The Mystery of Smugglers Cove (The Mystery Series, Book 1) Read Online Free

away by now if it had been used by smugglers years ago, and this packet of matches seems new.” He walked over and picked them up.
    “Hold on,” Joe said. “I don’t think we should touch anything until we find out who put all this stuff here.”
    “You’re right,” Will agreed, putting the matches down. “I didn’t think of that.”
    “You think someone comes here regularly?” Sarah said.
    “I don’t know,” Joe answered, “but this stuff can’t have been here that long.”
    Will nodded as he glanced around. “If someone does come here regularly, you can bet that they’re up to something illegal. They wouldn’t come here for any other reason.”
    Amy looked at Will. “Are you saying that smugglers still come here?”
    “Maybe,” Will said.
    The children walked over to where light entered the cave. Looking out, they could see the beach.
    “I reckon that we’re about seven hundred feet or so from where we started,” Will said, after looking out the window for a few moments.
    “I think you’re right,” Joe said. He stiffened at a sudden noise. He quickly ran to the hole and listened. The sound of men’s voices coming up the passage was getting louder as each second passed.
    “Quick!” he whispered to the others. “Find somewhere to hide. Someone’s coming!”
    Will ran over to the door and tried to open it. “It’s locked.”
    “Let’s try the boxes,” Amy suggested. She and Sarah hurried over and tried to open them. “No good,” she cried in desperation a few moments later. “They’re nailed down.”
    The men were getting closer. The children could now see a lamp light in the passage below.
    “Blow!” Joe whispered. “There’s nowhere else left to hide. We’ll be caught! We may as well give ourselves up and just hope they let us go.”
    “No!” Will whispered, his eyes defiant. “We can’t let that happen.”
    They watched as the first man emerged from the hole. As he leaned down to grab the lamp from someone, Joe realised that in a few more seconds they were going to be discovered!
Chapter 4: Chased!
     
    Joe suddenly spotted some boxes near the wall. “Hey, we can hide here.”
    Everyone hurried over and bent down. A moment later, the room was flooded with light as the first man to climb up put the lamp on the table and sat down. Through a gap in-between the boxes, they could see that he was thin, small, clean-shaven, and wearing fisherman clothes.
    Shortly, another man, who was tall and had a beard, and dressed the same as the first fellow, joined him at the table.
    Before they could start talking, the door opened from the other side and another man walked in. The bald fellow was dressed in a suit and had big, broad shoulders. He nodded curtly to the others. “Jake, Louis.”
    The tall man, Louis, looked up as the newcomer sat down opposite him. “Good to see you Rocky, what’s new?”
    “I just got word from the boss,” Rocky replied. “He’s coming tonight.”
    The thin man, Jake, stared. “Tonight? I thought he wasn’t coming for a few days.”
    “He’s moved up the deadline,” Rocky said. He’s coming here to make sure that all the details have been finalised since the boat is coming tomorrow. It will be our biggest haul yet.”
    “But we haven’t moved any of the boxes,” Louis said. “We were going to finish tomorrow night.”
    “Well, you’d better get cracking,” Rocky replied. “There’s a big bundle of stuff up at the house that needs to be brought down here. Better bring up the boxes that are empty and put the full ones in the tunnel.” He stood up and left the same way he had come.
    As soon as boxes had been mentioned, Joe stiffened and started thinking of a plan. He realised there was only a slim chance of being able to pull it off, but, being the eldest and the one in charge, he had to take the chance.
    Joe whispered his plan to the others. Then, he and Will searched the cave floor for two small rocks, one for each of them.
    “You