The Secret of the Lonely Isles by Joanne Van Os

in his hearing again. So the family just stopped talking about him. Of course, Jem never forgot him, or his mother of course, but gradually his name just got left out of conversations, seeing there was no news of him any more. It was a big family, and I guess everyone was busy with their own families eventually. They would have grown up barely knowing him, except for Jeremiah really.’
    â€˜All because of a fight,’ said Jem, shaking his head. ‘That’s pretty dumb.’ But he frowned and looked a little worried.
    â€˜Let’s keep looking,’ said Ella. After a few more letters were read out, it was Jem’s turn.
    â€˜This is another letter from Jack to his brother,’ and he read it out.
    Dear Jem,
    We will soon be arriving in Timor. The captain has opened his final orders, so now we know our destination, but I am notpermitted to write it. The captain is the only seaman who knows how to find our destination. He says no one would ever look for the Quakers there, because it is so far from the towns, and they shall be left alone to build their village in peace. They will be like little mice in a Lonely Hole. We will be loading chickens, goats, rice, seeds and other supplies, and I am going to buy our mother a big bag of nutmegs and spices. The first mate said they are very cheap in Timor. We won’t be stopping for long, as the captain says we must hurry to beat the monsoons which begin soon. When we stopped at Colombo I bought a bright silver knife for you. It has an elephant on the handle. There is a ship going north that will take our letters to England, so I have to finish this quickly. I will write again when next I can.
    Your loving brother Jack
    They were all quiet for a few moments, thinking of the two brothers separated by vast distances, and who would never see each other again.
    â€˜Well,’ said Ella, breaking the silence, ‘we know for certain that they got very close to Australia, perhaps only a few days’ sail from here, and therefore not much further to the island, wherever that might be. So that narrows the possibilities down a little.’
    She pulled the chart to her, tracing her finger along the outline of the coast, and began to list the likely destinations.
    â€˜The Wessell Islands – they’re remote, uninhabited as far as I know, although local Aboriginal people would surely visit them. Crocodile Islands – maybe not quite far enough off the mainland …’ and she went on, ticking off a list of islands remote enough to be suitable.
    â€˜Hey, that’s my uncle’s country!’ said Zac at the mention of one island. ‘My uncle Victor. He’s a sea ranger at Maningrida, just near there. That mob look after the coast and pick up old nets and stuff. Saving dugongs and dolphins. I went there last year. Really cool.’
    Ella read out a few more names.
    â€˜What was that one you said – the one before last?’ asked Jem suddenly. Something had sounded in his brain, like a faraway bell. Ella looked up at him, and glanced back down at the chart.
    â€˜The … ah … the Lonely Isles. I thought they were perhaps too far north …’ Ella bent her head to study the chart more closely.
    â€˜What do you think of this?’ she said after a moment. The others crowded around the chart. Ella was pointing to a cluster of five tiny islands well to the north of Maningrida.
    â€˜Are they the Lonely Isles?’ asked Maddy. ‘They sure look lonely.’
    â€˜But that’s what Jack said in his letter, didn’t he? “Their Lonely Hole.” Maybe he was talking about the island?’ said Jem.
    â€˜Maybe he was sending his brother a message. I would!’ said Zac. ‘I bet that’s what he was doing!’
    Maddy looked more closely at the chart. ‘Look at that island, the biggest one, “Castor”. It’s got a strait of water called “Hole in the Wall”