Five Run Away Together (14 page)

Down he went, and down and down—and down—crash!

Edgar had fallen down the hole in the roof of the cave. He suddenly appeared before the children's startled eyes, and landed in a heap on the soft sand. Timmy at once pounced on him with a fearsome growl, but George pulled him off just in time.

Edgar was half-stunned with fright and his fall. He lay on the floor of the cave, groaning, his eyes shut. The children stared at him and then at one another. For a few moments they were completely taken aback and didn't know what to do or say. Timmy growled ferociously—so ferociously that Edgar opened, his eyes in fright. He stared round at the four children and their dog in the utmost surprise and horror.

He opened his mouth to yell for help, but at once found Julian's large hand over it.

"Yell just once and Timmy shall have a bite out of any part of you he likes!" said Julian, in a voice as ferocious as Timothy's growl. "See? Like to try it? Timmy's waiting to bite."

"I shan't yell," said Edgar, speaking in such a low whisper that the others could hardly hear him. "Keep that dog off. I shan't yell."

George spoke to Timothy. "Now you listen, Timothy—if this boy shouts, you just go for him! Lie here by him and show him your big teeth. Bite him wherever you like if he yells."

"Woof!" said Timmy, looking really pleased. He lay down by Edgar, and the boy tried to move away. But Timmy came nearer every time he moved.

Edgar looked round at the children. "What you doing on this island?" he said. "We thought you'd gone home."

"It's our island!" said George, in a very fierce voice. "We've every right to be on it if we want to—but you have no right at all. None! What are you and your father and mother here for?"

"Don't know," said Edgar, looking sulky.

"You'd better tell us;" said Julian. "We know you're in league with smugglers."

Edgar looked startled. "Smugglers?" he said. "I didn't know that. Pa and Ma don't tell me nothing. I don't want nothing to do with smugglers."

"Don't you know any-thing?" said Dick. "Don't you know why you've come to Kirrin Island?"

"I don't know nothing," said Edgar, in an injured tone. "Pa and Ma are mean to me.

They never tell me nothing. I do as I'm told, that's all. I don't know nothing about smugglers, I tell you that."

It was quite plain to the children that Edgar really did not know anything of the reasons for his parents coming to the island. "Well, I'm not surprised they don't let Spotty-Face into their secrets," said Julian. "He'd blab them if he could, I bet.

Anyway, we know it's smuggling they're mixed up in."

"You let me go," said Edgar, sullenly. "You got no right to keep me here."

"We're not going to let you go," said George at once. "You're our prisoner now. If we let you go back to your parents, you'd tell them all about us, and we don't want them to know we're here. We're going to spoil their pretty plans, you see."

Edgar saw. He saw quite a lot of things. He felt rather sick. "Was it you that took the cushions and things?"

"Oh no, dear Edgar," said Dick. "It was the cows, wasn't it? Don't you remember how you told your mother about the hundreds of cows that mooed at you and threw things and stole the cushions you dropped? Surely you haven't forgotten your cows already?"

"Funny, aren't you?" said Edgar, sulkily. "What you going to do with me? I won't stay here, that's flat."

"But you will, Spotty-Face," said Julian. "You will stay here till we let you go—and that won't be till we've cleared up this little smuggling mystery. And let me warn you that any nonsense on your part will be punished by Timmy."

"Lot of beasts you are," said Edgar, seeing that he could do nothing but obey the four children. "My Pa and Ma won't half be furious with you."

His Ma and Pa were feeling extremely astonished. There had, of course, been nobody hiding in the big thick bush, and when Mr. Stick had wriggled out, scratched and bleeding, he had looked round for Edgar. And Edgar was not to be seen.

"Where's that dratted boy?" he said, and shouted for him. "Edgar! ED-GAR!"

But Edgar did not answer. The Sticks spent a very long time looking for Edgar, both above ground and underground. Mrs. Stick was convinced that poor Edgar was lost in the dungeons, and she tried to send Stinker to find him. But Stinker only went as far as the first cave. He

remembered the peculiar noises of the night before and was not at all keen on exploring the dungeons.

Julian turned his attention to the little trunk, once Edgar had been dealt with. "I'm going to open this somehow," he said. "I'm sure it's got smuggled goods in, though goodness knows what."

"You'll have to smash the locks then," said Dick. Julian got a small rock and tried to smash the two locks. He managed to wrench one open after a while, and then the other gave way too. The children threw back the lid.

On the top was a child's blanket, embroidered with white rabbits. Julian pulled it off, expecting to see the smuggled goods below. But to his astonishment there were a child's clothes!

He pulled them out. There were two blue jerseys, a blue skirt, some vests and knickers and a warm coat. At the bottom of the trunk were some dolls and a teddy bear!

"Golly!" said Julian, in amazement. "What are all these for? Why did the Sticks bring these to the island—and why did the smugglers hide them in the wreck? It's a puzzler!"

Edgar appeared to be as astonished as the rest. He too had expected valuable goods of some kind. George and Anne pulled out the dolls. They were lovely ones. Anne cuddled them up to her. She loved dolls, though George scorned them.

"Who do they belong to?" she said. "Oh won't she be—sad not to have them? Julian, isn't it funny? Why should anyone bring a trunk full of clothes and dolls to Kirrin Island?"

A SCREAM IN THE NIGHT

NOBODY could even guess the answers to Anne's surprised questions. The children stared into the trunk and puzzled over it. It seemed such a funny thing to smuggle.

They remembered the other things in the wreck too—the tins of food. They were queer things to smuggle into the island. There didn't seem any point in it.

"Funny," said Dick, at last. "It beats me. There's no doubt that queer things are afoot here, or the Sticks wouldn't be hanging around our island. And we've seen signals from a ship out to Sea. Something's going on. We thought if we opened this trunk it might help us — but it's only made the mystery deeper."

Just then the voices of the two parent Sticks could be heard shouting for Edgar. But Edgar did not dare to shout back. Timmy's nose was poked against his leg. He might be nipped at any time. Timmy growled every now and again to remind Edgar that he was still there.

"Do you know anything about the ship that signals to this island at night?" asked Julian, turning to Edgar.

The boy shook his head. "Never heard of no signals," he said. "I just heard my mother saying that she expected the Roomer tonight, but I don't know what she meant."

"The Roomer?" said George, at once. "What's that—a man—or a boat—or what?"

"I don't know," said Edgar. "I'd only have got a clip on the ear if I'd asked. Find out yourself."

"We will," said Julian, grimly. "We'll watch out for the Roomer tonight! Thanks for the information."

The children spent a quiet and rather boring day in the cave—all but Anne, who had plenty of things to arrange again. Really, the cave looked most home-like when she had finished! She put the blankets on the bed, and used the rugs as carpets. So the cave really looked most imposing!

Edgar was not allowed to go out of the cave, and Timothy didn't leave him for a moment. He slept most of the time, complaining that "them cows and things" had frightened him so much the night before that he'd not been able to sleep a wink.

The others discussed their plans in low voices. They decided to keep watch on the cliff-top, two and two together, that night. They would wait and see what happened.

If the Roomer came, they would hurriedly make fresh plans then.

The sun sank. The night came up dark over the sea. Edgar snored softly, after a very good supper of sardines, pressed beef sandwiches, tinned apricots and tinned milk.

Anne and Dick went up to keep the first watch. It was about half-past ten.

At half-past twelve Julian and George climbed up the knotted rope and joined the other two. They had nothing to report. They went down into the cave, got into their comfortable beds and went to sleep. Edgar was snoring away in his corner, Timmy still on guard.

Julian and George looked out to sea, watching for any sign of a ship. The moon was up that night, and things were not quite so dark.

Suddenly they heard low voices, and saw shadowy figures down by the rocks below.

"The two Sticks," whispered Julian. "Going to row out to the wreck again, I suppose."

There was the splash of oars, and the children saw a boat move out over the water.

At the same time George nudged Julian violently and pointed out to sea. A light was being shown a good way out, from a ship that the children could barely see. Then the moon went behind a cloud, and they could see nothing for some time.

They watched breathlessly. Was that shadowy ship a good way out the Roomer? Or was the owner of it the "Roamer'? Were the smugglers at work tonight?

"There's another boat coming—look!" said George. "It must be coming from that ship out to sea. Now the moon has come out again, you can just see it. It is going to the old wreck. It must be a meeting-place, I should think."

Then, most irritatingly, the moon went behind a cloud again, and remained there so long that the children grew impatient. At last it sailed out again and lighted up the water.

"Both boats are leaving the wreck now," said Julian excitedly. "They've had their meeting—and passed over the smuggled goods, I suppose—and now one boat is returning to the ship, and the other, the Sticks" boat, is coming back here with the goods. We'll follow the Sticks when they get back and see where they put the goods."

After a long time the Sticks" boat came to shore again. The children could not see anything then, but presently they saw the Sticks going back towards the castle. Mr.

Stick carried what looked like a large bundle, flung over his shoulder. They could not see if Mrs. Stick carried anything.

The Sticks went into the courtyard of the castle, and came to the dungeon entrance.

"They're taking the smuggled goods down there," whispered Julian to George. The children were now watching from behind a nearby wall. "We'll go back and tell the others, and make some more plans. We must somehow or other get those goods ourselves, and take them back to the mainland and get in touch with the police!"

Just then a scream rang out in the night. It was a high-pitched, terrified scream, and frightened the watching children very much. They had no idea where it came from.

"Quick! It must be Anne!" said Julian, and the two ran as fast as they could to the hole that led down to the cave. They dropped down the rope and Julian looked round the quiet cave anxiously. What had happened to Anne to make her scream like that?

But Anne was peacefully asleep on her bed, and so was Dick. Edgar still snored and Timmy watched, his eyes gleaming green.

"Funny," said Julian, still startled. "Awfully queer. Who screamed like that? It couldn't possibly have been Anne—because if she had screamed in her sleep like that, she would have wakened the others."

"Well, who screamed, then?" said George, feeling rather scared. "Wasn't it weird, Julian? I didn't like it. It was somebody who was awfully frightened. But who could it be?"

They woke Dick and Anne and told them about the strange scream. Anne was very startled. Dick was interested to hear that two boats had met at the wreck, and that the Sticks had brought back smuggled goods of some sort, and taken them down in the dungeons.

"We'll get those tomorrow, somehow!" he said, cheerfully. "We'll have good fun."

"Why did you think it was me screaming?" asked Anne. "Did you think it was a girl's scream?"

"Yes. It sounded like the scream you give when one of us jumps out at you suddenly,"

said Julian, "A proper little girl's scream—not a yell, like a boy gives."

"It's funny," said Anne. She cuddled down into her bed again, and George got in beside her.

"Oh Anne!" said George, in disgust, "you've got our bed simply full of those dolls—and that teddy bear is here too! You really are a baby!"

"No, I'm not," said Anne. "The dolls and the bear are babies—they are frightened and lonely because they're not with the little girl they belong to. So I had them in bed with me instead! I'm sure the little girl would be glad."

"The little girl!" said Julian, slowly. "We thought we heard a little girl scream tonight—we found a small trunk full of a little girl's clothes, and a little girl's dolls.

What docs it all mean?"

There was a silence—and then Anne spoke excitedly. "I know! The smuggled goods are a little girl! They've stolen a little girl away—and these are her dolls, and those over there are her clothes that were stolen at the same time, for her to dress in and play with. The little

girl's here, on this island now—you heard her scream tonight when those horrid Sticks carried her down into the dungeons!"

"Well — I do believe Anne has hit on the right idea," said Julian. "Clever little girl, Anne! I think you're right. It isn't smugglers who are using this island—it's kidnappers!"

"What are kidnappers?" said Anne.

"People who steal away children or grown-ups and hide them somewhere till a large sum of money is paid out for them," explained Julian. "It's called a ransom. Till the ransom is paid, the prisoner is held by the captors."

"Well, that's what's happened here then!" said George.

"I bet it has! Some poor little rich girl has been stolen away—and brought to the wreck by boat from some ship — and taken over by those horrible Sticks. Wicked creatures!"

"And we heard the poor little thing scream just as she was taken down underground,"

said George. "Julian, we've got to rescue her."