Introduction
Tom looked at his mother. She was smiling. Her voice was so calm and ordinary.
'Yes, that's the best thing,' she continued. 'I'll get my knife and kill her. She'll go to God. She'll be happy.'
Tom stood up. His legs felt weak. He had to get away from there — and he had to take Vicky and the boys with him.
Tom and his family have come to Kirren Island for their holiday. They come to the quiet, lonely island every year. 'It's a good place to think about the important things in life,' Tom's father says. But this year is different.
First, the Rochester family arrive in their big yacht. When Tom sees pretty Vicky Rochester, he is happy and excited. But strange and terrible things begin to happen. A sheep's head in a pool of blood. A dark and empty farmhouse. And then his mother and father, and Vicky's parents . .. There is something wrong with all of them. Wrong and dangerous ...
Nigel Hinton was born and brought up in London. After university he became a teacher, and he taught English for ten years. His first book was written to read to one of his classes. Since then, he has written fourteen other books, for adults and for children. Nigel Hinton writes songs, and he also writes for television and cinema.
Chapter 1 Kirren Island
September 1944
The army officer watched the boat move out into the middle of the lake. He called an order to the soldiers on the boat, and they started to throw large tins into the water. The officer turned to the scientist next to him.
'This is all your fault,' he said. He was angry.
'We were using those chemicals to make the war shorter,' the scientist said. 'We wanted to change ordinary men into the bravest soldiers that the world ever saw.'
'Oh yes, brave!' the officer said. 'But they went crazy at the same time! Thirty of my men -good men - died because of your chemicals.' He watched the soldiers on the boat throw the last tin into the lake. 'I hope it's safe now,' he said.
'The lake's very deep,' the scientist said. 'There's no danger now.'
Last week
At the bottom of the lake, one of the old tins broke open. Chemicals began to pour into the water.
The next day, Ian Mackie was walking back to his farm, the only one on Kirren Island. He was hot and thirsty. He stopped at the lake to drink some water.
'It doesn't taste as sweet as usual,' he thought.
Two hours later, Ian Mackie started to feel ill. His head hurt and he said crazy things to his wife.
Suddenly, he got his gun, went outside and began to shoot his sheep. When his wife tried to stop him, he killed her. Then he went back into the house and shot his two children and his dog.
Today
Tom Sharp watched his ten-year-old brother, Bob, running along the beach. He looked happy and excited. When Tom was Bob's age, he loved coming here too. But now, at sixteen, he hated Kirren Island. It was boring.
Every year they walked on the same hills, and saw the same people. Ian Mackie and his family were the only people who lived here. Tom looked round. He didn't want to spend his holidays on this lonely island. He wanted bright lights, music, clubs and girls. All the things that his parents didn't want.
His parents. He looked at them coming to land from their small yacht. He loved them, of course, but ...
'Tommo! Bobsy!' his father called. 'Put your tent up.'
'Dad — don't call me Tommo,' Tom said. 'I'm sixteen — not a baby!'
'Don't speak to your father like that,' his mother said. 'We know you're sixteen. But that doesn't mean you can be rude. You were a nice polite boy when you were young.'
She was angry, so Tom didn't try to talk to her. He already knew her reply: 'Remember what it says in the Bible. Obey your father and mother!'
He turned round to pick up the tent. Then he saw something. His heart jumped with excitement.
A large yacht was coming towards the island.
Chapter 2 The Rochester Family
A small boat left the yacht and came towards the beach. There were four people in the boat: a man and a woman, a boy of Bob's age, and a girl. A pretty girl, about the same age as Tom.
'Hi, my name's Gavin,' the man said, getting out of the boat.
The woman was wearing a very tight T-shirt and a very short skirt. 'Hello,' she said.
Tom watched his mother's face. She didn't like Danielle or her clothes.
'And this is my son, Sam,' Gavin Rochester said. The boy was thin and pale. He had a hearing aid in his ear. 'And my daughter, Vicky,' said Gavin.
The pretty girl looked straight at Tom and smiled. He smiled back at her. The holidays seemed better already.
Tom's father shook hands with Gavin. 'I'm Vincent Sharp,' he said. 'This is my wife, Margaret, and these are our sons, Tom and Bob.'
'Are you on holiday?' Gavin asked.
'Yes,' Tom's father replied. 'We come every year. It's a good place to think about the important things in life.'
'What important things? Money? Sex?' Gavin Rochester laughed. 'I can think about them anywhere! 'Tom's father didn't laugh, but Gavin didn't seem to notice. 'Hey, would you like to eat with us on our yacht this evening?' he continued.
'Oh no, we can't do that,' Tom's mother said. 'There are too many of us.'
'Don't worry about that, Margaret. My yacht has room for everybody,' Gavin said, laughing. 'I paid a lot of money for it. There's some very expensive equipment on it.'
'No, I -'Tom's mother began.
'We can cook the food here,' Tom suggested quickly. 'We can make a fire on the beach.'
He looked at Vicky. He wanted her to agree.
'Yes,' Vicky said, and smiled at him. 'We caught some fish today. Fish tastes great when it's cooked on a fire.'
'That's a good idea, isn't it?' Gavin Rochester agreed.
Tom knew what his mother and father thought. They thought it was a bad idea. They didn't want to be friends with these people. But they didn't want to be rude.
'That's very kind of you,' his mother said.
'Great!' Gavin said. 'I'll go back to the yacht for the fish. The children can find some wood for the fire.'
Tom was happy. The fire lit up the dark beach, and Vicky was right — the fish tasted great.
'Have another glass of wine, Margaret,' Gavin said.
'Oh no,' Tom's mother replied. 'I never drink more than one glass.'
'That's a pity. I only buy the best,' Gavin said. He laughed. 'Dani can drink a full bottle of this.'
'Don't tell everyone my secrets, Gavin,' Danielle said. 'But it is my favourite wine. I drank a lot of it when I was working on TV
'Dani was a TV star,' Gavin said. 'Do you remember her, Vincent?'
'No,' said Tom's father. 'I don't watch television.'
'I wasn't really a big star,' Danielle said. 'Nearly, but ... I had to stop when Vicky and Sam were born.'
Tom watched Vicky talking to Bob. When she laughed, she was so beautiful in the light from the fire. Tom wanted to talk to her, but he was suddenly shy.
'Tom!' Bob shouted. 'Vicky and Sam have got a tent. They're going to sleep here with us tonight.'
'Oh no - they can't,'Tom's mother said immediately.
'Why not?' Danielle asked.
Tom knew what his mother wanted to say: 'I don't want Tom to be here with Vicky all night'. But she couldn't say it. She looked at Tom's father.
'Er ...' he began. 'Perhaps it will be OK.'
'Yes!'Bob shouted happily.
Tom wanted to shout with excitement, too, but he didn't.
Chapter 3 In the Night
They were all sitting outside a tent. Bob and Sam were playing cards. Tom and Vicky were listening to a cassette.
'Oh, "Lonely Tomorrow",' Vicky said. 'I love this song.'
'It's my favourite, too,'Tom said.
When the song finished, Vicky stood up. 'Do you want to go for a walk?' she asked.
'Yes, great,'Tom said, getting up.
They walked along the path to the top of the cliffs, and sat down. The moon was shining on the sea. Tom looked down at the two yachts on the water. There were no lights; their parents were probably asleep.
Tom laughed. 'I'm glad my parents can't see us.'
'Why?'Vicky asked.
'Because they ... oh, it's difficult to explain. They go to church a lot. And they read the Bible and talk about religion all the time.. There's nothing wrong with that, but. sometimes they're so ... serious! He looked at Vicky. 'Do you know what my mother said this evening?'
'No, what?' asked Vicky.
'She said, "God sees everything, Tom. He watches you every minute." Sometimes I feel —' Tom stopped.
'What?' said Vicky. 'You can tell me.'
Tom looked at her. He knew it was true. He could tell her anything. 'They're really good parents,' he said. 'But — I don't know. I think they loved me more when I was young. Sometimes I think they don't really like me now. What I am, now. Now I'm
'Sometimes I think my parents don't like Sam and me,' Vicky said.
'But your parents seem so nice, 'Tom said.
'They are, but Mum thinks we stopped her becoming a TV star.' She threw a stone over the cliff into the sea. 'Dad's always working, and sometimes he's not very nice to Sam. You know that Sam has to wear a hearing aid. Dad hates that. He wants a son who's strong and good at sports.'
'What's your father's job?' Tom asked.
'He works for an international bank, 'Vicky said. 'That's all that he's really interested in — money and sport. He wants me to earn a lot of money when I leave school. I tell him, "I want a job that I like. Money's not the most important thing." That makes him really angry'.
'My parents watch me all the time,' Tom said. 'They want to know everything. Where I'm going. What I'm doing. Who I'm meeting.'
'And you like to have some secrets, 'Vicky said.
'Yes, 'Tom agreed. 'Don't you?'
'Of course I do,' Vicky laughed.
Tom looked up at the sky. The stars were very bright. He was happy here with Vicky. She was easy to talk to. He could tell her things that he never told other people.
'I'm cold,' she said, suddenly.
He took off his jacket and put it round her shoulders.
'Here, you can have my jacket,' he said.
'Thanks.'
Vicky looked at him. He smiled at her, and then looked at the sea. When he turned to her again, she was still looking at him.
'What?' he laughed.
She didn't say anything. She just moved towards him and kissed him. It was a long kiss and he didn't want it to stop. But then Vicky moved away.
'Now you've got another secret,' she said, smiling. 'Or are you going to tell your parents about this?'
'No! They'll kill me!' he said, laughing.
She kissed him again and he put his arms round her. He could feel his heart racing in his chest. He pulled her closer and closer.
Suddenly, there was a terrible scream. Then another. It was coming from the tents.
Tom and Vicky jumped up and ran down the hill. The sound of crying came from inside one of the tents.
And the outside of the tent was covered with blood.
Chapter 4 Like a Wild Animal
Bob and Sam screamed when Tom opened the door to the tent.
'It's OK, it's OK, 'Tom said. 'We're here. What happened?'
'There was a noise,' Bob said. 'It was dark. We couldn't see anything. We were frightened and we came in here.'
'What noise?' Vicky asked.
'It was like a ... a wild animal,' Sam said. 'Then blood started to come through the roof of the tent! I was frightened and ...'
'It's OK,' Vicky said. She put her arms round him.
Tom went outside. It was very dark. He stood and listened. Silence. He started to walk round the tent, and his foot touched something. Just then, the moon came out from behind a cloud. Tom looked down. He saw a sheep's head lying in a pool of blood.
Feeling sick, he picked up the head. The straight cut across the neck was made by a knife, not a wild animal. Tom threw the head into the long grass and went back into the tent.
'Did you see anything?' Vicky asked.
He didn't want to frighten Vicky or the boys, so he said, 'No, nothing.'
'What shall we do?' she said. 'The boys are afraid.'
'We can all go into the other tent, 'Tom said.
It was crowded in the tent, but they all felt safe there. The two young boys slept between Tom and Vicky.
'Goodnight, Tom,' Vicky said softly.
'Goodnight, 'Tom said. He closed his eyes and smiled.
Tom could hear a voice calling him. It sounded far away. He woke up. Then he remembered where he was.
His mother opened the tent, and light poured in. 'What are you doing?' she shouted. 'Where's Bob?'
Tom looked round. The boys weren't there.
'He was here,' Tom said. 'And Sam, too. Perhaps they've gone for a walk.'
'Get out of there, immediately,' his mother said.
Slowly, Tom and Vicky came out of the tent. The four adults were standing outside.
'Why were you in the tent with this girl?' Tom's mother shouted.
'Because -'Tom began.
'Where's Bob?' his father asked.
Tom looked towards the beach. Bob and Sam ran out from behind some rocks. They were playing football.
'There he is, 'Tom said.
'Why aren't you with him?' his mother shouted. 'Why are you here with this girl?'
'I'm trying to explain but you aren't listening,' Tom said. 'Somebody killed a sheep and —'
'Who killed a sheep? Is this true, Vicky?' Gavin asked.
'I —' Vicky stopped and looked at Tom.
'She didn't see it,' Tom said. 'I didn't want to frighten her or the boys.'
'I don't believe you, 'Tom's mother said.
'It's true! 'Tom shouted. 'You never believe me!' He pulled his mother to the other tent and pointed to the roof. 'What do you think this is? It's blood. And this!'
He walked into the long grass. He found the sheep's head and picked it up. His mother put her hand on her mouth and looked away. Danielle screamed.
'Who did that?' Gavin said.
'I don't know, 'Tom said.
'Who lives on this island?' Gavin asked.
'The only people here are Mr Mackie and his family,' Tom's father said.
'I'm going to see this Mr Mackie,' Gavin said. 'Is he stupid, trying to frighten people like this?'
Tom's mother looked at Tom and Vicky. 'We can't leave the children alone. We'll all have to go.'
Chapter 5 A Mystery
It was hot, walking up the hill.
'Is it very far? I'm tired,' Sam said.
'Oh, stop being a baby,' Gavin said to his son. 'You're too weak. You need some exercise.'
At the top of the hill, they looked down at the lake. It was beautiful with the sun shining on the blue water.
'I'm thirsty. Is that water clean?' Danielle asked. It's the best water that I've ever tasted,' said Tom's father. 'We always drink it when we're here.'
'Good,' Danielle said. 'Who's coming for a drink?'
'We'll all come, 'Tom's mother said.
...
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