The Mystery of Adventure Island (2 page)

Joe glanced at his watch. “Why don’t we go home, grab a sandwich, and return here in half an hour? We can also bring any paint brushes that we find.”

~

As the three children raced up the path of Rose Cottage, they saw their mother hanging up washing on the
clothes line
.

“Did you get hungry?” their mother asked.

Joe nodded. “Do you have any paintbrushes? We came home to get something to eat, and then
we’re
going to start painting the boat. But we only have one paintbrush, so we were wondering—”

“Well,” his mother interrupted, “Mrs Thompson, the old lady who owns this cottage, did say on the phone that there was some paint in the garden shed and that we could use it if we wanted to. I imagine that there would be some brushes too.”

“Thanks!” Amy yelled, rushing off towards the shed. Their mother was right. In the far corner of the small building, they found some paint and brushes.

Joe picked up four paintbrushes. “We may only need three, but I’ll take four just in case.”

Amy grabbed two empty tins. “If we put some paint in these, we can each have our own container of paint.”

“Good idea. Now, what else do we need?” Joe said.

“I’ll take these rags,” Sarah said.

Joe nodded. “Okay, well, that should be all. Let’s take these things to the path and leave them there while we eat some lunch.”

~

Painting was fun. At least,
that’s
what Amy thought as she dipped the paintbrush into the blue paint and went to work. Her arms were getting a bit sore from swishing the paint back and forth on the wood, but she
didn’t
mind.

She stood up and admired her work. She and Sarah were painting one side of the boat, while the boys did the other side. She walked around to see how the boys were getting on. They were going a bit faster than her and Sarah, but that was because they were older. “It looks good.”

“Thanks. How’s your side going?” Will said.

Before Amy could answer, thunder rumbled overhead. Looking out across the sea, she realised that storm clouds were building. “Golly! It’s going to rain soon.”

“Everyone stop painting!” Will called. “We need to get the boat back in the shed as soon as we can. Hopefully the paint will still dry in there.”

While Will raced over to get
a fisherman
to help, the others quickly cleaned the brushes. By the time they had done this, Will had arrived back with someone. He was a strong man and, with his help, they pushed the boat back into the shed. He waved goodbye and the children gazed up at the sky as the first drops of rain fell.

Joe sighed. “We’ll have to paint the rest tomorrow.”

“Hey, what shall we call it?” Amy said. “We could paint the name on the side.”

“That’s a great idea,” Sarah said.

Will glanced over at the blue sailboat. “Why don’t we all think of some possible names, and then tomorrow morning we can discuss them?”

“Sounds good.”
Amy looked at Will. “Do you feel like coming over to Rose Cottage and playing Monopoly?”

Will grinned. “Would you be able to handle it? After all, I won almost every game last time we played.”

“I’m going to beat you fair and square this time.” Joe opened the shed door. “Last one to Rose Cottage has to be the banker.” He raced off into the driving rain.

Chapter 3: Off We Go!

 

The next morning, the children went straight to work on the rest of the sailboat. Once they had finished, they raced down to the sandy shore and splashed about in knee-high water as they waited for the paint to dry. It had been fun painting, but it was hot work, so it was nice to feel the cool water on their feet.

Joe collapsed onto the warm sand and closed his eyes. The others joined him and, for a few moments, no one said anything.

Sarah was the first to speak. “So, what are we going to name the boat?”

“How about Whispering Wind?” Amy suggested.

“Maybe.
What about the Lazy Lucy?” Joe said.

Will nodded. “I was thinking of something like the Floating Four, but I do like the sound of the Lazy Lucy.”

“Okay, say yes if you want to name the boat the Lazy Lucy,” Joe said.

Amy and Sarah yelled out at the same time. “Yes!”

Joe looked at Will. “What do you say?”

Will thought for a moment. He then smiled. “Yes.”

“Okay, so the Lazy Lucy it is,” Joe said. “Now, where will our first adventure be?”

“I thought we were going to sail to
Lighthouse
Island
,” Amy said.

“Hey! I just thought of something.” Will sat up and looked eagerly at the others. “Two summers ago, my father and I went camping on an island just up the coast.”

“
Adventure
Island
?”
Sarah asked.

Will shook his head. “I don’t think so. This place
was called
Windswept
Island
. As you might guess by the name, it was quite windy there, but there’s a small cove there that was the perfect place for camping.”

“Did you see many birds there?” Joe asked.

“There were quite a few, and even some wild rabbits and other small creatures,” Will replied. “It’s a small island, so it might not be as good if there are other people there, but when we went it was deserted.”

“How far up the coast is it?” Amy questioned.

“Not far. A few hours, three at the most,” Will
said
. “And if your parents agreed, we could stay there for two nights. I’m sure my father would say yes, especially since I’ve been there before.”

“Maybe your father can talk to ours,” Joe suggested.

“I’ll ask him tonight,” Will
said
. “We can still sail to
Lighthouse
Island
if you really want to, but I think
Windswept
Island
would be much for exciting.”

“I agree,” Joe said.

After lying on the sand for a while longer, they walked back to the boat to find that the paint was dry. They still had to attach the white sail, but before they did that, Will, in the best writing that he could muster, wrote Lazy Lucy on the side of the boat in big letters. He stood back and admired his handiwork. “There, that looks quite nice.”

“Now we just need to ask Quigley for a quick lesson in sailing,” Amy said.

Will nodded. “Why don’t we see if he’s available tomorrow?”

“Sounds smashing.”
Joe grinned. “Let’s go and talk to him now.”

~

As the sun neared the
horizon
the next day, Joe, Sarah, and Amy sat patiently at the living room table in Rose Cottage as Mr Mitchell hung up the telephone. “Well, Quigley seems to be happy with your sailing abilities, and thinks that, especially with Will in charge, nothing should go wrong. He also added that Will’s experience in sailing to
Windswept
Island
would be very helpful.”

“So?” Amy asked.

Her father grinned. “I see no reason why you can’t go tomorrow—”

“Hooray!” the children cried out.

“Can we stay two nights?” Joe questioned.

“Well…” Mr Mitchell looked over at his wife. “Quigley did think very highly of them.”

Their mother smiled. “If you’re happy, then I’m too. Besides, it isn’t like they are going to have an adventure like last time.”

“Smashing!”
Joe yelled.

“Goodness, thanks heaps!” Sarah shouted.

Amy hugged her mother. “Thanks a lot.”

Her mother smiled. “Just behave yourselves. And stay out of trouble.”

“We will,” Amy promised, smiling.

~

Early the next morning, the three siblings, with their rucksacks filled to the brim and sleeping bags slung over their shoulders, waved goodbye to their parents and headed to the harbour.

Arriving
a short while later, they found that that Will and Quigley were already there.

“Did you bring everything I said?” Will asked.

Joe nodded as he put his rucksack down on the ground. “Warm clothing in case the weather gets cold, some games and matches. Did you bring the tents?”

“Yes, and I’ve got a saucepan and bucket, and some rope,” Will said.

“What about food?” Quigley asked.

“We’ve got tins of fruit, biscuits, bread, cocoa, chocolate, lemonade—” Amy said.

“If you’re anything like me,” Quigley interrupted, “you’ll be spending your time exploring. Why, when I was exploring the ruined church on
Adventure
Island
—”

“A church?”
Amy exclaimed.
“On an island?”

Quigley smiled. “Yes.”

“But why a church?”
Joe asked, curious.

“Well, I asked me father that same question,”
Quigley
replied, “and, as far as I can recall, he said something about a religious leader, Jeremiah Jones, who wanted to start up a settlement away from the hustle and bustle of town life. He moved to the island with his followers and started building a church and a few houses.”

“But you said the church was a ruin,” Sarah said.

“Ah, yes,” Quigley said. “Well, the story goes that Jeremiah Jones got some disease and died before he could finish building the church.”

“What happened then?” Will asked.

Quigley glanced at each of the children in turn. “The followers left in a hurry, certain that the island was cursed. Some even say that, on a full moon, the ghost of Jeremiah Jones roams the island, cursing anyone in sight.”

There was complete silence from the children as they digested this. Quigley, seeing the startled faces on the children, suddenly laughed. “You didn’t take me seriously, did you?”

Joe smiled. “Not me. There’s no such thing as a ghost.”

“Well, maybe not, but it still sounded a bit frightening,” Sarah said.

Quigley laughed once more as he put his hand on the little girl’s shoulder. “Sorry about that. Bunch of lies I say, but I
wouldn’t
be caught there on a full moon. Anyway, I went there plenty a time back when I
be
young and didn’t see a sign of anyone, let alone the ghost of Jeremiah Jones.
But
enough of that.
You’re
going to
Windswept
Island
, so don’t worry your pretty heads about what I say. Shall we put the boat in the water now or what?”

Will glanced around and saw several sails in the harbour that were billowing. “Yes, let’s get going while the wind is still strong.”

The children flung their luggage aboard the sailboat and with Quigley’s help, pushed the craft down the slope. It slid into the water with a splash.

The children clambered in. Waving goodbye to Quigley, Will took the tiller and the Lazy Lucy headed out of the cove.

Chapter 4: Rocky
Island

 

It was a marvellous morning as the Lazy Lucy whipped along the coast. While Will took charge of the tiller, the girls gazed up at the blue sky. Whenever a cloud came along, they would try to imagine it as an animal.