Five Go Back to Kirrin Island

©2006 Enid Blyton Yahoo Group

Every once in a while, regular members of the Enid Blyton Yahoo Group join forces and write a Round Robin. If you've never heard of a Round Robin, well, in this case it's a brand new story written by a group of fans, with each member writing a chapter and making it up as they go along. Nobody knows where the story will lead; there's no plot to follow, and the direction of the next chapter is decided by the end of the last one. It's a lot of fun, and the result is either a wonderful new story—or a complete mess!

What follows is the Famous Five in a brand new exciting adventure. There are over 20 members uniting to write this story, so this section will grow one chapter at a time over the next few months...

Chapter 14: Two Boats on Kirrin Island
by Kay Massingham (April 17, 2006)

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Panting, Anne reached the quarry and scrambled down to the tunnel entrance where Guy and Harry Lawdler had carried out their excavations a few summers ago. There was no sign of Julian or Dick. Gingerly, Anne switched on her torch and ventured a little way into the tunnel. It was chilly and musty. Anne softly called the boys' names, but realised with dismay they must be well down the tunnel by now.

Anne steeled herself. "Now don't be silly, Anne," she said to herself sternly. "George would not worry about a short walk to catch up the boys in this tunnel, and you put new batteries in your torch only this morning. Didn't you turn into a tiger in one of our earlier adventures, instead of a little mouse? You aren't just good for housework and cooking, you know!" Almost at that moment, the little girl spotted one of Julian's distinctive pink chalk marks on the tunnel wall. All she had to do was follow those marks! Surely she couldn't lose her way, and she would soon find the boys.

Anne came to a fork in the tunnel. Should she take the right or the left hand fork? There was one of Julian's chalk arrows telling her which way to go. Anne took the left-hand fork and hurried on, trying to ignore the sound of the sea booming distantly overhead.

Anne walked the full length of the tunnel feeling more and more bewildered. She passed the empty explosives boxes, and the passage leading to Uncle Quentin's workroom. How queer! The boys had gone to explore the tunnel and look for a link with Arden Hall, but from the chalk marks it appeared they had gone all the way to the island. At one point they had explored a side tunnel, but this ended in a mysterious locked door, and they had clearly drawn a blank and turned back to the main tunnel. Eventually Anne reached the end of the tunnel. "Blow. Surely I can't have missed them," Anne said to herself miserably. A horrid thought came into her head, that perhaps the two boys might have been captured as well. "I'll go and take a look at the cove, and if I don't spot them, I'll just have to go back, find a grown up and ask for help," Anne decided. "I simply can't think what else to do."

However, just as Anne came to the tunnel's end, she saw two figures and a dog, silhouetted against the fading light at the cave entrance. The boys were crouching down, watching something in the distance, with Timmy beside them. Anne felt a surge of relief and picked her way over the rocks towards them. Timmy heard Anne and got to his feet, wagging his tail, but made no sound. Julian and Dick turned too, and then jumped up in alarm.

"Anne, what are you doing here! Where are George and Sooty?" asked Julian with concern.

Anne had been brave for such a long time, she suddenly felt her courage ebbing away. Now tears came into her eyes. "Oh Julian, Dick," she wept. "We were exploring Arden Hall when we ran into Pottersham and Professor Hayling! They've kidnapped George and Sooty, but they didn't see me. I ran away and came to find you down the quarry tunnel.Oh Julian, what shall we do?"

And in response to Julian's questions, she told him the whole story in a trembling voice. Timmy kept very close to Anne, and licked her hand. He could feel the little girl was upset, and wanted to help.

"Fancy little Anne coming all the way along that tunnel all by herself! You're as brave as any of us," said Dick. Anne flushed with pleasure at being praised by her brother. Immediately the talk turned to the kidnapping.

"WHY is Professor Hayling involved? How queer, I don't understand it," exclaimed Julian. He was alarmed. What a state of affairs! George and Sooty kidnapped! Presumably Mr and Mrs Kirrin, George's parents, also captured by the Professors!

"But what are you two doing on the island?" wondered Anne. "I thought you were going to explore the tunnel for a link to Arden Hall."

"Well, that's a long story," began Dick.

But Julian interrupted him. "No time to explain that now, Dick. We must concentrate on the task in hand. Anne, we'll explain what we saw in the tunnel when we're all five together again—and Sooty too of course."

"Does that mean we're going to try and rescue George and Sooty right away?" asked Anne.

"We certainly should," said Julian, "but when you arrived, Dick and I were watching a strange rowing boat heading straight for Kirrin Island. That's another mystery we have to solve." And he nodded towards the cove, where the unknown rower was now hauling the boat up the sand. Julian wasn't quite sure what to do next. He ought to go and look for George and Sooty immediately, but equally, he wanted to know who the rower was, and what they were doing on the island.

Then Dick had a sudden idea. "If that person leaves their boat on the beach, and we could get away in it, we would reach the mainland much faster than trekking through that tunnel back to the quarry again," he said.

"What a brainwave, Dick!" exclaimed Julian. After a whispered consultation, the children agreed to try and get away in the boat. It was almost dark by now, and the children took advantage of the dimness to get closer to the beach. Keeping close to the cliff edge, they cautiously made their way across the rocks, Julian with a restraining hand on Timmy's collar. A small adult figure was lifting things out of the boat. As they neared it, the figure turned with a lantern in its hand and the light shone clearly on her face. It was Penny King!

Anne gasped in surprise, and Penny turned and called sharply, "Who's there?"

"It's only us," called Julian, deciding it was best to be open. "What are you doing here in the dark?" And he led the others, and Timmy, out onto the sands and into the glare of Penny's lantern.

"I need to do some measurements on the phosphoresence for my experiments," Penny explained. "I have to do that in the dark. My recording equipment is in this boat. I could use some help unloading if you can spare some time. But where's your boat? I thought this was the only place to land on this island."

Julian avoided the question. "We'd be happy to help you, Penny," he declared. Turning to the others, he spoke in a low voice. "Let's give Penny a hand and watch for an opportunity to get off in the boat."

"I suppose George is off practising her rowing again," Penny smiled. "Is part of the challenge to be able to row in the dark?"

The children laughed, but didn't enlighten her. Instead they helped her unload the boat.

"What's in this box?" asked Dick, as he picked up a cardboard box after bringing a series of coils of rope and cables and a huge battery.

"I brought some food with me," said Penny, "as I'll have to stay here for several hours. Are you hungry?" And she took from the box a bag of tomatoes, a packet of sandwiches wrapped in paper and two bottles of gingerbeer.

"Just the sort of picnic we like," grinned Julian. "But we'd better help you get your equipment set up first."

"I'm not sure you can help with that," said Penny. "It's complicated, and I need to set up at several points. I'll have to walk about half a mile along the island to leave my recorders in various places to get a range of readings. Why don't you tuck in while I do that? I'll only be about half an hour setting up. This is my only chance to do this experiment, as the tides have to be out at the right time, and I'm supposed to report to Professor Hayling at the end of the month."

"Professor Hayling!" exclaimed Julian in surprise. "I thought he was a physicist, not a marine biologist."

"Oh, you're thinking of his elder brother, who lives quite a way along the coast at Demon's Rocks," replied Penny. "He's a very well known physicist. But the younger Professor Hayling is a geographer."

"So they ARE related!" exclaimed Anne. "I did wonder, as they have the same name. But they don't seem alike at all."

"As a matter of fact," said Penny, "the brothers don't get on at all well. My Professor Hayling doesn't usually supervise me, but my usual supervisor is on a study visit to the Galapagos at present, and Professor Hayling has a particular interest in this piece of coast. He's always coming down here. Mind you, it's such a beautiful area, I'm not at all surprised." The children digested this news in silence. "Make sure you save some of the sandwiches for me and George," Penny added. "There's some slabs of fruit cake in the box, too."

The children watched her walk away, unreeling a bundle of electric cable as she went, and then seized the chance to talk.

"This is a perfect chance to get off in Penny's boat, just as soon as she's out of sight round the point!" said Dick.

"I hate to leave her stranded on the island," said Anne. "It was really kind of her to share her sandwiches with us."

"I think perhaps we'd better stay and see what she's up to," said Julian. "I'm not totally convinced we can trust her, and George would hate it if there was another mystery here that we had left unsolved."

"How can you say that when George is in terrible danger—and Sooty too!" cried Anne.

"You're right, of course, Anne," said Julian. "We'd better make that our priority."

So they waited impatiently for Penny to round the point, and then started to push the rowing boat down towards the waves. Just at that moment, they heard the sound of an engine over the water. It was a motor boat, heading straight towards the island.

"Quick!" said Julian. "Let's hide!"

The children crouched down behind Penny's boat, and it was lucky they did, for the small motor boat ran directly towards them, as near as possible to the beach. The engine was switched off, and then across the water they heard low voices.

"There's a boat on this beach. We could be discovered at any time! You fool, Pottersham, leaving that package on the island! You go and get it, I'll stay here with the kids in case I need to make a quick getaway. They are well tied up, so they won't cause me any trouble."

They heard the splash of someone jumping out of the boat, and then saw a man running up the path towards the castle. That must be Pottersham, on his way to get the missing package.

Anne put her mouth close by Julian's ear and whispered, "I think George and Sooty must be tied up in that boat. We HAVE to rescue them. But how...?"

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