‘After that we managed to avoid the gang; they spent a good while looking for us but they did not find our hiding place. Then they seemed to lose interest in us and we discovered that they were holed up back in their old haunt, excuse the pun, in the Half Moon.’
‘But how and why did they come back again?’ asks Edward. ‘I don’t know,’ says Lucy gravely. ‘But it was the 100th anniversary of the disaster, perhaps it had something to do with that. Anyway, they stayed for a few days, just long enough to wreck another ship.’ ‘They wrecked another ship?’ said Edward in amazement ‘Yes and this time there was nothing we could do to stop them. We tried to do the same as before with the church bells and the lamp but they were ready for us this time. They were waiting for us and we only just managed to escape by the skin of our teeth. After a while we sneaked back and from a hiding place we watched them ferry the ship’s cargo back to the beach. Then they carried all the crates into the cave on the beach. We followed them along the passageways. When they got to their storeroom, they ripped the boxes open. They were shouting and screaming and squabbling over the booty, just like before.
‘Soon after this they disappeared again and so did the village again, as suddenly as they appeared.’ ‘And that was the last time that you saw them?’ asked Edward. ‘No, they turned up again 100 years later on the 200th anniversary of the disaster. Once again they got up to their dirty work and lured another ship onto the sandbanks and disposed of the ship exactly as before.’ ‘Did they loot that ship as well?’ asks Edward. ‘Yes,’ answers Lucy. ‘We snuck in and hid behind some barrels and watched them. It was funny this time,’ laughs Lucy. ‘Why?’ asks Edward, surprised. ‘Well Seamus was supervising the unpacking when suddenly he saw a package that interested him; he walked across to it, roughly pushing one of his men out of his way. On the side of this crate in large letters was written ARTWORK – HANDLE WITH CARE. “What have we here then? It may be a masterpiece worth more than all this miserable rubbish put together,” Seamus said, motioning at all the open cases that surrounded them. He grabbed a wrench from the man next to him and prised open the lid to reveal a framed painting. He pulled away the straw that had been placed over it for protection and then stood there, staring at the picture. “What is this rubbish?” he screamed, pointing at the picture, “why would anyone go to all the trouble of crating up a, a, a, kid’s painting?” He was very angry. I could see what Seamus was raving about,’ said Lucy, ‘the picture was of some large yellow flowers and it did look a bit like a child had painted it. One of the crew unwisely made a remark about the Captain hanging his new work of art over his bed. Seamus, in a flash, sent his dagger flying through the air at the wisecracker. It passed close to his head through the large ring dangling from his ear, pinning him to the door. After a stunned silence, the crew began to laugh nervously at the poor man trying to free himself from the knife. Seamus was still angry and did not join in the laughter; he shouted for Horace to take the picture away and destroy it.
‘Soon after that, just like before, they and the village disappeared again and now they have come back again. It must be something to do with the anniversary; it is 300 years since the disaster.’ Edward is thoughtful for a few seconds and then it suddenly occurs to him. ‘Are you telling me that you are 300 years old?’ ‘Don’t be silly,’ laughs Lucy, ‘actually I am 311.’ Lucy and Sam laugh at the look of shock on Edward’s face. As Edward digests this bit of information, a look of sadness spreads across his face. ‘So you have been here all that time just wandering aimlessly, alone?’ ‘Well not quite,’ says Sam, ‘she had me and Jack to keep her company.’ ‘Where is Jack?’ Asks Edward. ‘Oh he is probably keeping an eye on the gang somewhere,’ answers Lucy. ‘He thinks they are up to no good.’ ‘Well judging by the last two times they appeared he is probably right,’ says Edward. ‘The chances are that they intend to lure another ship to its doom,’ says Lucy. ‘Oh that’s terrible,’ says Edward ‘we must try to stop them.’ ‘Easier said than done,’ replies Sam.
‘You must really miss your family,’ says Edward. Now it is Lucy’s turn to look sad. ‘Yes I do, but I hope that one day I can move on from this place and be with them again.’ There are a few minutes of silence, then the smile returns to Lucy’s face and she stands up. ‘Come on Sam, time for us to go.’ Edward can’t hide his look of disappointment. ‘Will I see you again?’ he asks. ‘Oh, I should think so, as long as you promise not to cover us in talcum powder.’ Edward laughs as Lucy and Sam walk towards the small cupboard door. ‘Why does everybody seem to come and go through that small door?’ Edward asks. ‘Because at the back of the cupboard is a secret passage that leads to the labyrinth of tunnels in the cliffs and down to a cave on the beach,’ answers Lucy. ‘I knew it,’ Edward says excitedly. ‘I knew there were secret passages in this old house.’ Lucy looks back over her shoulder at Edward. ‘If you like, we can give you a guided tour of the tunnels sometime. Sam and I know them like the backs of our hands, we have had 300 years to explore them and there wasn’t much else to do.’ ‘Oh that would be brilliant,’ says Edward excitedly. ‘But why is there a secret passage leading from this house to the beach anyway?’ Edward asks. ‘I don’t know,’ replies Lucy. ‘This is an old house and it is built right under the cliffs, maybe whoever lived here years ago was involved in smuggling.’ ‘Brilliant!’ says Edward, warming to this exciting theory.
‘Anyway, we must be on our way, we have a gang of Wreckers to spy on.’ says Lucy. As Edward watches them, they begin to fade away and pass through the small door, their voices becoming more and more distant until they are finally gone. He stares at the small door where the odd couple had been just seconds before. Then he becomes aware of the state his bedroom is in. I had better clear this mess up, he thinks as he looks around. Oh dear, everything is covered in talcum powder – it is going to take me hours to clear this mess up, he thinks, despondently. I wonder where the vacuum cleaner is kept.
CHAPTER 17
The next morning Edward hungrily devours his breakfast. He can hardly wait to talk to Bruce about yesterday’s events. ‘Well what have you got planned for today? ’His aunt asks him. ‘Oh I think I may do a bit more exploring, do you fancy that Bruce?’ The dog, who was seeing off his own breakfast, replies, ‘What I fancy laddie is a bit of peace and quiet after all that nonsense yesterday. I am going to curl up in my nice warm bed right there next to the boiler.’ Edward looks at his aunt and Annie. Neither of them seems to be the slightest bit surprised that the dog has just spoken. Perhaps they cannot hear him, perhaps I am the only one who can hear Bruce, he thinks. Edward is just wondering whether he should mention the talking dog, when his aunt says, ‘Harry is going into Dainton, that’s our nearest town, to buy some bits and pieces. With this awful weather, Annie has not been able to get to the shops and we are running short of a few things – food and that sort of thing. Why don’t you go with him and help him with the shopping? You will probably enjoy the ride, though unfortunately you will have to start off in the boat again to get to the car.’ Edward hesitates for a few seconds; he had hoped to see Lucy and Sam again, but he was not at all sure he knew how to contact them again and it would be nice to go into town with Harry. ‘That would be very nice,’ says Edward, ‘I think it’s wicked coming and going everywhere by boat and it will be nice to have a look around Dainton.’ He could ask Harry more about Pea Haven and whether he had ever seen any ghosts about the house. He looks out of the window; the rain is still falling heavily. ‘I had better put my raincoat on,’ he says.
CHAPTER 18
Edward climbs into the boat and pulls up the collar of his coat against the wind and rain. Harry, using an oar, pushes them away from the steps; he places the oar back into the metal ring and starts to row. The boat moves gently away from the house and down the drive. Edward turns and waves and calls goodbye to his aunt who is standing at the top of the steps with Bruce. ‘Goodbye, see you both later,’ he calls. ‘Rather you than me, laddie,’ Bruce shouts back in reply, �
�I’m off to my nice warm bed.’ With that, he turns and trots back into the house.
During the drive to town, Edward asks Harry about Pea Haven and the disaster. Harry tells Edward the story again as much as he knows. ‘Have you ever seen any ghosts?’ Edward asks. ‘Not me personally lad but I ‘ave ‘eard the stories about them.’ ‘What stories?’ asks Edward excitedly. ‘Oh just things people are supposed to have seen, not sure I believe in all that stuff meself, mind you when you think about the ‘istory of that old ‘ouse it would not surprise yers.’ ‘What ‘istory, I mean history?’ Edward corrects himself. ‘Well once, a long time ago, it was owned by the leader of a gang of smugglers; apparently there is a secret passage somewheres in the ‘ouse which leads to a network of tunnels that runs down through the cliffs to the cove. The gang used to store their booty down there and use the tunnel to move the stuff, out of the sight of the customs men. But I ain’t ever found the tunnel and I ain’t seen any old ghosties either, just soppy stories that’s what they are. Daft folk with too much cider down their necks if you ask me.’ Edward decides it best not to mention Lucy and Sam to Harry at the moment.
‘What about Mr Ponsonby?’ asks Edward. ‘What do you know about him?’ asks Harry in surprise. ‘Not much, he was in the house yesterday talking to Auntie; I did not like him very much.’ ‘You’re not wrong there lad, he’s a bad ‘un.’ ‘Auntie seemed upset after talking to him; does she have a problem with him?’ ‘You should not worry yourself about it, your aunt wouldn’t want for you to worry about her and spoil your holiday.’ ‘I will worry anyway even if you don’t tell me about him.’ Harry is silent for a while, then he speaks. ‘OK I will tell you as much as I knows, which is not much, but you must not tell your aunt that I told you – she will have my guts for garters.
‘Your aunt has got herself into a bit of money problems, something to do with shares or investments or something, I don’t understand these things. Anyway, she apparently lost most of her money so she was forced to take out a loan to tide her over until things improved. The house was in a bit of a state; it had been neglected for years. I do me best around the place but it’s a big ‘ouse and I’m not as young as I used to be. Anyway, it needed some major work doing to it to stop it falling down. I don’t know how she met Ponsonby, but it was her bad luck that he turned up on the scene just at the time she needed this loan. Anyway, the snake talks her into taking out the loan with him and your aunt, being the trusting soul she is, did not read all the small print and now she owes him a fortune, with all that high interest and all. And he’s demanding settlement of the full amount immediately. Apparently she did not realise that she could lose the ‘ouse to him if she does not pay him back on time. Anyways, that time has come round much quicker than she realised, and now he is demanding his money and threatening to repossess Pea Haven Hall if she can’t pay up.’ ‘I heard her asking him for more time but he refused. Why is he being so horrid?’ asks Edward. ‘I have heard that if he gets ownership of the old house he has plans to turn it into one of those fast food restaurants.’ ‘Oh that would be terrible,’ says Edward. ‘We must do something to stop him.’
‘Me and Annie have been racking our brains to come up with something, but we only have a little bit of money put by for a rainy day, and we didn’t have this kind of rainy day in mind!. We offered all we had to her; she said that it was very kind of us but she could not accept our money. In truth I think our little bit of savings would not help her very much. Well here we are in Dainton, all that chatting made the drive go quickly,’ says Harry as he pulls the car up in the busy high street.
CHAPTER 19
Harry gives Edward a guided tour of the town and then they buy their shopping at the small supermarket in the high street. As they are packing the shopping into the boot of the car, Harry says, ‘Right, time for a bit of lunch, come on lad.’ Harry leads Edward back along the street and into a small pub. ‘They do some nice grub in here,’ Harry says, handing a menu to Edward. Edward decides on ham, egg and chips. ‘Right, you go and sit over there,’ says Harry, pointing to an empty table, ‘while I order the drinks and food.’
Edward, while sitting at the table, notices Harry behaving strangely. He has moved further along the bar next to a small booth. In the booth, Edward can see a small man sitting on a bench. Edward suddenly sits up when he recognises the man. It is the man in the boat with Ponsonby. Now what was his name Edward thinks, Smudgy, no I remember, it was Smudger. Smudger appears to be in deep conversation with someone sat opposite him, hidden from Edward’s view by the high wooden back of the bench. Eventually Harry comes across to Edward and plonks himself down in a chair. ‘You were a long time,’ says Edward. ‘I was just listening to a very interesting conversation,’ replies Harry. ‘What, you mean you were eavesdropping on a private conversation?’ says Edward, shocked. ‘Well, you could say that,’ Harry agreed. ‘Sometimes it’s necessary to listen in to people’s private conversations, especially when one of them people is that rat Ponsonby. You can pick up all sorts of useful information.’ Edward looks at Harry in surprise. ‘Is that Ponsonby sitting over there with Smudger?’ ‘How do you know his name?’ asks Harry. ‘He was with Ponsonby when he called at the house yesterday. I heard Ponsonby call his name when they were leaving. What were they talking about, is it about Aunt Agatha?’ Harry takes a long pull on his cider before eventually answering. ‘Yes, and the house.’ ‘What did they say?’ Edward persists. ‘I thought you didn’t approve of earwigging other people’s conversations?’ Harry says with a smile. ‘Oh stop teasing and tell me what they said,’ Edwards says impatiently. ‘Well, Ponsonby was saying something about some old plans of the house he has found.’ Harry goes quiet for a while, thinking. ‘I reckon those plans must have been with that bundle of official papers and things I dropped off to his office.’ He explains to Edward that Aunt Agatha asked him to drop some documents around to Ponsonby’s office a while back. ‘Anyway, Ponsonby was saying something about secret passages and hidden rooms.’ Edward wonders if he should tell Harry about the secret entrance to the tunnels at the back of the small cupboard in his bedroom. The problem is, if he did he would also have to tell Harry about the ghosts Lucy and Sam. He was sure that would be quite difficult to explain and it’s possible that Harry might not believe him. So instead he just repeats innocently, ‘Secret passages? Hidden rooms?’ ‘Well I’ve never found them,’ says Harry. ‘Mind you, I’ve never really looked for them either. Now where was I? Oh yes, then he told that other man – did you say his name was Smudger? Funny name that – he told him about some valuable stuff stored in one of the hidden rooms. Then he said that when the house was his they would have to search the tunnels. Ponsonby said he could flog the stuff they find.’ ‘What else did he say?’ asks Edward excitedly. ‘Well here’s the really interesting bit. He, Ponsonby that is, mentioned a painting that was hidden somewhere in the secret tunnel. He said that its discovery would stun the art world and make him a fortune in the process.’ ‘He said that?’ asks Edward, wide-eyed. ‘He said exactly that.’ ‘But what can it all mean?’ asks Edward. ‘I am not sure yet, but for now keep it to yourself. We don’t want Ponsonby getting wind that we know anything; he may find a way to have the stuff away before we can stop him. Now get on with your lunch before it goes cold.’
CHAPTER 20
That afternoon after returning from town, Edward cannot wait any longer – he must try and contact Lucy and Sam again and ask them if they can show him the tunnels. After what Harry has overheard in the pub about valuable paintings and other hidden stuff, it is important to search them. Perhaps Lucy and Sam know where the stuff is hidden, they did say they had been wandering around the tunnels for centuries, so they must know every inch of them, Edward thinks.
Edward goes into the kitchen looking for Bruce and finds him with his head in his food bowl again, finishing off another meal. ‘Come on Bruce, let’s go and explore more of the house.’ Bruce raises his head and gives Edward a less than enthusiastic
look before plunging his head back into the bowl and continuing the noisy consumption of his lunch. Edward decides to use a bit of flattery. ‘Come on boy, I need you, you are the best guide around and the bravest. I need you with me in case we come across that girl and her cat again.’ ‘I’m not interested laddie. After this very tasty lunch I intend to go into the garden and chase those noisy seagulls off the lawn and follow that with a bit of shut eye in front of the living room fire.’ ‘Oh,’ says Edward disappointed. He tries another tack. ‘OK, I will look around on my own. I understand if you are a bit frightened of Lucy and Sam – they are ghosts after all.’ Bruce nearly chokes on his food. ‘Frightened, frightened? What are you talking about you little pup? Of course I’m not frightened. I am a highland terrier descended from a long and noble line of terriers, afraid of no-one and certainly not a wee slip of a girl and her flea-bitten mangy cat.’
‘Right, exploring it is then.’ Edward heads for the kitchen door and then turns when he realises that Bruce is not following. ‘Come on then, let’s go.’ ‘Hold on laddie,’ Bruce says as he licks his bowl clean. ‘I can’t go exploring on an empty stomach.’ Edward rolls his eyes in frustration and walks out of the door. ‘These youngsters are so impatient nowadays,’ says Bruce as he eventually follows after Edward.
The Wreckers Page 6
