Five Go Down to the Sea (14 page)

„He"l be on the rocks!" said Dick. But before the boat got to the rocks, the engine stopped. The children could just make out the boat now, swaying up and down beyond the barrier of rocks. Evidently it was not going to try and come any farther in.

Now the watchers could hear voices again. The two men who had come down Wreckers"

Way were standing below the big rock that hid the entrance, talking. One leapt down to a rock farther down, and disappeared. The other man was left standing alone.

„It was the big man who leapt down," whispered Julian. „Where"s he gone? Ah, there he is! You can just see him moving behind that rock down there. What"s he got?"

„A boat!" whispered Yan. „He has a boat down there, pul ed up high out of reach of the big waves. There is a pool there. He is going to row out to the other boat."

The children strained their eyes to watch. The sky was quite clear, but the only light they had was from the stars, and it was dificult to see anything more than moving shadows or outlines.

Then there came the sound of oars in rowlocks, and a moving black shadow of a rowing-boat and man could be seen faintly, going over the waves.

„Does he know the way through that mass of rocks?" wondered Dick. „He must know this coast wel to risk rowing out through rocks at high tide in the dead of night!"

„Why is he doing it?" asked Anne.

„He"s getting smuggled goods from the motorboat," said Julian. „Goodness knows what!

There, I"ve lost him in the darkness."

So had everyone. They could no longer hear the oars either, for the crashing of the waves on the rocks drowned every other sound.

Beyond the rocks lay the motor-boat, but only Yan"s sharp eyes could see it even faintly in the starlight. Once, in a sudden silence of the waves, there came the exchange of voices over the water.

„He"s reached the motor-boat," said Dick. „He"l be back in a minute."

„Look! The second man is going down to the cove now, going to help the first one in, I expect," said Julian. „What about us escaping through the Wreckers" Way while we"ve got the chance?"

„Good idea," said George, scrambling up. „Come on, Timmy! Home!"

They went to the great rock arid squeezed behind it once more into the entrance of the Wreckers" Way. Then, Yan once more leading, they went up the secret passage, flicking on the torch very thankfully.

„Where does the Wreckers" Way come out?" asked Anne.

„In a shed at Tremannon Farm," said Yan, to the astonishment of everyone.

„Goodness, so it"s very nice and handy for Mr Penruthlan!" said George. „I wonder how many times he has been up on the hil s at night, and has been warned by the tower light to go down Wreckers" Way to the cove and collect smuggled goods from some boat or other! A very good scheme, it seems to me, and impossible for anyone to find out."

„Except us!" said Dick in a pleased voice..„We got on to it pretty well. There"s not much we don"t know about Mr Penruthlan now!"

They went on and on. The passage was fairly straight and had probably been the bed of an underground stream at some time. The way was quite smooth to the feet.

„We"ve walked about a mile, I should think!" groaned Dick, at last. „How far now, Yan?

Shall we soon be back?"

„Iss," said Yan.

Anne suddenly remembered that nobody knew how it was that Yan had found them that night. She turned to him.

„Yan, how did you find us tonight? It seemed like a miracle when we woke up to find you outside that locked door!"

„It was easy," said Yan. „You said to me: “Go away. Do not come with us today.” So I went back a little way. But I followed you. I fol owed you to the old house, though I was frit."

„I guess you were frit!" said Dick with a grin. „Well, go on."

„I hid," said Yan. „You went up into the tower a long time. I came out into the room below, and..."

„It was you we heard scuffling there, then!" said Anne. „We wondered who it was!"

„Iss," said Yan. „I sat down on some weeds in a corner, and waited til you came down, and then I hid again; but I watched you through a hole from outside. I saw you go through the fire-place. One minute you were there. The next you were gone. I was frit."

„I love that word!" said Dick. „So it was you who flattened down that patch of weeds that Timmy sniped at? Well, what did you do next?"

„I was going to come too," said Yan. „But the hole was so dark and black. I stood in the fire-place for a long time, hoping you would come back."

„Then what happened?" said Dick.

„Then I heard voices," said Yan. „I thought it was you all coming back. But it wasn"t. It was men. So l ran away and hid in the nettles."

„What a place to choose!" said George.

„Then I was hungry," said Yan, „and I went back to Grandad"s hut for food. He cuffed me for leaving him, and he made me work for him all day. He was angry with me."

„My word! So you"ve been on the hil s all day, knowing we were down in that passage!"

said Julian. „Didn"t you say anything to anyone?"

„I went down to Tremannon Farm to see if you were back when it grew dark," said Yan.

„But you weren"t there. Only the Barnies were there, giving another show. I didn"t see Mr or Mrs Penruthlan. I knew then that you must stil be down in that dark hole. I was afraid the men had hurt you."

„So you came al the way again in the dark!" said Julian, astonished. „Well, you"ve got pluck, I must say!"

„I was very frit," said Yan. „My legs shook at the knees like my old Grandad"s. I climbed in at the hole, and at last I found you."

„With no torch to light the way!" said Dick, and clapped the small boy on the back.

„You"re a real friend, Yan! Timmy knew you all right when you came to the locked door.

He didn"t even bark! He knew it was you."

„I wanted to save Timmy too," said Yan. „Iss. Timmy is my friend."

George said nothing to that. She was thinking, rather unwil ingly, that Yan was a remarkably brave young man, and that she had been sil y and unkind to resent Timmy"s liking for him. What a good thing he had liked Timmy!

Yan suddenly stopped. „We are there," he said. „We are at Tremannon Farm. Look above your heads."

Julian flashed his torch upwards, and stared. An open trapdoor was just above them.

„The trapdoor is open!" he said. „Someont came down here tonight!"

„And we know who!" said Dick, grimly. „Mr Penruthlan and his friend! Where does that trapdoor lead to, Yan?"

„Into a corner of the machine shed," said Yan. „When the trapdoor is shut, it is covered with sacks of corn or onions. They have been moved to open the way down."

They all climbed out. Julian flashed his torch round the shed. Yes, there were the machines and the tools. Well, who would have thought that the sacks he had seen in here the other day were hiding the trapdoor that led to the Wreckers" Way!

A rat suddenly shot out from a corner of the shed, and tore across to the open trapdoor.

Timmy gave a bark and leapt after it. He just stopped himself from taking a header through the trapdoor by sliding along on all four feet and coming to a stop at the entrance.

He stood up and looked down the hole, his head cocked to one side.

„Look, he"s listening," said Anne. „Is there someone coming, those men, perhaps, with the smuggled goods?"

„No, he"s only listening for the rat," said Julian.

„I tel you what we"ll do! We"ll shut the trapdoor and pile sacks and boxes and everything on top of it! Then when the men come up, they"l find themselves trapped. They won"t be able to get out. If we can get the police in time, they"l be able to catch them easily."

„Good idea!" said Dick. „Super! How mad those two men wil be when they come to the trapdoor and find it shut! They can"t get out the other way because the tide"s up."

„I"d like to see Mr Penruthlan"s face when he sees the trapdoor shut, and feels a whole lot of things piled on top of it!" said Julian. „He"l make a few more of his peculiar noises!"

„Ooh - ah - ock," said Dick, solemnly. „Come on, help me with the trapdoor, Ju, it"s heavy."

They shut the big trapdoor and then began to drag sacks, boxes and even some kind of heavy farm machine on top of the trapdoor. Now certainly nobody could open it from underneath.

They were hot and very dirty by the time they had finished. They were also beginning to feel very tired. „Phew!" said Dick. „I"m glad that"s done. Now we"d better go to the farmhouse and show ourselves to Mrs Penruthlan."

„Oh dear, do we tell her about her husband, and how he"s mixed up in this horrid business?" said Anne. „I do so like her. I expect she"s very worried about us, too."

„Yes. It"s going to be a bit difficult," said Julian, soberly. „Better let me do most of the talking. Come on, we"ll go. Don"t make too much row or we"ll set the dogs barking. I"m surprised they haven"t yelled their heads off already!"

It was rather surprising. Usual y the farm-dogs barked the place down if there was any unusual noise in the night. The five children and Timmy left the machine-shed and made their way towards the farmhouse. George pul ed at Julian"s arm.

„Look," she said, in a low voice. „See those lights up in the hil s? What are they?"

Julian looked. He could see moving lights here and there up on the hil s. He was puzzled.

Then he made a guess. „I bet Mrs Penruthlan has sent out searchers for us," he said, „and they"ve got lanterns. They"re hunting for us on the hil s. Gosh, I hope all the Barnies aren"t out after us too."

They came to the farm-yard, moving very quietly. The big barn, used by the Barnies for their show, was in darkness. Julian pictured it full of benches, left from that night"s show.

The memory of Mr Penruthlan turning out the pockets of the clothes left and hunting through the drawers in the chest used by the Barnies, came into his mind.

A sharp whisper made them stop very suddenly. George put her hand on Timmy"s collar to stop him growling or barking. Who was this now?

None of the little company answered or moved. The whisper came again.

„Here! I"m here!"

Stil nobody moved. They were al puzzled. Who was waiting there in the shadows, and whom was he waiting for? The whisper came again, a little louder.

„Here! Over here!"

And then, as if too impatient to wait any longer, the whisper moved out into the yard.

Julian couldn"t see who it was in the dark, and he quickly flashed his torch on the man.

It was the Guv"nor, grim-faced as ever! He flinched as the light fel on his face, took a few steps back and disappeared round a corner. Timmy growled.

„Well! How many more people wander about at night here?" said Dick. „That was the Guv"nor. What was he doing?"

„I give it up," said Julian. „I"m getting too tired to think straight. I shouldn"t be in the least surprised to see Clopper the horse peering round a corner at us, and saying “Peep-bo, chaps!” "

Everyone chuckled. It was just the kind of thing Clopper would do if he were real y alive!

They came to the farm-house. It was full of light, upstairs and downstairs. The curtains were not drawn across the kitchen window and the children looked in as they passed. Mrs Penruthlan was sitting there, her hands clasped, looking extremely worried.

They opened the kitchen door and trooped in, Yan too. Mrs Penruthlan leapt up at once and ran to them. She hugged Anne, she tried to hug George, she said all kinds of things at top speed, and to the children"s dismay they saw that she was crying.

„Oh, where have you been?" she said, tears pouring down her face. „The men are out looking for you, and all the dogs, and the Barnies too. They"ve been looking for ages! And Mr Penruthlan"s not home, either. I don"t know where he is, he"s gone too! Oh, what a terrible evening. But thank goodness you"re safe!"

Julian saw that she was terribly upset. He took her arm gently and led her to a chair.

„Don"t worry," he said. „We"re all safe. We"re sorry you"ve been upset."

„But where have you been?" wept Mrs Penruthlan. „I pictured you drowned, or lost on the hil s, or fal en into quarries. And where is Mr Penruthlan? He went out at seven and there"s been not a sign of him since!"

The children felt uncomfortable. They thought they knew where Mr Penruthlan was, getting smuggled goods from the motor-boat, and carrying them back with his friend, up the Wreckers" Way!

„Now just you tell me what you"ve been doing," said Mrs Penruthlan, drying her eyes, and sounding unexpectedly determined. „Upsetting everybody like this!"

„Well," said Julian, „it"s a long story, but I"l try to make it short. Strange things have been happening, Mrs Penruthlan."

He plunged into the whole story, the old tower, Grandad"s tale of the flashing light, their journey to explore the tower, the secret passage to the wreckers" cove, their imprisonment and escape, and then Julian stopped.

How was he to tell poor Mrs Penruthlan that one of the smugglers was her husband? He glanced at the others desperately. Anne began to cry, and George felt very much like it, too. It was Yan who suddenly spoke and broke the news.

„We seen Mr Penruthlan in the cove," he said, glad of a chance to put in a word. „We seen him!"

Mrs Penruthlan stared at Yan, and then at the embarrassed, anxious faces of the other children.

„You saw him in the cove?" she said. „You didn"t! What was he doing there?"

„We think, we think he must be one of the smugglers," said Julian, awkwardly. „We think we saw him get into a boat and row to the motor-boat beyond the rocks. If so, he - wel -

he may get into trouble, Mrs Penru..."

He didn"t finish, because, to his enormous surprise, Mrs Penruthlan jumped up from her chair, and boxed his ears soundly. He hadn"t even time to dodge.

„You wicked boy!" panted Mrs Penruthlan, sounding suddenly out of breath, „You bad, wicked boy, saying things like that about Mr Penruthlan, who"s the straightest, honestest, most God-fearing man who ever lived! Him a smuggler! Him in with those wicked men! I"ll box your ears til you eat your words and serve you right!"