Joe introduced himself and they compared the journeys they each had to take. Joe had been collected from his home just after midnight and had tried to sleep as the taxi sped across the country. Kim had travelled from a city just two hours away, and so had slept before her transport arrived. She was wide awake and buzzing about the journey ahead.
‘It’s all so mysterious,’ she said. ‘The taxi driver said I had to leave my mobile phone behind and wouldn’t even tell me where we were going. He blacked out the windows towards the end of the journey so I couldn’t see any road signs. Do you have any idea where we are?’
Joe shrugged his shoulders.
‘I haven’t a clue,’ he admitted. ‘I really wanted my phone to check the journey but I presume they’ll let us know.’
But the old gentleman wouldn’t answer any of their questions, just pointing at the last name on the list and tapping his wristwatch impatiently.
Joe wandered over to the other two youngsters and muttered ‘good morning’.
They nodded back, concentrating on keeping their scarves over their faces as the first drops of rain started to fall.
‘I’m Ajit,’ said the taller of the two, while the other smiled and just said, ‘Jess’.
‘I wonder which boat we’ll be taking,’ said Kim, pointing at the array of small craft that were tied up along the quay.
‘I hope it’s not one of those row boats,’ grinned Joe. ‘But there’s at least six of us so I suppose it must be that red one with the windows.’
They looked along the quay to where a small boat was tied up. It had a viewing platform on the top deck and looked like it was used to ferry tourists in the summer months.
‘Yes, yes, that’s the little beauty we’ll be using today,’ called out the old man, who was getting more agitated as he checked his watch more frequently. ‘It’s getting close to the time by which we will have to leave,’ he sighed. ‘Which means one of your group may have to miss the trip.’
‘Could they come later?’ asked Kim.
The old man chuckled. ‘Later? … Heh, heh. They’ll be a long time waiting around here for the next ferry for this particular trip.’
He gazed back through the night at the long road that led down to the quay.
‘I’ll give him five more minutes but then we’ll have to go. Everyone climb aboard this one – carefully now – and make yourselves comfortable down below.’
Kim led the way across the gangplank onto the boat, skipping her hand along the icy handrail, afraid to grip it in case she got her fingers stuck to the frozen metal. She stooped as she descended into the lower cabin and flicked the switch to light up the inside.
There were rows of seats across the middle, and benches around the side, so she plonked herself down in the front and dumped her bags on the floor.
‘Grab yourselves a life jacket,’ the old man called down the stairway. ‘They’re in the red box at the bottom of the stairs.’
Joe, Jess, Ajit and Kim collected their life jackets and worked out how to put them on. Boarding the ship seemed to have changed their mood – they were slightly less concerned with the cold, but even more fearful and nervous about what lay ahead of them in what was left of the night.
They wandered around the lower deck, but with nothing but black night around them they ran out of things to see in seconds. Joe took a couple of steps up the staircase and poked his head back out above deck.
‘All good down below?’ enquired the old man, who was starting to untie the cables that kept the boat moored to the quay.
‘Yes, we’re settled,’ replied Joe. ‘When will we be leaving?’
‘Just as soon as I get us up and ready… three or four minutes I suppose.’ He took one last look back over his shoulder and put his hand up to stop Joe speaking.
‘Hold on, do you hear that?’ He pointed into the night, where Joe could see nothing but blackness and hear nothing but the lapping of water.
‘That’s an engine… a Ford I reckon,’ the old man started. ‘Why has he got his lights off?’
Joe waited silently, and after a minute or so he could hear, faintly, the sound of a car accelerating. He watched where the old man said was the roadway, but it wasn’t until the sounds of the engine were quite loud that the car’s headlights were switched on. Joe could see it was moving very quickly, and the old man looked concerned.
‘What’s kept him… and what’s the messing with the headlights?’ he muttered as the car neared the quay. ‘Here, youngster, give me a hand with this gangway. We may need to move off quickly.’
Joe came back on dry land and helped the old man with his preparations as they waited for the final traveller to arrive. Although the man was stooped and wrinkled, he was remarkably agile and fast-moving for his age, and Joe got the impression he was stronger than he appeared too.
They were just ready to cast off when a black Ford taxi pulled up on the dock. The driver leapt out and went straight to the old man.
‘I’m sorry we’re late. We were followed, and I spent a lot of time shaking them off. I had to drive the last twenty kilometres with the lights off.’ The old man nodded, and thanked him.
Joe helped the new arrival take his bags on board and showed him below. He raced back up to help the old man who was already hauling the gangplank on deck, a job Joe had reckoned would need two able-bodied men.
The taxi-man uncoupled the last rope and tossed it on board. Joe waved to him, and as he watched the driver return to his car, he noticed a pair of headlights appearing over the horizon. He pointed them out to the old man, who bit his lip.
‘OK, we’ll turn off all the cabin lights and get away from here as quickly as possible.’
He called out to the driver, and told him to go back a different way. ‘Try to lead them astray, there’ll be a good tip in it for you,’ he shouted, getting a thumbs-up in return.
The old man took his place on the bridge, switching the engine into life and killing all the lights on board. ‘Hold tight, it’ll be a bumpy one,’ he called out to the passengers.
Joe went down to join the others, who were looking increasingly nervous.
The new arrival smiled up at him, ‘Thanks for the help with the bags, we were a bit frazzled there.’
‘No worries. I’m Joe, by the way.’
‘Cheers, my name’s Craig.’
Chapter 5
The Pirate Queen, for that was the name of the craft, pulled away from the quay and out into the dark channel. Joe watched the old man as he guided the boat through the waves, nudging it from side to side as he took it through waters he appeared to know like the back of his hand.
They reached the end of the dockside where Joe spied a lighthouse flashing a warning, which spurred the old man to take a look back over his shoulder. There was no sign of any activity on the dock, and no sign of either of the cars. The taxi-man must have led the other driver away successfully, although why anyone would be chasing them and need such action was a complete mystery to Joe.
So much about the night was a complete mystery to him. His life had changed after the Woodstock game, and the meeting with Fry and his exotic hat, but he still didn’t know why.
Joe remembered the horrible feeling in his stomach as he waited in the car while his parents had talked to the mysterious stranger who was pointing out things to them on an iPad. He just couldn’t imagine what Fry wanted with his parents, and it wasn’t helped that on their return they told him that they had been sworn to secrecy.
As they sat in the car his dad explained that Fry was there to tell him he had been selected for a unique educational and sporting opportunity that involved living away from home, but if they told Joe any more he would lose it. They told Joe they needed to think more about it, but said they had been reassured by Fry and their initial feelings were excitement for the chance it would give him.
Joe looked out the window as his friends’ parents drove them away one by one and he wondered would he ever see them again. Joe trus
ted his parents knew best for him so when they told him he should go he accepted it, but he was still bursting with questions and, if he was honest, a little fearful. He looked at his mum who hadn’t said much and he could tell she was on the verge of tears.
Joe spent the next two days in something of a daze, excited but nervous about what could possibly in store. He steered clear of his team-mates over the weekend, as much out of embarrassment that he didn’t really know what was happening.
Two nights later his dad woke him up, told him to get dressed and ushered him downstairs where his mother had already packed his bags. Dad told him Fry had texted to say the taxi-man would be there at midnight.
They sat around and chatted awkwardly until he arrived, skirting the whole subject of why Joe was leaving while hoping he would be happy. They also told him they were very proud of him, although he couldn’t work out why.
Joe had been ordered to either leave his mobile phone at home or hand it over to the driver for safe keeping, which he decided was the best option and at least offered some hope that he would get it back after some interval. His mum was most worried about this part, and asked Joe to promise he would let them know as soon as could that everything was all right.
The driver was friendly, but suggested that Joe get some sleep as it was a long drive and they wouldn’t arrive till before first light. Joe had taken his advice and slept almost all the way, just waking briefly when the taxi-man stopped for petrol and slammed the boot. It was still dark as Joe scanned the east for the early signs of dawn breaking as the Pirate Queen ploughed through the bay, heading straight out to sea.
Joe looked around at the other four passengers. Kim seemed very nice, but reserved, and she looked the most relaxed about the journey. Ajit was bubbling with excitement – or nerves – and was unable to sit still as he raced from one side of the boat the other. Jess was also bouncing around, asking lots of questions despite no one being able to answer them. Craig looked very tired, perhaps the end of his journey had taken a lot out of him, and he didn’t seem very interested in joining in conversations with the others.
Every few hundred metres a dark shape would loom out of the night as they passed another rocky crag or small island.
‘There’s a house on that one,’ said Ajit, as a bulb flickered on in one of the homes in the distance. Further away still some lights were switched on as early-risers on the mainland awoke to start their day.
‘Dawn coming soon,’ called out the old man from the wheel-house. ‘We haven’t much time.’
The five children looked at each other.
‘I really wish we knew what was going on,’ said Kim.
‘I suppose so, but it sounds as if it will be all clear soon enough, as long as he doesn’t crash into an iceberg,’ grinned Craig.
The rest laughed and studied the waves outside for any change in the seascape.
Joe pointed back to where they had come, where a faint golden glow had just crept above the horizon and the sound of seagulls screeching became more frequent.
‘It won’t be long until the sun’s up. If he’s racing the dawn he’d want to get a move on.’
Chapter 6
None of the passengers were regular sea-goers, but they all agreed that the Pirate Queen seemed to speed up as soon as Joe made his suggestion.
‘There’s some seals!’ squealed Jess as they passed a tiny, thin island on which perched dozens of the creatures. The rest of them marvelled at the creatures, but Joe and Kim tumbled as the boat took a sudden lurch to one side.
‘Sorry about that,’ called the old man. ‘Had to take a quick short-cut, but we’re nearly there.’
The five gathered at the front of the lower deck, scanning the sea ahead as the skies began to brighten.
‘We seem to have left all the islands behind,’ frowned Ajit. ‘We’re heading straight out into the ocean.’
The boat raced along for another three minutes before the old man called down to them again. ‘Right, crew, hold tight as I’m going to swing her around again. We’ve arrived.’
Joe gripped the handrail and looked out at the waves – there was nothing to be seen as far as his eyes could focus. Was the old man mad? What had he led them into?
After the Pirate Queen juddered to a halt, the old man switched off the engine and came downstairs.
‘I hope you enjoyed your voyage on the old Queen,’ he grinned, receiving a mixture of nods and shaken heads in return. ‘Well, I can now tell you that we have arrived at our destination, and not a minute too soon. I’ll just have time to tell you a little bit about our location. The town we left from is Westport, on the west coast. We are now out on the edge of Clew Bay, right where it meets the Atlantic Ocean.
‘I don’t expect many of you will heard of Clew Bay, but it is an ancient place full of legends and magical tales. We have had holy men and wicked women here, saints and pirates, and more islands than some of you can count.
‘The wise old people know, however, that there are exactly three-hundred and sixty-five islands in the Bay, one for every day of the year. But the wisest of those people also know that once every four years, on the twenty-ninth day of February, another island makes a fleeting appearance. It doesn’t stay around for long, maybe an hour, but Leap Island is the most magical place of all.’
The passengers stared open-mouthed at the old man as he recounted the tale.
‘Look,’ gasped Joe, as he pointed to a strange rippling and bubbling in the water, just metres from their boat.
‘Hold on,’ snapped the old man, ‘that swell will cause a big wave.’
The passengers held tight once more and watched in amazement as a huge bubble of water grew in the ocean, water rushing away from it as it rose into the air.
The bubble popped, revealing a small island about the size of two football fields laid end to end, with a steep rise at the western end to what appeared to be cliffs. Right in the middle, just before the terrain rose, stood a stone cottage with a rusting tin roof.
‘Is that where we’re going?’ whispered Joe to Jess. ‘Doesn’t look much of an educational opportunity to me.’
When the waters had settled, the old man switched the engine back to life and sailed the Pirate Queen in as close as he could get to the new island. ‘Right, we’ll have to make the last few metres in the dinghy,’ he announced.
He lowered a bright orange dinghy into the sea beside the boat and supervised the passengers as they loaded their luggage aboard first. He raced across to the island in less than a minute and swiftly unloaded the bags before returning to the Pirate Queen.
‘Be careful getting in and out of this,’ he announced, ‘you don’t want to end up in the Atlantic at this time of the year.’
The five children took his advice keenly, warily regarding the black depths as they skipped across the ocean to the shore. The old man helped them on to dry land, where they rejoined their luggage as he pulled the dinghy on to the grass.
‘Well, here we are,’ he grinned. ‘You’re all very welcome to Leap Island.’
Chapter 7
‘Not much to it, though, is there?’ sighed Kim, as she pointed from one end of the island to the other.
‘Well … There’s more to Leap Island than meets the eye,’ grinned the old man. ‘And less to it, too,’ he added playfully.
‘Can you please tell us what we are doing here, sir?’ asked Jess, who was looking extremely fed up.
‘Well, first I’m just going to rest and relax for a while – it was a long night and in case you hadn’t noticed I’ve been doing most of the work over the past hour.’
The old man sat down on a rock and took in his surroundings. ‘I haven’t been here in Clew Bay for four long years and I’ve been looking forward to enjoying the view,’ he chuckled.
Joe and Ajit left down their bags and wandered off towards the cottage. Joe had a sinking feeling in his stomach – was this all a terrible hoax? Had his parents been conned into believing this was an amazing
school – and he grew fearful at what exactly they had got themselves into.
‘Don’t go in there yet,’ warned the old man. ‘I have the key, anyway.’
Joe lifted his arm in acknowledgement and veered off towards the cliffs. They fell away sharply into the ocean, giving Leap Island the shape of a giant, thin slice of cake floating on the surface of the waves.
‘Just think,’ said Ajit, pointing out to sea. ‘If we kept sailing in the Pirate Queen the next thing we’d hit would be America.’
‘I think we’d hit the bottom of the petrol tank first, Ajit,’ grinned Joe. ‘That old rust-bucket wouldn’t get us too far.’
‘I hope this isn’t some con that we’ve fallen for. My mum and dad told me it was an amazing place – but this looks like a dump.’
The pair turned back and strolled down the slope towards the cottage, whose white walls seemed even brighter than when they first spied it coming out of the waves. There were no windows anywhere in its walls, and the sole doorway was barred and secured with just a keyhole to suggest it could be guarding something inside.
‘It sounds like we’re going in there eventually,’ said Joe. ‘I could do with getting in out of this cold wind.’
They rejoined the others at the shore, where the old man was pointing out how far they had come as the other islands receded into the distance under the cold grey sky and the onshore headland was a faint black pimple far, far away.
‘Did you see how steep those cliffs are, Joe?’ asked the old man. ‘It’s like someone took an axe and chopped down on the island.’
Jess hugged herself and turned her back to the wind, which was starting to get stronger.
‘Can you please tell us what we are doing here, or show us to someone who’s in charge,’ she asked the old man again, ‘I really need to get in out of this gale before I freeze.’
The ferry pilot smiled back. ‘Oh, all right then, let’s get indoors and I can explain a little more.’
Atlantis United Page 2
