by Paul Moxham
Joe sighed. “We’ll have to paint the rest tomorrow.”
“Hey, what shall we call it?” Amy said. “We could paint the name on the side.”
“That’s a great idea,” Sarah said.
Will glanced over at the blue sailboat. “Why don’t we all think of some possible names, and then tomorrow morning we can discuss them?”
“Sounds good.” Amy looked at Will. “Do you feel like coming over to Rose Cottage and playing Monopoly?”
Will grinned. “Would you be able to handle it? After all, I won almost every game last time we played.”
“I’m going to beat you fair and square this time.” Joe opened the shed door. “Last one to Rose Cottage has to be the banker.” He raced off into the driving rain.
Chapter 3: Off We Go!
The next morning, the children went straight to work on the rest of the sailboat. Once they had finished, they raced down to the sandy shore and splashed about in knee-high water as they waited for the paint to dry. It had been fun painting, but it was hot work, so it was nice to feel the cool water on their feet.
Joe collapsed onto the warm sand and closed his eyes. The others joined him and, for a few moments, no one said anything.
Sarah was the first to speak. “So, what are we going to name the boat?”
“How about Whispering Wind?” Amy suggested.
“Maybe. What about the Lazy Lucy?” Joe said.
Will nodded. “I was thinking of something like the Floating Four, but I do like the sound of the Lazy Lucy.”
“Okay, say yes if you want to name the boat the Lazy Lucy,” Joe said.
Amy and Sarah yelled out at the same time. “Yes!”
Joe looked at Will. “What do you say?”
Will thought for a moment. He then smiled. “Yes.”
“Okay, so the Lazy Lucy it is,” Joe said. “Now, where will our first adventure be?”
“I thought we were going to sail to Lighthouse Island,” Amy said.
“Hey! I just thought of something.” Will sat up and looked eagerly at the others. “Two summers ago, my father and I went camping on an island just up the coast.”
“Adventure Island?” Sarah asked.
Will shook his head. “I don’t think so. This place was called Windswept Island. As you might guess by the name, it was quite windy there, but there’s a small cove there that was the perfect place for camping.”
“Did you see many birds there?” Joe asked.
“There were quite a few, and even some wild rabbits and other small creatures,” Will replied. “It’s a small island, so it might not be as good if there are other people there, but when we went it was deserted.”
“How far up the coast is it?” Amy questioned.
“Not far. A few hours, three at the most,” Will said. “And if your parents agreed, we could stay there for two nights. I’m sure my father would say yes, especially since I’ve been there before.”
“Maybe your father can talk to ours,” Joe suggested.
“I’ll ask him tonight,” Will said. “We can still sail to Lighthouse Island if you really want to, but I think Windswept Island would be much for exciting.”
“I agree,” Joe said.
After lying on the sand for a while longer, they walked back to the boat to find that the paint was dry. They still had to attach the white sail, but before they did that, Will, in the best writing that he could muster, wrote Lazy Lucy on the side of the boat in big letters. He stood back and admired his handiwork. “There, that looks quite nice.”
“Now we just need to ask Quigley for a quick lesson in sailing,” Amy said.
Will nodded. “Why don’t we see if he’s available tomorrow?”
“Sounds smashing.” Joe grinned. “Let’s go and talk to him now.”
~
As the sun neared the horizon the next day, Joe, Sarah, and Amy sat patiently at the living room table in Rose Cottage as Mr Mitchell hung up the telephone. “Well, Quigley seems to be happy with your sailing abilities, and thinks that, especially with Will in charge, nothing should go wrong. He also added that Will’s experience in sailing to Windswept Island would be very helpful.”
“So?” Amy asked.
Her father grinned. “I see no reason why you can’t go tomorrow—”
“Hooray!” the children cried out.
“Can we stay two nights?” Joe questioned.
“Well…” Mr Mitchell looked over at his wife. “Quigley did think very highly of them.”
Their mother smiled. “If you’re happy, then I’m too. Besides, it isn’t like they are going to have an adventure like last time.”
“Smashing!” Joe yelled.
“Goodness, thanks heaps!” Sarah shouted.
Amy hugged her mother. “Thanks a lot.”
Her mother smiled. “Just behave yourselves. And stay out of trouble.”
“We will,” Amy promised, smiling.
~
Early the next morning, the three siblings, with their rucksacks filled to the brim and sleeping bags slung over their shoulders, waved goodbye to their parents and headed to the harbour.
Arriving a short while later, they found that that Will and Quigley were already there.
“Did you bring everything I said?” Will asked.
Joe nodded as he put his rucksack down on the ground. “Warm clothing in case the weather gets cold, some games and matches. Did you bring the tents?”
“Yes, and I’ve got a saucepan and bucket, and some rope,” Will said.
“What about food?” Quigley asked.
“We’ve got tins of fruit, biscuits, bread, cocoa, chocolate, lemonade—” Amy said.
“If you’re anything like me,” Quigley interrupted, “you’ll be spending your time exploring. Why, when I was exploring the ruined church on Adventure Island—”
“A church?” Amy exclaimed. “On an island?”
Quigley smiled. “Yes.”
“But why a church?” Joe asked, curious.
“Well, I asked me father that same question,” Quigley replied, “and, as far as I can recall, he said something about a religious leader, Jeremiah Jones, who wanted to start up a settlement away from the hustle and bustle of town life. He moved to the island with his followers and started building a church and a few houses.”
“But you said the church was a ruin,” Sarah said.
“Ah, yes,” Quigley said. “Well, the story goes that Jeremiah Jones got some disease and died before he could finish building the church.”
“What happened then?” Will asked.
Quigley glanced at each of the children in turn. “The followers left in a hurry, certain that the island was cursed. Some even say that, on a full moon, the ghost of Jeremiah Jones roams the island, cursing anyone in sight.”
There was complete silence from the children as they digested this. Quigley, seeing the startled faces on the children, suddenly laughed. “You didn’t take me seriously, did you?”
Joe smiled. “Not me. There’s no such thing as a ghost.”
“Well, maybe not, but it still sounded a bit frightening,” Sarah said.
Quigley laughed once more as he put his hand on the little girl’s shoulder. “Sorry about that. Bunch of lies I say, but I wouldn’t be caught there on a full moon. Anyway, I went there plenty a time back when I be young and didn’t see a sign of anyone, let alone the ghost of Jeremiah Jones. But enough of that. You’re going to Windswept Island, so don’t worry your pretty heads about what I say. Shall we put the boat in the water now or what?”
Will glanced around and saw several sails in the harbour that were billowing. “Yes, let’s get going while the wind is still strong.”
The children flung their luggage aboard the sailboat and with Quigley’s help, pushed the craft down the slope. It slid into the water with a splash.
The children clambered in. Waving goodbye to Quigley, Will took the tiller and the Lazy Lucy headed out of the cove.
Ch
apter 4: Rocky Island
It was a marvellous morning as the Lazy Lucy whipped along the coast. While Will took charge of the tiller, the girls gazed up at the blue sky. Whenever a cloud came along, they would try to imagine it as an animal.
With the binoculars around his neck, Joe sat at the stern of the boat. Every now and then he would let his hand drag in the water to cool himself off.
Seeing the billowing sail, Joe marvelled at how such a simple thing could propel the sailboat at the speed that they were going. At this rate, they were sure to reach Windswept Island before midday.
And indeed they did. “Land ahoy!” Joe called out, grinning, a short time later. He stared at Windswept Island. It didn’t look particularly interesting since it was flat, but he didn’t care. As long as there were birds, he’d be happy.
Will steered the Lazy Lucy towards the island. As they got closer, they saw some large sea birds flying over the rocks. Nearer to the inlet, the smiles on the children’s faces dropped as they heard music.
“Where’s the music coming from?” Amy asked.
Will steered the boat into the inlet and came into sight of a group of campers tenting in the sheltered area. Several people were jumping up and down as they danced to loud music.
“Looks like somebody beat us to it,” Will muttered, annoyed.
“They must have a gramophone,” Sarah said.
Joe peered through the binoculars. “Sarah’s right.”
Will looked at the faces of the others and saw how disappointed they looked. “I’m sorry.”
“Can we camp somewhere else?” Amy asked.
“Well,” Will answered, “this island is quite small, so that’s the only place to camp.”
Joe glanced wistfully at the birds flying overhead. “What a shame.”
“So what do we do?” Sarah said.
“Well, let’s see where we are.” Will went into the cabin and returned a moment later with a map. He laid it out and pointed. “We’re here. If you want, we could go back to Lighthouse Island.”
“What about this island here?” Joe asked as he pointed to another island further up the coast.
Will looked closer and saw that the name of it was Rocky Island.
“Would that be Adventure Island?” Amy said.
Will shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think this other place would be the one that Quigley was talking about.” He pointed to an island a couple of miles past Rocky. “This one is closest to Seacrest, which is where Quigley used to live, so I think that would probably be the so-called Adventure Island.”
Amy glanced at her watch. “If this wind keeps up, we could make Rocky Island by late afternoon, right?”
Will studied the distances between Windswept Island and Smugglers Cove and Windswept Island and Rocky Island. “Rocky Island is about double the distance from Smugglers as Windswept is, but if we have the same weather conditions as we had earlier, we should get there by late afternoon.”
“Let’s get some food in our stomachs before we head off,” Joe said.
Will looked at the girls. “So, are we all in agreement?”
Sarah grinned. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
Amy smiled “Whatever you say, Captain.”
“Okay, here we come Rocky Island!” Will yelled, thrusting his hand into the air.
~
Before long, the Lazy Lucy was once more whipping along the coast. The sail billowed out fully and the boat bobbed up and down on the water as it sped along. But then the wind died down and there was nothing that they could do about it. They took the sail down and rowed, but progress was slow.
Thankfully, the wind picked up and, after raising the sail, the Lazy Lucy sped along the water. As late afternoon came to a close, land came into view.
Will, who was now resting while Joe steered, was the first to spot it. “Rocky Island dead ahead!” He walked over and took the tiller from Joe. “Rocky Island probably got that name because of all the rocks, so we’d better go slowly and keep a sharp look out for anything that could damage the boat.”
Everyone was silent as the craft got closer to the island. Soon, they were within sight of the rocks. The waves frothed and surged as the water crashed against them, sending spray high into the air.
“We should take down the sail,” Will said. “I think it’s best if we row from this point on. We want to have control of the direction we are going in. If the Lazy Lucy hits one of the rocks—”
“I’m on it, Captain,” Joe said as he walked over to dismantle the sail.
With Sarah watching for rocks on one side and Amy on the other, Will and Joe took the oars and started rowing.
Whenever the boat got too close to one of the rocks, the watcher would yell out and Will would adjust the direction. It was slow going, and the boys had to row for roughly ten minutes before they found a way through the rocks.
As the Lazy Lucy entered the small inlet and headed towards the sandy beach, Amy shared a glance with the others. “That was tight.”
“How about we drop the anchor next to those flat rocks?” Will said. “That will save us wading through the water.”
“Good thinking,” Joe replied.
They brought the boat alongside the rocks. Will slung the anchor overboard and climbed out, gazing around as he did so. The tall cliffs made it impossible to see much of the island.
“We should have time to explore before it gets dark,” Amy said.
“Yes, but we should set up camp first.” Will glanced around at the surrounding area. “Why don’t you girls look around and see if there’s a suitable place to camp? We boys can get the tents and stuff out of the boat and onto the beach.”
The two girls jumped down onto the rocks and made their way across to the beach while the boys started unloading the gear. They had just finished doing so when the girls came rushing back.
“Did you find a spot?” Joe asked.
Sarah nodded. “A good one.”
“There’s a sheltered spot in front of a wooded area,” Amy said. “The grass seems nice and soft and, if we aim the tents the right way, we’ll have the morning sun waking us up.”
“Sounds good,” Will said. “Let’s get going.” After picking up their stuff, they walked along the sand and headed up the hillside.
After a few minutes, they arrived at the grassy area. Everyone went straight to work and, before long, two small tents were set up beside a wood of pines and birches. After they had grabbed some firewood, they decided to explore.
They walked alongside the wood as they headed towards a hill that seemed to be in the middle of the island. With the pines on one side and thick gorse bushes on the other, it was a lovely walk.
Sarah was thrilled when she saw a couple of wild rabbits dart across the grass. “Oh, what sweet little darlings!”
As they reached the hill and started walking up it, they caught sight of a stream. Upon further inspection, they saw that the water was coming out of some rocks.
“This will provide us with fresh water, to drink or wash the dishes,” Will said.
“I wonder what else we’ll find,” Joe said as he raced up the hill.
The others followed him and, before long, they were at the rocky top. There were a few trees as well as stunted gorse bushes which was due to the rocky terrain.
Amy gazed around. “You can see the whole island from here.” Unlike most small islands, there was quite a large wooded area. There were also grassy areas, especially near the rocky shoreline.
Soon, all eyes were on one spot. For some reason, there was a square in the middle of the wood that was devoid of trees. And, in the middle of this square was some sort of ruin.
The children couldn’t see what it was from so far away, so they decided to go and have a look. They hurried down the hill, through the wood and into the clearing.
They stopped when they saw the ruin. Amy looked at the boys. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Joe walked forward. “It couldn’t be
.”
The others followed and soon they were so close to the ruined building that there was no doubt about it.
It was a church. Inscribed on a piece of wood that was half rotted away was a sign. It read: The Church of Jeremiah Jones.
Chapter 5: A Ghostly Encounter
Amy gasped. “Golly! So this is Adventure Island.”
“Oh, no! If the church is real, then the curse is real,” Sarah said.
Will shook his head. “No. A church is one thing, a ghost another.”
“I want to go home,” Sarah muttered.
Joe glanced up at the sky. “Even if we wanted to go home, it would be too late. Besides, who really believes in ghosts?” He and Will laughed and, a few moments later, the girls joined in.
Joe walked into the ruined building and saw that the years had taken their toll on the structure. Weeds and bushes were climbing through windows and holes in the walls.
“This sure has been here a while,” Will said.
“I wonder why they don’t do something about this place?” Amy muttered.
“Who would want to live on this island anyway?” Joe questioned. “Besides, the government probably owns the island now.”
They left the church and glanced around at their surroundings. There were a few other ruined buildings that looked in as bad a shape as the church, and Joe assumed that they would have been the houses that the religious leader was building. The only other building that was worth exploring was located beside the church. It was large place, almost as big as the church.
“It looks like a warehouse,” Sarah said.
They went inside and saw that most of it was still intact. The sides were made of stone while an upper level was rotting away as it was made of timber. In places, they could even see the sky above.
“This must have been a storehouse of some kind,” Will said. “After all, if these people were going to be living here, they wouldn’t want to be going back and forth to the mainland all the time to get food. And, with the walls being stone, the food would stay cool.”
