The Mystery Door and The Magic Lamp

By John Wiltshire

The four friends could not believe what Flo had just said. She wanted them to go to Morocco to collect something very precious for her.
But they were only twelve. How could they possibly go off to Morocco on their own?
Anyway how would they get there and back?
And what was so precious about what Flo wanted them to collect?
‘I want you to pick up a magic lamp that was stolen from me a very long time ago,’ Flo had told them. ‘It was given to me by my grandad and is now, probably the only one left in the world.’
What could they say? It sounded so exciting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jul 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781398415492

Book preview

About the Author

John Wiltshire lives in a pleasant seaside town in Kent with his wife, and for some time he worked in a small, infants’ school there. He has two grown-up sons and four grown-up grandchildren. He has always had an ambition to write and it was while working in the school that he got an idea for a children’s story set in and around a small village school. The Mystery Door stories, with the four friends and the magical teacher, have all come from that original idea.

Copyright Information ©

John Wiltshire (2021)

The right of John Wiltshire to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398415485 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398415492 (ePub-e book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my wife for her patience and all the encouragement she has given me. Then, of course, thank you to everyone else, family and friends, who have also shown me their support and encouragement. I probably wouldn’t have done it without you.

Chapter 1

What Do You Think She Wants?

Billy and his friends were going to Morocco.

There were four of them in all—Mia, Adya or Ady, Vikram or Vik and, of course, Billy. They were twelve years old and had lived in the little village of Loose Chippings all their lives. As friends, they were inseparable.

One morning while Billy was in the village, he’d met Florence, one of his mum’s friends, and she’d asked him whether he and his friends could go up to her house, as she had something important to ask them.

‘I haven’t got any idea what she wants though,’ Billy told his friends when he met them. ‘But look, it’s Easter holiday, ain’t it? And we want something to do. Let’s at least go to her house and find out what she wants. We can always come home if it’s rubbish.’

Everyone in Loose Chippings knew Florence. In fact, she was a very popular lady and had lived in the village for some time now. She was a teacher in the little school and was very well liked by all of the children, both past and present. Billy’s mum also worked in the little school, and the two of them had become great friends.

Although her name was Florence, she preferred to be called Flo by her friends and anyone who knew her. But people did admit to being a little bit puzzled by her though, as she never seemed to grow any older. In fact, she didn’t look any different to when she’d first come to the village.

She lived in a big house on an island in the middle of a large lake, just outside the village. Billy had been to her house several times with his mum, so he did know the way.

‘Don’t worry about getting across the lake,’ Billy told the others. ‘There’s a little boat that can be a bit worrying when you first see it. It sails itself, but it’s okay. Mum and I have used it several times when we’ve been up there.’

They decided to go straight away to find out what it was she wanted and so they were soon crossing the lake and on their way to the big house. Flo was waiting for them when they got out of the boat.

‘Thank you so much for coming,’ she said. ‘Come on in and grab a seat. I bet you are wondering what I want, aren’t you?’

She led them into a room with several chairs, and she went and sat in a nice big comfortable looking armchair.

‘Right, what I want might sound a bit strange, but please listen to what I have to say first, before you decide. I want to ask you all to go somewhere for me.’

‘Yeah, okay,’ said Billy, ‘but where do you want us to go?’

‘Morocco, Billy,’ said Flo. ‘Have you ever been there? It’s really nice and I’m sure you’ll like it.’

‘Morocco, Flo,’ said Billy. ‘That’s an awfully long way away. Not exactly just down the road, is it? Anyway we’re hardly old enough to go off there on our own, aren’t we? I don’t know about this, it sounds a bit weird to me. Why do you want us to go there anyway?’

‘There’s something there that I want,’ said Flo. ‘It really is important to me that I get it. I would go myself but that just is not possible at the moment. I have so much to do and I really don’t have the time.’

‘Where’s Morocco?’ said Ady. ‘I’ve heard of it but