by Paul Moxham
“Yes, that’s right,” a cheery voice called out.
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. 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 replied. “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.”
“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, so we moved here after the war ended,” Will replied.
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,” Joe said. “I wouldn’t mind exploring it.”
“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 suggested. “There’s a place called Darby’s that sells really yummy ones.”
Sarah looked disappointed. “But we don’t have any money.”
“Don’t worry, my dad gives me heaps of pocket money, so I can buy ice creams for all of us,” Will replied.
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,” Will replied. “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 glanced around. Apparently satisfied that no one was listening, 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 if you believe the rumours, there’s a chest of gold hidden somewhere underneath Smugglers Cove.”
Joe’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “A chest of gold?”
“Yes,” Will replied. “But even if that isn’t true, I’m sure there would be something valuable in one of the caves.”
“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 looked 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, we’ll 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.
As Joe glanced around, he couldn’t help but think that 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.
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.
Will waved and called out softly. “Open the door.”
Joe 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,” Will explained. “By the time I got back, it was time for dinner.”
“When will you be coming back?” Joe asked.
“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 and a torch, 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 to explore one of the caves before heading back. He’d brought his torch a
t the last minute as he thought that, 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. 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.
He suddenly realised that this was the cave that had 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.
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 hurried 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.”
Mrs Mitchell frowned. “What do you mean?”
“He’s not in his room,” Amy said.
“I’m sure I can find him,” her mother replied. “You 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 sure Joe is—”
Amy suddenly rushed into the room. “You know those binoculars Dad gave Joe for his birthday last year?”
Mrs Mitchell nodded. “Yes, what about them?”
“They’re gone, as well as his torch and shoes,” Amy replied. “So he must be outside.” Just as she finished speaking, lightning flashed across the sky. A moment later, 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.
“Wow. That’s one big storm,” Sarah muttered.
“I do hope Joe’s somewhere dry,” Amy said.
~
Joe hadn’t noticed that the weather had taken a turn for the worse, 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 almost 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 on 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 grimly smiled. The tide was finally going out and, by the sound of it, the storm had passed.
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.”
Mrs Mitchell thought it over. “Okay, but be careful.”
“Thanks, Mum.” Amy gave her a hug and rushed outside. Sarah followed her.
The girls decided they should go to the caves in case Joe had decided to explore them on his own. They walked along the beach until they reached them. However, they found that most of them were partly 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.
Suddenly, a brief noise in the distance caught Amy’s attention. It sounded like a voice. She looked across at her sister. “Did you just hear something?”
“No, why?” Sarah asked.
“I thought I heard someone call out,” Amy replied.
Sarah glanced around. “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?” Amy cried out. “Please answer!” She listened for an answer. There was no reply.
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