“The map? YES, IT IS!” He holds it up and it flutters in the wind. He’s torn it out of Mitch’s book. “Rose wants to find Mitch, you want the Box, and I want an adventure. So let’s go to the End and then all three of us will be happy!” And that’s when I see that he’s written EXPEDITION TO THE END (AND TO FIND MITCH AND THE BOX) at the top of the page in big, bold letters.

Rose is furious. “Win, give that to me!”

But Win jumps to his feet and holds the map out of her reach. “I know we’ve never been to the End, but Mitch got there, didn’t she? So why can’t we? It will be brilliant, Rose!” In his excitement he wobbles backward.

I jump up and grab hold of his cloak, terrified that he’s going to fall. “Win, please get away from the edge, and stop waving that thing around!”

Just then, a strange scraping noise comes from somewhere above us. We freeze and look up. The crow gargoyles are still staring down at us, only I’m certain that one of them has closed its gaping beak.

“Is it my imagination,” I say, “or did one of those gargoyles just move?”

Slowly the crow blinks its beady eyes.

Win yelps. “That’s no gargoyle!”

At that moment a gust of wind swoops around the side of the tower, ruffling the crow’s feathers. The wind smacks into Win and whips the map out of his hands.

I pull Win to safety as Rose lunges for the map, but she’s too late. The map flies up in the air, twisting out of her reach. With an ear-piercing shriek, the crow launches itself off the stone ledge, dives toward the map, and snatches it up in its claws.

Then all we can do is watch as the crow soars through the sky, stealing the map away from us.

Chapter 21

Shocked and silent, we walk back inside the Crow’s Nest.

Rose closes the door, shutting out the sound of the howling wind.

“Oh dear,” says Win.

“Oh dear?” I say. “Win, oh dear is what you say when you spill a drink. It’s not what you say when you’ve just revealed the location of a terror-inducing cardboard box to your enemy!”

“Maybe,” he says. “I mean, we don’t know for certain that crow is working for Crowky, do we? It could be making a nest.” My look must show just how angry and frightened I feel because he lowers his eyes and whispers, “Sorry, Arthur. Sorry, Rose.”