The Secret of the Dark Waterfall

by Alexander McCall Smith

  Matron did not answer. She was already peeling off her jacket.

  “Come on, Matron!” shouted Thomas. “Let’s see one of your famous dives.”

  Thomas knew, as did everybody, that Matron had once been an Olympic diver. Most of the people on the Tobermory had seen her diving from the side of the ship, or sometimes higher up, from one of the spars – the horizontal beams from which the sails are hung. They were always impressed by the elegance and daring of her diving, and the way she entered the water so cleanly, with barely a splash.

  Matron smiled. “If you really want me to,” she said.

  “We do,” urged Fee.

  Matron looked carefully at the pool. Away from the waterfall, where the water was calm, it was possible to see the sand at the bottom – a yellow expanse, marked by rippling shadows from the surface. As an experienced diver, Matron knew that you must never dive into water without knowing exactly how deep it is. If it is too shallow you risk serious injury.

  “It looks deep enough,” said Thomas, who had gone to stand beside Matron.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “It’s fine for diving.”

  They watched as Matron began to make the steep ascent to the narrow platform of rock. It was a tricky climb, as the stone underfoot was wet and slippery with spray from the waterfall. Halfway up, Matron stopped to take a rest. She waved to everybody down below.

  It was just at this moment that Ben and Badger came into view. They had decided to explore a little further, and their route had taken them across the side of a hill near the waterfall. Looking down, the two boys saw their friends sitting at the edge of the pool, and Matron too, who, after a brief rest, had resumed her climb.

  “What’s going on, Badger?” asked Ben. “Isn’t that Matron climbing up the side of the waterfall?”

  Badger screwed up his eyes to see more clearly. “I think so,” he said. “And it looks like she’s wearing her swimming costume.”

  “That’s odd,” Ben remarked. “Why would she go up there in her swimming costume?”

  The answer came to him almost immediately. “Of course! You know Matron loves to dive, Badger,” he said, just as he noticed something that made his heart miss a beat. “Badger!” he gasped, grabbing his friend’s arm. “Look over there! Look at the pool at the bottom of the waterfall.”

  Once he followed the other boy’s gaze, Badger saw with horror what Ben was pointing out to him. In the pool, directly below the place from which Matron was planning to dive, was a thin needle of rock poking just a little way above the surface of the water. Because of the way the sunlight was glinting on the surface, Matron had not seen what was clearly visible from where Ben and Badger were watching.

  She had now reached the shelf of rock and was peering down at the pool. Poppy, Fee, Tanya, Thomas and Miss Worsfold waved up to her from below.

  Matron lifted her arms up in the air, preparing to launch herself into the void. Ben gasped. “Oh no! She hasn’t seen the rock. She’ll hit it, Badge. Matron will hit the rock! We have to do something!”

  Ben and Badger’s furious shouting and waving caught Matron’s attention and she waved back smiling, responding to what she assumed was the two boys’ friendly greeting, and then raised her arms again for the dive.

  Immediately realising that she had misunderstood their warning, and without pausing to tell Ben what he was going to do, Badger ran as fast as he possibly could, and within a few moments had reached the pool at the foot of the waterfall. Cupping his hands together, he shouted at the top of his voice, “Matron! Matron! There’s a rock! Don’t dive!”

  Matron saw Badger, but the roar of the waterfall drowned out his warning. Thinking that Badger was simply encouraging her, she waved enthusiastically back. Then she prepared once more to make her dive.

  Badger now realised there was only one way in which he could stop the impending disaster. Without taking off his shoes or clothes, he jumped into the pool and began to swim as fast as he could towards the rock. Up above him, Matron looked down in puzzlement. What was Badger up to? Was he trying to spoil her dive? She could not dive with him immediately below her, as that would risk injury to both of them. She lowered her arms and gestured for Badger to get out of the way. But Badger stayed exactly where he was, treading water to keep himself afloat, looking up from time to time to try and catch her eye.

  Matron was now extremely cross. Badger, she thought, was being deliberately obstructive. But why? Whatever the reason, she could not dive as long as he was there. She waited for a while to see if he would move, but when he did not, she reluctantly concluded that she would have to abandon the dive. It was most annoying, and she would certainly give him a piece of her mind when she got back to the side of the pool.

  When Badger saw her climbing down, he struck out for the shore. He was keen to get out of the water, as his sodden clothes made swimming difficult and tiring.

  “What on earth were you playing at?” Matron snapped at Badger a few minutes later. “I went all the way up there for nothing – thanks to you.”

  Badger shook himself to get some of the water out of his hair and clothes. “Didn’t you see the rock?” he said, gasping for breath.

  Matron frowned. “What rock?” she asked angrily.

  Badger pointed to the place where he had been swimming. “Right there,” he said. “Look, you can just see it from here, now the sun’s shifted.”

  Matron looked where he was pointing. “I can’t see any—” And then she stopped. With the direct sunlight off the surface of the water, she could now make out the sharp sliver of rock she had failed to notice before.

  Matron’s jaw dropped. “Oh …” she muttered. “Oh, no.” She looked at Badger with gratitude. “Badger, I think you saved my life,” she said.

  “I tried to warn you by shouting,” said Badger. “But the waterfall drowned out my words.”

  “And I would have been badly hurt,” said Matron, “if it hadn’t been for you.”

  Miss Worsfold had now come across and was anxious to know what was happening. “Well done, Badger,” she said, when she realised just how close Matron had come to injuring herself – or worse. “That was quick thinking on your part. The Captain will be very impressed when we tell him what you did.”

  Badger was now shivering from the cold, his clothes sticking to his skin uncomfortably. Fortunately, since everybody had brought a change of clothing, he was soon out of his sodden garments and dressed in a new dry outfit. Then, together with Ben, he went over to join the others.

  “I think you deserve the last piece of cake for that,” said Matron. “That’s the least I can do to thank you.”

  Badger told her that that was not really necessary, but accepted nonetheless. He had a weakness for chocolate, and the piece of cake that Matron was offering him was covered in thick chocolate icing.

  Fee watched him enviously. She shared Badger’s taste for chocolate, and she would dearly have loved a taste of the large slice he was now holding.

  Badger noticed. “Do you like chocolate cake, Fee?” he said, dwelling on the words chocolate and cake.

  Fee struggled to conceal her longing. “I don’t mind it,” she said, trying to sound as if she wasn’t bothered in the slightest if she never had chocolate cake again.

  Badger laughed. Then, breaking the piece of cake into two, he offered the larger piece to Fee.

  “Oh, I can’t,” said Fee. “That was your reward from Matron.”

  “Go on,” Badger urged her. “I want you to have it.”

  Fee gave in, and thanked him as she took a bite of the delicious cake. Ben watched and thought to himself, This is my old friend well and truly back. This is the Badger I’ve always liked so much.

  Whilst everyone was finishing the picnic, Henry had been sniffing around for any unwanted morsels. Matron had already given him a couple of dog biscuits, which he wolfed down in seconds, and he had also found half a sausage roll that Thomas had inadvertently dropped. Finding nothing else, he decided to do a
bit of exploring. There were all sorts of things to be investigated, and of course there was that strange cascade of falling water – Henry had never seen a waterfall before and was eager to find out what it was and why it made that roaring sound.

  Trotting round the other side of the pool, pausing now and then to sniff at this and that, Henry soon found himself on a narrow pathway of rock stretching all the way to the foot of the waterfall. At the end of the path the water hit the surface with a great roar, throwing up a huge cloud of spray. Jumping across some rocks at the side of the waterfall, Henry picked his way through the spray, curious as to what lay behind.

  Now, completely hidden from the other side, Henry found himself in a sort of cavern which stretched far back into the darkness. Keen to explore further, and not at all bothered by the cold and lack of light, he trotted deeper into the gloom. In the furthest corner he came upon a pile of strange objects, all covered with mud and slime. He sniffed at them. They had what seemed to him a very old smell – a smell he had never encountered before. But since they didn’t appear to be edible, there was nothing much to interest him, and he trotted back towards the waterfall.

  Ben had been watching Henry as he made his way round the side of the pool. When the dog disappeared behind the waterfall, he started to feel worried, as he had no idea what might be beyond it. The pool might well extend behind, and its waters would be churning angrily with the force of the falling water. If that was so, Henry could be in real danger.

  “Let’s check up on Henry,” Ben said to Badger. “I’m worried.”

  “Don’t worry. He’ll be all right,” replied Badger, munching the rest of his slice of cake. “Dogs are good at taking care of themselves.”

  Ben was not convinced. “No,” he insisted. “Let’s go and take a look – just to be sure.”

  Badger agreed, rather reluctantly, and followed his friend round the path to the place where Henry had vanished from view.

  The noise of the water was deafening, rather like that of an aeroplane or of the engine of an express train. Ben signalled to Badger to follow him. It would have been pointless to try to make himself heard, and together they clambered into the hidden chamber.

  It was dark behind the waterfall, and it took some time before their eyes became accustomed to the lack of light. A friendly bark from Henry announced that he was safe and sound before they could actually see him in the gloom. When they began to see more clearly, they discovered that the chamber they were in was far bigger than they had imagined. Not only was it high – they could hardly see the stone roof above them in the semi-darkness – but it also stretched back some distance into mysterious blackness.

  “It goes back a long way,” said Ben, taking his flashlight out of his pocket. He shone it towards the back of the cave, but its beam just disappeared in the gloom.

  “Shall we go and take a look?” asked Badger.

  Ben swallowed hard. He would never have been brave enough to explore a cave like this alone, he thought, but it was different with Badger. Having a friend with you can help a great deal, so he gave his agreement. “Yes,” he said. “Let’s take a look. You never know what you’ll find.”

  “Until you start looking for it,” said Badger, laughing, before adding, “All right then, Henry, you lead the way!”

  They made their way slowly across a jumble of small rocks that had fallen from the roof of the cave and were now cluttering the ground. Ben wondered what would happen if another rock were to fall while they were there, but he did not say anything about his fears. Sometimes, he thought, it’s best to say nothing – and this was one of those times.

  They were now deep inside the cave. Ben moved the beam of his flashlight across the damp stone walls. While he was doing that, something suddenly dropped down from above and fluttered past, causing both boys to jump with fright and Henry to give a short, high-pitched bark.

  “A bat!” exclaimed Badger, once he had recovered from the shock.

  They moved on and finally reached the back of the cave. “We can’t go any further. We’re at the end,” said Ben. “Perhaps we should turn back.”

  “Yes,” said Badger. “I think we’ve seen everything there is to see.”

  But then, just as he said that, the beam of Ben’s flashlight fell on a pile of objects on the floor of the cave, right at the back. Stooping to investigate, Badger picked up one of them and showed it to Ben. As he did so a thick layer of dried mud fell away from the object and its true nature was revealed. Now they knew what they – or more accurately Henry – had discovered. This must be the Viking treasure that had been brought ashore from the sinking longboat and hidden behind the wall of water, and which had lain forgotten and undiscovered until now.

  Badger was holding what seemed to be an old cup. After wiping it with his sleeve, he exposed the dull gleam of a golden goblet. Ben picked up a smaller object, and after some vigorous rubbing revealed an intricate piece of jewellery – a brooch in the shape of a wild boar.

  “Viking treasure!” shouted Ben “We’ve found the treasure, Badge!”

  Accompanied by Henry, who had by now had quite enough of waterfalls and caverns, the two friends returned as quickly as they could to the others. Miss Worsfold, clapped her hands in sheer delight at the thought that they had finally found the ancient treasure.

  Ben explained that there were far too many things in the cave for them to be able to carry safely back in one journey. Miss Worsfold listened carefully and suggested that they should take the goblet and the brooch back to the Tobermory to show the Captain, and return to collect everything else. “Some of these items will be very fragile by now after lying there for so long,” she said. “We shall need to be careful with them.”

  Without wasting any time, the whole party made its way back to the beach.

  “Right,” said Miss Worsfold. “Everyone lend a hand to launch the boat.”

  It was then that Ben noticed something odd.

  “Look! There’s only one oar,” he exclaimed. “What’s happened to the other?”

  Just as he spoke, Poppy spotted something else.

  “And somebody’s taken the propeller off the outboard engine,” she said, pointing to the place where the propeller ought to be.

  “Oh, no,” groaned Ben. “How are we going to get back with only one oar and no engine?”

  That same question was also in the mind of a group of people looking down at them from the ridge of the hill above the waterfall. One of them was watching closely through binoculars.

  “Our young friends have just got back to their boat,” he said with a cruel laugh. “I think they’ve realised they’re going to be stuck there for a good long time.”

  “Yes,” said one of the others, a tall, thin man with a shaggy beard. “And they don’t even know we’re here. What a stroke of luck we spotted them down by the pool, just as we were on the point of giving up. Now, whilst they’re figuring out what to do, let’s go down to the cave, find what we’ve been looking for and get back to the Swordfish.”

  How incredibly lucky, thought the man with the beard again, that two foolish boys, and one equally foolish dog, had unwittingly led them straight to the Viking treasure.

  The chase is on!

  Miss Worsfold took her phone out of her pocket. “I’ll speak to the Captain,” she announced. “He’ll send another boat over to tow us back to the Tobermory.”

  This was the simplest solution to the situation in which they had suddenly found themselves. But as she switched on her phone and prepared to key in the Captain’s number, her face fell.

  Poppy, who was watching closely, guessed immediately what the problem was. “No signal?” she asked.

  Miss Worsfold nodded. “I’m afraid not. It’s the mountains, I think. They’re blocking it.”

  With that possibility closed to them, rescue was very unlikely – at least not until someone on board the Tobermory realised they were missing and sent a boat to look for them. But that might not be for hours. />
  As they stood there without a clue as to what to do next, Poppy started to think about who might have sabotaged their boat. “I bet it was the crew of the Swordfish,” she said. “Maybe they had the same idea as us and thought the treasure might be hidden on land somewhere near here.”

  Miss Worsfold nodded. “I can’t see anyone else around,” she said. “But you could well be right, Poppy.”

  “But why would they want to stop us from leaving?” asked Tanya.

  “They might have seen us,” Badger said. “They might have been watching when Ben and I went behind the waterfall and came back with the goblet and brooch.”

  “And then one of them could have run back down here and done this to our boat,” added Fee. “They guessed we would go straight back to the Tobermory to get help to shift the treasure. But now we’re stuck here.”

  Miss Worsfold agreed that this was quite possible. “If that’s true,” she said, “then this is a serious situation and we must to get back to the Tobermory as soon as we possibly can. We need help before it’s too late. But how are we going to get there now?”

  Suddenly, Ben had an idea. “The tide’s going out, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” said Miss Worsfold. “You can see it. There’s quite a strong current here.”

  Ben glanced at the narrows, where the water drained out into the main part of Loch Sunart.

  “Miss Worsfold,” he began, “if we push our boat out into the water, won’t it be carried by the tide?”

  “I suppose so,” said Miss Worsfold. “But don’t forget: we have only one oar and no outboard engine. We would be at the mercy of the current.”

  Badger saw what Ben was driving at. “Yes!” he shouted. “Yes, Ben. That’s it! We’d be carried out through the narrows straight towards the Tobermory. They’d soon see us and come to help us.”

  Miss Worsfold looked doubtful at first, but then she smiled. “I think it could be worth trying,” she said. And then, after thinking about it more, she added, “Yes, I think that’s by far the best plan. Well done, Ben. And Badger too. Good thinking.”