Haunted Island

by Joan Lowery Nixon

  Amy silently read a few paragraphs ahead and thumbed through the rest of the pages, reading a bit here and there. She closed the book. “She doesn’t mention the cave again.”

  Chris sat next to Amy. “Amos brought us to the island. He said he would do anything to help Amelia. And someone led us to this cave.” He began to get excited. “When I walked into the Hanovers’ house I stumbled on the box that held this journal, and I think now it was deliberately put in my path. It was part of the whole thing.”

  “Why?” Amy asked.

  “Hasn’t it occurred to you, Amy?” Chris asked. “It’s our reason for being on this island. Amos told us to put the ghosts to rest. I think we can do it by finding Amelia.”

  Amy’s voice was barely a whisper, and she moved closer to Chris. “How can we find Amelia?”

  “By looking in this cave,” Chris said. “I think she’s in here with us!”

  12

  AMY JUMPED UP SO suddenly she dropped the journal. “Don’t talk like that, Chris! You’re scaring me!”

  Chris got to his feet. A drop of bubbling pitch landed on one finger. “Ouch!” he yelled, and popped his finger into his mouth.

  “I mean it!” Amy said. “We aren’t even sure that Amelia stayed on the island. Maybe Joshua was right. Maybe she did get into the boat with the bag of money. Maybe she was glad to escape. Maybe she drowned. We don’t know.”

  The flames at the end of the pine torch wavered and almost went out, as though a breeze had blown through the cave.

  “You don’t believe that,” Chris said as he tried to shelter the torch.

  Amy sighed. “I guess not.”

  Chris picked up another limb and lit the end of it from the one he was holding. “Here,” he said, handing it to Amy. “Hold this away from your body. If that hot pitch drops on your hand it hurts.”

  Amy held it out as she turned slowly in a circle, examining what they could see of the cave. “Where do we start to look for Amelia?” she asked.

  “At the far end of the cave,” Chris answered.

  This time Amy led the way. The room they were in became gradually narrower and lower.

  “It’s ending in a tunnel,” Amy said. “We’ll have to crawl to get into it.”

  “How far back does it go?” Chris asked. Amy got on her knees and held her torch out in front of her. “Dead end,” she said. She got up and brushed off the knees of her jeans.

  “Did it look like a landslide had closed off this room?”

  “No. It’s only three or four feet deep and ends in a solid rock wall.”

  Chris had to look, too, just to make sure that Amy was right. The wall seemed to be an original part of the cave.

  “So that’s that,” Amy said. She sounded relieved.

  Chris glanced at the pile of rock and dirt and limbs that must have cascaded into the cave long ago. “Think about the earthquake, Amy,” he said. “Amelia was terrified. She ran to a place where she had always felt protected and safe—this cave that was all her own. But she wasn’t protected and safe here. The earth moved so violently that part of the roof of the cave was torn apart, and rocks and dirt and trees poured in.”

  Amy stared at the side of the cave. “Do you think Amelia’s body is under all that?”

  “Yes,” Chris said. “Don’t you?”

  “How will we find her?”

  “I wish we had a couple of shovels,” Chris said, “but we don’t, so we’ll use our hands.”

  “Do we really have to look for her?” Amy asked. Then she answered her own question. “I guess we do.”

  “You take that side. I’ll take the other,” Chris said. “Find a place nearby that will hold your torch.”

  “This might take days and days!” Amy complained.

  “I don’t think so,” Chris said. He propped his torch into a hole in the cave floor and got on his knees. The earth in the slide was still soft and loose, so he was able to scoop away handfuls.

  Amy set to work on the other side, after she had found a place to prop her torch.

  Finally Chris touched something hard. He brushed the earth away from one end of it. “Amy,” he whispered. “Over here! Quick!”

  Amy hurried to join him, but kept her eyes on Chris. “I’m afraid to look,” she said. “Did you find—? Is it—?”

  “It’s canvas,” he said. “I think it’s Joshua’s bag of coins. Help me get it out of here.”

  They scooped back the dirt until most of the bag was uncovered. Then Chris tugged it from its place. The leather strap across the top was in shreds and fell apart as they pulled at the sack. But the canvas, though worn and yellowed, seemed to hold.

  Chris opened the flap on the sack, and they peered inside, almost bumping heads in their eagerness to see. The silver coins were black with tarnish, but they almost filled the sack.

  “Joshua Hanover’s money,” Amy murmured. “We found it.” Chris put a hand into the sack and scooped up some of the coins. “If we cleaned these we could read the dates,” he said. “They’ve got to be valuable.”

  Amy took a small one and turned, trying to hold it up to the light. “Is this a dime?” she asked. “Did they have dimes in 1811?”

  “A coin collector could tell us all about them,” Chris said.

  Amy dropped the coin into the sack. “This is exciting! Just think! Now this money belongs to Aunt Jennie!” She glanced at the opening to the cave where the afternoon light was still strong. “Let’s hurry and take the sack down to the beach and get our bonfire ready. We don’t want to be in this cave when it gets dark.”

  She got to her knees, but before she could stand Chris put out a hand and stopped her. “Not so fast,” he said. “There’s something we have to do first. There’s something else in the hole where the sack of coins had been.”

  Amy bent to look. She yelped and scooted back behind Chris.

  There at the back of the hole was a hand without flesh. Skeleton fingers. And through those fingers was twined a narrow, twisted chain of gold.

  “We found Amelia,” Chris said quietly.

  “Poor Amelia,” Amy said. “She really was here all along, probably killed instantly in that landslide, and for all these years mean old Joshua thought she had run away with his precious hoard of coins.” She stretched around Chris’s shoulder to take another look at the bony fingers, then hugged her knees and shivered. “What should we do, Chris? Do we have to do any more digging?”

  “No,” Chris said. “We’ll leave her alone for now. We’ll tell the police about it as soon as we get back, and someone will come for her body and bury it the way it should be buried.”

  “I could bring flowers,” Amy said. “I like Amelia.”

  Chris stood and picked up his torch. Amy, in her eagerness, stumbled to her feet. “Do you want to carry the bag of money, or should I?” she asked.

  “You’re forgetting something,” Chris said. “Joshua.”

  “I could never forget Joshua. I just want to get away from him.”

  “But Amos told us to put the ghosts to rest. We have to do that, Amy.”

  Amy shook her head angrily. “This is silly, Chris! We don’t know how to put ghosts to rest! Let’s get out of here while we have the chance!”

  Amy stooped and picked up the sack, shifting it in her arms until she could hang on to it. “This thing is heavy,” she said. She took a step toward the entrance to the cave, but Chris blocked her way.

  “Put it down,” he said.

  “What do you mean, put it down? The money is Aunt Jennie’s now, isn’t it?”

  Chris reached for the sack, saying, “You can’t take it out of here!”

  Amy shouted, “Leave me alone! Stop it, Chris!” She hugged the sack, digging in with her fingernails, and tried to reach the cave entrance.

  Chris dropped his torch and pulled on Amy and the sack.

  Suddenly the sack seemed to disintegrate, and Amy and Chris staggered backward. The coins spilled to the floor of the cave.

 
“Oh, no!” Chris said.

  “Look what we’ve done to Aunt Jennie’s money!” Amy cried.

  Chris stared at the coins and shook his head. He dropped the piece of sack that he was still holding. “Those coins don’t belong to Aunt Jennie yet,” he said. “They’re still the property of Joshua Hanover.”

  “But he’s dead.”

  Chris stepped over the coins to face Amy. “I know you’re eager to get off this island and to take the coins to Aunt Jennie, but think about it, Amy. As long as the ghosts of Joshua Hanover and Shadow prowl around this island, it won’t be of any use to Aunt Jennie. We have to give this money back to Joshua Hanover. After he realizes that his wife didn’t run away with his money, that she died here on the island, and that his coins are still here, then he can be satisfied.”

  “You think that he’ll leave the island then?”

  “Yes. I do.”

  “But how do we tell him about Amelia and the money? We can’t just walk up to a ghost and talk to him. He doesn’t seem to be the kind of ghost who’d want to listen, either.”

  “We lure him to this cave,” Chris said.

  “How do we do that?”

  “I’ve got an idea that might work.”

  “Tell me about it,” Amy said.

  But before Chris had a chance to say a word, a shadow darkened the entrance to the cave, and a low growl echoed through the room. Chris and Amy quickly turned toward the sound. There, blocking the way, stood Shadow.

  13

  CHRIS SLOWLY BENT AND picked up his torch. “He found us!” Amy whispered.

  Shadow growled again, and Amy shivered.

  “He won’t hurt us,” Chris said.

  “How do you know that?”

  “I don’t know it,” Chris said. “I’m guessing that because he’s a ghost he’s limited to another plane and can’t physically enter our plane and harm us.” He sighed. “Amy, I’m saying all this to make myself feel better.”

  Shadow sat in the doorway as though he was guarding it.

  “I wonder how he found this cave,” Amy said.

  “I think he knew about it all along,” Chris said. “Look at him. Did you ever see a dog in new territory? He stares and sniffs around to scout it out. Shadow acts as though he’s known about this cave for a long time.”

  “Maybe he followed Amelia on some of her visits here before the earthquake happened.”

  “I bet he did, but he stayed far enough back so that Amelia didn’t know he was there.”

  “I wonder,” Amy said, “if he’s known that Amelia and the sack of Joshua’s money were here all these years.”

  Shadow’s lips pulled back in a snarl.

  “He did!” she said. “I’m sure of it! But why didn’t he want Joshua to know?”

  “Because he was jealous of Amelia,” Chris said. “Amos told us so. He said that Shadow didn’t like her.”

  “That dog is horrible. He’d rather see his master rage around the island for years and years than help him find out the truth.”

  Shadow rose and took a step inside the cave.

  Chris handed his torch to Amy. “Keep this between Shadow and us. He doesn’t like the fire.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Get what we’ll need to lure Joshua to the cave.”

  “What’s that?”

  But Chris didn’t answer. As quickly as he could he dropped to his knees and reached back into the hole they had made in the earth slide. His fingers met Amelia’s dry bones. For an instant he shuddered and pulled back, but he made himself reach out again and pull the twisted gold chain from the skeleton’s hand.

  When he stood up he held it out to Amy to see. Shadow’s eyes narrowed. He snarled and backed into the entrance of the cave.

  “This is what we’ll need,” he said. “Joshua will recognize it.” He put the gold chain in his pocket.

  “Shadow recognizes it, too,” Amy whispered. “Look at him. I think he’s scared. Is it possible to frighten a ghost? That sounds backward, doesn’t it? Yes, it does, because normally ghosts frighten people.”

  “Stop talking to yourself and follow me,” Chris said. He picked up Amy’s torch and began walking toward Shadow.

  Shadow didn’t move. His lips curled to expose his teeth, and his fangs gleamed.

  “Get out of here, Shadow,” Chris said, “or we’ll walk right through you!”

  “Can we do that?” Amy whispered.

  “Watch us!” Chris said.

  But as Chris approached, his torch held out, Shadow backed away and disappeared.

  “How will we know where he is?” Amy asked.

  “We won’t,” Chris said. “We’ll just have to be cautious.”

  “I think he’s going to try to stop us from seeing Joshua.”

  “How?”

  “We’ll find out.”

  Chris didn’t expect to find out quite so soon. He and Amy left the cave and stood on the level ledge outside, blinking, trying to accustom their eyes to the daylight. “The sky isn’t as overcast as it was this morning,” Chris said. “I don’t think it’s going to rain after all.” He studied the sky. “I guess that it’s around four or five o’clock. What do you think?”

  But Amy didn’t look at the sky. She was staring down the slick slope to the edge of the cliff.

  “When I ran to the cave I guess I didn’t even notice that slope,” Amy said. “It’s almost like a slide. What’s at the bottom of those cliffs?”

  “Big, jagged rocks,” Chris said. “Walk carefully. The ledge we’re on isn’t very wide.”

  Amy turned and walked just a few steps when suddenly Shadow, barking and snarling, rushed right at her. Amy shrieked and jumped back, slamming into Chris and knocking him to one side. Chris reached out, but there was nothing to hold on to. With a yell he fell face down onto the slick pine needles and damp grasses and slid like a rocket toward the edge of the cliff. His torch bounced and rolled ahead of him. He heard a splash as it fell.

  He dug in the toes of his shoes, trying to break his speed, but he was moving too fast. It slowed his speed a little, but not enough. Chris skidded to the edge of the cliff and went over.

  He heard Amy screaming, and he wanted to scream, too, but it was all he could do to cling to some clumps of grass near the edge of the cliff. The earth was moist, and he knew the grass wouldn’t hold for long. Luckily, he found footholds in the rough rock. A tangle of roots protruded from near the top of the bank, and he used it to pull against as he hoisted himself up and over the edge. Digging away layers of the needles, he carved himself a nest and lay there, breathing heavily and resting.

  “Chris!” Amy yelled. “I’ll come and get you!”

  Chris raised his head. “No! Stay there! Better yet, make your way back to level land under the pines. Find a safe spot to stand in, and don’t let anything scare you into moving from that spot!”

  After he had rested for a few moments, Chris began working his way up the slope, brushing the damp pine needles out of his way, making sure he had solid handholds of grass to hang on to. It seemed to be slow going, but soon Chris had reached the ledge. He sat up and looked around for Amy.

  She was standing in the woods, just where he had told her to stand. She had stuck the unlit end of the torch into the ground near her feet. Tears were on her face, and she cried out, “Oh, Chris! I thought I’d killed you!”

  Chris slowly climbed to his feet and made his way toward her. When he got to his sister he hugged her. “It wasn’t your fault, Amy. It was Shadow’s. We’ll have to be very, very careful.”

  “I feel as though he’s watching us.” Amy stepped back and looked to each side.

  “We won’t let him stop us,” Chris said. “We’ll find Joshua Hanover.”

  “Where will we look?”

  “At the top of the pasture, near the edge of the woods.”

  Amy gulped. “You mean at Shadow’s grave! Oh, Chris! Let’s not go there!”

  “Can you think of a better
place to look?”

  “How about back at Joshua’s house? You wanted to go there again.”

  “Just to look for some kind of clue about what we were supposed to do. Now we know.”

  “Maybe Joshua went to the beach. We could look there.”

  “You’re stalling, Amy,” Chris said. “Let’s go.” He began walking through the woods in what he hoped was the right direction. Amy stayed close by his side. Chris wished there had been some kind of path, and he looked for signs that Amelia might have made to mark the way, but there were none. The overgrown pine woods were dark and still. In places there was a great deal of underbrush, and sometimes they had to climb over a fallen pine tree. Chris moved cautiously, because he wanted to be aware of anything that Shadow might try.

  As Chris and Amy walked they occasionally heard a low growling. Sometimes it was behind them, sometimes in front, sometimes at one side or the other, but at no time did Shadow appear.

  “Look,” Amy said. “It’s getting lighter! We must be near the edge of the forest.”

  She and Chris began to run and soon broke through the trees. They found themselves standing at the edge of the pasture.

  “We’re almost at the top of the hill!” Chris said.

  “Then we must be near Shadow’s grave.”

  Amy and Chris glanced to their right and gasped. There—just a few feet away from them—stood both Shadow and Joshua Hanover.

  Joshua raised both fists, and his face was thunderous with rage. “Vengeance!” he shouted in a voice that was raspy and hollow.

  Chris felt his knees wobble as though all the bones in his legs had fallen out, but he managed to take a step toward the ghost. “Mr. Hanover,” he said. “We found—”

  But his words were drowned out by Shadow’s furious barking.

  Joshua glared at Chris. “Go! Get off my property!”

  “But—”

  “Show him the gold chain,” Amy said.

  Shadow suddenly dashed forward, whining and barking, and raced down the hill toward the house.

  Joshua called, “Shadow! Here, Shadow!” and strode down the hill after him.

  Chris tugged the chain from his pocket and held it out in shaking fingers as Joshua passed them. “Look at this!” he shouted.