The clue in the wrong room

Text C: an original fiction extract.

Nessa had promised her cousin Milo a birthday treasure hunt. He was turning eleven, which she considered old enough for a proper puzzle rather than arrows drawn in chalk. She spent Saturday morning making clues which used book titles, a mirror and the number of blue tiles beside the kitchen sink. The final envelope contained tickets for a climbing session. She pictured Milo solving the last clue and understanding how much thought she had put into the afternoon.

Before the guests arrived, Aunt Jo asked Nessa to keep the hunt downstairs. Upstairs, she was helping a neighbour sort some private family papers. Nessa nodded while folding the mirror clue. She had already hidden one envelope beneath the upstairs landing clock, but it would take only a moment to move it. Then the doorbell rang, Milo shouted for her, and that moment disappeared beneath coats and birthday greetings.

The first clue took eighteen minutes. Milo understood the book reference, but two friends had not read the book. He began explaining the plot instead of looking for the next envelope. Nessa interrupted with a hint. At the kitchen tiles, another guest counted the pale green ones as blue and produced a different number. Nessa had tested the route herself twice. She had never tested whether somebody else would see the colours she saw.

The mirror clue was supposed to be her best idea. Milo held it towards the window, turned it over and asked whether the printer had broken. When he finally read the reversed words, he cheered so loudly that Aunt Jo called down to ask what had happened. Nessa remembered the landing clock just as Milo started towards the stairs.

She stood across the first step. He thought this was another challenge and tried to move around her. One friend suggested that the treasure might be hidden behind a person. Nessa laughed too sharply and said the clue was wrong. The group stopped. Milo looked from the paper to her face, plainly unsure whether he had failed to understand or whether she was changing the rules because they were doing badly.

Nessa asked them to wait in the kitchen. Upstairs, she told Aunt Jo where the envelope was. Aunt Jo fetched it while keeping the other room closed. She did not scold Nessa in front of the guests, but she asked why the hunt had needed to approach a place she had already said was unavailable. Nessa could not blame the clue's cleverness for its location.

Downstairs, she explained the mistake without describing the private papers. Milo looked relieved, then annoyed. He said he had thought he was being slow. They moved the last stage to the garden table. Nessa offered a hint to anyone who wanted one and allowed the group to choose whether to hear the answer together. The tickets were welcomed, though nobody made the speech of admiration she had imagined.

After the guests left, Milo asked to keep the mirror clue. He wanted to make a hunt for his younger sister, with fewer books. Nessa offered to test it. He said she could help, but somebody who did not already know the answers would have to try it first.

You are Nessa. Write a letter to a friend about the birthday treasure hunt.

In your response:

• explain what you wanted the hunt to achieve and why it became difficult
• describe the problem at the stairs and your responsibility for it
• explain how you changed the afternoon and what you would do differently next time

Base your response on Text C, developing its ideas in your own words. Write about 250 to 300 words. Up to 10 marks are available for reading and up to 10 marks for writing.