The Legend of the Phantom Highwayman by Tom McCaughren Page A

out the way we came and tell Peppi.’
    That, however, was easier said than done. The way back wasn’t as easy to find as they thought, as the tunnel branched off in various directions and nowhere did the light seem to fall on anything familiar.
    â€˜We’re lost,’ said Cowlick at last.
    â€˜No we’re not,’ said Tapser. ‘Not as long as we have Prince.’
    â€˜What are you going to do?’ asked Róisín.
    â€˜Let him scout around. He should be able to pick up the scent we left on the way up.’
    â€˜What if he barks?’ asked Rachel. ‘The men might hear him.’
    â€˜That’s a chance we’ll have to take.’
    Tapser released Prince and off the collie went. After sniffing this tunnel and that, he seemed to make up his mind and disappeared down one of them.
    â€˜Come on,’ whispered Tapser, taking the torch. ‘He’s found it.’
    A short time later they were back at the iron gate. They helped each other down over the shelf of rock and hurried along the cave towards the shore. Less than halfway along it, however, they were horrified to find their way blocked by the incoming tide. They were trapped!
    Running back, they crouched close together in the darkness of a tunnel near the iron gate and wondered what they were going to do.
    â€˜There’s nothing for it but to sit tight,’ said Tapser.
    It wasn’t long before the waves were edging their way into the cavern, and bit by bit the water began to rise until at last it was level with the shelf of rock.
    â€˜If the water rises any higher we’ll all be drowned,’ whispered Rachel.
    â€˜Don’t worry,’ said Cowlick gently. ‘It won’t. We’re on the same level as the bottling plant.’
    â€˜Listen,’ warned Tapser, clamping a hand over Prince’s nose to keep him quiet. ‘Someone’s coming.’
    They held their breath. They could hear the iron gate being opened, and saw the white-coated workers stacking crates of bottles on the shelf of rock near the water’s edge.
    Suddenly bright lights illuminated the cavern, the sound of a boat’s engine filled the air, and they saw Whaler and Scamp steer one of Max’s lobster boats up to the shelf of rock. Other workers tied ropes to rusty iron rings in the rock, and when the boat was moored tightly Whaler and Scamp removed a canvas cover from a pile of crates.
    One by one they lifted the crates and handed them up out of the boat to the other workers who took them into the bottling plant. When this had been done the crates that had been brought out earlier were handed down and stacked in the boat. Whaler and Scamp covered them with the sheet of canvas, climbed out and went into the plant.
    â€˜I wonder what they’re up to?’ asked Cowlick.
    â€˜I don’t know,’ said Tapser, ‘but there’s something funny going on.’
    â€˜I agree,’ said Róisín. ‘We’ve got to get out of here somehow and tell Peppi.’
    â€˜But how?’ asked Rachel.
    Tapser switched on the torch. ‘Let’s try this tunnel,’ he said, ‘and see where it leads to.’
    Quietly they stole up along the tunnel and to their surprise found it to be quite short. However, it offered no way out either, for it sloped down to the bottling plant. To make matters worse, Prince lost his footing on the slippery surface. Cowlick and Rachel stepped forward to catch him and, as Tapser and Róisín looked on horrified, the three of them skidded down the slope and tumbled out on to the floor of the bottling plant!
    Chaos followed. Startled workmen grabbed Cowlick and Rachel. Prince made a run for it and was chased by other workmen. Only Max seemed to keep calm. ‘There are probably two more of them,’ he told Whaler and Scamp. ‘The girl and the boy with the red hair. Find them.’
    Immediately Tapser and Róisín turned and made their