But there was no time. At a word from Mr Eppy the three men with him ran up and stationed themselves behind Jack. Then Mr Eppy came up and stood in front of him.
‘And what exactly are you doing here?’ he said, in such a peculiar, menacing tone that Jack was astonished and scared. ‘Where are the others?’
‘We came to explore a bit,’ said Jack at last. ‘That’s all. Anyone can come and explore these islands. The Viking Star’s engines broke down and the passengers were told they could hire motor boats and cruise among these islands.’
‘Why did you come to this one?’ asked Mr Eppy, still in a fierce voice. Lucian answered unexpectedly for him.
‘Oh, Uncle! I expect he came hunting for the treasure you told me about.’
‘Hold your tongue, idiot of a boy,’ said Mr Eppy, almost spitting at poor Lucian. ‘And now you’ – he turned to Jack again – ‘how dare you come trespassing on my island!’
‘It isn’t yours,’ said Jack.
‘It is. I have just bought it!’ said Mr Eppy. ‘Ah – you didn’t know that – but you know why!’
22
Mr Eppy again
Yes, Jack did know why Mr Eppy had bought the island. He stared at the man miserably, his heart sinking. If the island was Mr Eppy’s, then the treasure would be his too. Once again it looked as if the adventure had come to a sudden end.
‘You know why I have bought it?’ repeated Mr Eppy. ‘Tell me, boy.’
‘Well – I suppose you wanted to look for treasure on it,’ said Jack in a low tone. ‘But you won’t find it. You only saw two pieces of the map, remember!’
‘Then you will tell me what was on the other pieces,’ said Mr Eppy in a dangerous tone.
Lucian was by now looking distinctly frightened. ‘Here, I say, Uncle,’ he began. ‘I don’t think you ought to talk to old Jack like that, you know. I mean to say . . .’
Mr Eppy took a step backwards and slapped Lucian neatly across the mouth. His hand made a noise like a whip-crack and Kiki immediately imitated it. Then she scolded Mr Eppy. ‘Naughty boy, naughty boy, nit-wit, mister-sir!’
Lucian burst into howls. He put his hand up to his mouth, and stumbled away to a corner. The three men did not turn a hair.
‘That is how I treat foolish boys,’ said Mr Eppy, turning back to Jack. ‘Are you going to be foolish too?’
Jack said nothing. Mr Eppy put his face close to his, and hissed at him so startlingly that Jack took a sudden step back and trod on the foot of one of the three men.
‘Where are the others?’ demanded Mr Eppy with his face close to Jack’s. ‘They must be here too. I sent away your boat yesterday. I threatened the man with prison for daring to land people on my island!’
‘Oh – so that’s why Andros ran away,’ said Jack in disgust. ‘What a foolish thing to do, Mr Eppy! Don’t you know he’ll come back again, probably with help?’
‘He won’t,’ said Mr Eppy. ‘He knows I shall put him in prison if he opens his mouth. No, no – I knew what I was doing. When I saw the boat there I guessed you and that big friend of yours were interfering here. I have heard of him! This is my island! Everything on it is mine.’
‘All right, all right,’ said Jack. ‘But why send the boat away without us? Why not send us off too? If you had told us it was yours – and I know you do buy and sell islands – we wouldn’t have trespassed without permission.’
‘I wanted you here,’ said Mr Eppy. ‘You have the plan, have you not? You did not leave it behind you? Ah, no – you would bring such a precious thing with you!’
Jack was silent. Of course – that was why Mr Eppy had sent the boat away without them – he meant to get the plan! And as he thought of that, Jack also thought of something else – something absolutely maddening.
He had the plan on him – the re-drawn one. He had looked at it with Bill underground, and had not given it back! Suppose Mr Eppy searched him. He would most certainly find it. How could he destroy it before he was searched?
‘It was you, I suppose, who met the farmboy yesterday, and today too, and took the food I had sent for,’ said Mr Eppy. ‘A most extraordinary thing to do! I am not pleased with things like that – they make trouble for me.’
‘Well – goodness gracious – how in the world were we to know that the food was for you, when we didn’t know you were here, and couldn’t understand a word the boy said?’ cried Jack. ‘Your boat wasn’t in the creek. We didn’t know anyone else was visiting the island.’
‘I came to the other creek,’ said Mr Eppy. ‘But I shall not tell you where it is. No – not till you tell me where the others are – and then, when I have the plan, maybe, I say maybe, I will set you free from this island – all of you who have come to interfere with my plans.’
‘It’s ridiculous,’ said Jack in disgust. ‘We haven’t come to interfere. Bill would be the first to say we’d all go, if he knew you had bought the island.’
‘Where are the others?’ barked Mr Eppy suddenly.
‘Somewhere about,’ said Jack indifferently. ‘Why don’t you look for them? And don’t shout at me like that. I’m not Lucian.’
‘Has this Bill the plan?’ asked Mr Eppy, his voice getting sharper.
‘Why don’t you find him and ask him?’ said Jack. ‘Call him! See if he answers! If I’m here why shouldn’t he be?’
Mr Eppy gave Jack such a sudden box on the ears that the boy had no time to dodge it. Kiki almost got the slap too, but rose into the air in time. She pounced down on the angry man and gave his ear such a vicious nip that he yelled in agony.
Jack suppressed a smile. Serve him right! Good old Kiki! The parrot sailed to a high branch and perched there, scolding hard.
‘Bad boy, naughty boy! Gr-r-r-r-r! Go to bed, go to the doctor, go to the weasel!’
Mr Eppy said something sharply to the three silent men behind Jack. In a trice they had him pinned by the arms, flat on the ground. Then, with a practised hand, one of the men searched him. He drew out the plan at once.
Mr Eppy took it. Jack could imagine how his eyes gleamed behind the dark glasses!
‘And so! You had it,’ said Mr Eppy. He unfolded it, and saw that it was not the original plan. He looked at it closely. ‘What is this? It is drawn by someone who has seen the other one – it’s been drawn for you. Has it been deciphered and translated?’
‘Find out for yourself,’ said Jack, still lying on the ground. He expected a kick or a blow, but Mr Eppy was so intent on the re-drawn plan that he did nothing. Jack remembered that the man had seen only two parts of the map before – enough to tell him which island to come to, and that there was treasure there. He must now be studying the other parts with eager interest.
‘“Two-Fingers”,’ he muttered. Then he looked at Jack. ‘“Two-Fingers”,’ he said. ‘That showed on the piece I saw before – and I found the two-fingered rock. But there is no way through.’
‘Oh – so that was your old battery we found in the hole, I suppose,’ said Jack, sitting up. ‘We wondered whose it was.’
Mr Eppy did not answer, or seem even to hear him. He was studying the map again. He was muttering something to himself. ‘“Two-Fingers” – “Goddess” – “Tomb” – “Bird” – “Bell” – “Labyrinth” – “Catacomb” – that is the route they took. The whole of it!’ Then he began to mutter in Greek, and Jack could no longer understand him.
Lucian was still holding his hand up to his mouth, and his face was tear-stained. Kiki was down by him, pecking at his shoelace. ‘Oh, I say!’ she was repeating. ‘Oh, I say!’
‘Have you found the way at all?’ demanded Mr Eppy.
‘What way?’ said Jack innocently.
‘Pah! The way to the treasure chamber!’ spat Mr Eppy.
‘Pah!’ spat Kiki at once. ‘Pah!’
‘I’ll wring that bird’s neck,’ threatened Mr Eppy. ‘Answer my question, boy.’
‘No, we haven’t found the way,’ said Jack truthfully, feeling quite glad that th
ey had gone the wrong way and not the right one in their following of the route! All the same, he wondered if Bill and the others had managed to find the way by now without him. But surely they would have waited for him. They must be wondering what in the wide world had happened to him! Jack hoped fervently that they would not all come climbing out of the broken column. If they did they would be taken prisoner by Mr Eppy and his men, and Bill would find it extremely difficult to keep his secret. In fact, it would not be any good his trying, now Mr Eppy had the map.
‘Once Mr Eppy knows the way down the broken column the treasure is as good as his!’ thought Jack. ‘What a good thing Lucian didn’t spot me getting out of it! I only hope the others don’t make a sudden appearance. I’m sure they will soon!’
But they did not, for the very simple reason that they had lost their way in the labyrinth! They were still wandering about the passages, getting more and more anxious. They had lost Jack, and had lost their way too.
‘This awful maze!’ said Dinah in despair. ‘Look, Bill – I’m sure we’ve been in this passage before. I remember the way this horrid piece juts out – it knocked my elbow last time, and this time too. I’m sure it’s the same.’
‘We’re going round and round and in and out, and goodness knows whether we’re near the vault or near the catacomb!’ groaned Philip.
Bill was very worried. He stood and thought for a moment, trying in vain to get a sense of direction. It was so difficult underground! He set off again, and soon came to a fork.
‘Well,’ he said, ‘I vote we go right here. It may be one of the places where we’re supposed to go right. So we’ll hope for the best! Come on!’
They trailed after him, Lucy-Ann getting very weary of it all. They reached another fork and turned right once more. Then they came to where the passages branched into four. Again they took the right-hand fork. Bill was feeling a little more cheerful. Perhaps they were on the right road now. They no longer came to blind ends where they had to turn back as they had been doing before. Ah – here was another fork. Well, to the right again!
The passage ended abruptly in a downward flight of steep steps. Bill swung the lantern up high and peered down the steps.
‘We’ve come the right way at last!’ he said. ‘These must be the catacombs – underground caves and passages all joined together, that were once used as hiding places, burial places and goodness knows what!’
‘Oh, Bill – have we really come right?’ said Lucy-Ann joyfully. ‘I thought we were lost for ever and ever! Do we go down the steps?’
‘We do,’ said Bill. ‘I’ll go first. Come on.’
Down he went and the others followed carefully. There were about thirty steps, and it seemed to the children as if they really were going down into the bowels of the earth. At the end was a strange place stretching out into the darkness. Lining its walls were stone shelves, rocky niches, hollowed-out places that looked as if they had been used for storing things in, or for people to hide in and sleep.
They came to a hole in the floor of this extraordinary place. Bill shone his torch down it. It was a shaft leading downward, and there were footholds in the rock. ‘I’m going down,’ said Bill. ‘I’ve got a hunch this is the place!’
He disappeared down the shaft with his torch, and soon his voice came back, excited and loud.
‘This is it! This is the treasure chamber – THE TREASURE’S STILL HERE!’
23
Treasure – and trickery!
The three children and Micky almost fell down the shaft, they were in such a hurry. They handed Bill the lantern and, by the light of that and of Bill’s torch, they looked in wonder round the curious treasure chamber.
It was perfectly round, as if it had been hollowed by machinery from the rock – though actually, of course, it had been done by hand. Thrown higgledy-piggledy into this enormous round cave – perhaps flung down the shaft in a hurry – were mouldering barrels and boxes and brass-bound chests.
Bursting out of them was a perfect medley of strange and amazing goods – chains of some kind of metal, set with precious stones – brooches, armlets, anklets – combs for the hair made probably of gold, and set with tiny stones – beautiful vases of metal, perhaps gold, perhaps brass, but too tarnished to tell. Beautifully wrought daggers lay in one corner, and what looked like armour of some kind in another – all fallen from the mouldered chests and boxes, or possibly burst out of these when they were thrown down the shaft so long, long ago.
There were broken models of figures and articles that looked like drinking cups and bowls, and yet other things whose use the children simply could not guess.
‘Well, well, well,’ said Bill, as thrilled as the children. ‘What a treasure hoard! Andra’s treasure, maybe – we shall never really know. But whether it is or not, it is certainly worth half a small kingdom because of its age! Look at this dagger – it must be hundreds of years old – perfectly preserved down in this dry shaft. I should think only our museums can show things like this now.’
‘Bill! It’s super!’ said Philip, his eyes shining in the lantern-light as he picked up treasure after treasure, everything beautifully modelled and carved.
‘I suppose the things like robes and cloaks and shoes have all mouldered away,’ said Dinah regretfully. ‘I’d like to have dressed up in those. Oh, Bill – we’ve really found it!’
‘I wish Jack was here,’ said Lucy-Ann, with tears in her voice. ‘He would have loved it so. Where can he be, Bill?’
‘I should think he probably took a long time finding Kiki and decided he wouldn’t risk coming after us by himself,’ said Bill. ‘I’ll tell you what we’ll do – we’ll go back and find him, and then we’ll bring him here to have a look at the greatest treasure in the world!’
‘But shall we be able to find our way back?’ said Philip doubtfully. Bill was very doubtful about this too. Also his torch was giving out and he was sure the oil in the lantern would not last much longer. It was very necessary to find their way back, pick up Jack, and also have something to eat! Excitement had kept them going, but now all of them were feeling very hungry indeed.
‘If we manage to get back quickly and find Jack we’ll all have a meal,’ said Bill. ‘Then if Jack’s lantern is all right we’ll use that to come here again – but this time we’ll be sensible and mark the walls as we go along! Actually I think we could find our way here easily enough if we concentrated on going right, right, right all the time. We must have missed one of the right turns.’
They climbed back up the shaft, leaving the extraordinary hiding place behind them. What a strange treasure chamber! How old was it? Had anyone else seen it since it had been put there?
They found themselves in the catacombs again. It was easy to get back to the steep flight of steps. Up they went into the labyrinth and began to make their way through the passages. ‘Now we must keep left, left, left,’ said Bill, ‘then we shall be quite all right.’
But no – once more they missed their way and began the everlasting wandering round and round and in and out of the maddening underground maze. Lucy-Ann was almost crying with weariness.
All this time Micky had been quietly on Philip’s shoulder, clinging to his head in awkward places. He too was tired of the curious dark walk that everyone was taking. He wanted to be out in the open, he wanted something to eat and, even more, he wanted something to drink.
He suddenly leapt off Philip’s shoulder and landed on the floor of the passage. He began to scud along by himself. Philip called out to him.
‘Hey, Micky, Micky! Come here! We don’t want to lose you too!’
Micky slowed down, but he still went on. Bill called to Philip. ‘Leave him, Philip! I believe he knows the way out. Animals have a good sense of direction, you know – a kind of homing instinct. Maybe he can take us straight to the broken column!’
Micky did not know what Bill was saying, but if he had known he would most certainly have agreed. Of course he knew the way! Of course hi
s instinct told him exactly the right way to go – left, left, left, without any silly mistake such as the humans had made. Why, he, Micky, could have taken them straight back to the vaults at any time if only they had told him they wanted to go!
‘Well, here we are in the vault again!’ said Philip thankfully when, in a very short space of time indeed, they came out into the enormous temple vault. Lucy-Ann was so thankful that she began to cry very quietly to herself. Nobody could see. She wiped away a few tears, then stopped her crying, feeling rather ashamed. She slipped her hand into Bill’s. He squeezed it comfortingly.
‘We’re all right now,’ he said. ‘We’ve found the treasure and found our way back – now we’ll find Jack! As we haven’t heard or seen anything of him, I imagine he’s out in the open, waiting for us!’
Jack was still in the courtyard with Mr Eppy, Lucian and the three men. It was some time later, and the boy had not been having at all a nice time. Mr Eppy had been on and on at him, trying to find out where the others were, and whether Jack knew the route to the treasure.
He had threatened Jack, had boxed his ears several times, and had boxed Lucian’s too when he had tried to come to Jack’s help. Jack had been surprised at Lucian for that. He had always thought him such a feeble boy. He looked at Lucian gratefully.
‘Thanks, Lucian,’ he said. ‘But don’t interfere, old chap – you’ll only get hurt. I can look after myself. Your uncle will get into trouble for ill-treating me, don’t you worry!’
Jack had begun to feel extremely hungry. So had the others, presumably, because Mr Eppy changed the subject suddenly and began asking Jack where they had put the food they had got from the farm-boy. Jack remembered perfectly well where it was – inside the broken column, on the stone ledge at the base of it, where the stone stairway began – but how could he say that? It would give the secret away completely!
So he sat silent, shaking his head to Mr Eppy’s exasperated questions, getting more and more hungry – and getting really rather anxious about the others too. Where in the world could they be? The sun was going down already, and soon it would be night.