Free The Gum Tree Gang and the Mystery at the Old Queenslander by Marie Seltenrych

are
you doing hiding in there?" The tall man
indicated the cupboard, now open and apparently empty.
    Matthew decided to act
'cool'. He stared at Nathan and Davo. "Hi,
guys!"
    "Hi!" they mumbled,
surprised. What was Matthew up to, they
wondered. They didn't know he wanted to be friendly.
    Matthew continued. "I heard
Nathan and Davo talking at school, and I
think it sounds great. I want to join your gang." Matthew took a deep breath. What else could he say, he supposed, without giving the others
away?
    "Very interesting. Very
interesting!" The tall man turned his gaze
to Nathan and Davo. "Do you two know this
boy?" He flicked the light in their faces.
    They nodded "Mere, Chevy,
check this place out to make sure there are
no more boys around here." The tall man
shone his torch around the room as he spoke.
    Merc and Chevy immediately
flicked their torches on and started moving
around the house. Merc went right up to the
cupboard and shone his torch inside.
    Krystal, Kevin and Tracey
could see rays of light coming and going
through the cracks. They prayed silently.
    "Looks like he's alone, Sir
Cad!" Chevy addressed the tall
man.
    "Well, we can't take any
chances. We'll have to try him out. Morrie,
tie this fellow up and take him along for now. We'll find out if he can be useful or not." Cad spoke to the man who looked like a
gorilla.
    Morrie grunted, and went
outside. A few moments later he returned
with some strong looking rope.
    Matthew's heart sank. In the
back of his mind he had hoped that maybe he
could line up with his buddies from school,
Nathan and Davo, and get one of those one hundred dollar notes and take things from there.
    "Can you two keep a watch
out here for a few hours, and ring me if
there's any trouble?" Cad handed a mobile
telephone to Chevy as he spoke.
    Matthew wriggled and made
groaning noises as Morrie tied his wrists
and ankles. He then pulled a large white handkerchief out of his jacket pocket, and tied it
around Matthew's mouth. Matthew growled
through the cloth.
    Krystal, Kevin and Tracey
stayed very still in the attic.They had
their ears to the door in the ceiling to try and hear what was going on.
    They realised Matthew must
have kept quiet about them and felt
grateful. Still, they could be discovered at any moment.
    How would they get out of
here now without getting caught?
    They all wondered what would happen to
Matthew?
    ~~~~ Chapter Twenty-two ~~~~
    Bumpy Ride
    "To the car." Cad addressed
Morrie, who responded with a grunt.
Immediately, much to Matthew's dismay, Morrie lifted him on his shoulders like a sack of
feathers!
    Matthew felt terrified. A few moments later
he was thrown into the back seat of a silver coloured car, which
was hidden in the bushy driveway.
    As Matthew lay on the seat
he tried to move but the ropes were very
tight. He had remembered to tense his muscles when they were being tied, but somehow he just could not wriggle free. A tear ran down the bridge
of his nose and he sniffed.
    "I think they've taken Matt
to the car," whispered Kevin
softly.
    "I'm going down," said
Krystal, moving stealthily along the beams
towards the trapdoor at the back of the house. In a few moments she lifted the opening and peered down. It seemed quite light outside
compared to inside, and the silver car
glinted in the soft night light.
    "Close the trapdoor after
me," whispered Krystal as she quietly and
swiftly slid down the hole.
    Kevin and Tracey gazed as she went out of
their view. They quietly put the trapdoor down in its place.
    Krystal's heart thumped as
she moved along the shadows of the back
verandah and watched as Morrie headed
towards the front door of the old Queenslander again, grunting as he hobbled along. Although very scared, she determined to at least try and rescue
Matthew. She climbed silently over the
railing, dropping to the ground. She
crouched for a moment, then crawled towards
the car. As she neared the shining metal, she memorised the registration number which she could just make