The Mystery of Smugglers Cove (The Mystery Series, Book 1) (17 page)

The two of them started working on the others and it was a welcome sight when everyone was free.

Mr Spencer tried standing up, but collapsed straight away. He grimaced. “My ankle hurts. Would one of you look out and tell me what you see? We need to know what the men are up to.”

Joe nodded and crept to the front of the cave. He peeked out and saw Jake and Louis playing poker. He could hear noises in the tunnels, and he noticed that many of the boxes had disappeared from the cave, so it looked as though the rest of the men were moving the goods. After all, if what Jake had said was true, they would be leaving tonight and never coming back.

Joe froze as Louis stood up and walked towards the cave.

Joe was as quiet as a mouse as Louis passed by the entrance of the cave. He sighed with relief as the crook reached for a bottle that was sitting on one of the boxes. After he returned to the table, Joe hurried back and told the others what was going on.

Amy glanced at Mr Spencer. “What do we do now?”

Mr Spencer thought. “With Constable Howard in league with the crooks, the person that we need to contact is Inspector Price.”

Sarah suddenly smiled. “Constable Howard told us that he’d contacted him and he was coming here.”

“He probably said that just to make us believe that he was one of the good guys,” Joe said. “I bet you the inspector is still at
Rockford
trying to find the crooks.”

Mr Spencer nodded. “Yes, but one phone call from me and he’ll come rushing over. So, all we have to do is get to my house.”

“And how are we going to do that?” Amy asked.

Mr Spencer frowned. “With my sore ankle, I can’t go anywhere. And you lot are not going to be able to distract the guards out there by yourselves, so we’ll all have to wait.”

“Wait? But the crooks will be escaping soon,” Joe protested.

“The boat won’t be coming until it’s dark, so we have plenty of time. Besides, we have to be careful. We only have one chance. We can’t waste it, so I suggest we wait until my ankle feels better and we are able to overpower the men in the cave. Hopefully, they will need more men to carry the boxes and they might actually leave us…” Mr Spencer paused. Footsteps could be heard coming towards them. “Pretend you’re asleep.”

The children quickly scuttled to the walls, put their hands behind their backs, and closed their eyes.

A moment later, Dan glanced into the cave. His eyes scanned over the children before falling on Mr Spencer who was trying his best to look as though he was completely worn out.

“Just don’t hurt the children, that’s all I ask,” Mr Spencer said. “They didn’t mean to cause trouble. They are just curious kids. I’m sure you were like them once.”

Dan slowly nodded. “Well, they shouldn’t have been poking their noses into things that don’t concern them, but I’ll let it pass. I’ll make sure that someone finds you in the morning. I may be a crook, but I’ve got nothing against kids.” He turned and left.

~

Amy didn’t know how much time had passed since she had dozed off, but Joe suddenly shook her awake. She quickly stood up. The others were beside Mr Spencer as he stood by the entrance of the cave. It was time to leave.

Mr Spencer whispered, “Now!” He hurried forward and the children followed as quickly and silently as they could. He made his way to the table, grabbed a lantern that was there, and entered the tunnel.

Joe brought up the rear and, as he walked past the outer cave, he saw that all the boxes had been taken away. It was completely empty except for the table, chairs, and beds.

“Why didn’t the men leave a guard?” Amy asked, who still wasn’t sure what was happening.

“Mr Spencer was able to make them believe that we were all worn out and, as such, weren’t going to escape,” Joe said. “But I also think that they needed everyone to move the boxes.”

Amy nodded as the group hurried through the tunnel.

Mr Spencer paused as he entered the main tunnel. He listened carefully. All was silent. Suddenly, distant voices could be heard from the direction of the manor. He made a decision. “We have to go to the beach.”

He moved off, the lantern swinging to and fro as the others followed as quietly as they could. They made good progress and were soon at the entrance to the furnished cave. Mr Spencer handed the lantern to Joe and told the children to wait until he could go to the door and see if there was anyone behind it.

Mr Spencer hurried up to the door and quietly opened it a tad. He peeked in and saw that all the boxes had now gone from the room. Dan and Louis were sitting at the table, having a drink.

Louis grinned as he poured himself some whisky. “Let’s have a toast.”

Dan smiled and put his glass up in the air. “To Toulville. Where we can get drunk to our hearts content.”

Louis joined him. “To Toulville.”

They were halfway through drinking when a voice yelled up from the hole. “Louis! Dan! Where the heck are you? You’re supposed to be moving boxes, not celebrating.”

Dan quickly stood up. “Coming.” He hurried to the hole and started climbing down. Louis followed him a moment later.

Mr Spencer looked back at the children. “It’s all clear.” He opened the door and entered the cave. He walked over to the hole and listened. He could hear faint voices.

“What do we do now?” Will asked .

Mr Spencer sat down to rest his ankle as Joe placed the lantern on the table. “We wait a minute or two for those crooks down below to get far enough away and then we go down the hole.” He glanced across at the window. “Hey, does that look down at the beach?”

“Yes,” Will said.

“Good. Glance out and tell us what you see. That way we will know how soon the men intend to leave.”

Will and the others hurried to the window and glanced out. To his surprise, he saw that it was dark. “We must have been in that cave for ages.”

“Look!” Amy pointed at the beach where a dinghy and a couple of men could be seen. A moment later, the small craft left the beach and headed out into the water.

“The boat must be already here,” Sarah said.

 
Joe nodded and peered out into the cove. Due to a mixture of mist and fog that had entered the sheltered waterway, it was impossible to see anything. He turned to Mr Spencer. “I can’t see anything, but we should get going now.”

Mr Spencer stood up and walked over to the hole. All was quiet. He turned to the children. “You lot go first.”

Joe hurried over and started climbing down. Sarah went next, then Amy.

As Will took the lantern from his father and prepared to climb down, the door suddenly opened and Jake entered. Both parties were surprised to see each other, but Mr Spencer reacted faster. He turned to Will. “Go get the inspector now!”

“But…” Will paused as Jake launched himself at Mr Spencer. He watched horrified as both bodies hit the ground and tumbled over and over, with each person trying to gain the upper hand.

“Go!” Mr Spencer yelled. “Tell him about Toulville!”

Will stood still, his face betraying the fact he wanted to help his father. But then he heard footsteps hurrying down the passageway and saw, through the open door, Baz heading towards them.

Will quickly went to the hole and, using one hand to climb down, hurried as fast as he could. He reached the ground and was surrounded by the others who had only caught snatches of the conversation.

“What’s happening?” Joe asked as he and the others followed Will as he hurried down the tunnel.

“Jake came and started fighting with my dad. He told me to leave and get help.”

“But couldn’t you—” Amy began.

“Another crook came and I had to run. There was no other choice. I just hope…” Will skidded to a stop as Rocky suddenly appeared and blocked the tunnel.

Rocky grinned as he shone his torch at them. “Well, well, what do we have here?”

Joe gasped. “Where did you come from?”

Rocky pointed his torch above him and the children could make out a hole. “Up there. You didn’t think we could move all those boxes through the other cave did you, especially at high tide?”

“Golly, so that’s where the entrance to the other tunnel is,” Amy exclaimed. “No wonder we didn’t see it before.”

“Did you block up the tunnel exit that we found?” Will said.

Rocky nodded as he smiled. “Of course. And I think we did a pretty good job of it. Who needs that tunnel when there’s an even better one available?”

The children didn’t answer. On the outside, they might have all been calm but, inside, they were all trying to think of a way past Rocky. Footsteps sounded and Baz came into view.

Will knew that the time had come. It was now or never. He threw the lantern at Rocky and yelled out. “To the beach!”

The children raced down the tunnel as
Rocky, his hands laden with a lantern and torch, tried to stop them. He grabbed onto Sarah, but was no match for the rest of them as they ducked and tore past him.

It was a horrible feeling leaving Sarah behind, but Will knew that they had no other choice. They had to go slow now, as they had no light to guide them, but they increased their speed once Baz, holding a torch, came into view. He was surprisingly fast and managed to grab onto Amy.

Now it was just the boys left. Joe and Will ran as fast as they could, determined for Baz not to catch either of them.

Joe sighed with relief a moment later as he neared the entrance to the cave. They tore towards it. They had made it!

They skidded to a stop a moment later as they reached the place where the hole was.

Will shook his head in astonishment. “What?”

Joe gasped. He couldn’t believe it. It was no longer there! He rushed forward and felt the place where the hole used to be. He sighed with relief as his fingers touched loose dirt. “It’s just a mini landslide. The hole should be on the other side.”

Will nodded and they quickly moved the dirt away to reveal the hole.

“I’ll just make it a bit…” Joe paused as he heard footsteps. “Oh, no.”

“Go now!” Will said, anxious.

Joe nodded and went headfirst through the small hole. He was soon on the other side and waited as Will followed suit. He suddenly caught sight of Rocky as he came into view. “Rocky’s behind you!”

Will moved fast and went headfirst through the hole. Joe reached out and grabbed his arms to help him through but, at that very moment, Rocky grabbed his feet!

Will was caught in the middle as both parties tried to drag him either way. He knew that the situation was hopeless since Rocky was a lot stronger. “Go!”

Joe didn’t want to leave him. But he had to. “I’ll be back!” he cried out, as he let go, turned, and stumbled through the cave. He tripped but pulled himself back up almost straight away.

He made his way to the entrance of the cave, paused, and glanced out. He could see the dinghy and some men farther up the beach, but no one close by. Knowing that Rocky would be onto him at any moment, he left the cave and ran to the cliff.