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W.S. McCormack’s explorations in Egypt, and talked about the people, the land, and the artefacts that he had discovered.
    It was incredible, thought Freddie. His great-great-great-grandfather had been like an ancient Indiana Jones!
    But, fascinated as he was, Freddie was distracted. He couldn’t fully enter into the excitement that Granny P and Dad felt, and that he would have felt, had not the diaries appeared on the table after he had hidden them somewhere else.
    It niggled and niggled at him until he could bear it no more.
    Whilst Dad and Granny P continued to decipher and read the first of the diaries, Freddie slunk away from the table. He decided to go back up to the attic. Just to see. Would there be anything else on the table?
    This time Freddie felt nervous opening the door by himself. But he took a deep breath, turned the key and found the light switch without even using the torch.
    There was nothing untoward. Nothing on the table. Nothing different to how they’d left it. He felt relieved mostly, but also a tiny bit disappointed. But why would there be anything? It wasn’t like he had actually been expecting something to appear out of nowhere… had he?
    Freddie backed away from the table, and feeling a little silly, and still more confused, edged his way out on to the landing, closing the door of the attic behind him.
    He locked the door and went back downstairs.
    * * *
    At the end of the day, after reading the diaries all the way through until late into the evening, Dad, Granny P and Freddie agreed they needed to be kept somewhere really safe. They decided the attic would be the best place – that way they could be kept locked away, and out of the light which might be damaging to them.
    In fact, Granny P said, the ideal storage place for them would be in the empty chest.
    So they all climbed up again, to put the diaries away safely until they could speak to the curator at the local museum.
    When they opened the door and went in again, it was Freddie’s dad who spotted it.
    â€˜Look!’ he said, pointing to the table in surprise.
    On it was a beautiful necklace. Even in the half-light of the attic, it was sparkling brightly as the swinging bulbs cast their slightly shimmering light over it. It was gold, with a number of large green stones surrounded by clusters of what Freddie thought must be diamonds.
    â€˜Well, how beautiful, and how valuable this must be,’ said Granny P. ‘We must take it into Campbell and Sons as soon as we can. But where did it come from? Freddie, did you find this too?’
    â€˜No,’ said Freddie. ‘It wasn’t here when we came down with the diaries. The table was empty.’
    â€˜Hmmm,’ said Freddie’s dad. ‘I smell a rat. First the diaries, and then the necklace. Freddie, are you playing a game with us?’
    â€˜No, I’m not,’ said Freddie. ‘If anyone’s playinggames, it’s not me. I didn’t put the necklace there. It wasn’t there when we left.’
    â€˜Well, no, sure, not when
we
left. But I heard
you
come back up, didn’t I? You must have put it on the table then. Very good, Freddie! A great find, and a clever joke too to try and make us think it had just appeared.’
    â€˜I’m not playing any jokes,’ said Freddie.
    â€˜Now, Freddie,’ said his dad, ‘I let it go earlier with the diaries, but this kind of thing isn’t funny. I understand you’re just trying to have a bit of fun, and cheer us all up, but these are valuable objects and they’re not yours. You should be treating your grandmother’s belongings with much more care. Playing around with things this precious is irresponsible and I don’t want to have to tell you about it again.’
    â€˜I’m not playing around with anything!’ protested Freddie, doubly annoyed by the accusation and his dad talking as if he were a little kid. And he went to bed without even