Wreckers Island (romantic suspense) Read Online Free PDF Page B

it felt almost as if they were entering
a ship’s hold. A couple of old trunks lay scattered about, covered in cobwebs.
The first they opened contained rusting tools which looked at least a century
old. In the other were the documents and notebooks to which Louise had
referred. She lifted a handful out: parchments, stamped with red sealing wax,
which appeared to be legal particulars relating to the construction of the
lighthouse and its sale. Underneath were a couple of ledgers and a
leather-bound notebook filled with elegant, looping copperplate script on
yellowed, fox-marked pages. It was impossible to decipher in such low light.
    ‘I tell you what,’ said Dan. ‘Why don’t we
take this box back with us, we’ll have a better chance of making out its
contents in daylight.’
    The others agreed but while they were down
there, they looked about for any crevices and nooks and crannies they could
find. ‘You never know,’ said John, ‘there might be a secret passageway or
something.’
    If so, it was well hidden. Nor were there
any iron rings or levers embedded in the wall. They came across a few old
curiosities – bric-a-brac, old lamp wicks and tins of what appeared to be
ancient lamp oil – no doubt dating back to the days when oil powered the great
lighthouse lamp.
    Disappointed, but nonetheless curious about the
documents in the chest, the four students climbed the steep stone stairs back
to the ground floor, blinking in the bright daylight. The weather had not
improved. If anything it had got worse. The sky was greenish-black and the sea a
turbulent mass of grey and white foam, angrily splattering itself over the
rocks of Wreckers Island.
    ‘Let’s haul the box up to the lamp room and look
at its contents there,’ suggested Louise. ‘That’s the best place for natural
light. We could take a nice mug of coffee or chocolate up and enjoy the amazing
storm at the same time.’
    John and Dan lugged the box up the winding
staircase while the girls followed with mugs of hot drinks and biscuits. There
was no furniture so they took some rugs and cushions.
    ‘Isn’t this magical,’ said Louise.
    ‘You know,’ said Dan, ‘I still have to pinch
myself that you weren’t fibbing when you invited us to a place like this, but
I’m so glad I did believe you in the end. It’s simply awesome, especially with
this gale blowing. You can actually feel it buffeting the lighthouse. I hope it
won’t blow over!’
    For a few minutes, the leather-bound trunk
was forgotten as the four of them sat on the rugs, gazing through the glass, sipping
their drinks and nibbling their snacks.
    ‘Right,’ said Dan, eventually. ‘Let’s spread
out the contents of the box carefully on the rug and see what we can make of
it.’
    The parchments relating to the island and
construction of the lighthouse were written in obscure 19th century legal
jargon. There was a scale map of the lighthouse and, interestingly, of the
island itself prior to its construction. The year the lighthouse was built was
given in Roman numerals – MDCCCLXXVII.
    ‘I wonder what that would be,’ mused Louise.
‘I wish I was better at things like this.’
    ‘1877,’ said Dan within seconds.
    The others looked at him, impressed.
    ‘It’s easy,’ he said. ‘People never seem to
learn Roman numerals properly these days – M is 1,000, D is 500, three Cs gives
you 300, so that’s 1800. L is 50, add the two Xs which is 20 and VII which is
seven – 1877. You never know when it will come in useful.’
    ‘Ah, you’re not just a pretty face, are you!’
said Emma, playfully pinching his cheek.
    ‘Ok, what’s the year 1644 in Roman
numerals,’ teased Louise.
    ‘MDCXLIV,’ replied Dan within a second. ‘Ok,
come on, it isn’t Latin we need but Spanish, I want to try and work out the
writing in that notebook if I can. It doesn’t seem to bear any relation to the
legal documents belonging to the lighthouse.’
    He picked it up carefully. As they had