by Paul Moxham
“And the commandos,” Joe interrupted. “Good work. I managed to move one box, but we’ll need to move more if we’re to stop those men.”
~
As Will sat on the chair with his hands behind his back, he wondered what the others were up to. He hadn’t let the men know anything about what he or the others knew or suspected, but he realised that sooner or later the men would find out the truth.
Marvin was pacing back and forth when Luke threw open the door and rushed in. He had a wild look on his face as he rushed towards him. “We need to scramble. The destroyers will be here in thirty minutes.”
Marvin stared at him. “What the heck are you talking about?”
Luke quickly explained, his words rushing out all at once. “I went to the lighthouse to have a look at the paintings just like you told me to do, but I couldn’t open the door.”
“What do you mean, you couldn’t open it?” Marvin said.
“There was too much weight on the other side of the door,” Luke replied. “Anyway, I then I heard voices. They said that four patrol boats were coming, fifty commandos, and two destroyers. We need to split, boss. Whatever happens, I can’t go to jail again.”
“Destroyers? Commandos?” Marvin laughed. “I don’t know who said that, but they fooled you. There’s no way they would be interested in us. But there’s one thing I would like to know – did the voices sound like children?”
Luke thought. “Well, they did sound a bit weird.”
“Just like I thought.” The boss walked over to Will. “It seems we’ve found your friends.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Will said. “There’s no one else on the island. We all went on the seaplane together. I expect they’re sitting inside a French police station right at this moment. If I were you—”
“You’re not, so shut up!” Marvin turned to Luke. “Let’s go and see if you’re telling the truth.”
“But what about the destroyers and—” Luke argued.
“Shut up!” Marvin turned to the boy and examined the ropes that were around his wrists. “You’ll soon talk when we get back with the others.”
“You can’t keep me locked up forever,” Will stated.
“No, but once we’ve finished here we’ll be moving somewhere else, somewhere far, far away.” The boss laughed and grinned at Will before slamming the door shut.
Will waited for a minute. Satisfied that the men had truly gone, he attempted to undo the ropes around his wrists. But he couldn’t loosen them. It was evident that the ropes had been properly tied by someone who knew a thing or two about such things.
Despite the situation, Will chuckled grimly as he thought about the destroyers and commandoes mentioned by Luke. There was no way that help like that was coming, so it must have been a trick played by the others. But why?
~
Collapsing on the floor, Joe looked over at the pile of boxes that he and Amy had placed against the door. “Do you think that will be enough?”
Amy nodded. “My arms are too tired to move more boxes, so it had better be. Why don’t we lie down on that mattress we saw in the other room? It will be softer than lying here.”
“Okay. It will give us time to think of what we’re going to do next.” Joe followed his sister up the stairs until they came to the room with the mattress.
Peering out of the sole window, Joe saw the sea. He smiled. They would be able to see if a boat passed nearby and it also provided light, so they could see without having to turn on the torch all the time.
They were relaxing when Joe suddenly heard a noise. He sat up. “Do you hear that?”
Amy also sat up. “It must be the men.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Joe hurried out of the room and climbed up the steps to the lamp room.
Walking out onto the gallery, Joe and Amy looked down. They saw Marvin and Luke trying their hardest to open the door.
Luke suddenly looked up and snarled. “Hey! It’s just kids.”
Marvin shook his fist in anger. “Open up!”
The children didn’t say anything, which seemed to make the men angrier. As they watched, they had a quick conversation. Afterwards, Marvin left while Luke stayed behind and sat down.
As Joe walked into the lamp room and down the steps, he frowned. “I wonder what they intend to do.”
“Maybe to keep us locked in here until we give in,” Amy said.
“Which will never happen,” Joe said.
“Yes, but they don’t know that,” Amy replied. “Besides, what else could they do?”
Joe frowned. “We should have a look at the paintings and see if there’s a bag or something that we can put some in for when we leave.”
He searched, but couldn’t find anything. Going down the stairs, he heard the men come back. With his face pressed up against the door, he was able to hear what they were saying.
“We don’t want to blow the entire building up, only the door,” Luke said.
“Relax. I’ve used this stuff hundreds of times,” Marvin replied. “But, just in case, we had better stand back.”
Joe heard footsteps as the men retreated and he realised what was about to happen. Rushing up the stairs, he paused to grab two paintings.
Leaving the room, he bumped into Amy who was carrying some rope. “I found this in the other room. I thought we could use it to tie the paintings together, but—”
“The men are going to blast the door open!” Joe interrupted. “We have to get out of here.”
As Joe rushed up the stairs, Amy followed him. “What shall we do?”
Reaching the lamp room, they dropped the paintings and rope on the floor as they opened the door and headed out onto the gallery. Looking down, they saw that the two men were now huddled behind the rocks.
Suddenly, a loud explosion tore through the silence. The building rocked from side to side. Once the rocking had stopped, Joe sighed. “Phew! For a moment I thought we were going to tip into the sea.”
“Me too. They must have used more explosives than they needed.” Peering down, Amy saw that there was a massive hole where the door had been just a few moments ago. As she watched, the men started walking towards the lighthouse. Amy turned to Joe, her face one of despair. “We’re trapped.”
Chapter 26: The Rescue
Joe shook his head. “I’ve got a plan.” After running into the lamp room, he grabbed the rope and came back. He tied one end to the railing, made sure that it was tight, then threw the rest over the edge.
Glancing down, he saw with relief that there was just enough to reach the bottom. “I know this is risky,” Joe admitted, “but it’s the only thing I can think of. You go first while I delay the men.”
“What about the paintings?” Amy asked.
“I’ll drop them down to you before I climb down.” Leaving Amy, Joe hurried down the stairs as fast as he could. He could hear the men’s footsteps as they walked up and knew it would be a gamble on who would reach the oil room first.
Luckily, the men were only walking and not running, so Joe managed to reach the room first. Throwing it open, he reached for the cans. He grabbed a can and tossed it down the stairs. He repeated this process several times. As he did so, he could hear yells from the men as they made contact with the cans.
Looking over the edge of the staircase, he saw that the men were waiting until the cans had passed them. Hoping this would give him enough time to escape, Joe rushed up the steps and into the lamp room.
Taking hold of the two paintings, he walked out onto the gallery and peered down. Seeing Amy down below, he dropped a painting over the side. He wasn’t sure if the wind would take it, but luckily it didn’t.
Amy caught it firmly in her grasp. After placing it on the ground, she held out her hands for the next one. Just like the first one, she caught this one without any problem.
Joe climbed over the railing and prepared to climb down. Hearing a noise, he realised that the men were probably
at the room with the mattress.
Clutching the rope, he pushed away from the building and half climbed and half slid towards the ground. He went as fast as he could, but as Amy yelled out, he looked up to see that the men were at the railing.
“Stop or else we’ll cut the rope!” Marvin yelled.
Amy looked on as Joe went faster. As he did so, Marvin grabbed the rope and, using a penknife, tried to cut the rope in half.
“Hurry!” Amy shouted.
Joe hurried, but before he could reach the bottom, the rope split in half, sending him hurtling down!
Luckily, he was only a few feet from the bottom and he wasn’t injured.
“Just you wait!” Marvin yelled. He waved his fist before he and Luke disappeared from view.
Joe turned to Amy and reached for one of the paintings. “We’ll have to run like we’ve never run before. If it looks like one of us will be caught, the other has to take the paintings and escape.”
Joe hurried towards the rocks. Leaping over them, he had to take care since the water was slowly rising.
Suddenly, a big wave appeared and crashed against the rocks in front of them. Joe skidded to a stop as the water rushed over the rocks. “Careful, they’ll be slippery now.” Going slowly, he made his way over the rocks and onto dry land.
Looking back to see if Amy was safe, he caught sight of the men as they emerged from the lighthouse. Confident that the men would have to slow down just like they had, he turned and hurried into the wood with Amy close behind.
~
It had taken a while, but as Amy and Joe rested on top of the hill, they were confident that they had lost the men.
“So, what do we do now?” Amy asked.
“We need to hide someplace where we can be safe from the men, but still know what’s going on,” Joe said.
“Hey, I just thought of something,” Amy exclaimed. “If all the men are out searching, they might leave Will unguarded. If so, it would be the perfect time to help him escape.”
Joe nodded. “If we can evade the men getting there, it might work.” He looked towards the inlet. “Once that seaplane comes back, there will be an extra two men that we will have to deal with. So now would be the best time.”
“If not, we can still try to do a swap,” Amy suggested.
“Yes, we could, but I don’t really want to give the paintings up that easily. Now, if we were to get Will, we would have him and the paintings.” Joe stood up. “Let’s get going.” He frowned as he saw something in the water. As it came closer he realised what it was. “It’s the rowboat.”
“Where?” Amy asked.
Joe pointed towards the inlet and Amy saw that he was right. They watched as the rowboat pulled up against the beach. Jumping out, Kenneth hurried up the sand.
Joe smiled. “It looks as though Sarah did escape after all.”
Amy nodded. “The question is, does he know that?”
“Let’s find out,” Joe replied.
~
Peering from behind the bushes, Joe saw that the cabin looked deserted. He tried to see through the window, but it seemed to be even dirtier than before so he couldn’t make out anything. He turned to Amy. “I’ll go closer and try the door.”
“Be careful,” Amy said.
“Run if I yell out,” Joe replied. Tiptoeing, he crept towards the building, not daring to make his presence heard by anyone close by. Not that he thought that there was anyone near, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
He reached the door without any trouble and took hold the handle. Before twisting it, he leaned forward and listened to see if there was anyone inside.
He could hear a faint noise. It was almost as though someone was squirming about. He could also hear someone muttering to themselves. Hoping that it was Will, he swung open the door.
It was Will, and he was all alone. The red haired boy smiled. “It’s good to see you.”
“Same here. I don’t suppose you managed to get to the police?” Joe asked.
Will shook his head as Joe went behind his chair and went to work on the rope. “I tried, but they caught me before I could. Oh, have you heard about Sarah?”
Joe shook his head. “She stowed away on a rowboat a few hours ago, and we just saw the man who rowed it come back, but we didn’t hear—”
“I heard everything.” Will grinned. “She made it.”
“Good,” Joe said.
“I’ll tell you the details later on,” Will said, “once we’re out of here.”
“Okay, hey, where did the plane land?” Joe said.
“France,” Will replied.
“Golly,” Amy exclaimed, “that was a long way.”
Joe whipped round and saw his sister standing by the door. “I told you to keep guard.”
“I know, but I was worried—” Amy said.
“Okay,” Joe interrupted, “help me untie Will.”
Amy went to work and, with Will helping as much as he could, it wasn’t long before he was free. He stood up and stretched his arms. “That feels good.”
“Let’s not stand around talking.” Joe hurried to the door and gazed out. No one could be seen. “Let’s go.” He raced off.
Chapter 27: Swiss Family Robinson Style
“So, does everyone know what they have to do?” Joe asked as he gazed up at the tree house.
“Yes, but I don’t know why we can’t just go from one place to another,” Amy said. “The men can only search one spot at a time. Besides, the police will be here soon.”
“Well, they should be, but we can’t be sure. And, with the men looking for us, this seems to be the best place to hide.” Joe looked up at the sky. “It will be getting dark soon, so let’s get to work.”
They split up, doing what needed to be done to get the tree house ready. While Will went to fill a bucket with sand, Amy gathered pine cones that were lying all over the ground and put them in a pile.
Meanwhile, Joe went and found some vines. Finding two long ones, he tied them between two trees that were located between the beach and the tree house. He hoped that the men wouldn’t come before they were ready, but if they did, they might trip on them and that would give he and the others enough time to climb up to the tree house.
After telling Amy and Will about the vines so they wouldn’t be tripped up, he climbed up the tree. When he reached the top, he tied the rope that they had to a branch and threw the rest down to the ground. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite reach, so he had to tie it to a lower branch. This time it reached the ground.
When Will came back, he tied the bucket to the rope and waved to Joe who started hauling. It took a while as the bucket was heavy, but once it was at the top, he tipped the sand out on the planks and dropped the bucket back down.
This time, Amy filled it with pine cones. Once the bucket was full, Joe pulled it up. The cones were much lighter than the sand and, before long, they were also up on the platform.
“Is that enough?” Amy yelled.
“Let’s get two more buckets,” Joe said. “Just in case. It’s better to have more than less.”
Amy, along with Will, disappeared into the bushes to collect more cones. After they had found some and they had been put in a pile in the tree house, Joe climbed down and joined the others.
They went to the campsite where Joe surveyed their belongings. “Anything that we could find useful, we should bring to the tree house. Maybe even sleeping bags.”
“That reminds me,” Will said. “The pilot took my torch away from me.”
“I wonder where my torch is.” Joe turned to Amy. “Where did you last see it?”
“Well, we used it to explore the cave, then you let me use it at the lighthouse.” Amy thought. “I remember lying down on that mattress. Oh, no.”
“What?” Joe said.
“I think I took it out of my pocket when I lay down and I believe I left it there,” Amy replied. “Sorry, I just—”
“Forget it. Someone will need to go and g
et it,” Joe interrupted. “We can’t afford to not be without a light in case the police don’t get here before nightfall and we have to hold off the men.” He paused as he looked between Amy and Will. “It’s my torch, so I suppose—”
“I’ll get it,” Will said. “I know I haven’t been inside the lighthouse before, but I can run faster than you two and that will come in handy if the men spot me.”
“Is a torch really that necessary?” Amy said.
“Yes, it is.” Joe turned to Will and handed him the rucksack which he had just emptied. “Take this in case you come across anything else in the lighthouse that we can use.”
Will took it. “I won’t be gone long.” He turned and hurried away.
~
As Will came into sight of the lighthouse, he breathed a sigh of relief. There was no sign of the men and he hoped that it would remain like this.
Heading towards the rocks, he saw that the waves were splashing over them. Not every time, but more than half the time. He knew that high tide was only a few hours away so this was what he had expected. This was another reason why he had wanted to go instead of Joe. He felt he was a better swimmer and, in case he was swept off the rocks, he had a better chance of reaching the shore.
He had two options. Either run and hope for the best, or take it slow. Deciding that he would take a chance, he waited for a wave to crash onto the rocks and then, as soon as the water retreated, he ran.
As he arrived at the front of the lighthouse, he saw how much damage had been done. Joe had told him what had happened, but he hadn’t realised how big the explosion had been.
He climbed over the pile of rubble and climbed up the steps. He passed the oil cans and, as he did so, a thought came into his head. Peering inside one of the cans, he saw it was almost full. He put the can inside the rucksack before continuing up the steps.
After reaching the room with the mattress, he searched around, hoping that he would spot the missing torch. He grinned as he saw it lying on the floor. Hurrying over, he picked it up and put it in his pocket.
