The Mystery of Adventure Island by Paul Moxham Page B

paintings,” Joe said.
    “Exactly,” Will said .
Chapter 19: Keeping Watch
     
    It didn’t take as long to set up camp as it had the other night since they only had one tent and half of their belongings.
    Joe suggested that Will take the first watch while he and the girls got some sleep. Will was happy to do that, so he took the binoculars and a torch and walked up the hill.
    As the girls climbed into the tent, Joe decided to start a fire to keep warm. After warming his hands, an overwhelming tiredness came over him so he lay down.
    After sleeping for a while, Joe was shaken awake by Will. He groggily stood up “Did you see anything?”
    “Not a single thing.” Will handed the torch and binoculars to Joe and lay down beside the fire.
    As Joe climbed up the hill, he was glad that it wasn’t too far away, though it still felt like a trek in the middle of the night. Reaching the top, he turned off his torch and sat down. Peering upwards, he saw that the moon had gone behind a cloud.
    A cold breeze was blowing across the island and he stood up and paced back and forth to keep warm. He did this for ten minutes and sat down. Peering through the binoculars, he looked towards the inlet. Nothing out of the ordinary could be seen . He had no idea when the men would return. For all he knew, they could be gone for a day or even two days.
    He put the binoculars down and thought about everything that had happened in the last two days. It had been an action packed time, but also scary. It wasn’t as though he was scared now, but when he had been searching for Sarah in the water, that had been scary. He was glad that they weren’t going to build another raft, for the same thing might happen again.
    He thought about what his parents would say when they learnt about everything that had happened. They wouldn’t be happy but, if the men were caught, they would be proud of them.
    He didn’t know how long he sat staring up at the stars but, as his eyelids began to close and he got sleepy, he thought that he would head back down the hill. He hurried down and found the fire almost out and Will fast asleep. He put some more wood on the fire and went to wake the girls.
    Peering in the tent, he saw his sisters peacefully sleeping and decided that he would take the next shift. They were younger than him and, especially after the swimming drama, Sarah needed all the sleep that she could get. And if he woke Amy, Sarah might also wake.
    After walking back to the fire, he decided to lie down and warm up for a few minutes before heading back to his post. He lay down, closed his eyes, and before he knew what hit him, he was fast asleep.
    He woke as the first rays of sunshine appeared over the horizon. Stumbling to his feet, he realised he had been asleep for hours. But before he could be annoyed with himself, he heard a noise in the sky.
    Looking towards the sound, he spotted a seaplane as it flew over the island. He shook Will awake before calling to the girls who were still sleeping inside the tent.
    As the girls scrambled out, Joe looked up at the sky again, but the seaplane had vanished from view. He could still hear it though, so it was somewhere close by.
    “What is it?” Amy said.
    “A seaplane. If we climb to the top of the hill we might be able to see it land.” Joe hurried towards the hill, the others racing after him. Puffing and panting, they arrived at the top of the hill in time to see the seaplane in the inlet as it taxied across the water.
    “They must have a big operation,” Will stated .
    “Why do you say that?” Amy asked.
    “Because it would cost a ton of money to buy that machine, not counting the petrol that they would use—” Will said.
    “But aren’t some paintings worth a lot of money?” Sarah interrupted.
    “Yes, but what I’m saying,” Will said, “is that this isn’t something which these men do from time to time. They must be getting a whole lot of money to keep this operation going, which means that