“What did I tell you?” roared Alfred. “Isn’t it a beauty?”
“It’s something,” said Charlie. “Looks a bit eerie if you ask me.”
“We’re not asking you, Charlie,” said Sam with a big smile on his face. “We’re telling you. This is going to be great. Let’s get in there.”
“This is the entrance to the main shaft,” said Sam. “We’ve been through this before. From here you can go into any of the other shafts and tunnels. Some of them are real long and go down real deep.”
“How deep are we going?” asked Charlie, a worried look beginning to spread over his face.
“Deep enough so that we know we’ve really been somewhere,” Sam replied eagerly. “Let’s go.”
Sam trotted ahead of the other boys until he stood right beneath the wooden-framed entrance to the mine. “So you comin?” he said, turning to face the others.
“Yeah, we’re comin’,” said Alfred, gesturing enthusiastically to the other boys.
Charlie and Jeremy held back briefly and then moved slowly toward the mine entrance. Jeremy looked back at James, who stood completely still, hands on his hips. “Come on, James. It won’t be that bad. We’ll take a look, turn around, and then head back home. Nobody will even miss us.”
Within seconds, the four boys removed a few rotting boards barring the entrance and had disappeared into the mine. James glanced around quickly and then followed.
Within a few seconds, the boys found themselves in a dark, narrow corridor with stale-smelling air.
“You see what I’m talkin’ about?” said Sam, gesturing toward the narrowing tunnel. “This place is great. But we’re gonna need some lights. Everybody bring their hand torch?”
Alfred immediately began to swing his torch around, flashing it into Jeremy’s and Charlie’s eyes and laughing. Jeremy quickly got out his torch. Charlie had forgotten his. James stood quietly in back of the others.
“If you’ve got no torch,” said Alfred, shaking his head at James,” then you’d better come up here by us.”
James moved forward to join Charlie and Jeremy. “Stick with me, James,” said Jeremy. We’ll be fine.”
Alfred and Sam plunged quickly into the semi-darkness, flashing their lights back and forth. Within minutes, they had descended several feet and light from the entrance of the mine was barely visible. The walls of the mine were a dark brown with streaks of what appeared to be reddish clay. Every few feet, the boys had to steps over rocks—large and small. Some of them seemed to sparkle a little in the light of their torches.
“These rocks worth anything?” asked Charlie.
“No,” replied Alfred with a shrug. “They’re just rocks. The mine’s been played out for years.
The boys continued through the tunnel for another hundred feet and then stopped as Sam put his hand up.
“Here’s where it starts to get interestin’,” said Sam lightly, as he stopped to swing his light in the direction of the two tunnels that lay before them. “You’ve got to decide whether you’re gonna go to the right or the left.”
“What’s the difference?” ask Jeremy.
“Well,” said Alfred. “If you go to the right, you start to do down real fast. Then after a few minutes you have to make a choice about which tunnel to take from there.”
“How about if you go left?” asked Charlie.
“We’ve never gone left,” said Sam. “I thought this might be a good day for it, especially since we’ve got reinforcements with us today.”
“I don’t know,” said Charlie slowly. “I think we’d better stick to the places you’ve already been to.”
“How’s that explorin’? Going to the same places you’ve already been?” barked Alfred. “Where’s the fun in that?”
“The fun’s in coming out alive,” said Charlie. “I was all for doing this, but only if we don’t get ourselves killed.”
“That’s right,” said James. “We don’t want to be stupid about this.”
“Nobody’s bein’ stupid,” Sam shot back. “We’re just here to have fun. But okay, boys, if you want to stick to the right side where Alfred and I have gone before, that’s fine. We’ll show you some sights, won’t we Alfred?”
“Sure we will, Sam,” responded Alfred. “And then when everybody feels good about it, maybe we’ll come back and explore the left side. I’m told that the left side goes a lot deeper, right to the end of the mine where they couldn’t go any farther.”
“Yeah, sure,” said Charlie. “Maybe next time. But for now, let’s go where we know what we’re doing. By the way, what’d you bring that rope for?”
“Oh, nothing,” answered Alfred. “It’s just in case we fall down some bottomless pit while we’re walking through the tunnel.”
“Oh, is that all?” said Charlie.
“Righto,” said Sam cheerily. “Come on, boys. Let’s get to it.” Sam and Alfred turned quickly into the tunnel on the right and headed into it.
Looking over his shoulder, Sam said, “But stay close, boys. We don’t want to lose anybody. Some people have gotten lost down here, never to be found again.”
“Oh, good,” said Charlie, rolling his eyes. “I feel much better now.” Jeremy stifled a laugh, then glanced over to James. “You don’t look happy.”
“I’m not,” said James. “But I suppose if we’ve come this far…”
“That’s the spirit,” said Jeremy. “I know it’s a long shot about my father. I just thought I had to try everything.”
James smiled slightly. “I understand, Jeremy. I’d probably do the same in your place.”
***
The boys made their way slowly through the tunnel for about ten minutes, Alfred and Sam pointing out curiosities and showing the other boys places where the tunnel had caved in years ago. “It’s perfectly safe now,” Alfred insisted. “It’s the digging that made the tunnels collapse. That’s why they had to quit years ago. That and the fact that the coal was getting too hard to get out of the ground.”
“If it’s safe,” said Charlie, feeling his way slowly without a flashlight,” then why were there so many signs back there saying ‘keep out?’”
“Oh, that’s just for the old ladies,” said Sam. “Lots of kids have explored the old mines. Our older brother Willie did when he was our age. Nothin’ happen to most of them.”
“Most of them?” said Charlie, wincing slightly. “Now I feel just great. Say, when are we coming to the end of this tunnel? We’ve been down here quite a while.”
A few minutes later, Charlie halted in his tracks and reached out to stop Jeremy and James. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” said Jeremy. “We’ve got to keep going. We’re getting too far behind Sam and Alfred.”
“I think I heard something too,” said James. “Quiet for a minute.”
“There!” said Charlie. “I heard it again. Someone shouting…in the distance. Sounds like it’s coming from the entrance to the mine.”
“Yeah, someone is shouting,” said James, tilting his head to focus his concentration.
“Oh my God,” said Charlie. “James, it’s Susie! It’s your little sister!”
“I can’t believe it,” said Jeremy. “Your sister Susie followed us here?”
The shouting was a little clearer now, the voice coming closer.
James sighed. “Yeah. It’s definitely Susie,” he said. “But that’s crazy, following us into the mines. She could get hurt!”
“Hey, we could get hurt,” said Charlie. “It seems to me that we’re as dumb as she is.”
“Hey, what’s all the fussin’ about?” demanded Alfred, who had backtracked to find James, Jeremy and Charlie. “We’ve got to get goin’.”
“Well, I’ve got to get going home,” said James. “Susie somehow followed us into the mine. I’ve got to get her home.”
“Your little sister? Followed us here? Why would she do that?” demanded Alfred.
“I don’t know and I can’t help it,” said James. “She n
ever pays any attention to what I tell her. But I’ve got to go find her and take her home. My aunt will have a fit.”
“Oh, go ahead and run home, you little sissy,” said Alfred. “You never wanted to come anyway. You’ve been afraid ever since we set foot in here.”
“I’m not afraid, Alfred. But I don’t think it’s a great idea exploring an old mine that’s been abandoned for years. I’m leaving. I’m taking my sister home.”
“Take me with you,” said Charlie. “I think I’ve seen enough of this. I’m beginning to forget what sunshine looks like.”
“And me,” said Jeremy. “I guess I’ve seen enough dirt and rocks for one day. My father’s not here. I really knew all along that he wouldn’t be.”
“You bunch of quitters!” roared Sam, walking quickly up to the group. “How can you quit on us just when things were going to get interesting?”
“Just how was this going to get interesting, Sam?” asked Charlie. “Were we going to get stuck in some cave-in and all suffocate to death?”
“No, you bunch of cowards!” Sam bellowed. “We’re going to explore some new territory. Who knows what we could find? We could find Nazis hiding out here. We could even find clues to King Arthur’s gold!”
“Except that there is no gold and never was any gold,” said James, shaking his head slowly. “And maybe there wasn’t even a King Arthur. I can’t believe that you two actually believe those old stories.”
“Well, I didn’t say we actually believed it,” said Sam, smiling broadly. “Besides, isn’t it your loony uncle who’s always going on and on about King Arthur?”
“It doesn’t matter,” interrupted James. “I’ve got to find Susie…now.” James quickly turned and headed back up the tunnel, Charlie and Jeremy following closely on his heels.
***
In a matter of minutes they found Susie, waiting impatiently, close to the opening of the mine. “James!” she screamed, her bright red pigtails swinging wildly from side to side as she shook her head violently. “I can’t believe you did this! I can’t believe you went into the old mine! Aunt Charlotte is going to kill you!”
“Now, now, Susie,” Jeremy said soothingly, “be a nice sister and don’t bother your brother James. Everything’s fine now. We’re safe. You’re safe. We’ll all be out of here in a minute.” Jeremy gently took Susie’s arm and within minutes, the four of them were outside the tunnel, blinking furiously at the bright sunshine.
“Don’t think I’m not going to tell, James, because I am,” said Susie, only a little less angry than before.
“Susie, I…” began James.
“There’s nothing you can say, James,” said Susie.
“Sure there is, Susie,” interjected Jeremy. “Now look. No harm was done here. We’re all safe. Everybody’s OK. Besides, he did it as a favor to me. Now let’s not go making trouble for everyone.”
“I’m not the one making trouble,” said Susie. “Aunt Charlotte thought you might be up to something so she said I should keep an eye on you.”
“But Susie,” James began.
“That’s a good little sister, Susie, doing what your auntie asks you to do,” said Jeremy, patting her hand gently, “but I’m sure that she wouldn’t have wanted a little girl like you to go down into some scary old mine. Why, you could have become lost. Now we boys knew what we were doing…”
Susie frowned. “You boys don’t know anything,” she shot back. “You could have gotten lost just as easily.”
“No we couldn’t,” continued Jeremy, “because we had a couple of guides…”
“Alfred and Sam!” cried Susie.” What do those two know? “My aunt says…”
“Yes, I’m sure she does,” said Jeremy, “but we had our electric torches. Did you have an electric torch, Susie?”
“Well, no…but…” said Susie.
“You see? That’s what I mean,” said Jeremy. “Now if your aunt found out that you went stumbling into a dangerous old abandoned mine without an electric torch…well, I’m sure that she’d be very worried. So you see, Susie, the best answer for everyone is just to pretend this never happened.”
Susie folded her arms across her chest. “Well, I guess so…”
“Fine, that’s settled. Now let’s get out of here and back to the village square,” said Jeremy.
As Susie charged angrily ahead, James nodded to Jeremy. “Thanks a lot, Jeremy. My aunt really would have killed me.”
“Think nothing of it,” said Jeremy. “I’m sure you’ll help me escape a trap set by my crazy little sister someday.”
Chapter 13: Landing!
The first of the five men to arrive at the base of the cliffs gestured in sweeping motions for the others to hurry. All were dressed in black with darkened faces. They spoke German to each other, urgently, in short, staccato phrases.
“Schnell! Come quickly!” said the first. “We’ve got no more than an hour to get this job done.”
“But Lieutenant Schneider,” said the shortest of the five, breathing heavily after his dash over the open beach, “I don’t think the U-boat landed us in the right place. By my calculations, we’re at least three miles away from the new radar installation.”
“I know that, Hassler,” growled Schneider. “Those idiots will be lucky to find their way back to home port. But we’re here now and we’ve got a job to do. Get the men together.”
Sergeant Hassler grunted a few quick instructions to the other three men and all of them gathered together in a tight circle.
“Now listen to me carefully,” said Schneider. “We’ve gone over this a dozen times, but I’m going to tell you once more. We must move quickly and quietly up these cliffs and make our way to the new radar installation. Keep down and keep out of sight. We can’t be seen. If we are seen, we’ll have to dispose of anybody who can turn in the alarm. Sergeant Hassler, tell them again about the explosives.”
Hassler reached into his bag and pulled out a small electronic device. “I’ll explain this one more time,” he said quietly to the men gathering around him. “You’ve all got enough explosives in your bags to blow the village off the map, but they won’t do any good if you don’t set the timers right. We don’t want to be blown up along with the radar station.”
The three other men nodded.
“All right,” said Schneider. “Let’s get up these cliffs quickly. Move out.”
***
Minutes later, the five men stood at the top of the cliffs.
“Where is our contact?” demanded Hassler in an urgent whisper.
“I assume our contact is three miles to the south, Hassler. Exactly where we would be if we had been landed correctly.”
“So do we bear south along the cliffs?”
“No. Too exposed. We must go inland. See that stand of trees? About three hundred yards to the east? Let’s head for it. Quickly!”
Seconds later, the stillness of the night was broken by gunfire and the roar of military jeeps approaching fast.
“We’ve been discovered!” cried Hassler.
“Down! Down!” demanded Schneider. The five men immediately threw themselves on the ground.
“Perhaps it’s just the Home Guard patrol,” whispered Hassler. “We can handle them easily.”
“We don’t have time to get into a firefight!” insisted Schneider. “Get into those trees and then head to the left. We’ll circle around and come at the installation from the other side. Move! Now!”
Chapter 14: Nazis!
James and Susie walked quickly, keeping several feet in front of Charlie and Jeremy as they trudged down the lonely country road back to St. Bees. Susie had finally stopped telling James how foolish he had been for going to the mines and she and James were now busy thinking up excuses to tell Aunt Charlotte about why they’d be getting home so late.
“She’ll never believe it,” said Susie. “She’ll never believe that Alfred and Sam both got sick and we had to walk home with them to make sure they’d be all right.”
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“Why not?” asked James, shrugging his shoulder slightly. “Anybody can get sick.”
“Not those two,” said Susie. “They never get sick and Aunt Charlotte knows it. And besides, she’s told you to stay away from them.”
“Not exactly,” said James. “She just said I was to be sure not to get into trouble with them.”
“Which is just what…” began Susie.
“Could you two slow down a little?” pleaded Charlie. “My legs are killing me.”
“Yeah,” added Jeremy. “This isn’t a race. We’ll get there soon enough.”
James smiled slightly. “Well, boys, soon enough probably won’t be good enough. It’ll be pitch black in a few minutes and we’ve only got one torch for the four of us. Does that sound like a good idea to you?”
“Blimey,” said Charlie, rolling his eyes. “It won’t do us any good to get there before it’s dark if we’re all dead, now will it?”
“Quiet!” said Susie, stopping in her tracks.
“Now what is it?” whined Charlie.
“Sh-sh,” said James, his finger to his lips.
“I hear something,” said Susie quietly. “There…in the trees.”
“Probably just some old farmer’s cow got loose from his pen,” said Jeremy, refusing to be shushed.
“So why did the cow stop just as soon as we did?” asked James.
“Look, maybe the cow got tired too. I don’t know,” said Charlie. “But I do know that now you’re the ones holding us up.”
“I’m going to take a look over there in those trees,” said Susie, taking a few steps in that direction.
“Now who’s the crazy one?” said James. “It’s almost completely dark and you want to go chasing some cow?”
“It’s not a cow. Someone’s watching us,” whispered Susie urgently.
“Let them watch,” sighed Jeremy. “I’ve got to get home. I’m dying of hunger.”
Suddenly, three men dressed in black dashed out from the trees and blocked the road.
“Nein!” demanded the first. “You cannot leave.”
The five children stared, expressionless. No one spoke.
“What will we do with them, Lieutenant?” asked Sergeant Hassler, his machine gun poised in his hand.”
“I’ve told you what we must do,” said Lieutenant Schneider. “No one must give us away.”
Two more soldiers came out of the woods. One raised his gun slowly.