"This coffee is awesome..." said Lucas, eagerly pouring himself some more. "What's this about a farm, by the way?"

"I said it so as to not arouse suspicion," replied Jamie. "He said he can't leave guests alone and so I said we'd go to the farm while he was at his interview. What we can actually do, though, is see what that old building holds."

"Good idea," said Lucas, enthusiastically. "I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible but I can't leave without seeing..."

"LUKE!" hissed Jamie, nodding to Lucas' cup. Lucas looked down and realised the cup of coffee was overflowing. Jamie looked up in horror as the coffee began to spill onto the floor and looked around quickly. Snatching up the tissue box, he ripped out some tissues and mopped up some of the coffee from the table, preventing any more from dripping onto the floor.

"Damn it," Lucas muttered, as Jamie glared at him. He jumped up and opened a few cabinets, hoping to find some cleaning cloths. He looked into the two above the worktop before remembering Mrs Appleby taking a cloth out of the cabinet underneath the sink when he had spilt his cereal a few days ago. Well, they didn't call him "Greasy Hands" for nothing. He opened the unit doors towards him and began to search. He took out the things that were in his way, nonchalantly glancing at them to see if they were what he required. He removed some plastic Wal Mart bags that contained cleaning equipment, before discovering the box of different coloured cloths in the corner. After removing one, he began to replace everything in the cupboard. Taking one of the Wal Mart bags in his hand, he glanced at it carefully. It was torn down the middle as if it had been snagged. Looking inside it, he saw some dried, browning leaves and a square metal container. He took out the container and glanced at it. The label on the front had been stuck on with glue, with the corners beginning to curl up, leading him to believe it had been homemade and not manufactured in a factory.

Antifreeze? he thought initially, shock filling his lungs and stopping him from breathing for a moment. Some people did crazy things when they were in the possession of antifreeze. One woman hit the headlines just a few months ago after being found guilty at Florida Supreme Court of murdering her husband by lacing his soup with antifreeze. Prosecutors had found the bottle in the midst of her cleaning equipment and presumed she had forgotten to dispose of it.

Don't be stupid, Lucas, he thought. Mrs Appleby isn't that bad. Then he read the small print more carefully. It wasn't antifreeze.

'CAUTION: do not eat. If this happens, go see your doctor or pharmacist imediatly. If it touches the skin, wash imediatly with water. If you don't, the skin will crumble with unreversible effects…'

Lucas forced himself to divert his eyes, having began to feel very light headed. This substance was made homemade and was therefore made for a reason. He was sure this was what Mrs Appleby had taken with her to the building across the moor. That night he had watched her from the stairs window, the bag had snagged on a tree when it was blown out of her hand, probably resulting in some dead leaves falling to the bottom. Why had she wanted this? Lucas didn't dare to think why.

"Oi, how long does it take to find a couple of cloths? I'm still here stopping the rest of the coffee from spilling." Jamie's voice penetrated his thoughts. Lucas' hands quivering like jelly, he put the metal container back into the bag and took it by the handles. He closed the unit door quietly. Taking the cleaning cloth in the other hand, he got up and placed the bag on the table, placing the cloth on the spilt coffee.

"Am I supposed to know why you've just given me a plastic bag?" he asked, hunching his shoulders. Lucas stared at him for a while, before finding the ability to communicate verbally again.

"The bag," he said. "Mrs Appleby took it to the building when I saw her that night. I know because it snagged on a tree. That bag's snagged and has dead leaves in it."

"And? Last time I checked it was perfectly legal to carry a plastic bag around, or Wal Mart wouldn't dish thousands out everyday." Jamie was in one of his sarcastic moods.

Lucas looked at Jamie impatiently. "Look inside!" Jamie did as he said and removed the container. After reading the printed words on the paper attached to it, he looked up.

"Do you really think…?" he began.

"I don't know," said Lucas, helplessly. "I don't know anything anymore." He couldn't think of anything to say. All he could think about was the scenario running through his head at the moment…

"I've said this already, but something is definitely up with that place," said Jamie, once Lucas had managed to regain his composure. "We need to go to the building itself now more than ever. Good thing they're both going to..." Jamie's mouth snapped shut as he heard Stripy singing to himself as he came downstairs. "Quick, put it back in the cupboard!" Lucas shoved the bag back into the cupboard in a flash and began cleaning up the coffee as Stripy walked in.

"Stripy, honestly, you'll be absolutely fine!" said Lucas, trying to usher him out of the door. He seemed to have had another sudden bout of last minute nerves. His shoes clung to the floor.

"No, I don't think I'll go," he said, his hand by his face.

"You have to," said Lucas. "Or you'll wonder why you didn't and regret it."

With Jamie's help, he eventually managed to persuade Stripy to attend. He locked the front door and picked up his ancient-looking briefcase, smiling awkwardly at the boys.

"Well, erm, I'll see you two later," he called to them, as they opened the doors of their car and waved. "With good news hopefully!" Lucas gave him a reassuring thumbs-up before closing the car door. Stripy marched across the moor, psychologically willing himself on as he went. Once he had become a tiny speck in the distance, they got out of their car.

"Spooky old building, here we come," said Lucas, grinning.