He went round the ballroom. On the other side, behind some curtains, he came to a door. He opened it and found that it led to a kind of ante-chamber. Opening off this was a stone staircase-a spiral stair that wound upwards.
‘This is the tower staircase!’ thought Jack, excited. ‘It must be. Hallo-what’s that?’
He could hear the sound of nailed boots on stone! Quick as lightning he slid behind a nearby curtain. The footsteps came nearer, stamped, turned and went back again. How extraordinary!
Jack put his head carefully round the curtain. Going down a stone passage opposite was a soldier, gun on shoulder. He must be on guard-guarding the tower! He disappeared down the passage, his footsteps sounding farther and farther away till Jack could hear them no longer. Then back he came again to the foot of the tower stairway.
Stamp-stamp! The sentry turned round once more and marched into the passage. Jack watched him again. He was dressed in Hessian uniform, very gay and decorative. Jack had seen many of these soldiers while he had been with the circus. Perhaps this soldier was Hela’s father?
He waited till the sound of footsteps had completely died away again, then made a dart for the entrance to the spiral staircase. He ran up it swiftly, knowing that he had about half a minute before the return of the sentry.
Round and round wound the stairway, and at the top it grew so steep that Jack could no longer run up the steps, but had almost to climb!
He came to a little stone landing with a round window. A chest stood beneath the window, and an old chair stood beside it. Opposite Jack was a big, sturdy door, made of dark oak, and studded with great nails. He looked at it. Was Lucy-Ann behind that door? Dare he call her name?
He tiptoed to the door. He pushed. It was fast shut. He turned the great handle, but still it would not open. There was a keyhole there, but no key. He bent down to look through the keyhole, but could see nothing.
He could hear nothing either. Jack wished he knew what to do for the best. If he knocked on the door and called, he might find that the children were not there after all but that somebody else was. And the somebody might not be at all pleased to see him! Also, the sentry downstairs might hear him and come rushing up-and there was no way of escape up on this little landing!
And then he saw something in the light of his torch-something very surprising-something that told him for certain that the children were inside that room on the other side of the oak door!
A tiny creature had slipped under the wide space at the bottom of the door, and sat there, looking up at Jack with large black eyes.
‘Philip’s dormouse!’ whispered Jack, and knelt down slowly. ‘Snoozy! You are Snoozy, aren’t you! You’re Philip’s dormouse! Then Philip is in there!’
The dormouse was very tame. It had lived for some time with four children who adored it, petted it and had never once frightened it. Even Dinah had fallen under its spell, and loved it, though she would not let it run all about her as the others did.
And now here it was, on Jack’s hand, its whiskers twitching, its big eyes watching him and Kiki. Kiki looked at it in surprise, but made no attempt to hurt it.
‘Did you hear me, outside the door?’ whispered Jack. ‘Did you leave Philip and come to see who the midnight visitor was? How can I wake Philip? Tell me!’
An owl hooted somewhere outside the castle. The dormouse leapt from Jack’s hand in fright and scuttled under the door. The hoot of the owl gave Jack an idea. The sentry would take no notice of an owl’s hoot-but if he, Jack, gave a hoot just under the crack of the door, it would certainly wake up Philip. It would sound far away to the sentry, but very near to Philip! Far far better than banging on the door, which was a noise that might echo down the stairs and make the sentry come bounding up!
Jack lay down on his tummy. He put his face to the door, and placed his hands together to blow through his thumbs and hoot like an owl. This was the way to make a quavering hoot, so like an owl’s that no one, not even an owl, could tell the difference!
‘Hoooo! Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!’ hooted Jack, and the noise went under the door and into the room beyond.
Jack listened. Something creaked-was it a bed? Then a voice spoke-and it was Philip’s!
‘Gussy! Did you hear that owl? It might have been in the room!’
But Gussy, apparently, was asleep, for he made no answer. Jack got up and put his mouth to the door, trembling in his excitement.
‘Philip! Philip!’
There was an astonished exclamation. Then Philip’s voice came, amazed. ‘Who’s that? Who’s calling me?’
‘It’s me-Jack! Come to the door!’
There was a pattering of feet the other side and then an excited breathing at the keyhole.
‘Jack! Good gracious! How did you get here? Jack, how wonderful!’
‘No time to tell you my story,’ whispered Jack. ‘Are you all all right? How’s Lucy-Ann?’
‘We’re all well and cheerful,’ said Philip. ‘We flew here …’
‘I know,’ said Jack. ‘Go on-what happened?’
‘And we were taken here by car,’ said Philip, his mouth close to the keyhole. ‘And Gussy was sick, of course. Madame Tatiosa, who met us in the car, was furious with him. She’s here, in the castle-and her brother too, Count Paritolen. We don’t know what’s happening, at all-have you heard? Gussy keeps worrying about his uncle.’
‘His uncle is still safely on his throne as far as I know,’ said Jack. ‘But I expect they’ll have a bust-up soon-everyone’s expecting it. Then Gussy will find himself in the limelight!’
‘Jack-can you rescue us, do you think?’ asked Philip, hopefully. ‘How did you get here? Gosh, I’ve been thinking you were miles away, at Quarry Cottage! And here you are, outside the door of our room. Pity it’s locked!’
‘Yes. If I only knew where the key was, it would be easy,’ whispered Jack. ‘Where does your window face? East or north?’
‘North,’ said Philip. ‘It’s just opposite a peculiar tower built all by itself-a bell-tower, with a bell in it. Gussy says it’s an alarm-tower-the bell used to be rung when enemies were sighted in the old days. Our window is just opposite that. Now that we know you’re here we’ll keep looking out.’
‘Give my love to Lucy-Ann,’ said Jack. ‘Is she in the same room as you?’
‘No-the girls have another room,’ said Philip. ‘Look-let me go and wake them. They’d be so thrilled to speak to you.’
‘All right,’ said Jack, and then he stiffened. Footsteps! Footsteps at the bottom of the spiral stairway. ‘Someone coming!’ he whispered, hurriedly. ‘Goodbye! I’ll try and come again and we’ll make plans.’
He stood up, and listened. Yes-that sentry was coming up the stairway. Had he heard anything? Jack looked round desperately. How could he possibly hide on this small landing? It was impossible.
The chest! He ran to it and flashed his torch on it. He lifted the lid. There was nothing inside except an old rug. He stepped inside the chest, Kiki fluttered in too, and Jack shut down the lid. Only just in time! A lantern flashed at the last turn of the stairs and the sentry came on to the landing. He held up the lantern and looked round. All was in order. He clumped downstairs again, his nailed boots making a great noise. Jack’s heart slowed down and he heaved an enormous sigh. He got out of the chest and listened.
Philip’s voice at the keyhole again made him jump. ‘He’s gone! He always comes up every hour. Jack-I never asked you. Have you got old Kiki?’
‘Rather! She’s been with me all the time,’ said Jack, longing to tell Philip what a success Kiki was at the circus. But Philip didn’t know about that either, of course. He didn’t even know how Jack had got to Tauri-Hessia. What a lot there would be to tell him and the others!
Kiki began to whisper too. ‘Blow your nose, shut the door, ding-dong-bell, Polly’s got a cold, God save the King!’
Philip chuckled. ‘It’s good to hear her again. Shall I get the girls now?’
‘No,’ said Jack. ‘I’d better go while it’s safe. Goodbye, Philip.’
He went very quietly down the spiral stairway. He stood and listened. Where was the sentry? He must have gone down the passage again, on his regular beat. Jack slipped across the anteroom, and into the great ballroom.
He stood there for a moment, looking round the dimly lighted room. And then something caught his eye and he jumped.