The house stood alone on top of a hill. No one went there. Even the sheep that grazed on the hill did not go near the house. It was said that the house was haunted, because people had seen lights moving inside it.
Murli came to the village to live with his grandfather. He used to play with all the boys and heard stories about the haunted house. He was an inquisitive boy and very naughty too. He decided to have a look at the haunted house.
“Let us have a picnic there,” suggested Murli. His friends were terrified, but Murli laughed at their fears. Finally, Murli went up the hill one morning with Bhola, Sona and Kishan. He warned them not to let anyone know of their adventure.
They reached the door and even Murli felt butterflies in his stomach as he slowly pushed open the door. It was dim and musty inside the house. A little light filtered in through the dusty or broken window panes. Suddenly, a whirring noise made them stop and clutch one another’s hands.
“Bats!” whispered Murli.
The four boys crept slowly inside till they came to a staircase. They could hear sounds of mice and rats scurrying across the floor. They went upstairs.
They opened doors and peered into the rooms. In one room, they found signs of someone living there. There was an old mattress on the floor with a jar of water near it. A mud plate contained two boiled potatoes and a banana.
The two boys came out and swiftly left the house. It was not haunted! Someone was living here. They told Bhola and Sona everything. That night, the boys came up to keep a watch on the house and its user.
As twilight fell, a man came wrapped up in an old blanket. He looked around and went into the house. A light shone in one of the windows and two more men came and went in.
The boys followed them after a while and saw them going upstairs into another room. The door was open, so they looked in. There was a large trunk with four heavy sacks.
The boys went out silently. While Murli and Bhola waited there, the other two ran down to the village. Soon a large group of villagers gathered together and reached the house. There were shouts and a struggle as the three men were caught. They were robbers, using the house to hide stolen goods. The house was not ‘haunted’ any more!
