by Paul Moxham
The Mystery of Smugglers Cove
The Mystery Series – Book No. 1
By Paul Moxham
Contact Author:
Website: www.paulmoxham.com
Email: [email protected]
Get sent an email whenever I release a book!
Click Here!
Version Updated: 22nd December 2013
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.
~*~*~
Full Length Novels:
The Mystery of Smugglers Cove
The Mystery of Adventure Island
The Mystery of Hidden Valley
~
Short Stories:
The Mystery of the Missing Money
The Mystery of the Missing Gnomes
The Mystery of the Mysterious Man
The Mystery of the Strange Notebook
~
Box Set:
The Mystery Series Collection (Short Stories 1-4)
The Mystery Series Collection (Books 1-3)
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
"It's packed with adventure and courage, reminiscent of The Goonies." --- LibraryThing Reviewer
NOTE:
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 the first in The Mystery Series.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Smugglers Cove
Chapter 2: Exploring
Chapter 3: The Cave
Chapter 4: Chased!
Chapter 5: The Raft
Chapter 6: A Night Of Adventure
Chapter 7: Chandler Manor
Chapter 8: Too Close For Comfort
Chapter 9: Midnight
Chapter 10: Dangerous Times
Chapter 11: Adventure On The High Seas
Chapter 12: Missing
Chapter 13: Hanging By A Thread
Chapter 14: Uncertain Times
Chapter 15: A Dangerous Task
Chapter 16: The Dawn Raid
Chapter 17: On The Run
Chapter 18: The Disappearing Men
Chapter 19: Searching
Chapter 20: The Secret Entrance
Chapter 21: Betrayed!
Chapter 22: No Way Out
Chapter 23: A Chance To Escape
Chapter 24: A Risk Worth Taking
Chapter 25: Bound For France
Chapter 26: One Last Chance
Chapter 27: The End Of The Adventure
Chapter 1: Smugglers Cove
The bicycle skidded to a halt as Joe Mitchell stopped beside a huge oak tree. His slim frame rocked forward, causing a lock of brown hair to fall into his eyes. He glanced back at his two sisters who were still pedalling furiously. Grinning broadly, he called out to them. “I told you I’d win!”
“Well, your legs are much longer than ours,” Sarah panted. “Next time we race, Amy and I need a head start to make it fair.” Only eight years old, she was the younger of Joe’s two siblings and had short blonde hair.
“Hey, look!” Joe exclaimed as he caught sight of a large house in the distance. “Let’s check out that old place. It looks interesting.”
They headed down a dirt road and, a minute later, found themselves in front of two big, steel gates. At the end of a long, overgrown driveway was a three-storey mansion.
“I wonder who lives there,” Amy said. “It looks terribly old.” The curious ten year old twirled a strand of her brown hair around her finger.
“I bet nobody does,” Sarah said, her green eyes filled with doubt. “Look at all those weeds and bushes everywhere. If someone lived there, wouldn’t they keep the garden tidy?”
“Let’s see if the gates are open,” Joe said. Like many twelve-year-old boys, he was always on the lookout for an adventure, and this place looked very intriguing. He tried to open the gates, but they didn’t budge. “Help me, you two.”
The girls threw their bicycles on the grass and joined Joe in trying to move the rusty gates but they had no luck.
“I wonder what this place is called,” Joe muttered as he stepped back and glanced around.
“Chandler Manor!” Amy exclaimed triumphantly a moment later. She pointed to an old metal nameplate attached to the gatepost.
“Yes, that’s right,” a cheery voice said from behind them.
The children spun around and saw a boy of about Joe’s age with flaming red hair. His freckles and cheeky smile gave him a goofy look, but he looked as though he would be fun to have as a friend.
“My name’s Will,” the boy said. “Actually, it’s William, but most people call me Will.” He glanced at the three of them. “You’re new here, aren’t you? I haven’t seen you around Smugglers Cove before.”
“We just arrived yesterday,” Joe said. “We’re staying at Rose Cottage. It’s a little place on the cliff overlooking the cove.”
“What a coincidence,” Will said. “That’s where my father and I stayed while we were looking for a house to buy. “Have you got the bedroom with the skylight?”
Joe grinned. “Yes, it’s fantastic.”
“There was a fire at our house,” Sarah piped up. “That’s why we came here.”
“Were you there at the time?” Will asked.
“No, it happened while we were at school,” Amy said. “The house was too badly damaged to stay in, so our parents decided to rent a place here for the summer holidays. It’s a lot smaller than Danfield, though.”
“Hey, isn’t that in London?” Will said.
“Yes, but how did you know?” Joe asked.
Will grinned. “We used to live quite close to Danfield.”
“Why did you move here?” Amy asked.
“My dad wanted some peace and quiet so he could write his novels,” Will said, “so we moved here after the war ended.”
Joe turned back towards Chandler Manor. “Does anyone live here?”
Will shook his head. “No. The owner died five years ago, just after we moved in.”
“It looks very mysterious. I wouldn’t mind exploring it,” Joe said.
“If you want to do some exploring, I know just the place,” Will said. “Have you heard anything about the history of Smugglers Cove?”
“No, do tell us,” Amy said.
“How about we go and buy ice creams and I tell you all about it?” Will said. “There’s a place called Darby’s that sells really yummy ones.”
“But we don’t have any money,” Sarah said.
“Don’t worry, my d
ad gives me heaps of pocket money,” Will replied, “so I can buy ice creams for all of us.”
The four children rode back into the village. As they passed the police station, they saw the local constable talking to the baker. Both of them were plumpish with round faces, but the constable was taller than the baker and wore thick-rimmed spectacles.
They brought their bicycles to a halt a few moments later outside Darby’s. It was an attractive little shop with tables and chairs both inside and outside.
After grabbing an ice cream each, they went outside and sat at a table surrounded by pots of red geraniums.
Will launched into his story. “A long, long time ago, smuggling was a roaring trade around here. Ships used to anchor off the coast and smugglers would transport the goods to the beach and into the caves where, as legend says, there were a maze of tunnels. These tunnels criss-crossed all over Smugglers Cove, but, to this day, only a few have been found.”
“Why didn’t the police discover where the tunnels came out?” Amy asked.
“Well, apparently the smugglers made the exits to the tunnels underneath houses. That way, they could slip down to the cove, get the goods, transport them to the tunnels, and be back in bed by sunrise, all without going out the front door.”
Joe frowned as he licked the ice cream that was dribbling down the cone. “That sounds a bit farfetched.”
“Why would anyone go to all that trouble?” Sarah asked.
“Smuggling was an easy way to make money back then,” Will said. He paused and glanced around, as though he was making sure no one was listening. Apparently satisfied, he looked back at the others. “Can you keep a secret?”
As the others nodded, Will continued talking. “Last week we had a massive storm that washed away a huge amount of sand and opened up a number of caves. I know the previous ones didn’t have anything in them, but there are stories about a hidden treasure being buried somewhere underneath Smugglers Cove, so it would be exciting to try and find—”
“Let’s get moving then,” Joe said, getting up from his seat.
Will shook his head. “We can’t go now. You can only get to the caves at low tide, so we can only explore them in the afternoon or early in the morning. By the way, how long are you staying here?”
“For the whole school holidays,” Sarah said.
Will smiled. “Great! That will give us plenty of time to explore.”
Joe glanced at his watch. “We’d better go home for lunch. Why don’t we meet somewhere this afternoon?”
“How about the beach near your place?” Will said.
“Okay, see you then,” Joe said.
They parted ways. Soon, the three siblings were pedalling up the steep hill towards Rose Cottage. When they reached the top, they paused for a moment to rest their legs.
Joe thought the view was magnificent. The sea was a glorious shade of blue. The cliffs, edged with a narrow strip of golden sand, wound around the cove. Seabirds soared above the cliffs.
A minute later, they rode towards Rose Cottage, which was perched on top of the cliff. With its dazzling whitewashed walls and rose bushes climbing up the veranda posts, the two-storey thatched roof cottage looked like a picture postcard.
After throwing their bicycles on the grass, they rushed down the path, almost bowling over their mother as she opened the front door.
“Sorry!” yelled the children as they raced through the sitting room and into the kitchen.
After eating lunch, they set off for the beach. Once there, they paddled in the water and made a sandcastle. The afternoon wore on, but Will never arrived. Wondering what could have happened to delay their friend, they headed back home disappointed.
~
It was early morning when Joe, awakened by a strange noise, sat up. He had been having a wonderful dream, flying in the sky with a number of seabirds, when something had disturbed him.
He slipped out of his bed and walked over to his window. As he did so, a small pebble struck the glass.
Curious, he waited a moment and then opened the window slowly in case more pebbles flew in his direction. When it was fully open, he peeked over the side and, to his surprise, saw Will.
The boy called out softly, “Open the door.”
Joe nodded and headed downstairs. A few moments later, he opened the door and found Will waiting outside.
“I can’t stay long,” Will said. “My grandmother is sick and I’m going to see her for a few days.”
“What happened yesterday?” Joe asked. “We waited the whole afternoon and you didn’t come.”
“Sorry about that. My dad wanted me to do some errands for him. I got a puncture in my tire, so it took longer than I expected. By the time I got back, it was getting dark.”
“When will you be coming back?”
“In a few days. I have to go now. Say hello to the girls for me. Bye.” With that, Will was gone.
Joe closed the door and headed upstairs. He thought about going back to bed but, knowing that he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep, decided instead to explore the beach by himself. He changed out of his pyjamas and, grabbing his binoculars, hurried outside.
Glancing up at the sky, he was surprised at how different it looked from yesterday. The sun was slowly rising as storm clouds moved inland towards the coast. It looked very ominous. The clouds were very dark, the darkest he had ever seen them before. He sensed it was the calm before the storm, but that didn’t stop him. Will wasn’t coming back for a few days and he didn’t want to wait that long to have a look at the caves.
Joe thought he would have time quickly explore one of the caves before heading back. He’d brought his torch at the last minute. Even though it was daylight, it might be a bit dark in the caves. With this in mind, he headed towards the rocks.
Five minutes of brisk walking found him outside the first cave. After looking in the first three caves, he started exploring the fourth. Straight away, he noticed something weird. He couldn’t place it, but he knew something was not quite the same.
After looking around the cave with his torch, he found the answer. While the other caves were nearly all damp, part of this one was dry. Taking a closer look, he noticed that there was a fair amount of loose rock on the bottom of the cave.
“Of course,” he muttered. “This cave is one of the ones that opened up after the storm.”
Wondering if the cave could possibly lead to a tunnel, he focused his attention on moving the rocks that had fallen down. Adventure was close at hand.
Chapter 2: Exploring
As Sarah and Amy climbed out of bed and got dressed, they talked excitedly about what they were going to do that day.
As Sarah went downstairs, Amy went to wake Joe. “Wakey, wakey,” she called, tapping on the bedroom door. Not getting any response, she slowly opened the door. She planned to scare him, just as he had done to her many a time.
She stopped in surprise. Joe’s bed was empty. Fearing a trick, she opened the cupboard. No one was there. Not knowing what else to do, she raced downstairs to the kitchen. “Joe’s disappeared.”
“What do you mean?” her mother asked.
“He’s not in his room,” Amy said.
“I’m sure I can find him,” her mother replied. “You two search upstairs while I look down here.”
They went their separate ways. They searched everywhere they could think of, but Joe was nowhere to be seen.
Mrs Mitchell slumped in the kitchen chair after five minutes of searching.
Sarah could see that her mother’s expression had changed to one of concern. Walking over, she gave her mother a comforting smile and hugged her. “Don’t worry. I’m—”
Amy suddenly rushed into the room. “You know those binoculars Dad gave Joe for his birthday last year?”
“Yes, what about them?” her mother replied.
“They’re gone. And his torch and shoes are also missing. So he must be outside.”
Just as Amy finished speaking, lightning fl
ashed across the sky. Thunder rumbled. Everyone rushed to the window and looked out. Rain began to pour down. The dark and threatening clouds blocked out almost all of the blue sky. It looked like dusk instead of morning.
“That’s one big storm,” Sarah said.
“I do hope Joe’s somewhere dry,” Amy said.
~
Joe hadn’t noticed that the weather had taken a turn for the worse, for he had been too busy exploring. Moving the rocks had taken a lot longer than he had anticipated. By the time he had almost finished, he was tired out.
Looking around for a place to sit and rest, he was stunned by what he saw. In the short time he had been moving the rocks, water had crept in and now filled the cave entrance. He would need to duck his head underneath the water if he wanted to get out.
Luckily, the part of the cave where he had been working was still dry, but now the water was creeping towards where he was standing.
Peeking through the cave entrance, he saw that it was raining. He could also hear muffled thunder. He looked at his watch and was surprised to see that it was past eight thirty.
The constantly creeping water was now knee deep. A shiver ran down his body. The water was rapidly rising and it would keep rising. No longer concerned about the time, he tried to think of a way out of this mess.
With a sinking feeling, he realised that he could do nothing. He would just have to wait it out. He leaned against the wall and stared at the slowly rising water.
Time passed slowly. Joe tried to stay dry by standing on the pile of rocks that he had moved. He had thought about moving the rest of the rocks to see if there was a tunnel, but his arms were too sore.
After standing on the rocks with water up to his knees for what seemed ages, he noticed that the water was finally receding. He smiled grimly. The tide was finally going out and, by the sound of it, the storm had passed.
