Young detectives’ adventure
David is almost thirteen years old, and he has no brothers orsisters. He lives in the northeast of England, not far from the city ofNewcastle. His best friend and classmate is Oliver. Both teen are fond ofwatching films; they have a lot of other hobbies, but most of all the boys likereading detective stories and solving mysteries. They often discuss the maincharacters and adventures of the books by Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie andKaren Inglis. The boys have a meeting place in the old barn situated in a smallgrove. The meeting place is not spacious, bit it is cosy enough. The boys canenjoy the beauty around and watch the plants, birds and animals nearby. On thedoor of the barn one can see the inscription Young Detectives’ House.
That summer day David was in the barn. He was waiting forOliver and his younger sister Sue who was twelve. The girl often came to theboys’ meeting place. Sometimes she brought her pet Rocky, a young shepherd dog,with her. Sue was a great cook and she usually made some tasty pies or cakesfor tea. The teens had tea and discussed mysterious happenings they heard of orread about. Rocky liked tasty things too and Sue always had some treat for him– a biscuit or a piece of meat.
David came up to the window and looked out. He saw Oliver,Sue and Rocky coming up to the barn. Soon they were at the entrance door. Therewere three short knocks on the door and David unlocked it. The three visitorscame in and sat down. Sue opened her big leather bag and took some apple piesout of it. She also had a biscuit for the dog. Soon everyone was having theirmeal. Drinking his tea David told the guests some episodes from the newmysterious story he was reading. He mentioned the most important details andthen asked his friends what the possible ending could be. Oliver and Sue offeredtheir versions. Some of them were rather unusual. The brother and sister had avivid imagination. Then Sue said, “Don’t you think, boys, that nothing excitingis happening here. Our life is boring indeed. Reading and discussing books isfun, of course, but I would like to have some interesting adventure. Why can’twe have one?”
Oliver laughed and said, “Dear Sue, I see what you aredriving at. But I don’t think we can invent an adventure or solve a mysterythat doesn’t exist. So forget about it.”
But David didn’t agree, “You know, Oliver, I think Sue isright. We can make up some kind of adventure ourselves. Let’s think of somegame, for example.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Sue.
The friends discussed the idea of the game. Then Oliver said,“Let’s play hide-and-seek. Do you remember the place near the Jasons’ farm?That is just the right territory for the game. You can find a lot of places tohide there. There are some high and low bushes, long grass, and lots of differenttrees not far from the farm.”
Sue said, “I agree. We can easily hide there. It’s the bestplace for the game. I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun.”
So the teens started for the Jasons’ farm which was about amile away, across the fields. There was a high fence all around the farm.
When Oliver, David and Sue reached the place, Sue said, “Ithink I’ll tie Rocky to the tree because he, as you know, can easily findanybody anywhere. So David and I will close our eyes and count fifty. You willhave enough time to hide and then we’ll begin hunting for you.”
So said, so done. Oliver was near the fence, waiting for hissister and David to count. Then the boy ran to a very high old tree nearby. Heclimbed quickly up into its think branches, settled in the tree and smiled.Oliver thought it was very clever of him to hide in such way. Soon the countingwas over.
David and Sue began moving silently over the place. Rocky wasstanding near the bush watching. Oliver could see them all very well. That wasfun, David and Sue were looking for him in the bushes, in the grass but didn’tlook up.
Then Oliver turned his head and was very much surprised tosee a man climbing over the fence that surrounded the farm. The man jumped downand ran away.
At that moment David was looking for Oliver in the bushesnear the fence. Suddenly he saw a tall man running fast in front of him. Theman was wearing a dark brown cap that got caught on a branch of a nearby tree.David was surprised to see that the man didn’t stop to get the cap back. Hejust disappeared. There wasn’t any sign of him anywhere.
1. Answer thequestions:
1) What was thefriends’ favourite hobby? _____________________________________________
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2) How old were thefriends? ________________________________________________________
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3) What was theirmeeting place and where was it? ______________________________________
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4) Who do you thinkwas the leader among the children? _________________________________
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5) Why did Sue feeltheir life was very dull? ____________________________________________
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6) What did Sue wantto do to make their life more exciting? ______________________________
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7) What game did thefriends decide to play? ___________________________________________
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8) What kind of placewas the territory near the farm? ___________________________________
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9) Why do you thinkOliver decided to climb up the tree? _________________________________
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10) Why was Davidsurprised? ________________________________________________________
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2. Write asummary of the story.
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