The Mystery of Smugglers Cove (The Mystery Series, Book 1) (4 page)

“But we haven’t moved any of the boxes,” Louis said. “We were going to finish tomorrow night.”

“Well, you’d better get cracking,” Rocky replied. “There’s a big bundle of stuff up at the house that needs to be brought down here. Better bring up the boxes that are empty and put the full ones in the tunnel.” He stood up and left the same way he had come.

As soon as boxes had been mentioned, Joe stiffened and started thinking of a plan. He realised there was only a slim chance of being able to pull it off, but, being the eldest and the one in charge, he had to take the chance.

Joe whispered his plan to the others. Then, he and Will searched the cave floor for two small rocks, one for each of them.

“You heard what Rocky said.” Jake sighed. “We had better get started.”

“Okay,” Louis said. He got up and walked towards the children’s hiding place.

Louis started moving the boxes at the far end of the pile. Jake went to help him.

The time had come. Joe threw his rock right through the hole. It was a perfect shot.

“Hey! What was that?” Jake shouted. He snatched the lamp and ran over to the hole, with Louis not far behind.

Will grinned. The plan was working. The table was now between them and the men.

“Now!” Joe whispered. He stood up and, followed by the others, started tiptoeing across the room. They managed to get two-thirds of the way before their luck ran out.

Jake turned and saw them. He snarled. “Hey! What are you doing here?” He strode menacingly towards them.

“Run!” Joe yelled out and sprinted to the door. Amy and Sarah followed close behind.

Will paused at the door. With all his might, he threw his rock at the lamp. The room was plunged into darkness.

Will slipped through the door the others had left open and then closed it behind him. As luck would have it, the key had been left in the lock. He grabbed and turned it, locking the men in the room. He hurried around the corner of the tunnel, where the others were waiting for him.

“Everything go okay?” Joe asked.

“Yes, but we’d better get moving. They might have an extra key,” Will said.

“I’m scared!” Sarah cried.

Joe gave her a big hug. “Don’t worry. We’re ahead of those crooks for the moment, and that’s how it will stay.”

“But what if there’s someone in front of us?” Sarah said.

“Don’t worry about that now,” Will said. “Let’s concentrate on where we are, so no more talking unless it’s absolutely necessary. We don’t want to give the crooks notice that we’re coming.”

The children hurried up the tunnel. It narrowed dramatically, forcing them to travel single file. This slowed them down.

Joe turned the corner and stopped. He was in yet another cave. While not as large as the first one, this one also contained a number of boxes. There were two passageways leading out.

“Which one do we choose?” Amy asked.

“I don’t know,” Joe said. “One heads straight up in the direction that we’ve been going. The other one heads to the left. What do you think, Will?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Will answered. “That man who came into the cave talked about going to the house, so one of them must lead there. That’s the way we don’t want to go. We should try to head for the other one.”

“But we don’t know where the other one leads to,” Sarah said, desperation in her voice.

“You’re right,” Joe replied, “but there’s a chance that no one will be at the end of the other tunnel. If we go to the house, there will surely be someone there.”

“Hurry up!” Amy said, trembling. “I can hear the men coming!”

Joe realised that if they didn’t make a decision within the next few moments, they would be caught. “Let’s try the one that goes to the left. The other one looks as though it’s used more often.”

Leading the way, he hurried along the tunnel with the others following close behind. They hadn’t gone far when Joe noticed that the light from his torch was becoming dim. He prayed that it would last until they were out of the tunnel.

Finally, they spotted light streaming in through a small opening.

“Yes! An exit!” Joe yelled out as he walked the final few steps towards the light.

Pushing away some bushes, he was able to make the hole bigger. He made his way through the small opening and stepped into the bright sunlight.

Five hundred or so feet down the hill stood Chandler Manor.

“Hadn’t we better get moving away from here fast?” Sarah said. “The crooks may be following us.”

“Yes, we need to find somewhere to hide,” Joe said, urgently looking around. They could either head towards town, into the woods, or towards the manor. “Follow me,” he said as he took off running down the hill.

Joe knew that if someone had been following them up the tunnel, they would emerge any minute, so he looked back after he was halfway down. He saw no one. With hope that this would remain so forever, he ran down the rest of the hill.

A few moments later, Will suddenly yelled out. “Oh, no!”

Joe glanced back and spotted Jake rushing towards them. He looked towards the manor. There was no way that they could reach it and hide somewhere in time.

“What are we going to do?” Amy yelled.

“We can’t go to Chandler Manor and we can’t go to the road,” Joe said.

Will suddenly grinned. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of it before?”

“What?” Amy asked.

“Follow me,” Will replied. He rushed off, heading towards the woods. He sped down a well-trodden path. “This spot up here is my home away from home.”

“What do you mean?” Joe said.

“I know this place like the back of my hand,” Will said. “I come here all the time.”

“How far away is it?” Sarah gasped as she tried to catch her breath.

“We’re nearly there,” Will said. He ran around the next bend and stopped. In front of him was a river with a small island in the middle. “Our destination is over there.”

“How are we going to get over there?” Amy asked.

“Are we going to get wet?” Sarah queried.

“Not if we do it right,” Will said. He sprinted over to a tree that had a rope attached to a high branch. “Last summer, my cousin and I tied this rope here so we could hold on while someone else pushed us, and then we’d fly over the water and land on the island. That’s what we’re going to do now. It will save us getting wet and, if we can get across without the man seeing us, we might lose him.”

Will got Joe to push him, and soon he was on the other side. “Let’s go,” he called.

“You go first,” Joe said to the girls.

It worked according to plan until it was Joe’s turn. “How am I supposed to get across?”

“Just climb onto that dead stump behind you. The extra height will help you get across,” Will said.

“Okay,” Joe replied as he looked behind and saw the stump.

Noticing a movement to his right, he glanced in the direction and saw Jake!

As Joe climbed onto the stump, the man grabbed his left foot. Joe slammed his other foot into the man’s face and used the momentum to push himself off the stump. Crying out in pain, the man let go.

As Joe flew over the water, he knew it was going to be touch and go. He hadn’t managed to get a good push off, so he would be lucky if he made it to the other side.

Reaching the island, he let go of the rope. As his feet touched the ground a foot from the water, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew, that was a close shave.”

“You can say that again,” Will said.

“Hey, look! He’s not giving up,” Amy pointed out.

Sure enough, Jake had grabbed hold of the rope as it swung back. He was preparing to swing over himself.

“Oh, no! What if he makes it?” Sarah exclaimed.

“I don’t think he will,” Will said. “That rope was already old when we tied it on. With his weight, it’ll probably break. But if it doesn’t, we’ll need to make a run for it.”

They watched as Jake launched himself off the tree stump. For a few seconds everything went fine, and then the rope broke.

Jake tumbled into the river. He discovered with visible annoyance that the water was too deep to stand in. It was also moving quite fast. If he wasn’t careful, he would be swept down the river. After taking a deep breath, he started to swim towards them.

“What are we going to do now?” Joe said.

“Follow me,” Will said, smiling. “I’ve still got one more surprise in store.”

“What is it?” Amy asked.

“Wait and see,” Will replied, smugly, as he led them across the island. After reaching the other side, he went over to a clump of long grass and began pulling it aside.

“What are you doing?” Joe asked.

“You’ll see in a moment,” Will said.

“It had better be good. The man should be nearly out of the water by now,” Amy said, rubbing her hands together anxiously.

“Don’t worry,” Will said. With Joe helping him, he pulled aside the rest of the grass and took hold of something hidden underneath. It was a little raft made from a number of logs that had been tied together with rope.

“It may not look like much, but this little beauty has survived many a summer,” Will said.

“Let’s hope it works,” Joe said. “I think I hear him coming through the bushes.”

Will nodded. “Find a place to sit and I’ll push off. There should be some oars. Grab them.”

“Push off, Will, we’re all on,” Amy called as she sat down. “You’d better hurry. I think I see someone coming.”

After pushing off, Will nearly missed the raft as he jumped on. It was only due to Joe quickly grabbing his arm that saved him. “Quick, paddle!” he shouted. He dug his oar into the water. Slowly but surely, the raft began to drift downstream.

As the children paddled as fast as they could, Jake ran through the undergrowth. He was apparently so intent on getting to the water’s edge that he didn’t see a hole in his path until it was too late. He landed flat on his face. He shot to his feet, stumbled towards the edge of the island, and frowned as the raft floated by. The children watched as Jake turned and disappeared from sight, clearly annoyed with himself.

“Do you think we’re safe now?” Sarah asked.

“Probably, but we should make sure,” Joe said. “What do you think, Will?”

Will nodded. “Let’s continue down the river for a little while.”

Five minutes later, Will steered into the bank. “I think that will be enough.”

The children climbed out of the boat and, after covering the craft with some branches, they walked towards Smugglers Cove. Before long, they were back in the small village.

“See, we made it,” Joe laughed, playfully hitting the girls as they walked down the road. “There was nothing to worry about after all.”

“Oh, I suppose you knew how to escape all along?” Sarah asked.

“Of course,” Joe said, trying to keep a straight face.

“Fibber!” Sarah yelled.

“Come on, you two,” Amy scolded. “What are we going to do now? Hadn’t we better tell someone?”

“Tell who?” Will replied. “We know that something illegal is going on, probably in Chandler Manor, and that a tunnel connects it to the beach, but that’s all. If we told the police, they probably wouldn’t believe us.”

“What about the boxes we saw? They must have had stuff in them,” Amy said.

“Even if they believe us, by the time we got there with the police, they would have gone,” Joe said. “What we need to discover is who the boss is. We also need some more details about the boat.”

“But that means that we’ll have to go back there again,” Sarah said.

“Yes, it does,” Joe said, “but you girls needn’t come if you’re too scared.”

“You’re not getting rid of us that easily,” Amy said. She tried to hit Joe, but missed.