The Gunpowder Plot Read Free Page B

silenced her.
    The two of them retreated once again to their bedchamber.
    â€œWhat can we
do
?” asked Eliza.
    They sat on the bed, and Lucy took out her notebook and read through everything she had written down.
    â€œMouser…” she said at last.
    â€œ
Mouser?
”
    â€œMouser goes exploring in the coal store… And John Johnson is storing fuel in the big cellar under the House of Lords… And – do you remember? – Mistress Rowley said there used to be a way into that big cellar from this house…”
    Eliza understood – and felt excited. “So, if we follow Mouser, we might find the way in?”

   6   
    On Mouser’s Trail
    They waited till night – when everyone had gone to bed, even Mistress Rowley and the maids.
    â€œThe servants work late,” said Eliza, “and Bessy – she’s the youngest maid – she sleeps in the kitchen.”
    They listened to the household sounds: doors closing, footsteps on the stairs, murmured “goodnights” from the family.
    Outside, in the street, the watchman passed by with his lantern. “Ten o’clock, and all’s well!” he called.
    Still they waited, dressed in their nightgowns, and sitting up straight so as not to fall asleep.
    At last the house fell silent except for creaking timbers and the scuttering of mice in the wainscot.
    â€œLet’s go,” whispered Eliza.
    They crept downstairs.
    The kitchen was dark, and they paused in the doorway until their eyes became accustomed to the gloom. The fire was banked up, and in front of it Bessy lay asleep on a pallet. They tiptoed past her.
    Eliza gasped as she felt the brush of a furry body on her legs and heard a faint “prrrow…”
    Mouser trotted towards the open storeroom doorway.
    â€œQuick!” whispered Lucy.
    They followed the cat into the storeroom as he padded past shelves laden with cleaning materials and tools. Further in Eliza could see the coal store and, next to it, bundles of firewood piled up and stacked against the wall. Mouser disappeared behind the stack.
    The girls crouched and followed him, crawling on hands and knees. Eliza’s sleeve caught on a nail and she felt it tear.

    Now I’ll be in more trouble
, she thought.
    â€œLook!” Lucy’s voice was full of suppressed excitement.
    Eliza peered, and saw a door. There was a big hole in it near the base, where the wood had rotted – and disappearing through the hole was Mouser’s tail.
    â€œIt must be the door to the big cellar,” said Lucy. “The one Mistress Rowley said hadn’t been used for years.”
    They tried the handle. “It’s locked,” said Eliza.
    She knelt and pushed her head and shoulders through the hole.
    â€œWhat can you see?” asked Lucy.
    â€œNothing. I can feel a stone floor – oh, and walls. It’s a passage!”
    She came back out, and they looked at each other. Eliza wondered if Lucy felt as scared as she did. She took a breath. “Shall we go in?”
    They crawled through – Eliza first, then Lucy – and stood up. The stone floor of the passage sent a chill up through their silk slippers and they shivered in the cold air. Eliza felt for Lucy’s hand as they moved forward.
    To their relief, the passage was short. Almost at once they became aware of a faint greyish light and reached another door.
    There was no sound from Mouser, and they could not see him. He must have found a way in.
    â€œHe went underneath,” Eliza whispered. “Look! The whole bottom of the door has rotted away. But the gap’s too small for us.”
    She wrenched at the damp, crumbly wood, and a big piece broke off, startling her.
    Both girls froze. What if someone was there, on the other side, watching?
    But Eliza heard nothing. Cautiously they enlarged the gap some more, and then Lucy, who was thinner than Eliza, began to squeeze herself through.
    Eliza