As they watched, Matthew opened the box . . .

CHAPTER 1Sarah’s Dolls’ House 7CHAPTER 2Another Adventure 15CHAPTER 3Miss Creaklestick 23CHAPTER 4The Mysterious Code 35CHAPTER 5Jonathan has to Hide 45CHAPTER 6The Discovery in the Attic 57CHAPTER 7The Big Picture 63CHAPTER 8The Diamond Necklace 73

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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CHAPTER 1

Sarah’s Dolls’ House

It was one o’clock in the afternoonand very quiet. The cuckoo inside thekitchen cuckoo-clock came out andcuckooed. Then it went back in, and theafternoon was as quiet as ever.

Outside it was raining softly.Inside the living room Jonathan Kipper-nickker was watching the raindrops forminto little streams and trickle down thewindow pane. Nicolas Kippernickker wasreading a book and was curled up on thechesterfield, and Matthew Kippernickkerwas taking a Lego helicopter apart on thefloor by himself. Timothy Kippernickkerwas asleep in his bedroom.

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Jonathan Kippernickker was bored.He was bored watching the rain form intolittle streams and trickle down the win-dow, so he sat down on the carpet besideSarah Kippernickker, who was playingwith her dolls’ house.

“Do you want to play with my dolls’house, Jonathan?” she said.

“No,” said Jonathan. He really didwant to play with the doll’s house butdidn’t want to admit it.

“You can help me move furniture,”said Sarah Kippernickker.

“Why do you want to move thefurniture?” said Jonathan.

“I’m having a spring-clean,” saidSarah, “I’m going to change all the thingsaround.”

“It’s all right as it is,” said JonathanKippernickker.

“It’s for Amanda,” said Sarah.“Amanda?” said Jonathan.“Amanda needs a bedroom to her-

self,” said Sarah Kippernickker.“Who’s Amanda?” said Jonathan.“There,” pointed Sarah.

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She pointed to a very new little dollwith black hair who was sitting on a chair.Her face was hidden in the cushion as ifshe was crying. “So we need to have aspring clean,” she said, “and move thefurniture around.”

“Why is there a tractor in the toilet?”said Jonathan, taking an interest in thefurnishings.

“Oh, I wish he wouldn’t touchthings,” said Sarah. “That’s Matthew!” Shelifted the tractor out of the toilet androlled it across the floor towards Mat-thew.

“And there’s a dinosaur in the bath,”said Jonathan.

“That’s Matthew again!” said Sarah,“that’s why I need to spring-clean thehouse,” she said.

Jonathan looked at Sarah’s Dolls’House. It was a very big Dolls’ House. Ithad a ground floor and large rooms, anupstairs with large rooms, and an atticwith large rooms. It had a balcony, a sundeck, a porch, a reception hall and a greatwooden staircase right up to the attic. It

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had bathrooms, a kitchenette, a library, abig front door with white columns ateach side, and a set of wide front steps.

The outside walls were made tolook like brick, and the inside walls werewallpapered. The walls opened right outlike cupboard doors so you could see intothe house and through all the rooms.

The roof had tiles and a great chim-ney for the huge fireplace in the livingroom downstairs. The roof also lifted onhinges so you could see into the top ofthe house. There were lots of windowsand some of the windows had curtains.

It was really quite wonderful. It wascarpeted, full of furniture and all kinds ofthings. It had a piano, a china cabinet, arefrigerator, a freezer, a workbench, sev-eral cupboards, a large chest of drawers,an ironing board, a television, pictures onthe walls, ornaments on the shelves, littlebooks and vases of flowers, a telephone, acoal-shed outside and a separate garage.

There were even some horses in thefront garden, andtwo small cows. Sarahsaid there should be three cows but that

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Daddy had stood on one. “There’s another horse as well,somewhere,” she added.

“It’s in the big bed upstairs,” saidJonathan Kippernickker.

“Oh, that’s Matthew again!” saidSarah. “Could you lift it out Jonathan?”

And Jonathan lifted it out of theblankets and put the blankets straight.Then he put the horse back in the gardenso it could tell the other horses where ithad spent the night.

“Do you want to play houses withme?” said Sarah Kippernickker,

“No,” said Jonathan, thinking howmuch fun it would be playing houses.

“You can be the Daddy,” said SarahKippernickker.

“No, I don’t want to be Daddy,” saidJonathan, thinking the work bench wouldlook better at the other side of the littlework-room.

“Well do you want to be Mummy?”said Sarah Kippernickker.

“No, of course not! I don’t like play-ing girl’s things,” said Jonathan, opening

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the refrigerator door and looking insideat the tiny containers and bottles andthinking it needed a good clean.

“Well can you get the big bed out ofthat small room for me?

“Where has it to go?” said Jonathanlifting out the bed.

“In there,” said Sarah pointing to thesmall bedroom at the side of the house.

“If it went in the large bedroom thecolour would match the wall-paper,” saidJonathan.

“All right then,” said Sarah, “but weshould move some chairs in too.”

“What pictures would Amanda wanton the wall?” asked Jonathan.

“Flowers,” said Sarah Kippernickker,“she likes flowers best.”

“How do you know that?” askedJonathan.

“She said,” said Sarah.Jonathan looked at all the pictures in

the house one by one.“Here’s a picture of a pig,” he said,

picking a picture off the wall in he attic.

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“Jonathan! Amanda doesn’t wantpictures of pigs,” said Sarah

“How do you know?” said Jonathan.“It could give her a rash,” said Sarah.“How could it give her a rash!” said

Jonathan,“Like Elizabeth,” said Sarah.Elizabeth was one of Sarah’s friends

who had once touched an old picture in ashop and come out in a rash because of anallergy. So Jonathan put the pig picture back in the attic.

“The four-post bed in the big bed-room isn’t level,” said Jonathan, nowkneeling beside Sarah as both of them werebusily re-arranging the furniture. Sarahtouched the bed.

“That’s because there’s somethingunderneath it,” she said, and she lifted itup.

“Look Jonathan!” she cried out.“It’sthe Adventure Key!”

And she lifted out a large silver key.

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“Look, Jonathan!” she cried out. “It’s the Adventure Key!”