Kidnap Island (16 page)

“
Hey, what
’
s that
noise?
”
Jonny ran outside and the others rushed after him. There
was a loud roar coming towards them, so they rushed down the path
to the shore.

“
It
’
s a motorboat at full
throttle,
”
said Bert.
“
What
’
s the kid up to? He
must be mad going at that speed up here.
”

“
It
’
s coming from down the harbour,
hurry
.”
Jonny led the way around the island
’
s narrow shore.
By now, it was starting to get light and they could see a large
motor boat tearing towards them and creating a huge wave. Behind it
was another smaller boat with a blue flashing light on top of
it.

“
It
’
s the Jenny Wren and the
police!
”
shouted Louisa.

“
My
word, she
’
s coming straight for us!
”
yelled Bert.
“Run!”
He
grabbed Louisa and Eric and pushed them up into the thick woods,
with Jonny dragging Anslie along by his collar, none of them caring
about the brambles attacking their legs. They were only just in
time, as the Jenny Wren came crashing onto the beach just where
they
’
d been standing, making a sickeningly loud bang
followed by the sound of splintering fibreglass as the boat rode
bumpily up the beach, its bow coming to a grinding halt just before
it reached the horrified children and Bert.

They had to shout to make
themselves heard above the sound of the roaring engine which was
still running, its propellor churning up the shallow water behind
the stricken vessel.

“
Come on, let
’
s find
Will,
”
shouted Louisa, running around to the side of the motor
yacht.

“
Watch out!
”
yelled Jonny as a man jumped off the boat and pushed
Louisa to the ground before
running off into the woods as Bert helped the surprised and
shocked Louisa to her feet.

The powerful police
boat had stopped just offshore, it
’
s blu
e light still flashing, and the men onboard were lowering a
small RIB into the water. Before long, two marine police officers
were making their way to the island.

“
We
need to check Will
’
s OK,”
insisted Louisa.
“
Jonny, give me a leg
up.
”

Jonny immediately held
his hands together and Louisa scrambled up onto the deck of the
beached
motorboat.

“
Don
’
t forget there
’
s another man on
board,
”
warned Eric.
“
And my dad, too!
”

Bert looked on, thinking that
maybe, as an adult, he should take control but the children seemed
confident they knew what they were doing, or at least what they
wanted to do, so who was he to stop them?

The two policeman who
had just come ashore, didn
’
t seem to agree,
though.
“Hey,
get down from there,
”
one of them shouted.
“It
’
s not
safe!
”
But nothing was going to stop Louisa from rescuing her
cousin; Will could be annoying at times but she was very fond of
him. The boat
’
s big engine was
still running flat out as Louisa looked around the cockpit; the
main door to the cabin was lying flat on the base of the cockpit,
its glass shattered. Inside she spotted a man lying on the cabin
floor, not moving. She shuddered and looked away, then climbed the
steps to the flying bridge.

“
Will!”
Louisa screamed. Her cousin was
slumped against the steering wheel with blood streaming from an
ugly cut to his head. Crying, the girl moved the boy back and he
groaned softly as she did so.
“Don
’
t worry Will, you
’
ll be
ok,
”
she sobbed as she felt a hand on her
shoulder.

“
It’s all right, love, we
’
ve called an
ambulance,
”
said a kindly voice as a powerful arm reached over and shut
off the engine. It was one of the policemen. The sudden silence was
eerie.
“
That
’
s better, I can hear
myself think now. Let me check him over and see if
it
’
s safe to move him.
”
Louisa moved out of the way and let
the policeman look at Will, who was still groaning, which she took
as a good sign as her cousin liked nothing better than to moan and
complain.

“
Dad, dad!
”
Louisa looked down into the cockpit. Eric had come
aboard looking for his father, and Jonny and the other policeman
were with him. The first thing they were confronted by was the man
on the cabin floor. The policeman felt his pulse.
“We
’
ve another casualty
requiring medical assistance,
”
he said into his
radio.

Eric and Jonny,
meanwhile, had stepped past the unconscious body and walked down
the steps into the lower part of the boat, which consisted of a
galley area with three cabins leading off it. Two were empty but
the door to the forward cabin was locked with a large padlock and
clasp.
“
Dad, are you in there?
”
yelled the American boy, hammering on
the door.

“
Watch out son,
”
said the policeman, pushing the boys out the way.
He shoved hard at the door but it didn
’
t budge, so he stood
back and put his shoulder hard against it. After a couple of
attempts the wooden door splintered and gave way, and the policeman
switched on his torch and walked into the small cabin, the two boys
squeezing in after him. The air smelt of urine and stale sweat and
there was a tall slim man lying on the bed staring at them with
horrified eyes. His mouth was gagged and his arms and legs tied
up.
“Dad!”
Eric pushed through and hugged his father, sobbing
loudly.
“
Ummm, ummm,
”
grunted the man.

“
Let
’
s get that gag off,
”
said the policeman.
Eric moved out of the way to let the policeman squeeze past in the
cramped cabin. He soon removed the gag and Eric
’
s father
spoke in a croak:
“
Eric! Are you alright? What on earth has been
happening? Who are these people and what happened to the boat? Did
it crash? I thought I was dead!
”

“
Oh
pops, my friends Jonny and Louisa are
here, and some policemen and granddad
’
s gardener, and
another friend Will, he rescued you, and I
’
ve got loads of
gold...
”
Eric was speaking non-stop while his poor father was
looking confused and a bit faint.

“
Whoa, back off lad, your old man needs a break. Here,
let
’
s get those ropes off him
”
said the policeman,
pulling out a knife and niftily cutting the cords from Mr
Goldsmith
’
s bonds. The American sat up and began to rub his
wrists and then immediately fell back onto the
bed.

“
Dad!” Eric cried.

“
It
’
s ok, he
’
s just
fainted,
”
said the policeman, gently pulling Eric out of the
cabin.
“
The poor guy
’
s been through a lot
and it
’
s all got too much. He
’
ll be fine but
we
’
ll get the paramedics to check him
out.
”

The paramedics were by
now aboard the boat. They
’
d left their
ambulance at the sailing club and Bert had used the police launch
to ferry them over. The man in the cabin had suffered a blow to the
head, assumedly when the boat crashed, but was now just about
conscious so had been handcuffed and escorted off the boat, and was
waiting for the police to take him away. Will
’
s head
wound had been treated and dressed and he was sitting in the
cockpit with a blanket around him, looking a bit dazed and
vacant.
“
No different to usual,
”
Louisa later joked but, at the time,
she was worried about her cousin.

Eric
’
s father was
suffering from dehydration and shock said the paramedics, and would
have to go to hospital for treatment, along with Will and the
kidnapper, who both needed checking out.

The other kidnapper
was nowhere to be seen but Bert spotted that his rowing boat, which
he
’
d come over to the island in, was missing, so it was
assumed that the kidnapper had escaped in that. The police took a
description of the man from Eric, who
’
d seen him when
he
’
d been on the island the other day, and radioed their
colleagues on the mainland to look out for him.

The children were standing around
looking dazed as the policemen and paramedics efficiently went
about their business, making calls on their radios and phones, and
gathering up their equipment ready to return to the
mainland.

“
Wow, that was quite an adventure,
”
said Jonny.
“
And
who
’
d have thought that Will could pull off a stunt like
that?
”

“
Hey, don’
t
underestimate the power of the Will!
”
Will was being led away
to a boat by a paramedic and had overheard his
friend
’s
comment.

“
I
certainly won
’
t. Get well
soon
–
I want to see some stunning sailing from you after
this,
”
joked Jonny.

Mr Goldsmith was being
carried to the boat on a stretcher and Eric was by his side, his
eyes wet.
“
Thanks guys,
”
he said, coming to give Louisa and Jonny a hug.
This time Jonny didn
’
t feel embarrassed
and embraced his new American friend.
“
No problem,
mate.
”

Much to
Jonny
’
s surprise and delight, Louisa then gave him a hug
too.
“
Thanks for keeping it all together
Jonny,
”
and with that she was off to accompany her cousin to
hospital, leaving Jonny with a big grin on his face.

Bert came over.
“
Well Jonny,
it looks like you and I will have to wait here for the boat to come
back. Shall I show you where the treasure is
hidden?
”

Chapter
Twenty

It was a sunny
afternoon and the four children and Ainslie were sitting on the
shore of Folney Island, Will
’
s sailing dinghy
pulled up onto the shore next to them.

“
That
’
s what I call a
result,
”
claimed Jonny.
“
All our parents let us camp on the island for a
few days while Eric
’
s
dad
’
s in London, and we
’
re getting some great
sailing in at the same time.
”

“
I
dunno, I think I
’
d prefer a motorboat now,”
joked Will.