Chapter ThreeWith the taunts and the jeers ringing in his ears, Ben trudged off towards the wall separating Darley Dene from the road beyond. Caked in thick sludge, he moved along, head down, wishing he was already home, hidden away beneath the blankets of his bed. The mud dried quickly, but not in the places that mattered, and his thoughts turned to Mum and what she would say when she saw him, so dirty, his clothes ruined. He shuddered at the prospect.
As he neared the wall, his foot struck something hard. He cursed and looked down, half expecting to see a boulder, but instead saw a round, metal shape, red with rust, poking out from the compacted earth. Curious, he bent down, dusting away the soil covering the top of it. He wriggled his fingers into the dirt, got them under the object an
