Jinxed chapter sampler

rooms once again. In and out, in and out. And just as she’d thought, there was no small, round window in any of them. That could only mean one thing. ‘An attic,’ she whispered in delight. Cora looked upwards and searched the ceiling. And then, on the landing of the second f loor, she found a tiny, broken latch poking out. ‘Bingo,’ she said happily. Cora jumped up high, reaching as far as her arm could go. But the tips of her fingers went nowhere near the latch. She jumped again and again. And then, after a few more tries, she stopped, out of breath. I might need a ladder , she thought. Cora looked around her. Then she remembered seeing an old bookcase in one of the rooms. She found it and pushed it across the f loor with both hands, as it creaked and groaned. When it was positioned right underneath the latch, Cora stepped up carefully, until she could reach the tiny, broken latch on the ceiling. She pulled it and the door in the ceiling opened. She coughed and spluttered as dust fell onto her. Then she climbed the rest of the shelves and pulled herself up and into the hidden attic. ‘Yes!’ Cora cheered quietly. She held her hands up in the air at clapping from an invisible crowd. Then she took a bow.

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