Fury's Island

by Sue Perkins

  At home, Fury waited until she got her father alone. She knew her mother would instantly refuse permission but she hoped her father would let her go if he knew she’d arranged to go with Eion. While she waited she entered his number into her phone.

  Her father had been out fishing with some other tourists and when he returned he headed for the shower. At last he came downstairs and plopped into a comfy chair.

  “Dad,” Fury began, but her mother bustled into the room.

  “Dinner in ten minutes. Fiora make sure you’ve washed your hands before you lay the table.”

  Her mother left without saying another word and Fury quickly got her request out to her father.

  “Dad, will it be okay if I go out in with Eion in a kayak tomorrow? We thought it would make a change from paddle boarding.” She held her breath as she waited for his reply.

  “Dinner’s ready. Fiora, why haven’t you put the knives and forks on the table?”

  “Later,” her father said with a smile and Fury hurried to the dining room to do as her mother asked.

  Chapter Six

  He’s going to say no, I’m sure he’s going to say no.

  The words played and replayed in Fury’s mind as she ploughed through her meal. Her mother’s cooking tasted excellent, but this time Fury could only think of her father’s response to her request.

  She cleared the table after they’d finished then her father did the unexpected.

  “You go and sit down, dear,” he said to his wife. “Fiora and I will do the dishes. It’s time you enjoyed the holiday as well as us.”

  Fury’s mother blinked with surprise, but didn’t object and, picking up a magazine, she retired to the lounge.

  “I’ll wash and you can wipe.” Her father rolled up his sleeves then threw the tea towel in her direction.

  Afraid to repeat her request, Fury remained silent while her father turned on the tap and the water poured noisily into the sink.

  “So you want to go out in a kayak with Eion?” He swirled the dishwasher liquid around in the sink. “Is this only for the morning, or perhaps all day?”

  “I don’t know, possibly the morning but we could be all day. I’m not sure what the beauty spots are around here.” Fury chose her words carefully, not wanting to make her father say no.

  Her father didn’t say anything else until they’d finished the dishes. As they put the last dish away he spoke again.

  “Then, yes, you can go. Don’t tell your mother until you come back then she’ll yell at me, not you. Make sure you’re home in time for dinner tomorrow night. Okay?”

  Fury nodded then flung her arms around her father.

  “Thank you, Daddy.”

  “You haven’t called me Daddy since you were little.” Her father beamed at her as he withdrew his hands from the water and wiped them on the towel. “Here, get you and Eion a picnic from the cafe.” He handed her two twenty dollar notes. “This should be enough, but if it’s too much you can keep the change.”

  Fury gave him another hug, then rushed to her bedroom to text Eion.

  Dad says it’s okay for me to go out in the kayak, all day if you want to. He’s given me money for a picnic lunch.

  Great. Eion’s reply came within seconds. See you at the cafe on the beach then we can choose our picnic together.

  Fury acknowledged the text, then got into her pyjamas and went into the lounge to say goodnight to her parents.

  “Goodnight, love.” Her father gave her a peck on the cheek. Fury moved over to her mother.

  “I thought we could go out for a drive tomorrow.” Her mother smiled. “We’ve hardly spent any time together while we’ve been here and it will give you a break from paddle boarding.”

  She means a break from Eion. Help! What shall I say?

  Her father broke in before Fury could speak.

  “Not tomorrow, dear.” He reached over and took her mother’s hand. “I expect Fury’s already made plans for tomorrow and so have I. I’ve booked us lunch for two at the hotel on the hill. I meant it to be a surprise, but I can’t have you traipsing off on a drive can I? Maybe you and Fury could go exploring the following day?”

  “Oh, John. You romantic you.”

  Did her mother actually blush? Fury glanced at her father and he winked at her with the eye her mother couldn’t see.

  “I think it’s lovely, Mum. I’d be bored stiff with lunch there, but I think it’s nice you get to spend time together. It doesn’t happen very often.”

  Oops. Now I sound as if I’m passing judgement on Dad.

  “Cheeky monkey.” Her father playfully swatted at her. “Off to bed with you so your mother and I can spend time together.”

  *****

  The following morning Fury packed warm clothes and sunscreen in her backpack and headed for the cafe on the beach where she found Eion waiting for her.

  “I’ve checked the kayaks, the boardman is looking after them. Now all we need is food.”

  “What about lights? Have you got those too?”

  “Yep. All in the kayak, plus a warm jumper in my backpack.” He tapped the bag on his back.

  They chose rolls filled with ham, cheese and salad plus bottles of water . To complete the feast they added a banana muffin for each of them. Fury found it amusing they’d chosen the same things, but it wasn’t really surprising as there wasn’t much choice for picnic food. Eion had thought ahead and produced two canvas bags to carry the food. They headed out onto the sand and Eion indicated the two kayaks pulled up on the beach near the paddle board station.

  With the picnics packed into the bright orange kayaks they pulled the vessels into the shallow water. Eion handed her a lifejacket and helped her put it on then indicated Fury should climb into her kayak.

  ‘I’ll give you a push,’ he told her.

  Soon they were both paddling out side by side into the deeper water.

  “Do you go out kayaking often?” Fury asked him.

  “Not now,” Eion said. “I used to use them a lot a few years ago, but now I never seem to have the time. Once I go away to uni I expect dad will put them in storage.”

  Fury could hear a hint of regret in his voice. The gap between their kayaks widened, stopping any further conversation as they slid slowly out to sea.

  “I thought we’d go further out before we stop at the island. Okay with you?”

  “Lovely,” Fury replied. “It’s a gorgeous day for going out on the water.”

  They paddled in silence while they went out to sea. Fury looked over the side and saw fish swimming in the clear water and thought how lovely the sea looked.

  Eventually they returned to the island and tied the kayaks to a huge rock and left their lifejackets tucked inside. Eion waded ashore with bags and Fury followed him.

  They sat on the sandy strip below the rock face and Fury leaned back with her hands propping her up from behind. A light breeze ruffled her hair and she shook her head.

  “This is wonderful.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” Eion smiled at her. “Shall we eat or explore first?”

  “I’m hungry after all the sea air. Let’s eat first.”

  Together they unpacked the picnic and ate a roll each and had a drink of water. They decided to leave the rest of the food until they finished exploring the rock.

  “I think we should put the food in the backpacks and take it with us.” Fury waited for Eion’s response.

  “Good idea. After we finish exploring we can sit at the ‘eye’ opening and have lunch. The rock isn’t that big so it shouldn’t take us long. Are you ready?”

  Fury nodded and after packing the food, they walked down the cleft in the rocks until they came to where the path turned to the right and began to climb. They reached the first and then the second ‘eye’ and paused.

  “Ready?” Eion looked at her, a smile in his eyes.

  Fury’s grin was part excitement and part nerves as she took a deep breath and straightened the straps of her backpack.
>
  “Let’s go.” She led the way as they walked down the steep pathway.

  Chapter Seven

  “We forgot to get the torches out,” Eion’s voice came out of the dark. “Let’s stop a minute.”

  After several moments of scrabbling sounds in the dark tunnel, Eion clicked on his torch and light bathed the rocky walls.

  “Much better.”

  “Don’t you think it’s strange we didn’t need them to get up to the eyes?” Fury thought for a moment. “I know what it is, the sun is shining now and the light is streaming halfway down the tunnel.”

  Eion looked back the way they had come. “You’re right, I hadn’t realised it, but it’s much brighter than last time.” He turned again. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes! I’m getting quite excited about this. Are you sure no one’s been here before?”

  “Not to my knowledge. If any of my friends have found these paths, they’ve kept it to themselves.”

  Fury put her hand in her backpack, but when she drew it out it was empty. “I was going to get my torch out too, but there’s no point in wasting two lots of batteries. Let’s see how we get on using your torch, then we can switch mine on if we need to.”

  Eion took the lead and, as the path delved deeper into the rock, the air became damp, with slime dripping off the walls.

  “Do you think the tide comes in this far?” Fury shivered and her voice trembled. She didn’t fancy being drowned under a ton of rock. Her parents would never know what happened to her.

  “By ‘this far’, I presume you mean does the water come into the tunnels. I don’t really know but unless there’s an entrance further down, it would have to come in via the ‘eyes’. The moisture is probably coming from the sea surrounding the rock.”

  “You mean we’re under the sea?” Her voice squeaked as the reality of where they were came into her mind.

  “I would imagine we are by now.”

  Eion plodded on and Fury followed. She didn’t want to be left alone in a dark tunnel deep beneath the waves.

  “Wow, look at this!” Eion stopped and Fury bumped into his back.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled, then her eyes opened wide as Eion stepped to one side.

  In front of them the tunnel opened out into a cave. Sand covered the floor and a rocky ledge around the walls provided seating, although the green slime on top of the rock acted as a deterrent to getting comfortable.

  “It’s a dead end.” Fury stood in the middle and looked around at the unbroken walls. “Shame, I sort of looked forward to finding buried treasure.”

  Eion grinned. “If there really was treasure here, I’m sure someone would have found it decades ago.”

  “I know, but it made a nice dream. A dead end tends to cut the dream off before it’s really begun.”

  “I didn’t mean the cave when I said ‘look at this’.” Eion pointed to the wall opposite the opening. “See. Over there.”

  Fury moved over the sandy floor and examined the carving in the wall. It showed a ship under sail, but next to it were stick figures carrying large chests on their shoulders.

  “Do you think it’s the pirates burying their treasure?” She turned to see Eion grinning from ear to ear.

  “Probably, but it could have been done by anyone. It’s not necessarily from the pirates’ time.”

  Fury took a closer look. She rummaged around in her backpack and brought out the empty paper bag her morning snack had been in. Using it as a rag, she wiped the slime on the wall to bring the carving more into focus.

  “I think it is quite old. Sharper lines in the rock means it’s newer. These are quite rough and broken. The pirates might not have been the carvers, but it’s definitely been done about a century ago.”

  “You can’t possibly know how old it is.” Eion looked at her in disbelief.

  “At my old school in the city, we went on an archaeology trip and the lecturer showed us how to tell the difference between modern and old things. He had several stones with carvings on them. The sharpness not only shows how old it is, it also shows the type of tools used to cut into the rock. If this is fairly modern it would have been done with a chisel and hammer. I think this is done by a sharp knife.”

  Eion looked at her in awe.

  Embarrassed, Fury walked slowly around the walls, looking for further carvings and examining each indent in case it led to another tunnel. She found nothing and returned to her starting point next to the ship carving. Eion had moved to stand by the entrance, and a gasp escaped her mouth as her eyes lifted to a spot above his head.

  “There is a way forward. Up there.” Fury pointed up over the entrance and Eion turned to look up.

  “There’s nothing there.” He shook his head and Fury wondered if he thought she had imagined seeing an exit.

  “Yes there is, you can’t see it from where you are. Come over here.”

  Eion crossed to stand beside her and turned to look back at the entrance.

  The arched shape they had entered by had a skull and crossbones painted above it. Fury wondered if a searcher had painted the artwork or if it had been the original users of these tunnels. One of the bones looked longer than the others and pointed upward. A ledge jutted out from the wall and where it emerged they could see a dark hole. About half the size of the original entrance, its existence raised hope of further exploration.

  “How are we going to get up there?” Eion looked at the wall, trying to judge the distance against his height and Fury’s.

  “Like this.” Fury wondered why Eion hadn’t seen the pieces of rock jutting out like steps leading up the wall to the ledge. Once again she wondered if she saw these things because of her experience with Ellen the ghost. She skipped up the wall from rock to rock until she stood on the ledge. “This hole is bigger than it looks. Bring the light up so we can see more.”

  Eion quickly joined her and held the torch high. A tunnel stretched in front of them but after a few metres it turned to the left and disappeared from sight.

  Fury looked at Eion and both grinned. “Let’s go”

  “Wait a minute, I think we should put on the head lights. We won’t have to try and hold the torch in front of us then.” Eion scrabbled in his bag and Fury did likewise. She slipped the light she used for school camping trips onto her head and switched it on.

  Both took a deep breath, then Eion led the way, torch in hand, as they progressed away from the cave. The tunnel roof sat only a short way above their heads so they had to be careful as several sharp points of rock stuck down from the ceiling. After the tunnel swung left it wriggled along like a snake.

  “Eion, do you think we’re still under the sea?.” Fury tugged on his sweater. “Even though the tunnel twists and turns it basically holds to the same direction. Where do you think it’s heading?”.”

  “I don’t know, Fury. We might be headed for the land. The walls aren’t wet and dripping any more. Do you want to keep going?”

  “Yes, let’s carry on for a while. Who knows. We could end up on shore.” Fury tried to sound brave, but her insides were trembling with nerves. What if they were still under the water and the roof caved in?

  They plodded on for a while longer, then Eion called a halt.

  “Time for a drink. I’m a bit hungry as well, but I don’t want to eat down here. I’d rather wait until we’re in the open air again.”

  Fury agreed and they drank more water. In the shadows they saw another tunnel entrance leading off the main way.

  “I think we should stay on the main tunnel.” Fury spoke before Eion could say anything.

  “I agree. If we don’t find anything in another thirty minutes we’ll turn round. We can always come back another day.”

  Fury wondered if she’d make it so far as her legs were aching like mad.

  Eion had set the timer on his phone and thirty minutes later the alarm went off. At exactly the same time they saw daylight ahead of them.

  “Can’t hurt to look,” Eion said with a
shrug. “We should be careful though, we don’t know where the tunnel comes out.”

  Sunlight trickled in through the opening and they stopped inside the entrance. Thorny bushes filtered the light but beyond they could see the sea.

  “It looks a lot lower than us.” Fury wondered how they’d got so high above the water. “How did this happen? We haven’t been climbing.”

  “We were for the last bit, and we’re not really so high above the water, it’s the viewpoint making it look like it’s high.”

  “Do you think we could push the bushes to one side?” Fury eyed the thorns doubtfully. They looked sharp and mean. While she waited for Eion to answer she sat down with her back against the tunnel wall and massaged her aching calves.

  “We can probably move them, but I think we should bring them back in front of the exit when we’ve finished. It will stop anyone else finding this place.”

  Fury looked at him in disbelief but Eion wasn’t looking at her, his gaze fixed on the vista in front of them. She wondered how he thought someone would find the tunnel entrance half way up a cliff, but decided not to call him out about it.

  Eion used his backpack as protection as he pushed the thorny bush to one side, letting the sunlight stream into the tunnel. He leaned out through the hole and his head moved up, down, left and right.

  “Hey, look. There’s Skull Island.”

  Fury jumped to her feet and tried to see over his shoulder. He must have sensed her movement as he stood to one side so she could see the view.

  “We’ve come a long way. I think we should start back.” Once again her voice trembled but this time it was definitely with fright.

  Eion didn’t say anything and Fury moved away from the opening so he could pull the bush back into place.

  “The entrance is about thirty metres above the sea, not somewhere you’d come upon by accident. I think this must be the land-entrance to the tunnels. The one we saw when we stopped probably should be where we look next.”

  “Not today, though.” Fury pulled out her phone and looked at the time. “It will take us a while to get back to the kayaks, then back to shore. If I’m late, my mother will have a fit and not let me come out in the kayaks with you again.”