by Sue Perkins
“My mother will act the same.” Eion’s rueful expression mirrored Fury’s. “You’re right, it’s time to turn back.”
Their return journey through the tunnels remained uneventful. At long last they reached the exit from Skull Rock and flung themselves down on the sand.
“Do you think we’ll find anything if we go back?” Fury wanted to know.
“Not sure.” Eion replied. “Possibly, but the odds are the legend is a story made up to keep people off the island. Won’t hurt to look though. It gives us something to do for the rest of the holidays. I think we’ve just got time to eat lunch before we head back.”
They polished off the food and packed their things into the kayaks then pulled out from the island, and started to paddle. As they approached the shore Fury looked up at the cliffs on either side of the beach.
“Eion, stop!”
He stopped paddling and drew alongside her then looked toward where she pointed.
“It’s the cave entrance. See the thorny bush above the water?” Fury looked back at the island. “We walked a long way, didn’t we?”
Eion dipped his paddle into the water and nodded. “When I get home I’ll look at the map and see if there’s anything on there.”
They landed at the beach and Fury helped to haul the kayaks back to Eion’s car.
Once they had finished loading them on the roofrack, she picked up her backpack.
“Tomorrow?” Eion asked and she nodded. “See you here at the same time.”
Chapter Eight
Her mother’s questions started as soon as she got home.
“Did you have a nice day, Fiora? Where did you go in the kayaks?”
Whoa. Dad must have told her I went out in the kayaks with Eion.
“I had a lovely time, thank you. Did you know the sea changes colour the further out you go. We didn’t go as far as where it turns black, but the deep turquoise near the island is beautiful.”
There, now she knows we didn’t go way out so she can’t say I’m not to go any more.
“What took you so long if you only went as far as the island?” Her mother frowned and Fury guessed all sorts of scenarios where passing through the woman’s brain.
“We got a picnic lunch from the cafe and stopped the other side of the island. It’s so beautiful with the fish flitting around in the water and the birds flying overhead. Lovely and peaceful. No traffic, no noisy people. We enjoyed the calm and solitude. We were thinking of doing it again tomorrow.”
Oops. Did I go too far?
“Glad to hear you appreciate the scenery of this area.” Her father’s voice came from behind her. “You go and enjoy yourself again tomorrow.”
Her mother’s face turned a bright red. “Now, John, I think Fiora should spend some time with us.”
“She spends time with us all year, let her have a bit of fun. I’ve asked around about this Eion and he’s got a good reputation. He’s off to uni this coming year and no one’s got a bad word to say about him.”
“Well...”
“Please, Mum, I’ve done all you’ve said. We don’t go too far out, we come back in time for dinner and I help Eion put the kayaks on his roof rack as a thank you for taking me. We have fun together, but it’s peaceful fun. We don’t get up to high jinks or anything. In any case, I think he has a girlfriend. She must work during the day as I’ve only seen her twice.”
Fury had been trying to forget the girl from the mall who had also turned up on the day of the storm. It did seem strange she never appeared during the time Fury spent with Eion but she assumed the girl had a summer job.
“Very well, but the slightest hint of wrongdoing and you’ll have to stop.”
Fury’s dad stood behind his wife and he held up his hand with index finger and thumb making a circle. His head nodded toward her mother.
“Thank you, Mum.” Fury flung her arms around her mother. “You’re the best Mum ever.”
“Silly girl.”
Her mother hugged her and Fury could see the pleasure glowing from her face. She loved her mum but realised she didn’t show it very often. Fury decided to be more demonstrative in future.
After dinner in the evening Fury sat on the porch swing enjoying the evening breeze. The seat creaked as her father came to sit beside her.
“So you’re having a good time with Eion?” He phrased the words as a question rather than a statement.
“Yes, he’s nice. We both like art, and he’s taught me how to paddle board, plus he’s shown me how to get the best out of the kayaks.”
“Good. Don’t let me down, Fury. Your mother is a lovely woman, but she tends to be a mother hen where her chicks are concerned, especially you as you’re a girl. Why don’t you take your drawing stuff with you tomorrow. You could probably do a sketch of the beach from the sea. If you made a painting of it you could give it to your mother. She’d be thrilled.”
Fury almost sighed with frustration. Drawing would take time out from their search of the tunnels. Her mood brightened as she thought how quickly she could do a sketch. To sketch a cartoon meant making all the parts work together, but a sketch for a future painting could be done bit by bit. She only needed to get the main details down.
*****
Fury breezed into the kitchen the following morning to find her mother had packed a picnic lunch for two.
“Thanks, Mum. This is so nice.” True to her unspoken promise she hugged her mother. “Eion and I won’t have to worry about going hungry now.”
Eion waited for her on the beach. He’d got the kayaks partly in the water, and he’d nearly packed everything into them when she arrived.
“My Mum has packed us a picnic lunch,” she announced as she bounced across the sand and flung her backpack into the bottom of one of the kayak. “Are we ready to go?”
Eion nodded and after they’d donned their lifejackets he helped her to step into kayak and then pushed her off. Within moments both vessels were heading out to the island.
“Before we land can we go past a bit. I’d like to do a sketch of the island so I can paint a landscape for my mother.”
“Landscape? I thought you did cartoons.” Eion had surprise written all over his face.
“Cartoons is my favourite area, but it never hurts to butter up the parents. A landscape painting done by me will make her feel special.”
“Fair enough.”
Fury pulled her sketchpad from her backpack and soon her pencil flew over the paper as she caught the basics of the scene in front of her. She finished and looked up with a sigh to find Eion also had his sketchpad resting on the kayak. Fury assumed he had taken the idea from her doing a picture for his own mother.
“Finished?” he asked.
“Yes, I’ve got the basics. The rest will come when I get the paints out.”
“Let’s get on the beach and have a snack like we did yesterday, then go straight to the tunnel leading off the main one.”
In total agreement they headed for the sandy beach of the island and tied up the kayaks then waded ashore. They ate their snacks quickly and were soon tramping along the tunnel leading to the eyes. This time their trip seemed to go quicker, probably due to the fact they’d been this way before. In no time they were climbing up the rocky steps to the second tunnel and heading for the new one they hadn’t yet investigated.
“I put a new battery in the torch this morning, so we’ll be okay for today’s trip.” Eion stopped as the side tunnel entrance appeared on their left. “Ready?”
Fury nodded and excitement rippled through her as they made their way into the unknown. Would today lead them to the pirates’ treasure? The walls were dry and every now and then they saw a skull carved into the stonework.
“Do you think this means we’re heading in the right direction?” Fury asked.
“Yes, but direction for what?” Eion shrugged. “There could be anything at the end of this tunnel.”
Their way didn’t slope downward and Fury wondered if th
ey were still inside the cliff they’d been in the day before. She knew they needed to take as little time as possible on the journey so they could check out what lay at the end. After several bends, they came to a large cave with no apparent exit other than the way they had entered.
Fury’s gaze automatically lifted to the upper regions of the cave, but there were no holes in these walls. They each went around opposite sides and checked the circular walls for any hidden ways. Nothing!
Eion walked around tapping the floor with his foot, but it sounded like solid rock.
“Dead end.” He sighed.
Fury nodded and went over what they’d searched. The walls, the upper walls and the floor. What had they missed?
“The ceiling, we haven’t checked the ceiling.”
“It’s a bit impossible to check there, it’s too high.” Eion leaned against the wall watching Fury dash across the cave.
“It dips to the floor here.” The excitement in her voice got through to Eion who levered himself away from the wall and came to her side. “See these holes, they lead up to some more of those stone steps like we had in the other cave.”
“How come we didn’t see these when we inspected the walls?” Eion wanted to know.
“I didn’t come into this bit where the ceiling meets the floor, did you?”
Eion shook his head and waved a hand at the holes.
“After you,” he said with a grin.
Chapter Nine
They reached the top of the wall and found another hole hidden by the rocky ledge beneath it. This was another one with a low ceiling and again they had to be careful. Eion offered to go first.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll go. I’m smaller than you so I can let you know if I think you’re going to have trouble.”
Fury switched on her headlamp and slipped into the gap. Moving carefully she pulled herself along the tunnel. Luckily the way remained smooth so she didn’t scrape her arms and legs much. To her surprise the tunnel didn’t go far and her torch showed the abrupt end so she stopped and called back to Eion.
“I’ve reached the end so I’ll be moving slowly from here until I know what’s ahead.”
A grunt from Eion showed he’d heard and Fury moved forward again. A few steps brought her to the edge of the tunnel and she swung her head round so her headlight shone below. Another bare cave! Fury began to think Eion had been right and if anything had been hidden in these caves, it had been removed a long time ago.
The light caught a flight of surprisingly solid steps leading down from the tunnel exit and Fury swung herself round then, holding on to the wall, she moved down to the cave floor. Eion followed but not too close. Soon they both stood on the floor of a totally empty cave with a sandy floor.
“If there’s sand on the floor then it must be inland.” Eion stated. “Sand near the sea would be wet due to the tides. I forgot to tell you I checked the maps. The slimy tunnels correspond with where the sea is if we accept the tunnels are heading toward the land. When it gets dry and sandy again, it’s where the cliffs are, meaning the tunnels are on the land.”
“There doesn’t seem to be an exit here, let’s look around to make sure.”
Fury went to the left and Eion circled to the right. A complete circuit did not reveal any holes in the cave walls. Fury slumped down on the sand, her back against the wall.
“Guess we’ll have to head back. There’s no way forward from here.”
“Let’s think about it for a moment.” Eion lay back full length on the sand and closed his eyes. “The original path going past the eyes is an entrance to the rest of the caves. Do you agree?”
Fury nodded, then realised he couldn’t see her. “Yes, I agree.”
“The second tunnel led to the cliff face. The third one led here. I’m guessing the pirates hoisted up their bounty from boats at the bottom of the cliff, through the hole, then brought it down here. They would have had to come on foot past the eyes to get to the bounty they’d hoisted up.”
“There’s no footsteps in the sand. This proves either the pirates or some treasure hunters took the stuff a long time ago. I had fun following the trail though.” Fury thought for a moment. “What’s the reason for the paths leading past the eyes?”
“It’s possible they were made by people trying to find the treasure.” Eion sounded uncertain. “If they didn’t find the extra tunnels they wouldn’t get very far. The pirates could have made the paths and the cave to lead treasure hunters astray.”
“Fair enough.” Fury hauled herself to her feet but Eion’s eyes opened wide.
“Wow!” He commented. “Look up there.”
Fury’s gaze followed his pointing finger and she gasped. The rocky ceiling above rose to a point to the centre of one side of the cave. A pinpoint of light shone through at the top of the wall. Rays of light spread out lighting up the ceiling and the whole cave.
“Why didn’t we see this when we first came in?” Fury frowned. “The light is reaching down here so we should have been aware of it.”
“I think the light comes from the sun,” Eion looked thoughtful. “I would imagine the sun has to be in a certain position before it shines through whatever is in the wall. Once it does, the rays spread out across the ceiling. No doubt it will disappear within minutes as the sun moves on.”
Fury noticed a ray of light shone onto a particular point in the sandy floor and she moved over to see if it had any significance. Her foot shoved at the sand until she’d cleared a space.
“Eion, there’s a trapdoor here.”
He came across to join her and knelt down to remove the remaining sand. An iron ring had been sunk into the trapdoor and he pulled on this, but it wouldn’t move. The light from above abruptly disappeared and they were left with only their headlamps to see by.
“Do you think this means it’s past midday?” Fury looked up to the ceiling, but could only see shadows in the lofty heights.
Eion checked his watch.
“Yes it is. I guess it’s time we went back. Help me cover up the trapdoor and leave it looking untouched.”
After concealing the door in the sand they made the long way back through the tunnels until they reached the sandy beach beneath the eyes.
“Time for lunch.” Fury unpacked the picnic. “I’m starving.”
Her mother had put in tons of food and by the time they had finished Fury admitted she couldn’t eat another thing.
“Time to go.” Eon led the way toward the kayaks.
As they packed the kayaks and pushed them out to sea, Fury queried what had been at the back of her mind since they’d found the cave of light.
“What do we do next?”
“I think we need to bring a crowbar with us next time and a lamp as well as our other lights. If we get here an hour before noon, we will be able to use the lantern to see the trapdoor and hopefully prise it open. What happens next depends on what we find beneath the trapdoor.”
They paddled their kayaks the rest of the way in silence, but when they reached the beach Eion turned to her.
“I think we should go paddle boarding tomorrow. If we go out in the kayaks day after day, our parents are going to get suspicious. Maybe a few days paddle boarding, then back to the kayaks.” He grinned at Fury. “Shame we can’t take lamps and crowbars on the paddle boards.”
Fury grinned back and helped him haul the kayaks onto the beach.
“See you tomorrow.” Eion raised a hand in farewell after they had put the kayaks onto his roof rack.
Fury arrived home to find her mother bustling about in the kitchen.
“Thanks for the super lunch, Mum. Eion says thanks too.”
“You’re getting very friendly with him, Fiora. I hope it’s nothing else than friendship.”
“No, Mum, I told you he already has a girlfriend. We both enjoy the paddle boarding and going out in the kayaks. He has no one to go with during the day and neither do I, so it makes sense for us to team up. No need for a picnic tomorrow as w
e’re going out on the paddle boards so we’ll be back by lunchtime and have a snack at the cafe.”
Fury hid a smile at her mother’s relieved look. Eion had been right. The parents would be suspicious if they kept going out in the kayaks.
In bed, Fury thought over the tunnels they had found in Skull Rock. If they’d guessed right the dry tunnels had led them ashore. The sunlight entering at the top of the wall seemed to twinkle and reflect the dust in the air.
It must mean there’s a gem or glass of some sort there. Of course it’s high up in the wall. A hole in the roof would let in the weather and the light wouldn’t fracture as it did today. Fury shot up in bed. It would mean it’s in the same cliff as the bush so it’s definitely on the land side of the water.
She rushed over to her desk in the corner and sketched out a rough map. First she put Skull Island at the top of the paper with the sea around it and the cliffs a short distance away. Next she drew a line following the tunnel under the sea and to the hole in the cliff. From this line she traced the tunnel leading to the cave of light. Once she had drawn this, Fury pulled a local map alongside the sketch. Her finger roughly followed the line but it didn’t match up with her thoughts.
Fury chewed the end of her pencil for a few moments then instead of drawing a straight line, she drew a curved one so the tunnel turned back to the cliff face. She nodded to herself and, satisfied she’d done her best, she shoved both map and sketch into her backpack, ready to show Eion tomorrow.
Chapter Ten
Fury could barely wait until she saw Eion the next morning. She gulped her breakfast so fast her mother told her to slow down. In an attempt to appease her mother, Fury ate slowly, but as soon as she’d finished she stood up and rushed out the door.
“See you later,” she called over her shoulder.
Eion waited for her by the board hire, but Fury held back on telling him her idea. She didn’t want them to be overheard. Her backpack had a waterproof cover and once she’d put this on, she slung it on her back and off they went out to sea.
