The Mystery of Adventure Island by Paul Moxham

branch out but it was already half alight. There was nothing he could do about it, so he let it burn, hoping that the men wouldn’t spot the smoke.
Chapter 18: The Big Search
     
    As time passed, the clothes began to get dry. The children, all worn out from their swim in the water and the trek in the tunnel, lay down beside the fire and had soon dozed off to sleep.
    Waking up some time later, Joe realised that it was quite late. The glow from the setting sun was just visible above the horizon. He estimated that they had half an hour or so before darkness arrived.
    He woke the others and, together, decided what to do. While Amy and Sarah went back to get the torches and some tinned food, the boys would stir up the fire. Their clothes were mostly dry, but their shoes were still damp and they didn’t want to be walking in shoes that were still wet.
    Once the girls arrived back, the children placed all the damp stuff closest to the fire which was roaring once more.
    As darkness spread across the island, Joe turned to Will. “We need to have another look in the cabin where the men sleep.”
    “But that woman didn’t find the paintings there,” Sarah said.
    “I know the paintings won’t be there, but it’s the best place to start the search,” Joe replied.
    “But we can only do that if the men leave the island tonight,” Amy said. “I know we talked about this before, but they wouldn’t leave every night, so why would they go tonight?”
    “They might not,” Joe admitted, “but then again, they might. They seemed very anxious to get us off the island as soon as possible, and that might ind icate that someone might be coming to pick up the paintings. And, before that happened, they would probably want to steal another painting.”
    “That makes sense,” Will agreed , “but the only way we’ll know is if we keep an eye on the inlet near the cabin. If anyone is going to be leaving the island, it will be from that point. But I can’t see them leaving for a while, so let’s eat some food first.”
    After a quick meal, they smothered the fire with sand, picked up everything that was lying around, and moved off.
    ~
    It seemed as though several hours had passed before a bobbing light could be seen, but it could have been more or it could have been less as Joe had no way of knowing. He woke the others who were dozing on the grass above the beach.
    They peered through the bushes as they watched the man with a ponytail and glasses walk along the beach and disappear from view.
    “I wonder where he’s going,” Will muttered.
    “Hopefully, he’s going to get the boat,” Joe said. “They must have one hidden somewhere.”
    “But we’ve searched along the shoreline,” Amy muttered.
    “Well, we’ll soon see,” Joe said.
    Everyone fell silent. Inside five minutes, a moving light could be seen near the wood as if someone was walking towards the beach. Since the wind was blowing in their direction, they were able to hear talking.
    “It’s two men,” Joe said. “Now, if the first one appears with a boat…” He paused as he saw a light in the water. He picked up the binoculars and looked through them.
    “What can you see?” Sarah asked.
    “It’s a rowboat,” Joe replied. “It has to be the man who we saw just before. He’s just beached the craft and the men are now climbing on board. Now they’re pushing off.”
    Will took the binoculars from Joe and gazed through them. “It will take some time to get to the mainland and back again, not to mention how long it will take to steal a painting, if that’s what they’re doing.”
    Joe nodded. “We’ll have quite a few hours, but we don’t know how long it will take to find the paintings, and we’ll have to move slower in the darkness, so let’s get going.”
    “Hadn’t we better wait a few more minutes until the men disappear from sight?” Amy asked. “If they were to see a flash of light, they would head straight back.”
    “Good thinking.” Will