by Paul Moxham
~
After waiting for what seemed like forever, Amy switched the torch back on. “I haven’t heard anything for a while, so we could head back.”
“Okay,” Sarah replied.
Amy led the way back. She wasn’t concerned about getting lost since this tunnel only split into two and the second tunnel was much smaller than the first.
The girls were nearly at the end of the tunnel when Amy heard a noise. She stopped, causing Sarah to bump into her. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought I heard something,” Amy whispered as she switched off her torch. “Wait here.” She continued along the tunnel until she came to the bend which was quite close to the shaft.
Peering around, she saw a shadow in the darkness. She wondered what it could be when a cough broke the silence. It was one of the men!
Amy turned and tiptoed back, wondering how long they would have to stay in the mine.
~
With heavy hearts, the boys climbed down from the tree. Once on solid ground, they discussed what to do.
“We should go to the top of the hill and see if we can see anything,” Joe suggested.
Will led the way up the hill. Once they had reached the top, he looked around. No one could be seen. “What do we do now?”
“Go the way the girls went,” Joe replied. He took the lead and hurried down the hill. He soon encountered the prickly bushes that had slowed down the girls and, while this wasn’t good for the arms and legs, it did prove something as he caught sight of something blue.
It was a small piece of fabric. Joe turned to Will. “This looks as though it’s come from Sarah’s shorts.”
Will nodded. “So now we know that they made it this far.” He continued on, stopping when they came into sight of the quarry. “Gosh, I didn’t know this was here.”
Joe shook his head. “Nor me. We must have missed it because of all those tall bushes.” A thought struck him as he caught sight of a shaft going into the ground. “You don’t suppose the girls are underground, do you?”
“It’s a possibility.” Will suddenly clutched hold of Joe and pulled him down to the ground.
“What—” Joe said.
“Quiet!” Will interrupted. He pointed to the shaft as one of the men emerged from it. As he saw his bald head, he realised it was Marvin.
As the man looked around, the boys ducked behind a clump of bushes. They froze, wondering if they had been seen.
Chapter 14: A Good Trick
Apparently satisfied that no one was about, Marvin sat down on a nearby rock.
The boys waited for a minute or two, but the man didn’t move. Creeping back a tad, Will whispered to Joe. “There’s only one reason why he would sit there.”
“If he was waiting for someone to come out of the shaft,” Joe said.
Will nodded. “And I don’t think he’s waiting for his friends.”
“No, so it looks as though the girls are down there,” Joe said.
“What do we do about it?” Will asked.
Joe thought for a moment before he answered. “We have to distract the man.”
“What if we throw a rock into the other end of the quarry?” Will said. “While he sees what the noise is, we can slip into the hole.”
Joe grinned. “Good thinking.” He searched the ground for a rock that would be suitable for the diversion. It needed to be small enough to go a long distance, but big enough to make a loud noise when it landed. He found one a few seconds later. “This should do it.”
Will parted the bushes with his hand. Looking down at the man, he calculated where the rock needed to land. After pointing this out to Joe, he waited for him to throw it.
The rock sailed out of Joe’s hand a second later. As it fell towards the ground, he hoped that it would hit the pile of rocks that were past some bushes. That would provide some cover for them when they raced down.
Unfortunately, it didn’t get that far. As it landed five feet short of the bushes, Joe grimaced. Still hoping for the best, he waited at the edge of the bushes.
As soon as the rock hit the other rocks, the man stood up, frowned, and walked over to the bushes.
Joe and Will raced down the hill. After reaching the rocky ground, they spurted towards the hole. But, before they could get there, the man turned around and headed back.
The boys ducked behind a rock, certain that they had been seen. Luckily, at that very moment, there was a yell as someone called out. Peeking out from behind the rock, Joe saw Luke walk towards the quarry.
“I lost sight of my kid,” Luke called. “What about yours?”
“They went down the tin mine,” Marvin replied.
The boys heard his footsteps retreat and they breathed a sigh of relief. They didn’t know what Marvin had seen that interested him enough to walk towards them, but it had obviously been nothing since he was now engaged in a conversation with the other man.
With the wind in the other direction, the boys could only hear scraps of the conversation between them. Words like food, torch, and rope.
The talking subsided. Peeking around the hill, Joe saw Marvin leave the quarry and disappear into the bushes. But where was Luke? Looking in the opposite direction, Joe saw that he was sitting in the same spot as Marvin had been sitting.
Joe turned to Will. “We have to do something before Marvin gets back. We can’t do anything if they’re both here, but we might be able to outsmart one of them.”
“What about throwing a rock?” Will suggested.
“But we tried that and it didn’t work,” Joe replied.
“We’re closer now,” Will said. “If we threw it from here, it would have to go past those bushes. I’m sure it would give us enough time to go down the shaft.”
Since Joe was unable to come up with a better plan, he decided to give it one more attempt. After finding a rock, Will took aim and hurled it. As soon as Luke moved, so did they.
Reaching the shaft first, Joe climbed down. Will glanced over at Luke before he climbed down and was relieved to see that he was still behind the bushes. He breathed a sigh of relief as he followed his friend down into the darkness.
Joe switched on his torch and shone it around. The girls were nowhere in sight.
After deciding to go down the nearest tunnel, the boys walked along it, calling as they went. They hadn’t gone far before a light was shone upon them and voices cried out.
It was the girls. They hugged the boys, relieved that help had arrived.
“How did you find us?” Sarah asked.
“When you didn’t show up at the tree house, Will and I went searching,” Joe said. “When we saw a man sitting near the quarry shaft, we put two and two together.”
“Is the man still waiting?” Amy asked.
“Yes, but I’ve thought of a way to get out,” Joe replied.
~
Five minutes later, Sarah poked her head through the top of the shaft and called out to Luke, startling him. “Help! My sister’s in trouble.”
Luke hurried over. “Show me the way.”
The two climbed down the shaft, stopping when they reached the bottom. Sarah turned to Luke. “She’s this way.”
Sarah walked quickly down a tunnel and, as she heard Luke following behind, she grinned. She counted the corners to herself as she went around them. “One, two, three.”
A few seconds passed and then she heard Luke cry out. She turned around as he fell down, landing on the dirt.
A second later, the boys appeared with Amy. “Come on!” They turned and raced back up the tunnel with Sarah following close behind.
Upon reaching the ladder, the girls went up first, and then Will. Joe glanced back down the tunnel and was glad that the man couldn’t be seen. Without a torch, he would be much slower than them and, Joe hoped, that would give them enough time to get to the campsite unseen.
~
Arriving back at the campsite, Will looked towards the cave. “We need to see if there’s any way to get the Lazy L
ucy to sail again. The men will start searching this island from top to bottom soon, and it would be best if we’re away by then. But there’s no need for everyone to get their feet wet.”
Will turned towards the girls. “If you could pack up the tent and everything else, that would be helpful.”
Amy nodded. “Will do.” As she and Sarah went to work, the boys took off their shoes and socks and waded into the water.
They went into the cave and approached the boat. It had more water in it than before since it wasn’t low tide, and Will frowned as he climbed over the side and walked around. “I was thinking that we might have been able to bail out the water as we sailed along, but even with all four of us doing that, I’m not sure if that would work.”
“Well, in order for us to try that, we’d have to get it out of this cave first,” Joe said.
“What’s the problem with that?” Will asked.
“Well, the only reason that the Lazy Lucy isn’t sinking now is that it’s in shallow water,” Joe replied. “As soon as we move it out of the cave, it will be in deeper water.”
“So we’ll have to do it at low tide exactly,” Will said. “And we’ll only get one chance at it.”
“Yes.” Joe waded out of the cave as he continued talking. “We still have another two hours or so until low tide, so hopefully we can hide till then.”
The boys dried themselves and joined the girls in having tinned fruit. They told the girls what they had discussed and, afterwards, the girls told them that they had packed up everything except one tent that they couldn’t get down.
After Will finished eating, he went over to the tent. With Joe’s help, he started taking it apart while the girls washed the dishes in the nearby water.
Suddenly, they heard voices coming towards them. Amy dropped the dishes and hurried along the sand until she came to a bend. She took one glance around the rocks before she turned and raced back, shouting as she went.
Chapter 15: The Raft
“The men,” Amy yelled. “They’re coming this way!”
“They must be searching for our boat,” Will muttered. “That’s why they’re going along the shore.”
“What shall we do?” Sarah asked.
“Grab whatever you can and head inside the wood.” Will grabbed hold of the tent and the rucksack and headed towards the trees.
The others quickly grabbed some tins of food, the matches, the torches, sleeping bags, and a few other odds and ends. They had just reached the cover of the trees when the men came into view.
As the men came to a stop, Will realised that they had probably spotted the footprints in the sand and, as they bent down, knew that he was right.
Within moments, the men had found the fireplace along with the tent and the other stuff that the children hadn’t had time to grab.
They talked amongst themselves for a matter of minutes as the children watched from the shelter of the bushes, but as the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, they couldn’t hear anything.
The men headed back onto the sand and the fellow with the ponytail waded into the water as he went into the cave. He shouted and re-appeared a moment later, smiling.
The children crawled through the bushes until they could see the entrance of the cave and, as they watched, the three men disappeared inside it.
“What do you think they’re going to do?” Amy asked.
“Smash it,” Will muttered angrily.
A minute later, the Lazy Lucy appeared as the men pulled it out of the cave. The men grabbed the oars, broke them in half, and hurled them into the water. Then, they dragged the boat deeper into the water.
“That’s the end of her,” Joe said in disappointment as he saw the boat fill with water.
Within a matter of seconds, the boat was half full of water and, less than a minute later, it disappeared underneath the swirling water. The men smiled and laughed as they headed back to the campsite.
Motioning for the others to follow him, Will took the tent and rucksack and headed deeper into the trees. Once he was far enough away, he looked at the others. “Those men will stay there until we return, so that’s the end of that campsite.”
“And the end of the Lazy Lucy,” Amy said. “I know it was just a boat, but after we spent all that time fixing her up—”
“And painting her,” Sarah interrupted.
“It was sad to see her disappear,” Amy said. “I don’t suppose we could get her back up when low tide comes?”
Will shook his head. “She’s too deep. Even at low tide, we couldn’t raise her off the sand. No, I’m afraid we’ll have to find another way to get off this island.”
“Why don’t we search for the rowboat?” Sarah suggested. “The one that the men use?”
“Well, we didn’t see it when we searched the island, so I don’t see much point in searching again,” Will confessed. “No, we need something different.”
“Hey, what about that pile of wood that we saw near the tree house?” Joe said.
“What about it?” Amy asked.
“Couldn’t we use it to build a raft?” Joe said. “We don’t have a sail so we’ll have to row, but even if we paddled with our hands, we could still get to the mainland. It might take a while, but it’s worth a try. Every minute longer that we stay on this island, the greater chance we have of being caught by the men. And they’ll be sitting at that campsite for some time, so now’s the perfect opportunity.”
“But that wood is on the other side of the island,” Sarah pointed out. “And the mainland is this side.”
“I know, but it can’t be helped unless we use the branches that are lying around here, but those planks of wood will be a whole lot better than the branches.” Joe turned to Will. “What do you think?”
“Let’s do it. Let’s go now before the men spot us.” Will grabbed as much as he could and hurried off.
The others collected what was left and followed Will. They trudged through the wood and, before long, they were at the tree house. After they had dumped their stuff beside some bushes and hidden it from view with some branches, they searched for the wooden planks.
With each person carrying what they could, they made their way to the beach. This side of the island was pretty rocky with cliffs on either side, so it probably wasn’t the best place to launch the raft, but they could still build it here.
Joe dropped his share of the wood. “We’ll need some vines. We have some rope, but not enough.”
Will turned to Amy and Sarah. “Why don’t you girls search for some vines?” As the girls raced off, he looked at Joe. “We should find some sturdy branches. This wood won’t be enough for the entire raft, so we’ll need some pieces that are the same size as these planks. Let’s get them first.”
The boys hurried away. By the time they arrived back, they saw that the girls had already found some vines and had gone to get more.
Getting to work on the raft, the boys tied the planks together using the rope. They wanted the middle to be the sturdiest, so the vines would be left to last.
From time to time they stopped when they heard noises in the nearby bushes, but it either turned out to be the girls or an animal.
Finally, Will pulled tight the last vine and stood up. The raft was finished. “What do you think of it?”
Sarah studied it. “It looks small.”
“As long we can all fit on it I’m happy,” Amy stated. “Besides, the mainland isn’t too far away.”
“What are we going to use as paddles?” Joe asked.
“I left this plank of wood here,” Will said, pointing to a small piece. “It was too small for the raft, so I thought that one of us could use it as a paddle.”
“It’s a pity our oars got broken,” Sarah said.
Will nodded. “We could probably dive down and rescue part of one, but I don’t think it’s worth taking the time or the risk.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s time to go.”
“Are we leaving right now?” Amy asked.
“Yes. The sooner we leave the better,” Will said. “We can carry the raft to…” He paused as he heard a noise. Looking towards the bushes, he waited. This time, instead of an animal, a face with beady eyes appeared. It was Kenneth. As the man yelled out, Will turned to the others. “Help carry it to the water.”
As Kenneth headed towards them, the children took hold of the raft and ran to the water. Luckily, they were quite close. As the raft touched the water, Joe glanced back towards the bushes. The man was now on the rocks and hurrying towards them.
Everyone reacted instantly. After pushing the craft further out into the water, they climbed on. Sarah went first while Will, after giving it one last shove, joined them.
“Hey! Come back here!” Kenneth shouted as he stood at the edge of the water.
The children didn’t answer as they used their hands to paddle further out into the water. The waves slammed against the nearby rocks, and it took all their hard work to avoid them. It was slow progress and, just as they passed the rocks, an extra big wave hit them, crashing over the raft. Everyone was soaked.
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all,” Amy said as she brushed her long, brown hair away from her eyes.
Joe glanced back towards the beach and saw the beady-eyed man had been joined by Marvin, the bald man. He turned to the others. “We can’t turn back now. If we did, the men would certainly catch us.”
“We have to get to the mainland. Once there we’ll be safe,” Will said.
As another big wave soaked them, Sarah shivered. “I’m scared.”
Amy hugged her. “I’m right here. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“But I’m not as good a swimmer as you are,” Sarah replied.
“We aren’t sinking yet,” Joe said. “But if we do, I’ll be right by your side, as will Amy. Okay?”
As Sarah nodded, Joe glanced back at the beach to see how much progress they had made. They had travelled some distance but, unfortunately, they were drifting alongside the coast and not away from it. “As long as we don’t go over any...” He paused as he heard a scraping noise. He shouted out. “We’ve hit a rock!”