Arthur opened his eyes. For the last few minutes he had been mentally checking each and every bone that he could think of but as yet he had not confirmed his worst fears. He also appeared to be dry which puzzled him somewhat. It was at the point of opening his eyes that he might have been forgiven for thinking he had experienced some damage. To begin with he could see nothing. He was about to accept this as total blindness when, noticing darker shadows amid the general blackness, he realised that he was merely in a very dark place.
"Tracy?" he whispered uncertainly, then a little more confidently. "Tracy!"
"All right! I can hear you." she replied from somewhere in the gloom behind him.
He swung round. The ground under his feet lurched, almost throwing him off balance as it dawned on him that he was still in the boat and afloat at that. They had entered a large cave, which must have extended for quite a long way under the east hill of the island.
"Can you see the painter?" Tracy asked a little shakily.
"Just about." he felt for the neat coil of rope in the bows.
"Well pick it up. We're about to tie up." She was already attaching the fenders along the left hand side of the boat.
"What? Where?" Arthur was bemused. He expected at any time to hear the scraping of wood on rock, although the engine was no longer running and the boat was carried slowly forward under its own momentum. Once all fenders were attached Tracy fumbled about under the engine and produced a torch. The beam played along the almost vertical sides of the long, narrow cave before coming to rest a small distance forward and to the left of them.
There was something strange here. Steps, hewn from the stone, appeared to climb out of the water and up the side of the rocky wall, reaching a point further up where the cave appeared to open out. On every third step an iron ring protruded from the wall, and as the boat came to rest Arthur slipped the rope through one of them, bringing the end back into the boat and holding on.
"I get the feeling you know this place!" he grinned. "You might have let me in on the secret!"
"Sorry." she replied. "Actually I've not been here that many times, and I've never tried coming in at that speed before. I thought we'd had it!"
"Funny you should say that. A similar thought was passing through my mind."
Tracy climbed over the side of the boat, alighting expertly on the slippery step. She took the rope, removing it from the ring and waiting while Arthur joined her.
"Do you think they are still out there?" Arthur glanced back towards the cave mouth.
"I don't know." she shrugged. "I think we should wait a while."
"Did you recognize them?" They climbed the steps, pulling the boat with them.
"They were the men at the house, yes." Reaching the top she tied the rope to a ring.
In the light of the torch Arthur was amazed to see a door in the rock face. Tracy opened it and reached inside. A hurricane lamp stood on a shelf and it was the work of an instant to light it and set it on a table in the middle of what transpired was a sizeable room. The walls of this room were lined with whitewashed brick and at the opposite end of the room was another door.
"What is this place?" Arthur asked incredulously.
"We're not exactly sure. Dad thought it might have been something to do with smugglers. Some sort of hideout."
"Some smugglers." Arthur peered round in the yellow light. "It must have taken a lot of effort to tunnel this lot out." He glanced around at the carefully finished brickwork and the chests and cupboards that were arranged neatly along the walls. In one corner there was even a washstand complete with almost Victorian ceramic bowl and jug. He opened a cupboard door. The shelves within were neatly stacked with bronze coloured food tins without labels.
"These are military rations!" he said, looking at the brown print on the top of each tin.
In another cupboard were a number of paper rolls, which turned out to be maps and charts. The outsides of these rolls were brittle and discoloured, but unrolling one he discovered that inside the paper was still good. The charts showed the waters of the coastline stretching for a few miles in each direction, giving details of rocks and shallows. Looking at the maps they could see towns and villages with familiar names, but none of the motorways or dual carriageways that joined them. The new business parks and light industrial estates were also conspicuous by their absence. Arthur rolled up the papers and replaced them in the cupboard. He sat down at the table.
"There's a lot more to this than any of us realized." he commented. "Am I right in thinking this is the 'safe place' you mentioned?"
Tracy opened a small chest and took out a small brown leather covered box. The corners were strengthened with brass and there was a pattern of concentric circles embossed into the lid. The box was locked. She carefully replaced it in the chest and closed the lid.
"I think it's about time we were getting back." She said quietly. "They may try to land on the island. We ought to warn Reuben and Phil.
Arthur turned to go back through the door and down to the boat.
"Wait!" Tracy had moved to the other door. "This way."
She opened the door and shone her torch along a narrow passage. Arthur picked up the hurricane lamp and followed. The passage led into the heart of the island, carved out of the solid rock.