Something sprung from the green depths of a towering hedgerow up ahead, only to scuttle into the one opposite, and it caused Zach to stop and stare.

'What is it?'

The lad looked at Amy. 'Tell me you saw that?'

'Saw What?'

'A dark creature of some kind; I think it's watching us.'

Amy laughed. 'People sneak in here all the time, Clifford included.'

'That's even worse! But, I'm pretty sure the volunteer didn't have a fur coat and four legs the last time I saw him.'

The Supervisor considered the lad's point, then grinned. 'Still could have been him.'

'More likely some kind of animal.'

'You're right,' Amy agreed. 'Loftus' pets escape a lot. Maybe it's one of them?'

'But, how could this one have scaled the outer garden walls?'

Another laugh. 'Knowing Loftus, he probably threw it over the top so it could forage for him.'

'You can't be serious?'

'Hey, poisonous plants sell. Honestly, it's a wonder the whole garden hasn't been dug up before now.'

Zach nodded, unwilling to look away from the suspect hedge as its leaves continued to rustle. Whatever had run in had stayed there.

Amy suddenly grabbed the lad's arm to pull him back. 'Watch where you're going.'

Zach hadn't noticed he'd been mere inches from stepping on the prickly-looking leaves of a Poison Ivy; he'd been too distracted by the stalking critter and not paying attention to his feet.

'You're hopeless,' Amy sidestepped him and kept walking until she crouched low to look under the hedge. Sure enough, black cotton-wool feet trembled, and then the creature dipped its head to bite into a bunch of petals. 'It's just a rabbit.'

'You sure?'

'I'm not stupid,' whispered Amy. 'See it for yourself.'

'I'll be damned. We'd better-'

Amy slapped the lad's hand.

'What was that for?'

She shook her head. 'Don't pick it up.'

'But, if it eats these-'

'The little fluff balls are made of sturdier stuff than us. Let's keep moving.'

Zach saw no point in arguing and followed closely behind the Supervisor until he noticed the blue-painted door with a white plaque that read ''Weiner Cellar''. Someone had thought adding an 'e' and an 'r' in red marker pen would be funny.

Not Amy, though. She pulled a cloth from her pocket and began to scrub. 'Every few days, we have to deal with this crap.'

When the ink proved too challenging to clean, Amy finally put the cloth away and began to wriggle the bolt free until the door swung open.

'Anybody could get in there.'

The Supervisor chuckled. 'Trust me; they won't.'

'Okay.' Zach answered, quickly tucking his hands into his pockets as he followed her inside.

The temperature dropped dramatically to the point it was much colder than the flooded parts of the museum upstairs. The stone flooring, flat red bricking, and high-reaching arches made certain of it, and the stream trickling from one side of the basement to the other couldn't have helped either.

'What a dump.'

Amy smiled. 'The floodwater needed to go somewhere. We'll just have to hope that Henrick didn't mind too much.'

'Who's Henrick?'

First, there was distant grumbling, then coughing, and as it grew louder, and the person came closer, he brought an unbearable scent of body odour with him.

'Whatchya want? I've told ya over a million times I don't like being disturbed.'

Amy covered her nose. 'Zach, Henrick. Henrick, Zach.'

'Pleasure.' Zach said, holding out his hand.

The handshake never came. Instead, the man with yellow-crusted skin shuffled from behind a full wine rack to sniff the lad's clothes. 'New. New, and not so much.'

'Knock it off,' Amy grunted, trying not to inhale. 'Zach's not going to give you his clothes whether they're new or not.'

The lad cast a worried glance, but the Supervisor rolled her eyes.

Henrick noticed the byplay, frowned and ran his talon-like fingers through his hair. It was so long and greasy that even the narrow ray of sunlight shining through the doorway was enough to make it glisten.

'So, you work here?'

The lad had expected the answer to be yes. Instead, he was met with laughter and hot breath that smelled worse than the dog, Lanton's. 'Don't be ridiculous. I live here.'

'In the basement?'

'My cousin Hilton would have it no other way. He's ashamed of me.'

Zach suddenly realised why the Manager had chosen to keep the main entrance open. He didn't want to send visitors through the gardens of hell only to have them land in the den of a strange hermit.

The reasoning was sound, but the lad still had many questions. 'Why are you down here and not in another of the building's numerous rooms?'

Henrick adjusted the hessian t-shirt he was wearing to cover his belly before turning to face Amy. 'Yes, what have I ever done to deserve this?'

'You're joking? The last time you were allowed out, Hilton found you gutting mice in the cafe kitchen. And let's not forget the time you tried to steal mugs and tea towels from the museum gift shop!'

'You make me sound like a wild beast! And I only wanted to borrow the mugs.'

'Then why did you throw them at the volunteer when you got caught?'

'That was an accident! It didn't justify sentencing me to life imprisonment.'

A look of amusement lit Amy's eyes. 'A wild beast? Life imprisonment? Your cousin told you you could renovate the basement, transform it into a home worthy of the name, but you chose to live like this, so get off your high horse and take a damn shower.'

Henrick snarled, dashed over to the stream and began rolling around. 'Like this? Are you happy now?'

'We should get back.'

'Yes.' Zach replied, hurrying out the door after her.

The pair didn't even look at each other until they'd left the poison garden, and Amy began to swing the gate shut. Then she gestured behind with a smirk. 'Didn't we warn you?'

Zach let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. 'That man needs help, Amy. I mean the support only a dedicated facility could offer.'

'Don't you think we've tried? He's capable of taking care of himself; he just doesn't want to. And the last time Hilton went around to perform a welfare check, he almost got his ear bitten off!'

'Alright,' answered Zach with a sigh. 'Tell me now, please. Am I going to find another Clifford, Loftus, Peggy, Michael or Henrick hiding around here?'

Amy kept a straight face as she patted the lad on the shoulder. 'Who knows? This place is massive, not to mention ancient. And there've always been rumours that the old staff members never actually left.'

'Very funny.'

Amy grinned, but it vanished when she heard the beeping alarm of a heavy goods vehicle in reverse. Then, spurred into action, she quickly ran past the gnomes, cursing and yelling every step of the way. 'Not there! Not there! I told you over the phone where we needed the skip dropped.'

Zach weighed the idea of strolling back to the entrance hall, but when he caught a glimpse of the ever-watchful gnomes, he swiftly discarded it and started jogging. Yes, he didn't waste any time getting back either and soon found himself staring at a queue trailing out the door and down the pot-holed road.

The visitors had chosen today to come to Flurbury's Museum of Odds And Ends, and the lad had no idea why until he spotted a father carrying his child in one arm and holding a leaflet reading "Pop Up Farm" in the other. They'd come for the event three days early.