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Her mother’s questions started as soon as she got home.
“Did you have a nice day, Fiora? Where did you go in the kayaks?”
Whoa. Dad must have told her I went out in the kayaks with Eion.
“I had a lovely time, thank you. Did you know the sea changes colour the further out you go. We didn’t go as far as where it turns black, but the deep turquoise near the island is beautiful.”
There, now she knows we didn’t go way out so she can’t say I’m not to go any more.
“What took you so long if you only went as far as the island?” Her mother frowned and Fury guessed all sorts of scenarios where passing through the woman’s brain.
“We got a picnic lunch from the cafe and stopped the other side of the island. It’s so beautiful with the fish flitting around in the water and the birds flying overhead. Lovely and peaceful. No traffic, no noisy people. We enjoyed the calm and solitude. We were thinking of doing it again tomorrow.”
Oops. Did I go too far?
“Glad to hear you appreciate the scenery of this area.” Her father’s voice came from behind her. “You go and enjoy yourself again tomorrow.”
Her mother’s face turned a bright red. “Now, John, I think Fiora should spend some time with us.”
“She spends time with us all year, let her have a bit of fun. I’ve asked around about this Eion and he’s got a good reputation. He’s off to uni this coming year and no one’s got a bad word to say about him.”
“Well...”
“Please, Mum, I’ve done all you’ve said. We don’t go too far out, we come back in time for dinner and I help Eion put the kayaks on his roof rack as a thank you for taking me. We have fun together, but it’s peaceful fun. We don’t get up to high jinks or anything. In any case, I think he has a girlfriend. She must work during the day as I’ve only seen her twice.”
Fury had been trying to forget the girl from the mall who had also turned up on the day of the storm. It did seem strange she never appeared during the time Fury spent with Eion but she assumed the girl had a summer job.
“Very well, but the slightest hint of wrongdoing and you’ll have to stop.”
Fury’s dad stood behind his wife and he held up his hand with index finger and thumb making a circle. His head nodded toward her mother.
“Thank you, Mum.” Fury flung her arms around her mother. “You’re the best Mum ever.”
“Silly girl.”
Her mother hugged her and Fury could see the pleasure glowing from her face. She loved her mum but realised she didn’t show it very often. Fury decided to be more demonstrative in future.
After dinner in the evening Fury sat on the porch swing enjoying the evening breeze. The seat creaked as her father came to sit beside her.
“So you’re having a good time with Eion?” He phrased the words as a question rather than a statement.
“Yes, he’s nice. We both like art, and he’s taught me how to paddle board, plus he’s shown me how to get the best out of the kayaks.”
“Good. Don’t let me down, Fury. Your mother is a lovely woman, but she tends to be a mother hen where her chicks are concerned, especially you as you’re a girl. Why don’t you take your drawing stuff with you tomorrow. You could probably do a sketch of the beach from the sea. If you made a painting of it you could give it to your mother. She’d be thrilled.”
Fury almost sighed with frustration. Drawing would take time out from their search of the tunnels. Her mood brightened as she thought how quickly she could do a sketch. To sketch a cartoon meant making all the parts work together, but a sketch for a future painting could be done bit by bit. She only needed to get the main details down.
*****
Fury breezed into the kitchen the following morning to find her mother had packed a picnic lunch for two.
“Thanks, Mum. This is so nice.” True to her unspoken promise she hugged her mother. “Eion and I won’t have to worry about going hungry now.”
Eion waited for her on the beach. He’d got the kayaks partly in the water, and he’d nearly packed everything into them when she arrived.
“My Mum has packed us a picnic lunch,” she announced as she bounced across the sand and flung her backpack into the bottom of one of the kayak. “Are we ready to go?”
Eion nodded and after they’d donned their lifejackets he helped her to step into kayak and then pushed her off. Within moments both vessels were heading out to the island.
“Before we land can we go past a bit. I’d like to do a sketch of the island so I can paint a landscape for my mother.”
“Landscape? I thought you did cartoons.” Eion had surprise written all over his face.
“Cartoons is my favourite area, but it never hurts to butter up the parents. A landscape painting done by me will make her feel special.”
“Fair enough.”
Fury pulled her sketchpad from her backpack and soon her pencil flew over the paper as she caught the basics of the scene in front of her. She finished and looked up with a sigh to find Eion also had his sketchpad resting on the kayak. Fury assumed he had taken the idea from her doing a picture for his own mother.
“Finished?” he asked.
“Yes, I’ve got the basics. The rest will come when I get the paints out.”
“Let’s get on the beach and have a snack like we did yesterday, then go straight to the tunnel leading off the main one.”
In total agreement they headed for the sandy beach of the island and tied up the kayaks then waded ashore. They ate their snacks quickly and were soon tramping along the tunnel leading to the eyes. This time their trip seemed to go quicker, probably due to the fact they’d been this way before. In no time they were climbing up the rocky steps to the second tunnel and heading for the new one they hadn’t yet investigated.
“I put a new battery in the torch this morning, so we’ll be okay for today’s trip.” Eion stopped as the side tunnel entrance appeared on their left. “Ready?”
Fury nodded and excitement rippled through her as they made their way into the unknown. Would today lead them to the pirates’ treasure? The walls were dry and every now and then they saw a skull carved into the stonework.
“Do you think this means we’re heading in the right direction?” Fury asked.
“Yes, but direction for what?” Eion shrugged. “There could be anything at the end of this tunnel.”
Their way didn’t slope downward and Fury wondered if they were still inside the cliff they’d been in the day before. She knew they needed to take as little time as possible on the journey so they could check out what lay at the end. After several bends, they came to a large cave with no apparent exit other than the way they had entered.
Fury’s gaze automatically lifted to the upper regions of the cave, but there were no holes in these walls. They each went around opposite sides and checked the circular walls for any hidden ways. Nothing!
Eion walked around tapping the floor with his foot, but it sounded like solid rock.
“Dead end.” He sighed.
Fury nodded and went over what they’d searched. The walls, the upper walls and the floor. What had they missed?
“The ceiling, we haven’t checked the ceiling.”
“It’s a bit impossible to check there, it’s too high.” Eion leaned against the wall watching Fury dash across the cave.
“It dips to the floor here.” The excitement in her voice got through to Eion who levered himself away from the wall and came to her side. “See these holes, they lead up to some more of those stone steps like we had in the other cave.”
“How come we didn’t see these when we inspected the walls?” Eion wanted to know.
“I didn’t come into this bit where the ceiling meets the floor, did you?”
Eion shook his head and waved a hand at the holes.
“After you,” he said with a grin.