The Seven Diamonds

Once there were four siblings named Luke, Emma, Jake, and Kelly. They used to live in a big, old and creepy mansion which was full of interesting things. The siblings were not allowed to go in the attic of the mansion, because their parents believed that there was something creepy in the attic and something mysterious hidden by their ancestors.

One day, the sibling’s parents decided to go one a two-week trip without the kids. As Luke and Kelly were almost teenagers, they decided to leave them alone with the sophisticated butler and the maid. One morning, when the siblings woke up and after their daily morning routine, they decided to go up to the attic. Emma told them not to go, but the other three were reluctant to go. So, they decided to go up there.

In the attic, they found nothing creepy and mysterious at all, except a golden box carved with flowers and birds. Jake tried to open it, but it did not open. There was not even a keyhole, but a dried bit of parchment beside the box. Emma picked it up and read ‘Open the box and unleash the secret!’. Kelly said, “But how do we exactly open it?”. Luke replied, “A blank space is carved into this, I think we should insert this bit of parchment into it.”. Luke was right, as soon as he inserted it, the lid started open swiftly.

The box contained seven different colored diamonds and a dried, frayed bit of parchment inside it. A cloud of dust swirled around the box and settled down. Jake picked up the parchment and read it, ‘Present it to their respective owners and achieve greatness.’ They stared at each other for a minute or two, not believing anything about the box. Then Emma spoke up, breaking the silence and startling the others, “I think we should return these things to their respective owners.” Everyone agreed except Luke. He said, “Do you guys think this all is true?” Everyone nodded and Jake replied, “I had once read about those in our library and now I am sure this all is true.” Emma piped in, “If you don’t believe us there, then let’s go and check it in the library ourselves.”

They hurried down the stairs, eager to reach the library. Jake pointed to the book on the top shelf and said, “There it is, ‘The Legends of England And More’. I think we should find what we need in there.” Luke climbed up the ladder and reached the top shelf and took out the book. Everyone sat on the couch beside Luke and began browsing it. “Here it is,” said Luke, pointing to the index, “Page 69 – 71, ‘The Legend of the Seven Cursed Diamonds’.

He began flipping the pages until he reached the page 69. He started reading, “It is believed that seven diamonds, once returned to their respective owners, can achieve greatness to whoever that accomplishes this task. But, the seven diamonds have been lost for 4 decades. Nobody knows the exact place where they are located. But if you find the diamonds, you might want to return the red one to Dr. Doom and rest diamonds, you will find clues in each place.” 

Kelly said, “Hey, I know Dr. Doom, he lives up the hill in the Doom Mansion, doesn’t look petrified!” looking at Emma and calming her down. “There is nothing haunted about the Doom Mansion. I have been there.” Emma looked satisfied after she heard that Kelly had gone to the mansion. “Then let’s pack some snacks and stuff in our bag packs and leave as soon as we can”, said Luke, very excited that they were going to solve the mystery. “But first, we should make up some story and tell the maid and the butler that we are going to return some diamonds. I am sure that the butler wouldn’t believe us if we told him that”, replied Jake. “Right, I will tell the butler and the maid that we are going for hiking”, said Emma. So, after 10 minutes they were ready with the diamonds in Kelly’s bag pack with the parchment and the book to go to the Doom’s Mansion.

The path to reach the Doom’s Mansion was very creepy and Emma got easily scared. They reached Doom’s Mansion and rang the doorbell. For a few minutes, there was an eerie silence and then a man opened the door. He was not at all like a doctor, his hair was standing as if just he had a shock of electricity, he was wearing a lab coat, which looked like it hadn’t been washed many years and had stains on it. The kids gasped when they all saw his attire. Luke, then, mustered some courage and said: “Hello, Dr. Doom, actually we wanted to talk about the seven cursed diamonds, the book said that gives the red diamond to you and we will find more clues in this place.” He said it so fast that he was now panting to catch his breath. “Just give me the red diamond and you will find the next person just by the river. Now get going all of you,” Dr. Doom said rudely. As Kelly was already scared, he hurriedly took out the red diamond from the bag pack and gave it to him and the four took off immediately.

After asking some people about the lake, they finally reached the river and Emma bent down to drink the water, but Kelly warned her about the swift current. Suddenly, a swift current washed down Emma and a split second later, she was flowing along the river. She was good at swimming but she could drown in the river because of the swift current. Luke thought fast and grabbed a vine and threw it to Emma who took hold of one end and Luke, Kelly and Jake pulled it hard and finally managed to pull her out of the river. She was shivering and her hands were numb. She was very frightened and was taking big gasps of breath repeatedly. After she was dried, they started their journey.

They found an old lady in a cabin on the other side of the bank. She had all types of domesticated animals in and around her house. Jake commented, “I bet she is very fond of animals, just like you Kelly”. The four gave her a green diamond and took off for the journey to the city. The old lady, who smelled strongly liked rabbits, had told them to go to the city, where they would find two of the people.

The man whom the lady had told them to meet, owned a restaurant in the city. By the time they reached there, it was afternoon and they were really very hungry because they had devoured all the snacks in the morning. Fortunately, the man served them hamburgers and fries and they were a lot thankful to it. They gave him the orange diamond and went to meet the other man who was a Professor at the College.

He welcomed the four and chatted with them about the diamonds and legends heartily. Kelly grabbed the purple diamond from the bag pack and presented it thanks to him. The Professor told them to go to the slopping hill alley and you will find a woman in a run-down shop. They approached the alley and found that there was only one run-down shop of clocks. They entered the shop and as the door closed behind them and shut the outside sound completely, they started hearing the ticking sound of the clocks. There was a slim, elegant woman standing at the counter. She looked a little weird so they told her about the diamonds and gave her the pink diamond. She told them that they would find the next owner of the diamond next to the Doom Mansion, the Baudelaire Mansion.

As they closed the door, Jake said happily, “One of my friends lives in the Baudelaire Mansion, so I reckon he is goanna be friendly than the others.” Others laughed so loudly that the birds flew away from the road. It was nearly an evening so they reached the Baudelaire Mansion. The two children and two adults chatted with the four happily. The Baudelaire family requested them to stay for dinner but the four refused, gave them the blue diamond and asked where they have to go next. The Baudelaire just replied, “Your home” and bid farewell to them.

Once they reached, they were astonished to see their Mom and Dad home. They had said that they had gone for a two-week trip but that the trip finished within one day. They said, “We guys had gone on a secret mission. We are spies and we help defeat other criminals. But the exciting thing is you’re gonna join the agency!! You four have proved us that you are not just kids but spy kids !!!” The four stared from their parents to each other and screamed “Hurray” and then Kelly said, “Mom, the last diamond, the silver one, does it belong to us?” Her Mom replied, “Yes, it belongs to us, here give it to me.” She handed over the Silver Diamond from the bag pack. Her Mom replied, “Now come on, you guys, off to bed, you have a big day tomorrow”. The four thought happily as they dressed for bed, “So that was the greatness the parchment indicated”. And they slept in a deep sleep, for it had been a long day.”