Chapter 12

Dad's mobile soon rang, and Fin heard the hated voice again. It was calm again, back in control, but it was harder than before.

"Now, do exactly what I say. Keep the mobile on and close to your ear. If you miss an instruction, it'll be your fault. When you get to the bottom of the hill, climb over the stile into the field and wait there."

Fin went on walking. He kept the mobile switched on.

The voice didn't speak, but he knew the boy was still there. He climbed the stile into the field and waited. He waited two minutes. Then a third. Then he said: "I'm here. What do I do now?"

"I know you're there," said the voice. "I can see you." Fin looked around but he could see nothing. His helplessness made him angry. "Stop playing with me, damn you!"

The voice laughed. "Take it easy - and listen careful­ly. Put the other phone down by the stile." Fin did it. "Good," said the voice. "Now walk up to the top of the field, climb the gate into the next field, walk to the top of that, then cut across to the coast path. Don't go any­where near your house. When you get to the path, walk down to Pengrig lighthouse and wait by the fence."

"What then?"

"Just wait. We'll phone again. You can hang up now. But if we see anybody following you or at the lighthouse, the girl dies."

Fin did exactly as he was told. He reached the lighthouse at last and stopped by the fence. The phone rang at once.

"What now?" asked Fin.

"Climb over the fence and take the bag into the lighthouse."

"What?"

"Take the bag into the lighthouse! Are you deaf or something?" screamed the voice. It had changed again. The fear and anger were back in it. Suddenly Fin felt that this boy was as frightened as he was. Maybe more so.

"Hurry up," said the voice.

Fin climbed the fence and walked into the old lighthouse.

"Climb to the very top," said the voice.

Fin began to climb, expecting to find Ella and the kidnappers at the top. But the lantern was empty. The voice spoke again.

"Take the bag out onto the balcony, if you're not too afraid!"

Fin was afraid. The doomed lighthouse was leaning over the cliff edge. Below him was nothing but rocks and the sea. The wind up there was very strong.

"Now open the bag and look at the money," said the voice. "Is it in little packs?"

"Yes."

"Take one out and break the seal. How does the money feel?"

"What?"

"How does it feel, stupid? Come on! Play this game to the end."

"It's not a game, you bastard"

There was silence. Fin hoped he had not made the boy too angry. He had tried so hard to hold his feelings back. Had he said too much? When the voice came back, it was strangely quiet.

"You're right. It's not a game."

There was another silence. A long one. At last Fin broke it.

"What do I do with the notes?"

"Throw them over the edge," came the answer.

Fin stared at the money. The boy had to be joking. He looked wildly around and at last, fat down the coast path, the sun light flashed on a pair of binoculars and Fin saw his enemy. A huge figure but too far away to rec­ognize.

"So now you see me!" said the voice. "And I can see you. Hurry up. Throw the money into the sea."

"You mean... just the notes I'm holding?"

"No. I mean all the money. Throw it all into the sea!"

"But why? Don't you want it?"

"There are some things worth more than money."

"But what about Ella?"

"Do as I say or you can forget about Ella forever."

Fin threw the money over the edge. The wind caught it and scattered it seawards.

"And the rest," said the voice.

But Fin was already opening the next pack. Pack after pack. Again and again the notes flew into the air and out to sea. At last the bag was empty. Fin threw it away, too, and turned to look down the coast path.

The figure was gone.

"Where's Ella?" he screamed into the phone. "Where's Ella?!"

But the line was dead.

“What!? You just threw the money over the cliff?" asked Dad.

Mum was watching Dad. "Don't you dare touch him, Peter! He's been really brave."

"But didn't you think that if he was prepared to make you do that, he'd never let Ella go?"

"I felt that if I didn't do what he said, he'd kill Ella."

"He's probably killed her already!"

"Peter!" Mum grabbed Dad by the arm. "It's not Fin's fault. You'd have had to do the same thing."

"At least I'd have argued with the little bastard!"

"He's not little," said Fin. "He's big. I saw him a long way down the path. He had binoculars. He was watching me. I couldn't see his face. But he was huge!"

A shadow seemed to pass over Dad's face. As if he were remembering something. Something from long ago.

"Dad," asked Fin suddenly. "Have you got any en­emies?"

"Every successful businessman has enemies. It's part of the game. Why do you ask?"

"I thought you might know who the kidnappers are."

"If I knew that, I wouldn't he standing here. I want her back as much as you two do."

"We three," said Mum. "Don't forget Sam. I'm real­ly worried about him. He just sits in his room holding Teddy and talking about a storm coming." She looked at Dad, who was staring out of the window.

"Peter, we must call the police in now."

"We've got to wait a bit longer. Perhaps the kidnap­pers are about to give Ella back. Perhaps they didn't want the money. They just wanted to hurt us, because we're rich. We did what he said."

Mum walked up to him.

"I’ll give it a few more hours, but if that boy doesn't ring by the morning, I'm going to the police."

Mum and Dad stared at each other for a few long moments. Then Fin spoke.

"Who's the tramp, Dad?"

"Tramp?"

"The one I asked you about. The one you said you hadn't seen. The one I saw you speaking to last night. What did he want?"

"Tramp? What's this about a tramp?" asked Mum.

"Just some tramp asking for money," muttered Dad. "I gave him some money a few weeks ago, and he came back last night. I told him to go away. Is that what you heard, Fin?"

"So why did you say you hadn't seen him?"

"For God's sake! Is this important, Fin?" he shouted angrily.

"Stop it!" cried Mum. "Both of you! We must keep calm and wait for the phone call."

But Fin knew the boy would not ring. He could feel it. There was something the kidnapper wanted more than money. Something deeper. It had to be revenge but what had they done, and who was it that hated them so much?

He went upstairs to his room, but checked Sam first. Sam was in bed with Teddy, resting but not asleep.

"Sammy, you OK?"

"There's a storm coming."

"No there isn't Sammy. It's a lovely day. No wind. No storm."

"Going to catch it. Going to catch the storm."

Fin lay down on his bed. He was very tired. Before he knew it, he was asleep. When he woke up it was nearly dark. He could see the tops of the trees moving in the wind. Sam was right. There was a storm coming. Fin switched on his light. Mum had brought him some sandwiches and a glass of orange juice and left them by his bed. He reached out a hand for the glass and sud­denly saw something gold on the floor. It was the pen­dulum. Lying where Sam had dropped it.

Fin jumped out of bed and got the local map. There was the path, there was the sea, there was the light house - or the hole where Sam's finger had gone through the map. And at last Fin knew why: through the cliff. To the cave below it.