be?” Mary asked. “Can ghosts make people vanish?”

“I don't know,” said Mr Blood. “This is a very odd ghost. We must carry on. We must find the place where the ghost is
strongest. That is where Edgar will be.”

Mary and Mr Blood walked along the ground floor going into each room. They looked in cupboards. They opened chests. They broke down the door to the
cellar. There was no sign of Edgar.

Mary and Mr Blood walked back to the hall where Edgar had vanished. Mr Blood
turned to go up the main stairs.

“Wait,” Mary said. She pointed at two large stone crows on short posts on either side of the stairs.

“Were they there before?” Mary asked.

Mr Blood frowned. “I can't be sure,” he said. “It was so dark. I didn't notice them. But come. We must carry on and search
the rest of the house.”

They began to climb the stairs. They had only taken three steps when Mary tripped on the rope and slipped back to the bottom.

“Are you hurt?” asked Mr Blood. Mary
shook her head and got to her feet.

She looked at the stone crows and let out a scream. The two statues had turned around. They were no longer facing the door. They were staring at Mary. She felt sick with fear.

“Come on!” shouted Mr Blood. “We must find Edgar.” Again they began to climb the stairs. As they did so, they heard the screech of crows.

 

Chapter 4

The Painting

As they reached the landing of the first floor, the sound of screeching stopped. In front of them was a painting of the head of a crow.

Its beak was closed and its head was looking down. It looked as if it were about to stab down at something with its beak. Its huge, black eye stared at Mary.

“Look,” said Mr Blood. He pointed at the bottom corner of the painting. The artist had marked the picture with his initials – C. H.

“Maybe C. H. is the ghost,” Mary said in a low voice.

“I don't think that we are dealing with a ghost,” said Mr Blood. “I believe that something else has control of this place. Something... bigger.”

“Let's just find Edgar and get out of here,” Mary said.

They went from room to room. They looked for secret doors behind shelves. They lifted carpets to look for trapdoors. They called out Edgar's name over and over again. And every time they called, they heard the screech of crows in reply.

They walked past two suits of armour, both holding spears. Mr Blood and Mary took a spear each and Mary felt a little safer.

But, as they returned to the landing, Mary's eyes went wide with terror.

Again she screamed, and again they heard the screech of crows. Mr Blood looked up at the painting and his jaw dropped. The picture had changed.

Now, the painting was not just of the crow's head, it was of the whole of the crow. Its wings were spread out wide. Its beak was open. It stood over the body of a boy. And the boy in the painting was Edgar!

 

 

Chapter 5

The Crow

Mary burst into tears. Mr Blood put his arm around her.

“I believe Edgar is still alive,” said Mr Blood. “But we must try to make sense of what we have seen.”

“It's something to do with crows,” said Mary.