A saturated Jack, once again, peered through a small tree. Nothing. How was he supposed to find out what had happened to Amber with no clues, leads, or hints?

Wait a minute. Jack stopped. Where was it that he had found Amber before?

Under the kitchen window! Jack remembered. He jogged over to the flower bed under the window, only pausing to flip his umbrella the right way in again. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning lit up the gloomy sky. In the brief light Jack glimpsed something hiding underneath some withered lillies. A pair of eyes.

“Amber!” Jack hissed. Startled by Jack’s voice, she sprung out from under the flowers and whisked herself off into the shadows. Jack groaned loudly. Deciding that Amber could look after herself for a while, Jack bent down to examine the ground that his cat had just deserted. He reached out a hand and felt around in the dirt. Then his hand bumped into to something that felt suspiciously hard.

“A padlock!” he whispered excitedly. Jack fished around in his pockets for a paperclip and began to pick the lock. With a small ‘tuh’ it sprang apart. Abandoning his umbrella, Jack put both hands under the flowers and brushed away the dirt. A wooden square began to formulate. A trapdoor! Jack heaved it open and peered inside.

To be continued…