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some time. All the ducks and geese have left the lochs and strange noises have been coming out of the well. I heard them myself last night.”
    “You heard noises from the well?”
    “I did. The children went there on their own to see if the MacArthurs were only coming out onto the hill when it was dark. They were at the well when a huge bird appeared out of the mist and attacked them. I’ve been out on the hill all day trying to spot it in case it attacks anyone else.
    “You don’t by any chance know the way into the hill, do you?” asked Sir James.
    “I don’t, but Neil and Clara might.”
    “It’s most important that I meet with them,” stressed Sir James. “In all honesty, I face ruin if I don’t.”
    “You said a
lot
of whisky had gone missing …?” queried the Ranger.
    “Twenty thousand gallons have gone missing!” said Sir James savagely.
    The Ranger stared at him in disbelief. “Twenty thousand gallons!” he whispered in awe. “That’s an awful lot of whisky!”
    “Now do you understand why I have to talk to them?”
    “I do that!” answered the Ranger.
    “Can we ask your children where the entrance is then?”
    The Ranger looked at his watch and got to his feet. “They’ll be home from school by this time,” he said. “Let’s go!”

6. Secret Passages
    Dawn was just breaking next morning when Neil and Clara, followed by Sir James, Jamie Todd and the Ranger, walked along a narrow path on the slopes of Arthur’s Seat. Neil stopped from time to time as if to take his bearings and then, more confidently, moved off the path towards a rocky outcrop.
    “I think it’s over here, Dad. They always seemed to move towards this part of the cliff when we were leaving.”
    “Did you never think to look for the way in and try to explore on your own?” queried his father.
    Neil pondered the question. “I think we always knew that if they had wanted us in the hill, they would have invited us,” he answered.
    The Ranger nodded in relief but, as they moved closer to the rocky outcrop, a growing sense of unease made him watchful. Although he saw nothing, his fears were not unfounded, for high above them, Amgarad watched with baleful eyes. From his rocky vantage point, he had viewed the little group with more than a passing interest for he was fairly sure that the two children were those he had attacked at the well. And when they rounded a jutting cliff and did not reappear on the other side, he sat up and took notice. Slowly he flexed his great wings, launched himself into space and swooped downwards.
    It didn’t take him long to discover where they had gone. Walking awkwardly, for he was only comfortable in the air, he strutted and flapped his way among the boulders until he saw a dark opening in the cliff face.
    Triumph, mingled with a certain amount of relief, flooded through Amgarad, as his own search for the entrance had been fruitless and he had spent a tortured, sleepless night envisagingthe terrible prospect of failure. Barely able to contain his excitement, he hopped nearer to the slit-like opening that gaped blackly between two broken slabs of stone and peered into the darkness beyond.
    It was then that his resolve weakened, for Amgarad was a creature of the air and to venture through black, confining tunnels where his wings would not serve him, was anathema to him. As it was, he took one last look at the rising sun and bravely hopped forward. The men and children were, he knew, not far in front of him and only a few moments passed before he caught a glimpse of torchlight ahead. Thankfully, he took a deep breath and followed the light.
    Inside the hill, the Ranger had taken over as leader. He had come armed with ropes and other items of climbing gear but so far they had proved unnecessary as the going was relatively easy. The passage was wide and sloped smoothly and steadily downwards, but its spaciousness soon gave way to smaller, narrower passages.
    The Ranger stopped suddenly.
    “What