The Mystery of Smugglers Cove (The Mystery Series, Book 1) (5 page)

“Run, Will!” Joe said, playfully.

Pursued by the girls, the boys ran down the road.

~

“Did you have a good day at the beach?” their mother asked, as the children rushed in.

“Yes, we did,” Amy said. “I loved the sandwiches.”

“They were good, but I’m still hungry,” Joe said.

“How can you be hungry already?” Sarah asked.

“I’m a growing boy,” Joe said. “And it was hours ago that we ate those sandwiches.” He glanced down at his wrist and was surprised to see that his watch was no longer there. “Oh, no!” He stood up and hunted in his pockets.

“What have you lost?” his mother asked.

Joe didn’t answer as he searched every pocket in his clothing. “My watch.”

His mother frowned. “You’d better find it. That watch cost your father a lot of money. He wouldn’t be pleased if you had lost it through carelessness.”

“Don’t worry,” Joe replied. “I’m sure I know where it is.”

“Okay,” his mother replied. “Now, who wants to help me in the kitchen? The potatoes need to be scrubbed and the carrots need to be chopped up. As well as that, I need someone to ride down the street to get a loaf of bread.”

“I’ll help with the potatoes,” Amy said.

“And I’ll chop up the carrots,” Sarah said.

Joe smiled. “Then I guess I’ll be going shopping.” He didn’t mind riding to the bakery. It beat scrubbing potatoes any day.

As it was getting cold outside, he put on a warm jumper before setting off. Heading towards town, he remembered the watch. He changed direction and headed for the beach.

Minutes later, he stopped the bicycle at the edge of the sand and ran towards the cave. He ground to a halt ten feet from the entrance. He could see all that he wanted from there. It was high tide, which meant the cave was flooded. There was no way he could get the watch now.

He rode back into town. After arriving at the bakery just before it closed, he chose a round, crusty loaf of bread which he put in his rucksack that he had brought. After paying the jolly baker, he pedalled back home.

That night, as the girls climbed into bed, Joe crept into the room and, in a whisper, told them that he planned to retrieve his watch that night.

“Are you crazy?” Sarah said.

Amy frowned. “At this time of night?”

“I have to get my watch back. I’m sure that I took it off and placed it on the ledge in the cave. Plus, you heard what those crooks said. The boss is going to visit them tonight. It might be the only chance to see him.”

“Have you made a plan?” Amy asked.

“I aim to grab my watch and then follow the tunnel. If no one is in the first cave, I’ll decide what to do then.”

“Please be careful,” Sarah begged. “You don’t want to stay in there too long. Otherwise, the cave might flood again.”

“Good point,” Joe said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good luck, and be careful,” Amy said.

“I will.” Joe crept back to his bedroom and slipped beneath his bedcovers. He lay there until he heard his parents go to their room.

Ten minutes later, he grabbed his torch, quietly opened his door, and made his way stealthily along the hallway. Luckily, his parents were sound sleepers and their bedroom door stayed shut.

Thankful that he hadn’t woken them, he made his way down the stairs and past the kitchen. He opened the front door and slipped out into the night.

A full moon shone overhead as Joe headed towards the caves. Suddenly, a loud thunderclap broke overhead. He could just make out a number of dark clouds building as they headed inland. Hoping that it wouldn’t rain until he got back, he hurried along until he reached the cave.

After finding the watch, he let out a sigh of relief. He put it on his wrist and hurried down the tunnel.

Soon, he was below the hole. After putting his torch between his teeth, he climbed up the footholds. At the top, he waved his torch around the cave and saw that no one was there.

He decided to explore just a tiny bit more. He made his way over to the door and opened it. After closing it behind him, he headed up the tunnel. He had been walking along and shining his torch in front of him for five or so minutes when he heard a sound.

He stopped and listened. It was the sound he had been dreading. Voices. And they were heading his way. He knew that they were heading in his direction because, as the seconds passed, the voices got louder.

He realised he had to go back the way he had come. He hurried back down the tunnel. The noise of his footsteps echoed off the walls and he hoped, desperately, that the men couldn’t hear it.

In less than ten minutes, Joe was back in the furnished cave. Now he had to decide what he should do. He could go back to the beach or wait in the cave and see if the men would pass.

Either option had its own share of problems, but he decided to go to the beach. He didn’t want to get caught. Judging by their speed, he guessed that they would be along in two minutes or so.

He went over to the hole, put his hands on the footholds, and climbed down. He was about to proceed down the tunnel when he heard more voices.

Joe frowned. He thought the voices had come from the direction of the beach. Dismissing it as tiredness, he started walking. He went about fifteen feet before stopping again.

He could still hear voices. They were getting clearer each second. He suddenly realised that there were two lots of people, one from each end. This had turned into a desperate situation. He needed to get back into the cave and hide behind the boxes before the other group of men entered that room.

Throwing caution to the wind, he hurried to the hole, scrambling up as fast as he could. With men closing in on him from both sides, Joe’s heart pounded as he headed over to the far side of the cave. The boxes had disappeared!

He was furious with himself. How could he have been so stupid! He should have noticed earlier that the boxes were gone.

He rushed over to the window. No good. Underneath the table? No good either. The men’s voices drew closer. Joe realised that he was truly and utterly trapped.

He glanced around the room one final time. As he did so, he looked up and saw something that he hadn’t noticed before. A hole had been cut in the rock. It was small and blended in well with the roof. This must have been why he and the others hadn’t seen it earlier.

He knew he had only moments left before the men saw him and so he climbed on the window ledge and clambered through the hole. As his feet cleared the hole, the room was flooded with light.

Gasping with relief, Joe rested at the top of the hole, trying to be as quiet as possible. He did not want to turn on his torch in case the men saw it, so he only had the dim light of the lamp from below to try to see his surroundings. But that didn’t matter. Even in this light, he could see what he wanted. The cave, if it could be called one, was about eight feet long, four feet wide, and five feet high. Satisfied that he was safe, he tried to listen in on the men’s conversation as they sat at the table.

From what he could make out, it seemed that half of the group wanted to increase the number of trips the boat was making, which meant an increase in pay, but the other group wanted it to stay the same.

He peeked down and saw five men sitting around the table. Suddenly, the door opened and in walked a man wearing a dark coat, sunglasses, and a hat. Presumably, he was the boss. He sat down and listened to the argument going on.

“Look here,” Louis said, as he looked towards Dan, a young bloke with a crew cut and a ring in his ear. “We have a perfect setup, so I don’t see why we can’t do a few more trips.”

Dan shook his head. “Yeah, I know we’re on a good racket, but I don’t want to take more risks. If the coppers saw the boat out there, we’d be in a nice mess.”

Baz, a slightly older fellow with reddish hair and a beard, broke in. “If we didn’t do that, it would take ages to transport the goods. At the moment, we anchor the boat off the bay, drop the dinghy, and row it to the shore where we pick up the money. But if we—”

“Enough said,” the boss said. “I’ve listened to all your arguments, and I’ve come up with a plan. We will increase the amount of notes that we are printing, and I will acquire another dinghy. The boat will now come once a week and will anchor here at
midnight
, which will mean that it will be away from the coast by sunup. I will be in contact via Rocky to announce any further developments.”

“Is the boat still coming Friday night?” Dan said.

“Yes. The boat will be here every Friday night. Make sure that everyone is ready. We can’t afford any slip-ups. Let’s get to work.” The boss stood up and left.

Joe realised that if they were going to put the men behind bars, they would need to discover the name of the boss. They would have to break into Chandler Manor as soon as possible and get some real proof. Determined to put that plan into action the next day, he peered down.

Darkness cloaked the room. He jumped down, turned on his torch, and listened. He couldn’t hear a single sound, so he walked over to the hole, climbed down, and hurried home.

~

The girls were eager to hear what had happened the previous night and so, as the sun rose in the sky, they quickly got dressed and knocked on Joe’s bedroom door.

“Come in,” Joe said.

The girls entered. “Tell us what happened,” Amy said.

Joe sat down on his bed. “Well, I found my watch just where I thought it would be, and then I made my way up to the furnished cave.”

“Were the men there?” Sarah asked.

“Not when I entered,” Joe said, “but then I heard men coming from both directions.”

Shocked, Sarah stared at Joe. “Goodness, what did you do?”

“How did you escape?” Amy asked.

Joe offered them a grim smile. “Let me tell you, I was scared. Especially when I realised that the boxes were no longer there. But then I found a little hole just above the window, large enough for me to squeeze in.”

“Did you see the boss?” Sarah asked.

“Well, there was one man who wore a dark coat, sunglasses and a hat. Everyone stopped talking when he talked, so I think he was the boss.”

“What did they talk about?” Amy asked.

Joe thought. “About the boat and when it was coming and so on. Oh, and there were six men there.”

“What are we going to do?” Amy said.

“We have to find out the name of the boss,” Joe said.

“How are we going to do that?” Sarah said.

“I think Chandler Manor holds the key to the whole mystery,” Joe said. “We must find some way to break in. But first, let’s go and eat some breakfast. I’m starving.”

The three of them hurried downstairs and were just in time to say goodbye to their father. He had been called away on urgent business.

After eating breakfast, the children walked through town until they came to Will’s place. He was in the garden, repairing his bicycle.

“Hey, Will,” Joe said. “Do you want to come with us to explore Chandler Manor?”

“Yes, but how are we going to get past the wall?” Will said.

“Well,” Joe answered, “I thought your dad might have a ladder we could borrow.”

“I think we have two ladders, but I’d better ask dad if we can take one.” Will stood up and the four of them hurried inside.

A few moments later, Will knocked on the study door.

“Come in,” said a warm, welcoming voice.

As Joe followed Will into the room, he found himself staring at a middle-aged man who had sandy coloured hair and a slender face. He was sitting at a well-worn wooden desk covered in papers.