Ghost of a Chance (3 page)

Angus waited until they were too far away to see him and then stood up. Wait until I wake the others, he thought. What were they doing breaking in to Spray Cottage? Or were they breaking
out
of Spray Cottage?

Sunday, 19 December, morning

‘Look,’ whispered Hannah urgently, poking a finger into Angus. He’d just finished telling them about his spy work earlier that morning. Angus pushed her arm away and glanced over.

Kristy and her two friends, Jamie and Daniel, had just entered the room and were standing at the self-serve breakfast bar.

‘Why are they eating here?’ Gabby whispered, far too loudly.

‘Oh, hello, everyone!’ Mrs Dalrymple called, bustling into the dining room. ‘Now, have you all met? Kristy, Jamie and Daniel often call by. Kristy’s dad works in the garden here and does all the odd jobs. Will he be checking that pipe for me, do you know, Kristy?’

‘Reckon he will, Mrs D,’ Kristy said, smiling briefly. Kristy then said something to Jamie and Daniel that made them put down their breakfast plates, scoop up handfuls of toast, and walk out of the room.

‘Where do you think they’re going?’ Hannah asked.

Angus stood up and walked to the window, followed by Ling. ‘Can you see them?’ she asked.

‘They went down to the beach. Looks like they’re hiring a boat. I wonder where they’re heading.’

Ling didn’t say anything, but she pointed across the bay to the small Isle of Many. It wasn’t far from the mainland, but around it the water was dark and choppy.

‘I think we should follow them,’ Angus said. ‘They’re up to something.’ He glanced at Ling. ‘Do you feel alright? After yesterday, I mean.’

‘I’m just a bit tired.’

‘Well?’ Gabby suddenly appeared, standing behind her cousin. ‘Where do you think they’re going?’

‘Probably to the island. I think we should go there, too. Let’s see what the others say.’ Angus turned around and headed back to their table. ‘I reckon those kids have hired a boat and are
going to the island. We’ll follow them. We can have breakfast later.’

‘No way!’ E.D. said, folding his arms and shaking his head.

‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, E.D!’ Gabby said, slapping her hands against her forehead. ‘Is food that important to you?’

‘Gab, it’s the most important meal of the day. You’re the swimmer. You should know that.’

Gabby rolled her eyes. ‘You go on, guys. I’ll bring greedy guts here a little bag of food.’

‘Good idea, Gabby. Grab me some fruit while you’re at it, can you?’ Angus said, heading out the door.

‘Oh, why don’t I just bring breakfast for everyone?’ Gabby snapped.

‘Good idea, Gabby,’ Hannah called.

‘I was being
sarcastic,’
she yelled at their four retreating backs.

By the time Gabby joined the others down by the water’s edge, E.D. had hired a boat and was throwing life jackets and oars into it. He grinned at Gabby.

‘The service at this place is—’

‘Don’t you say anything, E.D., unless it’s thanks,’ Gabby scowled, passing him a paper bag filled with bacon and toast.

E.D. stuffed his mouth full of food then leaned over and kissed Gabby on the cheek. Gabby dropped her own piece of toast in disgust.

‘Yuck! Oh my God, E.D. What is
wrong
with you?’ said Gabby, completely flustered. E.D. swept his long black hair from his eyes and grinned.

‘Couldn’t say thanks,’ he said, finally. ‘My mouth was full.’

‘Quiet, you two,’ Hannah snapped. ‘Ling, are you sure you don’t want anything to eat? It’ll be good for you.’

Ling smiled and shook her head. ‘I’m fine. I’m just not hungry. I think getting away from the cottage will help.’ She shifted uncomfortably, wishing Hannah wouldn’t stare at her. Everyone had been so concerned about her after last night, she felt a bit smothered. I need a bit of space, she thought. There is something very strange happening here but I’m not sure that the others realise it yet. She turned to look at Angus. ‘What do you think those other kids are up to?’

‘I just got the feeling that they had discovered something,’ Angus said, looking out over the water to the island. ‘Obviously they don’t want anyone knowing where they’ve been; that’s why they were climbing out of the window.’

‘Treasure?’ E.D. said through a mouthful of food.

‘Well, supposedly there
is
treasure out there somewhere,’ Ling said.

‘Do you really think we should go to the island while that gang of kids is over there?’

‘I agree with Hannah,’ Gabby said. ‘They might have guns.’

‘Guns?’ E.D. spluttered.

‘I think that kiss has got to you, Gabby.’ Angus grinned and stepped into the boat. Hannah followed, grabbing nervously at its edge. Ling put a hand on Hannah’s arm to steady her and then followed her onto the craft. E.D. clunked in, making the boat rock and Hannah scowl, then held out a hand for Gabby. Making sure the others weren’t looking, Gabby stretched out her own hand and E.D. helped her in.

Angus gave out the life jackets and waited while everyone put them on.

‘You two sit up the front,’ he said to Hannah and Ling. ‘Gabby can go in the middle with us in case E.D.’s arms get tired of rowing.’ He grinned as E.D. frowned at him. Slowly, the boat moved away from the small jetty where it had been moored.

‘And when we get to the island?’ Gabby asked.

‘Easy. Kill the gang, steal the treasure and get back in time for a proper breakfast,’ E.D. shouted.

The Isle of Many was only about 400 metres from the mainland. It had a small beach area but most of that was hidden by coastal scrub. The rest of the island’s coastline was jagged with rocks and steep cliffs.

‘On the other side of those cliffs is Devil’s Wing,’ Hannah said, pointing away to her right.

‘Devil’s what?’ E.D. said, stroking firmly to keep up with Gabby and Angus.

‘Wing! There’s supposed to be some sort of rip or really strong current where the water rushes in.’

‘Cool, let’s head round there,’ E.D. said.

‘Don’t be an idiot, E.D. That’s the last place we want to go.’ Angus was puffing. Rowing is a lot harder than horse riding, he thought.

Even so, they made short work of the crossing. E.D. had spent most of the journey with his oar either out of his hands or out of the water—until Gabby grabbed it away from him in irritation. The boat zoomed over the last 50 metres and they eased back as the water became shallow.

The ocean washed up gently onto a narrow beach section of the Isle of Many. The boat the gang had used was easily visible, even though it looked as though they’d made a clumsy attempt to conceal it behind a screen of bushes to the left of the beach.

‘Let’s find a spot away from their boat and see what’s going on,’ said Angus.

Hannah and Ling jumped out of the boat as it came to a gentle halt on the sand in the shallows and started dragging it shoreward. The others joined them, and they soon had the boat stowed behind an outcrop of rocks.

Almost straight away they heard someone shouting.

‘Geez, you don’t think they just found the treasure, do you?’ E.D. asked.

‘Shhhh,’ Ling said, holding up a hand. ‘Listen!’

Muffled voices drifted over a small rise only 30 metres inland from where they stood.

‘I think that’s where the cemetery is,’ Hannah whispered.

‘Hannah, how come you know so much about the island?’ E.D. hissed.

‘I saw a map of it on the wall back at the cottage. It didn’t seem that important but I
remember things like maps. And anyway, remember the newspaper article that Ling and I read? One of the kids that drowned in that accident is buried here.’

‘Oh, they’re not digging up a grave, are they?’ Gabby asked, taking a few steps back. ‘That is so gross.’

‘Well, if there’s treasure in there, I would.’ E.D. took a few paces forward. ‘Let’s go see.’

‘They shouldn’t be doing anything of the kind even if there’s treasure in the grave,’ Hannah said, following E.D. Angus shrugged and took off as well.

‘Ling?’ Gabby flung out her hand, grabbing her cousin by the wrist.

‘We’ll watch from a distance,’ Ling said. ‘But Hannah’s right. They shouldn’t be messing around with someone’s grave.’ She frowned suddenly, her face pale.

Gabby shuddered. Holding hands, the girls walked slowly after the others.

With Angus and E.D. just behind her, Hannah marched over the rise and stared at the scene in front of her. An old iron fence, almost completely overgrown with long grass and bushes, bordered a bare patch of ground about the size of a house block.

Jamie and Daniel were digging with shovels while Kristy watched. Already they had piled up a few wooden boards. For a horrible moment Hannah thought these might have been the sides of the coffin. Four or five other graves, marked only by roughly carved crosses, were scattered about the small area.

‘What are you doing?’ Hannah yelled.

The gang members looked up sharply.

‘Beat it, if you know what’s good for you,’ growled the taller boy, Jamie, taking a few steps towards Hannah.

‘She asked you a question,’ E.D. said, appearing beside Hannah with his arms folded.

‘Hey,’ said Kristy. She walked across to them; in her hands she held a small book. ‘It’s that smart arse who wouldn’t finish a game of pool.’ She stopped in front of E.D. One of the boys appeared behind her, waving his shovel menacingly. ‘You need to mind your own business,’ she sneered, poking E.D. in the chest with her finger. She was a head taller than E.D. and broader in the shoulders too. The black T-shirt she was wearing was soaked in sweat.

E.D. pushed her arm away.

‘Well, you’re obviously doing something totally illegal,’ E.D. said, standing his ground.

This time it was Jamie who gave him a shove. E.D. staggered back, just managing to keep his footing.

‘Listen here, jerks,’ said Kristy. ‘Why don’t you go back home and build sand castles?’ She pointed to Intrepid Point.

Suddenly there was a shout from behind and then a high-pitched scream. Ignoring E.D. and the others, Kristy and Jamie turned and ran back towards the graves.

‘C’mon,’ Angus said, running after them.

Only Hannah noticed the piece of paper fall out of the book Kristy was holding. She bent down quickly, picked it up and shoved it deep inside her pocket before following the others.

‘I’ve hurt my leg!’ cried a whimpering voice. Hannah peered over the edge of the hole. The sun had disappeared suddenly behind a cloud but she could still see that one of the boys, Daniel, must have fallen at least three metres. ‘Get me out!’ he screamed.

A cool breeze suddenly ripped across the island, whipping up sand and causing the trees to groan eerily as their trunks and branches swayed. Huge black storm clouds were gathering

towards the west. Standing by the iron railing, Gabby shivered involuntarily.

‘Daniel, you’re bloody hopeless,’ Kristy said into the hole.

‘Kristy, get me out of here. Please!’ There was a terrified edge to the boy’s voice.

And now another strange noise added to the sound of the wind—a kind of soft, distant whelping that made everyone look up.

‘What’s going on?’ Jamie said. A bird screeched overhead. ‘What was that? Hey, this place is getting too creepy.’ The wind gusted, howling through the island’s trees, sending sand stinging into their faces. The soft noise in the background sounded ghostly. ‘Hurry up and get him out,’ Jamie yelled.

Kristy leaned over the edge and tried to reach Daniel. ‘I can’t reach him. You try, Jamie.’

Thunder rumbled across the sky, low and threatening. ‘No way. He’s the idiot that fell in. He can get out himself. I’m outta here.’ Jamie dropped his shovel and ran.

‘Jamie!’ Kristy called. ‘We can’t leave Daniel down in the grave.’

‘Too right we bloody can. He’s the one who broke through into the coffin,’ the boy yelled.
‘He’s the one to blame. I told you this place was spooked.’

Down in the grave, Daniel whimpered. ‘There’s bones down here,’ he called, pushing himself against the far corner.

‘Jamie’s right, you know, Daniel,’ said Kristy, standing up. ‘You’re always the one to ruin things. Maybe this will teach you a lesson.’ She looked up at the others. ‘We’ll see you around. Maybe.’

‘You aren’t leaving him?’ E.D. was outraged.

Kristy gave him the finger and ran after Jamie.

‘Kristy?’ Daniel’s voice was pathetic.

‘Hang on, we’ll be right down,’ Hannah said, kneeling at the edge of the hole.

‘There was some rope in our boat. I’ll get it.’

Angus looked at the dark clouds sweeping across the sky as he ran back to the boat. At first he thought the sudden darkness was making it hard to see where they’d stowed the boat. And then he heard laughter.

‘Hope one of you can swim, mate,’ Kristy called, laughing loudly. Jamie rowed while Kristy held up the rope of Angus’s boat so he could see that it was being towed away. Angus watched them for a few moments then turned away angrily and ran back to the cemetery.

At the graveyard, E.D. had carefully clambered down into the pit. The remains of a wooden coffin lay scattered about and he tried to avoid looking at the skeleton lying beneath it.

‘What the hell happened?’ he asked.

Daniel shook his head. ‘We’d dug out a bit of earth and then we hit wood. We thought it was the coffin. So I leaned over and started pulling at the wood. But it wasn’t the wood from a coffin; it was the wood from the roof of this bloody vault. And I went straight through it and came down and landed on the real bloody coffin. And there are bones.’ His voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Small bones. Maybe
kid’s
bones.’

‘E.D.,’ Angus called. ‘They’ve taken both the boats.’

‘Geez, great friends you’ve got,’ E.D. said, shaking his head. ‘Climb up onto my shoulders.’

E.D. squatted down and helped Daniel clamber up onto his shoulders. Using the side of the grave for balance, E.D. slowly straightened. With his legs trembling, E.D. stood tall, his hands clasped around the boy’s ankles.

‘Can you reach?’ he called, staring at a wall of dark earth. The smell of damp, sandy soil, just centimetres from his face, tickled his nostrils.

‘Here, grab my arm,’ Angus said, reaching in. As E.D. lifted, Angus pulled. Daniel’s head and then his shoulders appeared over the rim of the grave. Hannah bent down and helped Angus haul him out.

‘Geez, thanks,’ Daniel said, falling to the ground. ‘My leg feels really bruised.’