“Elspet, take your brothers home and meet us at the willow in Bruce’s Meadow. Callum, do you need to go home for any reason?”

“No. Dad’s out with Mr. Thomson and Mum’s busy spinning. I’m sure Shona and Murdock are napping, or playing with the dogs.”

“Callum and I will go to my house and get flashlights and a camera and meet you in a little while. Hurry Elspet,” Fiona said.

Elspet ran off with her brothers and Callum and Fiona went to her house.

“Good, Mum’s not home. I see she’s been busy in the garden.” Garden gloves caked with dirt and a stack of newly picked brussel sprouts lay on the counter. “Grab the flashlights out of the kitchen drawer.” Fiona shouted through to Callum. ‘I’ll find the camera. I think it's got a film still in it.” Half an hour later they met Elspet at the willow. “We’ve got to be brave this time, all right, Elspet? We need to look all over the castle until we find the orb,” Fiona said.

Elspet nodded.

“Come on then.” They ran to the shore and saw the boat right where they left it the evening before. They rowed across to the island. “We don’t need the torch. We’ve got flashlights. I brought one for each of us.”

They ran inside and went directly to the fireplace, finding the secret door still open. Turning on their flashlights, they went down the stairs and into the hidden room. “You go and look for the orb. There’s something I want to do.” Elspet pulled a rag out of her pocket and then tugged at a bottle of window spray.

“What on earth?” Fiona gasped, seeing the window cleaner.

“I want to see what it looks like,” Elspet said. “I can’t do anything to save the tapestries, but I can make the window clean.” She climbed on the old chest and started rubbing the window while Callum and Fiona looked for the orb. “This window is filthy. My rag is already black.” She continued wiping.

Fiona ran down one of the hallways and searched the side rooms going off from it. “Nothing in here.”

“I found it, Fiona. Here it is!” Callum ran over to her, holding an object in his hands.

“Wow! So this is the orb. It’s bigger than I thought. Are you sure it’s the orb?” Fiona thought it looked odd.

“I think it is. It’s golden; it’s got twelve holes in it, one for each magic jewel.” Callum pointed to each hole. “It is a little dented and needs a good polish.”

“We’ve got the orb, now let’s see if there’s a plaque under the table,” Fiona looked underneath. “This is the right table. This is so cool. I can’t believe what we’ve found. Uncle Angus will have to come with us here to read it. There’s no way we’ll ever get the plaque off. It’s nailed in there good. It looks like its part of the wood, but it’s made of gold. I don’t want to take it off anyway. It’s for Lehimna. We’d better not tell our mums and dads though.” She aimed the flashlight at Elspet. “That looks nice, Elspet. Good job.”

Elspet seemed hypnotized by the scene before her. “I’ve used the whole bottle of glass cleaner and this rag is ruined. She climbed down off the trunk. “The stained glass is beautiful. The sun is still out and it’s shining through the glass, casting colors on the walls and on us. Take a photo of it, Fiona.”

“This is cool. It shows a picture of King Kegan, I think, and his castle and there’s the orb on the table. His wife and children are sitting around it. Light is shining through the jewels and they’re sending out colorful rays that land on each of his children. And look at the dragons. They’re coming from the stones. They must be carved into them. The king is wearing a star necklace and all the points are lit up. I wonder where the necklace went? Did you see it, Callum?” He shook his head no. “Well, it was probably stolen by Dugan’s men. I think I’ll take a picture of it.” Fiona held up her camera. The flash went off. “I hope it turns out nice.”

A few minutes later they stood outside the castle door. “It’s getting awfully late now,” Callum said. “Let’s hurry.” They rowed across the loch and tied up the boat. “ It’s starting to get dark. I think I’d better get home. Tomorrow’s Saturday. Let’s meet at your uncle’s house in the morning.”

“I think I’d better get home too,” Elspet said.

“You take all this stuff to your house, Fiona. You’ve got the safest house since you don’t have any brothers or sisters.” Callum handed her the orb. “See you tomorrow.” He ran off.

“Cheerio, Fiona.” Elspet waved and ran home.