Kidnap Island (8 page)

“
No,
don’
t be daft, this
isn
’
t the living room, it
’
s my
den.
”

“
Oh
yes, of course. How silly of me. Now, are you going to get dressed?
That towel
’
s about to fall off you.
”

Jonny was already
halfway up the wall
–
he loved climbing but, living where he
did,
by a coast with no
cliffs,
rarely got the chance.
He
had
just reached the top when his phone rang in his
shorts
’
pocket. Damn! He shimmied down a rope and reached
the floor just in time to answer the call. It was Eric:
“
Jonny, where
are you? Those men came back again, they
’
re definitely
looking for something. Gee, I thought England was a safe
place!
”

“
Did
they see you?
”
Jonny asked, breathless from his
climbing.

“
No,
of course not. I hid in the old toilet hut.
”

“
Nice,”
Jonny smiled at the thought of Eric
squatting in the old outbuilding.
“
Look,
I
’
m gonna talk to Will and Louisa
,
and will be
with you this afternoon. You got enough food?
”

“
Yeah, loads thanks. My dad brought some shopping back
yesterday; I found all the bags by the front door. He
can
’
t have had time to take them inside before he spotted
the men.
”

“
Great. Hang on in there. We
’
ll be over
soon.
”

Jonny finished the
call just as Will walked in, now dressed in designer
board
shorts and tee-shirt.

“
Phew, you
’
re
dressed,
” grinned Jonny.
“
Is Louisa
coming?
”

“
Yeah, her
mum
’
s dropping her off on her way to town, should be here
any minute.
”
Indeed, at that very moment the doorbell rang, and Will ran
out to answer it.
“
That
’
ll be
her.
”

Moments later he
returned with Louisa, who was wearing the sort of cut-off jeans
Jonny
’
s mum would tut about and an equally short tee-shirt
adorned with a big yellow smiley face. She grinned:
“
Hi Jonny,
how
’
s it going?
”

“
Great thanks, you?
”

Before long, the three
friends were sitting on beanbags while Jonny once again recounted
the story of his night-time adventure with Eric. Louisa, whom Jonny
thought was very sensible and grown-up for a 12-year-old, grasped
the situation quickly.
“
Right, Jonny and I had better get over to the
island now, as poor Eric is on his own and needs our help. Once
we
’
re with him, we can come up with an action
plan.
”

“
What about me?
”
Will looked crestfallen.
“I
’
ll be all alone if you go.
”

“
Well, you could come with us but you
’
ll have your old
man to answer to,
”
Louisa pointed out. You stay here and see what you can
find out about the island and Eric
’
s family. There
can
’
t be too many Goldsmiths in this
area.
”

Will liked any excuse
to be on a computer so cheered up at the thought of a day browsing
the web.
“
OK then, you
’
d better take my boat
as Jonny
’
s is broken. The sails and stuff are in the store
at the club.
”

“
Thanks Will,
”
Jonny was touched by his new
friend
’
s kind gesture and chuffed at the thought of sailing
his cool boat again.
“
Come on, Louisa, let
’
s get
going.
”
He was secretly also looking forward to getting to know
Louisa better, too. And off they went, leaving Will with his shiny
and very thin MacBook.

Chapter
Eight

It was early afternoon
by the time Jonny, Louisa and Ainslie set off in
Will
’
s boat to Folney Island. The wind had picked up since
yesterday and was gusting Force Five, making the lively racing
dinghy a handful even for Jonny. He did wonder why
Will
’
s dad had chosen such a boat for an inexperienced
sailor but guessed that Will always demanded the best, regardless
of whether or not it was right for him.

With the wind in their
favour, it was a fast and exhilarating reach to the island and,
before they knew it, Louisa had furled the jib and Jonny was
depowering the mainsail to bring the boat onto the shore. A gust
came at just the wrong moment, meaning they hit the beach a bit
harder than Jonny would have liked, but he made a decent enough job
of it and Louisa hopped out of the boat to hold the bow into the
wind while Jonny dropped the sail and made sure the wind
wouldn
’
t catch it.

As they were pulling
the boat up the beach they spotted Eric running down to
them.
“
Hi guys. Boy, am I glad to see you two!
Where
’
s Will?”

Louisa explained what
had happened with Will and his dad, and that Will was doing
some
research
into the island and
Eric
’
s family.
“
He won
’
t find
much,
”
said Eric.
“
Me and my pops tried all that over in the States when
we first found out about Folney. Anyway, come up to the
house.
”

After
they
’
d lifted Will
’
s dinghy up the beach
and at least partly hidden it behind some trees, Eric led them back
up the path to the little house, talking nonstop about this, that
and the other.
“
What are we gonna do about dad?
”
he finally asked
despairingly.

The three plonked
themselves down on the sleeping bags in the living room (Louisa
checking first for any stray underwear).
“
We should look around
for clues,
”
suggested Jonny.

“
What sort of clues?
”
replied Louisa.

“
Dunno. I guess we won
’
t know until
we
’
ve found them.
”

“
Er,
OK. Come on then. Eric, where was your dad when he found the
men?
”

“
He
must have heard them when he was at the front door, cos
that
’
s where he dropped the shopping. I think they were in
here when they hit my dad, some of our stuff was messed about a
bit, after you
’
d help me tidy up.
Er, I
’
ve not really cleared up again
since.
”

Louisa looked around
the messy room, and wondered how much had been caused by the
intruders and how much simply by Eric
’
s presence during the
hours that followed.

“
OK,
let
’
s start in here then.
”
Jonny jumped up and started looking
around the room.

“
But
I
’
ve been in here most of the time since dad was
taken,
”
argued Eric.
“I
’
d have
spotted anything unusual.
”

“
Probably, but it won
’
t do any harm to look
again,
”
said Jonny as he lifted up sleeping bags and
clothes.
“
Look, what
’
s
this?
”
He held up a baseball cap.

“
Er,
that
’
s my dad
’
s,” grinned
Eric.

“
OK,
sorry. How about this, then? You and your dad
aren
’
t into sailing, are you?
”
Jonny showed Eric a
sailing glove.

Eric looked
surprised.
“
No, that
’
s not ours,
isn
’
t it one of yours?
”

“
No,
look at the size of it, it
’
s an
adult
’
s
.
”
Jonny held the large
neoprene glove against his small hand.
“
I reckon one of the men
who took your dad dropped it.
”

“
Maybe, but how does that help us?
”
Louisa
wondered.

“
Dunno, but let
’
s hang onto it
anyway.
”
Jonny put the glove into his pocket and carried on
searching. However, all he discovered was an empty Pot Noodle pot
and a pair of boxers, both of which Eric reluctantly admitted
to.

“
So
what shall we do now?
”
asked Eric in desperation. The stress and lack of
sleep was showing on his young face.

“
Well, you can
’
t stay here
alone,
” said Louisa kindly.
“
Why don
’
t you come
back with us? I
’m sure my
mum’
ll let you stay at
ours.
”

“
I
dunno. I really need to be here in case my Dad shows up, and to
protect the house if those guys come back.
”

“
I
know,
”
exclaimed Jonny with a grin.
“We
’
ll come and stay here with you.
I
’
m sure my mum and dad will be happy if I say
I
’
m going camping for a few days, what about yours,
Louisa?
”

“
Er,
I don’
t think my parents will
like the idea of me camping with two boys I
’
ve only just
met.
”

“
Well, what if Will comes along too? He
’
s your
cousin so they must know him!
”

“
Of
course they do. Will
’
s mum is my
dad
’
s
sister. We
’
ve hung out together since we were little kids. I
can ask, but it would depend on Will being allowed to
come.
”

‘
Right, that
’
s settled
then.
”
Jonny jumped up from where he was sitting on the
floor.
“Let
’
s go back, talk to
the olds and get some stuff packed. Eric, will you be ok until this
evening?
”

“
Yeah, sure I
will. I
’
ve plenty of food here,
thanks.
”

“
OK,
we
’
ll see you later. Keep your phone on. Come on Louisa,
let
’
s
go.”