Kidnap Island Read online

  Bert looked on, thinking that maybe, as an adult, he should take control but the children seemed confident they knew what they were doing, or at least what they wanted to do, so who was he to stop them?

  The two policeman who had just come ashore, didn’t seem to agree, though. “Hey, get down from there,” one of them shouted. “It’s not safe!” But nothing was going to stop Louisa from rescuing her cousin; Will could be annoying at times but she was very fond of him. The boat’s big engine was still running flat out as Louisa looked around the cockpit; the main door to the cabin was lying flat on the base of the cockpit, its glass shattered. Inside she spotted a man lying on the cabin floor, not moving. She shuddered and looked away, then climbed the steps to the flying bridge.

  “Will!” Louisa screamed. Her cousin was slumped against the steering wheel with blood streaming from an ugly cut to his head. Crying, the girl moved the boy back and he groaned softly as she did so. “Don’t worry Will, you’ll be ok,” she sobbed as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s all right, love, we’ve called an ambulance,” said a kindly voice as a powerful arm reached over and shut off the engine. It was one of the policemen. The sudden silence was eerie. “That’s better, I can hear myself think now. Let me check him over and see if it’s safe to move him.” Louisa moved out of the way and let the policeman look at Will, who was still groaning, which she took as a good sign as her cousin liked nothing better than to moan and complain.

  “Dad, dad!” Louisa looked down into the cockpit. Eric had come aboard looking for his father, and Jonny and the other policeman were with him. The first thing they were confronted by was the man on the cabin floor. The policeman felt his pulse. “We’ve another casualty requiring medical assistance,” he said into his radio.

  Eric and Jonny, meanwhile, had stepped past the unconscious body and walked down the steps into the lower part of the boat, which consisted of a galley area with three cabins leading off it. Two were empty but the door to the forward cabin was locked with a large padlock and clasp. “Dad, are you in there?” yelled the American boy, hammering on the door.

  “Watch out son,” said the policeman, pushing the boys out the way. He shoved hard at the door but it didn’t budge, so he stood back and put his shoulder hard against it. After a couple of attempts the wooden door splintered and gave way, and the policeman switched on his torch and walked into the small cabin, the two boys squeezing in after him. The air smelt of urine and stale sweat and there was a tall slim man lying on the bed staring at them with horrified eyes. His mouth was gagged and his arms and legs tied up. “Dad!” Eric pushed through and hugged his father, sobbing loudly. “Ummm, ummm,” grunted the man.

  “Let’s get that gag off,” said the policeman. Eric moved out of the way to let the policeman squeeze past in the cramped cabin. He soon removed the gag and Eric’s father spoke in a croak: “Eric! Are you alright? What on earth has been happening? Who are these people and what happened to the boat? Did it crash? I thought I was dead!”

  “Oh pops, my friends Jonny and Louisa are here, and some policemen and granddad’s gardener, and another friend Will, he rescued you, and I’ve got loads of gold...” Eric was speaking non-stop while his poor father was looking confused and a bit faint.

  “Whoa, back off lad, your old man needs a break. Here, let’s get those ropes off him” said the policeman, pulling out a knife and niftily cutting the cords from Mr Goldsmith’s bonds. The American sat up and began to rub his wrists and then immediately fell back onto the bed.

  “Dad!” Eric cried.

  “It’s ok, he’s just fainted,” said the policeman, gently pulling Eric out of the cabin. “The poor guy’s been through a lot and it’s all got too much. He’ll be fine but we’ll get the paramedics to check him out.”

  The paramedics were by now aboard the boat. They’d left their ambulance at the sailing club and Bert had used the police launch to ferry them over. The man in the cabin had suffered a blow to the head, assumedly when the boat crashed, but was now just about conscious so had been handcuffed and escorted off the boat, and was waiting for the police to take him away. Will’s head wound had been treated and dressed and he was sitting in the cockpit with a blanket around him, looking a bit dazed and vacant. “No different to usual,” Louisa later joked but, at the time, she was worried about her cousin.

  Eric’s father was suffering from dehydration and shock said the paramedics, and would have to go to hospital for treatment, along with Will and the kidnapper, who both needed checking out.

  The other kidnapper was nowhere to be seen but Bert spotted that his rowing boat, which he’d come over to the island in, was missing, so it was assumed that the kidnapper had escaped in that. The police took a description of the man from Eric, who’d seen him when he’d been on the island the other day, and radioed their colleagues on the mainland to look out for him.

  The children were standing around looking dazed as the policemen and paramedics efficiently went about their business, making calls on their radios and phones, and gathering up their equipment ready to return to the mainland.

  “Wow, that was quite an adventure,” said Jonny. “And who’d have thought that Will could pull off a stunt like that?”

  “Hey, don’t underestimate the power of the Will!” Will was being led away to a boat by a paramedic and had overheard his friend’s comment.

  “I certainly won’t. Get well soon – I want to see some stunning sailing from you after this,” joked Jonny.

  Mr Goldsmith was being carried to the boat on a stretcher and Eric was by his side, his eyes wet. “Thanks guys,” he said, coming to give Louisa and Jonny a hug. This time Jonny didn’t feel embarrassed and embraced his new American friend. “No problem, mate.”

  Much to Jonny’s surprise and delight, Louisa then gave him a hug too. “Thanks for keeping it all together Jonny,” and with that she was off to accompany her cousin to hospital, leaving Jonny with a big grin on his face.

  Bert came over. “Well Jonny, it looks like you and I will have to wait here for the boat to come back. Shall I show you where the treasure is hidden?”

  Chapter Twenty

  It was a sunny afternoon and the four children and Ainslie were sitting on the shore of Folney Island, Will’s sailing dinghy pulled up onto the shore next to them.

  “That’s what I call a result,” claimed Jonny. “All our parents let us camp on the island for a few days while Eric’s dad’s in London, and we’re getting some great sailing in at the same time.”

  “I dunno, I think I’d prefer a motorboat now,” joked Will.

  “Yea right, you’d just crash it if you had one,” replied Jonny before Will descended on him, pushing him over into the shallow water.

  “Oh no, isn’t this where we started out? laughed Louisa. “Come on you two, act your age and mind that head of yours, Will, you know you’re meant to be taking it easy.”

  “Sorry mum,” said the two boys in unison.

  “Say, rich boy, what are you going to do with your millions?” asked Will.

  “Well, I’ve spoken to my dad and he says I can give each of you guys some as a kind of thank you for all you’ve done,” smiled Eric.

  “Wow, thanks Eric,” said Louisa. “Hey, Jonny, you could buy that new boat you fancied.”

  Jonny looked thoughtful. “Nah, I think I’ll keep the one I’ve got, it means a lot to me. I might get some new sails for it though. Hey, who’d have guessed your granddad would have hidden the money under the old outside toilet, Eric?”

  “Seems a stinking place to dump it,” joked Will, to which he received a well-earned thump from Jonny.

  “Hey, I’m famished,” said Eric. “Anyone fancy a Pot Noodle?”

  “No!” yelled three voices in unison.

  The end

 

 

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