Julian's first thought was that the occupants of the house were intent on recreating the famous shower scene from Hitchcock's "Psycho", and he instinctively threw himself to one side to avoid the imagined knife thrust. Unfortunately his feet slipped on the wet tiled floor, and, cannoning off the taps, which gave him several nasty bruises in areas not normally open to public view except on a wet Friday night in the 3^rd year dormitory, he lunged out through the curtain, grabbing it as he fell, landing up in a heap at the feet of his brother. The feel of the wet plastic in which he was enwrapped reminded him of an incident some years before when he had surprised Uncle Quentin in the bathroom of Kirrin Cottage one Easter hols. His Uncle had swiftly summed up the situation and explained a few things to him that morning, and Julian had to smile at the benefits he had reaped from that lesson.

Anne and George looked away in embarrassment as Julian extricated himself from the clinging plastic and stood for a moment dripping stark naked before them. "Oh for heaven's sake," said Dick, grabbing a large towel and flinging it at his brother, "cover it up before I lose my breakfast! It's nothing we haven't seen before anyway!" At this George shot a quizzical look at Anne, who once again felt the colour rising unbidden to her cheeks. Julian caught the towel and began to rub himself vigorously. "I think we'll wait outside until you're finished," said Anne, catching hold of George's hand and pulling her away. Reluctantly Timmy followed the girls back into the outer room as Dick gathered up Julian's clothes from the floor. "It's a bit off," he said, as he held out his brother's Y-fronts to him, delicately pinched between thumb and forefinger. "They were clean on this morning!" protested Julian, taking them and giving them a quick once over with his left nostril. "Not those," said Dick. "the fact that whilst we're worried sick about you and risk all sorts of dangers to come in here and rescue you, we find you relaxing and enjoying yourself in the shower!" "I didn't really have much choice," said Julian, taking his shirt and shorts from Dick and pulling them on. "I thought at first that I'd got away with it with my explanation of being interested in old glass, but then when I was locked in here it became plain that they'd seen right through me." "A bit like the glass, eh Ju?" chuckled Dick. "You know you really can be a pane at times!" he continued, warming to his theme. "Especially when you wear that glazed expression! You don't think you've been framed do you?" Swiftly Julian picked up the bar of soft Imperial Leather and threw it at his brother, catching him a corker just above his left eyebrow.

Once Julian was dressed the four children gathered together in the bedroom. "One thing's clear," said Julian, after they had told him about Alice's bicycle, "she's mixed up in this somehow." "Great deduction, Sherlock," muttered George. "Of course she's mixed up in it, that's why here bike's outside, and why she wasn't anywhere to be seen this morning!" "Okay, okay," responded Julian, "don't get your knickers in a twist." "Having seen your Y-fronts bro," said Dick, "I don't think that's a very apt phrase to use." Julian fidgeted with the underwear that was still tending to cling to his slightly damp skin and swiftly moved on. "What's important is to find out what's going on here and where our Uncle and Aunt have got to. It's all linked together somehow, but I'm blowed if I can fathom it out at the moment." George looked serious for a moment. "Mummy and Daddy can take care of themselves. Daddy's awfully strong when he wants to be." Julian nodded in agreement. "And Mummy may not look up to much," continued George, "but she's got hidden strengths." "She also won the arm-wrestling contest down at the Fig & Ferkin in the village last Christmas, if you remember," said Anne. "Yes, that was amazing," agreed Dick. I didn't think anyone could beat Masher Wilson, but within a few moments she had him squirming on the floor like a fish out of water." "Be that as it may," said Julian, "we need to find them and sort out what's going on. Come on, it's time we explored the rest of this place."

Cautiously the four children, with Timmy snuffling along behind, moved out into the corridor. Most of the bedroom doors were open to allow the fresh air that blew through an open window at the far end of the hallway to circulate, and it only took the group a few minutes or so to check them out. They were all empty and didn't look as if they'd been occupied for some time. In the last room Julian ran his finger along the top of the bedside table, his digit drawing a faint line in the thin layer of dust. "These don't look as if they've been occupied in a long time," he said, unknowingly echoing the words of the narrator. "I think we need to get downstairs." "Just a moment, Ju," said George. "Have you noticed that all these rooms have got several things in common?" "Like what?" asked Julian. "well," said George, "in the first place, none of them look as if they've been occupied in a long time." "I've got a strange sense of deja-vu about this," said Anne, looking nervously behind her at the open doorway. "And secondly?" asked Dick. "Secondly," said George, "there's a thin layer of dust over every bedside table." "Okay...." said Julian. "And fourthly?" "Thirdly," corrected his brother. "And thirdly," said Julian, whose skill at mathematics left his classmates gasping. At least, he was under the impression that it was his skill at mathematics, but he could never quite fathom out why they always asked him to teach them the practical aspects of angles late at night after lights out. "Thirdly," said George, "they've all got a copy of this beside the bed!" and she scooped up a small brown-covered volume from the top shelf of the bedside cabinet. "Oh, I've seen those before," said Anne, "in hotel bedrooms." Her brothers and cousin looked at her. "When have you been in hotel bedrooms, sis?" asked Dick. "We always come to Kirrin Cottage for our hols. We've never stayed in hotels." Anne thought rapidly for a plausible explanation that would keep secret her interest in Hotel Management until such time as she had passed her final year exams. "I've seen them mentioned in magazines," she said. "Oh, right," said Dick, and they looked once again at the book that George had opened and laid on the bed. "It's a Gideon Bible," said Julian. "I've heard about these as well." "So what's so special about them?" asked Dick. "It's not so much what's special about them in general," said George, "though lots of people find them very useful. I remember Florence Spriggs in the Upper 6^th just after we started at St. Columbine's. She had a deep experience with a Gideon Bible. Do you remember her, Anne?" Anne thought hard for a moment, trying to bring the girl to mind. "Yes!" she exclaimed. "Yes, I do! She was the one who dropped out of school just before prize-giving day. Didn't she become a Nun or something?" "That's right," said George. "I went to the meeting Florence called the day before she left. I remember her saying that she had stayed one night in the local Hotel for some reason or other, and that in the early hours she had picked up this book and begun to read it, and that afterwards she saw life in an entirely new light. She realised that she had a calling, and that she had to follow it as soon as possible." "What happened to her when she left?" asked Julian. "Anne's right," said George. "She became a Nun with the Little Sisters of Saint Pericopia at Clacton. We had a couple of letters from her before she took her final orders, but then as it was an enclosed community we never heard from her again." For a brief second Dick considered taking the book home and reading it for himself, for he found the thought of nun's clothing strangely attractive, but the moment passed as George continued. "But to get back to the point," she said, "this isn't a normal Gideon Bible. Look at the cover!" The children bent forward to make a closer inspection, and saw what George's finger was pointing it. Intertwined with the gold-blocked Gideon symbol of an urn was the same fish-like symbol they'd seen that morning on the door to Uncle Quentin's and Aunt Fanny's bedroom made from a piece of sausage skin. "It's the Sign of Alph!" exclaimed Julian. "And look underneath!" he cried, "there are scratch marks making the same shape we saw on the mirror!" "A triangle," gasped Anne. "And not only that," said Dick, eager to play his part in the ejaculations, although he knew that it would probably fall to him to clean it up afterwards, "I realise it's significance!" "What do you mean?" asked Julian. "It's clear as day," said Dick. "The triangle's a sign of orthodox faith! The implication's that the sect that's using the Alph symbol is heretical, and that Uncle Quentin managed to draw that sign of the Trinity on the mirror to tell us that he and Aunt Fanny hold to the true faith, and that they'd not gone with whoever was there with them voluntarily." "They were kidnapped?" gasped George. "Exactly," said Dick. "Dick may be right," said Julian, thoughtfully. "We've heard before about strange sects taking people away to brainwash them, to their own way of thinking. It's possible that's what's happened here." "It's more than possible," said Dick, picking up a small folded piece of paper that had fallen out of the New Testament and reading it. "Look at this!" Julian took the paper and carefully rubbed it between his fingers as he read its few lines hastily scrawled in pencil. "Good quality Basildon Bond," he said, appreciating its smooth silkiness and finely pressed finish. "What's it say?" asked Anne. Julian read out the few words. Am being held prisoner by religious sect at Flushing Manor. Not much time before my initiation meal. Send help. "Is it signed?" asked George. "Yes," replied Julian, "but I don't know what to make of it." "Who's it from, Ju," asked Anne. Julian put the note back down on the bed with an expression of alarm. "It simply says Alice !"