Kidnap Island (9 page)

And with that, they
left the house and returned to their boat for the short journey
back to the mainland. Little did they know where
Jonny
’
s plan would lead.

Chapter
Nine

“
Camping? On your own? But you
’
re only twelve and we
don
’
t even know these new friends of yours, and
I
’
m
really
not sure about you going with a
girl.
” Jonny
’
s mother was looking
flustered as she battled to serve a rather burned lasagne
–
cooking was
not her strong point.

“
Oh,
they
’
ll be fine Angie,
”
claimed Brian Wild meekly.
“
I was always
off camping with mates when I was his age. It
’
ll do him
good to be independent. That Will was at the sailing club the other
day, he seems a nice kid. Besides, Ainslie
’
ll keep an eye
on them.
”

“
And
what about your new girlfriend?
”
Tom smirked.
“
Is she a nice
girl?
”
Jonny thumped his brother hard on the
arm.

“
That
’
s
enough,
”
said Angie.
“It
’
s nice
you
’
ve got some new friends, you spend far too much time
on your own. I
’
m happy for you to go
camping so long as you pack plenty of warm clothes and take lots of
food. Where are you going to go, anyway?
”

“
Down in the woods behind the club where the visiting
sailors camp when there
’
s an open meeting.
I
’
ve checked and it
’
s OK.”
Jonny was sort of telling the truth as he had
previously chatted to Gladys in the club office about camping
there.

“
OK,
well after dinner you
’
d better start
getting the camping gear out of the attic. Your
dad
’
ll help you,
”
said Angie as she dumped a
dubious-looking dinner in front of Jonny.

Jonny knew he wouldn’t
be
need
ing a tent as he
’
d be staying in the
house on the island, but
he
played along as his
father passed him one down out of the attic, along with a sleeping
mat, sleeping bag and camping stove. The Wilds were regular
campers, as Angie didn
’
t approve of package
holidays, which she said were
‘naff
’
, or flying, which
‘
destroyed the
planet
’
.

The boy had already
spoken with Will and Louisa and they
’
d both got permission
to camp. Will, of course, was down the shops with his dad buying
brand-new camping equipment
,
as
they
’
d never camped before.

Angie was busy making
Jonny some brown-bread sandwiches and dispensing muesli into a
plastic container which, together with some healthy snack bars,
cartoons of fruit juice and dried dog food, she
crammed
into
his rucksack. She
’
d been horrified when
Jonny had suggested he just buy a few Pot Noodles:
“
Absolute
rubbish food, you need to take something decent.
”
Jonny secretly thought
a Pot Noodle tasted
somewhat
better than
his mother
’
s earlier attempt at lasagne but he was too kind
to say anything.

Finally,
Jonny
’
s rucksack was neatly packed. Years of practice meant
that the family was good at travelling light and Jonny had the bare
minimum. Even so, the slight boy struggled to haul the rucksack
onto his back before he headed off down the road.

They
’
d arranged to meet at
the sailing club and when he
’
d finally made the
short walk there Jonny was beginning to wish he
’
d accepted
his dad
’
s offer of a lift. He threw his rucksack down and
dropped onto the grass for a well-earned rest.

No sooner had he done
so, though, then he heard a roar of an engine. It was
Will
’
s dad
’
s Porsche tearing
into the car park.
“Hi Jonny,”
called Will as he jumped out of the
car.
“
Are you ready?
”

Jonny was astounded at
how much equipment Will
’
s dad was unloading
from the car
’
s small front
boot.
“We
’
re only going for a
few days,
”
he said as he eyed two heavily loaded, and obviously
brand-new, freezer boxes and wondered how they were going to get it
all to the island.

“
Well, we didn
’
t get a tent as you
said I could share yours,
”
said Will with a wink at
Jonny.
“
But mum insisted I took loads of food and I figured we
could never have too much grub!
”

The food, together
with an expensive new and surprisingly compact sleeping
bag
,
plus a similarly exotic lightweight rucksack, were
piled up next to Jonny
’
s stuff.

“
Well, I
’
ve gotta rush,
I
’
ve a meeting in 20 minutes. Have fun
boys.
”
And with that, the slightly too-cool Rick roared off, the
Porsche
’
s wheels spinning on the
gravel.

“
Louisa should be here soon,
”
Will said.
“
Shall we get all this
stuff to my boat? D
’
ya think
it
’
ll all fit in?
”

“
Dunno,
’
replied Jonny doubtfully.
“Let
’
s give it a go. We
need to get off soon before it
’
s
dark.
”

They lugged the gear down to the
edge of the slipway and left it there while they fetched the boat
and wheeled that down too. Jonny figured it would make sense to rig
the dinghy and get it in the water before loading it up.

There was a shout from
the car park.
“
That
’
s Louisa,” grinned Jonny.
“Let
’
s give her a hand.
”

Louisa was with her
mum, a tall glamorous woman dressed in white trousers and a striped
teeshirt. Jonny thought she looked like one of the yachties in the
nearby marina and could see the resemblance to her brother,
Will
’
s dad.
“
Hello, you must be Jonny. I
’
ve heard a
lot about you. I
’
m Annie
Jameson.
”

“
Hi
Annie,”
said Jonny with a
smile, rather in awe of this imposing woman.

“
I
hope you have fun camping. I used to do it a lot when was a girl
but we seem to have got out of the habit. I was tempted to come
with you but Louisa was having none of it.
”

“
Mum!”
Louisa rolled her eyes.
“You
’
d hate not having
your bath and hairdryer, you know you would.
”

“
Maybe. Well, do you need a hand with anything or are you
OK? Is that your boat with the sails up, Will?
”

“
Er, yes,”
Will looked
flustered.

“
It
’
s such a nice evening we thought
we
’
d have a quick sail before setting up
camp,
”
explained Jonny quickly before Will put his foot in
it.
”

“
What a good idea. Did Louisa tell you we have a yacht in
the marina?
”

Jonny resisted
grinning.
“
No, that sounds great.
”

“
You
must come out with us one day. We always need extra
crew.
”

“
I
’
d love too, thanks,
”
said Jonny with real enthusiasm. He
rarely got a chance to sail yachts.

“
Well, I
’
ve leave you all to
it. Have fun.
”
Annie gave her daughter a kiss on each cheek and then
climbed in her car and drove off, leaving the three children
alone.

“
Right, we
’
d better get a move
on,
”
urged Jonny.
“
I rang Eric earlier and he
’
s expecting us.
This
’
ll be fun!
”

Chapter
Ten

While his English
friends were preparing to come and stay with him on Folney Island,
Eric was having quite an adventure. After he
’
d seen the other
three sail off, he returned to the house, wondering what he was
going to do with himself. Like most twelve-year-old boys, he
enjoyed passing the time playing computer games but
didn
’
t have anything with him apart from a couple of lame
games on the cheap phone his dad had bought him to use while they
were in England.

Eric threw himself
down on the sleeping mat laid out on the living room floor and
stared at the cracked ceiling, wishing he was back home in New
York, with his Xbox and TV to keep him entertained. His thoughts
then turned to his dad and what could be done to find him, and the
boy struggled to fight back the tears. This
wouldn
’
t do, he thought to himself and got up to find the
other thing boys his age enjoyed
–
food.

A rummage round the
supermarket bags his dad had brought back before he was kidnapped
revealed a Pot Noodle
–
Eric
’
s staple diet at the moment, which suited him as back
home his mum never let have
‘
Cup
Noodles
’
the American equivalent
–
a couple of bread
rolls, a can of Coke and a large bar of chocolate. A lunch fit for
a king and he was, he thought with a smile, King of
Folney.

Once he
’
d boiled some
water on the little camping stove for the Pot Noodle, Eric returned
to his makeshift bed with his feast, which he soon made short work
of. He finished off the last of the Coke with a burp and was about
to head into the garden for a pee when he heard
men
’
s voices coming through the woods. Could it be the
kidnappers returning again? He had to hide but where? He racked his
brains
–
ah, the attic! His dad had been poking around up there the
other day and there was an access hatch in the ceiling of one of
the bedrooms.

Eric slipped silently
into the bedroom and climbed onto a chest of drawers which was
conveniently placed below the hatch. He pushed up the wooden panel
and it hinged up into the loft, falling back with what seemed like
a loud crash. Had the men heard it? Eric didn
’
t wait to
find out but pulled himself up into the space above just as he
heard the men enter the house. He quietly shut the lid and crouched
still in the dark attic that smelt of damp and decay.