Kidnap Island (3 page)

Jonny smiled
back,
“Hi, I
’
m Jonny, how
y
’
doing?”

“
Good. Ah what a lovely dog, is he yours?
”

“
Yes
. Ainslie, say hello
to Louisa.
”
The dog obediently went up to Louisa and politely raised a
front paw which delighted the girl.

“
Ahh,
he
’
s so cute and I love Ainsley
Harriet.
”

“
Er,
he
’
s named after Ben Ainslie, not him,
”
explained Jonny for the
umpteenth time, wishing he
’
d just called the dog
Ben as his dad had suggested.

“
Well, I love him too,
”
smiled Louisa.
“
So are we going sailing
or what?
”

“
Later,”
replied Will sulkily.
“
Jonny and I
are going out first, so you
’
ll have to
wait.
”

“
Hey, your dad said the two of us were going to spend the
day sailing, he didn
’
t say anything about
anyone else.
”

“
Well, tough,
”
said Will.
“I
’
m taking Jonny out.
”

“
Hey, why don
’
t we all go for a
sail,
”
suggested Jonny quickly. He could see the look of
disappointment on Louisa
’
s face and, besides,
he thought she was rather nice.

Her face immediately
lit up.
“
That
’
s a great idea. Mum
packed me and Will a picnic, but there should be enough for all of
us, if we get some chocolate from the machine.
”

“
I
dunno,
”
said Will doubtfully.
“It
’
s only a two-man dinghy.
”

“
Oh
don
’
t be soft, Will,
”
replied Jonny, with a smile.
“We
’
re not fully-grown,
so there
’
s plenty of room. I
’
ve had four people in
my boat, and yours is bigger. Come on, it
’
ll be fun. The
tide
’
s just on its way in so we can be out most of the
day.
”

“
All
right,
”
grinned Will. He was often a stubborn boy, but found it
impossible to argue with Jonny
’
s good-natured
personality and ready smile, not to mention
Ainslie
’s constant
licks.
“
Come on, let
’
s get it into the
water. Louisa, you get us a load of chocolate.
”

Louisa ran up to the clubhouse
while the boys pulled the boat down the slipway. Jonny winced as
the cold water lapped his bare legs.

“
Don
’
t you ever wear shoes,
”
asked
Will.

“
Nah, not in the summer, too much hassle. Besides, wet-boots
are for softies.
”

“
Sensible people more like; at least I
’
m nice and
warm. Here, grab the bow while I take the trolley back
up.
”

Jonny held the
boat
’
s bow so that it pointed into the wind and the sails
flapped noisily, while Will struggled to pull his shiny new
launching trolley up past the high water mark. Jonny looked
admiringly at the crisp new carbon sails and thought of the stained
and shapeless sails on his boat.

“
Right, let
’
s go,”
yelled Will as he and Louisa waded into the
water.
“I
’
ll helm. Louisa, you
jump in and look after the jib. Jonny, push the bow
out.
”

Jonny grinned to
himself as Will clumsily clambered into his boat. Louisa followed
rather more elegantly and took her place at the front of the
cockpit, squealing as Ainslie took a flying leap on top of
her.
“OK!”
shouted Will, and Jonny pushed the bow off and jumped in as
the wind caught the sails. They were off!

Before long, the boat
was flying along on a broad reach
–
the fastest point of sailing, at
right-angles to the fresh wind
–
the three children and the dog
yelping with pleasure each time the bow hit a wave and the spray
flew over them.
“
This is great,
”
shouted Jonny.
“Let
’
s get the genny up,
”
referring to the
gennaker, the large, balloon-like sail that gives extra power when
sailing downwind.

“
Er,
don’
t you think
it
’
s too windy,
”
asked Will
doubtfully.

“
Nah, it
’
s perfect. Come on,
hoist it up, and I
’
ll furl the
jib.
”

“
OK,
if you reckon,
”
said Will reluctantly, pulling the
halyard
;
the rope that hoists the big
sail.

Louisa,
who
’
d obviously done plenty of sailing in her time, pulled
in the sheet as the big purple sail went up. As the wind filled it,
the boat shot forward and rose onto the plane, going faster than
ever.

“
This boat
’
s
wicked!
”
Jonny shouted as he leaned over the side to counterbalance
the sail.
“
I love it!
”

Will, however, was
struggling with the tiller. Jonny could tell that
he
’
d not used the boat in this sort of wind before, but
didn
’
t want to embarrass him by saying anything.

Suddenly, a strong
gust came up that
Will
hadn
’
t spotted. The boat heeled over and water began coming
over the leeward gunnel. Will immediately pushed the tiller away
from him to bring the boat into the wind, forgetting that you have
to do the opposite when flying a gennaker.

The next thing the
dinghy had capsized, and Will and Louisa found themselves in the
water with Ainslie paddling alongside; he was used to this sort of
activity.
“
Where
’
s Jonny?”
spluttered Louisa, spitting saltwater out of her
mouth.

“
I
’
m here,
”
called Jonny. Louisa and Will looked up and there
was Jonny, sitting astride the upturned boat grinning down at the
two wet children in the water.
“
There
’
s no way
I
’
m getting soaked. I
’
ll pull her up and
you two keep in the cockpit. You
’
ll need to get the
genny down first though.
”

After a bit of a struggle, the two
children in the water managed to get the soggy gennaker back into
its chute, then Jonny climbed onto the centreboard protruding from
the bottom of the hull so he could use his weight to lever the boat
upright. As he struggled, Jonny caught a glimpse of something out
of the corner of his eye. Was that a person running into the trees
on Folney Island? He was sure it was.

Puzzled, Jonny put all his efforts
into righting the boat and, as it came up, Will and Louisa were
scooped neatly into the cockpit and Jonny rolled in from the other
side, still as dry as ever. A sodden Ainslie scrambled in over the
transom.

“
Sorry about that guys,
”
said Will.
“I
’
m really not used to this boat
yet.
”

Jonny grinned at his
new friend and admired his honesty.
“
That
’
s OK
.
I
t
’
s how you learn,
doing stuff like that.
”

“
I
guess so. Do you wanna helm for a bit?
”

“
You
’
re on!”
Jonny grinned as
he swapped places with Will.
“Let
’
s get the genny up again.
”
Not one to waste time
when sailing was involved, he pulled at the halyard and soon had
the big sail back up. This time there was no risk of a capsize;
Jonny had been sailing since he was six and keeping the speeding
dinghy on track was second nature to him.

“
Fantastic!”
he
yelled.
“Let
’
s shoot down to Sandy
Head for a picnic.
”

An
hour
’
s exhilarating sail later, the three children were
sitting on the quiet beach munching sandwiches and basking in the
warm sun, Will
’
s boat pulled up
safely on the soft sand and Ainslie sniffing around in the
dunes.

“
Did
anyone else see someone on the island?
”
asked
Jonny.

“
Oh
no, not your mermaid again,
”
joked Will, pushing Jonny
over.

“
It
’
s
not
a mermaid. When we capsized, I
’
m sure I saw someone
running into the trees. Mermaids can
’
t run!”

“
Er,
sure you didn
’
t bang your head on
the boom? Still, at least you didn
’
t crash into anyone
this time,
”
teased Will.

“
What are you two on about,
”
asked Louisa, puzzled by the
boys
’
discussion, which made no sense to
her.

“
Jonny
’
s having fantasies about mermaids on the
island,
”
said Will.

“
It
’
s not a mermaid,
”
shouted Jonny, kicking sand at
Will.

“
Hey
mind my sandwich!
”

“
It
really is a sandwich now,
”
laughed Louisa.
“
So, tell me what you
saw.
”

Jonny, feeling a bit
embarrassed, explained to Louisa about the face and the person he
thought he
’
d seen. By now, he was beginning to think that
he
’
d imagined it, so was pleased that the sensible girl
took him at least half seriously.

“
No
one should be on the island, but why don
’
t we sail in
close on the way home, then we can get a better
look?
”
she suggested.
“
So long as we don
’
t land, we should be
safe enough.
”

“
Good idea,
”
said Will.
“
We can drop Jonny off to
kiss his lovely mermaid.
”

Chapter Three