Sami The Haunted House

1. Auflage 2021
ISBN: 978-1-78895-379-5
Verlag: Little Tiger Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 3, 256 Seiten

Reihe: Agent Zaiba Investigates

Determined to be the world's greatest detective, Zaiba is always on the lookout for a crime to solve! When a new family moves to the village, Zaiba is intrigued to hear about the strange happenings in their home. Things go missing, objects are smashed and unfriendly messages are painted on the walls. There have always been rumours that the house is haunted, but is a ghost really causing all this trouble? Zaiba and her team are convinced that the culprit is very much alive - and won't stop until they get what they want... The third book in a fun, fresh and exciting new detective series, for readers not quite ready for Robin Stevens, Katherine Woodfine, HIGH RISE MYSTERY and NANCY DREW.

Annabelle Sami is a writer and performer. She grew up next to the sea on the south coast of the UK and then moved to London, where she now lives. She studied English Literature and Drama and undertook an MA in English Literature at Queen Mary University. When she isn't writing she enjoys playing saxophone in a band with her friends, performing live art and swimming in the sea.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sami, Annabelle

Weitere Mitwirkende

Sosa, Daniela

Leseproben

“This is Agent Zaiba. Detective’s log number five. The time is 17:00 hours. Location: Second-floor landing, Oakwood Manor. All entry points and emergency escapes have been located. Threat level remains low.”

Zaiba clicked off the voice recorder on her phone and tucked it back into her pocket. Gazing out of the windows on the landing, she surveyed the grounds of Oakwood Manor and squinted into the fog. Whenever she came to a new location, she always made a general observation – getting the layout of the land and possible escape routes firmly in her mind. Being a secret agent meant being thorough and dedicated, even when it seemed nothing was amiss. She may have come here to hang out in her new friend’s house, but an agent was never off the clock.

It was the first week of the autumn term and the days were starting to get shorter – darkness was already creeping in and they’d only got back from school an hour ago! The setting sun was casting long shadows against the high walls of the landing, and a slight chill in the air suddenly made Zaiba shiver.

“Zaiba! Have you finished your observations?” Poppy came running on to the landing, panting slightly. “Olivia said we can use her fossil-finding kit!”

Zaiba was relieved to see her best friend. “Yes, I’m all finished. Let’s get excavating!”

“Exca-what?” Poppy looked puzzled.

“It means uncovering things.”

Poppy laughed and poked Zaiba in the ribs. “You know all about uncovering things, Zai – especially mysteries!”

As the girls headed towards Olivia’s room, Zaiba thought how lucky they were to have been chosen to look after the new girl during her first week at their school. They’d discovered that Olivia was kind (she’d brought them treats when her parents cooked something amazing), interesting (Zaiba had learned that the very last word in the dictionary was Zyzzeva – the name for a South African weevil!) and funny (her jokes made even their teacher laugh). In short, she was a fabulous new friend! Maybe even a future member of the Snow Leopard Detective Agency UK branch, Zaiba thought as they walked into Olivia’s bedroom.

Olivia was setting up the fossil pit on the floor, kneeling down in the large tray, her soft red curls dangling round her face. The floor surrounding the tray was covered in sand.

A little bit of mess didn’t matter too much though as Olivia still hadn’t finished decorating her bedroom. There were squares of paint on the walls from where the Bookers had been trying out new paint and the carpet had been rolled up, exposing the bare floorboards. Olivia’s new bedframe hadn’t arrived, so she was sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Looking around, Zaiba noted the size of the room. It was so big and echoey that you could hear every tiny sound, from the smallest scurrying of a mouse in the attic to the scraping of a branch against the window…

The Booker family had only moved here at the start of summer and they hadn’t got everything sorted yet, but they’d still managed to make it feel homely.

“I’ve set up the fossil-digging pit,” Olivia beamed as Zaiba and Poppy came to join her. “It’s just a big tray full of sand, but you can uncover some really good finds in it!”

Zaiba smiled at the way Olivia said ‘tray’. She had a slightly different accent, which Zaiba loved. As her dad, Hassan, always said: “Difference is what makes life exciting!” Olivia had moved to their town from another part of the country during the holidays, so until school had started she hadn’t had any friends to play with. It must have been lonely, but luckily Zaiba and Poppy were on hand now!

The girls set to work, picking up tiny trowels to begin sifting through the sand.

“How do your parents like it here, Olivia?” Zaiba asked. She decided not to ask anything about the scurrying sounds – after all, she wouldn’t want them to think she was scared…

“They love the house and the woods around it! There’s still lots of building work to do though and they’re going to make some changes. They keep saying that the house is a diamond in the rough – whatever that means.”

Zaiba knew all about diamonds after she’d solved her first ever mystery at the Royal Star Hotel. That, coupled with her success of uncovering a poison plot at her school’s summer fete, had earned Zaiba her special agent stripes. It also definitely helped having Pakistan’s top agent as an auntie. Aunt Fouzia had allowed Zaiba, her little brother Ali and her best friend Poppy to run the Snow Leopard Detective Agency’s first overseas branch.

“Oh! I’ve found something!” Poppy squealed, clapping her hands.

“Here’s the brush, be gentle.” Olivia handed Poppy a wooden brush with long hairs and demonstrated how to push away the remaining dirt without harming the fossil.

“It’s a… It’s a…” Poppy squinted at the shape.

“Gastropod!” came a voice from behind the girls, making them jump.

Zaiba whirled round and saw her little brother pointing at the swirly shaped rock in the sand. “Ali, you shouldn’t just sneak up on people!” she said.

“Neither should you, Flora!” Olivia wagged her finger at her younger sister, who was hiding behind Ali. Flora also had ginger hair, though she had it cut into a wavy bob. Both girls had bright green eyes and round faces – Flora was basically a mini version of her sister.

“Looks like a marine gastropod to me,” Flora added, taking a closer look at the fossil. Even though she was only eight years old, Flora had an impressive range of knowledge – just like Ali! It wasn’t surprising that Ali and Flora had become firm friends. “But what’s that?”

Flora pointed at another lump in the sand, and just as her finger grazed the surface … it moved!

“A mouse!” The group screamed, running to the corners of the room.

There was a sudden pounding of footsteps and then Olivia and Flora’s mum, Courtney, appeared at the door, red-faced and breathless.

“What’s going on?” she panted. “I heard screaming!”

“There was a mouse, Mum!” Flora was horrified, and Zaiba had to admit her own heart was beating very fast.

“I think it’s scampered away into a little hole behind the cupboard.” Olivia had wriggled behind the wooden cupboard checking it out, which earned her a lot of bravery points in Zaiba’s opinion.

Courtney sighed and steadied herself against the doorframe. “Oh, just a mouse. We’ll have to put down some humane traps… I’m just glad it wasn’t the—” Courtney stopped herself. “Never mind. Tea will be ready soon, we’re having a pizza feast!”

Forcing a smile, she left the room and headed back down the squeaky stairs.

“Yes, pizza!” Poppy had quickly recovered from the shock of the mouse with the mention of one of her absolute favourite things – food! “Yum! I wonder if it’s a sourdough crust…”

Even though her foodie friend seemed happy enough, Zaiba knew something wasn’t right. A good detective could sense when there was mystery in the air.

“Is your mum OK, Olivia? She seemed really worried.” Zaiba knew to be delicate. When asking a potential source for information, you had to be careful not to push too hard.

Olivia’s expression darkened and she beckoned for them to come closer. Ali and Flora moved nearer too, huddling into a circle on the bare wood floor.

“Well,” Olivia whispered, “Mum told me not to mention it, but since you’re detectives, I don’t think you’ll be scared. After everything you’ve told me at school about the cases you’ve solved, I know you’ll be able to handle it.”

Zaiba’s heart began to beat a little faster. “Scared of what?”

Olivia and Flora exchanged a look.

“Mum thinks the house is haunted,” Flora said, rolling her eyes.

“I do too!” Olivia blurted out. Flora shot her older sister a stern glance, but Olivia carried on. “I mean, we’ve found plates smashed in the kitchen and a vase knocked on to the floor in the foyer, furniture has been moved around … even some of Mum’s jewellery has gone missing!”

Poppy gasped in horror and Zaiba’s mind was racing a mile a minute. She knew she’d felt a strange atmosphere here! Despite the obvious worry, Zaiba...