by Paul Moxham
Moving towards the entrance, he discovered how stiff and cold his legs were. All that time standing in the water had taken its toll. He glanced at his watch. It was almost noon.
His stomach rumbled from hunger. He hadn’t even eaten breakfast. He tried to forget about it as he sat down on one of the wet rocks and waited for the water to recede.
~
It was unusually quiet at Rose Cottage. Sarah and Amy were trying to play a board game while their mother sewed, but every few minutes one of them would pause and glance through the window to look for any sign of Joe.
As noon came and went, Amy could tell that her mother was quite worried. She was sewing, but what she had done in half an hour could easily have been done in five minutes.
Amy had to do something. Looking out of the window, she saw that the storm had finally passed. The last drops of rain were falling and the sun was coming out from behind the clouds.
She stood up. “Why don’t Sarah and I go outside to see if we can find Joe? I promise to be back here in an hour if I can’t find him.”
Her mother paused, apparently thinking it over. She slowly nodded. “Okay, but be careful.”
“Thanks, Mum,” Amy said. She gave her a hug and rushed outside. Sarah followed her.
The girls decided they should check the caves in case Joe had decided to explore them on his own. They walked along the beach until they reached them. They found that most of them were half-underwater due to the high tide.
Deciding that Joe wouldn’t have been foolish enough to enter one of them at high tide, they started to walk away.
A brief noise in the distance caught Amy’s attention. It almost sounded like a voice. She paused, and then looked across at her sister. “Did you just hear something?”
“No, why?” Sarah said.
“I thought I heard someone call out.”
“I can’t see anyone.”
Amy suddenly realised something. “Golly, he must be in the caves! Let’s yell out and see if he answers. That will save time going through all of them.” She shouted out. “Joe!”
Sarah joined in. “Joe!”
“Where are you?”
“Please answer!”
“Joe!”
They listened for an answer. There was no reply. Amy hung her head in disappointment and continued walking.
~
Not far away, Joe, who had been trying to decide if he should wait until the water was down to his knees or go when the water was waist deep, suddenly heard voices.
After stepping closer to the entrance, he peered out. His two sisters were walking away from him and heading farther away every second. He shouted their names as loud as he could.
A few moments later, he heard the girls reply. He yelled back and waved his hands.
They ran in the direction of his voice and paused as they reached the point where the water was almost lapping at their feet.
“How did you find me?” Joe asked.
“I noticed that your binoculars and torch were missing,” Amy said. “I thought you had gone for a walk. But I didn’t imagine that you would have tried exploring the caves by yourself.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Joe said. “Will came over early this morning to say that he was going to his grandmother’s house for a few days as she was sick—”
“And you couldn’t wait that long,” Sarah broke in.
Joe nodded. “I was exploring and, before I realised it, the tide had come in.”
Deciding that he may as well get out as his trousers were already partly wet, he slowly waded through the waist-deep water. As he did so, he shivered.
“You do look cold,” Sarah said.
“We’d better get you home as soon as possible,” Amy said. “We don’t want you to catch a cold.” She took off her cardigan and draped it over her brother’s shoulders to keep him warm as they hurried home.
~
Their mother rushed out to greet them as they approached Rose Cottage. She scolded Joe as she got two blankets from the cupboard and wrapped them around him. She then hurried upstairs to run a hot bath.
Five minutes later, Joe was soaking in the hot water. A while later, he climbed out and dried himself. He headed downstairs after dressing in clean clothes. Now warm, he was looking like his old self again. He sat down in the sitting room as his mother handed him a steaming cup of cocoa. He sipped it as he told her and his sisters everything that had taken place that morning.
As Joe started sneezing, his mother said, “You were very foolish. You’ll not be given any pocket money this week, plus I want you to stay away from the caves for the next two days.”
“Do I really have to?” Joe asked. “I feel fine.”
“Rubbish!” his mother said. “I know a sick boy when I see one, and I happen to be looking at one right now. Before you went on your little escapade, you were beginning to get a cold, and now you’ve probably made it worse. I want you close so I can keep an eye on you.”
“But I—”
His mother smiled. “Don’t argue. I’m only doing this because I want you safe and sound. God knows what could have happened to you in the caves by yourself, so maybe this will remind you to always tell someone where you are going before you set off. Cheer up. I’ve made you your favourite, apple pie.” She headed into the kitchen.
Chapter 3: The Cave
For the next two days, it rained almost constantly. There were a few dry periods, but the rain always resumed soon afterwards, and the children were forced to stay indoors and play games. Monopoly was their favourite, so they played that one often.
On the second wet day, Will came over. He had just returned from his grandmother’s and was eager to see if the children wanted to go exploring the following day since the weather was supposed to improve. After tossing options back and forth, they agreed they would search the caves.
The sun shone down upon them as they met up at noon the next day. They headed straight for the cave that Joe had got himself trapped in a few days earlier.
After they had all had a look around, Joe showed them where he had been moving the rocks. “I have a gut feeling there may be something behind those.”
“Why don’t we split into two groups?” Will said. He turned to the girls. “Joe and I can move the rocks while you two put them into a pile.”
For the next twenty minutes, the children worked enthusiastically as they applied themselves to their respective jobs in an effort to find a tunnel. But, at the end of this time, they still hadn’t found anything.
They decided it was time to have the picnic lunch that Mrs Mitchell had prepared for them and left the cave to sit down on the sand. Joe handed out a sandwich for each of them and they all hungrily munched on the food.
Once they had eaten everything, they returned to the cave. They went to work and, before long, their hard work paid off.
“Gosh!” Will shouted. “A hole!”
“Where?” the girls yelled. They rushed closer to investigate.
“Here, in the gap,” Will said. “Joe and I were moving a big rock and suddenly it fell through a hole. I looked and discovered it on the ground on the other side of the wall.”
Amy put her face close to the hole. “I can feel a slight breeze.”
“There must be a hole farther up,” Joe exclaimed excitedly. “The tunnel must come out somewhere up there and that’s where the fresh air is coming from.”
“I think you’ve hit the nail on the head,” Will said. “Let’s hurry up and remove the rocks around it, so we can make the hole bigger. Then we can explore the tunnel.”
Agreeing that this was the best thing to do, all four children started to remove the rocks that surrounded it and, before long, had made a hole that was large enough to squeeze through. Eagerly, they climbed through the narrow space.
Once everyone was on the other side, they started walking down the tunnel. It was quite tall in some places, but in some parts it was so small that they were just able to stand up
straight without bending down.
For the next five minutes, as the tunnel twisted and turned, the children smiled, thrilled that they had just discovered something that was at least a hundred years old.
The smiles on their faces disappeared as they rounded a corner and stopped dead. Ten feet ahead, the tunnel came to a wall.
“Oh no!” Will exclaimed as he raced forward. “It can’t end here!” But it did. There were no gaps or holes that he could see, and the wall was rock solid.
“It certainly looks like it must,” Joe replied after a moment’s hesitation.
“But what’s the purpose of the tunnel if it just ends here?” Amy asked.
Sarah agreed with Amy. “Only a madman would build a tunnel that ended in a blank wall.”
“Hold on a minute,” Will said. He tilted his head. “I’m sure I can feel a breeze coming from somewhere.”
Joe pointed his torch around the area and saw what they had been missing. Straight above Will was a black hole.
“Imagine that,” Amy laughed. “Golly, no wonder we missed that before. It looks like the tunnel goes straight up.”
“It sure does,” Joe said.
“But how do we get up there?” Sarah asked, a puzzled expression creeping onto her face.
“You might have to use a rope,” Joe suggested.
“Joe, shine the light over here next to the wall,” Will called out. “I may have found something.”
“What?” Joe asked, as he moved over to where Will was standing.
“I thought so!” Will exclaimed. “Girls, come over here.” The girls moved closer. “This dent looks manmade.”
“It could be a handhold,” Amy said.
Will shone the torch up, revealing more dents. “This must be how you get up the hole.”
“Don’t you think that may be a bit dangerous?” Amy asked, concerned. “It looks a long way up.”
“Don’t worry,” Will said, giving her a reassuring smile. “I’ll go up first to make sure it’s safe.” He gave the torch to Joe and started the climb. Soon, he was up and through the hole. He looked back down. “Come on. It’s a breeze. It’s only ten feet or so.”
“I’ll go next,” Amy said. She took a deep breath and started climbing. When she was safely up, she yelled down and Sarah started the climb.
Joe waited for his turn to come. He tried to memorise where the holes were. As he needed both hands to climb, he would have to put the torch in his pocket.
Sarah yelled down that she was up, so Joe moved to the wall. He put his hands on the upper footholds and started the climb. A minute later, he had reached the hole.
After taking the torch out of his pocket, he shone it around the large cave. There was a natural window in the side of the wall letting a small amount of light enter the space.
Everyone looked in surprise at the sight in front of them. They had never expected to find anything in the cave, but it was just the opposite. There was a wooden table and chairs in the centre, with a lamp and matches on the table. On the far side, there were a number of wooden boxes that looked as though they had been there for years. An old wooden door was built into the rock on the left side of the cave.
Amy was the first to speak. “Golly!”
“I wonder who put all this stuff here?” Will said. “The wood would have rotted away by now if it had been used by smugglers years ago, and this packet of matches seems new.” He walked over and picked them up.
“Hold on,” Joe said. “I don’t think we should touch anything until we find out who put all this stuff here.”
“You’re right,” Will agreed, putting the matches down. “I didn’t think of that.”
“You think someone comes here regularly?” Sarah said.
“I don’t know,” Joe answered, “but this stuff can’t have been here that long.”
Will nodded as he glanced around. “If someone does come here regularly, you can bet that they’re up to something illegal. They wouldn’t come here for any other reason.”
Amy looked at Will. “Are you saying that smugglers still come here?”
“Maybe,” Will said.
The children walked over to where light entered the cave. Looking out, they could see the beach.
“I reckon that we’re about seven hundred feet or so from where we started,” Will said, after looking out the window for a few moments.
“I think you’re right,” Joe said. He stiffened at a sudden noise. He quickly ran to the hole and listened. The sound of men’s voices coming up the passage was getting louder as each second passed.
“Quick!” he whispered to the others. “Find somewhere to hide. Someone’s coming!”
Will ran over to the door and tried to open it. “It’s locked.”
“Let’s try the boxes,” Amy suggested. She and Sarah hurried over and tried to open them. “No good,” she cried in desperation a few moments later. “They’re nailed down.”
The men were getting closer. The children could now see a lamp light in the passage below.
“Blow!” Joe whispered. “There’s nowhere else left to hide. We’ll be caught! We may as well give ourselves up and just hope they let us go.”
“No!” Will whispered, his eyes defiant. “We can’t let that happen.”
They watched as the first man emerged from the hole. As he leaned down to grab the lamp from someone, Joe realised that in a few more seconds they were going to be discovered!
Chapter 4: Chased!
Joe suddenly spotted some boxes near the wall. “Hey, we can hide here.”
Everyone hurried over and bent down. A moment later, the room was flooded with light as the first man to climb up put the lamp on the table and sat down. Through a gap in-between the boxes, they could see that he was thin, small, clean-shaven, and wearing fisherman clothes.
Shortly, another man, who was tall and had a beard, and dressed the same as the first fellow, joined him at the table.
Before they could start talking, the door opened from the other side and another man walked in. The bald fellow was dressed in a suit and had big, broad shoulders. He nodded curtly to the others. “Jake, Louis.”
The tall man, Louis, looked up as the newcomer sat down opposite him. “Good to see you Rocky, what’s new?”
“I just got word from the boss,” Rocky replied. “He’s coming tonight.”
The thin man, Jake, stared. “Tonight? I thought he wasn’t coming for a few days.”
“He’s moved up the deadline,” Rocky said. He’s coming here to make sure that all the details have been finalised since the boat is coming tomorrow. It will be our biggest haul yet.”
“But we haven’t moved any of the boxes,” Louis said. “We were going to finish tomorrow night.”
“Well, you’d better get cracking,” Rocky replied. “There’s a big bundle of stuff up at the house that needs to be brought down here. Better bring up the boxes that are empty and put the full ones in the tunnel.” He stood up and left the same way he had come.
As soon as boxes had been mentioned, Joe stiffened and started thinking of a plan. He realised there was only a slim chance of being able to pull it off, but, being the eldest and the one in charge, he had to take the chance.
Joe whispered his plan to the others. Then, he and Will searched the cave floor for two small rocks, one for each of them.
“You heard what Rocky said.” Jake sighed. “We had better get started.”
“Okay,” Louis said. He got up and walked towards the children’s hiding place.
Louis started moving the boxes at the far end of the pile. Jake went to help him.
The time had come. Joe threw his rock right through the hole. It was a perfect shot.
“Hey! What was that?” Jake shouted. He snatched the lamp and ran over to the hole, with Louis not far behind.
Will grinned. The plan was working. The table was now between them and the men.
“Now!” Joe whispered. He stood up and, followed by the others, st
arted tiptoeing across the room. They managed to get two-thirds of the way before their luck ran out.
Jake turned and saw them. He snarled. “Hey! What are you doing here?” He strode menacingly towards them.
“Run!” Joe yelled out and sprinted to the door. Amy and Sarah followed close behind.
Will paused at the door. With all his might, he threw his rock at the lamp. The room was plunged into darkness.
Will slipped through the door the others had left open and then closed it behind him. As luck would have it, the key had been left in the lock. He grabbed and turned it, locking the men in the room. He hurried around the corner of the tunnel, where the others were waiting for him.
“Everything go okay?” Joe asked.
“Yes, but we’d better get moving. They might have an extra key,” Will said.
“I’m scared!” Sarah cried.
Joe gave her a big hug. “Don’t worry. We’re ahead of those crooks for the moment, and that’s how it will stay.”
“But what if there’s someone in front of us?” Sarah said.
“Don’t worry about that now,” Will said. “Let’s concentrate on where we are, so no more talking unless it’s absolutely necessary. We don’t want to give the crooks notice that we’re coming.”
The children hurried up the tunnel. It narrowed dramatically, forcing them to travel single file. This slowed them down.
Joe turned the corner and stopped. He was in yet another cave. While not as large as the first one, this one also contained a number of boxes. There were two passageways leading out.
“Which one do we choose?” Amy asked.
“I don’t know,” Joe said. “One heads straight up in the direction that we’ve been going. The other one heads to the left. What do you think, Will?”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Will answered. “That man who came into the cave talked about going to the house, so one of them must lead there. That’s the way we don’t want to go. We should try to head for the other one.”
