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 18: Caught again!
by Nanine Kamp (August 3, 2006)

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As soon as Penny left, George jumped up from her chair. "I'd better go too," she said. "I'll be back in an hour."

But Anne held her back. "Wait, George," she said. "It's time Julian and Dick told us what they found in the tunnel."

They looked inquiringly at Julian, who pursed up his lips as if to think. Then his face cleared.

"Oh yes," he said. "Well, Dick and I investigated the old tunnel that begins in the old quarry. We tried to find a passage to Arden Hall. We walked down one of those little passages we've never explored before, and guess what we found at the end!"

"No!" said Anne thrilled. "Do tell, Julian. I have no idea."

"We found ourselves in a cave," said Dick, picking up the story. "A big cave. It looked really grand. You must go see it one day. And it was full of boxes, containing all sorts of medicines and bandages."

"How queer!" said George. "Why would the men want medicines and stuff?"

"Maybe they want to start an underground hospital," said Sooty with a grin, and narrowly missed a punch from George.

"I don't know," said Julian thoughtfully. "Maybe they're smuggling them. But why? Our hospitals will never accept equipment from such a fishy source."

"It's strange all right," agreed Dick. "We didn't want the men to know we had discovered the boxes, so on our way back we took care to wipe out the chalk-arrows."

"This is getting curiouser and curiouser," said George. "Till yesterday we were in the middle of a treasure-hunt adventure, and now you tell us that there might be smuggling involved. I can't connect the two. Are you sure the medicines are not old?"

"They aren't," said Julian. "I checked the dates. I don't know what's going on, but we're going to find out!"

The children discussed the matter, but they couldn't think of any clues to the puzzle.

After a while, Penny returned, looking bewildered.

"What's the matter, Penny?" asked Sooty.

"Oh, George," said Penny in a trembling voice. "I was at your home, and I saw that something's happened there. The kitchen door was open and one of the windows was broken. The kitchen was in a terrible mess. It looked really awful."

George was shocked. "My house!" she said. "Who's been doing this? Wait till I find them!"

"What about Joan!" cried Anne. "Penny, did you see Joan?"

Penny shook her head. She had seen nobody about at all.

"Julian, we have to go there," said Anne to her brother. "I want to see if Joan's safe."

Julian stood there, undecided. "It might be dangerous," he said after a pause.

"We should call the police," Penny said.

"But it can take hours for the police to arrive," said Anne. "And Joan might be lying there injured for all we know. Julian, we have to go and take a look."

"I'm going in any case," said George obstinately. "It's my house after all. Come on, Julian. Don't be such a wimp. We have Timmy with us."

"Okay," said Julian at last. "But let's be on our guard."

"I'm not coming with you," said Penny. "I'll stay here. But please return soon. And do be careful."

"We will," promised the children.

#

The children soon reached Kirrin Cottage, and at once saw what Penny had already seen. The kitchen door stood ajar, and one window was broken. Timmy seemed to be at ease, however, so they assumed nobody was around and walked boldly up to the door. Penny was right—the kitchen really was a terrible mess!

They went in cautiously. The house looked deserted, but they wanted to be sure! So, led by Timmy, they went from room to room. Fortunately, only the kitchen had been ransacked—the other rooms seemed untouched.

They looked for Joan, but the house was empty. Joan wasn't there.

"What now?" wailed Anne after they had examined the whole house. "Joan isn't here. Where could she have vanished to?"

"She wouldn't simply leave like that, would she?" said Dick, puzzled.

"Why don't we see if Timmy can find out?" suggested Anne.

George bent over her beloved dog. "Timmy, look for Joan," she murmured. "Where's Joan?"

Timmy understood his mistress at once and started to sniff around. Soon he picked up a scent and was hot on the trail! With the children running to keep up with him, Timmy followed the trail out of the gate and across the moor.

"Hallo, it looks as if old Tim's leading us to Arden Hall!" said Dick. "But why would Joan go there?"

The trail did lead to Arden Hall. Timmy took the children over the familiar path. But just when they were walking down a part of the path that had high hedges on either side, they heard a noise. There was a rustling, and suddenly their path was blocked. A man stood in front of the children, aiming a gun at the six. A man the children knew only too well.

"Pottersham!" gasped Dick.

Jeffrey Pottersham smiled an evil smile. "Yes, it's me all right," he said mockingly. "Nice to meet you again."

Timmy started to growl, but George held on to him tightly. With a gun aimed at them, she wasn't taking any chances!

"What's the idea, Pottersham? You'll be sorry for this!" said Julian, trying his best to sound grown-up.

Pottersham smiled again. "I knew you would follow me," he said. "Too bad for you, kids. I'm finished with this place. In a couple of hours I'll be out of the country, never to return."

The children said nothing. Timmy growled softly.

"Yes, I'm rich now," Pottersham gloated. "Yes, I've found the treasure of Arden Hall. I know you found the map and the plan, but I was first with the treasure! I shall take it with me, and start a new life—a rich life. I can hardly wait!"

Pottersham narrowed his eyes. "It's a pity I left that package on the island last night. Or I'd be miles away by now," he said. "Still, who cares? I have the treasure now. You kids thought you were so smart, didn't you? I knew where the treasure was hidden. I didn't need the map, because I was the one who drew it—when I was in prison!"

The children listened in astonishment.

"Where did you get the original plan?" demanded George.

"The original was drawn by the third burglar, the one who escaped," said Pottersham amiably. "Some months after he was hired to do some work in Kirrin Cottage, he hid the treasure there. He marked the hiding place on the map and took it with him, but never got the chance to return. He died in prison, and I found it. And now the treasure is all mine."

"What about Sole and Hardy?" asked Sooty.

"Sole and Hardy?" sneered Pottersham. "Yes, they were there too, but they didn't know about the treasure. They only hired this burglar for their work. It's all about one's connections, you know."

Pottersham looked at the children with a satisfied grin.

"The police are fools," he said. "Of course, the burglar didn't take the treasure out of Arden Hall. But that's because he was out already, packing the treasure onto the horse! How did you think he managed to escape?"

Suddenly the man seemed to return to reality.

"Let's be off," he said. "I have only a couple of hours and I want to wrap this up. Walk in front of me, all of you. And keep that dog under control, or he gets it!"

#

The children traipsed disconsolately down the path. After all this effort, it was too bad to be captured yet again. They went in the direction of Arden Hall. Behind them walked Pottersham with his gun.

"Faster," he commanded. "I haven't time to dawdle."

Timmy was growling softly all the way. How he would have liked to pounce on this irritating man! But he couldn't. George held him too tight. She was looking worried. Why hadn't Timmy warned them Pottersham was around? Had he been too intent on following Joan?

Julian was anxious too. He blamed himself for allowing the children to fall into Pottersham's trap. Why hadn't he been more careful?

The little group soon reached Arden Hall. Pottersham forced them into the building, and ordered them to go to the room with the entrance to the tunnel.

The hole in the floor gaped at the children.

"Down there," said Pottersham. "Go!"

George turned around. "What about Tim?" she said in a half-choked voice.

"The dog has to go too," said Pottersham, annoyed. "Push him in if he refuses."

George looked at him in dismay. Push Timmy into the hole? Didn't the man know how heavy he was? But she had no choice.

"It's not very deep," whispered Sooty.

At the mouth of the hole the children could see some steep steps. Sooty went first, and helped Anne down. Then George went, holding on to Timmy. Dick was right behind her. He steadied Timmy to prevent him from falling headlong. It was terrible, but somehow they all managed to get down safely. George was very relieved.

"Are you hurt, Tim?" she asked the dog gently. "We're sorry, but we couldn't help it."

Pottersham told them curtly to walk on, so on they went. Soon they could hear a muted booming above their heads.

"We're under the sea!" thought George. "Funny we haven't come to any roof-falls yet. Sooty and I must have been taken through another passage when we were captured."

Suddenly the group was startled by the sound of approaching footsteps. They saw a light, and a man appeared at the far end of the tunnel. He looked as vicious as the rest of the gang.

"Chapman!" said Pottersham, pretending to be surprised. "What a coincidence—fancy meeting you here! Look at what I picked up."

But Chapman didn't seem to notice the children. He brushed past them and walked to Pottersham. He looked angry.

"Jeffrey," said Chapman to Pottersham. "We have to talk. Things are bad, and you are the one responsible!"

Pottersham looked taken aback.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Wasn't I the one who showed you this place? You agreed it's great for your smuggling, so why are you whining now?"

But Chapman wasn't listening. He spoke urgently.

"It would have been great for smuggling," he said, "if it weren't for the darned tide. But there are other problems too. We're running a lot of risks, and let me tell you this—"

"What risks?" asked Pottersham. "What are you talking about?"

"For a start," said Chapman. "Getting the stuff in here has been tricky. A couple of nights ago it was too dark and we had to use lights to guide the glider. We're pushing our luck."

"But why use a glider at all?" asked Pottersham.

Chapman lost his temper.

"Smart, aren't you?" he jeered. "An aircraft motor can be heard from miles away, so our plane launches a glider from a safe distance. The glider flies over Arden Hall, drops the packages in the grounds, and lands some miles away. It works, though you have to be careful not to be hit by the stuff raining around you.

"But one night was dark," he continued. "We missed some of the boxes that night and I had to return in the morning to comb for them. I conveniently borrowed a horse—you can't possibly cover this moor on foot."

Chapman stopped talking and took a breath.

"But my biggest problem is you, Pottersham," he went on, gesturing at the man holding the gun. "Ever since you came here you have caused me grief. The police came right after you. The next day I saw a plane full of men of a special force circling this area. And then, blowing up the tower on the island was stupid thing to do—it did nothing but bring more unwanted attention."

By now Pottersham was looking angry too.

"Well, you were the one who asked me to stop trippers from coming to the island, and that's what I did," he said.

"That's what you think," snarled Chapman. "The island now has more visitors than before."

The children watched the men argue. Neither of them was paying any attention to them, and Julian made up his mind to slip away. They couldn't return to Arden Hall because the men were in the way, but they could escape the other way, to Kirrin Island!

He signalled to the others, who got the idea at once and started to edge away from the quarrelling men. The men's voices echoed in the tunnel, so they could continue to hear every word.

"And what's with that Hayling chap," Chapman fumed. "I hired him to see if he could pick holes in Mr. Kirrin's theory and get the trippers away from the island, but he couldn't."

"Hayling did his job, even if he couldn't crack the theory," argued Pottersham. "After all, he succeeded in getting those nosy Kirrins out of the way."

"Rubbish!" yelled Chapman. "Hayling only helped you so you could have the Arden Hall treasure. And that's another thing I want to discuss with you. You were a fool to make off with the treasure. It is too soon and we're not finished. Don't you care about my business? I have to deliver medicines and stuff to the rebels. My work is not finished yet, but the way you're going about things I expect the police to start scanning the entire area!"

Pottersham exploded.

"What rot!" he said. "Finding this treasure was my dream. For years I worked on my plan. It took me a while to get all the information I needed. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to get out of jail. I had to swim! I packed the papers in waterproof plastic. And now you're saying I should wait for your stupid business to be over before I can claim my treasure? You must be crazy. I don't give a hoot about your business."

"I should have known better than to trust you," said Chapman furiously. "You'd better get lost. And take that woman with you. You were a fool to kidnap her. Or was that yet another attempt to get the police to sniff around?"

"Oh, her," sneered Pottersham. "Take her along with the medicines to your precious rebels. She might make a good nurse. Where people are wounded and sick a nurse is always welcome."

"But I'm talking about the situation here!" shouted Chapman. "You're getting in the way of my work. I should have never listened to your advice."

"You shouldn't have," agreed Pottersham. "But you did. I invited you so you'd cover for me and I'd have a way to escape. You will let me go nicely, won't you, with my treasure? Or will I have to use this after all?"

He aimed the gun at Chapman and grinned nastily.

For a moment Chapman hesitated. But then he lunged at Pottersham and the two men started to grapple with each other. The children heard the noises of the scuffle from further down the tunnel. Then Julian heard a sound he recognized. The gun had fallen to the ground!

He waited no longer. "Run!" he yelled to the others.

The children started to run as fast as they could, in the direction of Kirrin Island.

The men heard them run, and stopped fighting.

"The kids!" yelled Pottersham in a rage. "They're escaping. Quick! After them!"

The men started chasing the children down the tunnel!

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