The United States of America, where now the stars and stripes shine, was once drowned in grief as the king and queen of the country died. Hailey, a mischievous and playful girl became very thoughtful and introvert when she heard of the Royal family’s imminent death. What shocked her even more was that it wasn’t a natural death- they had been murdered! Hailey’s mischievousness had brought her very close to the king and queen, as they had no grandchildren and their heir drowned at the sea a long time ago. Hailey cried, as if her whole world had been shattered to pieces. “Who could’ve done it, with…with such good people?” She pondered as she wept. Days passed and the investigators were absolutely clueless. One day when Hailey was working on her assignment, she heard a loud scream from the kitchen- loud enough for ears to ring. She ran to the kitchen screaming, “Mom! Mom! What’s wrong?” Her mother had disappeared and she found a note under the toppled pancake- it said, “For whom thee weep since a week or two, have your mother too!” Hailey packed her bag, and left her careless dad at home. “Mom has to be in the castle and I have to find her!” She fastened these words into her mind.
The next thing she knew, she was at the door of the church to seek help from the priest. The priest assured her that she would get help as more research is done on the case, and suggested her to rest for the night in the church. As Hailey laid down, her heart was anxious while the brain was confused. Both the emotions levelled up as she heard the priest sharpening his knife! He murmured, “This wicked little girl! She knows everything…I’ll end her life now and here!” Hailey was terrified and just then, she spotted a piece of paper lying on the stool near the priest. All sweaty, she quietly grabbed it and ran out with her bag, but she noticed that the paper was blank. She was now heading directly to the castle to solve this mystery herself.
She walked till morning. On the way, she was tired and spotted two siblings of her age- Mia and Simon playing on the road. She said “Hi,” hoping to get a response and indeed, she got. Mia said, “Hey! I’ve not seen a wanderer as little as you! Come in, we have some crispy snacks.” Hailey was happy to join them. After breakfast, she told Mia and Simon what she was planning to do. Their reply startled her. After looking at each other for a few seconds with a grin, the siblings jumped and said, “We’re future detectives and this case seems pretty interesting. We’ll accompany you!” Hailey was happy to get her partners.
They too came along with Hailey, telling their parents they’ll be at a friend’s place for a few days. After a few hours they were standing near a castle which was not as cheerful as it used to be. It was pitch dark with silence filling the scary environment. Simon broke the silence and cried, “Whoa, that looks haunted!” and the other two agreed as they stared at the castle. Hailey snapped out and headed towards the huge gate which creaked open. She then took out the paper she found at the church. It now showed 4 carvings in different shapes! “I wonder what fits in there,” Hailey wondered. Mia and Simon came there too, and as Simon spilled a little water from his water bottle on the paper, some text in English started to emerge, “Find the piece which fits in, to reach thy kin.” Mia said, “Cool, we have some stone- finding work to do now, I guess!” Hailey, Simon and Mia swore not to leave each other till the mystery gets solved. They lighted a candle and went slowly into the queen’s room, trying not
to make any sound. Just then, the three of them got goosebumps as they heard muffled cries. They looked at each other and were relieved to see each other safe and sound. They found a crown kept on the bedside and the ruby which was on top of it was a perfect fit for one of the carvings. As soon as Mia pulled it out, the room made a loud, scary noise and as the three of them screamed, they found themselves in a cold, dark place- with a riddle note at some distance. It said, “The wrists of the boy and girl, and the finger of another, is all what you need.” Hailey, Mia and Simon were thinking deeply about what the answer could be, but just then Hailey snatched Simon’s watch from his ‘wrist’, pulled out the bracelet from Mia’s wrist and took out the ring from her finger. “Are you crazy? That watch was gifted by my dad! Give it back!” Simon screamed, but before he could finish, Hailey put all those things in the carvings and she filled the paper which now looked like a map. Following it, they reached the family hall- and what they saw sent shivers down their spine. Standing in front were the King, the Queen and Hailey’s mom! She cried, “Oh my dear Hailey! My daughter!” Hailey hugged her mother tight and then turned to the Queen with tears in her eyes. The Queen said, “Dear, we didn’t hurt your mother. We just wanted you to come here. The paper you found at the Church was the one we gave to the priest, who was our son. He resolved to be a priest and we had an argument over this. We ruined our relation with him!” Hailey listened carefully. The King continued, “Thus we told everyone that…he died at the sea, but he didn’t. No one knew he was our son. But he returned and when we refused to make him the heir, he…” Hailey pleaded them to continue. The king added, “He masked himself with your father’s face and proved that trusting him to enter our palace was wrong!” “What! Is that why he wanted to kill me? He thought I knew about him using my dad’s mask!” Hailey cried. The Queen said, “Yes Hailey. He thinks a mask can save him from sin, but he’s wrong! He is hiding the knife he stabbed us with in the secret locker under his bed. Prove it to the police and please, for us, give him what he deserves!”
Hailey left with her mom and friends to the police and told them everything. They were not believing her at first but later, when they raided the priest’s room, they found a knife, a mask and precious items from the castle which he had looted. As the priest got punished, Hailey and her friends were relieved, knowing that the king and the queen watched over them from heaven.