Where the Action Is

Chapter 4 - Discoveries of Many Kinds

For three days all was quiet. There was still no word from Adrian Leslie about his competition, although it was more than a week since they had entered it, but they could still hope. They had seen no more strange lights or boats at sea, but they still kept a look out for them.

The one afternoon when everyone (that is the Irvings, Juliett and Clarence, who had come as well) were in the top room of the tower at Grey House, they noticed more strange activity at the fort. There seemed to be a boat, far out on the silvery water. Clarence noticed it first, and called their attention to it. He had with him some more powerful binoculars than the Irvings had. He saw feverish activity on the string of five small forts. People seemed to be climbing aboard them and crossing from tower to tower. He turned to the others.

‘There seem to be people everywhere on the fort!’

‘Let’s see, let’s see!’ cried Impie.

She saw the same. They seemed to be busy at something out there, but what?

‘Let me see, Impie,’ said Jack.

Her younger sister passed her the binoculars.

‘It’s true what they say,’ said jack. ‘Max, Juliett, come and look.’

Meanwhile, Clarence was very excited.

‘It must be those smugglers, there is no other explanation, because I am sure that no-one would use that fort for a radio station or anything else. We must find out more about this.’

‘Shouldn’t we inform the Police?’ This was Juliett.

‘Insufficient evidence. See, that boat is leaving now. They seem to me to have been taking things off the forts. Let’s watch to see where their boat goes.’

They tried to watch, but the boat’s progress was hidden by the headland. But it seemed to go in the direction of the bay above which the Folly stood.

They were not the only people who saw these strange events. Out at the radio station, Adrian Leslie stood looking out to sea, when he was joined by his friend, Alan Love. Alan seemed to be excited about something. Adrian asked him what it was.

‘There seem to be people on the other fort,’ he said. 

‘Where?’

Alan pointed ‘White Sands. Maybe we are going to have company - another radio station, I mean.’ This as Adrian gave him a puzzled look.

‘Maybe, but it’s strange. Come to that, I’ve seen movements there myself.’

They stood there watching for a while. Although the fort was distant and hard to see, there were obviously people there. After a while, the small boat at the foot of the central tower moved off. They watched it sail off and into the bay beneath the Folly, presumably, but at that distance it was very had to tell.

‘What was it all about?’ asked a puzzled Alan.

‘Don’t ask me,’ shrugged Adrian, equally puzzled.

And they left it at that, and went back towards the fort. They were soon to know what it was that was going on. Adrian had some work to do, and preparations for his show, and Alan went with him to help him. On the way to the record library tower, they met Angus McDuncan, coming the other way.

‘Seen the boat out at White Sands, Angus?’ said Alan.

‘A boat, over there?? Strange. I thought I saw something else too, t’other day.’

Soemthing seemed to spring up in Adrian’s mind. Something he had heard recently. Ah, he had it.

‘Smugglers,’ he said.

‘Eh??’

‘I was thinking, there are supposed to be smugglers hereabouts. There has been quite a lot of violence lately, supposed to have been them, though the Police had not enough evidence to make arrests.’

‘Aye, that’s right, now,’ said Angus. His Scots accent always increased when he was excited.

‘We had better not do anything yet, we have no proof,’ remarked Adrian, ‘anyway, would the Police accept the word of pirates?’

‘And will the Managing Director and all that lot on land accept you, if you didn’t get your show ready?’ said Alan.

So they went on their way to the tower. Alan could not resist a parting shot at Angus, his Scots accent when they were talking had been so strong. So..

‘Hoots mon, and lang may yourr sporran dangle in the porrridge!’ shouted Alan, in his best (or worst) Scots accent. Angus didn’t like that. He turned round and made a playful rush at Alan.

‘Say that again and I’ll throw ye in the Norrrth Sea!’ he said.

And laughing, they went their separate ways.

Meanwhile, Clarence, Juliett and the Irvings were conferring about the boat. They decided to go down to Two Oaks Bay, above which the Folly stood, to see if they could see anything. Maybe they could help capture the smugglers themselves, if such they were. Newspaper headlines danced before their eyes ‘YOUNG HEROES CAPTURE DANGEROUS CRIMINALS SINGLE-HANDED’ and so on! They were to make news, but not in the way they expected.

So they went down to Two Oaks Bay, but found nothing there. There were footprints in the sands, and traces of where a boat had been drawn up over the sand. But of the boat there was no sign. They went up the cliff path which led to the Folly, to see if anything could be seen from there. There was nothing up there either. They therefore decided to go to the Folly. Max rushed in first, way ahead of the others. Suddenly there was a yell and a crash, which brought the others running. As they entered the Folly, they saw a square hole in the floor, with stone steps leading down into the depths of it. At the bottom of it lay Max on a heap of dried grasses, looking surprised.

‘Are you hurt, Max?’ gasped Jack.

‘N….no, I don’t th… think so,’ he stuttered, ‘but get me out!’

Clarence went down the steps into the hole, and helped Max to climb out. Then he looked around the chamber. It seemed to be an old crypt beneath the Folly, and it had been strewn with grasses for some reason. It had obviously been recently used. He called the others down, and they began to look around. But they were rather squashed up, all of them being down there, and in the confusion, Juliett fell over onto something hard.

‘Ouch,’ she said, ‘what one earth?’

It was a crate, or box. It seemed to be empty, but it had for some reason been hidden under the grass piled on the floor. Looking at it closer, they found inside it a label from a brandy bottle.

‘Maybe this is the smugglers’ hideout, and this crate held contraband spirits,’ said Jack.

‘That’s possible,’ said Claence, looking excited, ‘come on, let’s take a good look around this place,’ meaning the whole Folly.

So for about half an hour they went through the Folly from top to bottom, but found nothing, except footprints in the dust on the floor, but they were necessarily those of smugglers. Finally Jack, Impie, Max and Juliett decided to return to Grey House, but Clarence stayed behind. He thought himself the amateur detective of all time. He told them that he would get in touch if he found anything.

‘We’ll be at Grey House, just phone us,’ said Jack. ‘Good luck, Clarence! We might be back later though, if you don’t come to the house.’

Back at Grey House, Jack took everyone up to her room, in the top storey of the house. It was a large room, so they were not crowded in, and they sat around talking. Then, having run out of conversation for a while, Juliett said, ‘Turn on the radio, I think Adrian’s on now.’

‘Oh well, we must then, besides, he’ll be giving the results of that competition that we entered soon,’ said Jack.

She switched on the radio. At that moment a record was playing, and Jack went and sat down again. Then the record ceased. They heard Adrian’s voice saying which record it was and the singer. And then….

‘Here are the results of the competition I held a week or so ago. First comes Jacynth Irving, who will visit Madeleine soon…’

Everyone went wild, and then was silent while Adrian gave details of other winners, and their own prize. Details would come through the post, he said. All else was forgotten in their excitement over this, Jack rushed to tell her Uncle and Aunt the good news. They would all be going, Jack, Juliett, Max and Impie, on the following Saturday, up to Felix Pier, where they would meet the tender to go out to the fort, on which they would stay for several hours before returning home.

In their excitement they had forgotten Clarence, and so, when the telephone rang an hour or so later, they were surprised at first. Then Juliett remembered Clarence, and as he was her brother, she answered the telephone, although it was not her house.

It was Clarence, and he sounded excited and in a hurry. ‘Can’t stop now, I’ve discovered some really hot evidence of the smugglers. Come to the Folly now and I’ll tell you, but hurry!’

Juliett’s reply was yes, she and the others would go down right away;little dreaming of what they would find there.