Kidnap Island (10 page)

“
He
must still be here, we took their boat with us, so
there
’
s no way off the island,
”
Eric heard one man say
in a gruff voice.

“
Yes, but where? Look, he
’
s obviously been
around here recently, this kettle
’
s still
warm.
”
The other man was better spoken.
“He
’
s either in the house or the woods,
we
’
ll find him quickly enough, come
on.
”

Eric listened with
bated breath as the men looked around the house, which
didn
’
t take them long as it was only small with a few
rooms, one or two built-in cupboards and not a lot of furniture.
Surely they
’
d spot the trapdoor
into the attic? He thought about moving away from the entrance to a
hidden corner of the attic but he couldn
’
t see a thing
and was afraid he
’
d fall right through
the ceiling onto the enemies
’
heads. That
wouldn
’
t be good! Instead he stayed where he was, wishing
he
’
d not drunk all the Coke in one go. A tear ran down
his cheek. He wasn
’
t enjoying his
inheritance one bit.

“
He
’
s obviously not here, let
’
s look
outside,
”
came the voice of the well-spoken man, who seemed to be in
charge. The tiled roof of the house wasn
’
t felted so Eric
could still clearly hear the intruders as they rummaged noisily
around the overgrown grounds.

“
He
’
s not here,
”
complained the gruff-voiced
man.

“
Well where the heck is he, then?
”
He must be around here
somewhere.
”

“
Maybe he tried to swim to the shore.
”

“
Good grief, I hope not, he
’
d never manage
that.
”
Eric was pleased to hear the concerned note in the
well-spoken man
’
s voice. “Anyway,
we
’
d have heard if a body had been discovered in the
harbour.
”

“
If
it had been discovered, the tide
could have carried it out into the open sea and it may not be found
for weeks, if ever.
”

“
Umm, well we don
’
t want to get
involved in any deaths if we can help it, that
’
d just
complicate matters even more.
”
Eric now wondered if the
man
’
s concern was purely selfish and nothing to do the
boy
’
s wellbeing, a thought that didn
’
t did make
him feel any more comfortable. Not that he was feeling at all
comfortable, being stuck in a dark smelly attic, desperate for the
bathroom
.

After what seemed like
hours, although Eric could see from his phone he
’
d only been
hiding about 30 minutes, the men finally gave up their
search.

“
I
reckon you
’
re right, he tried to swim to shore, poor
kid,
”
said the well-spoken man.

“
Stupid kid, more like,
”
grunted the other.
“
Either that
or he phoned for help, in which case we
’
re in trouble.
Come on, let
’
s get back and check
on Goldsmith, we don
’
t want him going
missing too.
”

“
Not
much chance of that. No one
’
s going to find him
on the boat, and there
’
s no way he can
escape from it.
”

Eric
’
s ears pricked up at
this. So his father was safe and being kept on a boat. At last they
had a clue as to his whereabouts. He stayed in his hiding place
until he heard the men walk away through the woods and the sound of
their motorboat disappear off into the distance. He then dropped
down out of the attic and dashed outside to relieve himself. Too
desperate to use his usual tree in the wood, he stood just outside
the front door and was just starting to water the weeds when he
heard voices. It was the other children coming up the path through
the woods.
“Can
’
t a guy have a
moment
’
s privacy?”
he thought to
himself just as Jonny
’
s cheery face
appeared through the trees.
”

“
Eric! Put it away, there are girls present. Well, Louisa
and Will, at least.
”
Eric, his face red, turned his back just before
Louisa appeared.

“
Sorry, guys, I was desperate.
”

“
Well, that
’
s one way to kill the
weeds,
”
laughed Will.

“
Eric, are you OK?
”
Louisa had spotted the
boy
’
s grubby, tearstained face and dusty hair.
“
What have
you been doing?
”

“
Er,
it
’
s a long story. Say, are you guys actually staying
with me?
”
Eric had noticed the children
’
s rucksacks and a big
grin spread over his face, transforming his
appearance.

“
No,
we
’
re just passing through on a hike,
”
said Will with a
smile.
“
Come on, let
’
s go inside and have
some food, I
’
m starving.”
Eric was pleased to hear Will being more friendly
and led the way into the house.
“
Come on, then,
it
’
s getting on for dinnertime and I
’
ve some Pot
Noodles we could have. Did you bring food too?
That
’
s great, I
’
m always
hungry!
”

Chapter
Eleven

An hour later, they
were sitting on the living room floor, feeling bloated after
stuffing themselves with the sort of food their mothers would be
horrified by but they didn
’
t care, they were
more interested in hearing the story of Eric
’
s attic
adventure, and most amused at the thought of him being stuck up
there while desperate for
‘
the
bathroom
’
, as he put it.

Louisa turned the tone
more serious, though:
“
Now we know your dad
’
s OK and locked up on
a boat somewhere, so we
’
re making
progress.
”

“
Yeah, but there are thousands of boats on the
harbour,
”
Will correctly pointed out.

“
I
once heard someone say about five thousand,
”
said Jonny.
“
But that
includes all the dinghies and small boats, so we can take them out
of the equation right away.
”

“
Oh,
that makes it easy, then, we just have to look in every yacht in
the marina and moored out in the harbour,
”
said Will
sarcastically.

“
No,
it can
’
t be near other boats as other people would hear dad.
Surely he
’
d call for help?
”
Eric suggested.

The other children
looked at each other.
“
He could be gagged or drugged,
”
said Will.

Eric was horrified at
this thought.
“We
’
ve got to find
him!
”
The boy was almost in tears again.

Louisa put her arm
around him.
“Don
’
t
worry,
”
she said comfortingly.
“We
’
ll find him
,
I promise. Will and
Jonny glanced at each other; they didn
’
t share
Louisa
’s
confidence.

“
Say, I found out a bit about the island while I was stuck
at home yesterday,
”
said Will, changing the subject and grabbing a folder
from his bag.
“
I searched online and only found a brief Wikipedia
entry saying the island was an old navy store, which we now know
isn
’
t true so I then went down the
library...
”

“
I
thought you were grounded,
“
interrupted Louisa.

“
I
was, but I looked at my parents
’
calendars on the
computer and knew they
’
d be tied up in
meetings all day and wouldn
’
t even think about
checking up on me. Anyway, with a bit of help from the librarian, I
found an old history of the harbour that had been written in the
1930s, before the war. It had a bit more about the island in it. It
said it was owned by the respected Goldsmith family who built a
holiday home on it. Look, here
’
s a photo of the
place.
”
Will held up a photocopy of a black and white photo that
was clearly of Folney Island but the trees were less thick and a
small house
– Eric
’
s
bungalow
–
could be glimpsed in the centre of the island, while there
was a wooden jetty coming out from the shore with an old-fashioned
rowing boat tied to it.

“
Wow, it must have been a wonderful place to
live,
”
gasped Jonny, who had long dreamed of living
right
next to the sea.

“
Well, it
’
s not
now,
” moaned Eric. “I wish
I
’
d never come here. How are we going to find my
dad?
”

“
Maybe we could ask around the harbour and see if
anyone
’
s seen anything suspicious going
on,
”
suggested Will hopefully.

“
Er,
no one
’
s going to take three kids seriously going round
asking if they
’
ve seen anything
odd,
”
Jonny pointed out.
“
We need to be more
subtle.
”

“
How do you mean?
asked Eric.

“
I
dunno at the moment, let
’
s sleep on it.”
Jonny
’
s mum often said solutions to problems come after a
good night
’
s sleep and he reckoned she could be
right.
“
Speaking of sleep, I
’
m knackered. Shall we
get some kip then we can get up early and have a full day ahead of
us?
”

“
You
sound like my mum,
” groaned Will.
“
Our first night away from our
parents and you want to go to bed early!
”

“
Jonny
’
s right,
”
said Louisa.
“I
’
m ready for bed and, besides, I saw you yawning
just now, Will.
”