The Magical Secret of the Crystal Kingdom

Chapter 2 - The Discovery

Chapter 2 - The Discovery

The house was fantastic, it had nine bedrooms in total and was surrounded on all sides by tall trees with glimpses of sunlight peeking through and what's more, it was only a fifteen minute walk to the coastline. Inside, their friends were waiting for them. It was so good to see them all again and to know that they were going to be together for three whole weeks.

Callum was the first one to spot them as he came running in followed by the others. Callum was a very friendly lad, aged fourteen and lots of fun. As always he gave both Rose and George a big hug and he jumped up and down enthusiastically.

"Let me show you around" he beamed. He and his brother and sisters Alex, Violet and Ruby, were from a town in Kent where they lived with their Mum and Dad, Kel and Christophe. They were all coming in from outside where the children had been playing. Last to come in were Lucy and her daughter Issy who were also from Kent but as Callum always put it, they lived in the country part really. They had all been friends for life and were all very close.

Callum and Issy were the eldest of all of the children at fourteen. Callum was sensible and very intelligent, always trying to figure out how things worked and solve any problems that came up. He was acing his way through school and was likely to end up a Doctor of some description. He was always up for a laugh and was great fun. He wore trendy dark glasses over his brown eyes, which matched his thick brown hair and was quite a stocky lad, not particularly tall for his age. Issy on the other hand was very tall and slim and although she had just turned fourteen she was already taller than her mum! She had long brown hair and big blue eyes with a lovely kind face. She was very kind in her nature and always made sure everyone was alright and she knew how to stand up for herself too.

Callum's younger siblings all looked pretty different to each other, even Alex and Ruby who were twins weren't identical. Alex at twelve was the eldest twin by three minutes and both he and Ruby had fair hair, almost blonde. While Alex had brown eyes like his older siblings, Ruby had bright blue eyes. Alex was quite a timid character and spent a lot of time playing by himself, whilst Ruby was very outgoing and had lots of friends that she was always playing with, which was exactly what she was doing right now.

Violet was the next eldest, she was eleven and had very dark features, thick black hair and dark brown eyes. Violet was very independent and her mind was very advanced for her age. The phrase 'wise beyond her years' was something the adults always said. She was quite tall for her age too.

They were all eager to explore this huge house and so they all ran off with Callum leading the way leaving the adults behind to talk about, well whatever it is adults talk about!

Every room was huge and there were so many rooms and beds to choose from, it was just too exciting. On the top floor there were wooden beams high up in the ceiling and there was a roof window looking out onto the woods behind. Rose thought that it would be beautiful at night to look up at the stars and was thrilled to see that the bed directly under the window was still free.

"Is it ok if I have that bed?" asked Rose. Callum looked around at the other children and they all smiled. "What?" asked Rose.

"Well," Callum said "we were thinking that we should ask if we could camp out in the garden instead. It'll be really cool." Rose and George's faces lit up.

"What a great idea!" said George.

"Definitely a great idea. I love looking up at the stars" said Rose.

"We thought you'd love that idea" said Issy smiling even more. "Come on let's go and show them the grounds."

"We have probably got a couple of hours to go for a bit of exploring in the woods too before dinner." Callum shouted. They all agreed that sounded like a great plan and they ran downstairs and out of the back door into the garden that backed onto the woods.