The Aeroplane of Adventure

©2009 David Marlor

This novel is based on the characters created by Enid Bylton in the Adventure Series. In this regard, it is the ninth adventure and follows The River of Adventure.

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Chapter 21: On the Raft

The children were exhausted, but Jack wouldn't let them stop.

"Come on, Lucy-Ann," he said gently but firmly. "We really have to get off this island. Those men will be after us."

Philip groaned. He really wanted to sleep, but he knew Jack was right. The children set off down the hill towards their treehouse. They were all glad to be out in the fresh air. It really was a nice night with a bright moon, hiding every so often behinds scudding clouds. The children came close to their camp when Jack, who was in the lead, stopped.

"We should be very cautious. We don't want to get caught now that we've escaped. They may have somebody on guard waiting for us. I'll go ahead, you wait here. If I'm caught, get off the island and get to Bill, okay?" Without waiting for a protest, Jack moved carefully towards the pools, keeping in the trees. He was glad he did as he suddenly drew back at the sight of two cigarettes glowing in the dark near the pool.

Jack crept back to the others. "There's two men waiting for us. At least, I could only see two men. I vote we go around this way and go straight to our raft and get off this island."

"What about food?" asked Dinah. "It's all in the treehouse."

We'll have to do without, I'm afraid," said Philip. "I don't think we should risk being caught while getting food out of the treehouse. I vote we sneak around the pools and get to our raft." And hope it hasn't been found, he almost said as an afterthought, but decided not to. He didn't want to worry the girls any more than they were already.

Jack led the way through the trees and behind some rocks that kept them out to sight of the pool and the two men. They were soon on the beach and each of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Philip jumped with fright as something landed on his shoulder. "Pah, pah, bad boy," said Morris, as the mynah bird tried to peck at Philip's ear.

"Golly, Morris, you scared me," said Philip, glad to see the bird again. "Now be quiet, shush."

"Shush," said Morris. "Shush.

Each of the children were secretly thankful to find the raft still safely hidden by the seaweed. They quickly pulled the seaweed off and pushed the raft across the beach to the sea. Jack and Philip pulled the sail and mast out of its hiding place. It took the children a while, but then the raft was floated nicely on the sea. Jack and Philip erected the mast, using the twine they had stored for that purpose.

Lucy-Ann and Dinah pulled out the oars they had made and helped to push the raft off. Jack and Philip took an oar each and tried to paddle. It was difficult as the raft wanted to go around in circles. After a while, the boys had figured out the best way to row the raft and keep it going more or less straight. Luckily the night was clear so Lucy-Ann could keep an eye on the North Star and whisper directions to the boys to keep them going straight.

Once they were away from the beach, Dinah pulled on a rope and the makeshift sail dropped down. There was a little wind and the sail filled nicely. The boys stopped rowing and Jack used his oar to steer, yawing wide as he did so.

"Jack," said Dinah, shaking his shoulder gently. "Give me the oar. I'll steer while you sleep." Dinah took the oar from the sleepy boy and, following Lucy-Ann's directions, she steered the raft. Both Philip and Jack were soon fast asleep in the middle of the raft.

Both girls thought about home and their mom and Bill. What would they be thinking?

A few hours later, Lucy-Ann pointed and Dinah saw the first light of dawn on the north-eastern horizon. In the dawn light, she could see the island they had left behind them and the other island, which they had seen before in the distance, ahead of them. It looked like they were about halfway there. As the sun rose, Dinah wished they had some food to make a quick breakfast, but they would have to wait until they reached the other island. And then what? Dinah didn't know. Then she remembered that they had seen a settlement on that island. "Well, let's hope they're friendly," she thought.

Morris the mynah bird flew down from its perch on the mast and sat on her shoulder. Kiki, seeing this, became jealous and flew down to sit on Dinah other shoulder. The two birds spent a good time hurling insults at each other and Dinah couldn't help but laugh.

Jack and Philip awoke with the bright sunshine on their faces. At first Jack couldn't recognise where he was. Then it all came flooding back. He sat up and stretched and grinned at the sight of Dinah with the two birds on her shoulder.

"Here, Dinah, let me steer for a while and you and Lucy-Ann get some sleep." The boys and girls changed places and Jack and Philip steered the raft towards the second island while the girls fell asleep.

"What are we going to do when we get to the island, Jack?" asked Philip. "I keep on thinking, but I can't come up with a plan. We'll be just as stranded over there. Maybe we're just jumping out of the fire and into the frying pan,"

"I know, I keep thinking the same thing," said Jack, frowning. "I just hope that the people we saw over there are friendly and will help us. Maybe they have a boat we could borrow. Although I don't know were we would go to..."

Jack looked back at the island they had come from and puzzled over it. What was going on over there? Whatever it was, Jack felt it was a threat to the world's nations. He shook his head.

"What is it?" asked Philip.

"I was just thinking," said Jack. "That that island looks so beautiful and so peaceful and yet it's crawling with crooks and missiles and goodness knows what else. Hallo – what's that?" he asked, pointing off to the left.

"What's what? asked Philip.

"I don't know," said Jack, puzzled. "I thought I saw something sticking out of the water over there."

Philip stared at the darkness, and then he saw it. It looked like a small pipe, and it was coming towards them! The boys watched as it got closer. Philip woke the girls, not sure what to expect. The girls watched, wide-eyed, and then the water started to swirl around them.

The turbulence got worse and the children could hear a hissing sound. Then something black and shiny emerged from the water. The children gasped as a huge submarine surfaced next to them, its hull rising above them as it finished surfacing. On the side there was a red capital T with a cross through it.

Lucy-Ann stiffed a scream as the hatch opened and a man climbed out, carrying a revolver. "The enemy's submarine," she cried. "We've been caught! We've been caught!"

Continues tomorrow...

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