Brianna felt a strong arm grab her waist, and she tried to scream as the arm pulled her into the wall.

Her breath was so constricted by the force of the pull, though, that she could barely utter a whimper. Seconds ago she had been in the hallway with Jack and Chris, and now she was suddenly engulfed in darkness. Her eyes had trouble adjusting to the lack of light.

Dazed, Brianna heard what sounded like the timid shuffling of feet across the floorboards. She could tell she was on the floor of what must be a narrow passageway behind the hallway wall. The floor creaked. She hadn't moved.

A thin man looked angrily down at Brianna, though she couldn't see him.

"Just get out!" he thought.

He saw Brianna flinch. He gasped and inhaled dust and cobwebs, certain that she knew he was there. "Get out!" he thought again, trying to will her away. "Those were my orders."

Panicking, the man ran at Brianna and pushed her backwards. She fell down through a trap door in the floor and landed on her back in a small room below. The door swung shut above her. The man felt bad for what he'd done, but that couldn't be helped now. He had to go.

Brianna's head had hit the floor with a sickening thud, and it throbbed with agonizing pain. Her eyes fluttered open. She looked around the dimly lit room. She saw something that made her stomach churn with instant excitement.

Directly above her was the missing painting of Louis L'Amour. She wanted to scream for Chris and Jack, but reality hit her like a bucket of ice-cold water: She didn't know where they were.

Above the small room, the mysterious man was running down the dark corridor, which was actually a maze of hidden passages. He couldn't remember where the exit was. The man thought he heard two boys' voices coming from the hall where, just the night before, he'd hung the original "Scream" painting. Maybe it was just his imagination. He didn't know what to think anymore. His hands trembled.

"I need to get out of here," he thought again. "My master will be so proud of m… oh, my gosh! I put her in the wrong room! She was supposed to stay far away from there!"

His heart beat harder. There was no time to move her now.

q q q

It took all of Brianna's strength to pull herself from the floor of the small room.

A small candle cast a faint orange glow and shot shadows across the room. Brianna was worried about the candle: It told her someone had recently been here, or expected her to be here …

She slowly walked over to the dancing flame, which licked at the dusty air. She picked it up and wandered over to where she'd fallen, below the trap door and beside the painting. She looked up at the extremely low ceiling. The trap door had no handle on this side.

Brianna knew she had to get out. She realized that if she stood straight up she could lay her hands flat on the door. She spent the next half-hour pressing her hands against the wooden door, but it wouldn't budge.

She gave up and walked over to the painting. Candle in hand, she stared at the cowboy hat in the image. It didn't look quite right to her. She reached up and touched the painting, sliding her fingernail across the hat. Paint peeled off the canvas, curling at the tip of her nail. Behind the paint was a single word:"L'Amour." It couldn't be the real painting.

"Where have you been?" a man's voice boomed. Brianna spun around, but there was no one in the room. She realized the booming voice wasn't directed at her.

"I, Iwas lost," a meek man said. He was the one who had pushed Brianna through the trap door. "I forgot which hall to take."

"And the intruder?" the booming voice asked.

"Uh, she is, um …" fumbled the thin man.

"Well?" The master's face was red with anger. He knew his apprentice hadn't fulfilled his orders.

"I, she, she is right where she was asked to be, sir," the meek man said. He hoped his master would believe him.

Brianna listened to the conversation. They were talking about her. She looked back at the painting, at the name beneath the paint.

"I must have found another clue,"she said to herself. She peeled back more paint. She was right - more words appeared.

The mystery has already begun

In fact, it's quite close to done.

You've come closer, my friend

And Iadvise you don't lend

This clue to any other.

There's kin of Louis L'Amour

Involved in what has been done;

Do not get in his path.

And yet another man, kind at core,

He'll take any orders from his boss.

There was more to the clue, but Brianna had to peel back more paint.

"Where is she?" the master yelled.

"Down this hall," the thin man replied.

Brianna heard their footfalls on the floor above her. He heart started to beat wildly. Blood rushed to her head as she feverishly tried to reveal the entire clue.

And he is the one who just might

Hint the secret of what is past …

Then the missing painting shall be found at last!

"Which room did you put her in?" the impatient master demanded.

The apprentice looked up at his large boss. "I, I … it's this one, I'm pretty sure."

Brianna's eyes flew around the room, looking for somewhere to hide.

"You're 'pretty sure?'" the master said. "That's not good enough for me!" The venom in his tone made the hair on the back of Brianna's neck stand on end.

She could do nothing but hope the men wouldn't come into the small room. If they did, they'd have no trouble finding her. She held her breath, hoping the apprentice would move his master down the hall. She blew out the candle.

In the darkness, Brianna heard the trap door open with an awful creak.

(To be continued Oct. 31.)