Kidnap Island (6 page)

“
That
’
d be cool. My dad
bought me a cheap phone for the UK cos my American one
wouldn
’
t work over here.
”
The two boys quickly swapped numbers
and Jonny agreed to share Eric
’
s with Louisa and
Will when they got back to the club.

“
Come on, we really need to go,
”
insisted Jonny, and
dragged the others back down the track through the woods to where
their boat was on the shore. The tide had dropped, leaving an
expanse of black mud between the dinghy and what was left of the
water.
“
Great, we
’
re gonna have to
carry it down,
” groaned Jonny. “Can you
help, Eric?”

Between them, the four
children struggled to carry the boat down to the waterside and, by
now rather muddy, the three of them and Ainslie clamoured aboard
leaving Eric alone.
“
Will you be ok?
”
asked Louisa.

“
Sure thing, my dad
’
ll be back soon. So
long and see you soon I hope. I
’
ll call
you.
”

And with a wave, they were off.
Jonny helmed and teased the best from the boat in the low wind. By
the time they got back to the sailing club it was well after 9pm
and the light was failing.

“
Oh
oh, we
’
re in for it now,
”
groaned Will looking at two figures
coming down the slipway to meet them. It
’s our dads, Jonny.
”

“
Where the hell have you been?
”
shouted
Will
’
s father.
“We
’
ve been worried sick about you. I tried ringing
you but I suppose you didn
’
t have your phone
with you.
”

“
Of
course not,
”
yelled Will.
“
You never bought me that waterproof case I asked
for, so I can
’
t take my phone
sailing. Remember what happened to my last one?
”

“
Well, you
’
re grounded for the
rest of the week,
”
yelled his father.
“And
I
’
m sure Jonny
’
s father
agrees.

“
Er,
yes, I suppose I do,
”
mumbled Jonny
’
s dad, looking
awkward. Actually, he
’
d been confident that
his son was fine and was used to him coming in at all hours.
“Let
’
s get the boat packed
up and then we can all get home.
”

Chapter
Five

Jonny groaned as he
reached out for his phone on his bedside table and looked at the
clock. It was 1am.
“
Hello,
”
he grunted sleepily into the phone.

“
Jonny,
it
’
s
Eric,”
came a tearful
voice.

It took a moment for
Jonny to register who it was, then he remembered their day with the
American boy.
“
Eric, what
’
s wrong?
What
’
s happened?
”
He spoke quietly, not wanting to
waken his family.

Eric replied by
sobbing uncontrollably.
“
Whoa mate, take it
steady,
”
said Jonny, wondering what on earth was going
on.

“
They took my dad,
” sobbed
Eric.

“
Who
did? What are you on about?
”

“
These men came to the island and took my dad away.
I
’
m here alone and dunno what to do.
You
’
re the only person I know round here to call. What
shall we do?
”

Jonny was by now wide
awake and sitting up in bed.
“
Tell you what,
I
’
ll come over. I
’
ll be with you within
the hour. Keep your phone on. And Eric?
”

“
What?
”

“
Everything
’
ll be fine. I
promise.
”

Jonny quickly dressed, whipping
jeans and a warm fleece from the floor, before grabbing a
waterproof sailing top and a woolly hat. It may be summer, but at
this time of night it was bound to be chilly on the
water.

Very gingerly, he
opened his bedroom door and sneaked quietly done the stairs,
wincing each time a step creaked. Ainslie sensed that he had to be
quiet and kept close to Jonny
’
s legs. Although he
usually went around barefoot in the summer, the sensible boy put on
a pair of trainers before slipping very quietly out through the
back door, pulling it closed behind him.

It was a clear moonlit
night and, thankfully, Jonny hadn
’
t put his bike away
in the garage but left it leaning against the back of the house. He
wheeled it silently around to the front before hopping on and
whizzing down the deserted road to the sailing club with Ainslie
running faithfully alongside.

Jonny grinned as he
cycled.
“
This is great being out all alone in the
dark,
”
he thought to himself, the cool wind blowing the last of
the sleep from his face. And then he became serious as he
remembered Eric
’
s distressed phone
call. What was that all about? No doubt he
’
d find out
soon.

He skidded to a halt
at the clubhouse and dropped his bike on the ground. Getting his
sailing boat out in the dark would be too much of a hassle even if
it wasn
’
t broken and, besides, there was no wind.
What
’
s more, he didn
’
t want to be seen on
the water in the middle of the night, and two big white sails would
be a dead giveaway. No, Jonny had another plan.

He kept an old plastic
two-person canoe under his dinghy so he could get out on the water
even on windless days, and it was this he was going to use. He
pulled it out, along with a paddle, and carried it to the
water
’
s edge. The tide was now on its way back in, so he
didn
’
t have far to go. Dropping the little vessel on the
shore, he pulled his phone from his pocket and rang Eric.
“
Hey mate,
come down to the beach looking over to the sailing club and flash
your torch once every 30 seconds, so I can see where you are.
I
’
m on my way.
”

“
Sure thing, give me two minutes,
”
replied the
American.

Jonny
didn
’
t wait but launched his canoe, hopped in, got Ainslie
to jump into the seat behind and began paddling silently towards
the island. The moon gave enough light to show Folney as a dark
lump against the sky so he had a good idea of which way to go.
Before long, though, he saw a brief flash and grinned.
“
That
’
ll be
Eric,
”
he thought to himself, and began counting the seconds under
his breath.
“
2
6,
2
7,
2
8,
2
9,
3
0… Bingo!” He
’
d make a
great lighthouse keeper.

The flashing continued
remarkably regularly and before long, Jonny could see the outline
of his new friend standing on the shore of the island.
“Hey Eric,”
he called softly.

“
Jonny, is that you?
”
came a voice.
“
What are you in, a
row-
boat?”

“
No
a canoe. Hang on, I
’
m nearly
there.
”
The canoe came to a gentle stop on the soft mud and Jonny
clamoured out and pulled the boat quickly up to the high-water mark
where Eric was standing.
“
Well, here I am. Now,
what
’
s been happening?
”

To Jonny
’
s surprise, Eric
burst into tears and hugged Jonny, clinging hard to him. Jonny felt
embarrassed by the physical contact as his family never really
showed each other much affection.
“
Hey,
it
’
s
OK. Let
’
s go up to the house and you can tell me all
about it.
”

Jonny prised Eric
gently off him and led him through the dark woods to the house,
where a single light was shining from a window. Going in, Jonny
realised this was coming from a camping lantern set up in the
living room Eric and his dad were using for sleeping in.
“
Here, sit
down,
”
he said, directing the American into one of two folding
chairs.
“I
’
ll make us a
drink.
”
He went into the kitchen, lit the stove and began boiling
water for hot chocolate
–
he
’
d seen a jar of powder when he
’
d been cleaning
up earlier.

Before long, the two
boys were sitting together sipping at steaming mugs, Ainslie doing
his best to get his nose into them. Eric had finally calmed down
but, even in the dim light, Jonny could see that his face was pale
and streaked with tears and dirt.
“
Right Eric,
you
’
d better tell me what happened
–
from the
beginning.
”

Chapter
Six

Eric took a deep
breath and began talking.
“
OK, after you guys left,
I came back to the house and my dad rang to say
he
’
d been delayed and did I want to wait for him before
eating. I was starving so I said I
’
d fix myself a Pot
Noodle, which I did. I was then kinda bored and lonely
– we
’
ve no TV here
–
so I
wandered down to the shore and sat watching the sun go down. It was
a pretty neat sunset tonight and I like that kinda
stuff.

“
I
must have dozed off for a bit, though, as the next thing I heard
voices and it took me a moment or two to realise where I was. I was
really spooked when I worked out the voices were coming from behind
me, near the house. I sneaked up through the trees, keeping off the
path, and managed to get close to the house. I reckoned there were
two men there, with British accents. They seemed to be looking for
something but were keen not to leave any evidence that
they
’
d been there. I heard one of them say,
‘Don
’
t move anything, we
don
’
t want Goldsmith and his kid to get
suspicious,
’
but they were definitely hunting
around.

“
Then I heard my dad
’
s voice saying
‘
What the
hell
…’
then there was a thump
–
I think they hit him
and knocked him out. I was too scared to go in and rescue him; oh I
wish I had done now. The next thing one of the men said
‘
Well we
can
’
t leave him here, when he comes to
he
’
ll spill the beans. We
’
re gonna have to take
him with us.
’
The other dude cussed a bit at this
and they had a bit of an argument but, in the end, they seemed to
agree to tie dad up and take him away on their
boat.