The Mystery of Smugglers Cove

by Paul Moxham

  “But nothing bad has happened yet,” Will stated. “For all we know, Christo might be playing an elaborate game of hide and seek with us.”

  “You really think so?” Amy asked, hopeful.

  Will sighed. “No, not really.”

  “Or maybe he’s searching the secret room for any sign of Chang,” Joe said.

  “Or he could already be Chang’s hostage,” Amy pointed out.

  “That too,” Joe agreed. “We just don’t know. However, I think the best thing to do is to wait here to see if the fireplace moves again. If nothing happens within ten minutes, then I think we can rule out the possibility of Christo going into the secret room.”

  The three children fell silent as they waited for the ten minutes to pass. While the minutes slowly ticked by, Joe wondered if it would have been better to split up and have someone patrolling the hallways in case Christo was in another part of the house. But he ruled out that thought almost straight away.

  Four people had entered the house and now it seemed as though only three remained. There was no way he was going to suggest something that could have the effect of reducing that number to two.

  As the minutes that had elapsed got closer to ten, they seemed to slow down. By the time the tenth minute had finally passed, Amy was pacing back and forth in the hallway, unable to get a grip on the anxiousness that she felt.

  While she continued to pace, not realising that the time limit was up, Joe had a quick talk with Will. “It must have been Chang who entered the secret room.”

  Will nodded. “Christo wouldn’t leave us by ourselves for this length of time. Which means that not only did Chang enter the secret room, but he probably had Christo with him when he did so.”

  “Yes, that’s what I was thinking,” Joe agreed. “Do you think we should tell the police?”

  “Well, by the time they arrive, Chang might have fled,” Will said. “We could—”

  “Is the ten minutes up?” Amy interrupted.

  Will nodded. “Yes. Joe and I were just discussing what we should do.”

  “And what have you decided?” Amy questioned.

  “That it wouldn’t be any use telling the police,” Joe said.

  “But we can’t do anything on our own,” Amy protested. “We’re just children!”

  “That hasn’t stopped us before,” Will stated.

  “But this is different!” Amy exclaimed. “We have no idea what’s happening. For all we know, there could be ten Golden Dragon soldiers hiding in the secret room.”

  Joe shook his head. “I don’t think so. You’re letting your imagination get the better of you.”

  “But why can’t we go to the police?” Amy asked.

  “Because I want to stop Chang,” Joe replied. “And, for that to happen, we will have to do something now. If we were to go to the nearest house and telephone for help, I have no idea how long it would take. Besides, I just thought of an idea.”

  Chapter 9: The Secret Room

  “What is it?” Will asked.

  “Why don’t we attempt to enter the secret room from the other entrance?” Joe replied. “Through the tunnel, remember?”

  Will nodded. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that earlier. That way, we’ll be able to see for sure who’s in the room.”

  “But we’ll have to split up,” Joe said. “We’d look stupid if, while we were in the tunnel, Chang exited via the fireplace and left Dragons Den without us knowing.”

  “I’m not staying by myself,” Amy stated. “Whatever happens, I’m going down the tunnel.”

  Joe glanced at Will. “What do you want to do?”

  “I’m fine with either,” Will said.

  “Okay, then I’ll go down the tunnel with Amy,” Joe replied. “A good thing I brought the torch with me since it’s going to be pitch black in the tunnel.”

  “Good luck,” Will said, patting Joe on the back. “Hope to see you soon.”

  Joe smiled. “We’ll be opening up the secret door before you know it.”

  As Joe and Amy walked off, Will wondered where he should sit. While he wanted to have a good view of the fireplace, he didn’t want to be too close in case it was Chang who came through the secret entrance. So he decided to stay where he was.

  He would be close enough to hear the fireplace moving, but far enough away to be able to find a hiding place should it be necessary.

  Knowing it would take the others some time to reach the tunnel, let alone walk down it, he sat down and attempted to relax as best he could given the situation they were in.

  ~

  Daylight was fading fast as brother and sister reached the gates and headed into the woods. Since it would be hard to find the entrance in the daylight, and almost impossible at night, the two hurried as fast as they could.

  “I wonder if Nadia will contact the police,” Amy said.

  “I doubt it,” Joe stated. “Not this early. Maybe in an hour or so, but not right yet. Besides, even if she did so, how long would it take for the police to get here? And even when they did get here, what would they see?”

  “I’m glad Sarah didn’t come with us,” Amy said. “She would be even more frightened than I am.”

  “You know, there might actually be a simple explanation to all of this,” Joe said.

  “Such as what?” Amy asked.

  “Well, what if Christo had found the way into the secret room, but was unable to find his way out?” Joe suggested.

  “Then he would have yelled out and we would have heard something,” Amy replied.

  “Possibly,” Joe admitted. “But the walls could be thicker than we think.”

  “Let’s just concentrate on finding the tunnel entrance,” Amy suggested. “As much as I would like to believe Christo is fine, I don’t think that’s the case. So let’s focus on the present.”

  “We should be coming up to the spot right about now.” Joe paused a moment later and shone the torch around. “We’re looking for a large fir tree that has been hollowed out from the inside.”

  “Like this one?” Amy pointed.

  Joe nodded as he saw the one to which Amy was indicating. “Yes, that should be it.”

  “What next?” Amy asked.

  Joe handed the torch to Amy. “Hold this for a moment, will you?” As his sister did as he asked, he felt around the dirt, searching for a metal ring. A smile spread across his face as he found it a few moments later. Unfortunately, the trap door was too heavy for him. “Can you help me?”

  “Of course.” Amy bent down and, after placing the torch on the ground beside her, reached over and lent a helping hand.

  Even with the two of them pulling as hard as they could, it still took a few moments to budge. Then it swung open fairly easily.

  Amy reached for the torch and shone the light down the hole. “Who wants to go first?”

  “I’ll go.” Joe took the torch from his sister and stepped down into the tunnel. “Just be extra careful with this little bit. It’s fairly steep.”

  “Okay, I’ll be nice and slow,” Amy confirmed.

  The two made their way down the narrow, rocky tunnel. After the tunnel levelled out, they were able to make good progress. As they walked, Joe hoped that they wouldn’t encounter a rock fall, which is what happened last time they had entered the tunnel.

  Fortunately, luck was with them and, in what seemed like no time at all, they reached a number of stone steps. Joe paused and shone the torch light upwards. As he caught sight of the wooden door that had been built into the side of the rock, he glanced at Amy. “This is it.”

  Amy nodded. “We should listen to see if we can hear anyone on the other side.”

  “Yes, let’s do that,” Joe replied.

  The two made their way up the steps and, once they reached the door, they put their ears against it and listened intently.

  Almost straight away, a voice could be heard. The children’s hearts sank.

  The words were in Chinese.

  Jo
e knew he didn’t know everything about Christo, but he was positive he couldn’t speak Chinese. Which meant that Chang, or someone else belonging to the Golden Dragons was in the secret room.

  Even though it had been the most obvious outcome, Joe was still deeply disappointed. He had wished that he had been wrong in his assumption regarding Chang, but now it seemed as though he was right.

  The two children left the top step and walked back down to the relative safety of the tunnel. Once Joe felt they were far enough away to not be overheard, he turned to his sister. “It certainly does seem as though Chang is in the room, we just don’t know if Christo is with him.”

  “Does it matter?” Amy asked. “Either way, our plan is doomed. We should have found the nearest house and told the owner our story and they would have notified the police.”

  “Well, it’s too late to do that now,” Joe stated.

  “It’s never too late to do anything,” Amy retorted.

  “Well, what I mean is, by the time we regrouped with Will, found a house, told the police and came back to Dragons Den, a massive length of time would have passed,” Joe replied.

  “What do you suggest we do then?” Amy asked. “Just sit here and wait?”

  “That might work,” Joe said.

  Amy looked incredulously at Joe. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Think about it,” Joe said. “Why would Chang be speaking in Chinese? Either he was speaking to a fellow Golden Dragon or else he was talking to someone else via radio since I can’t see him speaking Chinese to Christo.”

  “But either way, I don’t see how that helps us,” Amy said.

  “Well, I think it’s unlikely that Chang came here with someone else, so I’m pretty sure he’s alone. Which means that if he chooses to leave the room at any stage, we should be able to hear the fireplace move and we can use that moment to enter the room and rescue Christo, assuming he’s there of course.”

  “And what if Chang never leaves?” Amy questioned. “Or what if Christo isn’t in the room? What then?”

  “Let’s take this one step at a time,” Joe said. “That’s all we can do in a situation like this. Now, no talking when we’re beside the door.”

  Joe led the way back to the door and, just like before, they pressed their ears up against it. However, unlike before, there was silence.

  Joe frowned. Had Chang already left the room? Was he sleeping? What was happening? He had no idea.

  As the minutes passed and there was still no talking, Joe grabbed hold of the door knob. He couldn’t wait any longer. He had to see what was happening on the other side of the door.

  “What are you doing?” Amy whispered.

  Joe didn’t answer. He just switched off the torch and, after ascertaining once more that it was silent on the other side, twisted the door knob and slowly pushed the door open.

  Joe breathed a sigh of relief as blackness greeted him. Confident that this meant Chang was no longer in the room, he switched on the torch. As the beam of light swung around the room, his face fell.

  It was empty. Completely empty. Not even a desk remained in the room. The two children were speechless. What was going on?

  “How can this be?” Amy asked, walking around the small room. “Why would Chang come to a room which is empty?”

  “He wouldn’t,” Joe replied. “There’s something we’re missing. And something the police also missed.”

  “Maybe there’s another exit connected to the room, one which leads somewhere else,” Amy suggested.

  “You could be onto something, but I doubt we could find it if the police couldn’t. Come on, let’s see if we can move the fireplace.” Joe walked over to the fireplace and studied the mantelpiece. “I can’t recall the exact stone that made the fireplace swivel, but I do remember that it was fairly easy to spot.”

  “What about this stone?” Amy asked, pointing to a square shaped stone right above the middle of the mantelpiece.

  “That might be the one.” Joe reached up and pressed up. Nothing happened for a moment or two and then, with a grating sound, the fireplace began to move.

  The children quickly hopped onto the front of the fireplace as it moved and peered out anxiously as they entered what had once been a dining room. No one was in sight.

  Chapter 10: Silence

  “Where do you suppose Will is?” Amy asked.

  “Either following Chang or hiding somewhere,” Joe replied. “Either way, we need to stay alert.”

  Amy followed Joe out of the room and into the hallway. After spending a few minutes searching the house, Joe realised that they needed to find out for certain where Will was. So the two children called out.

  However, there was no answer. They even walked outside and shouted his name. Still no answer.

  “Well, wherever he is, he certainly isn’t here.” Joe glanced at his watch. “Even if he had followed Chang, I would have expected him to be back by now.”

  “Maybe Chang walked off into the woods and Will followed him,” Amy suggested.

  “Possibly,” Joe agreed. “Anything could have happened in the last hour or so since we last saw him, so there’s only one thing for us to do now, and that’s to tell the police what’s been happening. Let’s go back to the van and get the map of the area. Then we’ll be able to walk in the direction of the nearest village.”

  The two children walked side by side, deep in thought. As they reached the road, Joe frowned. He shone the torch to the left and then to the right of him. “Isn’t this the spot where the van was?”

  “We must have made a mistake,” Amy said. “It must be further down the road.”

  “Yes, that’s the trouble with the darkness, you never know exactly where you are,” Joe said.

  The children walked down the road for a few more minutes, pausing when they came to an intersection. Joe turned to Amy. “I don’t recall this. The van must be parked the other way.”

  Amy nodded. “If only Will was here with us. He’s always good with directions.”

  “Well, it’s not as though the vehicle could have driven away by itself,” Joe stated, “so we’ll find it, hopefully sooner rather than later.”

  However, twenty minutes later, the children still hadn’t found any sign of the van. Joe was stumped. “I don’t understand. First Christo disappears, then Will, and then the van. What is going on?”

  “Chang must have taken the van,” Amy stated. “It’s the only answer.”

  Joe nodded. “I didn’t want to say it earlier, but that thought did cross my mind. However, I dismissed it since I couldn’t see why he would want the vehicle. After all, he got to Dragons Den by walking, so—”

  “Maybe his new destination is further away,” Amy said. “Hey, maybe he’s going to the border after all.”

  Joe sighed as he sat down on a dead tree stump. “It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t suggested going to Dragons Den tonight then none of this would have happened. We’d all be in our bedrooms right now.”

  “Once we tell the police what’s going on, they’ll find Christo and Will,” Amy said. “After all, this time, we know everything about the vehicle that Chang stole. If the police set up roadblocks they’ll be sure to stop Chang.”

  “But Chang isn’t a fool,” Joe said. “He’ll know that the first thing we’ll do is notify the police. Which means he’ll dump the van as soon as it’s no longer any use to him.”

  “Then we need to act first. Every minute we…” Amy paused as a vehicle roared down the road. With the headlights blazing, it was impossible to see what type of vehicle it was. Both children had to shield their eyes from the bright lights as the vehicle screeched to a stop a few feet in front of them.

  Joe held his breath as a door opened and a person stepped out. Was it Chang, Christo, or just a random stranger?

  ~

  Will knew it would take Amy and Joe quite a while to reach the tunnel and even longer to get to the secret room, so he was prepared to wait. However, after a while, he beca
me so bored that he began to get sleepy.

  Before he knew it, his eyelids had closed and he had drifted off to sleep. The next thing he heard was a grating sound.

  The fireplace was moving!

  In a flash, he stumbled to his feet and saw Christo as he walked through the opening. A smile of relief appeared on his face but, almost immediately, it disappeared from his face as Chang appeared behind his friend. It was then that Will saw that Christo’s hands were behind his back. He was a prisoner.

  Wondering where the others were, Will quickly tiptoed into the nearest room, not wanting to be in the hallway when the two men entered.

  As it was now almost dark, Chang switched on a torch and walked behind Christo as the two strode down the hallway.

  As they disappeared from view, Will wondered what he should do. He didn’t want to leave the others, but then he didn’t want to lose sight of Chang. He was a very cunning fellow and, if he disappeared from sight, who knew when they would see him again. And, since Chang had a rucksack on his back, it probably meant he had the crown jewels with him too.

  So, after a moment’s hesitation, Will followed the two men outside. He wondered if Chang had a vehicle hidden behind some bushes, but as they walked down the road, he realised this wasn’t the case.

  Chang would not have parked so far away as there would have been no need to. So either Chang was only travelling a small distance or Will was missing a piece of the puzzle.

  Ten minutes later, as the two men stopped beside a vehicle, Will realised what a fool he had been. It was Christo’s van!

  Will didn’t know why that thought hadn’t crossed his mind earlier. Chang would have known that Christo wouldn’t have travelled to Dragons Den on foot and so he would have interrogated him until he had revealed the location of the van.

  Since Christo had his hands tied behind his back, Chang had to help him into the vehicle. As he did so, Will stealthily crept around to the back of the van. Once Chang started the engine and drove away, that would be the end of the trail and who knew what would happen to Christo.