Joseph Delaney - The Spook's Mistake

After a few moments we reached Deana's boat; she waded out and pulled it back from the reeds towards the landing stage. Claw leaped in first, causing it to rock slightly, but then Deana gripped the edge of the jetty to steady it while we climbed aboard, the Spook first, Alice last. Ahead, our destination looked dark and threatening, its shroud of trees like the humped back of a huge crouching monster awaiting the arrival of its prey.

Deana rowed towards the island with big slow sweeps of the oars, which made hardly a sound as they entered the water. The air was still and soon the moon began to rise, illuminating the distant mountains and lighting the lake to silver. But still the trees looked dark and ominous. The sight of Belle Isle disturbed me, sending a chill down the back of my neck.

The crossing took just a few minutes and soon, after beaching the rowing boat on the shingle, we disembarked and stood on the water margin, where a number of twisted, ancient yews blocked out the moonlight.

'Thanks for your help, Deana,' the Spook told the old ferry woman, his voice hardly more than a whisper. If we're not back within the hour, you get yourself home and come back for us just before dawn.'

Deana nodded, picked up one of the lanterns and gave it to the Spook. As I was already burdened with my staff and the Spook's bag, she handed the other one to Alice. Claw immediately raced ahead and was quickly lost from sight in the darkness. Leaving Deana with her boat, we followed the dog into the gloomy trees. From shore to shore, the island was no more than three hundred yards across at its widest point and three quarters of a mile long: in daylight we could have searched it thoroughly from one end to the other, but in the dark this was impossible, so we made directly for the folly, where the hermit thought we might find Bill Arkwright.

The island was densely wooded; the majority of trees were conifers, but we soon reached a stand of deciduous trees, their branches stark and leafless, and there, in their midst, was the folly.

It wasn't at all what I'd been led to expect. In the moonlight I could see two separate buildings rather than one, perhaps no more than fifteen strides apart; twin ugly, squat, square towers constructed from grey stone encrusted with lichen, each no more than twenty feet high. They reminded me of sepulchres — mausoleums to house the bones of the dead. Each had a flat roof with no castellation at all, but there were some decorative features. Whereas the lower walls were plain blocks of stone, from about twelve feet above the ground to the roof of each tower I saw a multitude of gargoyles: skulls, bats, birds and all manner of creatures that might have been copied from the pages of some demonic bestiary.

The first building had no door and just one high narrow slit in each wall to serve as a window. So how could you get inside? And if you couldn't, what was the point of it? It wasn't even pleasing to look at. Arkwright couldn't be inside that sealed tower, yet Claw was already circling it, sniffing and whining, and when we moved on to the next, she remained behind.

I then realized that to call them 'twin' buildings wasn't strictly accurate. Although the second structure had identical slits for windows and its own selection of gargoyles, it also had a stout wooden door. This was padlocked, but Andrew, the Spook's locksmith brother, had provided us both with keys easily able to cope with such a barrier and the Spook had it open within seconds. We lit both lanterns before stepping cautiously inside, the blades on our staffs at the ready. Descending along three walls, thirty or so stone steps led us below ground towards a pool of water.

At the bottom, the Spook walked away from the water towards the far corner. I reached his side and stared down at what he'd found. It was a boot.

'Is it Bill's?' he asked.

'It's his,' I said with a nod.

'So where is he now?' asked the Spook, thinking aloud rather than asking me. He turned back towards the water, walked to its edge, held his lantern high and peered down.

I followed his gaze. The water was surprisingly clear but deep, and I could see two things: a further steep and narrow flight of underwater steps; and, at the foot of them, what looked like the mouth of a dark tunnel.

'What have we here?' muttered the Spook. 'Well, lad, look at the direction of that tunnel. Where do you think it goes?'

There wasn't much doubt about it. 'Towards the other building,' I answered.

'That it does. And I wonder what it contains? What better prison than a building without a door! Follow me, lad. '

I did as he said, with Alice close at my heels. Once outside, my master crossed to the other tower, halted below the nearest window and pointed up at it. 'Stand on my shoulders and see if you can climb up and see inside. Use the lantern but try and shield it with your body so we don't attract any unwelcome attention. We wouldn't want anyone to see it from the mainland.'

He crouched below the window and I stepped up onto his shoulders, holding the lantern between my body and the wall while resting my right hand against the stones to steady myself. As the Spook straightened his body, I struggled to keep my balance, but I was then able to climb up to the window using the gargoyles as hand- and foot-holds. Holding the lantern made it more difficult but at last I was in position, facing the window. I leaned forward against the wall and rested my chin on the lantern, peering through the slit. All I could see inside was a pool of water, seemingly identical to the one in the other tower; the far wall had a wide crack below ground level. The foundations were probably damp and had moved.

I clambered down and we moved to the next wall. 'Not sure my poor old back and knees can take much more of this,' grumbled the Spook. 'Make it quick, lad!'

I did as he commanded but it was not until I peered through the fourth window slit that I saw someone bound with rope, slumped against the far wall close to the pool. I couldn't see his face but it certainly looked like Arkwright.

'There's someone tied up,' I whispered excitedly. 'I'm sure it's him.'

'Right, lad,' said the Spook. 'Now check the roof. There could be a way in from the top. It's worth a try. '

I climbed another few feet, then reached up, got a grip on the edge of the roof and pulled myself up. A thorough check revealed that it was solid stone. There was no way in. So after a quick glance through the trees towards the silver water of the lake, I lowered myself back down over the edge and, with the Spook's help, soon reached the ground.

We trudged back to the other building, descended the steps again and stared gloomily at the surface of the pool. There was only one way to get Arkwright out and that was through the water tunnel.

'Mr Arkwright taught me to swim,' I told my master, trying to fill my voice with more confidence than I felt. 'Now's the time to put it to good use. '

'Well, if you can swim, lad, that's more than I can do. But how well can you swim?'

'About five widths of the canal. '

The Spook shook his head doubtfully.

'Too dangerous, Tom,' Alice said. 'This is more than just swimming. It's diving down and going through that dark tunnel. Ain't able to swim or I'd come with you. Two of us would have a better chance.'

'The girl's right, lad. Maybe Deana could do it or knows someone who can swim well enough to get through there.'

'But would we be able to trust them?' I asked. 'No. I can do it. I've got to try at least.'

The Spook didn't try to stop me but looked on silently, shaking his head as I took off my boots and socks, followed by my cloak and shirt. Finally I tied my silver chain about my waist again and prepared to wade into the water.

'Here,' my master said, handing me a knife from his bag. 'Tuck this into your belt. You'll need it to free Bill. And take this for him as well,' he said, handing me a water bottle.