The Secret of the Lonely Isles by Joanne Van Os Page A

between it and the next one, “Pollux”. Jack talked about “mice in their Lonely Hole” … Mice living in the Hole in the Wall!’
    Tyler nodded. ‘Yeah! He was sending a message, in code, so no one else would know what he meant.’
    Ella studied it for a few more moments, and said, ‘You know, I think you could be right. It’s the best clue we’ve had so far. It’s quite a long way off the coast though.’
    Jem stared at the chart. ‘What does that mean? Where it says “uncharted waters”?’
    â€˜There are some areas that haven’t had full cartographic surveys yet. Places like this are well out of the shipping lanes. The surveyors will get around to it eventually.’
    â€˜But how will we know where the rocks and reefs and stuff are?’ asked Jem nervously. ‘That chart onlyshows the outline of the islands, and nothing about what’s in the water.’
    â€˜Once we’re close in to the islands we’ll go slowly, and keep a good eye out. Freya ’s got a fairly shallow draft, so as long as we go steady it’ll be fine. And I’ll get a couple of you on the bow as lookouts. We’ll approach it when the light is right, so we can see the bottom.’
    Jem was quite sure that his thumping heart could be heard by everyone else.

They sailed into Port Essington the following morning. Tyler, Zac and Maddy were all for tearing off to the Lonely Isles immediately, but Ella had disagreed.
    â€˜There won’t be enough wind for the next two days to take us there, so we may as well go into Port Essington and have a look at the old settlement. I think you’ll find it interesting.’
    Jem was relieved they weren’t continuing on to search for the island right away. Just the short sailto this bay had him hanging over the rails again, white-faced and seasick.

    Black Point was exactly that – a small but prominent ridge of very black stone poking out into the harbour a few kilometres from the entrance. The ranger station was tucked in behind it. While Ella chatted to the ranger on duty, Jem, Maddy, Zac and Tyler walked along the beach. Jem was feeling weak and giddy, and the sun felt unbearably bright.
    A large motor cruiser was anchored nearby. It had toothy shark jaws painted either side of the bow, and the name White Pointer in flashy writing on the sides of the hull. They watched as a dinghy left it and headed into shore. A young man at the helm threw them a rope and they pulled him in while he raised the motor at the back.
    â€˜Thanks, guys!’ he called out, as he jammed a hat on his head, jumped over the side and waded through the shallow water to the beach. ‘On holidays, are ya?’
    â€˜Sort of,’ said Maddy.
    â€˜Yeah, me too. Bit of work, bit of a break. You camping here?’
    â€˜Nah, we just sailed here in a yacht,’ said Zac.
    â€˜Really?’ said the young man.
    â€˜Yeah. We’re off the Freya , over there,’ said Maddycasually, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
    The young man glanced across the water at it, and nodded. ‘Nice little boat. Where you headed?’
    â€˜Along the coast for a bit. We’re sailing with our aunty,’ Maddy answered.
    â€˜Well, she’s not actually our aunty, she’s our great-aunty really,’ corrected Tyler. ‘She’s a historian, and we’re helping her with some research.’
    â€˜True! That’s interesting. What kind of research?’
    â€˜Historical research,’ said Tyler, frowning and trying to look very serious. ‘Some old settlement that’s supposed to have been along here last century.’
    â€˜Sounds like fun. Are you having any luck? Got any good leads?’
    Jem had a prickly feeling on the back of his neck, and he rubbed at it, vaguely wondering if he was getting sunburnt. He felt ill, and the ground seemed to be moving, just like the deck of the