Secret of Light (6 page)

“That's that,” she said. “Professor Tooth got here just as I realized my own artwork had no magic to it. She told me even
she
didn't know why things happen the way they do.” Darrell shook her head. “I guess I'm stuck with this stupid leg after all.”

Kate walked along the opposite wall of the cave, shining her light on the glistening surface. “I think you're wrong, Darrell,” she said, her voice a jumble of gentle echoes. “Your drawings do have magic in them. Maybe not the same kind of magic that sent us through the wall into the fourteenth century, but they are magical in a different way.” She paused. “Did you do this one, too? It looks like one of yours.”

Darrell was puzzled. “No, only the one I brushed away.”

Brodie stepped over to Kate's side. He pointed his flashlight at the spot on the wall and his headlamp bobbed, making the image dance.

“Hold your head still, Brodie,” commanded Darrell, as she looked over his shoulder. The three gazed in silence at a small picture drawn onto the rock wall of the cave.

“It's a lighthouse,” said Kate.

“Not just any lighthouse,” said Brodie, excitement in his voice. “It's the lighthouse on the point at the other end of the beach. See the checkerboard pattern painted around the base?”

“I'm sure lots of lighthouses have a similar pattern,” muttered Darrell. “But it really does look like our lighthouse and I most definitely did not draw it.”

Brodie pulled out his camera and snapped a couple of pictures. He reached over to touch one corner of the drawing. “This looks like it's the same chalk you used, Darrell. It doesn't seem like the other glyphs at all.”

Darrell traced one finger across the corner of the lighthouse. The surface smudged under her touch.

Kate looked around and shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Someone must have found our cave,” she said anxiously. “Let's head back out, okay?” She tugged on Darrell's arm and started back.

Brodie looked at Kate with some exasperation, his headlamp making her blink as he strode along beside her. “It's not
our
cave, Kate. It's been here for thousands of years before we were born and it will probably be here for thousands of years after we die.”

“This isn't making me feel any better,” said Kate. “
Someone
drew that lighthouse.”

“I've got an idea,” Brodie said with a grin. “What about if we make our next expedition aboveground? Let's go to the lighthouse and check it out.”

“Anything to get out of this place,” Kate answered. “It gives me the creeps.”

Darrell, trailing behind, didn't answer. They walked awhile without talking, and the filtered grey light grew brighter as they approached the entrance. The distant cry of a seabird echoed mournfully in the cave.

They managed with some difficulty to pull Brodie's pack through the crack at the entrance to the cave, and then sat down outside on the warm sand.

“Have you got any food in that thing?” inquired Kate. “Now that we're out of that creepy place, I'm suddenly starving.”

“I told you I was prepared,” said Brodie, pulling out a large container of crackers and cheese. “Let's grab something to eat and then hike over to the lighthouse.”

Kate grinned and opened the container. “Nice to know you're good for something other than crawling around underground,” she said, her mouth full. She glanced over Darrell's shoulder. “Oh-oh.”

Darrell looked up and saw Paris hiking along the beach with Lily in tow. “Looks like our trip to the lighthouse might not work out after all.”

Kate brushed cracker crumbs off her shirt. “Not if we want to go alone.”

“Hey,” Paris said, puffing a little as he strode up. “We were going for a hike and then spotted you guys down here.”

“This is great,” Lily said, beaming. “A picnic!” She plopped down on the sand beside Kate and helped herself to a few crackers.

“Yeah — yeah, just great,” said Brodie, rolling his eyes.

Darrell, resigned, leaned back against a warm rock. Lily's cheerful chatter faded away as Darrell, lost in her own thoughts, stared unseeing into the mouth of the cave and rubbed the rusty red dust between her fingers.

On Friday after school, Darrell, Kate, and Brodie set off for the lighthouse. The sky was grey and threatening, but the rain held off. The wind blew icy gusts across the water, and the tips of the waves were crowned a foaming white. Brodie's heavy pack made walking in the sand along the shore difficult, so the small group opted to follow the rockier but more firmly packed sand along the cliff edge.

“This way should keep us out of sight of the school,” noted Darrell, glancing back.

“More out of the wind, too.” Kate pulled up and fastened her hood.

Darrell picked her way among the rocks, Delaney close at her heels. The firmer sand was easier for her to walk on, too, and she remembered the last time she had been down to this end of the beach. A gull soared high above, a white spot of fluff on a blanket-grey sky.

She gestured at the small spit sticking out like an accusing finger into the waters of the sound. “I don't see any illegal activities going on here today,” she said with a smile.

“Now that his dad's gone to jail, I haven't seen Conrad near the beach at all this year,” Brodie said, hitching his pack more comfortably onto his shoulders.

Kate shivered. “He'd have to be crazy to come down here in this weather.” She turned her back to the wind and tried to walk backwards, but immediately tripped on a rock and just managed to keep her feet.

Darrell scooped up a stick to throw for Delaney, and he chased it, barking joyfully, down the beach. They followed the curve of the cliffs until they reached the south end of the stretch of beach, and then began to scramble along the rocks.

“As lighthouses go, this one seems pretty small,” said Kate, one foot slithering along the slippery rocks.

“What would you know about it? I haven't seen you burying yourself in local history lately,” Brodie said, laughing.

Kate looked impatient. “Okay, so maybe not local history. But Ainslie Castle has sure given me a taste for Professor Tooth's Renaissance class,” she retorted. “And after finding that sketch in the cave, I spent some time on the Internet, researching everything I could about lighthouses. Most of the ones on the west coast are no longer manned by keepers.” She reached with a gloved hand to grasp a rock at the base of the tower and hoisted herself up.

“Can you take this?” Brodie handed up his pack and Delaney jumped over the sharp edge to stand beside
Kate. Brodie climbed up and turned to grab Darrell's hand, hauling her over the last few rocks and onto the flat base around the lighthouse.

“I wouldn't want that job,” added Brodie, puffing a little. “Too lonely for my taste.”

“Actually, there was a lot of protest when the lighthouses were automated,” Kate went on. “They usually have fog horns, too, so it's better if there's a keeper around to handle things when they break down.”

The area immediately around the base of the lighthouse was lined with a flat path of pea gravel and covered in crushed mussel shells. Delaney led the way around to the seaward side. “So how come there's no one running this one?” asked Darrell curiously.

“Well, by the time everyone realized the lighthouse keepers were an endangered species, they had already been mostly phased out. This one was shut down in 1978.”

“Wow.” Brodie looked at Kate with admiration. “I guess the little box you spend all your time staring at sometimes does help you find something worthwhile.”

Kate grinned and punched him lightly on the arm. “Shut up. Here's the door.”

Darrell touched a shiny padlock dangling from a well-rusted chain. The chain circled through a pair of old bolts in the wall.

“What do you make of this?” said Darrell, turning over the padlock in her hands.

“Looks new. Maybe the Parks people who maintain the lighthouse attached it,” Kate offered.

“Maybe so,” said Brodie doubtfully, “but I think it may have something to do with this sign.” He gestured at a tattered notice, wrapped in plastic and tacked on three corners to a wooden board on the wall. One corner of the notice was torn and flapping in the wind. Darrell held it down with a gloved hand. It read:
Demolition Permit
.

“The date's torn off,” Darrell remarked.

“And why would someone put a brand new lock on such a rusty old chain?” asked Kate. “Wouldn't they replace both?”

“Something's going on here,” said Brodie. “Look at this.”

He indicated a small pile of cylindrical objects near the door. Darrell and Kate bent down to examine them more closely.

“Looks like shotgun shells,” Darrell said at last.

“But this is the edge of a national park. Animals and birds are protected here, aren't they?” asked Kate.

“Yup. No guns allowed,” said Brodie. “But maybe someone's been shooting at seabirds.”

“Well, if that's so, whoever left these shell casings could still be around here,” said Kate. “Maybe they use the lighthouse as a base, or something.” She poked Darrell with a gloved finger. “Maybe Conrad's up to his old tricks.”

Brodie shrugged. “Well, like I said, I haven't seen him down here at all lately.”

“And how much time have you been spending here yourself?” Kate asked, triumphant.

“Whoever put this here wasn't very bright,” said Darrell, examining the lock and chain.

Kate and Brodie stepped closer. The rusty chain was threaded through the handle of the door, but there was no functioning lock on the door itself, and it hung loose from a single hinge.

“The old chain is locked on securely enough,” she continued, ”but if you follow the chain into this little doorwell, you can see the end is —”

“Not attached!” Brodie concluded. “Let's go in.”

“I don't know...” said Kate.

Darrell leaned her back against the lighthouse wall. “Let's think about this for a minute,” she said, looking at Brodie. “Breaking and entering isn't usually your style.”

Brodie laughed. “It's not really ‘breaking' if we just unhook the end of the chain,” he said. “I only want to have a quick look around and then we can go.”

Darrell nodded. “Yeah, Brodie's right. We won't touch anything, Kate. We'll take a fast look around inside to see if we can figure out who's been here, and then we'll leave. I don't want to hang around either.”

Delaney pushed past Darrell, nosed the door open, and slipped inside.

“Hey, Delaney!” Darrell called, sticking her face in the dark doorway.

“Well, I guess we've got to get the dog back,” said Kate. “But just a quick peek, okay?”

One hand shading his eyes, Brodie looked towards the shore. “I'd feel better about this if the entrance was on the seaward side,” he said quietly. “But I think it's too cold up on the cliffs for anyone to be sitting around watching us. Because this lock is in place, I think it's obvious whoever put it here is gone. All the same,” he
indicated the shoreline with a shrug of his shoulders, “there are a lot of hills up there. Lots of places to hide.”

Kate shivered. “Okay, you're right. I change my mind. Let's call Delaney and go back to the school.”

“Kate!” Darrell's voice was impatient. “We'll only go in for a minute or two and then head straight back to report these shotgun casings, I promise.”

Kate scanned the hillside. She narrowed her eyes at Brodie and followed Darrell under the chain. “Okay, but I'm timing you. Two minutes!” Brodie passed his backpack though the opening and followed the girls inside. He pushed the door shut with a creak behind them and three flashlights clicked on, beams piercing the darkness.

They stood in a small entryway that served as a landing for a flight of wooden steps spiralling upwards into the gloom.

“This must be where the lighthouse keepers hung their wet clothes,” whispered Darrell. A number of hooks were nailed haphazardly along the wall, and in several places where they had fallen out altogether, the hooks had been replaced by rusty spikes driven into the wall at intervals.

“There doesn't seem to be room for much else in here,” remarked Brodie. “Let's take a quick peek upstairs.” Before Kate had a chance to protest, he clambered up the wooden steps, flashlight bobbing.

“Careful,” Darrell panted, following him. “One of the boards is broken.” She pointed out the spot with her flashlight, and the beam was swallowed by darkness inside the jagged hole. They stepped over the riser
entirely and in a moment they circled to the top of the first flight of stairs.

“Agh. All the spinning makes me feel sick,” complained Kate, putting her hand on Darrell's shoulder to steady herself.

“Try not to wear yourself out, Action Girl,” Brodie said, grinning.

Kate stuck out her tongue.

“We'll be going back down the other direction in a minute,” said Darrell, practically, “so your head will have a chance to even itself out.”

Brodie paced the perimeter of the round room. “I think this must have been the main living area for the lighthouse keeper,” he said, using his flashlight to examine the floor as he took each step.

Darrell walked past Kate, who was leaning against a wall, and began to examine the place herself. “Looks like there have been a few people here since the lighthouse closed down,” she remarked, indicating a pile of wrappers and chip bags strewn to one side.

“Yeah,” said Kate. “This place is a pigsty.”

Darrell gestured with her flashlight at the worn wooden boards on the floor. “Don't see any of those shell casings in here, though.”

“I'd like to remind you
we
are the trespassers this time,” said Kate in a worried tone. “So could you hurry up?” She slid back along the wall towards Darrell and disappeared with a yell.