The Bet (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798188447816)

When twelve-year-old Aiden accepts a ridiculous dare from the school bully, the rules are simple: sneak into the Head Teacher's office, swipe the famous "Viking" helmet from its display case, and get back to the bike shed before final assembly.

Easy, right?

Not when your best friend, Iain-a walking safety manual who calculates risk for fun-is convinced you're heading straight for expulsion.

Equipped with a paperclip, a lot of nerve, and zero sense of self-preservation, Aiden pulls off the ultimate school heist. But what starts as a simple primary school prank quickly turns into something far more dangerous. The ugly plastic helmet isn't a costume toy at all-it's a key. And the Head Teacher isn't just an eccentric educator; he's guarding a doorway to a hidden, shifting world right beneath the floorboards.

Triggering ancient mechanisms, dodging shadowy figures, and stepping through rifts in reality, Aiden and Iain are thrust into an adventure far bigger than Blackwood Primary. To save their home, they'll have to decode hidden maps, brave wild Highlands, and figure out who is really pulling the strings.

Will Aiden and Iain solve the mystery before the dark forces catch up to them, or will the secrets beneath the school swallow them whole?