Where the Action Is
Where the Action Is |
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At the Silver Star Discotheque in Thelstone, the show had started. Adrian did not notice Jack there, but he supposed she had not been allowed to come. Alan had said he’d be there was well, but there was no sign of him either. He soon forgot these minor disappointments in the excitement of the show. Keith Jones and he were old friends, and they soon had the audience laughing at their jokes. Later on in the show, Adrian introduced the Night Riders, and left the stage to mingle with the audience. He was just making his way towards a girl he knew when he heard two men near him talking low, and what they said froze him in his tracks. One of them mentioned ‘that kid from the house on the cliffs,’ and he was sure he also heard the name of his friend, Alan Love.
His senses alert, he pretended to turn the other way, listening all the time. He heard one of them say:
‘I left the girl and the disc jockey tied up in the old smugglers’ cave, y’know, in St Felix Bay, under the Manor House!’
‘Go get them later, if they’re still alive,’ murmured the other.
Adrian felt a stab of fear. He made his way back to where Keith Jones stood beside the stage.
‘Keith,’ he said, ‘I think I’ll have to go. I’ve just overheard something which might be important. Please take over and keep my people happy.’
‘Sure, boy,’ said Keith, ‘I’ll do it.’
Adrian hurried outside to a telephone kiosk opposite, he telephoned the police, and told them what he had heard.
‘I think I know where this cave is, in the cliffs under Thelstone Manor, it’s often full of water,’ he said.
He gave them more directions. They asked him where he was, and he told them.
‘Wait until we come for you,’ said the police.
However, Adrian was afraid to wait. He knew that the caves could fill up quickly when the sea was rough and high, and besides, the men might be back to take away Alan and Jack quite soon, and then there would be no hope for them.
‘Please hurry!’ he told the man on the other end of the phone. ‘I don’t know how long before the men go to collect them, besides, the water in those caves rises when the sea is rough like it is tonight.’
The policeman said that they would send a car at once. Then he told Adrian to stay where he was.
Adrian has no choice but to wait. The wait seemed to last for ages, but actually it was only about five minutes before a police car drew up, carrying Sgt Ed Muldoon, Constable Esmond, Constable Fairhead and another man.
Ed Muldoon leant out of the window and asked Adrian to get in.
‘I think I know the cave you mean, but you’d better come along,’ he said.
Adrian got in the back of the car beside Ed and the other man. It was a large car, so there was not too much of a squash. Then they set off, and soon they reached the cliffs above St Felix Bay. Everyone got out, except for the other constable, who stayed behind to watch and keep the radio open, for Ed had a walkie-talkie. Everyone rolled up their trousers and put long boots on.
‘Now the question is, which cave, there are many down there,’ said Andy Esmond.
‘They said the smugglers’ cave, under the Manor House,’ Adrian answered him. ‘I think I know that one, there is a small path that leads down to it from the cliffs. I used to explore this place when I was younger – I lived in Thelstone,’ he explained.
‘Yes, but where is the path?’ asked Andy.
‘I’m not sure, let me get my bearings,’ said Adrian. ‘Thelstone Manor is in that direction, isn’t it?’ he asked, pointing.
Ed Muldoon answerd, ‘Thelstone Manor is that way, yes. The cave is supposed to be under the Manor, isn’t it?’
‘That’s what the man said, but if it’s the same cave I have in mind, it is not quite under the Manor. The entrance is a little to the south of the Manor,’ Adrian told him.
‘So it must be a little this way,’ said Ed, ‘let’s go!’
The road had thick bushes at the side of it, and as they walked, they looked out for openings in the bushes. They had not walked far when they saw the opening they were looking for. The bushes were thinner there, and the gap opened onto a small path.
‘Come on, it’s down here,’ said Adrian. ‘Let me have a torch.’ Ed handed him his.
Constable Fairhead stayed behind to keep watch, while Ed and Andy Esmond followed Adrian down the path, which was the same the men had taken Jack and Alan down before. They reached the mouth of the cave, where the water on the ledge was several inches deep. Ed went in first, and the others followed him. They looked around them in the torchlight. Then they saw Jack and Alan, towards the back of the cave, just at the edge of the ledge at the back. The water around them was deep by now, and Alan only just had his head above the water, but he was now conscious.
As
they came in Jack looked round. She
was very wet and bedraggled, but she was pleased to see them, as she
had never before been pleased to see someone in her life. Ed waded
over to untie her, while Adrian went over to Alan. The ropes that
bound them were so wet, they had to be cut with a pocket-knife Adrian
had with him.
‘Are you able to stand up?’ asked Ed, ‘or has the cold made you weak?’
Jack tried to stand but fell over into the water again. Alan did not make any effort to stand.
‘I think we’ll have to carry ‘em, Sarge,’ said Andy.
‘The steps are awful’ steep, on the cliff-side, can we do it?’ asked Adrian.
‘I think so. I know, I’ll call up Johnson on the radio. He and Fairhead can throw us a rope to help us up.’
He did so, and then waded outside to the ledge, by the side of the cave, and waited. Within a few minutes, a rope came down.
Meanwhile, Andy and Adrian had moved Jack and Alan to the top of the ledge at the back of the cave, which was quite dry, though not completely so. Now Ed called to them to bring the bedraggled pair out. Adrian carried Jack, and Andy carried Alan. Then everyone was on the ledge outside. Then Jack told Adrian to put her down.
‘I can go up on my own now, if someone will come behind me.’
So Adrian put her down. Andy set Alan down, and Alan just sat on a wide part of the ledge. They tied the rope around Jack’s waist, and then she climbed the path, with Adrian behind her, to make sure she did not fall. She reached the top safely, the the rope was sent down for the others to use. It was tied around Alan’s waist, and Ed and Andy helped him up the path; he could walk but he was weak, however, he and the others soon reached the top safely. Jack and Alan sat down on the grass at the top.
‘I think we’d better get you back to the inn’’, said Ed to Jack. ‘You’d better go with her, and get dry.’ This to Alan. ‘But how will we get you there? We need another car. You won’t fit in the car we’ve got here, and we need it anyway. I’ll call Johnson, and tell him to radio the station for another car. They will take you to Dana. We will wait to see if those men come back.’
He did as he had said, and soon another car arrived. Andy had returned to Johnson and Fairhead, Ed remained with Jack and Alan at the entrance of the path to the cave, and Adrian wandered around, waiting.
Now the car stopped, and Ed helped Jack and Alan get in the back. There were two policemen in the car, and Ed told them to take the two rather waterlogged victims to the inn at Dana.
‘Take Mr Leslie as well, will you,’ Ed asked them. As Adrian was about to protest, he added, to Adrian.
‘There’s nothing you can do here, you’ll only put yourself in danger. Go with them to Dana, you can probably help there.’
So the police car drove off in the direction of Dana, with Jack and Alan sitting on a rug to save the car from getting too wet, and Adrian sitting beside them, for he was wet too. Ed Muldoon and his team waiting in hiding, in case the smugglers returned for their victims.
