by Paul Moxham
Realising that the men were probably going to celebrate their haul before packing the goods away, Joe decided that this was the chance that he’d been waiting for. Peering from underneath the plastic, he saw that the coast was clear. He jumped out. From what he could see, he was on a medium-sized fishing vessel that had been converted to suit the needs of the crooks.
Crawling along the deck, he headed towards the railing. He stood and looked to see if there was some way of getting down the side of the boat. There were no obvious safe ways.
A loud noise startled him. The engine was warming up! If he didn’t get moving now, he would be on his way to France.
Joe peered out across the water and was glad to see that the fog was lifting. Now he could make out a strip of land in the distance. That was the only thing he could see besides water. Once the boat started to move away from the strip of land, there would be no hope of escape.
The boat lurched into motion. Scared, but trying to stay calm, Joe hurried to the far end of the ship. By the sound of things, the men had started unloading the goods. Hopefully, that would keep them occupied for some time, at least until he found a way to escape.
At the back of the boat, Joe was glad to find a rope ladder that descended down to the water. What made him even happier was that he could see a small rowboat tied to the end of it.
After looking around to make sure that none of the crewmembers had spotted him, he climbed over the railing and started to climb down the ladder. All was going well until he was halfway down. Then he heard footsteps. Stiffening, he paused and held on tight. He didn’t know where the person was, but he knew that he was close. Praying that the person would pass, he waited.
Joe didn’t know how long he waited. It seemed like hours, but it was probably only a few minutes. The man was fixing something near the railing but, for the life of him, he couldn’t think what it could be.
Instead, he concentrated on holding onto the ladder. The breeze had now turned into a strong wind and was pushing the rowboat from side to side. The ladder also swung back and forth.
Tired from hanging on, and with the wind getting stronger, Joe started to climb down to the rowboat.
He tried to make as little noise as possible. He hoped the wind would swallow any noise he made. In any case, he wasn’t going to wait any longer.
Moments later, Joe reached the rowboat. Now the difficult part remained. He needed to untie it and row to the shore.
Luckily, the fog was all but gone, but now something else unpleasant had taken its place. The wind had strengthened yet again, and the waves were getting higher. To make things worse, rain began to splatter down.
Joe knew that it would be dangerous to row to shore in these conditions. Remaining in the boat until the storm died down seemed liked a good idea at first, but by the time the storm had worn itself out, the boat would be too far away from the shore to attempt to get back.
As it was, the shore was getting farther away each second, so Joe decided to try his luck with the storm. He untied the rowboat, set the oars in place, and began to row.
Straight away, he realised that he didn’t have a chance against the storm. The waves were two feet tall, wind blew the boat in all different directions, and the rain blotted out the land.
Disappointed and angry, Joe tried to head back towards the boat. His craft would be swamped in minutes in this weather, so his only chance lay in rowing back to the boat and trying again after the storm had died down.
He tried to head back the way he had come, but it was no use. Fearing drowning more than capture, he tried shouting to attract the attention of the crew. “Hello! Can anyone hear me? Help me!”
Joe paused to see if anyone had heard him. He waited, and waited, and waited.
~
As the morning sun shone through the bedroom window and onto the bed, Will awoke. It was odd awakening in a strange place, and for a moment he wondered where he was. But then it all came flashing back to him. The midnight trek. The fog. The dinghy. Joe’s disappearance.
The sooner the girls knew, the better, so he hurried downstairs. He found the girls tucking into their breakfast. He sat down and stared down at the kitchen table before glancing up.
“What’s up?” Amy asked.
Will decided to not beat around the bush. “Joe’s missing.”
“What!” Amy said, shocked.
“What do you mean?” Sarah exclaimed.
Will quickly explained all that had happened the previous night.
“Do you think Joe escaped?” Sarah asked, making eye contact with Will.
Breaking eye contact, Will looked down, tapping his fingers on the wooden table.
“Well?” Sarah said.
“Um… I don’t think so,” Will said, glancing up again.
“What are we going to do?” Sarah asked.
“We have to work out a plan,” Will exclaimed, banging his fist upon the table. “We’ll search Chandler Manor, the caves—”
“Hey, wait a minute,” Amy said, putting a hand on Will’s shoulder. “Calm down. For all we know, he might come walking in the door any moment.”
“Okay, but we still need a plan,” Will said. “I suggest we search along the beach and surrounding cliffs. If he escaped, that’s the most likely place to find him.”
“Let’s get going then,” Sarah said.
Within a matter of minutes, they were heading towards the beach. Before long, they arrived at the cliff path. They decided to walk along it until they got to the caves and then come back along the beach. That way, they would cover the whole area.
Amy had been striding along, pausing at various intervals to look though the binoculars, when she suddenly stopped. “Hey, I see something!”
Chapter 12: Missing
“What?” Sarah asked.
Amy put the binoculars to her eyes and peered through them. “It’s a boat.”
“Can you see Joe?” Will said.
Amy shook her head. “No.”
“Are you sure?” Will questioned, looking at Amy.
“You can look, but I couldn’t see any sign of life near the boat,” Amy replied, handing the binoculars to him.
“Well, it does look empty,” Will agreed after looking through the binoculars, “but why would an empty boat be there? I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there last night.”
“Maybe it’s connected with Joe after all then,” Sarah said, her green eyes shining in delight. “Maybe he isn’t there because he’s already home by now. We should go back and have a look.”
“Hold on, Sarah,” Amy replied. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We should check out the boat first and see if there are any footprints leading from it. I tried to see if I could see any through the binoculars but, if there are, they’re too small for me to see.”
“I seem to remember a track that goes down to the beach just ahead,” Will said as he resumed walking. “I don’t think we’ve passed it, so we should come to it any moment.”
~
The storm had tossed the boat all over the cove. Luckily, it hadn’t capsized, and it had beached itself on the sand. Joe stirred. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. Not recognising the surrounding area, he feared that he might be marooned miles up the coast, or maybe even in France.
He tried to stand, but collapsed. His legs were stiff from lying in the boat. Taking it slowly, he sat on the side of the boat and looked at his watch. It read four am. His watch must have stopped. Judging by the height of the sun, he guessed that it was around nine thirty.
His top priority was to find out where he was, so he started to walk towards the cliffs. He didn’t get far. Poking up from the sand was a rock that he hadn’t noticed until it was too late.
His ankle twitched in pain. He had fallen awkwardly and twisted his ankle. There was no use going exploring in his condition. He would have to rest.
~
Will and the girls hurried down the track which led to the beach. Going down a steep section,
he started to slip. The storm the previous night had made the path slippery and, by the time Will realised this, he had completely lost his footing, dislodging rocks as he slid down. He cried out. “Help!”
“Try to grab hold of something,” Amy yelled as she looked on in desperation.
“Use your hands to stop yourself,” Sarah shouted.
Sliding past a clump of bushes, Will tried to grab hold of one of them. He missed the first one, but was successful with the second. He was just in time. A small bit of protruding rock offered the front of his feet some feeble support.
As his fingers clutched at the bush, his feet slipped from underneath him, due to the path had been swept away by the storm. If he hadn’t grabbed hold of the bush, he would have ended up on a pile of rocks that were sharp and quite a long way down.
He tried to get a foothold on the side of the cliff, but it was no use. It was just too slippery. He was in a fix. He couldn’t climb down, and he couldn’t climb up.
As long as the bush held, he was all right, but if it started to give way, he’d be on a one-way trip down the cliff.
“I’ve grabbed a bush, but I can’t climb up!” he yelled. “It might break any minute. Go to my house and tell my father! He’ll know what to do.”
“I’ll go,” Amy said. “I’m the fastest.”
~
Halfway to Smugglers Cove, Amy stopped for a moment to rest. Remembering the empty rowboat, she turned around and looked towards the beach. Her face broke into a smile. She could see Joe sitting by the boat. Thankful that he was all right, she was about to continue, when she spotted someone else.
Hidden by the bend of the beach, two men were walking in Joe’s direction. They couldn’t see him at the moment. An outcropping of rocks acted as a wall between the two sides of the beach. By the way they were searching every nook and cranny of the cliffs, Amy realised that they were probably the crooks.
She figured Joe had two minutes to escape. Powerless to do anything, she could only hope that Joe headed off in the other direction before the men came. She didn’t want to attract attention because she still needed to save Will, and she couldn’t let the crooks catch her.
She tore off down the path, her mind all in a muddle.
Arriving at the house, she was worn out, but she still had enough energy to rush up the path and bang loudly on the front door. She puffed as she waited for Mr Spencer to open it.
A few moments later, he did. “Hello Amy, how—”
“Come quickly,” Amy blurted. “Will has slipped on one of the cliff paths. He’s hanging onto a bush that could break at any moment.”
“Oh no!” Mr Spencer exclaimed. “I’ll just grab a rope from the garden shed and I’ll be right with you.”
~
Will heard an ominous crunching. Looking up at the bush, he could see it slowly giving way as the roots broke apart. He needed to act quickly and find something else to hang onto.
He swung his legs to the left and right, trying to get the momentum of swinging back and forth happening. Once he did, he released one hand and tried to reach over to grab another bush, which was a few feet away.
While it wasn’t as sturdy as the one that he had been holding onto, if he could succeed in grabbing it, he could repeat the manoeuvre until he came to the next one, which was sturdier. Plus, there was a slim ledge that he might be able to put his feet on once he had a hold on the far bush.
On the third try, he was successful. He quickly released his other hand and started swinging again. He needed to be successful, and he had to be quick. There were already signs that this new bush would soon give way.
This time, it only took him two tries before he succeeded. As he latched both hands onto the bush, he looked down and managed to get his feet onto the small ledge.
For this, he was thankful. Even if it took ages for Amy to arrive, he would still be all right. There was no chance of him falling now with the ledge supporting him. Looking up, he yelled to Sarah and told her what was happening.
~
Sarah leapt to her feet as she saw Amy and Mr Spencer run towards her. “Thank goodness you’re here. I was beginning to think something had happened to you since you were so long.”
“Show me where Will is,” Mr Spencer said. “I need to assess the situation. Hopefully, we shan’t need anything else besides the rope. We don’t want him hanging down there any longer than is necessary.”
Sarah quickly showed him the spot and Mr Spencer peered down.
“Is that you, Dad?” Will shouted.
“Yes. Hold on. I’ll be there in a jiffy. Sarah told me your feet are on a ledge, and you’re hanging onto a bush. Is that correct?”
“Yes,” Will replied.
“Okay. I’ll try to get directly above you, but not too close, and then I’ll throw the rope down. See if you can catch it. If so, tie it around your waist and give me a shout. Then the three of us can try to pull you up.” Taking the rope, Mr Spencer made sure that he had a grip on the other end before he threw down the rest.
Will was quick to release one hand from the bush and grab the rope as it fell past. Using the ledge to support himself, he carefully released the other hand and used both to tie a knot. He was just about to make sure it was secure, when part of the ledge crumbled and fell.
Caught unbalanced, he quickly made a grab for the bush, but it was too late. He had already started falling.
Chapter 13: Hanging By A Thread
Mr Spencer was caught unprepared as Will’s weight on the rope pulled him towards the edge. He tried to dig his feet into the ground to stop the momentum, but it was no use. Slowly but surely, more and more rope was going over the edge. Unless he did something soon, the rope would snap and his son would plummet to the rocks below.
If they were to succeed, they needed to attach the rope to something solid. A tree would do the job. As luck would have it, there was a strong tree not too far away. But unless they attached it soon, there wouldn’t be enough rope to reach it since, as every second passed by, the rope got shorter.
Sarah grabbed the end of the rope and raced back towards the tree while Amy helped Mr Spencer. After reaching the trunk, she quickly went around it and tied two knots in the rope.
Finally, the rope stopped moving. They were just in time. Mr Spencer’s legs were almost over the edge. He released the rope from his grasp and collapsed. It had taken every muscle in his body to stop the rest of it from going over the edge.
Breathing heavily, he staggered to his feet. His arms were tired, but the danger was not over yet. He peered over the edge. He let out a sigh of relief. Will was still tied to the rope.
But he was hanging in mid-air. They had to haul him up quickly. There was no knowing when the rope would break.
Mr Spencer looked at the girls. “We all need to hold onto the rope and pull Will up. It will be hard, but if one person acts as an anchor, we should succeed.” He directed Amy and Sarah into various positions and then moved behind them. “We haul at my command. One… two… three.”
They all started pulling. This went on for a few minutes, and each time they gathered a large amount of rope, they would wrap it around the tree and tie it.
This was the easiest way that they could think of and, if they happened to slip, or if they wanted to take a break, then they could do so and not worry about all their hard effort being lost.
Finally, just as Amy was about to suggest they take a rest, her eyes lit up. “Hey! I think I see Will.”
Sarah smiled. “We’ve done it!”
“Okay, a few more heaves and that should do it,” Mr Spencer said, a wide grin spreading over his face.
Moments later, Will was safe. “Thanks, everyone. For a while there, I thought I was gone. Next time I’ll be more careful.”
“I hope you will,” Mr Spencer said as he gave his son a hug. “Lucky I was at home, otherwise you might be at the bottom of the cliff by now.”
Will smiled. “I’ll make sure it’ll never happen
again.”
“My goodness!” Mr Spencer said. “It’s almost lunch time. Why don’t you young ladies go and collect your brother and come back to my place for a bite to eat?”
Amy was stuck for words. “Well, er, we were—”
“What’s she trying to say,” Will broke in, “is that we were planning to have a picnic on the beach today.”
“That’s right,” Amy said, “And we’re getting some food from our place.”
“Oh, all right then.” Mr Spencer smiled. “It’s more fun having picnics than eating inside with me.”
“No, it’s not that,” Amy protested.
“Well, have fun and no more taking risks, understood?” With that, Mr Spencer gathered up the rope and, with a cheery wave, strode back along the cliff path.
~
“I can’t see him or the boat,” Amy said, crestfallen.
“Are you sure this is the spot?” Sarah asked.
Amy nodded as she glanced around. “I was standing right here. I’m positive.”
“We can easily find out,” Will said. “If this was the spot, there should be marks on the sand where the rowboat was beached. Let’s go down and check.”
They made their way down the steep side path until they reached the sand and hurried to the spot where Amy thought the boat had been.
“It looks as though you’re right after all,” Will said, after finding some marks on the sand.
“I told you so,” Amy said, “but you didn’t believe me.”
“We do now,” Sarah replied. “As well as the marks made by the boat, I can see some footprints leading back the way we came.”
“Hmm,” Will murmured, as he looked at all the evidence. He walked over to the cliffs and studied the footprints there.
He walked back to the girls. He pointed to the first lot of footprints. “As you can see, there’s one set of footprints that’s smaller than the other. But the ones over at the cliff look almost identical.”
“What does that mean?” Sarah broke in.
Will explained. “I believe the two men that Amy saw came here and found Joe. One of them took the rowboat somewhere else, while the other one marched Joe back along the beach. I could be completely wrong though.”
