CHAPTER SIX
“It’s not,” he protested, wrenching his arm free. “It’s a present from my uncle and it’s an historic Incan amulet from Peru if you don’t mind.” Jack sat on one of the swings rocking, trying hard not to laugh. Holly seemed a proper geekoid, nothing like how Jules had described him. Martin skipping and jumping rushed towards the conifer trees at the bottom of the garden. Jack rubbed his eyes as Martin disappeared. Holly followed and before Jack could say anything, Holly vanished too. He turned to Jules for answers who simply replied, “Shortcut.” Jack followed Jules to the same spot where he had watched the two boys disappear. There was nothing there except thick, green foliage. He closed his eyes and stepped forward. The prickly needles brushed against his hands and face. Once through, he opened his eyes to see a ten-foot-high fence right in front of his nose. If he had taken another step, he would have slammed straight into it. Jack squeezed between the hedge and the fence until he turned a corner to find an open gate. He found himself in the biggest garden he had ever seen. Lawns stretched as far as he could see. A tall weeping willow partially hid the large house at the opposite end of the lawn. He spotted the others jogging towards a summerhouse, shaped like a fifty-pence piece. 35