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 9: Settling In

The children were exhausted by nine o'clock. They retired to the treehouse and pulled up the ladder just so they would feel safer. They lay in their beds that night, talking to each other.

"You know," said Philip, "so far I'm enjoying this adventure. I just hope mother and Bill are not too worried about us." The children talked for some time, the slight swaying of the tree rocking them to sleep. Morris the mynah bird put its head under its wing and soon fell asleep on a branch next to Philip. Kiki saw that everyone was asleep.

"Pah," she said to herself. Then she put her head under her wing and was soon asleep too.

The children soon got into the swing of living in a treehouse. The weather was hot and dry. The days went by and nobody from the airstrip bothered them. They spent their time wandering on the rocks and swimming in the pools. They dived off the rocks into the deep salt water 'cold' pool. They lazed on the rocks enjoying the hot sun.

Jack found some old fishing line that had washed up on the beach and he made a crude fishing hook using sharpened driftwood. He came back one evening with a catch of two large fish. Philip gutted them and they had their first fresh food in days. In the evenings, they spent their time bathing in the hot pool, enjoying the feel of the cool sea breeze on their faces. The children soon got used to the rotten egg smell of the hot pool.

Once, Philip climbed the hill and looked down the other side onto the airstrip. He came back to report that Bill's aeroplane was still there under its netting, hiding it from view, and the men were there also. Somehow, it was comforting to know that Bill's aeroplane was still there, even though they couldn't fly it or nobody knew where it was.

Jack and Philip found some driftwood and used their knives to repair the rotten rungs on the ladder. They also replaced some worn out wood in the floor and walls of the treehouse Kiki and Morris the mynah bird became good friends. Kiki was an awful tease. The mynah bird still couldn't fly very well and Kiki would fly around it in circles screeching for all she was worth. The children enjoyed watching the two birds. Often the mynah would get the better of Kiki when she least expected it. Kiki learned to be wary of the young mynah bird.

Philip and Jack puzzled about the treehouse. It clearly was old, but yet nobody lived on the island as far as they could see. It must have been a shipwrecked sailor many years ago. They climbed a few other trees, but none of them were as big or as exciting as the one they were in, with its mysterious treehouse.

Philip found the black notebook and newspaper article that he had stuffed into his pocket in the plane on the first day. He showed them to the others. The little black book was all in another language with small diagrams and columns of figures and names. The children could not make head nor tail of it. Still, it might be important. Jack said that one of the drawings looked like a rocket. It really was strange. The newspaper article interested the children because they had seen one like it before. It was about Peter Wilson, the scientist who had died in an aeroplane accident just over two years ago. Why would the men who stole Bill's plane clip out that particular article?

The children explored the coast and the caves they found. None of them went very far back and all of them became full at high tide. The children came to some rocks and made an exciting discovery.

"What are those?" asked Lucy-Ann, pointing to two green cylinders.

"They look like old containers," said Philip going over to them. "Yes, they are. See! They're a bit rusty."

"They must have washed up on the rocks some time ago," said Jack. "They probably fell off a ship or are the remains of a shipwreck."

Philip examined the cylinders closely. They were not very big, and two of the children could easily carry one. Though why they would want to he wasn't sure.

The children left the cylinders and continued to explore further along the coast. It was really sandy here. Lucy-Ann and Dinah took their sandals off and walked along the beach, letting the cool waves run over their feet.

"Oh, lovely," said Lucy-Ann. "I can feel the sand moving from under my feet every time a wave comes up."

At the end of the beach, the children climbed over some black rocks and found themselves in another smaller cove. They decided to stop here and have a late picnic lunch before setting off back.

"Isn't that the other island?" said Dinah pointing. The others looked.

"Yes," said Philip. "We saw it that day from the top of the hill." Jack had fished out his field glasses and was scanning the island.

"What do you see, Jack?" asked Lucy-Ann.

"Not much," reported Jack. "The heat haze is causing it to shimmer. All I can see are what look like rocks and some trees. Oh... just a minute. That's odd."

"What?" asked Dinah, "Come on, Jack, what's odd?"

"I'm positive that's a spire of smoke over there, and that rock actually looks more like a hut or cabin or something."

"Let me see," said Dinah impatiently. Jack passed the field glasses to her. She swept the coast of the other island.

"I see it," she said excitedly. "Yes, I think you're right, it is smoke."

Philip and Lucy-Ann each had a turn and they all agreed it looked like a spire of smoke rising from the other island. It was too far away to see with the naked eye.

"Do you think they're friendly?" asked Lucy-Ann.

Philip considered. "Well," he said. "I doubt they're part of this gang, they seem too far away somehow. Anyway, we've no way of getting there and they certainly couldn't hear us if we yelled or signalled."

Continues tomorrow...

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