The Mysterious Beeping

"Long long ago, there lived a farmer who had a biiig farm. He also had a small girl whose name was Muriel. She was pretty and helped her parents with chores. One day she was out in the stable, sitting near the neat stacks of hay. She enjoyed watching horses.

'Muriel! Where are you kiddo? Look what I bought !' She heard her father, George, calling her out. She ran out of the stable and went to her father who was holding a couple of dolls. They were the dolls she desperately wanted..."

"Seriously Madison! Why does every stupid story you come up with has at least a couple of dolls!" Said exasperated Aidan Dankworth who was 12. "Come on Braylon! I can narrate a better story." He said to his lil brother who was 11.

"Oh, seriously my stories are waaaayyyyyyyyyyy better than your stupid stories. Aren't they Bray?" Said Madison Dankworth who was the eldest of the siblings and was turning 14.

Madison Dankworth, Aidan Dankworth, and Braylon Dankworth were sitting in Madison's bedroom as it was the weekend and Braylon wanted to hear a story. Their parents Jasper Dankworth and Jasmine Dankworth were out of station due to "some important stuff", as they always said.

Kids were with their au pair, Lucy Fernsby. She was a cool teenager who didn't know when it is too late for bed or when to say enough to sweets. She was by far the best au pair the kids ever had. Their parents were mostly out of the state so the kids usually ended up with the au pairs.

It was already 23:15 but Lucy was sitting in the hall chatting excitedly with one of her college friends. The kids, Madison, Aidan, and Braylon were still up and now their storytime turned into a biiig argument between Madison and Aidan.

"Oh wow, Aidan! I can't believe you said your stories are better than my stories," an exasperated Madison was saying " your stories are filled with some stupid villain trying to kill a whole city and a stupid superhero coming and rescuing them."

"Well, at least my stories have some action going on in them. What about your stories eh? What happens in your stories? Nothing a stupid doll either flies off a plane or is wrecked cuz a car ran over it. Seriously who cares about a doll??" Said Aidan matching his sister's exasperation.

" Who cares about a city being ruined??" Shouted Madison

"Kiiiiidzzz stop fighting already." Shouted Lucy from downstairs.

Both Aidan and Madison were staring at each other with utter loathing. Suddenly they heard a beeping sound from their parents' room. That was a shocker cuz that room was only used when their parents were home. All three of them sat there staring at each other.

Even though Aidan and Madison argued and disagreed almost always, they were still siblings. They were able to communicate sometimes without speaking. It usually was the time when they were about to break some rule that would land them into trouble. This was also one of "those times" where they were speaking telepathically.

We should really go check out. Aidan's eyes said.

Yeah. We should. But we will be in deep trouble for this. Madison was think-speaking.

I know about the stakes but this one-time won't hurt. Thought Aidan.

Aidan was a determined daredevil. He was always the one who urged Madison and Braylon to accompany him in his mischievous plans not that Madison and Braylon were any better. It was just that they were a tinsy bit hesitant. Three of them tip-toed their way to their parents' room even though tiptoeing was kinda unnecessary. By the time they reached the room beeping was replaced by a low mechanical hissing asking for the caller to record the message.

"Di-di-dah -- di-dah-dit -- dah-dah-dit -- dit- - dah-dit--dah ---- dah-dah -- dit - di-di-dit -- di-di-dit-- di-dah -- di-dah-dit -- dit ---- dah-dit -- dah-dah-dah ---- di-di-di-di-dah ---- di-dah -- dah-dit -- dah-di-dit ---- dah-dit -- dah-dah-dah ---- dah-dah-dah-di-dit ---- di-dit --dah-dit ---- dah-dah-dit-- di-dah-dit-- di-dah-- di-di-di-dah-- dit----- dah-di-dit--di-dah--dah-dit--dah-dah-dit--dit--di-dah-dit--di-dah-di-dah-di-dah----di-dah-dah-dah--dah-di-dit--di-di-dit----di-dah-dit-- dit--di-dah--dah-di-dah-dit--di-di-di-dit---- di-dah-di-dit--di-di-dit----dah-dit--dah-dah-dah--di-dah-dah ---- di-dah-di-dah-di-dah----dah-di-dah"

"Whoa, that is like... I don't know! Is it Morse?" said Madison clearly awed.

"I guess it is," said Braylon. "but to solve it we need to hear it many times and copy it accurately."

"Yup lil dude you got it right. But first, let's search for the instrument that delivered the message." Said Aidan already moving into action.

"Do you think mom and dad hid it in their closet?"Asked Braylon, joining Aidan.

"Umm... guys. Listen up. Should we seriously search mom and dad's room? I mean I know it's weird that they received a message in morse. You know it means something's really going on. But still, we've already crossed the line by entering mom and dad's room. Searching it is really a big deal. We can't do it you know We CAN'T." Said Madison.

"Speak for yourselves. I am going to search and find out all about the code." Aidan said in a determined voice.

"Yeah Maddo! Aid is right. What if it's a really important message and someone needs help and maybe we could do something. I am gonna help Aid. A determined Braylon said.

"Oops! Looks like Bray and I are on it and it's only you who will be sitting in a corner while we will be doing some real work. You can play with some dolls you know." Aidan said to provoke Madison. He didn't like the idea of doing anything that involves who knows what kind of danger without his elder sister. He knew that if he insulted Maddo, she would surely join. And he was right because Madison had a fierce look in her eyes and she joined them in their "instrument hunt".

Aidan who was always good with mechanism came up with the idea that maybe their parents had a secret compartment or something in their room and that they should search for it.

It was not before 2 in the morning that they found a secret closet behind the closet which was filled with files and weird instruments.

"I don't get it!"Exclaimed Braylon who looked really confused. "This closet must be here for like ages. For all, we know even before you were born Maddo! But we never heard anything until today. Why did we hear the beeping today?"

"That's actually a good question, Bray. But now let's focus on decoding the code, shall we?" Said Aidan. He was kinda worried about the same thing for like 20 minutes now. But he also wanted to decode the code.

"You know what Aid? Bray here has a point. We never heard a beep even when mom and dad were here. It is kinda weird that we hear it without mom and dad." Madison said.

"Hey listen you two. I was thinking about it for like 20 minutes. But the only solution for this is to decode the code. Only that will help us understand what is actually going on. Also, I guess we should read some files over here for background info you know. It will help us understand everything better. So I say let's go and sleep now. Act normal and then I have a plan......;