The Secret of the Haunted Mansion

- They heard a loud bang! The sound came from the mansion. The boys realized it was a gunshot!

H oo...ooo...ooo... The sound echoed at midnight. A scary sound. So chilling it could freeze your blood and shake your bones. It sent goosebump chills down your arms and gave you butterflies in your stomach.

Hoo...ooo...ooo...

The sound came in the middle of the night, and the children started crying. Mothers ran in fear. Fathers, who liked to show they were brave, pulled the blankets over their heads. They pretended to snore loudly - as if they were in deep sleep - hoping no one would ask them about the sound or call them to check it out.

Hoo...ooo...ooo...

That sound came every midnight.

On the edge of Ellis Bridge stood an old abandoned mansion. It was from ancient times, made of stone, with twenty-five rooms. Some said it was built in the days of Sultan Muhammad Begda. Some believed it was built by Begda for the saint Hazrat Muhammad Khatu Ganj Bakhsh of Sarkhej. But since the saint was a holy man, he chose to live in a small hut by the lake instead of that huge mansion.

After that, three robbers settled in that mansion. The Sultan set dry grass on fire and burned the robbers alive. From that day on, the walls of the house turned black with soot - and stayed that way till today. Since then, the place became scary. People believed the ghosts of those three robbers still wandered there.

In the old days, people were very superstitious. They were scared of ghosts, spirits, goblins, and genies. Even though these were all imaginary, people believed they were real.

Because of this belief, the mansion came to be known as the Haunted Mansion. Not even thieves or robbers went near it. Only foxes and jackals stayed there at night. The wind made creepy whistling sounds as it passed through.

As Ahmedabad grew, more and more neighborhoods were built. But right at the edge, near that haunted mansion, the houses stopped. People in nearby societies were still scared of the haunted place. Hoo...ooo...ooo...

The sound came again one midnight. Everyone was scared.

But not Ramu, Shyamu, and Dheeraj. These three smart teenagers were not afraid of ghosts. They believed ghosts, heaven, and hell were all imaginary things made up by people.

They decided to find out where the sound was coming from. They each grabbed a torch and a stick and set out.

The night was dark and spooky. There was no road leading to the mansion because hardly anyone ever went there. So the three friends walked slowly, shining their torches on the uneven ground as they moved ahead.

The haunted mansion stood in front of them. In the darkness, it looked like a giant black mountain. The three friends gathered courage and took another step.

Just then-

Swoosh!

A gust of air passed over their heads. 

Right after that, they heard a loud bang!

The sound came from the mansion. The boys realized it was a gunshot!

They quickly dropped to the ground and turned off their torches.

"Ramu?"

"Yes, Shyamu?"

"What was that?"

Dheeraj answered. "It was the ghost's boom! We've read and heard many ghost stories, but this is the first time we've heard a ghost's boom with our own ears!"

Dheeraj was the funny one in the group.

But Ramu and Shyamu were serious boys.

Ramu said, "Someone with a gun is in that mansion. They must've seen our torch and fired to scare us off."

"Maybe it's a hunter," said Shyamu.

"Then why fire at just a flashlight?"

"Maybe they shot by mistake. Maybe it was an accident," said Shyamu, who always questioned everything. Even in school, he asked so many questions, he'd confuse the teachers!

"I'll clear your doubt right now," said Ramu and turned the torch toward the mansion again.

Swoosh! Another bullet!

It hit the torch in Ramu's hand and knocked it ten steps away.

Ramu felt a sting in his hand and cried out, "See, Shyamu? Someone is definitely inside that mansion and trying to stop people from coming close!"

"Who could it be?" asked Shyamu.

Before anyone could answer, Dheeraj shouted, "Ramu, Shyamu! Do you see what I see?"

"Where?"

"Over there, near the fallen torch!"

Ramu's torch had landed far away but was still glowing. In its light, they saw big tire marks on the ground.

"Those are truck tire marks!" Ramu exclaimed.

"Yes, they are!" Shyamu agreed.

"Then..." Dheeraj began to say something, but just then, a third bullet was fired. The three boys dropped flat on the ground again.

"This place isn't safe anymore," said Shyamu.

"You're right," said Ramu. "Let's crawl back."

They slowly slid back on their bellies, like army soldiers.

The next morning, Ramu, Shyamu, and Dheeraj were flying kites on their rooftops.

There was unrest all over Gujarat. People were angry about food shortages, high prices, and black market scams worth crores of rupees. Students were also upset, and schools were closed.

While flying kites, the three boys looked toward the haunted mansion. It was quiet now. No movement at all - only hundreds and thousands of pigeons, crows, and sparrows flying around inside the yard.

The ever-curious Shyamu asked, "What's this, Ramu? Why are there so many birds there?"

Ramu just smiled faintly.

Three days later, a news story appeared in the newspaper:

"Black Market Food Stock Found at Ellis Bridge! Public Stormed the Area, Some Food Taken! Police Used Force to Disperse Crowd. A Loudspeaker Recovered from the Mansion."

The three boys were laughing as they read the paper. They had informed their families and nearby societies about the hidden stock of food. The grown-ups had checked and confirmed it. It was a secret warehouse belonging to a rich businessman from Ahmedabad. He told people there was no food, but secretly sold it for high prices. The people were so angry, they stormed the mansion. The armed guard ran away!

Shyamu asked, "Ramu, how did you figure out there was food inside?"

Ramu replied, "Two clues. First, the tire marks near the mansion. That told me trucks had been coming and going. Second, all those birds we saw in the morning - the kind that eat grains. If we had seen vultures, we could've thought maybe a dead animal was there. But these birds meant there were grains scattered around. So I guessed food was being delivered there at night."

"And that scary sound every night?"

"Read the paper! They also found a loudspeaker. The evil men used it every night to make spooky sounds and scare people away - just like a ghost!"

"Poor ghosts! Their name got ruined!" said Dheeraj. And the three boys laughed.

They were happy that day.

In a time of public struggle, they showed what young people could do to help.