"Polly put the kettle on!"

"Oh, it's only Jack and Kiki back again," said Lucy-Ann in relief emerging from behind the wardrobe.

"You must have jolly sharp ears," said Jack quietly shutting the door and dropping his jumper on the floor. "I was trying to be very quiet." Both girls came out from behind the wardrobe and grinned at Jack.

"Where's Philip," asked Jack when Philip didn't emerge.

"I say," came the voice of Philip, sounding rather muffled. "Could you lend a hand, I seem to have got wedged in somehow." The two girls had a bout of quiet giggles as they watched Jack trying to heave Philip out from under the bed. He was well and truly wedged in.

"Offh, not so hard Jack, you're pulling my arm off!" Philip was pulled out at last rather ruffled.

"Thanks for helping," said Philip sarcastically, to the two girls who were still giggling a little. "You were a great help."

"I think you should choose a different place to hide next time," said Jack grinning himself.

"Look what I found," said Philip showing Jack the coded piece of paper, wanting to change the subject. Jack examined it a little but couldn't make any more sense out of it, than the others could.

"Oh, what did you find downstairs Jack," asked Dinah. "We got so absorbing with Philip I forgot you went exploring." Philip scowled at her and Lucy-Ann quickly cut across before a fight could start.

"Did you find out where they are keeping Bill?"

"Err, well no, not exactly," said Jack.

"What do you mean not exactly," asked Philip.

"Well you see, I went down the stairs and had a bit of a snoop around. I saw the front door, you know where we came in from, and I tried to open it."

"Did it open?" asked Lucy-Ann.

"No, it didn't unfortunately," said Jack. "Well, then I had a look around the place. I seemed to be surrounded by lots of doors. I came first to the room we were locked in and next to that was a big room that had been furnished recently. It had big comfy sofas in, a filing cabinet and a water cooler."

"That must be a room the men use then," said Philip.

"Yes, I expect so," said Jack. "Anyway, the room next to that was a bedroom, full of little camp beds. They obviously sleep there. I had a little look around but didn't find anything of interest. I had a quick peek into the other rooms but most of them were dusty and-,"

"Dusty," cried Kiki. "Musty, Fusty, Dusty. Must…"

"Shhh Kiki," whispered Dinah. "Jack's talking now."

"The rest of the rooms aren't used for anything now," said Jack. "On the opposite side I found the kitchen and that, although still old, had obviously been updated a bit. There was a big fridge, a new cooker and a dishwasher!"

"Was there any food in the fridge?" asked Dinah eagerly. Jack grinned. "Yes and I brought some back, its over there on the floor in my jumper." Dinah pounced on the jumper and opened it hungrily.

"What is there?" asked Philip also thinking how hungry he was.

"There is half a loaf of bread, strawberry jam, some ham and some peaches, and a bottle of water," said Dinah.

"Oh and some fruit cake," said Lucy-Ann unwrapping some greaseproof paper. They shared out the food and started to eat. Philip brought Whiskers out of his pocket and gave him some currents from the fruitcake. Kiki helped herself to the strawberry jam and made Jack's ear very sticky by nibbling it in between mouthfuls.

"So you didn't find Bill then?" asked Philip as they ate.

"No, that's the strange thing. I didn't find Bill or Luke there was no sign of either of them, I looked in all of the rooms, but they weren't there. I did however hear the muffled sound of voices in the kitchen and I am sure I heard the sound of a cough that sounds exactly like Bill's."

"And yet you couldn't find them?" asked Lucy-Ann, unable to believe it.

"Where did you say you heard the sound?" asked Philip.

"Attention please, open your books at page six," Kiki answered, feeling she wasn't getting enough attention. Everyone ignored her.

"In the kitchen," said Jack. Everyone thought about it for a while. They couldn't imagine where Bill could be being kept. Then suddenly Dinah gave an exclamation.

"What is it?" asked Philip looking at her excited face.

"Well this is quite an old house, isn't it? So what did old houses like this have before they had all these modern appliances, like fridges and things to keep things cool?" asked Dinah.

"Cellars!" said Lucy-Ann triumphantly.

"Yes," said Dinah. "I bet that's why you could hear them in the kitchen and not find them, Jack. Bill must be being kept in the callers, which would be just under the kitchen for obvious reasons."

"Dinah, I think you've hit the nail right on the head," said Jack getting excited. "That must be why I couldn't find Bill."

"I think we should all go down and have a look around," said Philip. "While those other men are still out the way. We might be able to find something out."

"If Luke falls asleep or goes to the bathroom, then maybe we can rescue Bill or at least talk to him," said Dinah.

"Let's go and see Bill," said Lucy-Ann, getting excited and heading for the door.

"Silly Billy, Silly Billy," commented Kiki.

"Hang on Lucy-Ann," said Philip. "Look before you leap, remember Luke still has a revolver and even though he is on his own we could still get seen and caught."

"We know," said Dinah scornfully. "We will all be careful, but come on, lets go and see if we can at least find the cellars, before those men come back."

"Send for the doctor, Kiki's down the well, Polly's got a cold," said Kiki and gave a most realistic hiccup. She was feeling sorry for herself as no one was taking any notice of her.

"Oh, poor Kiki, have we been ignoring you," said Jack scratching her poll. "Cheer up old bird, we are off to see if we can find Bill."

Philip stuffed the coded message he had found into his pocket and they pulled the door open carefully. Jack, at the front of the group, listened carefully for a few moments, then beckoned them on. They all crept down the stairs, as quietly as possible. Jack led them through a few passages, then stopped by a large door. He pushed it open cautiously, and stepped inside. The others followed.

They were in the kitchen, but it wasn't a modern kitchen. Like the rest of the house, it had been deserted and old cupboards stood empty. There was a large range in one corner, and a sink in another, now looking grey with dust and years of dirt instead of the white it once was. There was a crude wooden table in the centre of the room, resting on the cold stone tiles. However, in one corner the kitchen appeared cleaner than the rest, and there was a fridge, dishwasher and modern oven. Dinah noticed that makeshift electricity wires had been cabled in from somewhere to run them on.

The children looked around, speaking only in whispers, in case Luke was around. "Where might the entrance to the cellars be?" asked Philip.

"Not from the kitchen, more likely the hall, I would have thought," said Jack. "People may have kept large stores of food in them, but the food they were storing for the next few days they used to keep in a larder."

"A larder would be off the kitchen, wouldn't it?" asked Lucy-Ann. "But I can't see one."

They all looked around, but there were no doors except the one they had come in through.

Suddenly, Dinah gripped Philip's arm. They heard a voice, very muffled, and another one in reply. They certainly did seem to be coming from under their feet. Jack strained his ears but couldn't make out the words.

"Was it Bill?" asked Dinah, in a whisper that could barely be heard.

"Too hard to tell," said Jack. "But I don't see who else it could be. Come on, let's find the entrance to the cellars. I think we should try the hall."

They headed back to the foot of the stairs. It didn't take long for Dinah to locate a door under the stairs. She pulled it open and she could see steps leading down. "Well done, Dinah!" said Jack. "I was looking for a hidden doorway in the flagstones but it makes sense that the entrance would be under the stairs."

Dinah started down. The steps bent left and she stuck her head round the corner. She pulled it back sharply, and indicated to the others to go back up. They did so silently, and headed back to the kitchen.

"What did you see?" asked Philip.

"Luke," said Dinah grimly. "He was sitting on a chair at the bottom of the stairs, reading a book. He had his revolver beside him. There were two doors. Bill must be behind one of them."

The others were disappointed. They didn't think that Luke would be easy to lure away from the door after what had happened to Ian.

"What can we do?" said Lucy-Ann.

"We could wait until he goes to the bathroom," said Dinah.

"That's too risky," said Jack immediately. "He might only be a minute and we would be trapped down there. Anyway, he might not go before the others get back. They seem to know what they are doing."

"It's hopeless!" said Lucy-Ann, looking upset.

"Maybe we could shut off the electricity!" suddenly cried Philip, as he thought of the idea. The others hushed him urgently.

"Sorry," he said hastily, talking more quietly. "But we know we are far from anywhere, so the electricity they are using must come from a generator. If we can reach that and shut off the power, Luke won't have any light, and will probably come to see what is wrong. Then maybe we can shut him in somewhere while we get Bill."

"He might have a torch," said Dinah.

"But isn't it worth a try?" asked Philip, his eyes shining.

Jack shook his head. "It's a brilliant idea but I don't think it will work. Generators are usually kept outside and we can't get out."

"It might not be," insisted Philip. "Let's see if we can follow the wires from the fridge." He poked his head around the back of the large fridge and looked for the wires. Suddenly he gave a start.

"Hey! There's a door behind here!"

The others crowded round to try to see. "Quick, let's move the fridge away," said Jack. He and Philip pulled with all their might. It was very heavy but they managed to move it just enough to open the door behind just enough to slip inside.

"I found it, I'm looking first!" said Philip, as Jack tried to push past him.

It looked dark beyond the door, and Philip pulled out his torch before he went behind the fridge. He was back almost instantly.

"Well, we found the larder," he said. "But it's just an empty cupboard, with shelves all around."

"Let me see," said Jack, and he slipped behind the fridge. Lucy-Ann followed, not wanting to be left out. Philip and Dinah heard Jack's voice. "Lucy-Ann! There's not room in here for two. Turn round! Ow, not that way!"

There was a thud, as Lucy-Ann squashed Jack against a shelf. Then, to everyone's surprise, there came a grating noise. "What was that?" called Philip, as loudly as he dared. There was no answer.

With a worried glance at Dinah, Philip slipped into the larder. Dinah followed. Lucy-Ann and Jack were gone! And where had previously been a wall was now an extremely steep stone staircase, with very narrow steps. A secret passage!