by Moxham, Paul
The Mystery of the Underwater Car
The Mystery Series – Short Story No. 12
By Paul Moxham
Copyright 2018 Paul Moxham
Version Updated: 4th July 2018
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All rights reserved, without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE MYSTERY SERIES
This adventure series set in 1950’s Britain will delight children of all ages.
~*~*~
Summer Holidays:
The Mystery of Smugglers Cove
The Mystery of the Missing Money
The Mystery of the Missing Gnomes
The Mystery of Adventure Island
The Mystery of the Mysterious Man
The Mystery of the Strange Notebook
The Mystery of Hidden Valley
~
Winter Holidays:
The Mystery of Claw Mountain
The Mystery of the Golden Elephant
The Mystery of the Red Balloon
The Mystery of the Golden Dragons
The Mystery of the Howling Dog
The Mystery of the Hidden Suitcase
The Mystery of Treasure Island
~
Easter Holidays:
The Mystery of Four Towers
The Mystery of the Burning Plane
The Mystery of the Russian Spy
The Mystery of Ghost Island
The Mystery of the Perfect Thief
The Mystery of the Underwater Car
The Mystery of the Crown Jewels
~
Summer Holidays:
The Mystery of the Escaped Prisoner
~
Box Set:
The Mystery Series Collection (Short Stories 1-4)
The Mystery Series Collection (Short Stories 5-8)
The Mystery Series Collection (Short Stories 9-12)
The Mystery Series Collection (Books 1-3)
The Mystery Series Collection (Books 4-6)
The Mystery Series Collection (Books 7-9)
PRAISE FOR THE MYSTERY SERIES
"I was drawn in by the fast-paced plot. I enjoyed reading the book and couldn't wait to see how things turned out." --- Smashwords Reviewer
"Paul Moxham takes the reader on a whirlwind of chase scenarios that up the ante with each narrow escape." --- Amazon USA Reviewer
"I love this book, could not put it down and I felt as if I was standing beside the characters." --- Shelfari Reviewer
"This is an entertaining adventure story that would make pleasurable holiday reading for 7 to 10 year olds." --- Amazon UK Reviewer
NOTE:
This can be read as a stand alone story, but if you want to have full knowledge of the characters, I suggest that you read The Mystery of Smugglers Cove, the first book in The Mystery Series.
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This story is set in 1950’s Britain and is written in British English - not American English - so bear this in mind regarding the spelling of some words.
-----------
This story is set after the events in The Mystery of the Perfect Thief.
Let the Adventure Begin…
There was not a single cloud in the sky and Sarah Mitchell was happy beyond words as she cycled beside her older sister and chatted about anything and everything.
The two of them, along with their brother Joe and red haired friend Will, were out and about in the countryside of southern England enjoying the Easter holidays. They had set off early from Smugglers Cove and had already passed Rosehill and were now cycling along roads they’d never ridden down before.
While it had rained heavily during the night and early in the morning, the clouds had since drifted away and it was a perfect spring day. Not too hot and not too cold.
As Sarah caught sight of a blackbird flying up into the trees, she couldn’t help but smile as she thought of how different their school holidays were now compared with a few years ago when they stayed in London all year long. She almost wished they could move to Smugglers Cove permanently, but then she thought about all of her school friends she would miss and was glad she could have the best of both worlds.
Sarah glanced at Amy. “Isn’t it peaceful?”
Amy nodded. “Much better than city life. If we were in Danfield now, we’d be in our small back garden trying to think of what we could do in the cramped space. The house is larger than Rose Cottage, but what good is that when you prefer to be outside in the sunshine.”
Sarah thought for a moment. “If it hadn’t had been for the fire, we would have missed out on all of this. We would never have known a place like this existed.”
“Which shows that, what might appear to be a bad thing, can actually turn out to be a good thing,” Amy said.
Sarah nodded. “Yes. I was so sad when I heard about the fire and—”
“When do you want to stop for lunch?” Joe called out.
“Not yet,” Amy replied. “It’s still quite early.”
Joe nodded. “We should stop and have a look at the map. Then we can decide where we want to ride to.”
“Let’s do that when we come to the next intersection,” Amy suggested.
Joe nodded. “Okay. Good thinking.”
The four children resumed cycling and, a few moments later, after rounding a bend, they saw a large van parked on the side of the road.
As they got closer, they saw it was roughly the size of a furniture van. But, unlike other ones they had seen, there was no writing on the side. It was just a plain white colour. Something else that was unusual was the fact that there was a small window near the top.
Will frowned and gazed around. “That’s a strange place to leave a vehicle.”
“Hey! It’s got a flat tyre,” Sarah piped up, noticing that one of the front tyres was noticeably different from the rest.
Amy peered around. “I wonder where the driver is.”
“He probably went to telephone the nearest garage,” Joe suggested.
“Yes, well, I suppose there’s nothing we can do here.” Will was just about to resume riding when he heard a thumping sound. He frowned and turned to the others. “Did you hear that?”
Joe nodded. “It sounded as though it came from inside the van.” He climbed off his bicycle and walked over to the van and put his head up against the side and listened.
“Anything?” Amy asked.
Joe shook his head. “No, I can’t…” He paused as he heard a banging noise. “It sounds as though there’s someone inside.”
Will and the girls hurried to join Joe by the side of the van. As they did so, the noise continued every few seconds.
“I wonder if the door is locked.” Will walked over to the door and tugged on the handle. “It’s not budging. It must be.”
“What do you think we should do?” Amy asked.
“I think we should tell Constable Biggens,” Sarah replied.<
br />
“But what if it’s not a person? What if it’s an animal?” Will questioned.
“It’s still wrong to lock an animal inside a van,” Sarah replied. “What if it doesn’t have any food to eat or any water to drink?”
“If the window was lower down we could look through it,” Joe said.
“Maybe there’s another window on the other side,” Amy suggested.
“I’ll see.” Joe walked around to the other side of the vehicle and stopped in shock. A little way away from the van, on a strip of soft grass next to the hedge, a youngish man with brown hair was lying.
Joe turned back to the others. “There’s a man here.”
As the three hurried over, the man suddenly awoke. Seeing the four children gazing at him, he glared at them and leapt to his feet. “What are you doing?”
“We’re not doing anything,” Will replied. “We were cycling past and we heard a noise—”
“What kind of noise?” the man interrupted.
“I’m not sure,” Will replied. “It was coming from inside the vehicle.”
“Is the van yours?” Amy asked.
The man hesitated for a moment. As he did so, the sound of an approaching car was heard. The man walked past the children and watched in silence as a blue sedan sped towards them. He turned to the children. “You’d better clear off. That’s my boss arriving and he doesn’t like kids, especially those who ask nosy questions.”
The car screeched to a stop and two men climbed out of it. The bald man, who had been driving, opened up the boot and took out a brand new tyre.
While he was doing this, a tall man with a dark moustache and beard and hair tied back in a ponytail, strode over to the children. He took one look at them and turned to the man who had been sleeping. “What are they doing here, Yuri?”
“We were just leaving,” Will stated. “Isn’t that right, Joe?”
“Yes, we were just passing by.” Joe walked over to his bicycle and climbed on it. As he did so, the others followed suit.
Once the four of them were far enough away from the men, Amy rode up alongside Will. “What do you think is going on?”
Will took a moment to glance back at the men and saw that the man with the ponytail was gazing in their direction. “Let’s talk after we get out of sight.”
The four of them cycled in silence for another minute or so and then, as they rounded a bend and the boys brought their bicycles to a stop, the girls did the same.
“I can’t help thinking that something strange is going on,” Will stated. “That’s why I thought it was best to leave before things got out of hand.”
“They did seem to act very oddly,” Sarah said, “but that doesn’t mean that anything strange is going on.”
“Why didn’t Yuri tell us if the van belonged to him?” Joe ran his hand through his hair. “Something doesn’t quite add up.” He turned to Will. “How long will it take you to reach Rosehill police station?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes,” Will said. “Why? You want me to tell the police about the van?”
Joe nodded. “If you hurry, you might be able to get the police back here before the men leave. But if not, the girls and I should be able to find out if this is just a wild goose chase or not.”
“We should?” Sarah questioned. “How?”
“Because we’re going to listen in on the men’s conversation while Will is getting the police,” Joe replied.
Will nodded. “Sounds like a good plan. I’ll get going.”
As the red haired boy departed, Amy looked at Joe. “How are we going to get close enough to the men to hear what they’re saying without being seen by them?”
“It’s not as though we can just ride past them on our bicycles,” Sarah stated.
“I know that,” Joe agreed, “which is why we will use the hedge to our advantage.” He climbed off his bicycle and lay it on the nearby grass. He then walked over to the hedge. “If we can find a way through this, we can walk along the other side until we are next to the van. Then we should be close enough to hear what the men are saying.”
Amy nodded. “I see.”
“Hey! Is this hole big enough?” Sarah asked.
Joe hurried over to where his sister was crouched and looked through the small gap in the hedge. He wasn’t sure what had made the hole, maybe some kind of animal, but it did look big enough. “It should be perfect. I’ll go through first.”
The girls watched Joe as he knelt down and crawled through the gap. Apart from scratches here and there, he made it through without any trouble.
After the girls were through, they hurried along the hedge. “Once we get close, we shouldn’t talk,” Joe said. “Otherwise the men might hear us. But if you have to speak, whisper.”
“What if we don’t find out anything useful?” Amy asked.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” Joe stated. “Okay, we’re getting close now. So let’s stop talking.”
The children slowed down and walked the last little bit in complete silence. As they did so, they heard the men speaking. However, they were in for a shock. The men were speaking in a foreign language!
None of them had thought of this being a possibility. After all, the men had spoken to them in English. So why speak a foreign language now?
After listening for a minute, Joe motioned to the girls and walked quietly back along the hedge. Once they were a good distance from the men, he stopped. “Since the men are speaking in a foreign language we’re not going to learn anything by standing behind this hedge. You two didn’t understand any of the words, did you?”
Amy shook her head. “I’ve been learning French in school this year, but none of the words sounded familiar to me.”
“I didn’t recognise any words either,” Sarah said. “But I’ve only learnt a bit of German.”
“Well, even though we couldn’t understand what the men were saying, I still think they’re up to no good,” Joe said. “So I’m glad Will is on his way to the police now.”
Amy nodded. “Yes, it does seem mighty suspicious.”
“There could be a reasonable explanation,” Sarah piped up.
“Like what?” Joe asked.
“I’m not sure, but we shouldn’t be too hasty to come to a conclusion. You know what mother likes to say. Don’t judge a book by its cover.”
Joe nodded. “You’re right. Which is why I’m annoyed the men aren’t speaking in English. Hey, I think they’ve stopped speaking. Let’s see what they’re doing now.”
With the girl’s right behind him, Joe crept back to the spot where they had stood a minute earlier. Silence greeted them.
“What are they doing?” Amy whispered.
“I wish I knew.” Joe knelt down and attempted to peer through the foliage. But the hedge was too thick. Determined to find out what the men were up to, he walked alongside the hedge until he came to a small gap. While it didn’t seem as big as the one that he had crawled through earlier, he thought he might still be able to squeeze through it.
And so, after telling the girls his plan, he knelt down and forced his way through the small gap. It was slow going, but he was finally through. As he stood up, he looked towards the van.
No one was in sight and the blue sedan appeared to be unoccupied. Where could the men have gone?
Joe had no idea. He peered back through the hedge and whispered to the girls. “Stay where you are. I’m going to see what’s happened to the men.”
Joe walked towards the vehicles, not sure what to expect. He knew it was dangerous, for the men could appear any second, but if he had retreated back through the hedge and reunited with his sisters, he would be none the wiser.
He just couldn’t understand where the men had gone. One moment they had been there, and now they were not. Had they heard the three of them talking and were they now hiding behind a tree or a bush? Or were they hiding inside the van?
~
Will cycled as fast as he could along the coun
try lanes, eager to reach Rosehill police station as quickly as possible. While he didn’t recognise this particular road that he was on, he knew the general area and knew he would soon arrive at the main road between Smugglers Cove and Rosehill.
As he cycled around a bend, pedalling suddenly seemed to become more difficult. And, as he continued to pedal, he realised something was definitely wrong. He stopped and climbed off his bicycle.
As he quickly examined the wheels, he saw the problem. The back tyre was no longer firm. Something had punctured it and air was escaping. If he was at home, he would have attempted to locate the hole and patch it up, but he didn’t have the time or the tools to attempt such an operation now.
For a number of seconds he contemplated what to do. Even though it was hard work cycling with a soft tyre, it was probably still faster than running. So he decided to get back onto his bicycle and continue riding.
However, this would mean that getting to Rosehill in under fifteen minutes would now be impossible.
~
As Joe advanced slowly towards the van, he had a weird feeling he was being watched and he was tempted to turn back. He had just decided to do so when the back door of the van opened and out sprang the tall man with the ponytail.
Joe spun around and ran back to the hedge as the man yelled out. As long as he could get back to the other side of the hedge he would be okay. The gap had been barely big enough for him to pass through and he was confident that none of the men would be able to follow him.
As he reached the hole, he fell to his knees and attempted to scramble through it. He was just thinking to himself that he was going to make it when a strong hand grasped his left ankle.
He tried to wriggle his leg out the man’s grasp, but it was a firm, steely grip and he couldn’t. Then, a second later, his right leg was also grabbed.
Before he knew what was happening, he was being pulled away from the gap in the hedge. As soon as that happened, one of the men grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him to his feet.
