The Orion Ghost

CHAPTER 9

  Jack and Claire arrived at the beach just after Blanca who had run on ahead barking for all she was worth as she sniffed the sea air and realised she was going back to the lighthouse. When they arrived they walked down to the water’s edge and unrolled their beach mats on the soft sand just before the tide line where the sand was wet. They then placed a towel on each mat and their basket containing water and sun cream in the sand. They had also brought a beach ball so that they could have a game of catch with Blanca who loved games.

  “Shall we go for a walk along the beach and collect shells?” asked Jack. Claire thought that was a good idea and they both walked down to the sea edge so they could walk with their feet in the water. They called to Blanca and threw the ball into the water ahead of them so she could chase it.

  They set off chattering about how good it was to be alone with the dog and the two of them felt very grown up. They certainly would not have been allowed out on their own in London. They walked along the beach for ages and suddenly Jack saw something ahead of them on the sand. He rushed on ahead of Claire who had stopped to pick up an especially prettily coloured shell.

  “Hey, come and look at this Claire,” said Jack.

  When she caught up, Jack and Blanca were examining a bottle. “It’s got a brownish liquid in it,“ said Claire. “Look at the label. It’s hard to read because it must have been damaged in the rain the other night but it looks like “G.l.e.n.. S.t.r..g.e” and it says Scotland on this bit and W.h.i.s..y over here.” Claire was spelling out bits of the label that she could read.

  “It must be a bottle of whisky,” said Jack, “but what is it doing here on the beach, and what are those tracks on the sand? Look, they go right up to the sand hill over there.”

  “Let’s follow them,” replied Claire. “Come on Blanca.” The twins followed the tracks right up onto the top of the sand dune where there were a few plants clinging on against the wild Atlantic winds. There were little fences that held the sand still to try to stop it drifting when the winter winds were blowing but the tracks avoided these and followed the little rough path from the beach that lead back into the pine forest.

  The twins followed the tracks, which looked as if they may have been made by a sledge being pulled up through the sand. Finally they petered out in a clearing in the forest. “Look, there are tyre marks here, and over there,” said Jack. “Whatever was being pulled up the beach must have been loaded onto a car and driven away.” They followed the tyre marks for a little way deeper into the forest but decided, as the car was long gone, that they wouldn’t find the vehicle anyway and they might get lost. At least on the beach they couldn’t lose their way if the kept the lighthouse in their sights.

  Blanca and the twins hurried back to the beach. Jack held the whisky bottle and Claire took the beach ball. When they got to their mats they sat down and had a drink of water. Blanca wanted one too so Claire had to hold her mouth open while Jack poured a bit of water onto her little pink tongue. “We should have brought her a bowl,” said Claire, “but she seems to prefer it this way anyway,” she said laughing. After her drink Blanca trotted off to chase the waves while Jack and Claire decided what to do about the whisky and the car tracks. They thought there must be something illegal going on and they knew they should tell an adult but they were so excited at having their own adventure that they decided to keep their find secret.

  “Why don’t we come back here at night and see if we can see what is going on,” said Jack. Claire was a little bit scared at the idea but Jack convinced her that they would be ok, as long as they were very quiet and stayed well hidden.

  “But how will we find the right spot again?” asked Claire. The beach all looks the same.”

  Jack knew Claire had a good point. They could see clearly now in full daylight but how would they cope at night? Jack thought they could count how many steps to this point from the lighthouse but Claire thought that would be too difficult as the tracks were quite a distance from the lighthouse. “Let’s go back to the tracks and see if there is something we could use as a guide.” Said Jack. This time the twins ran along the beach retracing their steps until they could see the tracks again. “There, look Jack, there‘s a rock near the water’s edge. We might be able to see that at night, especially if there is a bright moon.” “Right, that’s our marker,” answered Jack.

  “Now we had better get back or Aunty Izzy will think we’ve been eaten by sharks!”

  The twins packed their basket and took Blanca up to the lighthouse but there was no sign of Uncle Bernard or Thierry and Aliénor.

  “They must be still at our house,” said Claire. “We had better take Blanca along with us.”

  As the twins walked up to the house Jack whispered,” Remember, don’t say a word about whisky!”

  Claire laughed. “OK. We had better find out if the moon is going to be out tonight, though. Perhaps Uncle Bernard will know.”