The Legend of the Phantom Highwayman by Tom McCaughren

gracefully offshore before diving for small fish in the incoming tide.
    Caves on the seashore were something new to Tapser, and he found that they were cold, damp and slippery, not the least like the ones he had read about in books. Somehow he thought they would be dry and warm, like the one Robinson Crusoe had lived in.
    â€˜We know every inch of the caves on our own side of the harbour,’ Róisín told him as they went from one cave to another, ‘but we don’t come over here much.’
    They were in a fairly big cave now, and Cowlick crouched and shone the torch up into it. ‘Another dead end,’ he announced.
    â€˜But we must be nearly opposite the Castle Spa by now,’ said Rachel.
    â€˜Well, that seems to be the last one on this side of the point,’ said Cowlick, ‘and I think it’s time we were getting back.’
    â€˜We’ll just have to continue the search in the morning,’ said Róisín. ‘If we can’t get around the point we’ll try and get down to the rocks on the far side.’
    They turned to go.
    â€˜Where’s Prince?’ asked Tapser.
    They looked around. The collie was nowhere to be seen, and Tapser called him and whistled.
    â€˜There he is,’ said Cowlick. ‘Down by the water’s edge at the point.’
    Prince barked and disappeared again.
    â€˜Come on boy,’ called Tapser, ‘we’ve got to go.’ When Prince didn’t come, he made his way over the rocks to see what was keeping him. Moments later he shouted to the others, ‘I think he’s discovered another cave.’
    Cautiously they slithered down the rocks and edged their way around to the point. There they found Prince exploring a large round cave. It was much nearer to the sea than any of the other caves – so much so that the water went in a short distance with each wave and then drained back out.
    â€˜I think this is the one we’re looking for,’ said Róisín.
    â€˜Let’s tell Peppi,’ Rachel suggested.
    â€˜We’ll have to make sure first,’ said Tapser.
    â€˜All right, but we must be careful,’ warned Cowlick. ‘We don’t want to be cut off.’
    â€˜I don’t know,’ said Rachel as they made their way into the cave. ‘I don’t think Peppi meant us to go into it, just to find it for him.’
    â€˜Shush,’ said Cowlick, ‘and keep together.’
    They could see by the light of the torch that the cave was deep.
    â€˜I still think we should turn back and tell Peppi,’ whispered Rachel.
    â€˜Listen,’ said Tapser. ‘I can hear something. Come on, we can’t turn back now.’
    Soon they came to a large cavern. Climbing onto a shelf of rock, they saw several tunnels branching off it. One was blocked by an iron gate, and peering through they found themselves looking into the bottling plant at the Castle Spa. White-coated workers were operating the machine, which sparkled and spun as it filled a seemingly endless row of bottles, capped them and placed them into crates.
    â€˜There’s Max,’ whispered Róisín. ‘But I don’t see Whaler or Scamp.’
    â€˜Let’s see where these other tunnels lead to,’ said Tapser. ‘They might bring us out on top.’
    Tapser held on to Prince, and holding on to each other they crept into one that sloped upwards. Here and there Cowlick stopped to shine his torch around the damp walls.
    â€˜We still seem to be going up all right,’ whispered Róisín.
    â€˜But where to?’ came Rachel’s voice from behind.
    â€˜That’s a good question,’ said Cowlick, straining his eyes to peer ahead of them.
    â€˜Well, we’ve come this far,’ said Tapser. ‘We might as well keep going.’
    Eventually even Tapser had to admit that they were getting nowhere. ‘Maybe Rachel’s right,’ he said. ‘We’d better go back