Other Locations: Camden Japan
Locations
See the locations in Japan where the action of Hattori Hachi: Curse of the Diamond Daggers takes place!
Kielder
“‘Just listen out for the tolling bell,’ Dad said. ‘It’s a ghostly, haunting, watery sound which legend says is a warning sign of impending agony, even death. If you hear it, you’re supposed to stop whatever you’re doing. If only my parents had listened to that warning . . .’ He coughed, turned the engine back on, and that was all he said on the subject.”
KIELDER FOREST
Kielder forest is a massive man-made woodland that surrounds Europe’s largest reservoir. The minute Dad was out of sight, I headed straight towards the trees that I knew were between us and the visitors’ centre next to the reservoir. I’d looked at maps of this area so many times, I was confident I could find the way from memory. We hadn’t even walked two hundred metres before Mad Dog grabbed my arm and made me stop.
‘This is a really bad idea, Hattie,’ he said. The creepy fog was getting thicker and I guessed it was that and the grey skies that had dampened his spirits – but Neena was looking none too happy either. ‘We’ve turned up here on a whim without a plan and against the express wishes of your mum and Yazuki,’ Mad Dog continued. ‘I think we should go back and wait for your dad...’
KIELDER SHORELINE
KIELDER WATER
“Water stretched out before me in every direction. It was as though the ocean was waiting for me, here at the top of the steep bank I’d just crawled up. But I knew straight away from the smell that this was fresh water, not salt. This was Kielder reservoir and I was on the dam wall, with the road running across the top of it. The reservoir was as smooth as glass, seemingly stretching to infinity. Set back in the water, about ten metres away, was a high concrete tower. It was modern and really incongruous to its beautiful setting – looking more like an airport control tower than anything you’d expect to see in a nature reserve. I had to get up to the top of it, but I didn’t know who or what was inside, so I’d have to be really careful. I’d just decided to ditch my muddy clothes and swim to the base of the tower when I heard something completely unexpected. A low, spine-chilling growl...”
FALSTONE PLAQUE
“‘I used to know all the families living on the flood-plain – they could still be there,’ Dad said. ‘In Falstone, Yarrow, Stannesburn . . . If that reservoir goes, they’ll be drowned and, as the water surges, it’ll bring down the rest of the dam wall, causing it to crumble into the valley below, along with the concrete valve tower which will be knocked over by the force of the water.’”
LAKE AND SLUICE
“‘MAD DOG! BEHIND!’ Neena yelled, but too late.
Mr Bell thwacked Mad Dog with a plank, just like he had all that time ago in Camden. Back then, Mad Dog fell into the canal, only a couple of metres deep. But this was different. What happened next surely had to be the end of him. The force of the strike was so hard, Mad Dog flew sideways into the reservoir, right where water was still gushing down the overspill pipe. The dagger flew out of his hand and he barely had time to scream before his head was sucked under and his feet flew up into the air, as he somersaulted and was sucked under the water.”
