The Legend of the Phantom Highwayman (9 page)

‘Oh, I do hope they're okay. Rachel was right. We shouldn't have gone into that cave in the first place.'

‘Well it can't be helped now,' said Tapser.

‘But what are we going to do?' asked Róisín. ‘Cowlick and Rachel won't know where we've gone. So they can't help us, and we can't help them.'

The same thoughts were going through Tapser's mind, but he didn't want to add to Róisín's worries. Somehow he felt responsible.

‘Listen,' said Róisín. ‘They've got the engine going again. We're moving!'

When Cowlick and Rachel slid down onto the floor of the bottling plant after Prince and were seized by some of the workers, they felt sure Whaler and Scamp would return with Tapser and Róisín. The last thing they expected to hear Whaler saying was that there was no one else there. Where could they have gone in such a short time? Unless they had nipped into the other tunnel. If so, they had fooled Whaler and Scamp. Cowlick and Rachel gave each other a knowing glance. They were both thinking the same. With Tapser and Róisín free, it would only be a matter of time before they raised the alarm. In the meantime, however, they were both prisoners, held firmly by some of Max's men while others tried to catch Prince.

Seeing the collie playing hide-and-seek around the crates and machinery, Max told his men, ‘Do not waste your time. He cannot leave here.' Turning to Cowlick and Rachel, he added, ‘And neither, I'm afraid, can you, my young friends.'

‘What are you going to do with us?' asked Cowlick, hoping his voice didn't sound panicky.

‘Do not worry,' said Max, ‘I am not going to hurt you. But you will have to be my guests for a while.' Then to the men he said, ‘Tie them up.'

‘Where will we put them?' asked one of the men.

‘My office,' Max told them.

Cowlick and Rachel were taken up several steps and into the office, where they were bound hand and foot to two chairs. The front and sides of the office were almost entirely made of glass and they reckoned it was from there that Max oversaw his operation.

‘At least they didn't gag us the way they do in the films,' said Cowlick.

Rachel managed a forlorn smile, ‘Nobody would hear us anyway.'

‘That's what they think,' said Cowlick. ‘They don't know Tapser and Róisín are somewhere around. So cheer up. We'll be out of here in no time.'

A short time later Max came in. ‘I am afraid I must leave you.'

‘Where are you going?' asked Cowlick.

‘We are finished here now – thanks to you. But we were almost finished anyhow. I am sorry to have to leave you like this, but you have given me no choice.' So saying, and with a slight bow of his head, he turned and left.

Somewhere above them, Cowlick and Rachel heard a heavy door banging shut. After that, the only sound to be heard was the lapping of the water beyond the iron gate.

‘What are we going to do?' asked Rachel.

‘Let's see if we can edge the chairs over to the door.' As they shuffled their chairs across the floor of the office, Prince pushed open the door and put his front paws up on Cowlick's lap.

‘Good boy, Prince,' said Cowlick. ‘Fetch Tapser. Go on, that's a good boy.'

Prince went out and they watched through the glass as he climbed up the slippery slope to the adjoining tunnel, and reappeared a few moments later at the water's edge beyond the iron gate. He sniffed the ground, looked around uncertainly and returned to them.

‘Go on boy, seek'm,' urged Cowlick, and then shouted, ‘Tapser, Róisín. We're over here.'

‘In the office,' called Rachel.

The only answer they got, however, was the echo of their own voices.

‘Where can they have got to?' asked Rachel. There was a tremble in her voice as she put into words her brother's own unspoken question.

‘I don't know,' he said, ‘but don't worry. No harm can come to us here. We'll just have to try and free ourselves, that's all.'

That, as it turned out, was easier said than done. For what seemed like hours, the two of them twisted and turned and wriggled and pulled, but their bonds remained secure.

‘They must be seamen's knots,' grumbled Cowlick as he twisted his fingers up around to the knots again. ‘The cord's a bit looser but the knots are tighter than ever.'

‘Maybe Prince could pull them loose,' suggested Rachel. ‘You know, the way they do in the films. Come on, Prince. Here, untie me, that's a good boy.'

‘He doesn't understand you.'

‘Well, it always works on the telly.'

‘Let's back up to each other and see if we can get them loose that way,' said Cowlick.

Rachel sighed. ‘All right. I suppose it's worth a try.' By now, both of them were cold and tired. Their wrists stung from the constant twisting against the cord. Their fingers ached to the bone and their nails hurt to the very quick from all the pulling and pushing and poking at the knots. Beyond the iron gate the water had disappeared with the ebbing tide. Morning was approaching.

Prince lay on the floor of the office, watching as Cowlick and Rachel, sitting back-to-back, continued to wrestle with the cords that kept them from escaping and raising the alarm.

‘I think you're getting somewhere,' said Cowlick. ‘Keep going.'

Rachel pulled and pulled at the cord on her brother's wrist. Her nails were in bits.

‘You've done it!' cried Cowlick at last, pulling his hands free. Quickly he untied the cord binding his legs, and set about freeing Rachel.

‘Hurry,' she urged him.

A moment later Rachel was free too and, pausing only long enough to stretch their cramped arms and legs, they dashed across the floor of the bottling plant. Pushing open the iron gate, they jumped down off the rocky ledge and ran down the cave to the sea. Prince was ahead of them, standing on the rocks barking for all he was worth. Climbing up to where he was, they almost cried with relief at what they saw. Clambering across the rocks to meet them was a search party led by Peppi.

* * *

Aboard the cargo ship Tapser and Róisín sat up with a start. It seemed that the engine had been going all night. Now it had stopped, and the clanking of a heavy chain told them that the anchor had been dropped. Climbing a series of steep, metal stairways, they edged along a narrow corridor, and stepping out through an equally narrow doorway, found themselves on deck. So far, so good, they thought, and, hurrying across the deck, hid among several large coils of rope.

It was almost dawn and a cold sea mist curled in around the ship. Now and then a flash of light indicated that somewhere nearby a lighthouse was warning shipping of the danger of rocks. For a moment the mist thinned and they caught a glimpse of a dark blob of land.

‘Where do you think we are?' asked Tapser.

‘I don't know. They must have steamed up the coast.'

The sound of an engine of a smaller boat came to their ears and two members of the crew dropped a rope ladder over the side. The sound of the engine died away and a few minutes later the crewmen helped two figures aboard.

‘It's Whaler and Scamp!' whispered Róisín. ‘We must have been going slowly for them to have been able to keep up.'

‘So they
must
have engine trouble.'

The captain was there now. Whaler pointed towards the land and they heard the words, ‘Church Bay.'

‘Did you hear what they said?' whispered Róisín. ‘Church Bay. That means we're off Rathlin Island.'

After further discussion, Whaler and Scamp followed the captain and disappeared from view.

Róisín shivered and pulled her cardigan tightly around herself. ‘That sea mist is freezing.'

‘If only we could get ashore and raise the alarm,' said Tapser.

‘And how are we going to do that?'

Tapser shrugged. ‘I don't know. It just seems so near.'

‘It's probably further than you think,' Róisín told him. ‘Even if we had a boat – which we haven't – we'd never make it.'

‘Why not?'

‘Because the currents here can be very strong. This is where the Atlantic meets the North Channel. There are whirlpools and everything. Local people call it the Sound, but I once heard a fisherman call it the
Brochan
.'

‘The
Brochan
? What does that mean?'

‘He was talking to my father, but I think he said it was an Irish word meaning boiling porridge. So you can imagine what it's like.'

Conscious now of the rise and fall of the ship on the swell of the sea, Tapser was quiet as he considered their predicament. ‘That means we've no hope then,' he said at last.

‘That's what Robert the Bruce thought,' said Róisín.

‘Who?'

‘Robert the Bruce. He was a Scottish lord who took refuge on Rathlin after his defeat by the English in 1306, and when he was hiding in a cave he watched a spider trying to climb a thread. It wouldn't give up, and he decided he wouldn't give up either. So he went back and fought on and became King of Scotland.'

‘I know the story,' said Tapser, ‘but I didn't realise it happened on Rathlin.'

Róisín nodded. ‘So we'd better put our thinking caps on too.'

‘But what can we do? It'll take more than a spider's thread to get us out of this mess.'

‘The rope ladder!' exclaimed Róisín. ‘It's still hanging over the side. Maybe we can hide in the lobster boat again.'

‘That's it, the lobster boat,' said Tapser. ‘They'll probably have to put ashore at Rathlin.'

‘Or Ballycastle. It doesn't matter where, as long as we get off this ship.'

‘Come on so,' urged Tapser. ‘Better hurry before they come back.'

Creeping over to the side of the ship, they could just make out the lobster boat lying below them. There was no one around, and without a word they climbed over onto the rope ladder. Gingerly they made their way down.

The ship itself was fairly steady, but not the lobster boat, and Róisín looked down as Tapser stretched out a leg to try and get a foot on board. ‘Careful,' she warned. ‘Careful.'

The lobster boat rose and fell and rose again. Tapser dropped into it, picked himself up and reached for Róisín. The boat pulled away for a moment, and Róisín clung on to the ladder. A second later it was below her again. ‘Now!' said Tapser and pulled her on board.

They found that the canvas cover had been put back on board and thrown over some empty crates and lobster pots, with a heap of netting piled on top, presumably to keep it down. Hoping that they wouldn't be spotted, they crawled in under the canvas once more. After a while, voices and the sharp movement of the boat told them that Whaler and Scamp had followed them down the ladder. The engine burst into life and the boat went racing across the sea.

Under the canvas, Tapser and Róisín waited for the change of sound and movement that would tell them they had arrived at the pier in Church Bay. But the engine continued at the same pitch as the boat churned its way through the sea, and soon it became obvious that Rathlin wasn't to be their destination after all.

‘I bet we're going to Ballycastle,' whispered Róisín.

‘How far is that?'

‘About eight miles.'

‘I hope it doesn't take too long. I'm beginning to feel queasy already.'

‘Me too,' whispered Róisín. ‘But we're going to have to hold on.'

The sea was becoming rougher now. Up and down, up and down they went, crashing against wave after wave. Grimly they held on, their free hand on their stomach or their mouth. Their stomachs seemed to be moving up and down with each pitch and roll of the boat, and the smell of the diesel and fish added to their nausea. They had an overpowering urge to throw up, but somehow they managed not to. Perhaps it was the fact that they hadn't eaten for so long, or the fear of being discovered. In any event they held on, and after what seemed like an eternity the sound of the engine died down.

Cautiously Róisín eased up the edge of the canvas and peeped out. ‘The mist is very thick,' she whispered to Tapser. ‘I think maybe they've lost their bearings.'

As the boat bobbed about, they waited to see what Whaler and Scamp were going to do. They could hear the two of them talking, probably wondering where they were. The noise of the engine increased slightly and the boat eased its way forward. Somewhere beyond them they could now hear waves breaking on the shore, and suddenly they felt themselves being carried along. A few minutes later the boat scraped aground, and they heard Whaler and Scamp getting out.

Pulling back the canvas, they gulped in mouthfuls of fresh air. They could see that the mist was blowing in low over the sea and had already enveloped Whaler and Scamp. Hardly able to believe their good fortune, they jumped out and ran across the stony beach. Finding their way blocked by a sea wall, they searched around frantically until they found a way up. If only they could get over the top unseen, they knew they just might get away.

However, a sudden roar from Whaler brought them to a halt. Turning around, they saw that a gap in the mist had revealed their presence on the wall.

‘That's torn it,' gasped Tapser. ‘Hurry.'

Dashing across a narrow road, they climbed over a low ditch and scrambled up a steep grassy slope. Behind them they could hear Whaler and Scamp close on their heels. Fortunately Whaler wasn't built for climbing steep slopes. A wet patch gave way under his enormous weight, and he went sliding back to the bottom. Scamp, anxious as always to please him, made his way down to help. Panting for breath, Tapser and Róisín reached the top and raced across the fields for dear life.