Ch-5 The Window, A Face And A Box

       "Annie! Annie, get away from there!"

       "Why? What's the matter Dick?" Annie asked, quickly moving away. 

       "Look....." Dick pointed at the window with a trembling finger.

       Everyone in the room froze. Outside, there stood a man, clad in a black hood and robes with a black cowl glaring into the window sending chills everywhere. The next moment, he was gone. Daddy came out of his office and the sound made everyone jump.

     "Is everything alright? Whatever did you shout like that for, Dick?" 

   But Dick was already out of the house. He was running down the garden path with a torch in this hand, his eyes set on the running man in front of him. As they ran out of the gate, Dick's torch went out.

      "No! Not now!" He shook it violently till it flickered back on.

      "Bother! He's gone!" The man had vanished. Dick looked around for a while, then gave up. He then ran back to the house and found Daddy waiting for him at the door.

     "The man's gone, we won't be able to find him now," said Dick.

     "I don't think so Dick, our visitor has left us a little present." Daddy pointed at a little wooden box kept on the table. 

      "Annie! Get your brother a towel, he's soaking wet!" 

        Dick looked at himself in a mirror nearby.  " So I am! I forgot it was raining! My clothes are muddy now too! Mummy won't be too pleased....."

  Annie brought him a towel. Mummy entered the room. She took one look at Dick, and tried to ignore the mud, since the situation right now was serious. The family gathered round the table. Daddy tried to open the box, but it was sealed shut. He sent Dick to fetch a knife from the kitchen.

           Thoughts raced across the boy's mind. A nightly visitor seems to be interested in looking in through the window of a house with which he supposedly had no business with. Or did he? A very important briefcase being delivered to Daddy in this rain at this hour. Was it all a coincidence? 

        He finally found the knife and brought it back to the front room. Annie was the only one there. Noises had been coming from upstairs so Mummy had gone to take a look. Daddy had gone out the backdoor to make sure no one was there. So Dick gave the knife to Annie and she tried to pry the box open, but to no avail. 

     "This thing is impossible!" She cried out in frustration and threw the box onto the ground.

   Funnily enough, the box burst open!

    Dick gave a little laugh. "Couldn't you have gotten frustrated 10 minutes ago Annie? You would've saved us a lot of time." 

    "Don't be ridiculous, Dick. Look what's inside!" 

      She kept the box onto the table. It was filled with styrofoam. Dick put his hand into it and pulled out something wrapped in thick cloth. Imagine their surprise when they found stained glass inside. Annie found a note in the box which she handed over to Dick. 

      "What language is that?" She asked. "Italian, Spanish or Danish?" 

    "It's none of those.... I'm not sure what it is."

Mummy was coming down the stairs and Daddy locked the backdoor. They were making their way back to the front room when -

Crash! Everybody ran to the kitchen. A rock had made its way in through the window!

Bang! Bang! Someone was trying to break in through the backdoor!

Knock! Knock! That was the front door!

        The whole house was in chaos and the family stood confused. The knocks on the front door became louder. They heard another window crash while the assault on the backdoor continued. Then there was a sudden silence.

    Everything was still. All that they could hear were their hearts pounding against their chests. As bewildered faces looked around, they heard a voice that brought them relief.

      "Mr. James Winter! It's me, Inspector Merry! Open the door, I say!"

Mr. Winter heaved a sigh of relief as he rushed to open the door. Two other policemen had come with the inspector. He instructed them to stand guard at the door, and handed them his umbrella. He left his boots and stepped inside. Inspector Merry had a very nice merry voice,"My men have secured the house, all those trying to infiltrate are being chased. No need to worry about anything now, we have it all under control." 

      He gave a little sigh and looked at Mr. Winter. His voice suddenly took a little graver tone,"What we feared the most has happened James. They're on your trail, and you must tell me who 'they' are!"