It didn’t take long to reach the old castle. We stood and looked at it from the outside before entering through the gate which was just an open spot in the wall now. Inside we could see that close to half of the castle had fallen down or was deliberately broken down, but a long time ago. If the treasure was hidden in that part it will never be found, I said. The part that was standing was in remarkably good condition, what a contrast to the other side. We walked around inside the castle for a bit, then we noticed an area on the broken side where people had uncovered a doorway so we went over to look more closely. There was steps going down so we followed them. Meow!=I hope we find secret passage! Meow, meow?!=Are you crazy? Not want secret passage, always get stuck in those and hard to find way out.

Meow.=Not need to worry Muffin, I here with you this time. And he wrapped his tail around her. How cute, said Kathy. At the bottom of the stairs the passage turned to the right and…stopped. There had been a cave in, obviously a long time ago. Mr. Cat was a bit disappointed but I reminded him there was much more to explore. Off we went to one of the buildings. Meow, meow.=Someone watching us, I can tell, but not see anyone. Mr. Cat looks around too. Meow.=Yep, I feel it too. Maybe we should go back, said Kathy. I keep forgetting she can understand the cats. Meow, meow!=Good idea, we go back, we pack, we go home, go someplace else for vacation. No, we’re not leaving for home just yet. And stop sighing. Let’s keep looking around, but keep an eye open for danger too.

Nothing in that building at all, but oddly there was a lot of dirt on the main floor. Muffin and Mr. Cat were sniffing around when, meow, meow!=Over here! What did you find Muffin? It’s an old iron trap door in the floor, quite small, maybe big enough for a person to go through. But it appeared to be locked, which is odd. No lock on this side so it must be locked on the other side. Maybe there is another way in there, I said. Meow.=Give me that thin pick thing you have. So I did. Mr. Cat held it in his mouth and poked around a bit and I heard a click. The door opened easily. How did you learn that?, I asked. No, wait, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. I aimed my flashlight down the ladder that was there but I couldn’t really see much, but it did go down quite deep. I decided to go take a look but left the others up top in case I ran into a problem.

I started down and Mr. Cat jumped on my head. Meow.=Want to explore too. Must you sit on my head? Meow.=I not mind, it good spot. Thanks. Meow.=Welcome. So down we go to the bottom where there is a nice passage that went about 20 feet and…stopped. Another old cave in blocked that passage also. Well, nowhere else to go so we went back. When we got to the ladder I looked up but the door was shut. Kathy and Muffin are playing a game, I said. Meow.=Not funny game, if they shut door it lock again, they not be able to open. I look at Mr. Cat. You just had to say that. Up we go with Mr. Cat on my head again. Sure enough, the door was shut tight and locked. I yelled, but no answer. I’m sure they would be able to hear me, I said. Meow?=That not good, remember someone watch us? Yes, I remember that. Mr. Cat keeps looking at the lock. Unfortunately I had to leave my backpack behind since this part with the ladder was just too small. Sigh.

Meow?=You have small knife? Yep, that I do. Meow.=Push in this little spot here. I did but nothing happened. Meow.=Bend knife blade, try again. What? This is a nice little knife. Meow?=You want to stay in here? Sigh. I stuck the blade in the crack around the door and bent it, then pushed it in the spot again and…click, the door was open and out we came. But no one was there. My backpack and Kathy’s backpack were still there, but no Muffin and Kathy. I called out to them, so did Mr. Cat, but nothing. We looked around but found no sign of them anywhere. The only thing to do is go back to the hotel I guess, maybe they went back to get help after closing the door. Meow.=Someone still watching us. I don’t like that, I said. We got back to the hotel quickly and there they were lying on Kathy’s bed sleeping, or more likely drugged. It took a bit but we were finally able to wake them up. But they couldn’t remember what happened or how they got back.

To Be Continued.

©2020 Steve McLeod.