The Mystery of Smugglers Cove (The Mystery Series, Book 1) by Paul Moxham Page A

moments as the two of them dragged it in front of the door.
    Once it was in place, Joe raced to the window and leapt out. Will joined him a moment later and soon all three were racing to the wall.
    Will frowned. “The ladder’s gone! The crooks must have taken it.”
    “Oh no!” Sarah cried. “If we don’t have the ladder, how can we escape?”
    “We’ll have to think fast,” Joe said. “The men will break through the room that we left soon. When they do, they’ll know that we are outside.”
    “We could…” Amy began, but she paused as the gates started to open.
    “Look!” Sarah broke in. “Someone must be coming in.”
    “You’re right,” Joe said. “This might be our only chance of escape. But we’ll need to run if we’re to make it.”
    He sprinted as fast as he could towards the gates, keeping close to the wall. The gates were fully open by the time a big black car glided through the entrance.
    “That might be the boss,” Will exclaimed, as they hid behind a tree as the vehicle sped past them.
    “Maybe,” Joe said.
    “We have to hurry!” Amy cried, as she ran as fast as she could towards the gates that had now started to close.
    They were too late. They arrived at the gates just as they slid back into the closed position.
    “Oh no!” Sarah exclaimed. She tried pulling on the gates. They didn’t budge.
    “What are we going to do?” Amy said.
    Joe paused as he heard a noise. “Do you hear what I hear?”
    Will spun round and turned towards the ivy-covered manor. He was just in time to see two massive German Shepherd’s round the south-west corner of the building and tear towards them. They were barking furiously. “They must have discovered that we had escaped out of the window and got the dogs out.”
      “Let’s climb one of these trees,” Amy suggested. “If we do that, the dogs won’t be able to get to us.”
    “That’s a good idea,” Joe said. “We might even be able to climb onto the wall and down the other side.”
    They quickly spread out as they each picked a tree to climb. Will glanced back towards the building. The animals were approaching fast, they would have to hurry.
Chapter 15: A Dangerous Task
     
    Joe climbed up his tree as fast as he could. He paused as he got to the third branch. Looking over at the manor, he was able to make out several men emerging from the front door.
    The dogs had now reached the trees and were barking savagely. Joe didn’t know much about dogs, but he could see that these animals were athletic and had sharp teeth. They were the perfect dog to stop intruders. He looked over at the other trees to see if everyone else was all right.
    They were. The girls sat still while Will attempted to get to the wall by climbing along one of the branches. Unless he was fast, the men would catch him. But if he slipped, one of the dogs could easily attack him. Reaching the end of the branch, he realised that even if he risked jumping for the wall, the crooks would probably let the dog’s loose outside and he would be caught then.
    With this thought in his mind, Will decided that it was just too risky. He started moving back the way he had come.
    Soon Dan, Rocky, and Jake had reached the trees. The first thing that they did was to call the dogs off.
    Rocky called out, “It’s all over now. Come down, otherwise we’ll come up and get you.”
    Joe peered through the leaves at the other children and he saw Will nod his head. He took that as a sign of surrender and started to climb down. Before long, all four children were standing on firm ground.
    “Good to see that you’re sensible,” Rocky said. “Now, head towards the house.”
    The children obeyed. On reaching the manor, with Jake keeping watch behind them, Dan led the group to the same room in which Joe had been a prisoner in. After the children had entered, Dan locked the door and left them in peace.
    Amy went to the lone window and glanced out. “There’s no way out via the window. It’s