Page 42 of Summer in Sunset Harbour
‘I was just having a wander about and I spotted it,’ Barney said. ‘Don’t remember seeing it before.’
‘Could it be a badger set or a fox den? Maybe a rabbit warren?’ Josie, wanting to be hopeful, knew she was wrong even as she offered the suggestions. The angle of the hole, plus the lack of any material removed nearby, made it clear that nothing had dug it out. Some subterranean space had been covered over, and the tree roots had gradually unearthed it.
‘It goes right down,’ Barney said, leaning forwards and poking the stick inside. It went in five or six feet, but Josie put up a hand to stop him as he inched closer, trying to find some kind of bottom.
‘Careful,’ she said. ‘It could go right under our feet for all we know.’
The ground felt solid enough, but if the cave or whatever was this close to the surface, they could be standing on its roof. Any sudden movement and it might collapse.
‘I’m sure it wasn’t there before,’ Barney said. ‘I was clearing the brambles around here a couple of days ago and I don’t remember seeing it.’
‘We need to cordon it off,’ Josie said.
‘There’s a bit of rope left over from the swing,’ Barney said. ‘I’ll go and grab it.’
As he hurried off through the trees, Josie stared at the hole in the ground. Just the look of it, the way the ground had crumbled around the entrance, gave her a bad feeling. How big was it? How far back did it go under their feet?’
She had an instinctive sense that this was bad news. At the very least, they had to fill it in, make sure no kids playing hide and seek came across it and decided to climb inside. Who could tell how deep it was?
Barney came back with the rope. Together, they strung it around the trees nearby, giving the hole a wide berth.
‘I think it’s best if we keep this quiet for now,’ Josie said. ‘Don’t tell anyone outside the park. I’ll get Tiffany to have look online, see if we can find out what it might be.’
‘I’m sure it’s not very big,’ he said, but from the way he gave an uncertain shrug followed by a sheepish grin and a shake of his head, Josie could tell he was just as worried.
She headed back up to the reception cabin, where Tiffany was talking with Hilda. The flowers had been unloaded, the planter boxes set out in neat rows along the front of the cabin. Josie looked around, feeling a pang of disappointment when she didn’t spot Robinson anywhere nearby.
‘He’s already gone,’ Hilda said, giving her a sympathetic smile.
‘Who?’
‘You know who,’ Hilda said, as Tiffany rolled her eyes and scoffed. ‘Robinson. He had to go. He said he’s got some event up in London this evening, so he had to go over to Plymouth to catch the train.’
‘I had to … go too,’ Josie muttered.
‘Don’t worry, he’ll be back in a few days,’ Tiffany said with a chirpy grin. ‘Don’t look so glum.’
‘It’s not that,’ Josie said. ‘We … Barney … found something in the woods.’
‘If it’s a corpse, we can just roll it into the sea,’ Hilda said with a chuckle. ‘Same with an abandoned car. Or we could just make it into a horticultural feature.’
‘It’s not a corpse, or an abandoned car,’ Josie said. ‘In fact, I’m not sure what it is. Come on, I’ll show you.’
She led Tiffany and Hilda into the woods. At the sight of the rope, Hilda let out a gasp. ‘Not a hornet’s nest, is it?’
‘I don’t think so, but you never know what might be inside.’
‘Inside what?’
‘There.’ Josie pointed over the rope at the hole in the earth.
‘It’s probably just an animal burrow,’ Tiffany said.
‘That’s what I thought, but what animal round here burrows something two-feet wide?’
‘Could be a Sasquatch,’ Tiffany said. ‘Or a giant land sloth.’
‘Don’t joke.’
