The Secret of the Lonely Isles by Joanne Van Os

Author:Joanne Van Os
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Random House Australia
Published: 2011-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

Early next morning they sailed over to the white cliffs of Victoria Settlement, and anchored offshore waiting for the tide. Ella re-anchored a few times, so they could take turns at reading the depth sounder, and counting out the five-metre marks on the chain as it rattled over the bow. ‘You’re all learning very quickly,’ she said, looking pleased. ‘You’ll be expert sailors by the time we get back to Darwin!’

It was still a while before the tide was right, so to pass the time, Ella pulled out the carved box and the file of copied letters from the Gryphon. They read through them again and looked at the charts, searching for an island that might be a better match for the vague clues they could ferret out of the letters. At ten-thirty they set out in the dinghy, and dragged it up the beach above the high tide line, tying it to a tree with the anchor rope.

It was only a short walk to the first of the ruins of the Settlement.

‘These were the married quarters,’ said Ella as they came upon a row of circular stone chimneys, all that was left of the houses.

‘Gee, they were small,’ said Tyler, stepping out the perimeter markings.

‘Yes, they were,’ said Ella. ‘And no electricity, or fans, or running water, and the women did all the cooking in these stone hearths.’

Jem gazed around at the chimneys. They looked lonely and out of place as they lined up facing the sea. He felt a bit sad, but he didn’t know why.

They continued on, stopping to inspect the remains of the hospital, the bakery, the munitions store, and the sergeants’ mess, where they rested and pulled their water bottles from their packs. It was terribly hot, and the heavy, humid air was completely still.

‘Why’d they choose such a hot place to live?’ asked Tyler, wiping sweat from his face.

‘Yeah,’ said Maddy. ‘It must’ve been murder for the women, in those long dresses, cooking inside those tiny little houses.’

‘That’s a good question,’ said Ella, taking off her hat and running her fingers through her damp hair. ‘They were more concerned with security than with comfort. The Settlement was a garrison, meant to stop the French or the Dutch from taking possession of the north coast of Australia. I guess the British Admiralty wasn’t too concerned about the temperature or the breezes. A pity. Fewer people might have died here.’

‘The Dutch and the French must have been smarter than the English,’ said Tyler. ‘They didn’t even try to live here.’

‘Perhaps,’ smiled Ella. ‘But this settlement survived for eleven years. They were very determined.’

Zac looked around at the bush. ‘It’s pretty hard country. I mean, you could catch fish’n’ stuff, but they wouldn’ta known about any bush tucker they could’ve eaten.’

Maddy shrugged. ‘Can we go now? It’s getting really hot.’

The return route took them past what must have been the loneliest cemetery in the world. Although many people had been buried here, only four or five graves were visible.

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