Night on Bald Mountain
WRITTEN IN THE ORDER: SARAH, KATE, KAT, MAYA
"Oh my goodness! This place is disgustingly filthy. How can they expect us to stay here?" Maya lifted the hem of her skirt off the slate floor after closing her pink parasol.
"Yeah, but for $20,000 I'd suffer through it." Smiled Courtney and elbowed the young woman. Maya lifted her nose in disdain at the street urchin who was surveying the house where they would spend that night and the following week. The grand Victorian mansion was called 'Bald House' as it stood at the very pinacle of Bald Mountain. It contained over 100 rooms and was elegantly furnished, however, it had been deserted for 20 years and was beginning to fall apart. Maya and Courtney were 2 of the 14 people who had been invited to stay for one week at Bald House and in return, be rewarded with $20,000.
Irene stood silently in the shadows of the huge lobby watching the rich young lady and poor girl. She had accepted the invitation because she had desparately needed the money. However, she was curious as to who was behind the whole situation; the person who was paying 14 people a fortune simply to stay in a big, old house for a week.
Across the room, Maya tried to ignore the think layer of dust that covered the mantlepiece. She took a deep breath to fight the nausea that swept through her.
"No." She thought. "I must be strong. Our family needs this money so that we may maintain our good reputation in society."
Her thoughts were interupted as another guest entered Bald House's lobby... 
It was a small, elegant woman of some 40 years.
"Oh! This is PERFECT!" she called over her shoulder. "Just the kind of gorgeous house I wanted to stay in. And you way people give me money to stay here? How delightful."
Maya watched as the new entry swept in, followed by a man carrying several bags. Maya shook her head. Her mother had always spoken of the immensly rich Dame Kathryn Pollard, and the queer delight she took in visiting old houses in obscure places. And who was the man carrying the Dame's bags? That was right. Darren.
In the kitchen, Loan Ngo and her boyfriend, Jamie, sat at a large table.
"I just don't understand it," Loan was saying. "Those forms we had to fill out. Some of those questions were usual - NAME, REASON FOR APPLICATION - you know, but what about - BOOKS READ, WHAT EATEN FOR BREAKFAST. Why would anyone want to know if I've seen a ghost?"
Jamie shrugged.
"I'm sure that it will make sense in time."
Matt's car pulled up outside 'Bald House' at 3.15pm. He reached over to the passenger seat and once more read the documents from 'Eyrie consultants'.
"Bald Mountain has for may centuries harboured a deep secret. It has been a rich farming land, also riddled with gold - apparently contradicting conditions. In 1803, 'Bald House' was built and the lands controlled by the Ariel family. Yet, all those who removed either food or gold from the area did not, as expected, prosper, but instead found their business running at a loss. 'Bald House' was a failure and the Ariel family moved away. Current ownership of the property is difficult to establish..."
Matt shut the folder and shoved it into his overnight bag, before heading towards the house.
***
Hours later, the guests gathered in the dining room. There was the street urchin Courtney, the 25 year old couple, Loan and Jamie, the Dame Kathryn, the snobbish spoiled brat, Maya, the 40-ish woman, Irene, Dame Kathryn's servant, Darren, the 20ish man named Matt, and 2 more women who appeared to be sisters, and 4 more men, standing by the fire place. Dame Kathryn, who wanted a closer look at the exquisite mantle-piece, moved over and introduced herself. The four men were name Bob, Matthew, Leonardo, and Joshua. Leonardo was an elderly gentleman nearing 50 - rather distinguished and Dame Kathryn was charmed by him immediately. Joshua and Matthew were his sons, by his deceased wife, and Bob was a friend of Matthew's. Leonardo's family were quite established, and he had a strong passion for houses, which put him in Dame Kathryn's good books immediately. As they were chatting, the two sisters moved over to the fire. They introduced themselves as Kate and Sarah Lockley - their father had sent them because he thought it would be educational for them. Sarah was 18 years old, and Kate was 26. Matthew approached Kate with a self-assured look on his face.
"I'm *very* pleased to meet you, Miss Lockley," he said, in a smooth style. "I am Matthew Morrison, the heir to my father's fortune - as soon as I bump off my elder brother, of course." He winked slyly.
Kate laughed, charmed, but well aware of the game this young man - who looked to be about 21 - was playing.
"Have you met my sister, Sarah?" she asked, pulling her forward.
"Miss Lockley! Truely thou art a great beauty!" exclaimed Matthew Morrison, instantly transfering his affections to the younger sister.
Sarah blushed, prettily.
But then, Matthew looked across the room and noticed there were many other eligible young ladies about. "Ahhh... this is great!" he breathed, and walked off to find the next lady.
Sarah was fuming, "How dare he! that jerk!"
"Calm down, sis, why don't I take care of this for you?" Kate whispered.
Sarah calmed down a bit, "Okay, thanks."
So Kate walked over to Matthew and gave him a glass of wine. He sculled it, while is latest 'love', Irene, stood and watched, open mouthed.
"Why thank you, uh, Kaitlin was it?" he asked Kate.
She stood by, a smug look on her face, "Kate, actually."
Suddenly Matthew started to wobble, and fell on the floor. The whole crowd of people rushed to look. On the floor, Matthew was having a seizure, and blood came rushing out of his mouth. Women started screaming and running around everywhere, and rather than try to help, the men just stood there. After a few minutes, it was obvious Matthew was dead.
"There, sis, happy now?" whispered Kate to Sarah.
"Very," she replied.
No one really felt like dinner after the sudden death of Matthew, so they all went to their rooms.
***
Courtney woke up the next morning with excitement pulsing through her veins. She felt clean, she wasn't hungry and
[
I seem to be missing a large chunk here... don't know what's happened... I'll attempt to find the hard copy and fix this up...]
I didn't. I went over there to tell him that he couldn't treat my sister that way when he fell over and started flapping around like a jellyfish. We were both pleased to see him dead because he was a bastard but neither of us killed him." Kate flustered.
"Shh, don't get so worked up, sis. Have you had your Vitamin C tablet this morning?" Sarah pulled her sister onto her bed and helped her to lie down.
"No... I... I couldn't find them."
"It's alright they're in my trunk." She gave one to Kate who quickly swallowed it. Kate's shivering stopped and her pallor returned to normal. She grasped Sarah's wrist.
"You must not tell anyone of my dependancy on these tablets."
"Of course I won't, now why don't you take a little nap before we go downstairs?"
Sarah returned to unpacking their trunks and hid the vitamin C tablets under her evening dress where no one could find them.
***
The entire group of 13 people had been lazy for most of the morning and had all gathered in the dining room for brunch.
Maya cast a suscipicious glance towards Kate and Sarah.
"I just know they poisoned him."
"Oh, Maya. Calm yourself." Dame Kathryn sighed. "I'm sure those two lovely girls had nothing to do with it." But Dame Kathryn knew that that theory was the consensus around the room as the two sisters stood completely alone near the fireplace.
"Wait a minute." Joshua exclaimed. "There's a letter on the table addressed to the Bald House Party."
"Well... what does it say?" Asked Courtney, excitedly.
Joshua opened the letter and skimmed over it.
"Welcome... blah, blah, blah... make yourselves comfortable... blah, blah... beginning of the intensive program after dinner tonight. And it says that we will be met at lunch today and provided with instructions."
Courtney looked disappointed.
"That's it? Who signed it?"
Joshua handed her the letter.
"That's all it says."
"Excuse me!" Leonardo rose and left the room. The assembly stared after him.
"Dad?"
Joshua followed his father out of the room.
***
At noon, Matt was in the extensive gardens, poking around. He came around a large hedge and noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye. Matt turned, and watched the slim figure of Sarah Lockley tugging at a handle, half-buried in the ground. She slipped, landing heavily in the mud.
"Crap!" she cried.
"Pardon?" Matt blurted, astonished at this young woman's use of the English language.
Sarah looked up in shock and flushed bright red.
"Oh... snap!" she amended. "Snap... my, um, wrist made a snapping noise... yeah."
Matt stepped closer to her.
"What are you doing?" he queried.
"Nothing."
"What's that doorway?"
"Nothing."
"Move away, please," Matt instructed.
"Oh! Oh! It's lunchtime now!" Sarah grabbed Matt's arm and hauled him away. The pair ran into Darren, who was sitting on the path, crosslegged.
"Unhand me, woman!" Matt wrenched his arm free. He stared at Darren. "And what are you doing?" he asked.
Darren stood up, a wild look in his eyes.
"I don't know," he confessed. "One minute I was on this wonderful walking trail through the bush, and the next..." Darren trailed off.
Matt shook his head.
"Everyone here is crazy."
***
At lunch, the group sat around a table set for 15. Everyone was present, excepting Leonardo, Joshua and, of course, Matthew Morrison. As the clock struck one, a tall figure dressed entirely in black walked in and took the head of the table. Its face was hidden by a deep hood. The figure handed a pile of envelopes to the person on its right, and gestured that they be passed around. Maya, having been handed the pile, took the one with her name on it and passed the rest to Jamie. She opened her letter.
"You are to be at the start of Echo trail at 8pm tonight. Dress warmly."
As everyone at the table read their letters, it became apparant that there was two groups. One group was to meet at Echo trail that evening, and the other was to meet in the foyer at the same time. In the confusion as people compared letters, the black-clad figure slipped out of the hall. One group contained Kate, Matt, Sarah, Dame Kathryn, Maya, Bob and the absent Leonardo. The other group containing Courtney, Loan, Jamie, Irene, Darren, Joshua, and the recently deceased Mr. Morrison, were the group meeting in the foyer. Maya was already worried about 'echo trail'.
"It sounds so dirty," she wailed. "And do I have to be in a group with those two murderers?"
Dame Kathryn stepped in.
"Never mind, dear. I'm sure we'll have a lovely hot bath at the end of it. And a lady never jumps to conclusions so quickly."
Maya blushed, but still muttered under her breath about poisoned drinks, and not drinking anything from the Lockley sisters.
***
At 8:00pm, after a very filling dinner, the two groups met at their appointed places. In the foyer, Loan and Jamie were talking to Joshua, who was explaining the reason for his absence from lunch that morning...
"Well, it's pretty darn obvious, isn't it? My brother was murdered! So my father and I were, you know, sad. We were just up in our room, that's all. We didn't do anything, just sat there, and, uh, cried. Yeah, we cried," Joshua stammered.
Loan and Jamie looked at Joshua with one eyebrow raised, "Okay... well, now where's your father then? I didn't see him in the Echo trail group when they set off, you know," questioned Jamie.
"How am I to know? Perhaps he's still, uh, crying in our room!" fumed Joshua, and he stormed off to talk to Darren, the only other man in the group. But Darren looked dazed and confused, and was muttering something about a 'fantastic walking trail that seemed to just disappear.'
Joshua thought, 'Forget it', and turned his back on everyone.
***
Meanwhile, the Echo group were all huddled together, clutching some lanterns, rugged up in their warmest clothes.
Leonardo spoke in a commanding voice, "Since I am the eldest male here, I say I take charge. Is that okay by everyone?"
Too cold to say anything, everyone just nodded.
He continued, "How, I don't..." But he was cut off by Matt and Bob, who had found a note stuck on a tree. "Hey look!" Bob cried. "It says follow the trail down the mountain to the river, and your next instruction will be at the small jetty there."
So everyone started trudging down the muddy, slippery path, Maya trailing along at the end, complaining all the way down.
They could hear the river much before they could see it. When they finally reached the small clearing at the jetty, they could see the mighty, flowing River Sorrento, white foam flying around everywhere. Attached to the jetty was a note, flapping in the wind, and also a medium sized boat.
Sarah grabbed the note and read it," Leave your lights, get in the boat and untie it."
This was met by loud protests. Leonardo took charge again, "Before we decide whether to get in, we need to discuss why we're here..."
***
Meanwhile, the other group had found a letter instructing them to move into the ballroom which was at the back of Bald House.
They entered the large room and Courtney began an imaginery waltz with an imaginery partner, humming a little tune and generally frightening everyone in the room. "Oh, come on!" She stopped and said to them. "Don't any of you know how to have fun?" She stamped her foot to emphasise the point. Suddenly, a trap door opened beneath Courtney's feet and her scream was all the group had left of her.
***
By the river, Leonardo was trying to get his group to discuss why they were there at Bald House but Dame Kathryn interrupted.
"Come on, Leo. The rafting sounds much more interesting."
Before they could depart Kate began to shake uncontrollably.
"Are you okay?" Asked Bob but she only whimpered.
Maya shrieked and stepped back. "Get away from me. If she froths at the mouth and gets any on my dress I shall be extremely annoyed!"
Sarah pushed her way through to her sister. She pulled a small, orange pill from the folds of her skirt and handed it to Kate.
"What did you just give her?" Demanded Matt.
"Mind your own business." Sarah replied.
"Look, you insolent, little wench..."
"Insolent... wench... how dare you!" Sarah fumed.
"I can think of worse than that. Now tell me what the pill was and what I saw you doing in the garden this afternoon with that handle half-buried in the ground!"
"Mind your own business, you cold, heartless... MAN!" Sarah shoved Matt who fell backwards, knocking Bob into the water. There was a splash, followed by a silence and then Bob's voice was heard from some distance downstream, crying out with fear.
"Well, now we have to go after him," Kathryn stated. She climbed into the boat and called to the others, "In you hop now, that's the way, you too Maya."
Once they were all in Matt and Leonardo grabbed the oars and propelled the group in the direction of Bob.
***
In 'Bald House' Loan and Jamie were peering down the hole through which Courtney had fallen.
"It doesn't seem to have a bottom," Jamie called.
"Well, of course it does," Joshua said. "Don't be stupid."
As the two men argued, Loan looked up, tears in her eyes, and observed the others in the room. Darren was staring at his hands in bemusement. Irene was slowly walking towards the far side of the ballroom. Loan followed Irene's stare and saw what held her attention.
"Hey! Irene, what's that?"
Loan stood up and followed Irene. They took a piece of paper off the wall and read it.
"There's a trap door. Find it. Follow it."
***
Presently, Bob's screaming stopped and Matt and Leonardo stopped paddling. Maya, by this time, was hysterical and the hault did no help her condition.
"I'm wet! I'm wet!" she shrieked. "The boat's leaking! Where's the shore? Oh! Stop touching me, you dirty murderer! I want to go home."
In the dark Leonardo through a look at Kathryn's silhouette.
"I think we need to shut her up," he muttered.
Kathryn nodded and Matt, overhearing, added "Quickly." Leonardo took off his shoe and hit Maya on the back of the head with it.
"Finally, peace," he sighed, and then grinned as Maya slumped onto Kate's lap. "She did have a point though. How do we get back?"
***
Loan didn't bother to explain the instructions to anyone else. She handed to paper to Irene and walked over to Jamie. Grabbing his arm, she jumped into the hole, dragging her boyfriend with her. The others looked at each other in confusion, until Irene read the note out loud. Then she made Darren and Joshua go in - by pushing them - and jumped in after them. The trap door fell to a large slide and Irene rocketed down it at an alarming speed. The slide went for a full 5 minutes - looping and turning, but always going down. Irene was glad she wasn't claustrophobic. Finally the slide slowed, and Irene landed on a pile of large feather cushions, on eof which burst as she landed on it, showering the others with feathers.
"Wasn't that just the most awesome ride you've ever been on?" Asked Courtney, excitedly. "I was looking for a way back up, but all I found was that door over there," she sulkily.
Irene and Darren went over to investigate. The door was locked, and there was no other way out.
***
After drifting down river for about 30 minutes, Matt rowed them over to the side of the river, and the group climbed up the steep embankment.
"Pull the boat up," commanded Leonardo. Matt tugged the boat up the steep embankment and tied it to a tree.
"Perhaps we should camp the night?" suggested Kate.
"Oh, what a fantastic idea!" cried Sarah, who adored anything to do with the outdoors, or fitness.
While Matt was tying up the boat, he noticed yet another note stuck to the seat. "Hey another note!" He ripped it open, "It says: you will find tents under the seat. I guess that means we have to camp the night after all."
"Yay!!!" yelled Sarah. "Oh no, forget it, I'm NOT sleeping in a tent in the outdoors! There are probably wild animals out here!" cried Maya, who crossed her arms.
Leonardo pulled out two big canvas tents and dragged them up the clearing.
"Now, there are only two tents," Leonardo said.
"Duh, we're not that stupid," said Maya sulkily.
Dame Kathryn sidled up to Leonardo, "Well, Leonardo, why don't you and I take this smaller tent, it looks as if it can only fit two."
Leonardo blushed, "Okay, why not."
Matt then said, "I'm not going to sleep, I think I'll sit up and take watch all night."
Sarah, who had just finished building a great fire, said, "I guess that leaves me with Kate and Maya then."
Maya's eyes widened as she realised this, "WHAT? I am not sleeping in a tent with those 2 murderers!"
"Either that, or sleep outside where bugs can eat you," Kate said.
Maya sulked and muttered, "Alright," and walked off.
Everyone had sort of assembled around Sarah's fire.
"What about food?" Kate asked.
Suddenly there was a scream. It was Maya. She had wandered further downstream. Everyone rushed over. "It's... it's... I think it's Bob!" Sure enough, Bob's bloated body sprawled across the sand.
"We could eat Bob?" Kate suggested. But noone was hungry so they all went to bed.
***
Meanwhile in the underground room, where the other group had fell, Darren had tried to pick the lock, but his handyman skills were lacking.
Everyone was tired, since is was around midnight, so they all curled upon the cushions and fell asleep.
***
Next morning, Leonardo and Kathryn emerged from their tent looking very satisfied. Kate and Sarah climbed out over Maya who had kept them up most of the night with her snoring.
Matt, who had promised to keep watch was also fast asleep. Sarah crept up beside him and yelled into his ear, "You're doing a great job!"
Matt jumped up muttering something like
"Get down on your knees!" and then promptly blushed.
"Sweet dreams were they?" Asked Sarah smugly. "I thought you were going to watch over camp."
Matt shot her a dirty look. "Tart!"
"Ooh, you bastard!" Sarah reached to pull off her shoe but Dame Kathryn intervened.
"Look, you two - Calm down."
"Yes... I think that's a good idea." Matt said "Truce," and extended his hand.
Sarah hesitated and then offered hers. "Truce."
They parted awkwardly, Sarah caught sight of Matt's wallet on the ground near where he had slept.
"You dropped this." She picked it up.
"No." Matt shouted. "Don't look..."
But it was too late, Sarah had seen his driver's license. She blanched and darted a frantic look at Matt.
"You're... oh my goodness... how did you find us?"
Matt cast a glance at the rest of the group.
"Let's speak in private, Miss Lockley."
***
Courtney awoke and lay on her back staring at the ceiling. After some time she heard someone stirring.
"Hey! What's the time?" she called.
There was a shuffle and then Darren's voice muttered "Oh, about ten."
"Good morning, Darren," said Courtney. "Are you alright? You seem... odd."
"I'm fine," Darren muttered, lighting a candle. He reached across to wake the others, and stopped with his hand on Joshua's shoulder. "Ah, Courtney..."
Courtney crawled over to look at Joshua.
"Oh," she said lightly.
"Is he dead?"
"Oh yeah. I had a friend who had that done to her head, and she died really quickly," Courtney chattered, poking at the bloody mess that had been Joshua's head. "Yep, he's dead."
Darren looked ill.
At that point, Loan woke up and rolled over, her gaze falling on Joshua. Loan promptly started screaming, which woke everyone else. The five members of the group who were still living backed away from Joshua's body. Then Courtney laughed.
"On the upside, the door's open now!"
***
Sarah and Matt sat some distance from the tents.
"What are you going to do to us?" Sarah whispered.
Matt sighed.
"Nothing."
"Oh yes you are. I know who you are, Doctor Matthew Campbell, and I know what you want!"
"Oh, shut up!" Matt shouted. He relaxed. "I've gone to a lot of trouble to find your family, Sarah. Your father is in a lot of trouble."
"My father is a good man," Sarah cried.
"Your father is a criminal who grows illegal sodium ascorbate containing oranges in obsquere places. He is the major supplier of highly addictive vitamin C to the world, and we cannot allow the trafficing of such drugs to continue."
"We?" Sarah asked. "You've been after my family for years, Dr Campbell, and I've always heard that you worked alone."
"No. I am an employee of 'Eyrie Consultants'." Matt grinned. "And I'm going to get such a pay rise when I arrest your father!" he gloated.
"How are you going to do that?" Sarah asked. "You don't even know where he is," she sneered.
"But I know where you and your vitamin C addicted sister are. And now that I've found you, you can tell me everything I need to know."
"Ha! Like I'd help you!" said Sarah, with a toss of her head. She paused.
"Sarah... We can cure your sister. There is a drug we have developed that, when paired with Orange Mirinda, reduces the dependency on your father's Vitamin C tablets, with no side-effects."
Sarah looked up sharply. "Kate?"
"Yes, Sarah," said Matt, taking her hands in his. "We can cure Kate."
Sarah looked at Matt for a long moment, then wrenched her hands away, and ran back to camp, indecision tearing at her soul.
***
Courtney had joined Irene to get the group moving. Darren had distributed candles and the group had left Joshua behind as they followed the dirt passage. After a long hour of walking, they came to a dead end.
"Now what?" asked Loan, tiredly.
"I would say we go up there," Jamie said, pointing to a wooden ladder. "I'll go first."
The rest of their group listened and watched as Jamie climbed up the ladder. After a while, sunlight came from above. Jamie called to them, and the group climbed up,, and found themselves in the garden by the house. The large trapdoor was closed, and the group looked around.
"There's another note," said Darren, going over and pulling it off the tree. He read it out loud. "You are to go to the start of Bravo trail. Further instructions to follow."
"Well where is *that*?" snapped Loan.
"There's a map," said Darren. "We go this way."
He started to Lead the way away from the house.
"Wait just a minute!" said Loan. "I am not going anywhere until someone tells me what is going on! Joshua is dead!" Loan blabbered on hysterically. Darren casually hit her over the head with a shoe, and Jamie caught her.
"Thanks," he said as he lifted her over his shoulder.
The group moved towards Bravo trail.
***
Kathryn and Leonardo were staring in shock at the large hole someone had chopped in the bottom of their boat.
"Oh, Leo! What are we going to do?"
He put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"Don't worry, everything will work out fine. We will just have to walk back to the house."
Kathryn sighed, and walked back towards camp to tell the others. Sarah and Kate were sitting apart, talking very intensely. Matt was sitting on the opposite side of the camp, watching the sisters. Maya was complaining about having to wake so early in the morning, having to sleep on the ground, the bugs, and how dirty she was already getting. Leo got everyones attention, and broke the news of the broken boat.
"Oh no!" screamed Maya. "I'm not going to walk through the forrest! I'll tear my dress! And just think how dirty we'll get! And all those bugs! And -" Maya stopped as Kate threw her shoe at her. Unfortunately it missed, as Kate's hand-eye co-ordination rating of 5, Kathryn's however, hit directly on target.
"Nice shot!" said Sarah, impressed.
"Thank you, dear. I had a hand-eye co-ordination rating of 0.5 when I was younger. Now, what are we going to do about getting back to the house?"
Matt spoke up," But, aren't we meant to be following those instructions? How do we know what to do next?"
Just at that moment, another boat came into view. There were 2 men in it, and they pulled into shore.
"Hello folks, enjoying a bit of camping?" said one man, who was tall and had very pale skin and hair.
Leonardo spoke up, "Uh, yes we are. Perhaps you can help us - our boat got damaged and we don't know how to get back to Bald House, where we're staying."
The 2 men looked at each other. The other man, with dark hair, said, "You're from Bald House? Well, there's room in our boat for 2 people. We could take you back to, uh, the house if you like. A different way though, since we can't go back up through the rapids."
The pale man smiled slyly at the dark haired man, but noone else saw.
"TAKE ME!" yelled Maya, and promptly ran down and jumped in the boat. Noone complained, although the 2 men gave her a funny look.
Leonardo spoke, "Matt, either you or I should go too." Matt volunteered, and got in the boat with Maya and the men.
Meanwhile, Dame Kathryn was worried, and whispered to Leonardo, "Can we trust these men? What if they're criminals?"
They looked at the 2 men. The pale man was very pale, and did look a bit weird, as did the dark, Greek-looking man.
"Hush dear, it's our only hope," Leonardo said.
Matt called out," When we get back, I'll send someone with another boat. Bye!"
The sisters and Kathryn and Leonardo waved them off, and walked back to camp. Just as they were getting settled on some logs, they heard a gunshot followed by a piercing scream, and a shout of help.
"Oh my gosh, it's Maya!" Kate cried.
***
Meanwhile, the other group, now reduced to 5, trudged along Bravo trail. Darren spoke up,
"You know on Day 1, I went for this walk and this trail is beginning to look suspiciously like that one... with this lovely moss, and toadstools and these trees look -"
"Okay, it's a nice walk. So what? I want to know what's going on! Why are we doing this?" demanded Loan, who had regained consciousness.
Courtney was at the head of the group and said "Who cares? This is so fun!"
They continued on the path climbing upwards (after starting halfway down Bald Mountain).
Nothing much happened for a while. Darren continued to marvel at the flora and fauna with Courtney, Jamie kept trying to calm down Loan and Irene walked silently behind.
"Can anyone else hear water?" Darren said.
A minute later, the track opened up, and they were on some large cliffs. They all looked around. At the bottom of the cliff was the River Sorrento. The track continued along the cliffs.
"Wow, what a great view!" Courtney said.
Even Loan shut up as everyone marveled at the scenery.
"Oh my gosh, look, down in the river, it's a boat! Is that... is that... I think it's Maya! It looks as if she's bound and gagged! What... is that Matt? He looks very red and still... who are those 2 men though?" Courtney said.
***
Below on the boat, the two men had docked and were searching Maya for money or any other valuables.
"There's nothing on her." The pale one commented. "Hey, the man looks pretty still... you didn't kill him did you?"
"No." The dark-haired man replied. "He hit his head on the side of the boat and he's unconscious but that's all."
"But, I heard a gunshot."
"Yes, well... I tried to shoot him but we struggled and the gun fell overboard. Unfortunately, the gun shot through the bottom of the boat... so... we're sinking."
From around the bend, the men could see the remaining people from the campsite running towards them.
"Let's get out of here!"
They got off the boat and ran away, leaving the gagged Maya and unconscious Matt helpless in the sinking boat.
***
Dame Kathryn, Leonardo, Kate and Sarah ran towards the boat.
"I can see Maya but were is Matt?" Asked Leonardo.
"Oh my gosh, it's sinking... the boat's sinking." Dame Kathryn cried. "But how are we going to get to the other side of the river where the boat is docked?"
"Well..." Kate began. "If it's just Maya on the boat then it wouldn't be a crime to just let it happen."
"Wait," Sarah cried. "Matt's there, too. He's lying down on the floor of the boat."
"That's it. We'd better swim across." Leonardo rolled up his sleeve.
"Dearest, the current is very strong." Kathryn protested.
Leonardo laughed.
"Don't be silly, Kat. I have a degree in Physics and know precisely how to calculate vectors. I shall swim at such an angle so that I arrive right next to Maya. In any case, I was an Olympic swimmer," Leonardo said comfortingly. He kissed Kathryn's hand and then dived into the river. The three women watched skeptically from the shore.
***
High on the cliff, the other group watched the precedings with interest.
"Oh dear," said Loan, as Leonardo dived in. "We have to get down there."
"Yes," agreed Jamie. "If we can meet up with the others, we might be able to make our way back to the house. I'm starving."
"We're overlooking one minor technical difficulty," Darren commented. "HOW DO WE GET DOWN THERE?"
"Don't trouble me with technicalities," Jamie replied.
***
Leonardo was indeed a strong swimmer, and made it across the river with only a few minor bruises. However, his Physics skills were severely lacking, and he reached the shore 100 metres upstream from the unconscious Matt and destressed Maya.
Kathryn let out the breath she had been holding.
Leonardo took off down the beach, proving that his running skills were even more outdated than his Physics ones.
By the time Leonardo reached the little boat it was low in the water and sinking fast. Maya, looking decidedly ill with the effort, had placed her feet under Maya's head and was keeping it out of the water. However, the stress of getting wet was getting to her, and she could break any minute.
Leonardo pulled Matt into a sitting position and then untied Maya. She let out an explosive breath.
"What the? What took you so long, you great oaf?"
Maya leapt out of the boat and stood sulkily on the shore.
"Come along, Matt," muttered Leonardo. "Let's get you out of the water."
***
Irene and Courtney walked along the cliff, searching for a way down.
"We could make our clothes into parachutes and glide down," Courtney suggested, enthusiastically unbuttoning her skirt.
"I don't know what you're doing over there, but stop it!" Darren called out.
"He's probably right," Irene agreed, and Courtney reluctantly rebuttoned her clothes.
"Hey! Over here!" Loan called.
In Loan's direction there was thick bush. The others wandered over and looked at what Loan had found. Creepers ran down the cliff, admittedly not the whole way, but quite some distance.
"That looks like fun," Courtney cried. "We could climb down, and then drop to the ground. The sand looks so soft!"
"I don't know," Darren said dubiously, but Courtney was already off. She rapidly scaled the creepers, dropped to the ground and then ran off along the shore calling, "Leonardo! Maya! Hi!"
"Looks safe enough," Jamie decided, pushing Irene forwards.
She gave him a dirty look, but followed Courtney down the cliff. Irene's youth of climbing trees and the like stood her in good stead, and she made it down with no difficulty. Irene realised that the vines would only support her weight for so long, and if she moved quickly there would be no problem. The others followed her down the vine ladder and arrived on the beach with Irene. Jamie had torn down half the vines with all his pausing on the way down, but was unharmed.
As they made their way down the beach towards Courtney, Maya, Matt and Leonardo, a dog came running out of the bushes Courtney ran back towards the others to meet the dog.
"Hello!" she cried, throwing herself at the dog and petting it enthusiastically. "Soda!" she read off the tag on his collar.
Irene shook her head and went to help Leonardo with Matt. After about 10 minutes, Matt came to, to find Irene looking at him.
"Ah!" he yelled, scrambling backward. Then, "Oh," as he realised who it was. "Sorry."
Irene laughed and she and Leo helped him to stand. The two groups looked at each other across the river. Leonardo sighed.
"How are we going to meet up with the others?"
Darren produced the map that had been with the note. He examined it. "Well... it looks like there's a bridge or something up there somewhere," he said, pointing upstream. "If we both walk up there, we should be able to meet sometime late tonight or early tomorrow." Leonardo sighed, and said, "I don't like leaving the ladies over there by them selves. Is there a faster way?"
Darren looked at the boat which had now completely sunk.
"I could probably patch that if we got it out of the water fairly easily. The Matt and I could row over, collect the girls, and row back. It would take about the same amount of time, but they'd be in sight the whole time. What do you all think?"
"Well, it's getting dark, why don't we sleep on it?" asked Irene.
"Uh, where?" replied Loan, "And we haven't eaten in ages!"
A yell came from the back of the beach, "Look, I've found a cave!" Courtney came running out from behind a rock.
The others all went to investigate it. It was hidden by some rocks. Darren lit a candle inside. The cave had a sandy floor and was quite deep.
"We could sleep in here," Jamie suggested. Everyone thought this was a good idea, and settled down in the sand, except Leo, "I think I'll go outside and tell the ladies what's going on."
***
Meanwhile, Kate was having her vitamin C tablet, since she had started frothing at the mouth. Dame Kathryn looked suspicious, but, being a lady, was too polite to say anything.
They noticed the others disappear somewhere into the cliff, and moments later, Leo emerged.
He called to the ladies, "Now, ladies, we are all staying in this cave over here, and since it's getting dark, it's too late to go to the bridge or fix the boat. If you get into any trouble, just yell."
Dame Kat called back, "Oh, don't worry dear, we'll be fine. We'll go back to the campsite and sleep there."
So the 3 set off to the campsite again, got into their tents and went to sleep, as did the others in the cave.
***
The next morning the group in the cave awoke at the crack of dawn. Darren, Leo and Matt began repairs on the boat. However, they were interrupted when Maya ran out shrieking.
"A caterpillar... on my elbow... get it off... get it off. Oh, it's biting me... the poison... goodbye, cruel world."
Darren calmly removed the brown leaf from Maya's elbow and resumed fixing the boat.
"Oh." Maya look dismayed. She tossed her hair and then flounced back into the cave.
By middle morning, the boat was ready to go and Matt and Darren prepared to row across to get the women. Suddenly, Dame Kathryn appeared flailing her arms.
"The sisters," she spluttered trying to catch her breath. "They've disappeared!"
"What?" Matt shouted.
"What's all the commotion about?" Asked Sarah as she and Kate emerged from the thick brush behind Dame Kathryn.
"Is the boat ready?" Asked Kate innocently.
Matt sighed with relief and answered "Yes." He looked around for Darren but Darren was not anywhere to be seen. From just outside the cave, Loan's bloodcurdling scream eminatted and filled the area. Rushing to see what had happened, they spotted Darren's lifeless body hanging from a tree with a letter stuck to his chest.
The group was shocked. From behind them they could hear Dame Kathryn: "Hello... we're ready to go now!"
Courtney bounced over to the shore and called across, "Oh, we're a bit busy here right now, what with Darren being dead and all. We'll get you later." She bounced off again.
"Dead?" Kathryn sat down heavily. "He can't be dead. Who will drive me around, and carry my bags, and find nice places for me to stay, and fluff my pillows now?" she wailed.
"Oh, how sad," said Kate. "I like him - when he wasn't going all weird. He was really quite nice."
"I think that if I were a man, I'd be packing death right about now," Sarah commented.
***
Meanwhile, Matt was cutting Darren down. He laid the body on the ground, and removed the note. As he began to read it, Leonardo interrupted.
"Ah, just a minute. I've been meaning to ask you, where is my son?"
Everyone looked uncomfortable.
"He met with an accident and died," Irene ventured.
"Oh," Leonardo seemed remarkably relaxed. "So did Bob. So, what does the note say?"
Matt stared at him.
"Gosh, you seem upset..." he exclaimed.
"I didn't really like him much," Leonardo replied. "I think he wanted to kill me."
Matt continued to stare.
"Oh, get on with it," Leonardo said, and then muttered something about changing his will.
Matt gave up and read the note.
"Two nights down. Three to do. Where does this cave lead to?"
"Oh no!" Loan announced. "I am not following those stupid instructions anymore."
"But it's so much fun!" Courtney cried.
"Let's get the girls and then we can fight some more," Leonardo decided.
***
Two hours later they still sat in the cave's entrance, arguing. The only thing that the group agreed upon was the fact that they should not split up. Sarah suddenly got up and wandered off. She came back some time later with five fat fish.
"Where'd they come from?" Jamie quizzed her.
"I caught them," Sarah replied, poking at the coals of the fire that she had set up upon her arrival on this side of the river.
"My sister is a talented naturalist," Kate added. "She can catch fish by tickling their tummies."
"How... useful," said Maya, who was trying very hard to be ladylike before Dame Kathryn.
"Right!" Jamie stood up. "Let's do this. We're going to eat, okay? then we have to move. We can't sit here all day. We're going to take a vote. Who wants to go into the cave and who wants to go somewhere else?"
The cave option won, if barely, and Maya began to wail.
"There'll be bats. Big, fat, blood-sucking bats! I just know it."
"There, there," said Kate, comfortingly. "Do you want one of my pills? They taste like oranges."
"That isn't a good idea," interupted Matt, moving in between the two girls.
"Oh, well," sighed Kate, popping another pill.
Sarah moved over and took the bottle off her, and put them in her pack.
"Nobody ever lets me have anything," Maya sulked.
After everyone had eaten their fill of fish - sending Sarah back out to catch more 1/2 way through - the group gathered their packs and made their way back into the cave.
"Now," said Matt, taking charge. "I'll lead, Leo, you go in the middle, and Jamie, you bring up the rear. We have to protect the ladies."
Irene snorted in disdain. Matt gave her a look.
"Sarah," he said, choosing to ignore Irene, "You walk behind me, then Maya, then Dame Kathryn, the you, Leo, then the other 4 girls and Jamie. Did anyone get Darren's candle supply?"
Kate held up a handful of candles, which were lit and passed around.
"Right!" said Matt. "Let's go then!"
He led the way into the darkness.
***
Several hours later, Maya was complaining - again. While she hadn't seen any bats, she had stumbled, torn her dress, she felt dirty, her feet hurt, and - horror of horrors - she had broken a nail! Maya told everyone what she thought of this at some length.
"Doesn't she ever shut-up?" muttered Leo.
"And what's more, I am in a cave and it's dark and the roof might fall down and land on top of me! I could be buried alive! And just think what that would do to my complexion!"
Matt started to remove his shoe, but Dame Kathryn broke in.
"Allow me," she said. "Maya, dear. Do you think that maybe you could keep your voice down? It's rather... penetrating... and I don't know how stable t hat roof is. One loud shriek could bring it down on us all. And that would ruin your dress."
The last sentence caught Maya's attention.
"My dress?" she gasped. Then, sulkily, "I don't shriek." But she shut-up anyway. "Nicely done," complimented Matt. Then he paused and peered into the darkness ahead.
"Hey, everyone! Put out your candles! I think I see a light ahead."
The tunnel suddenly widened out into a large cave. What everyone saw amazed them. It was an elaborate laboratory, filled with pots boiling and glassware and test tubes and beakers, all on long tables. There was also a big machine in the centre of the room, that everything seemed to connect to. The lights from the machinery and other stuff lit the room with an eerie glow, illuminating stalactites hanging from the roof. All they could hear was the bubbling of the pots and the whirr of the machinery.
They all slowly walked in, marveling at what they saw.
"What is it?" Kate breathed. She walked over to the end of the machine, and peered down into a large container that things from the machine were dropping into. She let out an ecstatic cry of joy, and plunged her hands and head into the box, making gobbling noises, little orange pills flying everywhere.
"NO!!" yelled Sarah, and ran over to Kate and pulled her out, Kate whistling and laughing hysterically.
Sarah looked at the others, "Okay, so my sister's addicted to Vitamin C tablets, what's the big deal?"
Just then, there was a noise from the other side of the cave, the side where they had entered. A loud thud followed as a large stone wall closed the group inside the cave.
"Oh my gosh. We're locked in." Maya cried and ran over to the door. She pounded her delicate fist against it.
"Let me out." When this proved futile and a dress-dirtying task she swooned and collapsed into a pile of limbs.
"Well, at least that's taken care of" Dame Kathryn muttered. "My shoe is becoming quite battered." Meanwhile Loan and Jamie were helping Sarah restrain Kate. The others were exploring the complex machinery.
"We found it. the lab where to pills are made." Matt cried.
"It's too bad that you will not be able to inform anyone since this is where all of you will spend the rest of your lives... except my daughters, of course." The voice came form above. As small balcony jutted out from the stone cave. There stood Todd Lockley, clothed in a dark and forbidding black cloak.
"Father, no!" Sarah cried. "You can't hurt these people. We care about them."
"Don't worry, they won't die... yet. First Mr Campbell must provide me with the cure to the addiction for Kate. Then... then, they'll die."
"How could you?" Sarah shouted. "You have injured your own daughter by your evilness and now you will kill innocent people in cold blood."
"Well, my dear. They're not all that innocent... Courtney, Irene perhaps you'd like to explain your involvement."
The group turned suspicious eyes on the women but... somehow they had disappeared.
"Up here." Todd laughed.
Irene and Courtney stood on the balcony with Mr Lockley and the two strange men from the boat.
"Well," Courtney started. "We couldn't very well stand aside and let our husbands have all the fun." Courtney paired of the pale man and Irene with the other.
"You should have seen the looks on your faces." Irene giggled. "It was terribly difficult to keep from laughing."
"Oh, dear. Very oh, dear." whispered Dame Kathryn. Leo pulled her into his arms. Loan and Jamie joined the rest of the group as Kate had fallen unconscious.
"Now Mr Campbell, the formula if you please?" Todd leaned over the balcony menacingly.
"Yeah, right," Matt yelled. "Come down and face me like a man."
"No! You come up to me. And don't try anything funny. There are a lot of dispensible bodies down there."
Matt paused.
"Okay," he replied. "But I'm not telling you anything if anyone is hurt."
Todd laughed, pleased with himself. He threw down a rope ladder, and Matt walked slowly towards it.
"Father!" Sarah screamed. "Why are you doing this?"
He grinned.
"Because, my dearest little cockatiel, when I complete my orders and bring Mr Campbell's body to Phillip mound I will get enough money to fund my production of illegal drugs for ten years." Todd smiled evilly. "We'll be rich, Sarah!"
Todd looked down as Matt reached the top of the ladder.
"Sam! Tom!" he addressed the pale man and the Greek man. "Grab him!"
There was no response.
"Hey!" Todd turned to look at his accomplices, who had both collapsed on the ground, blood slowly weeping from a small puncture wound in the centre of each of their heads. Courtney was slumped forward over the balcony, and Irene was just toppling forward, to land in the container of vitamin C tablets.
"What the?" Todd cried. He spun around as Matt aimed a kick at his stomach. Todd crumpled to the ground and Matt produced the rope which had tied Darren. He hauled Todd up and tied him tightly to the balcony.
"You're cutting off my circulation," Todd whined.
"Stuff you," Matt replied, and climbed back down the ladder. Maya picked herself up and looked around.
"What happened?" she queried.
Matt walked over to pat Loan and Jamie on the shoulder.
"You'll get a promotion for this. Well done." he congratulated them. "Did you use those new demonstration pistols with silencers?"
Loan pulled out a shiny gun and showed him all the gadgets. Todd began to scream.
"Let me go! Sarah, I am your father. Please. You can have some of my money, I promise." Todd continued to complain, but was ignored by the remaining living members of the group.
Kathryn regained her composure and looked at Sarah.
"Who was going to give your father all this money? He's obviously not the master mind behind this."
Sarah shook her head.
"I don't know," she whispered. "I can't believe that my father would be so cruel."
Kate sat up at this point, looking bleary eyed.
"What is that?" she cried, pointing.
Everyone spun around to see a large black shape on the other side of the cave. When they were distracted, Kate went for the vitamin C tablets again. She stopped as she saw the body of Irene in the container, and the blood all over them.
"Now look what you've done!" cried Kate. "You've ruined them! What a waste of good tablets! You're such a wasterer, Irene," she accused the dead body.
Matt looked at Kate briefly, then motioned to Jamie, who produced a small pill box. This he handed to Sarah, with whispered instructions. As Sarah moved towards Kate, the figure in black spoke.
"Do not take one more step!"
Sarah calmly ignored the voice and handed Kate a pill, which Kate swallowed quickly.
"What is this?! It isn't my Vitamin C! I want my vitamic C," she wailed.
"Oh, shut-up," snapped Sarah, her eyes on the figure in black.
Leonardo had gone very pale.
"Matthew?" he asked, in shock.
The figure paused, then threw back his cape in a dramatic swirl.
"Yes! It is I! Matthew Morrison!"
"But, you're dead!" cried Maya, then promptly fainted again.
"Ha-ha! That's where you're wrong! I was only pretending to be dead. The "blood" was only corn flour mixed with the red wine that young lady so generously produced. None of you fools bothered to check my pulse, did you? And none of you bothered to help me, and that is why you're now all going to die!" He paused. "That, and the fact that you now know about this secret lab," he added, almost as an afterthought.
The few remaining members looked at each other in shock.
"No!" cried Todd. "Do not harm my daughters!"
"Well," said Matthew, "perhaps as a special favour to you, I will keep one of them to be my wife. Maybe Kate? I like tractable women."
Kate had, by this time, regained full use of her sensibilities.
"Never!" she cried. "That is disgusting!"
Matthew looked irritated.
"Maybe Sarah, then," he conceded.
Sarah showed her disdain by removing her shoe and throwing it at him. It landed in the container of vitamin C and hit Irene on the head.
"Matthew!" cried Leonardo. "How could you do this? And to your own father?"
Matthew shot him a look full of hate. "I am not your son1 Mother knew all those years ago that you didn't love her! She knew you loved Dame Kathryn even then, and so she had an affair! With that man up there!" Matthew pointed dramatically at Todd.
Dame Kathryn gasped. "You loved me all those years ago?" she breathed.
Leo tightened his arms around her, but kept his attention on Matthew.
"When you started following her to those old houses, I found the perfect way to get my revenge! Everyone here was carefully orchestrated! Except that one," he said, pointing at Maya. "But no-one will miss her. What a brat... Anyway. You know mostly everything now, so I can get along with killing you."
"Wait!" said Leonardo, desperately. "Let me get this straight! You're killing us all because I didn't truly love your mother?"
Matthew laughed.
"Of course not, you fool! It's for money! With everyone her dead, I get the money from both the Lockley and Morrison holdings. I will be the richest man in the country!" He produced a gun, and pointed it at Todd. "I believe I'll start right here."
Matthew Morrison shot his gun, and Todd slumped forward, blood running everywhere from the gaping hole that suddenly appeared in his chest.
"Ahh!" screamed all the girls, except Loan.
Three guns went off at once, and the lifeless body of Matthew Morrison fell down into the container of Vitamin C tablets. Loan, Jamie and Matt put away their guns, and Matt checked Matthew's pulse. He was definately dead.
***
The police quietly cleaned up the house and caves which were found to lead to a trapdoor in the garden by bald house. Loan, Jamie and Matt all got promotions for their part in the affair. Dame Kathryn and Leonardo were married, and adopted Kate and Sarah as their children, as they were now orphans. Maya returned to her family much changed. Apparently seeing some 2 people shot, to say nothing of the number of dead bodies, had severely changed this young girl's life, and she grew up very quickly.
Dame Kathryn, Leonardo, Kate and Sarah moved into Bald House. Sarah started to be courted by Matt, and Kate met several nice young men at the numerous parties the family held, and everyone lived happily ever after, with crab for dinner!
THE END