cramped.
Peppiâs horse scraped the rocky ground with its hoof and threw up its head to get the remaining contents of a nosebag. Prince lay and watched Tapser as he and the others watched the valley.
âThere they are,â said Peppi suddenly. âKeep down.â
âWhere?â they whispered.
âOver there to the right â¦â
Peppiâs eyes were sharp. It was several minutes before they could see what he had spotted. Three men were making their way towards the still. They wore peaked caps, old tweedy jackets, baggy trousers and Wellingtons. Typical mountainy men, they also carried sticks to help them along.
Gradually the men approached the still, unaware that they were walking into a trap. Taking great care not to be seen, the police and Excise men watched and waited. Then, as the three men reached the still and began taking off the covering sacks, the two nearest Excise men pounced.
The mountainy men, however, soon showed they werenât to be trifled with. As the other officers of the law made their way down to the lake, the two Excise men found themselves being flailed with the heavy ends of the sticks, which were being wielded like shillelaghs and with the same effect. The two Excise men went down under the blows, and as the policemen drew their batons and clambered over the rocks to lend a hand, the mountainy men, far from being trapped at the waterâs edge, jumped into a small boat which they had hidden in the rushes and rowed furiously out onto the lake. The officers stopped at the waterâs edge, pushed back their caps and stood, hands on hips, frustrated and perplexed.
âWhy donât they run around and cut them off?â asked Tapser.
âThey know theyâd never make it,â said Peppi. âItâs a lot longer than it looks from here. Itâs boggy and by the time theyâd get around to the other side theyâd be too exhausted to chase them. Anyway, theyâre not used to the mountain. Those men are. Theyâd never catch them. Come on. Letâs go home.â
âI suppose,â ventured Tapser, âthat isnât the big still youâre looking for?â
Peppi laughed. âI wish it was. But Iâm afraid thatâs only one of the wee stills.â
RóisÃn and Rachel sat beside Peppi on the way down.
âHow well do you know the shore?â he asked them.
RóisÃn shrugged. âAs well as anybody else I suppose. Why?â
âBecause I want you to do something for me. That is, if you still want to help me find the smugglers.â
They assured him they did and, as the boys leaned out through the doorway to hear what he had to say, he went on, âI think what you saw at the Castle Spa may turn out to be a very important part of this jigsaw. So I want you to try and find the cave that goes in under it.â
âAnd what will you be doing?â asked Tapser.
âI have to find out where the stuff is coming from,â Peppi told them. âBut if you could find the entrance to that cave from the seashore, it would be a great help.â
âThere are a lot of caves down there,â said Cowlick, âbut I donât think it should be too hard to find.â
âAnd we were going to look for it anyway,â added Tapser.
âGood,â said Peppi, âbut be careful.â
âAnd what about our folks?â asked Rachel. âHow much can we tell them?â
âTell nobody anything,â advised Peppi. âAt least, not yet. Remember what I said. Secrecy is most important at this stage. Whoeverâs involved in this business, theyâre in it for big money, and if the news gets out that weâre after them it could be very dangerous. So mind yourself.â
7. STOWAWAYS
After tea, Cowlick got the torch and they made their way out to the rocks on the far side of the harbour. It was a lovely evening. Gulls were circling the cliffs and terns were hovering
Nikita Storm, Bessie Hucow, Mystique Vixen