Kidnap Island Page 6

  Louisa turned the tone more serious, though: “Now we know your dad’s OK and locked up on a boat somewhere, so we’re making progress.”

  “Yeah, but there are thousands of boats on the harbour,” Will correctly pointed out.

  “I once heard someone say about five thousand,” said Jonny. “But that includes all the dinghies and small boats, so we can take them out of the equation right away.”

  “Oh, that makes it easy, then, we just have to look in every yacht in the marina and moored out in the harbour,” said Will sarcastically.

  “No, it can’t be near other boats as other people would hear dad. Surely he’d call for help?” Eric suggested.

  The other children looked at each other. “He could be gagged or drugged,” said Will.

  Eric was horrified at this thought. “We’ve got to find him!” The boy was almost in tears again.

  Louisa put her arm around him. “Don’t worry,” she said comfortingly. “We’ll find him, I promise. Will and Jonny glanced at each other; they didn’t share Louisa’s confidence.

  “Say, I found out a bit about the island while I was stuck at home yesterday,” said Will, changing the subject and grabbing a folder from his bag. “I searched online and only found a brief Wikipedia entry saying the island was an old navy store, which we now know isn’t true so I then went down the library...”

  “I thought you were grounded, “ interrupted Louisa.

  “I was, but I looked at my parents’ calendars on the computer and knew they’d be tied up in meetings all day and wouldn’t even think about checking up on me. Anyway, with a bit of help from the librarian, I found an old history of the harbour that had been written in the 1930s, before the war. It had a bit more about the island in it. It said it was owned by the respected Goldsmith family who built a holiday home on it. Look, here’s a photo of the place.” Will held up a photocopy of a black and white photo that was clearly of Folney Island but the trees were less thick and a small house – Eric’s bungalow – could be glimpsed in the centre of the island, while there was a wooden jetty coming out from the shore with an old-fashioned rowing boat tied to it.

  “Wow, it must have been a wonderful place to live,” gasped Jonny, who had long dreamed of living right next to the sea.

  “Well, it’s not now,” moaned Eric. “I wish I’d never come here. How are we going to find my dad?”

  “Maybe we could ask around the harbour and see if anyone’s seen anything suspicious going on,” suggested Will hopefully.

  “Er, no one’s going to take three kids seriously going round asking if they’ve seen anything odd,” Jonny pointed out. “We need to be more subtle.”

  “How do you mean? asked Eric.

  “I dunno at the moment, let’s sleep on it.” Jonny’s mum often said solutions to problems come after a good night’s sleep and he reckoned she could be right. “Speaking of sleep, I’m knackered. Shall we get some kip then we can get up early and have a full day ahead of us?”

  “You sound like my mum,” groaned Will. “Our first night away from our parents and you want to go to bed early!”

  “Jonny’s right,” said Louisa. “I’m ready for bed and, besides, I saw you yawning just now, Will.”

  Will couldn’t be bothered to argue and, actually, he was tired but he wasn’t about to admit it. “OK, let’s get the beds made up then.” He began to unroll his sleeping mat.

  “We’d better move all this rubbish first,” Louisa started to clear up the leftovers from their meal. “Eric, where do you put your litter?”

  “We’ve a roll of garbage bags and we take it all ashore and dump it in the trash each time we go over,” Eric explained as he went through to the kitchen and returned with a bin bag and an electric camping lantern which he lit and placed on the windowsill. It was starting to get dark so the friends appreciated the extra light as they got ready for bed.

  “Do you want to sleep in the other room?” Eric asked Louisa.

  The girl shivered inside at the thought of being alone in this dingy old house with its fusty smell and dark rooms. No, she’d rather take her chances with the boys’ smelly feet. “Er, thanks but I think it’s better for us to all stick together just in case the men come back.”

  Will was just about to say that wasn’t likely in the middle of the night when he caught Jonny frowning at him and twigged the reason for Louisa’s comment. “OK, you can sleep in with us so long as you don’t snore,” he joked.

  “Me snore? You’re the snorer around here; when we sleep on the yacht, you can be heard a mile off. Dad reckons we don’t need a foghorn when you’re on board.”

  “Well the way you two keep bickering, maybe Eric and I will sleep in the next room,” laughed Jonny.

  “Next country more like,” grinned Eric, enjoying the banter of his new English friends. “No, let’s all sleep in here.” With all that had happened, the boy was secretly glad of the company and support. Indeed, after they had all crawled into their sleeping bags and turned off the light, Eric lay there in the dark listening to the comforting sound of the others’ breathing – yes, Will did snore – and felt quietly confident that the four of them would, somehow, sort out all this mess and get things back to normal. What he didn’t know, though, as he drifted off to sleep, was just how hard that was going to be.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jonny was first to awaken the next morning, squinting at the bright sunlight streaming through the uncurtained window, dappled by the trees surrounding the house. He reached sleepily for his phone – 6am, that was early even for him! Jonny wasn’t one for lying in, though, so he crawled quietly out of his sleeping bag, pulled on his shorts and teeshirt and slipped out into the garden, barefoot. Ainslie was already out there and he gave the boy a friendly lick. The ground was wet with dew and there was a chill in the air. Jonny shivered but, as always, enjoyed the quietness of a new day. Feeling an urge to see the water, he made his way through the trees and undergrowth and came out by the shore.

  The previous day they’d carried Will’s dinghy up into the trees, out of sight of curious eyes – namely the harbourmaster – and the boy quickly checked that it was ok. It was, so he sat down on the beach to take in the beauty of the harbour at daybreak. There was no wind and a light mist hung over the water. In the distance the spire of the cathedral on the mainland was catching the morning sun and, overhead, a lone aircraft was silently leaving a trail across the blue sky. It was just perfect, thought Jonny with a smile.

  As he took it all in, he mindlessly kicked at the cool gravelly sand beneath him when he spotted something half buried in it. He stopped to pick it up; it was a mobile phone, a cheap basic model like Eric’s, the sort of thing you wouldn’t dare turn up to school with. Heck, even Jonny’s parents let him have a smartphone, albeit an old one. Eric had explained that his dad had bought him a cheap phone to use in the UK so maybe they’d got one each.

  Jonny looked at the phone’s small screen. It was in text mode and someone had typed one word – “Jenny” and the recipient was “Eric UK” but the text hadn’t been sent. Eric’s dad had obviously been trying to send his son a message as he was being kidnapped, but what did it mean? He ran back to the house.

  “Guys, wake up!” Jonny burst into the house shouting with Ainslie barking excitedly .

  “Urgh, wassup?” asked Eric groggily as Ainslie licked his face. Will and Louisa also sat up groaning and rubbing their eyes.

  “I’ve found your dad’s phone and there’s a text on it – look.” Jonny passed the phone to Eric.

  “Jenny?” That’s our housekeeper’s name,” said Eric puzzled. “Why would dad have been texting her name.”

  “It’s obviously a clue of some sort,” said Louisa. “Maybe Jenny’s involved with the kidnappers.”

  “Er, I don’t think so,” replied Eric. “She’s about a hundred years old and has been with us since before I was born. She’s like one of the family. I’d trust her as much as I trust my own mum.”

/>   “Maybe it’s another Jenny,” suggested Will. “my sister’s piano teacher is called Jenny too.”

  “And is she a kidnapper?” joked Jonny.

  “No, but I wish she would kidnap my sister!”

  “I reckon your dad was trying to send a longer message but wasn’t able to, so he dropped his phone on purpose to leave a clue,” said Louisa.

  “Pretty rubbish clue,” frowned Will.

  “No it’s not! It’s a great clue,” Jonny yelled excitedly. “It’s the name of a boat – we know Eric’s dad’s being kept on a boat.”

  “Of course!” Louisa got it. “All we need to do is find a boat called Jenny and we’ve found his dad.”

  “Right, that’ll be easy,” said Will in a typically sarcastic tone.

  “We could ask old Bert at the sailing club,” suggested Jonny. “He knows everything that’s going on.”

  “Won’t he want to know why we’re looking for it?” asked Eric.

  “We could say we’re doing a treasure hunt which, in a way, we are. Come on, let’s get the boat out and sail over.”

  “What about breakfast?” asked Will.

  “Pot Noodle?” Eric suggested hopefully.

  “Ergh, no!” replied three children.

  Chapter Thirteen

  In the end, the children breakfasted healthily on the muesli which Jonny’s mum had packed them and, an hour later, they were back at the sailing club, pulling the boat up the slipway. Eric had never sailed before and was a bit nervous at first but soon enjoyed the gentle sensation of gliding through the still water in the slight breeze. “This is cool,” he’d said with a smile

  “Wait ‘til you get a windy day, then it’s really fun,” Jonny had insisted, but Eric looked doubtful. This was a world away from his New York life.

  They’d just got the boat pulled up out of the water when they heard a cheery voice: “That’s an early sail lads. Oh, and lass.” it was Bert, the sailing club’s oldest member and unofficial odd-job man. “Ah, it’s you Jonny. I might have guessed.”

  “Bert, just the person we need. Do you know a boat called Jenny?”

  “Well now, there was a Merlin Rocket called that here back in the sixties. Sailed it myself a few times, now that was a boat...” Bert was a modest sort but Jonny knew he’d been a world champion sailor in his day.

  “No, we’re looking for a larger boat with a cabin that’s around here now. We’re doing a treasure hunt, you see, and it’s one of the clues.”

  Bert looked keenly at Jonny and ruffled Ainslie’s soft ears. He knew the boy wasn’t telling the whole story but didn’t pry.

  “Umm, I don’t know of any other Jennys, apart from a pretty girl I once dated. You should ask at the harbourmaster’s office, they’ve a record of all boats moored in the harbour.”

  “Great idea. Thanks, Bert.” and with that Jonny was off in the direction of the marina where the harbourmaster was based, the others following in his quick footsteps.

  Bert shook his head with a grin. Oh to be young! Part of him did wonder what the children were up to. He’d heard they were meant to be camping near the club but there were no tents to be seen when he’d gone up to check on them earlier that morning. And how had they managed to go out sailing without him seeing them? He’d been at the club since 7am that morning. Some adults would have wanted to stick their noses in and find out what was going on but Bert was young at heart and remembered when he was a boy he didn’t like grown ups getting involved in his adventures, and he knew Jonny and his friends would feel the same. His ears had pricked up, though, at Eric’s features and American accent and he began to wonder about something.

  Sadly, the secretary in the harbourmaster’s office was rather less trusting of children. “Why do you want to know?” she demanded, after Jonny politely asked if there was a boat called Jenny registered in the harbour. “We can’t just hand out information willy-nilly. There’s data protection to consider, you know.”

  “We’re doing a treasure hunt and one of the clues is to find a boat called Jenny,” Jonny explained with his most winning smile.”

  “That’s as maybe but it doesn’t change the fact I can’t divulge private information. Besides, the whole point of a treasure hunt in my day was to hunt, not simply ask other people for the answers. Now get out of my office, I’m busy.”

  As the stuck-up secretary was saying her piece, a teenage boy was behind her in the office signalling to Jonny to meet him outside. Jonny recognised him as Jake, whom he occasionally crewed for in dinghy races.

  “Hi Jonny, how’s it going?” asked the tall muscly boy when they were out of sight and earshot of the secretary. “What’s this about you wanting to find a boat called Jenny?”

  “I’m good, thanks Jake. Like I said, we’re doing a treasure hunt and need to find this boat.”

  “Look, I’m working here during the summer. Partly with the dragon in the office and partly in the boatyard. If you want, I can sneak onto the computer and look through the records for you. But you mustn’t tell anyone I helped you or I’ll be in massive trouble. It’s bad enough working with the dragon when she’s in a good mood.”

  “Thanks Jake, you’re a star. Can you text me if you find anything out? You’ve got my number.”

  “Sure thing kiddo. Hey, here she comes, I’d better look busy.” And with that, Jake disappeared behind an old boat, leaving the children exposed to the wrath of the dragon.

  “Are you kids still here?” she sneered. “You won’t find the answers to your silly quiz here, so be off with you.”

  The children walked off without a word, secretly thinking that, just maybe, the dragon was wrong and they would find the information they needed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The friends were lolling around on the grass outside the sailing club after a delicious meal from the club’s restaurant, Ainslie dozing peacefully beside them. Will had kindly paid for all their lunches, using his own bank card. It was a real treat for Jonny as his parents rarely ate at the club, arguing that there was no point when they lived so close by. Once again, the boy mused over the fact that Will’s family had so much more money and was much cooler than his, and then his – rather old – phone beeped. “Hey, it’s a text from Jake at the boatyard.”

  “What does it say?” asked Louisa excitedly. “Has he found a boat called Jenny?”

  “No...”

  The children’s faces dropped.

  “...but he has found one called Jenny Wren.” Jonny looked at the others. “Could that be it?”

  “Maybe,” said Louisa thoughtfully. “What sort of boat is she and where is she?”

  “The text says she’s a 35-foot motor cruiser moored in Smugglers’ Creek.”

  “Where’s that? I’ve never heard of it,” said Will scornfully.

  “I have.” Jonny had sailed to most parts of the large and rambling harbour with its many creeks and inlets. “It’s down near Bosbourne, I didn’t know there were any boats moored there, though, but there are some big houses along the shore.”

  Eric’s eyes were shining. “Do you think my dad’s there, then? How can we get there to see?”

  “Well, it’s all part of a private estate so you’re not really meant to go down the roads. I cycled in once and got a load of grief from some posh bloke. There’s nothing to stop us sailing up the creek, though, and that’d be more fun, anyway.”

  “Good plan,” Louisa grinned, looking at her phone. “The tide’s on its way in so let’s get straight off.”

  Will’s boat was still on the slipway from the morning so it didn’t take long to get it back in the water and the sails up. The wind was a decent force three but, with four of them and a dog in the small dinghy, it was never going to be a fast trip. Eric was getting used to the sensation of sailing and starting to enjoy himself. “I’ll take you out just the two of us some time,” promised Jonny, who was always keen to introduce others to his favourite sport. He was also secretly hoping to take Louisa out sailing on
e day. She was helming and, although Jonny would never say so to Will, Louisa was obviously a more natural sailor than her cousin.