by Paul Moxham
Moving as silently as he could, he heard the men stop. A moment later, he heard two sets of noises in different directions and realised they had separated.
Knowing that he could never outrun someone on his knees, Will paused and stayed as silent as he could. As long as the man didn’t crawl about like he was doing, the chance of him finding him was small. Will waited until the sound was far away before he continued crawling.
Suddenly, there was a rustling noise and the corn stalks in front of him parted, revealing the face of the pilot.
Will leapt to his feet, but before he could run, the second man appeared from the other side and he knew that he was trapped. Seeing that there was a pistol tucked into the man’s trousers, he raised his hands in surrender.
“Thought you could escape, hey?” the pilot said, grinning as he led the way out of the corn field. “I thought I’d try something smart and stay where I was for a minute or two, and it paid off.”
“You got lucky,” Will said.
“Not at all. If we hadn’t caught you here we would have caught you somewhere else.” The pilot laughed as he dragged Will towards the car.
Chapter 21: A Chance To Escape
The girls and Joe were talking amongst themselves by the tent when Joe paused and frowned as he heard a sound rising and falling on the wind. He took the binoculars and peered through them.
Nothing could be seen at first, but then he saw a speck in the sky. “The seaplane is returning.”
Amy stood up as the machine approached. “Are you sure it’s the same one that landed here?”
Joe nodded. “It looks to be the same.” He fell silent as the plane turned towards the inlet. “Let’s go and see what happens.”
They hurried towards the place where the seaplane had taken off from only a few hours ago.
As they arrived and hid behind the bushes, they saw the two pilots rowing the dinghy towards the shore. In between them was Will.
“So they caught him.” Joe punched his fist against the palm of his other hand angrily. “That’s not good.”
“I wonder how,” Sarah said.
“Let’s go to the cabin and see if we can find out,” Joe suggested.
They waited for the men to land and head towards the wood before they followed them. They didn’t want to go too close in case they were spotted, so they were just nearing the cabin when they saw the pilot and co-pilot leave.
Joe and the girls knelt down to avoid being seen. Once they were out of hearing, Amy spoke. “I wonder where they’re going.”
“Back to the plane by the looks of it,” Joe said.
“Are they going to take off?” Sarah asked.
“Let’s go and see.” Joe followed the path that the men had taken and paused at the edge of the wood. He was just in time to see the men rowing to the aeroplane.
Within a matter of minutes, the machine had roared to life and was taxiing across the water. Once it had enough speed, it lifted off and banked to the left.
“I wonder if they’re going back to where they came from,” Joe said.
“Probably,” Amy replied.
“I don’t think so,” Joe said. “They were headed in the direction of the mainland when they flew off just then, but when the plane flew in, it appeared to come from across the water. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter where they’ve gone, we should be seeing what the men are doing to Will.”
“You’re right.” Amy followed Joe and Sarah back into the wood.
They couldn’t hear anything, but as Kenneth left the cabin, they followed him. He hurried along the beach. The children tried to keep up with him without being seen, but when they rounded a bend, he was nowhere to be seen.
“I wonder where he went,” Amy said.
“Well, if we stay here, he might return.” Joe left the beach and found someplace near the bushes where they could see the entire inlet. He sat and waited.
Less than ten minutes had passed before Sarah saw the man in a rowboat. “He must have gone to get that.”
“Yes, it must have been hidden in one of the caves.” Joe watched as Kenneth beached the craft on the sand and disappeared into the wood. He turned to the girls. “If the men learn that we’re on the island, they’ll start searching for us.”
“Will isn’t going to tell the men anything,” Amy said.
“Well, we don’t know what’s going on in that cabin,” Joe said, “all we know is that at least one of the men intends to leave in that rowboat we saw and go somewhere.”
“What does that matter to us?” Sarah asked.
“Well, I have a plan,” Joe said. “If one of us hid in that rowboat, they could find the police when it lands and get them to come here. It could be our last chance to get help.”
“Would that rowboat be able to hide someone in it?” Amy said, sceptical.
“Maybe not me or you,” Joe said, “but I think Sarah would fit. I know it’s risky, but it’s a risk that needs to be taken.”
“I could go,” Amy volunteered. “I know I’m a bit taller but—”
“I’ll be fine,” Sarah interrupted. “After all, I did climb up the side of that boat the other week, and that was much harder than hiding in a rowboat.”
“Hiding in the rowboat is only the beginning,” Joe said. “You’ll have to get to the nearest police station. And that will be especially hard since we don’t where the man will row to. Hopefully, it won’t be too far from a village, but you never know.”
“Shall I tell the first person I see?” Sarah asked.
“Yes, but count to two hundred before you climb out of the rowboat,” Joe said. “You can’t wait too long in case the man comes back, but if you climb out too soon he might see you.”
“So now we just wait,” Amy said.
Joe nodded. “Yes. It shouldn’t be too long, though.”
Shortly, Kenneth emerged from the wood. Joe’s heart beat fast as he waited for the man to approach. As soon as it was certain that he was going to the rowboat, he stood up and brushed past the bushes until he was standing on the sand.
He gazed down, all the while keeping one eye turned towards the man. He wanted to give the impression that he hadn’t seen him. Hearing a yell, he looked up.
Kenneth was hurrying towards him. “Hey! I want to have a talk with you.”
Even though the man was smiling, Joe knew that he was trying to trick him. But, since it was he who was trying to trick the man, it would work in his favour to make the man believe that he wasn’t going to run away. So he stayed still, waiting until the last possible moment.
Just as Kenneth slowed down, Joe took off running. With a yell, the man raced after him. Joe ran up the sand, through the bushes, and onto the grass. While Kenneth was still making his way through the undergrowth, Joe hurried into the wood.
Joe heard the man yell out once more as he ran through the trees and hoped that he would be able to lose him in the thick wood. He didn’t want to keep on running forever and so, once he thought that he had a good lead, he paused behind a large pine tree and waited. He crouched down and listened for any sound that would indicate that the man was close.
But he didn’t hear anything. Joe’s heart beat fast. He didn’t know if this meant that the man had given up or if he was doing what he was doing, waiting for him to make a move. There was only one thing that Joe could do, and that was wait. So he sat still, listening as hard as he could.
A number of minutes passed and he relaxed. It looked as though the man had given up. But, just as he rose to his feet, the sound of a twig being stepped on could be heard. He froze.
~
As the beady-eyed man followed Joe into the wood, Sarah and Amy emerged from the bushes and hurried towards the rowboat.
“Hurry up!” Amy whispered to Sarah as she raced along. She had no idea how much time they would have and, if they didn’t succeed this time, there was no way that they could try a second time using the rowboat. It was now or never.
Reaching the craft
, Amy turned towards the bushes. No one could be seen. Turning back, she noticed that the rowboat was pretty big, one of the largest that she had seen. A tarpaulin covered the rear half of it.
After stepping into it, she and Sarah pulled away the tarpaulin. Underneath were a number of boxes.
“I wonder what’s in them,” Sarah said.
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s take out enough so that you can hide.” Amy grabbed a box and carried it to the bushes.
Sarah did the same and soon all that remained was one box. “We’ll need to leave this one else the man will know something is wrong.”
Amy nodded. “Let’s hope there’s enough room. Climb in and see.”
Sarah stepped in and sat down at the rear of the rowboat. She put her legs as close together as possible. “I can’t get any tighter.”
Amy frowned. “It will have to do. It should be all right.” She moved the sole box as close to Sarah’s feet as possible and started to put the tarpaulin over it and her sister. “Take care and good luck.”
“Thanks.” Sarah’s voice was muffled as Amy covered her face with the tarpaulin.
Once Amy had finished, she glanced back towards the beach. No one was about. She quickly ran towards the bushes. After reaching them, she sat down and waited.
~
Joe grabbed a stick and prepared to trip the man up as he walked past. He waited and waited, but nothing happened. He couldn’t stand the suspense, so he peered around. He dropped the stick and smiled with relief. It was a rabbit. The animal raced off into the bushes.
Joe sighed and hurried towards the beach. He thought he had given the girls enough time, but he would soon see if he was right.
~
Amy watched with bated breath as Kenneth climbed into the rowboat, grabbed the oars, and started rowing. There was nothing to indicate that he knew what was hidden underneath the tarpaulin at the rear of the boar, and she hoped that it would stay like that for the whole journey. Hearing a rustling noise behind her, she spotted Joe emerging from the bushes.
“Did she get in okay?” Joe asked. Amy nodded and handed him the binoculars so that he could see for himself. He saw that the craft was steadily getting further and further away from the island. “Let’s hope the man doesn’t need to pull away that tarpaulin.”
“Well, if we see the rowboat coming back soon, it’ll probably mean that Sarah’s been discovered,” Amy said.
The two children stood side by side as they watched the craft get further and further away. Soon, all that could be seen was a tiny speck. Then, even that was gone.
Amy turned to Joe. “So, what do we do now?”
Chapter 22: Bicycle Madness
Sarah stayed as silent as a mouse as the man rowed. She had no way of knowing which way they were going, but since Kenneth hadn’t discovered her, she assumed he was heading for the mainland.
Time seemed to stand still as she listened to the waves lapping against the side of the boat. She could hear her heart beating fast, and wondered if the man would hear it. She resisted the urge to cough and, as the rowboat came to stop, she wondered if they had arrived.
A moment later, she got her answer. The boat creaked as Kenneth stood up and climbed out. As least, she assumed he did, but she couldn’t be certain. She listened as hard as she could, but all she could hear was the calling of seabirds. She then heard the sound of a car engine.
Lying still, she quietly counted to two hundred. It seemed a long time, and she was tempted to move sooner, but she wanted to follow Joe’s orders, so she stayed there until she had finished counting.
She pulled back the tarpaulin and stood up. Glancing around, she saw the rowboat was moored next to some rocks in a small inlet that was bordered by a cliff. It was from these cliffs that seagulls soared in the sky above.
She looked towards the land and realised she would have to climb over a number of rocks to get to the sand. From there, a narrow path led up the cliff face. She paused for a moment or two so she could make certain she couldn’t hear the man.
She couldn’t, so she hurried towards the rocks. Her legs were a bit stiff after being cooped up in such a tight space, but she was able to cross the rocks without slipping.
After reaching the sand, she hurried up the path. As she neared the top, she slowed down. She had no idea what lay at the top of the cliff and she didn’t want to be caught by surprise.
The path came out next to a deserted dirt road. Sarah had no idea which way the nearest town was, but looking to the right, she caught sight of a house half hidden by trees.
She crossed the road and walked towards it. Not knowing how far the nearest police station would be, she had to find someone who would help her. Though there didn’t appear to be a single soul around, there was a chance there would be someone in the house who could help her.
Sarah was almost at the front door when it suddenly swung open. Her heart caught in her throat. It was Kenneth!
She turned and raced away as fast as she could. She didn’t glance back, but she could tell by the footsteps that, after a moment’s hesitation, the man had started chasing her.
She was so angry with herself. She had assumed he would have a car waiting on the mainland and would drive away in it as soon as he had left the boat.
But this obviously had not happened. Glancing back, she could see that he was gaining. In another fifteen seconds or so, he would be able to reach out and grab her.
As she reached the road, she changed direction and rushed into the woods. She twisted and turned as she pushed past bushes, not taking notice of the scratches that she was getting.
She looked back and saw that the plump man was having more difficulty getting through the bushes than she was. She was quietly confident of evading capture, but then the wood started to thin out and, before she knew it, she was on the other side. Pausing for a moment, she saw there was a small village nestled next to the coast in the valley below.
Sarah knew that she would have to find some transport if she was to reach the police station before the man caught her, so she scanned the fields below as she ran down the hill.
~
Amy and Joe gazed through the bushes. In front of them was the cabin. The only window was on the same side as them, so they could look through it and see Will, who was sitting on a chair.
Joe watched as the boss paced back and forth while the man with the ponytail stood in front of Will. “We’ll need to cause a distraction if we’re to get him out of there.”
“Like what?” Amy said.
“I don’t know,” Joe replied. “But I can’t think of any other way that would get Will released.”
Amy suddenly grinned. “Hey, I just thought of something.”
“What?” Joe asked.
“We could do a swap,” Amy said.
“But we don’t have anything that the men want,” Joe complained.
“Well, not yet, but we could,” Amy said.
Joe frowned as he looked at his younger sister. “What are you thinking of?”
~
As Sarah ran down the hill, she caught sight of a family lying in the shade of a big oak tree. As luck would have it, several bicycles lay on the ground near them.
Glancing back, she saw that the lead that she had managed to get while she was in the wood was rapidly decreasing. She had to get to a bicycle quickly. Her legs were burning with fatigue and she was breathing heavily, but she couldn’t give up now. The others were depending on her to get to the police and she didn’t want to let them down.
She finally reached the bicycles. After grabbing the smallest one, she climbed on the machine and hurriedly pedalled away. Seeing a narrow path that ran along the side of a field before going down a small hill and into the village, she took it.
She glanced back and saw that Kenneth had also grabbed one of the bicycles and was riding after her. She turned back and whipped the wheel to the right to avoid a pot hole. The gradual downward slope increased the bicycle�
��s speed and soon it seemed as though she was flying along.
The shops came into view as she neared the hill and she realised the village was roughly the same size as Smugglers Cove.
Hearing a noise, she looked back and saw that the man was right on her tail. She hadn’t really expected him to give up, but obviously he had recognised her from the island and realised what she was trying to do.
It would be so annoying to fail so close to her objective, so she took a deep breath and pedalled furiously. The bicycle sped down the hill, going faster than she had ever gone before.
She didn’t glance back to see what the man was doing but assumed he had also realised how close to the village they were and had also increased his speed.
The path took a sharp right hand turn at the bottom of the hill and though Sarah slowed down, she didn’t slow down as much as she normally would.
The tires on the bicycle screeched over the stones as she came to the road and she grabbed on the brakes. The bicycle flew around the corner too fast, and she was lucky to make the corner as she swept into the main street and headed towards the harbour.
The bicycle slowly increased speed and Sarah realised that the brakes weren’t working. “Oh no!” She flew down the street, getting faster and faster.
Chapter 23: Hidden From View
Joe stood on the beach beside the two caves. “But we’ve searched both of these and there’s nothing in them.”
“There must be,” Amy said. “Where else would they be storing the paintings? Remember, the first time we saw one of the men he was around here, and he disappeared. He’s not likely to go into an empty cave for nothing.”
She entered the first cave and, using a torch, led the way around. She made sure to inspect every hidey hole. The two of them left the first cave after five minutes and entered the second one. This one was smaller than the first and it took even less time to search.
