George Crane- Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Mansion

“All I know is this. The castle belonged to a wealthy family who lived in Crail in the early 18th century. They left the treasure for their future generations to find. No one has ever found this treasure in the mansion”, said Nathan “We were just about to visit the library to find more information on this”, said Harry “We will also come along. This is really interesting”, said Cathy Cathy was not a very fond reader, but she was interested in history and topped in her classes. George, on the other hand, wasn’t interested in history but was good at solving such mysteries. “Oh, I almost forgot. This is our pet dog Saffi”, said George “You have a very adorable dog”, said Natalie “Ok, common. So let’s go to the library then” They all went together to the library. The library was an old building a few kilometres away from the park. They went in and asked the librarian about any books related to the mansion on top of the hill. The librarian guided the kids to a reading area which had all the books about the history of Crail. They began to search for information in the books. After about an hour of extensive search, George asked “Could you all find anything? “Nothing much actually. The mansion was built in the year 1824” said Nathan “Ok. Is the mansion still open to the public?” asked Cathy. “Let’s ask the Librarian” They went towards the desk, where the librarian was seated. “Excuse mam. Is the Crail mansion on top of the hill still open to the public?” asked George “Yes, it is but closed on all Mondays”, replied the Librarian. “If you are going to the mansion to find the treasure, Good luck for that. Many people have come in here searching for the information, but nobody could find the treasure so far” “But at least we can try” said Nathan “Thank you”, said George. He turned to the others and said “Its kind of getting late. Let’s head back. We all should meet tomorrow at the park at 4 PM” Everyone bid their goodbye and went back home. They decided to keep this a secret and did not tell anyone not even the family members. George was glad that at least he had found some friends and some fun things to do this vacation. But he did not quite expect to find the treasure. Just as they entered home, evening tea was served. Then the day went on normally. Cathy had searched the internet and could not find any extra information about the treasure. The next day at 4 O’clock, they all met at the park and went on to catch the bus to the mansion at the top of the hill. “I just hope we will be able to find something”, said Nathan on the way “Ya, we actually could. After all, the Sherlock Holmes of Riverdale is with us”, said Harry winking at George “Oh I did not know about that”, said Nathan surprised “Ya. He has solved many cases and mysteries back in Edinburg” said Harry Cathy was growing jealous that her brother was getting. “Ya, but always with a bit of help from me”, said Cathy Everyone laughed. It was almost the five of them become the best friends for life. They reached the mansion after about fifteen minutes. The mansion was huge but looked very creepy and haunted too. As soon as they got off the bus, they saw a group of kids of their age. It seemed the other group was also there to find the treasure. Hoping that they would be interested to join in the group and help in the treasure hunt, Nathan stepped forward to the other group and said “Hello, I am Nathan and these are my friends. Are you guys here for the treasure too?” “Well, ya. But we are not interested in your group and will find the treasure before you all can” said one boy in the other group trying to show off. Nathan quickly turned away from the other group and said “Well, I guess we already have a rival. But we will surely find the treasure before they can” “Come on. Let’s go inside and investigate” said George They went inside. The mansion looked haunted indeed. The only light coming in was from the front door and the windows. The mansion was dusty and dark. It looked as though no one was in charge of cleaning the place for years. Catherine quickly opened her pink bag which she always carries around whenever they went on investigations and took out three flashlights. She always used to carry such essentials with her. They could see many spider webs almost everywhere. “Eww...so many spider webs. I hate spiders” said Natalie Everyone laughed. They went deeper inside the mansion and searched every bit of the mansion and still couldn’t find anything at all. Since it was all dusty, they did not dare to touch anywhere. They searched the entire mansion from the top floor to the basement. But couldn’t find a single clue to the treasure. “That’s it. Let’s go back home. I don’t think we will find any treasure here” yelled Harry frustrated. “You are right. Common let’s go. We might otherwise miss the last bus. And I can’t walk”, said Cathy. “Oh, you lazy girl”, said George. Everyone laughed. They caught the last bus and went back to their homes. On the way back, Cathy said, “I don’t think we will find anything if we just go in there and turn our flashlights on. We need to study the place more closely. I think we should try to clean up the place” “Exactly”, said Natalie. “Let’s do one thing. Let’s clean up the mansion tomorrow. Maybe there will be some clues behind all the dust and we might just find the treasure too”, said Natalie. Everyone agreed to it and decided to come early in the morning itself the next day. They all went back to their homes. That’s when a thought came to George’s mind. “What if the treasure is not inside the mansion, the family must have just left some clues about the treasure. It is almost impossible the treasure will be hidden in the mansion. Afterall many people have searched for it and yet hasn’t found anything. The treasure could be hidden anywhere.” He decided to talk about it the next morning. He couldn’t sleep at all. The treasure and the anxiety were bothering him too much.