The Hunt for Hidden Treasure

by Paula Harrison

  A moment later, someone burst through the entrance. “Millie?” Jess called in a loud whisper. “Are you up there?”

  “Yes, I’m here!” Millie saw Jess’s face looking up at her. “I’m coming down.” She ran down the spiral stairs so quickly she felt a little dizzy when she reached the bottom.

  “Are you all right?” asked Jess. “Why did you ring the bell?”

  “The thief was here,” gasped Millie. “He went out just before you came in. Didn’t you see him?”

  “No!” Jess’s eyes widened. “But he can’t have gone too far – come on!” Opening the door she nearly bumped into a bald-headed man in long white robes.

  “Girls, I really must protest!” said the vicar. “Those bells should only be rung by proper bell-ringers.”

  “I’m really sorry!” said Millie. “It was an emergency and—”

  “Look, Millie!” interrupted Jess. “He’s by the door. Hey, stop that man!”

  The Grey-Hat-Man was creeping past the pews at the back of the church. When Jess shouted, he jumped and ran for the door.

  “What on earth is going on?” asked the vicar. “This is a place of prayer…”

  “So sorry!” gasped Millie as Jess clutched her arm and pulled her down the aisle. The girls ran as fast as they could. Once the thief got outside he would disappear into the crowd. Then they’d never find him.

  The Grey-Hat-Man slipped through the church door and slammed it shut. Jess reached the door first. “Help me, Millie! It’s so heavy.”

  Millie grabbed the handle and together she and Jess pulled and pulled. Slowly, the church door swung open. Outside, daylight was fading.

  A row of men in red uniforms stood to attention at the bottom of the church steps. Two of the soldiers were holding Grey-Hat-Man’s arms firmly. Alfie was there too, grinning cheekily.

  Captain Topworth stepped forward and gave a salute. “Princess Amelia! We are here to follow your royal orders. Just tell us what you’d like us to do.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The King’s Gold

  Millie’s tummy swooped with delight as she looked at the row of soldiers at the bottom of the church steps. At last they had the help they needed. “But how did you know where we were?” she asked the captain.

  Jess nudged Millie’s arm. “I found Alfie, gave him my Medal of Friendship and asked him to take a message to the Royal Garrison. Then I came back here to find you.”

  “I’m a fast runner, see! I got to the garrison in no time.” Alfie grinned.

  “When I saw this medal I knew for certain that the message was from you two girls.” Captain Topworth held up Jess’s medal, dangling on its purple ribbon. “I gathered my soldiers and came here straight away. We were just in time to catch the man wearing the hat described in the message. So what has this villain been up to, Princess Amelia?” He pointed to the Grey-Hat-Man.

  “I think he stole the three royal paintings that went missing yesterday.” Millie climbed down the church steps. Now she was closer to Grey-Hat-Man, she could see his thin mouth and his eyes shifting below the brim of his hat.

  “Wait a minute!” Jess said to Grey-Hat-Man. “I’m sure I’ve seen you before.”

  “You saw him in Gilbert’s studio that time,” Millie reminded her.

  “Yes, that’s true! But I think I’ve seen him at the palace too.” Jess gazed at the man, frowning. “I remember climbing into the carriage ready to ride into the city and… You were the gardener! You were standing outside looking through the window into the banquet hall, weren’t you?”

  “I was looking for the paintings,” the man said awkwardly. “I’m Julian Black – grandson of Arthur Black.”

  “Arthur Black,” repeated Millie. “I think I’ve heard of him.”

  “He was the famous artist who painted the pictures,” said Jess. “I remember Mr Larum telling me about him.”

  “That’s right. He was my grandfather,” said Julian Black. “I took the gardening job at the palace to get a chance to look at his paintings.”

  Captain Topworth shook his head. “Then you admit you were planning the robbery right from the start.”

  “It wasn’t like that!” Julian Black took off his grey hat and twisted it in his hands. “At first I just wanted to look at the paintings.”

  “Then why did you change your mind and steal them?” asked Millie.

  Julian Black hesitated. “I loved my grandfather very much. He talked about the paintings a great deal before he died and that made me wish I could have them – to remember him by.” He swallowed, looking from Millie to Captain Topworth. “At first, I thought the tale of the clue and the treasure was just a fun story he’d told me as a boy. But the more I looked at the paintings, the more I was sure it was true. I decided I must look for the hidden treasure but I never meant anyone else to get the blame for what I’d done.”

  “It was very wrong of you to take the paintings,” said Captain Topworth sternly. “I hear you wasted a lot of good cheese as well.”

  Julian Black hung his head. “I know. I’m very sorry. I will fetch the pictures for you straight away.”

  “First we must make sure Gilbert Small is set free.” The captain turned to Alfie. “Can you run to the garrison with another message, Alfie? Tell them the painter called Gilbert must be set free straight away.”

  “Yes, sir!” Alfie gave a salute and then dashed away.

  “I really am very sorry,” said Julian Black. “I should never have taken the paintings or looked for the gold. I thought the clue might be the little black cat in the pictures.”

  “It is!” said Millie excitedly. “At least I think it is. I found something really interesting just before you came into the bell tower. Follow me and I’ll show you all!”

  As Millie led everyone into the church, she told them the story of the King’s Gold and about the book she and Jess had found in the palace library. They climbed the bell tower and crowded into the tiny room at the top.

  “I found a little cat drawing scratched on to one of the stones.” Millie bent down, searching for the picture. “Here it is! See – this brick is loose.”

  Jess knelt down beside her and the girls carefully pulled the brick out of the wall. Millie reached inside and her fingers touched something smooth.

  “What is it, Millie?” cried Jess. “Can you feel the gold?”

  “I’m not sure!” Millie drew out a small leather bag. She opened the drawstrings and poured five gold coins into Jess’s hand.

  Jess’s face dropped. “Is that all there is? The story of the King’s Gold made it sound as if there was more.”

  “Hold on!” Millie reached into the wall again. There was a hollow space behind the other bricks. She pulled out another leather purse and another and another, until there were twelve bags of gold coins altogether.

  “That’s quite a lot of money!” Jess stared at the coins with wide eyes. “I wonder what the king and queen will want to do with it all.”

  Captain Topworth commanded his soldiers to gather up the treasure and carry it down from the tower. Then Julian Black led them to his house near Halfpenny Square to collect the missing paintings.

  Julian Black hung his head as he went into Peveril Palace. He explained what he’d done to King James and Queen Belinda, adding, “I’m very sorry. My grandfather was so proud that his paintings hung in the palace and I know I shouldn’t have taken them.”

  “Indeed you shouldn’t!” said the king. “You caused everyone a lot of worry.”

  “Come this way,” said the queen in a kinder tone. “I’ll show you where they used to hang and you can put them back on the wall.”

  While the queen took Julian Black to return the pictures, Captain Topworth ordered his soldiers to bring forward the purses of gold. “Princess Amelia and Miss Jess discovered their hiding place, Your Majesty,” he told the king. “Something about a clue in one of the paintings.”

  “Really? Where did it come from?” King James looked astonished.<
br />
  “It’s King Ned’s lost treasure.” Millie smoothed her untidy hair. Luckily her mother and father had been too busy to notice she was wearing a strange cloak and plain dress. “The story about the hidden gold was true! The cat in the church painting was the only one with a bell around its neck. So the bell was the clue and that led us to the bell tower.”

  “Goodness me!” The king’s eyebrows rose. “And how much is there?”

  “Twelve bags, Your Majesty,” said Jess.

  The king sank on to his throne, wrinkling his brow as he stared at the bags of gold. “What shall we do with it all? That’s the question!”

  An idea popped into Millie’s head. “Father? Don’t you think the gold has been hidden in Plumchester for so long that it really belongs to the people of the city, so it should be spent on things to help them?”

  King James banged on the arm of his throne. “An excellent notion! It shall no longer be the King’s Gold – it shall be the People’s Gold instead.”

  Millie and Jess grinned at each other and the soldiers burst into a round of applause.

  Chapter Twelve

  Brushes and Paint

  The next morning, after breakfast, Millie and Jess crept out of the back door, crossed the stable yard and ran down to the lake.

  “I hope Gilbert wasn’t too upset yesterday,” said Millie, pulling her tiara straight. “Being taken away by the guards must have been horrible, especially as he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong.”

  “It was all because he helped us by drawing those pictures too,” replied Jess. “I wish I could draw like him. I’d love to be an artist!”

  “Me too!” breathed Millie. “Imagine being able to draw all day and people paying you for your pictures.”

  Crossing the bridge, the girls slipped through the loose railing in the palace fence and made their way into Plumchester. The early morning mist was clearing away and the market sellers were already busy in Halfpenny Square. Jess and Millie turned down Bodkin Street and tried the door of Gilbert’s studio.

  “It’s locked!” said Millie.

  “I can’t see anyone inside either.” Jess peered through the window. “Mr Small? Are you there?”

  “What if they forgot to set him free?” Millie put a hand over her mouth.

  “But Captain Topworth told Alfie to take a message back to the Royal Garrison.” Jess gazed at Millie, her insides twisting. “We have to go there and find out!”

  Dashing to the end of Bodkin Street, the girls stopped to let a cart carrying piles of cheese drive by. “Woah, there!” The woman in the cart slowed the horse. “Hello! Aren’t you the girl that came to my shop yesterday?”

  Jess recognized Mrs Lee, the owner of Mrs Lee’s Fine Cheeses. “Yes, that was me. I’m sorry but we’ve got to—”

  “Hold on a minute!” Mrs Lee laughed. “I want to thank you. A gentleman came round this morning to say sorry and pay me some money for all my lost cheese. I have a feeling it has something to do with you.”

  “It was a mystery we were solving,” explained Millie.

  “Well thank you!” said Mrs Lee. “Let me know if I can ever do anything to help you.”

  Jess thought quickly. “Could we have a ride to the Royal Garrison? We’d be really careful not to squash any of your cheese.”

  Mrs Lee nodded. “Hop on! I’m already going that way.”

  Jess scrambled into the cart and pulled Millie up beside her. Then Mrs Lee flicked the reins and the cart rattled along. She stopped the horse when they reached the Royal Garrison and the girls thanked her and jumped down.

  The soldier at the front entrance sprang to attention. “Good morning, Princess Amelia! This is a surprise! We didn’t think you’d be inspecting the troops two days in a row.”

  Millie hurried up the steps. “I’m looking for a friend called Gilbert.”

  “He’s very tall and he has ginger hair and a beard,” added Jess.

  “I don’t think you should come inside the garrison right now,” said the soldier. “It’s just … I’m not sure the soldiers are quite ready for a parade.”

  Millie stopped. “Is everything all right? Is Mr Small still here?”

  The soldier nodded. “Oh yes! He’s here.”

  “Well he shouldn’t be!” Jess turned red. “He never did anything wrong and he was supposed to be set free yesterday.” She dashed through the entrance and ran down the corridor. “Mr Small? Gilbert, where are you?”

  “I’m here!” boomed Gilbert. “Is that you, Miss Jess?”

  Jess followed the sound of his voice. Running out into the huge courtyard, she stopped so suddenly that Millie bumped into her.

  More than a hundred soldiers filled the parade ground and they were all busily drawing or painting. Many were sitting on the steps at the front of the courtyard with paper on their knees. Others had brought out wooden chairs and tables to paint at. Gilbert sat in the centre surrounded by a group of soldiers who were admiring his work.

  “Gilbert!” Jess rushed over, her eyes wide. “We thought you were in prison!”

  “Oh no!” Gilbert smiled and waved his paintbrush merrily. “They let me go yesterday and told me they were sorry for the whole mistake. By then, I’d shown these fine soldiers my best drawing tips and they begged me to come back today and show them some more!”

  “Hello, Princess Amelia and Miss Jess!” Captain Topworth marched up with a painting of the garrison under his arm. “Have you come to join us?”

  “We were looking for Mr Small,” explained Millie. “I didn’t know you liked drawing, Captain.”

  The captain screwed his face up thoughtfully. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t know it either. But after all that marching, painting a picture is very soothing!”

  “Could we stay and do some painting too?” asked Jess.

  “Of course!” The captain smiled. “Help yourselves to paper and paintbrushes.”

  So Jess and Millie sat down and worked very hard on their pictures. Jess painted Millie and Millie painted Jess. At last, they showed their pictures to each other.

  Millie had drawn Jess pony-riding wearing a green velvet cloak and a diamond tiara. Jess had painted Millie in a maid dress, baking a chocolate cake in the palace kitchen. The girls looked at each other and giggled.

  “Let’s take these back to the palace to show Cook,” said Jess.

  “All right then, Double Trouble!” said Millie.

  Turn over for some fun

  puzzles and quizzes – grab a

  friend and play together!

  Rainbow Wordsearch

  Can you find the names of Gilbert Small’s unique paint colours?

  D A P R I C O T F A

  P B A E G E A O K Q

  C O B A L T D O P U

  O A E E P X E S W A

  T Q M R S D V E H M

  T D X A W P I Z D A

  C O R N F L O W E R

  R U M O N S L E R I

  A T B H B S E V R N

  Z J F Y F I T H I E

  Aquamarine

  Cornflower

  Violet

  Cobalt

  Apricot

  Spot the Difference

  Can you use your mystery solving skills to find the five differences?

  Royal Chocolate Cake

  Follow Chef’s secret recipe to make a delicious chocolate cake.

  Ingredients

  For the cake:

  •225g plain flour

  •350g caster sugar

  •85g cocoa powder

  •110g butter/margarine

  •1½ tsp baking powder

  •1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

  •2 eggs

  •250ml milk

  •125ml vegetable oil

  •2 tsp vanilla extract

  •250ml boiling water

  For the icing:

  •200g plain chocolate

  •200ml double cream

  •Sprinkles

  Equipment

  2 x 20cm sandwich tin
s, mixing bowl, wooden spoon, saucepan.

  •Ask a grown-up to preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4.

  •Grease and line two 20cm/8in sandwich tins.

  •For the cake, place all of the cake ingredients, except the boiling water, into a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, beat the mixture until smooth and well combined.

  •Ask a grown-up to add the boiling water to the mixture, a little at a time, until smooth.

  •Divide the cake batter between the sandwich tins and bake in the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch.

  •Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool in their tins, before icing (make sure an adult is there to do this!).

  •For the chocolate icing, heat the chocolate and cream in a saucepan over a low heat until the chocolate melts.

  •Remove the pan from the heat and whisk the mixture until it is smooth. Set aside to cool for 1-2 hours, or until thick enough to spread over the cake.

  •To assemble the cake, run a round-bladed knife around the inside of the cake tins to loosen the cakes. Carefully remove the cakes from the tins.

  •Spread a little chocolate icing over the top of one of the chocolate cakes, then carefully top with the other cake.

  •Now ice the cake all over with the chocolate icing.

  •Add as many sprinkles as you like, and enjoy!

  You must have an adult around to help you.

  Double Trouble!

  Use these canvases to draw a picture of your best friend, and ask your best friend to draw one of you – just like Millie and Jess!

  Here is a peek at another Tiara

  Friends adventure…

  Chapter One

  Jax Makes

  Mischief

  Princess Amelia (who was called Millie, for short) raced down the servants’ corridor of Peveril Palace. Her satin dress swished around her legs and her pretty yellow shoes clattered on the stone floor. “Jess!” she called. “Wait for me!”