The Mystery of Adventure Island (8 page)

Amy smiled. “We, ah, seem to have a habit of attracting mysteries. This will be our fourth one this summer.”

“Did you solve the rest of them?”
Nancy
asked.

Joe nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that I stumbled onto you lot.”
Nancy
smiled. “So, who can help me solve the mystery of the missing paintings?”

Will
looked
at the others. “I’m sure everyone will agree with me when I say that we will do all we can to put those men in jail.”

“Good. Now, any ideas of where the paintings could be?” the woman asked.

Amy spoke first. “There’s a cabin that the men use in the woods. We haven’t searched it, but—”

“That sounds like a good spot. Is there anything else on this island?” The woman pointed towards the church. “What’s down there?”

“Oh, nothing much.
It’s a ruin,” Joe said, “so I don’t think the paintings would be in there. There are some caves though, but we explored all of them and couldn’t find anything.”

“There’s also a lighthouse, but it was high tide so we couldn’t get across and see what it was like,” Will said.

Nancy
nodded. “The one that sounds the most promising is the cabin. Do you want to lead the way?”

“
Oka
y, but we’ll have to keep watch for the men.” Will headed down the hill. There was no sign of the men as the group walked past a group of oak trees and neared the church, but as they came in sight of the inlet, Will held up his hand. “I think I hear something.”

The group stopped and listened. Angry voices came from the direction of the wood. As they huddled behind two bushes, they spotted the men emerge from the trees. They were talking loudly but not loud enough to hear the exact words.

However, it was clear that two of the three men were not happy. They walked onto the beach and disappeared from view a minute later as they went behind the cliff.

Will was tempted to follow them to see where they were going, but he knew that this was the perfect time to explore the cabin. He looked at the woman. “The cabin is in the middle of that wood.”

“What are we waiting for then?”
Nancy
asked.

The children knew that the men could return at any minute, so they raced to the wood and hurriedly walked through it until they reached the building.

The woman went to the door and swung it open.
But
before she went inside, she turned to the children. “Keep an eye out for the men while I search.”

She disappeared inside the cabin. The children wanted to peep into the building, but instead they obeyed her instructions and kept watch. Three minutes ticked by and
still
she didn’t come out.

Joe turned to Amy who was nearest to him. “I’m going to see what she’s up to.”
He moved off and was just reaching to open the door when it opened and the woman appeared.
“What took you so long?”

“It takes time to examine everything without making a mess,”
Nancy
replied. “I couldn’t have the men suspect that someone had been through their stuff. The men are—”

Suddenly, one of the men yelled out. Joe turned to
Nancy
. “We need to go!” He turned and raced back to Amy.

Chapter 11: The Plan

 

As Joe reached Amy, he followed her gaze and saw Will and Sarah running towards them. Behind them, they saw the thin fellow with beady eyes. As soon as the others reached them, the group raced off down the path. As the man pursued them, Joe saw that he was gaining ground.

“We have to split up!” Joe yelled. “Let’s meet back at the campsite.” He turned to the woman. “Come with us.” Up ahead, as the path veered left, he went right, followed by Nancy and Sarah, leaving Will and Amy to head left.

~

As Will and Amy arrived at the campsite, they saw that the others were already there.

“Did the man chase you?” Will said.

Joe nodded. “Yes, but we were able to lose him. You should have been there. It—”

“Look!” Sarah interrupted as she suddenly spotted a boat.

The others stared across the water, watching as the boat cruised past the island.

“What type of boat is it?” Amy asked.

Putting the binoculars to his eyes, Joe peered towards the craft. His face broke into a smile. “It’s a police boat!”

“Let’s wave like mad,” Amy exclaimed. “If the police—”

“No!” the woman interrupted.

“What?” Will said, surprised. “But they can help round up the men.”

Nancy
shook her head. “Headquarters believe that a local police officer is involved in the thefts.”

“Why do they think that?” Joe asked.

“I can’t go into the details,”
Nancy
said. “Just trust me. Besides, what we really need is to discover where the paintings are. Once we know that, I’ll contact headquarters, and they’ll send along plenty of men.”

The children fell silent as the boat passed by. Will
looked
at
Nancy
. “Can we go back with you?”

Nancy
frowned. “Why?”

“Out boat got damaged on some rocks, and I’m not sure if it will get us to the mainland,” Will replied.

The woman hesitated,
then
nodded.
“Fine.
But
enough talk. Does anyone have any idea where else we can search?”

“We could search the church and storehouse,” Joe said.

“
Oka
y, let’s go there now,” the
woman
replied.

The group moved off, heading towards the ruined buildings. Arriving at the church, Joe was the last one to enter the building and, as he did so, he thought he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye.

Turning around, he spotted Luke, the one with the ponytail, heading in their direction. He rushed over to the others. “One of the men is coming this way!”

Everyone stopped what
they
were doing as they peered out of the doorway.

“Do you think he saw us?”
Nancy
said.

“I don’t know, but if we stand here for much longer he will.” Joe leaned against the wall. “We need to hide.”

Nancy
shook her head. “I need to find those paintings now. So, instead of us running all over the island, why don’t we ask that man?”

Will
looked
at the woman. “What? Why would he tell us
anything.
”

Nancy
reached into her pocket and pulled out a pistol. “This can be a very persuasive tool if you use it right.”

Joe stared at the gun. “Why are you carrying that?”

“I’m a police officer, remember?”
Nancy
said. “Don’t
worry,
it isn’t as though I’m going to shoot him. I just want to find out about the paintings.”

“So what do you suggest we do?” Amy said.

“If you can make some noises, he’ll come and investigate, and I’ll use the weapon as motivation for him to tell us,”
Nancy
said.

“I can make a noise like a cat,” Sarah suggested.

Nancy
nodded. “That should do it. If only we could trip him up as well.” She glanced around, trying to spot something that would do the job.
But
there was nothing.

“We’ll have to trip him up using our legs,” Joe said.

“Let’s get into position then.” Nancy and Will stood by the door while the girls hid below the window. Joe kept his eye on the man from another window. As Luke walked closer, the girls started their performance.

“Meow,” Amy said.

“Meow, meow,” Sarah said.

Joe saw Luke stop and stare in the direction of the storehouse. He then walked on, but stopped once more as the girls continued to make cat noises. Frowning, he turned and walked towards the storehouse. Joe motioned to the others that the man was coming and everyone fell silent.

The footsteps got louder as the man approached. He stepped through the open door and glanced around. His eyes caught sight of the girls and his facial expression turned from one of amazement to one of anger. He strode towards them.

Luke
didn’t
see the foot that tripped him and he fell to the ground.
But
he did see the pistol that was pointed at him as he attempted to get up. This was evident by the way he raised his hands straight away. “Don’t shoot!”

“On your feet now!” the woman said.

As the man stood up, a thin smile flickered across his face. “Long time no see, Julie.”

Will frowned and glanced at
Nancy
. “Do you know this man?”

Nancy
shook her head.
“
Nev
er seen him in my life.
Now, about the—”

Luke spat on the ground as he heard
Nancy
’s response. “You haven’t changed, have you, Julie?”

“Where are the paintings?”
Nancy
asked. Luke was silent.

“If you help us, the police will go easier on you,” Will stated.

“What do the police have to do with this?” Luke sneered.

“Everything,” Will
answered
. “We’re going to take the painting to the police with
Nancy
’s help.”

“
Nancy
? Who’s she?” Luke asked.

Will
pointed
to the woman. “She’s
Nancy
.”

Luke laughed. “If she promised you—”

“Where are the paintings?”
Nancy
interrupted.

The man hesitated and then pointed. “Up there.”

Nancy
looked up at the roof.
“In the attic?”

“Yes, but you’ll never get away with this, Julie,” Luke said.

“Stop calling me Julie!”
Nancy
yelled. “And put her hands behind your back.”

As Luke did what he was told,
Nancy
reached into her rucksack and pulled out some rope. She tied it around his wrists. “Now, how do you get up to the attic?”

“There’s a rope ladder in the back corner, right side,” Luke said. As
Nancy
hurried to the spot, he turned to the children. “She was part of our gang.”

“What?” Joe said.

“Julie split with us a year ago after grabbing the money that we had stolen in a bank heist. If…” Luke paused as
Nancy
came back with the rope.

“How do I get the rope up there?” the woman said.

“Throw it over the two nails that are in the planks just above where you found the rope,” Luke replied.

Nancy
turned to the children. “Why
don’t
one of you stay here to guard our prisoner while the rest help me search?”

“I’ll stay,” Joe offered. He sat down as the others followed
Nancy
.