The Secret of Skull Island (4 page)

[Chapter Five]

I
t certainly looked like a deadly snake. It raised its head and looked at the boys.

Otis looked the snake in the eyes. “This is no venomous snake,” he said firmly. “Cody, give me a hand.”

Otis moved quickly and grabbed the snake behind the head. Then Cody grabbed the tail.

As everyone stared, the boys hurried downstairs and outside with the snake. They walked a distance from the inn and set it free behind some trees. They both watched it slither away.

“Well, that's that,” Otis said, wiping his hands on his shorts. “I wonder where that thing came from.”

Cody shrugged. “We'd better get back and explain why we grabbed it,” he said. “Everybody will be freaking out.”

They were right. When they got back to the inn, everyone was downstairs waiting for them. Aunt Edith was sitting at the dining room table, shaking.

“What on earth were you boys thinking, grabbing that snake?” she asked, her voice quivering. All of the color had drained from her face.

“Yes, what in the world were you doing?” snapped their father.

“That was a dangerous stunt,” said Maxim.

Otis held up a hand for silence. “But the snake wasn't venomous, so it wasn't dangerous,” he said. “In fact, people keep snakes like that for pets. It was a corn snake. I know, because of helping out in the pet store, Pets Plus, for years. They sell corn snakes there. I've handled them many times, and I know one when I see one.”

“Yeah, I didn't realize it at first,” said Cody. “Otis is more into snakes than I am. As soon as he said it wasn't venomous I knew it was a corn snake, though. They look a lot like copperheads, but they're gentle.”

“How could you be
sure
that it wasn't dangerous?” asked Albert McNab.

“Like I said, I've handled them lots of times. But besides that, there is an interesting fact about snakes,” Otis said. “You see, non-venomous snakes like this one have round pupils. Snakes with venom in their fangs have vertical pupils, like a cat does.”

Otis glanced at Rae. “She's the one who told me about it,” he said with a nod.

The guests blinked as they looked at Rae. “That's right,” she said. “I read about it in a textbook of ophiology that my brother brought home from college.” She shrugged.

“But the study of snakes is
herpetology
, dear,” corrected Ms. Wallace.

“Um, actually, no, ma'am,” Rae said, looking at her own shoes. “Herpetology is the study of snakes and other reptiles. Ophiology is the study of only snakes.”

Ms. Wallace fluttered her lashes and raised a hand to her cheek. “Well, well, now that I think of it, you're quite right.”

The guests murmured in surprise. All peered at the boys and the girl, their eyes moving from one to the other. “Almost like they're kids—but
not really
,” whispered McNab under his breath. “They're like walking computers.”

“I have very, very, very good eyesight,” Otis went on. “I looked at the snake's eyes carefully. I wouldn't recommend anyone doing what Cody and I did unless you are one hundred percent sure of the kind of snake you are dealing with. It could be deadly.”

“Oh, goodness, I don't like the idea of snakes crawling into my bed,” said Muriel Esposito. Her body shivered as she spoke.

“Well, it's an island, after all,” said Steve Cordell. “Islands have snakes. It could happen again, you know.” He ignored the glare he got from McNab.

“The trouble is,” said Otis, “that this island shouldn't have this snake. Corn snakes aren't native to the Caribbean. They live in the southeastern United States. Someone must have brought it here.”

“Anyone lost a pet corn snake?” asked Cody.

The guests were silent. Finally Cordell's face lit up with a grin. “I think that maybe it belongs to one of you kids.” He chuckled. “You knew it wasn't dangerous. Kids like to play pranks. Maybe you decided to have a little fun with your aunt.”

“My sons didn't bring any snakes with them,” snapped Mr. Carson.

“It isn't even an amusing suggestion,” Maxim added, as Rae gave Cordell an icy glare.

“And if anyone played such a silly prank, it certainly wasn't my nephews,” Aunt Edith said indignantly.

Cordell held up his hands and backed away, but he was still grinning. “Whoa! I was just kidding around.”

Otis scowled at him. “Not funny,” said Cody.

Everyone began heading back to their rooms. As the boys passed by they saw Inez, the maid, standing there lost in thought, a strange expression on her face.

Back in their room, Cody leaned against the door. “I didn't like what that guy Cordell said,” he fumed.

“Me neither,” Otis agreed. “I didn't like the way he was acting before, either. There is something else about him that bothers me, too.” He yawned. “But I'm too tired to think anymore.”

“Me, too,” Cody agreed. In moments they were fast asleep.

*

When Cody woke up, the light of the moon was streaming through the window. His brother was already sitting up in bed. “I heard something,” he said.

Cody rubbed his eyes. “What?” Then he heard it, too.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
“It sounds like footsteps coming from the hallway. Do you think it's the pirate?”

“I don't know,” Otis whispered. He had to admit that at that moment his certainty about ghosts had gone right out the window.

The two boys slipped out of bed and opened the door slowly. “Who's there?” rasped a voice. They knew it wasn't one of the guests.

“Who's there?” the voice asked again.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
The footsteps came closer.

Neither Cody nor Otis was able to move. Their legs felt like jelly. They both stood still as the footsteps thudded closer.

“I'm looking for my treasure,” the voice whispered. “
Ahhhhhh
…”

The sound faded away. The twins waited, their hearts beating fast, but there were no more footsteps. After several minutes they turned and walked slowly back to bed. Neither one dared to say a word.

[Chapter Six]

T
he next morning was sunny and clear. A gentle breeze was blowing. As the twins looked out their window, they saw the landscape was a riot of color. There were green trees and rainbows of flowers as far as the eye could see. Colorful birds flew through the air. The creepy feeling the place had held the night before had vanished.

“Did we really hear that ghost last night?” Cody asked Otis.

Otis nodded slowly. “I think so, but I'm just not sure I wasn't dreaming. All that talk about it at the table might have played a trick on my mind. Maybe you were dreaming, too.”

Cody considered what he said. Sometimes he and his brother had the same dream—it was the kind of thing that sometimes happened to twins. “Maybe,” he said.

There was a rapping on the door. “Come on, you guys, get going.” It was Rae's voice.

The twins hurried to get dressed, then they ran downstairs with Rae.

In the dining room they found Maxim wearing a kitchen apron. He had laid out a buffet of fresh fruit and muffins, coffee, tea, and juice.

He smiled when he saw them. “This is more like it,” he said, gesturing at the buffet. “People can eat like they're on a Caribbean island instead of stranded in a bad cafeteria.”

He motioned Rae and the twins aside. “I had a talk with your aunt Edith. I'll be in charge of the kitchen until she can hire someone,” he said. “Meanwhile, I don't want you talking to her about what happened last night. She's upset enough as it is.”

The three of them nodded. “Where's Dad?” asked Cody.

“He ate early, packed up his gear, and went out to paint,” Maxim told them. “He took a sleeping bag with him and said he might stay out overnight—or
nights
. You know how he is.”

Rae and the twins were used to Mr. Carson's ways. Sometimes he would spend days doing nothing but painting, barely stopping to eat or sleep.

Aunt Edith breezed in from the kitchen. She didn't look like the same person who had been scared out of her wits the night before.

“You youngsters should go down to the beach,” she said. “It looks like a spectacular day for swimming and snorkeling. There is a big chest with some gear right out back.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Rae grinned. She loved to swim.

“Sure does,” Cody and Otis agreed. They exchanged glances. The night before, Cody had convinced Otis to help him look for the buried treasure.

“Hey, Rae,” Cody asked as they were putting together plates of fresh fruit and glasses of juice, “did you hear any weird noises last night?”

“No way,” she said, helping herself to a muffin. “I was practically asleep before my head hit the pillow.”

They took a seat at the table, where most of the guests were drinking coffee. Steve Cordell was telling everyone how he maintained his great tan.

“I never let it fade. It's as perfect as it is now twenty-four-seven, three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. Want to know my secret? When I travel for work, if it isn't sunny out, I go to a tanning parlor. Plus, I have my own tanning bed.”

The twins both stifled a giggle. It struck them as funny that this man would be so obsessed with tanning that he bought a tanning bed. They wondered, too, why a California real-estate broker needed to travel for work.

Everyone else looked bored—except for Albert McNab, who kept nodding as if he were hanging on Cordell's every word. “My goodness, that's very interesting,” he said.

Cody took a sip of juice and asked, “Anyone hear the ghost last night?”

“I did,” said Ms. Wallace. Her eyes danced. “It was incredible. He walked right down the hallway and talked about his treasure. It was wonderful.”

“What's so wonderful about being woken up in the middle of the night by a ghost?” Cordell asked. “At least we had hot water this morning.”

Eric Barber took a seat. He shot a sour look at Cordell. “I couldn't help overhearing,” he said. “You seem to be spreading good cheer again this morning.”

Nobody said anything. The twins munched on their food. Cody was going to mention that he and Otis had also heard the ghost, when suddenly a cry of pain shattered the silence.

Everyone rushed to see what it was and found Muriel Esposito with one foot all the way through a porch step. She was holding her knee and rocking back and forth.

“I think it's broken,” she sobbed. “I think my leg is broken.”

McNab hurried to her. “Can you pull your leg out?” he asked gently. “Let's have a look at it.”

Trembling, Ms. Esposito drew her leg through the broken wood. As soon as the leg was free, McNab gasped. “Oh, no! Look over there, in the bushes,” he exclaimed.

Everyone looked around, and when they looked back, McNab's hand was clasped around Ms. Esposito's leg below the knee. “It's not broken,” he said firmly.

She looked down, astonished. “What—”

“You were just surprised and frightened,” McNab said gently, withdrawing his hand. “That bone is strong. If it had been broken you would have screamed as soon as I grabbed it. Trust me. You have a little scratch, that's all. You'll be fine.”

“Thank goodness for that,” said Maxim. “Come on back in and have a cup of coffee, Muriel, and some fresh-squeezed pineapple juice. I picked the pineapples this morning and the juice is delicious. It'll fix you right up.” He beamed.

Ms. Esposito smiled weakly. “Thank you,” she whispered. She turned to Mr. McNab. “Thank you so much.”

“I'm just glad you're all right,” McNab said, giving her a warm smile. He threw an arm around her shoulders and walked her back inside.

Strangely, the other guests weren't smiling. Cody and Otis were puzzled by their reactions.

Helen Wallace and Eric Barber were exchanging meaningful looks. But why?