Read Online The Mystery of Adventure Island by Paul Moxham - Free Book Online

Nancy ’s help.”
    “ Nancy ? Who’s she?” Luke asked.
    Will pointed to the woman. “She’s Nancy .”
    Luke laughed. “If she promised you—”
    “Where are the paintings?” Nancy interrupted.
    The man hesitated and then pointed. “Up there.”
    Nancy looked up at the roof. “In the attic?”
    “Yes, but you’ll never get away with this, Julie,” Luke said.
    “Stop calling me Julie!” Nancy yelled. “And put her hands behind your back.”
    As Luke did what he was told, Nancy reached into her rucksack and pulled out some rope. She tied it around his wrists. “Now, how do you get up to the attic?”
    “There’s a rope ladder in the back corner, right side,” Luke said. As Nancy hurried to the spot, he turned to the children. “She was part of our gang.”
    “What?” Joe said.
    “Julie split with us a year ago after grabbing the money that we had stolen in a bank heist. If…” Luke paused as Nancy came back with the rope.
    “How do I get the rope up there?” the woman said.
    “Throw it over the two nails that are in the planks just above where you found the rope,” Luke replied.
    Nancy turned to the children. “Why don’t one of you stay here to guard our prisoner while the rest help me search?”
    “I’ll stay,” Joe offered. He sat down as the others followed Nancy .
    After Nancy threw the rope over the nails, she started to climb up. Will went next, then the girls.
    As Will stepped on the wooden planks, they creaked. “Be careful,” he called out. “These have been here for a long time and might give way at any time.”
    “Looks like some already have,” Amy pointed out as she looked across the floor at the gaping holes.
    Nancy glanced around, trying to spot anything that looked like a good place to hide paintings. She spotted an old chest up against the far window. “That has to have the paintings in it.”
    “I guess so.” Will looked around. Nothing else could be seen . “We’ll have to be careful, though. One wrong step and we could fall right down.”
    Nancy looked towards Sarah. “Why don’t you go first?”
    “What?” Amy muttered, turning towards the woman. “You’re not afraid, are you?”
    Nancy laughed. “Of course not. But she is the smallest and lightest person here, so even if she did step on a rotten plank, she should have the best chance of surviving.”
    “Should?” Amy repeated.
    “Well, there’s no guarantee—” Nancy said.
    “If you want the paintings, go and get them yourself,” Amy interrupted as she clutched her sister protectively. “My sister isn’t going to risk her life for some paintings.”
    Sarah looked at Amy. “I’m not scared.”
    Amy smiled as she raked her hand through her sister’s blonde hair. “I know you’re not scared. I just don’t want you to take a risk for nothing.”
    “For nothing?” Nancy shouted. “Do you want to put these men in jail or not? If—”
    “Shouting isn’t going to do you any good,” Will interrupted.
    “I’m sorry,” Nancy said. “I didn’t mean to shout. I just want those paintings.”
    “I think I’ve got a better idea,” Will said .
    “You do?” Nancy said, a smile appearing on her face.
    Will nodded as he went over to the rope ladder and pulled it up. “If Sarah takes hold of one end of this, we can hold the other. That way, if the plank does give way and she does fall, we can pull her back up.”
    Nancy smiled. “A great idea.” She turned to Sarah. “Will you do it?”
    Sarah nodded and she took the end of the ladder. She then took a deep breath and stepped onto the first plank. Silence. She stepped onto the next one. Silence.
    The others waited with bated breath as Sarah slowly but surely got farther and farther away from them. As she did so, Will realised that, while the rope ladder was long, it would only go three-quarters of the way. He shuddered to think what could happen in the final section. But he didn’t say anything. He just kept his eyes glued on Sarah’s