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Chapter One: Unempty House
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It is wonderful how much exploring you could do with a stump of candle in a big house, or in a row of houses. Emily had discovered long ago that if you opened a certain little door in the box-room attic of her house you would find the cistern and a dark place behind it which you could get into by a little careful climbing. The dark place was like a long tunnel with brick wall on one side and sloping roof on the other. In the roof were little chunks of light between the slates. There was no floor in this tunnel, you had to step from rafter to rafter, and between them was only plaster. If you stepped on this you would find yourself falling through the ceiling of the room below. Emily had used the bit of the tunnel just behind the cistern as her own private secret hiding-place. She had brought up bits of old packing cases and the seats of broken chairs, and things of that sort, and spread them across from rafter to rafter so as to make a bit of floor. Here she kept a cash-box containing various treasures, and a story she was writing and usually some apples.
Ferb quite liked the cave (she won't let him read the story) but he was more interested in exploring.
"Look here," he said. "how long does this tunnel go on for? I mean, does it stop where your house ends?" he asked.
"No," said Emily, "the walls don't go out to the roof. It goes on. I don't know how far,"
"Then we could get the length of the whole row of houses!"
"So we could," she said. "and oh-I say!"
"What?"
"We could get into other houses."
"And get taken up for burglars! No thanks,"
"Don't be so jolly clever. I was thinking of the house beyond yours."
"What about it?"
"Why, it's an empty one. And besides, we could find out why and how your aunty got in there in the first place."
"I suppose so," said Ferb. He was a good deal more excited than you'd have thought from te way he spoke. For of course he was thinking, just as you would have been, why it was empty for that long and why his aunt was in there. So was Emily.
"Shall we go and try it now?"
"Alright,"
"Don't if you'd rather not," said Ferb.
"I'm game if you are." answered Emily.
"How do we know when we're in the next house but one?"
They decided they would have to go out into the box-room and walk across it taking steps as long as the steps from one rafter to the next. That would give them the idea of how many rafters went to a room. Then they would allow about four more for the passage between the two attics and Emily's house, and then the same number for the maid's bedroom as for the box-room. That would give them the length of the whole house. When they had done the distance twice they will be at the end of Ferb's house, any other door that came after that would lead them to the attic of the empty house.

When they had measured the attic Emily got a calculator and did the sum.
"We mustn't make a sound," said Emily as they climbed in again behind the cistern. Because it was such an important occasion they took a candle each (Emily got a good store of these I her room).

It was very dark and dusty and draftyand they stepped from rafter to rafter without a word except when they whispered to each other "We're opposite your attic now," or "this must be halfway through our house,"
Suddenly, without warning, their candle lights blew out.
"Oh no!"
"Oh snap," complained Ferb.
"What'll we do? I can't see through this darkness."
"Whatever you do, don't move," he answered.
"I can't just stay put forever," Emily snapped back.
"If you would just give me a minute-"
"Fine."

Ferb crouched, hoping to see the dark outlines of the rafters. He failed to see them, but a false out line of Emily's foot showed up instead.
"This way..." he said and got Emily's hand. Then he accidentally stepped on Emily's foot.
"OW!" she screamed, and Ferb took a false step, and before they knew it, they were falling down to the room below. They landed with a loud "THUMP-!" and face first on the floor. Emily was on top of him, and his foot was on top of Emily's hand, which was over his arm, which was tied up to her arm, which was... uh, forget it. So, to cut a long story short, they were tied p together.

Suddenly, a dark figure crept out from behind one of the walls.
"Uh-Emily...?" Ferb said uneasily, pulling his arms out of her legs.
"This isn't empty AFTER ALL!"
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