The Mystery of Adventure Island (20 page)

Joe glanced around. “They could be everywhere.”

The three of them quickly searched the tree house from top to bottom, but no matches
could be seen
.

Will peered down and caught sight of something. Taking the binoculars from Joe, he looked down. He grimaced as he saw the matches. “They’re on the ground by the base of the tree.”

“What?” Amy exclaimed. She looked down and saw that he was right. “Golly, what do we do now?”

“It would be risky to go and get them now,” Joe said.

Will nodded. “I know, but someone has to. There’s no way we can light the oil without the matches.”

“Maybe we won’t need to,” Amy said. “The police should be here soon.”

“The oil won’t burn forever, but what if it turns out to be the difference between being captured or not?” Will looked towards the corner of the structure where the two paintings leaned against a branch. “We can’t let the men get those paintings.”

“If I hurry,” Joe said, “I should be able to get back up in time.”

“I can go,” Will
offered
.

“No. You went in the seaplane. It’s time I did something,” Joe replied. “Yell out if you see any sign of the men.”

Amy nodded as Joe started to climb down.
“Will do.”
The seconds ticked by slowly as he got closer and closer to the bottom. Just before Joe reached the ground, she heard a low murmur of voices and realised it was the men. “The men are coming!”

Joe had stuffed the matches into his pocket when he heard Amy call out and he froze. Listening, he heard the footsteps. Glancing up at the tree house, he realised that there was no way he would have time to climb
up
. There was only one thing to do. He yelled to the others. “Throw down the pine cone!”

The seconds ticked by and, as the men came into view, the
pine cone
fell towards the ground. After rushing over to it, Joe bent down and opened the box of matches. He was in such a hurry that the matches fell in every direction.

Marvin strode towards the boy. “Where are my paintings?”

With the matches falling all over the place, Joe grabbed one and lit it. Holding it below the rag, he managed to light it. With the men staring at him, he shoved the remaining matches into his pocket.

“Trying to scare us with a little fire, hey?” Luke said.

“It’s not going to work, kid,” Kenneth snapped.

As Joe backed towards the tree, he let go of the
pine cone
and flung it towards the oil. He watched it roll along the ground and hit the oily substance as Marvin walked towards him.

Nothing happened. Joe stared as the cone just sat there.
And
, as Marvin got closer, he realised that it was all over. Within moments,
he’d
be captured and the others would be forced to hand over the paintings.

All their hard work had come to nothing. And all because the
pine cone
, the most vital part of the plan, had not set fire to the oil.

 

Chapter 29: Fire!

 

Suddenly, there was a whoosh as the oil lit. Within a matter of seconds, it was a raging furnace.

With the searing heat warming his clothes, Joe turned and scrambled up the tree faster than he had ever done before.

It
wasn’t
until he was halfway up that he dared look back down. He saw that the men had retreated to a safe distance away from the
fla
mes.

Joe resumed climbing and the others helped him up as he reached the platform. He collapsed onto the floor of the tree house as he recounted his
close call
. “I thought I was going to get captured. I really did.”

“Me too,” Amy said, “it was too close for my liking.”

Will patted Joe on the shoulder. “You did a good job. With any luck, the fire will keep burning until the police arrive.” He looked down once more at the fire and grinned.
But
, within moments, his grin had turned to a frown. “Hey, did any of you put oil close to the tree?”

Joe sat up and joined Amy as the two of them glanced down and stared at the spot that Will was looking at. A spot of fire was burning halfway between the trunk and the circle.

Joe frowned. “That’s weird.”

“Maybe some of the oil dripped,” Amy said. “Anyway, does it really matter?”

“As long as it doesn’t come too close to…” Will paused as the fire reached the trunk and started going up it.

“How could oil get on the tree?” Joe questioned.

Will shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know.” He turned towards the can of oil that he had brought up earlier. “I wonder.”

“Wonder what?” Amy said.

Will took hold of the can and peered inside it. It seemed as though it was almost empty. Tipping it upside down, he saw a hole.
“Oh no!
The oil was leaking out.”

“So? What does that mean?” Amy asked.

“It also feels lighter now that I think about it.” Will looked back down the tree and saw that the fire was gradually moving upwards.

As it did so, the others connected the dots. Joe pointed to the can. “So that’s why the fire is on the tree trunk.”

“The
hole
probably occurred when it hit that rock,” Amy said, disappointed. “It’s
all my
fault.”

“No, I should have realised that it was getting lighter,” Will replied. “I just hope that not a lot dripped out.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Amy said.

Will shook his head. “No. We just have to hope that the fire dies out soon.”

As smoke started to drift upwards, Joe sighed. “It looks as though we have gone from one lot of danger to another, except this one is much worse.”

Will nodded. “And whatever happens is out of our hands.”

~

With a pair of binoculars glued to his eyes, Inspector Price watched as a seaplane landed in the inlet. The wind blew it towards the beach and, within moments, it had beached itself on the sand.

Standing by the railing, Sarah looked back at the patrol boat that was following them. “How many men do you think we have?”

Quigley shrugged. “Don’t know, but it will be enough.” He turned as he saw the seaplane. “It looks like they haven’t left…” He stopped speaking as shots rang across the inlet.

As bullets began hitting the side of the craft, the inspector turned and yelled to the wheelman. “Turn it around on the double!”

Quigley and Sarah dropped to the floor straight away and stayed there as the vessel swung around.
But
the inspector didn’t move. Peering through the binoculars, he tried to see where the shots were coming from.

He saw a man by the seaplane. He got out his pistol and aimed it towards him. He pulled the trigger twice and watched in satisfaction as the man retreated.

“Did you hit him?” Quigley asked.

“No, I only scared him,” the inspector replied. “But it’s too dangerous to land men here in case the other criminals are lying in wait.” He looked at Quigley. “What’s the next possible landing spot?”

Quigley frowned. “Well, this was the main one. You could always take your chance on the rocks, but in these conditions—”

“No, we can’t take any chances,” the inspector said. “I want these men brought to justice and I want it done before the sun goes down.”

“What about the place where
me
and the others landed?” Sarah suggested.

Quigley nodded. “That’s the only other one. It will be a tight fit with the dinghies, but better than taking a chance on the rocks.”

The inspector yelled out to a police officer. “Take her around the island.”

~

Just as Joe was wondering if the fire would go out or not, thunder broke overhead and rain poured down. He had forgotten about the mass of dark clouds that he had spotted half an hour or so ago. The three of them huddled underneath the branches as the rain pelted the area.

“This will put the fire out,” Will said.

“Good,” Amy said. “I was getting worried that the fire was gaining ground.”

Joe looked down and saw smoke drifting up as the fire
was smothered
. He
couldn’t
see any sign of the men. He turned to the others. “If the rain continues like this, the men might not climb up.”

Silence reigned as the rain continued to pour down. Lightning
fla
shed nearby and thunder crackled overhead as the storm intensified.

“We don’t normally get storms like this in summer,” Will said.

“It’s a good thing we’re getting this one,” Joe replied, speaking louder so the others could hear him over the noise of the pouring rain.

Several minutes passed before the rain started to ease. Thunder still rumbled in the distance, but a minute later, the rain had stopped.

Peering down, Joe saw the men emerge from beneath a tree and head for the tree trunk. As he watched, Luke and Kenneth began climbing up.

“When shall we use the pine cones?” Amy said.

“Now!”
Joe grabbed a
pine cone
and hurled it. It sailed past Luke, missing him by a foot.
“Blow!”
He took another cone and threw it down. This time, it hit Luke on the head. He yelled out, but continued climbing.

A torrent of
pine cones
rained down upon the men as they climbed up. As soon as Luke reached a branch, he hid underneath it.

Joe turned to the others. “We have to hold the men off as long as possible, so don’t throw another cone until they move.”

Amy and Will nodded. The men
didn’t
move for a minute and then, after glancing up, resumed climbing. The children threw down more
pine cones
.

“Let’s use the sand,” Joe said as he noticed that they were getting low on
pine cones
. After grabbing a handful, he let it go directly above the men. Being wet, it stuck together as it fell, and it had almost the same effect as the
pine cones
.

“Yes!” Joe cried out as it hit Luke on the forehead.

For the next five minutes, sand
was thrown
down and the men yelled out as most found their target.
But
, before they knew it, the sand was all gone. “We’ll have to use up the rest of the pine cones,” Will
said
.

The pile got smaller and smaller as the two men ducked back and forth amongst the branches as the children used up the rest of the
pine cones
.

As Joe reached to grab another one, he realised that Will had just picked up the very last one. He and Amy watched as Will peered over and dropped it.

It was right on target. Luke hid underneath another branch, as did Kenneth.

Will
glanced
around the empty tree house. Only a rucksack, torch, and the two paintings remained.

“What do we do now?” Amy asked.

Will looked down and saw that the men were still not moving. “We hope that the men stay where they are.”

“I’m sure the police must be on their way,” Joe said. “We just need a bit more time.” As he heard Marvin yell out, he glanced down and saw with annoyance that Luke and Kenneth had emerged from their hiding places and resumed climbing. He turned to Will who was looking through the binoculars to see if he could see any sign of the police. “Can you see anything?”

Will shook his head. “No.”

 

Chapter 30: A Leap
Of
Faith

 

Reaching the inlet, the two patrol boats came to a stop. The inspector shouted orders to his men as a dinghy
was lowered
from each craft into the heaving water.