Читать книгу A Night on Thunder Rock and other Adventure Stories - Enid blyton - Страница 3

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“Daddy, we’ve got something to ask you,” said Robert. “We do hope you’ll say ‘yes’!”

“Well, I’m not promising till I know what it is,” said Daddy, cautiously. “I’ve been caught that way before!”

“It’s something quite simple,” said Rita.

“Yes, something you’d love to do yourself,” said Fred. “It’s this—can we spend a night on Thunder Rock?”

Thunder Rock was a tiny rocky island not far out from the coast. The three children had a small boat of their own, and were used to rowing about by themselves. They had often rowed to Thunder Rock and had a picnic there.

“So now you want to spend a night there,” said their father. “Well, what does your mother say?”

“She says we must ask you,” said Robert. “Say ‘yes,’ Daddy. Only just one night. It would be such fun to camp out there all by ourselves.”

“We’d take rugs and things,” said Rita. “We’d choose a very fine warm night. It would be heavenly to go off to sleep at night with the waves beating on the rocks round us, and the stars blinking above us.”

“And waking up in the morning with the sun, and slipping into the water first thing for a bathe,” said Fred. “Come on, Dad—say ‘yes’.”

“Well, what about that old boat of yours?” said his father. “I heard it was leaking. Is it safe?”

“Pretty safe, because we can always bale out the water,” said Rita. “We don’t mind. Anyway we can all swim. But I don’t think the poor old boat will last much longer, Daddy. Are new boats very expensive?”

“Very,” said her father. “No hope of getting one, so don’t make plans. You’ll have to make the leaky old tub do for some time—but mind, if it gets too bad we’ll have to scrap it. No good running into danger, and you never know.”

“Well—can we go to Thunder Rock for the night?” asked Fred. “You haven’t said yet.”

His father smiled. “All right—you can go. Take your food with you, and rugs and things. You’ll be all right. It is fun to camp out on a little island like that. You feel so very much all on your own.”

“Oh, thanks, Daddy! We never thought you’d say ‘yes’!”

In delight the three children rushed off to their mother to tell her. “Well, I do hope you’ll all be all right,” she said. “You’re old enough to look after yourselves now—Robert is fourteen and very strong. Don’t get up to any silly tricks though. And be sure that old tub of yours doesn’t leak too much.”

The children said nothing about their boat. She really was leaking very badly, and needed a lot of baling to keep her from sinking lower and lower! But if only she would last till they had had their night on Thunder Rock!

They made all their plans. Rita fetched a pile of old rugs and old coats. Fred went to ask Cook for a few tins of meat and fruit to take with them, and some ginger beer. Robert went to get the boat ready. They planned to set off that evening, have a picnic supper, a swim in the sun-warmed water, and then a lovely talk lying on the rugs, looking up to the starry sky.

“It will be gorgeous hearing the waves lapping round all the time,” said Robert. “Fancy being all by ourselves like that, too. Nobody to send us here and there, nobody to ask what we’re up to, nobody to say we’re making too much noise!”

They said goodbye and set off in the boat. Everything had been piled in. Had they forgotten anything? No, they didn’t think so. Robert and Fred pulled at the oars and Rita baled hard. “Blow this leak! It’s getting worse. I honestly don’t think the poor old tub will last much longer.”

“Well, Ted, the fisherman, says she’s too old to mend,” said Robert, pulling hard. “Say when you’re tired of baling, Rita, and I’ll have a turn and you can row.” Gulls cried loudly all round them. The sea was very calm, and only a slight swell lifted the boat now and again. The sun shone from the western sky, and the water gleamed blue and purple and green. Lovely!

They got to Thunder Rock at last. They pulled the boat into a tiny cove, out of reach of the waves. Rita took out the rugs and old coats and spread them on a sandy place between some high rocks.

“We’ll be well sheltered here,” she said. “And the sand is warm and soft. Won’t it be gorgeous sleeping out here? Now what about supper?”

Supper was lovely. Tinned salmon, tinned pineapple, new bread and butter, chocolate and ginger beer. “Better than any meal on a table!” said Fred. “Now let’s have a look round Thunder Rock and then have a bathe when our supper’s settled a bit.”

Thunder Rock was a queer little island. It was nothing but rocks and coves. Nothing grew on it at all, except seaweed. The sea-birds came to it, and liked to stand on the highest rocks, gazing out to sea. They fluttered away a little when the children came near to them, but did not fly right off.

“Lovely things!” said Rita, watching a big gull alight. “I wouldn’t mind being a gull—swimming, flying, paddling, gliding, diving—what a nice life!”

They had their bathe and then lay on their rugs in the twilight, warm and glowing. They put on pyjamas, and then Fred yawned. “Golly, are you sleepy already?” said Rita. “I’m not. I want to enjoy every minute of this exciting evening. Don’t let’s go to sleep yet.”

“Of course we won’t,” said Robert, nibbling a bar of chocolate. “The sun’s quite gone now. There’s not a single bit of pink cloud left in the sky. But it’s still very warm.”

“The waves sound nice, splashing all round Thunder Rock,” said Rita, looking sleepy. They went on talking for a while, and then Fred gave another yawn, a most enormous one this time.

“I really don’t believe I can keep awake,” he said. “I do want to, but my eyes keep closing. I bet we’ll sleep well to-night—with nothing whatever to disturb us except the sound of the sea!”

“All right. We’ll say goodnight then,” said Rita. “I feel sleepy, too. I’m going to fix my eyes on that bright star over there and see how long I can keep awake. It’s so lovely out here all alone on Thunder Rock.”

It was not long before they were all asleep. The stars shone in the sky, and the sea splashed quietly on the rocks. There was no other sound to be heard.

But wait a minute—was there no other sound? Robert suddenly woke up with a jump. He lay there for a moment, wondering where he was. How queer to see the sky above him instead of the ceiling of his bedroom! Then he remembered—of course—he was on Thunder Rock. Good!

He was just about to go to sleep again when he heard the sound that had awakened him. It was an extra loud splash—and then another and another. Regular splashes.

Robert sat up. It sounded like a boat being rowed along, not far from Thunder Rock!

Then he heard low voices. That made him stiffen to attention even more. A boat near Thunder Rock—and voices in the middle of the night. What did it mean?

Cautiously Robert awoke Fred and whispered in his ear. “Don’t make a row. There’s a boat being rowed to Thunder Rock. I can hear it—and voices too.”

The boys sat and listened. But the boat did not come to Thunder Rock after all. It went right round it and the voices died away. The splash of the oars could no longer be heard.

“The boat’s on the landward side of the rock now,” whispered Robert. “Let’s go round and see if we can spot it. There’s only star-light to see by but we might just make it out.”

They walked cautiously over the rocks, and round to the other side of the little island. They could see a dark mass some way off—that must be the boat! But who was in it—and why come rowing over the sea at this time of night? Where to? And where from?

“It’s all jolly mysterious,” said Robert. “Now let’s think. Where is that boat heading for?”

“It’s going towards the rocky cliffs of the mainland,” said Fred. “I should think towards the part that is always washed by the sea—the part we’ve never been able to explore properly because you can’t get round to it.”

“There might be caves there,” said Robert. “I wonder where the boat came from, though. It seemed to come from out at sea—and yet it was only rowed.”

“Do you know—I bet that boat came from some motor launch some way out,” said Fred, suddenly. “They wouldn’t dare to bring it right in, if they were doing anything they shouldn’t, because the motor would be heard. I bet the boat left the launch right out to sea—and was rowed in quietly, with some kind of goods. Probably they’ve come from France.”

“Do you mean smuggled goods?” said Robert in sudden excitement. “My word—smugglers!”

“Well, you know there are plenty of smugglers to-day, now that things are expensive and difficult to get,” said Fred. “We’ve heard Mother talking about it with Daddy, I bet you anything you like we’ve just heard a boat-load of smugglers passing, with smuggled goods in the boat—and they’re heading for the cliffs, where they’ve either got a hiding-place or friends to take the goods from them!”

Robert whistled. He gazed towards the dark land, which could be faintly seen as a black blur in the starlit night. “Yes. You may be right. Smugglers! I say, what are we going to do about it?”

“Let’s go and wake Rita,” said Fred. “We can talk about it then, all together. My word, I feel wide awake now, don’t you?”

Rita was very excited when she heard the boys’ news. “You might have wakened me before,” she said indignantly. “Do you suppose the smugglers’ boat will come back?”

“Well—yes—I suppose it may,” said Robert. “I hadn’t thought of that. We’d better keep a look-out.”

They all went round to the other side of the little island, and strained their eyes towards the distant cliffs. Then Robert gave an exclamation.

“Look—I’m sure I can see a light—it must be at the bottom of the cliffs, I should think.”

They all stared hard, and soon Rita and Fred could see a faint light, too.

“I bet that’s where the smugglers are, with their goods!” said Robert.

They sat and watched and talked for a long time. The light disappeared. Then suddenly Robert’s sharp ears heard something and he clutched Rita and Fred, making them jump.

“They’re coming back! Sh!”

And then there came the sound of oars again, and a murmur of voices. The boat passed in the darkness, a blur against the water. The children hardly dared to breathe.

They began to whisper when the boat was out of hearing.

“They must have put the goods in a cave! Let’s go to-morrow and find out!”

“Sh! Listen! I believe I can hear a motor starting up a good way out. I bet the smugglers are off back to France!”

“I wish daylight would come. I want to go off and hunt for the smuggled goods!”

But day did not come. It was still only the middle of the night and the children fell asleep again and could hardly believe, in the morning, that anything had happened in the night.

“But it must have, because we all know about it!” said Rita. “So it can’t have been a dream. Let’s have breakfast and then go and explore those cliffs. We can row quite near to them.”

So after a meal they set off in their leaky old boat. They rowed towards the towering, rocky cliffs, round whose base the sea washed continually. They came nearer and nearer, and then, when they were afraid of going on the rocks, they rowed round the cliffs, examining every foot of them as carefully as they could.

And they found what they were looking for! They came suddenly to a cleft in the cliff, and guided their boat carefully towards it. A wave took them into the curious crack and they found themselves in an enclosed channel, walled in by steep cliffs, with not much more room than the boat needed for itself.

On one side of the channel was a cave, running into the cliff, quite hidden from the sea outside. “You hold the boat steady by hanging on to this rock, Fred, and I’ll have a look into the cave,” said Robert. He leapt from the boat on to a rock and then peered into the cave. He gave a yell.

“I say! Stacks of things! Boxes and packages of all kinds. This is where those smugglers put their things. I bet someone on the mainland collects them when it’s safe to do so—probably by boat.”

He went back to the boat and got in. “I’d like to undo some of those things,” he said. “But I suppose I’d better not. It’s a matter for the police now.”

“Is it really?” said Rita, looking rather scared. “Well, come on, then. Let’s get back home.”

They shoved the boat down through the cleft of the cliff back to the open sea again. Robert and Fred took the oars. Fred gave a shout of dismay.

“I say! You’ll have to bale like fury, Rita, the boat’s awfully full of water. We’ll be swimming soon! Get the baler, quick.”

Certainly the boat was leaking worse than ever. Rita began to bale quickly. The boys rowed hard. But the boat was heavy now with water, and it was difficult going. In the end the boys had to stop rowing and help Rita with the baling.

When they had got the boat a good bit lighter, they took the oars again. “You’ll have to buck up,” said Rita, anxiously. “It’ll fill again directly. It must have sprung another leak. I hope we get back before it fills and sinks!”

The boat began to fill quickly again. The boys rowed hard. Just before they got to shore the boat quietly began to sink beneath them!

They had to get out and wade to shore, carrying what they could of their goods. “That’s very bad luck,” said Robert, sadly. “I liked that old boat. I’m afraid she’s done for now. Come on, let’s go home and tell Mother what’s happened. Then she can ring up the police.”

Mother was amazed at all they had to tell. She was horrified about the boat, and very glad they had got home safely, though they were very wet.

“I can hardly believe this tale of smugglers,” she said. “But I suppose I’d better ring up the police. I’ll do it now, whilst you go and put on dry things.”

It wasn’t long before an Inspector of Police was round in his car. He listened with the greatest interest to all that the children told him.

“I expect they’ve really hit on something,” he told their mother. “We know smuggling is going on all round the coast. But it’s difficult to trace. I’ll get a boat and go round to this cave. Perhaps I could take the children’s boat and they could direct me to the place.”

“It’s sunk,” said Fred, sorrowfully. “We haven’t got a boat! We feel very upset about it. Ted, the fisherman, will lend you his. We’ll come too.”

The Inspector found that the goods in the cave were most certainly smuggled. “Silk stockings! Bottles of brandy! Perfume of all kinds! My word, this is a haul!” he said in delight. “Well, we’ll remove all these goods to-night when nobody is likely to see us, and then we’ll set a watch for the smugglers’ friends, whoever they are. They are sure to come to fetch the goods soon. And we will also put somebody on Thunder Rock, lying in wait for the smugglers when they come again, as they are sure to do.”

It all sounded very exciting indeed. The children wanted to go to Thunder Rock with the watchers, but the Inspector said ‘no.’ “There may be danger—shooting, for instance,” he said. “You’re better out of things like that. I’ll let you know what happens, never fear!”

He kept his word, and brought them a very exciting story the next week. “We’ve got the men who receive the goods,” he began. “We caught them rowing round to the cave to fetch them. And now we’ve got the smugglers too! Three of them!”

“Did you catch them in their boat?” asked Rita.

“We followed their boat when it went back to the open sea,” said the Inspector. “And there, sure enough was a smart little motor launch waiting for them. We got the whole lot—so that spot of smuggling is stopped for a little while at any rate.”

“What a good thing we went to spend the night on Thunder Rock!” said Fred. “Jolly bad luck our boat is gone, though.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” said the Inspector, in an airy voice. “We want to give you a reward for your help—you’ll find it in Ted the fisherman’s charge if you care to go and look!”

The children tore down to the beach, and found Ted there, grinning. Beside his boat lay another one, newly-painted and smart.

“Good morning to you,” said Ted. “Come to have a look at your new boat? Smart, isn’t she? My word, you’re lucky children, aren’t you?”

“We are!” said Rita, in delight. “Bags I row her first! Oh, what a beauty. Come on, boys—haul her down the beach. Off we go!”

And off they went, bobbing lightly up and down on the waves. They rowed to Thunder Rock, pulled the boat up on the sand and lay down in the sun.

“Good old Thunder Rock!” said Fred, banging the sand below him with his open hand. “If it hadn’t been for you we’d never have got that marvellous—wonderful—super—new boat!”