The Mystery of Adventure Island (22 page)

Marvin grunted as he turned and walked up the hill, but not
before
he glared at Sarah one last time.
But
before he could say anything, the officer pushed him forward.

Sarah turned to Quigley and hugged him tight. “Thanks.”

Quigley comforted her. “It’s all right now.” He glanced down at the ground at the two paintings. “What are those?”

Sarah picked up the tubes and looked at the nametags. “Vincent Van Gough. Hey, these must be the paintings.”

Quigley chuckled. “Well, well, no wonder he was angry. They’ll be worth a couple of hundred pounds.” As he heard voices, he looked down the hill and smiled as he saw Will, Joe, and Amy along with a police officer.

Sarah followed his gaze and yelled out in delight as she raced towards them. She could tell that they were disappointed. “What’s wrong?”

“One of the men got away with the paintings,” Joe said. “We tried our hardest, but—”

“You mean the paintings by Vincent Van Gough?” Sarah interrupted.

Joe frowned. “Yes, but how did you know?”

Sarah smiled as she looked towards Quigley. He was holding the two paintings in his hands.

The others followed her gaze and smiled in
del
ight. “How did you do it?” Amy cried out.

“I saw him coming and I tripped him up,” Sarah replied, her green eyes shining.

Amy hugged her little sister. “I was worried about you.”

“And I was worried about you too,” Sarah said. “Did you hear that Inspector Price is here?”

“Yes,” Will
said
. “We were at the tree house when we saw the pilot rush past. Before we could stop him, several police officers, along with the inspector, appeared. We told them where the other men had disappeared to and they rushed off, but not before the inspector told us where you were.”

“Let’s go to the top of the hill and see if we can see them,” Joe suggested. As the others nodded, he turned and headed up the hill, the others following close behind.

~

Darkness had fallen by the time the patrol boat pulled up alongside the pier. The criminals
were led
down the gangplank and five police officers, who had been waiting patiently on the pier, took them away.

As the children walked down the gangplank a few moments later, they heard a shout. Looking along the pier, they saw their parents rushing towards them. Yelling out, the four children ran and hugged them.

Mr Mitchell smiled at the inspector as he joined them a few moments later. “Thanks for bringing them home.”

Inspector Price grinned. “It’s the least I could do after Sarah told me about the art thieves. You might not know it, but we’ve been after that particular bunch of criminals for two years.”

“What about
Nancy
? Was she really part of the gang?” Joe asked.

“From what you told me earlier,” Inspector Price said, “and from the quick chat I had with the criminals, I would say that she is Susan Thomas, someone we’ve had our eyes on for some time.”

“Will you try to catch her?” Will questioned.

“We’ll do our best,” the inspector replied, “but I don’t have high hopes. Anyway,
we’ve
caught the rest of the criminals, so there’s no chance of the operation starting up again.
So, good job.”

“It was more luck than anything,” Joe admitted. “After all, if no one had been on
Windswept
Island
, we would have camped there and then we wouldn’t have seen the men.”

“But it was still a brave effort on your part.” The inspector looked at Will. “Your escape to
France
might not have turned out the way you expected it to, but the good thing is that it enabled us to catch the men flying the seaplane as well.” The inspector turned to Sarah. “Hiding in that rowboat must have been hair-raising at times, and from what I’ve heard about the bicycle chase, you had quite an adventure.”

Inspector Price glanced at Amy and Joe. “You two also did a good job. If you
hadn’t
del
ayed the men by stealing the paintings, then they probably would have made their escape long before I arrived at the island. So, good job all of you.”

He looked up as Quigley joined them. “And if it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t have had such an easy time making landfall at the island.”

Quigley smiled. “I just had to help. I wouldn’t want
nothing
to happen to these nice kids. They’re a good bunch.”

“It’s a shame about the boat, though,” Will
said
.

“Especially after all the time we spent painting it,” Amy added.

“It was a dear little boat,” Sarah piped up. “I’ll miss it.”

“Don’t worry,” the inspector said. “I just remembered something that should raise your spirits.”

“What?” Joe asked eagerly.

“There was a reward offered for anyone who could give us information about the art thieves, and since you helped us catch them, you are entitled to it,” the inspector said.

“How much?”
Will asked.

“I don’t know exactly, but it’ll certainly cover the cost of a new sailboat,” Inspector Price replied. He looked at his watch. “It’s getting late.
I’d
better go and take care of the criminals. I’ll be in touch with you soon.”

“Thanks once again for bringing them back safely,” Mr Spencer said.

The inspector waved his hand dismissively. “It was my pleasure. After all, it’s not every day four children help you catch a gang of criminals that you’ve been after for more than two years.” He turned and walked away.

Joe looked at his parents. “You’ll never believe the adventures we’ve had.”

“You should have seen the tree house,” Amy said. “We had to—”

“Why don’t you tell us in the car?” Mrs Mitchell suggested as she looked at her watch. “It’s getting quite late.”

“My, so it is,” Mr Spencer exclaimed. “We’d better be going too.”

As the parents walked to where they had parked their cars, Will turned to the others. “Even though the men took me hostage, I still enjoyed solving the mystery of
Rocky
Island
.”

“It should be called
Adventure
Island
,” Amy said, “just as Quigley called it. After all, everyone who goes there seems to have an adventure.”

“The mystery of
Adventure
Island
.
I like the sound of it,” Joe said. “So, how about we meet up at Darby’s tomorrow for an ice cream?”

“What for?
To discuss the next mystery?”
Will teased.

“No, but that isn’t such a bad idea.” Joe grinned. “After all, we still have two weeks before we go back to school, so let’s make the most of it. Oh, and last one to reach the cars has to buy the ice creams!” Joe raced off down the pier.

“Hey! Wait!” Amy shouted. She ran after Joe,
determined not to be beaten
as usual.

 

The End

 

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~

Author Note

Thank you for buying and reading this story and, if you liked it, please leave a review on Amazon. You, the readers, are the only reason that I continue to write this series. So the more reviews I get, the longer I will continue to write. Thank you.

Want More?

Here are a couple of teasers for stories that
have been released
recently or will be released soon.

~

The Mystery of the Hidden Suitcase

~

For the first time in years, it snows in the seaside
village
of
Smugglers Cove
. While tobogganing near
Brackness
Castle
, Joe makes a surprising discovery.

Why has someone hidden a suitcase in the bushes? How do the children escape from the castle tower?
What's
the meaning of the cryptic message?
 

 

Click Here To Buy It Now!

~

~

The Mystery of the Howling Dog

~

When Amy hears a dog barking in the woods,
she’s
the first to come to the animal’s aid. After taking the animal to the vet, she and the others attempt to locate its owner. However, things
don’t
quite turn out as planned.

Where has the dog come from? Why does the animal try to enter a cottage after the owner declares he has never seen the animal before? What causes the children to pursue two men into the woods?

 

Click Here To Buy It Now!

 

 

Want More?

Here is Chapter 1 of The Mystery of Hidden Valley, the next thrilling novel in The Mystery Series

~

The Mystery of Hidden Valley

~

Chapter 1:
Guess What?

 

It was a hot summer’s day in the coastal
village
of
Smugglers Cove
and the
three siblings had decided it was too warm to ride down to the beach.
So
, instead, they lay sprawled out under an old apple tree that grew in the front
garden
of
Rose Cottage
, the pretty whitewashed house where the three were staying for the summer holidays.

Joe, the eldest, sat up as he heard the sound of a bicycle tearing along the gravel road. He grinned as he spotted a flash of red hair. It was Will, their best friend.

Will brought his bicycle to a screeching stop and climbed off. He walked over and sat down beside his friends. “Guess what?”

Sarah, who was eight years old, looked eagerly at the boy with her green eyes. “What?”

“Have you come across a new mystery?” Joe asked.

Will shook his head. “I think we’ve had our fair share of mysteries for these holidays.”

Joe looked disappointed. “What a pity. It would have been good to have one final mystery to solve before going back to school.”

“Well, I have something I think you lot will like just as much,” Will replied. “You know how I told you my father recently finished his first novel?”

Amy, two years older than Sarah, sat up.
“Yes, what about it?”

“Well, this morning he told me that his publisher had just telephoned him and asked him to start work on the sequel,” Will replied. “He thinks it’s going to be a big success and wants the second novel written as soon as possible.”