Chapter 1: The Strange Parcel
 
It was a wild and windy Thursday evening. Rain hammered on the windows, and the trees outside swayed and creaked in the wind. Josh Taylor was lying on the old, squashy sofa, reading a comic. His little sister, Emily, was building a tall tower of cards on the carpet.
Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door — three short bangs and then silence.
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Josh jumped up. He almost knocked over Emily’s tower! "Who could that be?" he said, feeling a little shiver of worry.
Mum was upstairs, trying to fix the noisy old boiler. Josh knew she wouldn't hear the knock, so he and Emily looked at each other. Neither of them wanted to open the door, but they knew they had to.
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Josh tiptoed to the door and pulled it open slowly. There was no one there! Only a small, soggy parcel sat on the step. It was tied up with string, and it looked very old.
Emily pointed at it. "Look! It has your name on it!" she said.
Josh bent down. On the label, he read the words: Josh Taylor – URGENT.
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His hands were shaking as he picked it up. The parcel was heavy, and something inside made a soft clinking sound.
Josh brought it inside. He untied the string and pulled back the damp paper. Inside was something amazing — an old, leather map covered with strange pictures. There were mountains, forests, rivers, and tiny castles. In the corner, tiny words said: Follow the trail before midnight — or lose it forever.
Josh gasped.
"We should tell Mum," said Emily, her voice trembling.
Josh shook his head. "No way! She won’t believe us. We have to do this ourselves!"
Suddenly, the map began to glow with a soft, blue light. A shining line appeared and stretched across the floor, up the stairs, and through the ceiling!
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Josh and Emily stared at each other, their hearts thudding.
"This is going to be awesome," said Josh, grinning.
They grabbed their coats, put the map in Josh’s backpack, and slipped outside into the rainy night.
The adventure had begun!