THE FAMOUS FIVE - Five and The Sinking Island

The Five went to Brazil for a holiday.
They went on an island,
and found out...
The Five had fallen into another adventure!
Join them! 

CHAPTER 1 - Off to Brazil

  It was Tuesday, but children, instead of studying in school, were out for vacation. What had happened? Well, the coal-miners were having a break, and there's not enough coal to heat up the schools. Not only the schools, but the whole town. People started to go away, and planned to return when the coal-miners were back to work.

  George's parents decided to go to a warmer, southern country. Julian, Dick, and Anne - George's cousins -  were permitted by their parents to join George. "What a nice day!" exclaimed George happily to her cousins, as they're loading their stuffs into the cab. "We'll go down to Southeast Asia!"

  "We're not going THAT far," said Julian, laughing.

  "We're going to Brazil, where there's lots of animals" added Anne, smiling a smile that was a mile wide. (Err... A mile?)

  "Woof!" barked Timmy, George's dog.

  "You'll like that place, Tim," said Dick, patting Timmy.

  Within an hour, everything was ready, and the troop set off  to the airport. They board a plane, which was "as big as a thousand elephants" (Anne's original words). After a few days, they finally arrived at the warm country, Brazil.

  "Kids," said Uncle Quentin, who was George's father. "Please stay with us, and don't wander off. I'll call a taxi.  We'll be in our hotel soon."

  "Of course!" said George, frowning. "We're not little kiddies!" Timmy barked to show he agreed.

  Soon, they were resting happily in the hotel. "Oooh!" cried Dick. "Look over there! There's a huge statue over there." The children hurried over to the nearest window and looked out. "Oh," said Julian. "Its the statue named Christ the Redeemer. This place sure is wonderful, isn't it?"

   "How about going out?" asked George.

  "But we must be with the adults, right?" replied Julian. "Uncle Quentin told us not to wander off and get lost. But I really would like to explore."

  "Oh no! You're not going, are you?" cried Anne, who always didn't want to be alone. "Please!"

  "No one is going." said Julian. "Now, where is Dick?"

  "Uh oh! He's gone!" said George, worried.

  "Let's look for him," commanded Julian. They searched every room, and found him hiding behind the sofa, eating some snack! "Hey, you!" cried George.  "What are you doing here?"

  "Oops!" said Dick, turning red. "It's not a very good hiding place after all!"

  "Why are you eating all the snacks?!" said George angrily.

  "I was hungry, you know," murmured Dick.

   "Stop, George," said Julian, patiently. "It's no good arguing in such good day!"

  "I guess you're right..." replied George. "To be honest, I feel hungry, too! And.."

  "Let's have something to eat then!" a voice interrupted. "Look what I have!" It was Aunt Fanny, George's mother.

  "Mommy!" said George, feeling glad.  

  The Five began to eat. "Ooh, look!" said Uncle Quentin, who was reading a newspaper (which was in English, of course! There's English version of newspaper there). "It says that people had found an island made out of rock! And it is near the coast of Brazil!"

  "Wow!" said Dick. "Can we go out to see it?"

  "Its quite far..." answered Uncle Quentin. "But I think we'll go on a bus tomorrow. What do you think, Fanny?"

  "Of course!" said Aunt Fanny. "I'll like to go too!"

  "Hooray!" yelled the Five. Even Timmy barked happily. And this was how they're adventure started.

  

CHAPTER 2 - The Mysterious Holes

    The next day, they went, and boarded a bus. "The wheel on the bus go round and round..." sang a noisy kid on the bus very loudly. The bus rumbled as it moved. And a goat went in the way. Beep! Beep! went the horn. How very noisy!

  Minutes later, they were standing on the beach with . They saw a huge stone towering above the surface of the sea. "What a fascinating scene!" cried Uncle Quentin. "An asteroid must have hit the sea, and touched the sea bed. Now it's an island sticking out of the water. WOW!" 

  "Can we go to the island?" asked Dick.

  "I think so, " replied Julian. "Look! There's a boat house there! Maybe we can hire a boat?"

  And they did. One by one, they jumped into the boat. Uncle Quentin and Julian rowed the boat towards the gigantic rock island. "Wow!" exclaimed Aunt Fanny, as the boys tied the boat to the island. "It looks larger when you're standing on it!"

  "And there's huge holes on the surface!" said Anne. "Look!"

  "May we explore?" asked Dick, after the boat's tied.

  "Of course you may, " answered Uncle Quentin. "But remember, don't fall into the holes!"

  "Thanks!!!!" yelled the children, running away in different directions. Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny smiled. They had not seen George so happy before. The Five gathered together after all the running (which made them tired) and decided to go into the largest hole. "Eeek! Its so dark inside!" said Anne, shivering.

  

  "Don't worry," comforted Julian. "I've got my torch. Let's go in now, shall we?"

   They went down into the hole in a single file, hoping to find something exciting. 

   "AAAHHHHHH!!!!" cried a voice. "OOOOOH!! AHHHHHHH!!!!"

   "Who was that?" asked Anne, more frightened.

   "AHHHHHH!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! OOOH!!"

   "Heellloooo!!" yelled Julian. "Who are you??"

   "OOOOOOH!!!" OOOOOOUCH! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

   "Do let's go back!" cried George. "I'm scared!"

   "Yes, we will," said Dick.

   "AAAAAAHHHH!! OOOOOH!"

   "How scary!" said Julian, as they walked out.

   "It sounds like someone in pain!" said Anne.

   "Maybe we'll find out more soon," stated George.

  "I wish we will," said Dick, with a sigh.

   Of course, you will, Famous Five! You will!

CHAPTER 3 - Uncle Quentin

  The Five hurried away from the scary hole, afraid that the  "monster" will be after them. They told Uncle Quentin about the voice, and made Uncle Quentin very curious. Was someone stuck in there? He told the children, "Stay here kids, and be with Aunt Fanny. I'll go investigate." And off he went.

  Quentin jumped down into the hole, still thinking what's in it. He explored the tunnel, and went wherever the tunnel led him. And finally, "OOOOOHHH!!! AHHH!!" Frightened, Uncle Quentin turned back and started to run. Suddenly, he felt something grabbing him. What's it? It's something that feels like a hand, but its larger. WHAT IS IT?

  Uncle Quentin turned to look. And very surprising, it was a robot hand. "Let me go!" he yelled. "Let me go, idiotic robot!" The hand didn't listened. Instead, it pulled him to a cave! Help!

  Meanwhile, the Five were still on the surface. The island started to shake. "Help!" cried Anne. "It's an earthquake!"

  "Let's escape now!" yelled Aunt Fanny. "Hop onto the boat!!!!"

  "What about father?" asked George, who was VERY worried about her dad stuck in a tunnel.

  "Maybe he will come out!" said Julian very quickly

  It was quite a mess. Aunt Fanny and the children panicked, and Timmy barked very loudly.  Everyone, who were standing, fell. 

  Uncle Quentin also felt the shaking in the tunnel. "Let me go!" he cried. "Can't you see there's an earthquake?" The hand did not listen. It pulled him right into a cage! "What!?" exclaimed Uncle Quentin. "So you wanted to lock me up. And for no reasons?"

  "You're under arrest," said a robotic voice.

  "Who are you?"

  "I am the chief of the evil police force," answered the robot.

  "Why I am arrested, anyways?" asked Uncle Quentin.

  "Because you are a scientist, who is inventing something to fight against us."

  "I did not, you evil robot!" But the voice did not reply.

  A few minutes later, the earthquake stopped. Uncle Quentin stood up, and began to explore the place. "hello?" asked a weak voice. "is someone there?"

  "Yes," answered Quentin. "Where are you?"

  "I don't know," said the voice, weaker.

  "Ah! There you are!" There was a weak man sitting on the floor, and leaning on the wall. "hi.. my name is John," said the man. "I've been arrested 'because I'm a scientist'. Well, that's the original words of that robot."

  "Hi John! I am Quentin" greeted Uncle Quentin.

 

  "Hi.. nice to meet you"

  "What happened to you?" 

  "I went a hole to explore, and got caught," explained John.

  "Just like me!" exclaimed Quentin

  Suddenly, another man appeared before them. "Hello, pals," he said with a evil grin. "My name is Thur. Welcome to your new and forever home! Muahaha!"

  "What did you put us in here?" demanded Uncle Quentin.

  "Ha ha ha! You are to work forever for me!" laughed the man. "And without pay! Ha ha ha!"

  "Now, answer me. Who was making the 'Oooh and Aaah'?" asked John slowly.

  "It was me!" said Thur, still laughing. "To make you come to explore and get caught! Ha ha ha ha!"

  "Whatever..." said John weakly. "I just won't work for you."

  "You must," threatened Thur, revealing a knife. "Or else..."

  John fainted and Uncle Quentin screamed - but Thur was still laughing terribly. "He who laugh last, laugh longest," murmured Uncle Quentin.

  "I heard that!" shouted Thur. "And I don't want to hear it again!"

  "Whatever.." said Uncle Quentin

CHAPTER 4 - Safe and Sound

  Up on the surface, Julian and his siblings searched for their uncle. "Can Timmy sniff out Uncle Quentin?" asked Anne.

  "Woof!" barked Tim.

  "He's saying that he can," laughed George. "Timmy, find father!" 

  "Wuff! Wuff!" replied Tim.

  Timmy went towards the hole, sniffing the ground, and started to head to the 'haunted' hole. "Stop!" yelled George. "Don't go in there!" Tim looked up, quite confused. You told me to find Quentin. Now you tell me to stop! Woof!

  "Quentin must be in there," said Aunt Fanny, worrying. "And got lost. We must tell the police! At once!"

  "Alright," said Julian. "Let's go to the police later."

  "Now!" demanded Aunt Fanny.

  "Okay, alright," said George. "Don't be rude, Mother."

  "We will go now," declared Dick.

  They hurried to their boat, and rowed as fast as they could. After a few minutes, they're safely on land. "Now, look," said Aunt Fanny. "There's a police station over there. You five wait here, and I'll go report. Stay where you are!" And off she ran towards the station.

  The police went on their police boat, and sailed towards the island. The island seemed to be tilted more than it was before - it was sinking. "Oh no!" cried Anne. "The island is sinking, and Uncle is inside the tunnel!"

  

  "Don worri, kid," said a kind police. "Ve will shave yor oncle!"

  Dick turned around and giggle. "What did he say?" he thought to himself. "We will shave your uncle?" George spotted him and frowned. She pinched Dick and 'Ouch!'  Dick almost cried, because of the pain.

  "What are you doing?" asked Julian, who did not see Dick giggle. "Why did you shouted??"

  "Er... Nothing," replied Dick, embarrassed.

  The police went down the haunted hole, holding torches/flashlights in their hands. "Ve will be bak soon," said the chief of the polices, called Alfred. In the tunnel, they saw the robot hand. "Pff! Desvie da mão!" cried one police. The hand was unsuccessful and cannot grab the polices. 

  "OOOOH! AHHH!" Thur shouted in the tunnel, trying to confuse the polices. "Silencioso!" commanded the polices, and Thur stopped shouted. Now, he hid and was thinking for a plan to escape. He suddenly remembered a hole he dug, which led to the surface. "Ah!" he said to himself. ”I'll escape throught that hole!" And he did

  As the polices went further in, they saw two men. It was Uncle Quentin and John! They escorted them out of the hole, into safety. "Phew!" said John, quite relieved. "I thought I would be in there forever!"

  "I'm glad you're safe, Quentin," cried Aunt Fanny.

  "Me too!" said Uncle Quentin, smiling happily.

  "Hooray, Uncle is safe and sound!" cheered Anne.

  Indeed, Uncle Quentin was safe. But Thur was still on the loose.

CHAPTER 5 - The search begins

  After a few hours, the Five, Aunt Fanny, and Uncle Quentin were safely back at the hotel. "Now, tell me," said Aunt Fanny, sitting down on the sofa. "Who captured you? How? Why?"

  "Oh, Fanny!" said Quentin. "I'll answer your questions, one by one."

  So, Uncle Quentin told the strange sounds in the tunnel, how he was caught by a robot hand, and Thur. Aunt Fanny did not interrupt her husband as he talked. "So, I decided to report to the police tomorrow, " said Uncle Quentin. "And they'll arrest the evil Thur!"

  The next day, the Five and their uncle, instead of eating breakfast, went to a police station. They told the story to the polices, not missing every detail. The chief police, Alfred, nodded a few times, and jotted down some information in his notebook. "Great," said Alfred. "We'll go to the tunnel now! Vamos!"

  "Do you think the polices can find the Thur?" asked Anne to her comrades.

  "I think so," replied George.

  "Maybe not," cried Julian. "Look!"

  They were approaching the coast, but there was no island to be seen! "Oh no!" said Dick, suprised. "Now we'll never find Thur!"

  "And Thur will continue to do his evil plan!" said George. "And he'll kidnap more people - and maybe capture Father again!"

  The police went searching around the place for clues. Suddenly, Dick found a strip of paper on the floor. "Look at this!" said Dick, showing the clue to the police. "There're numbers and letters on it.  It says, 243f, Cheeseman Street, Brazil!

  "Good job," said a police officer. "You found an important clue, it tells us exactly where Thur lives!"

  "Let's go there now!" said another policeman, waving them to the police car. "And then we'll arrest Thur!"

  They went but found themselves at an abandoned shanty. Uncle Quentin turned the knob, but the whole door fell out of its hinges. "Argh!" cried Uncle Quentin, holding his nose. "What stench! Surely Thur isn't in there!"

  The Five and polices searched all day. Although they searched everywhere, they still could not find the evil, wicked Thur. Until.... That's another story.

CHAPTER 6 - More discoveries

  The Five with their uncle searched every inch of the coast. Nothing was found, except a strip of paper, hidden in a seashell found by a police . "What's dis?" asked the policeman, as he looked at the paper. 

"I am hidden and cannot be found.
 Well and hidden, without a sound.
 In the House, that's where I hide
 The police, with help of the strip, I'd lied"

  "What a bad hand-writing!" exclaimed Dick. "I bet that's a poem that Thur had written when he was escaping!"

  "So, he tricked us to go to the shanty!?" cried Uncle Quentin, furious.

  "No time to be angry, uncle," said Julian, calmly. "We'll have to find Thur!"

  "Where is the House?" asked Anne to the chief of polices. "Thur must be in there."

  "The House is a temple quite far from here," Alfred explained. "We can go there by plane."

  "We'll have to go back now," said George, watching the sun go down. "It's getting dark."

  "Well, you're right," said Alfred.

  The next day, as the sun went up the hill again, the Five and their uncle had eaten their breakfast, and were ready for their second search for Thur. "Wish we'll be successful today," said George, patting Timmy. "Can Tim go with us?"

  "Of course!" said Uncle Quentin, witha big smile. "He may help us, too!"

  "Thanks, father!" cried George. She was as happy as a child who had just received his Christmas present.

  They went on a taxi and headed towards the police headquarters. "Hello!" greeted Alfred. "Come aboard on my private plane!" He was standing beside a blue plane. The plane was much smaller than an ordinary one. "Only five hundred elephants," thought Anne

  "WOW!" said Dick, astonished. "You have a private van, a private car, and even a private plane!"

  Alfred laughed. "Oh no!" he said. "They belong to all the policemen!"  

  They were at the House when it was afternoon. The sun was shining above their heads. "How very hot!" complained Dick, fanning himself with a piece of paper. They went into the temple, and.....it was full of monkeys! "Dodge!" yelled Dick. 

  The monkeys were throwing rotten fruits at them. "Ooof!" cried Uncle Quentin, a fruit hit him. The troop dashed out of the House, as quick as they can, dodging all the flying fruits. "We must find Thur!" said George, trying to calm the frightened Tim. "We really must!"

CHAPTER 7 - Trapped

  "Now we'll never catch Thur," said Alfred with a sigh. "The monkeys throw food whenever someone gets in!"

  "We cannot give up!" said Uncle Quentin, determined to catch Thur.

  "Uncle is right," added Julian. "Maybe we could make friends with the monkeys?"

  Suddenly, two people came towards them. A man, and a boy. "So, Peter," said the man to the boy. "This is the temple of the monkeys. You can practice what you've learned here."

  "PETER!!" cried the Five. Peter was one of their friends. They had helped him escaped from kidnappers last year. "Oh! Hello!" said Peter. "I didn't know you're here, too!"

  "Who is...? What?" asked the man to Peter.

  "Oh, father," said Peter. "Those are my friends. They helped me before."

  "Hello, sir!" greeted the Five. Timmy barked happily and ran around Peter, as the children introduced themselves to the man.

  "Hello, kids," said Peter's father. "I am Mr. Arnold. Nice to meet you! What brought you here?"

  "Well, " began Uncle Quentin. "We'll were chasing after a evil man, named Thur. Maybe you can help us?"

  Just then, Peter spoke to the monkeys inside the House. "Oooh Eh! Yurk!" he said. The monkeys obediently sat aside, making a way in the middle. "Hey, Peter!" said George. "You know how to speak to monkeys!"

  "Erm, yes," said Peter. "But it's my father who taught me how."

  "I was once a zookeeper," said Mr. Arnold. "I could speak to most of the animals!"

  "WOW!" said Alfred. "Can you please tell the monkeys to not throw rotten fruits when we go in?"

  "Alright," said Mr. Arnold. "Oooh! Erk, Yuuurk! Oooh!"

  Dick giggle under his breath. The troop went in again, but the monkeys no longer throw fruit at them. They walked and walked, until there was a gigantic door blocking their path. "I'll go in first, to see if there's any danger," Alfred volunteered. 

  "Okay," said Uncle Quentin.

  "But be careful!" added Mr. Arnold.

  Alfred pushed open the door and walked in. But there was a trap door, and Alfred step on it. He fell down the hole.

Down... down... down... down... and, OOF! He found himself in the middle of a cell, surrounded by dozens of metal bars! "What!?" cried Alfred. "No fair!"

  Meanwhile, the Five and the others were waiting patiently outside. They waited for an hour, two hours, three hours, until Uncle Quentin couldn't stand it anymore. "Why's he taking so long?" complained Uncle Quentin.

  "Maybe we should take a look?" suggested Julian. "He might be in trouble."

  George peeked through the door. "Hello?!" she shouted. "Alfred, you in there?"

  No reply.

  "HELLO!?" she shouted desperately. "ARE YOU IN THERE?"

  Once again, no reply.

  "Oh no!" said Mr. Arnold. "I think he IS in trouble. I think I'll go in and chec-"

  He was interrupted when Anne shouted. "Am I seeing things?" she exclaimed. "There's two identical men standing over there!"

  "Hey, it's Thur! But two Thurs?" said Uncle Quentin, shocked.

  "Look! There another one!" said Peter.

  "We're surrounded!" cried Dick. "By Thursssssss!!"

  "Quick, think of something, Ju," said Anne. "There must be a way we can get out!"

   "Oooo!!! Aaahh! Eee, eee!" shouted Peter, suddenly.

   "What? It's not a time to play!" said Uncle Quentin rudely.

   The monkeys heard Peter's cries, they immediately acted. One by one, the monkeys knocked down the Thurs.  "Oof!" "Ouch!" Oi!" "Stop!" shouted the clones as they fall on the ground.

  "Hooray! The monkeys did it!" Anne cheered happily.

  "Thanks, Pete!" said Dick. "Your monkey-communication skill saved us in time!"

 

   "Wait," said Julian. "The business isn't finished yet. We have to find Thur. and save Alfred!"

   "Julian's right," agreed Mr. Arnold. "But we really must be careful!"

CHAPTER 8 - We'll get him soon

  It was dark in cell. Alfred paced back and forth, thinking of a way to escape. He spotted a strip of paper on the floor. "Again?" he asked, picking up the paper.

You ask, what is this?

A strip of paper, this is.

If don't try to flee,

You might be, again, free.

  "Not again!" cried Alfred. "Alright, I will not flee."

  Suddenly, light started to flicker, and Thur appeared. "I can't believe you fell for that!" laughed Thur. And he disappeared.

  "How strange!" said Alfred. "He disappeared into the thin air!"

  He, then, sat down on the ground, thinking again. What now?

  Meanwhile, on the surface, the Five and Mr. Arnold, along with Uncle Quentin and Peter, walked slowly into the temple. "Watch out for any trap doors!" warned Mr. Arnold, when he saw a hidden trap in front of his feet. "Phew! I almost fell in!"

  "Well?" said Uncle Quentin. "I can't see Alfred anywhere. Maybe he felled in!"

  "Ah!" exclaimed Julian. "I've got an idea!" And he whispered something into Peter's ear. "What did you say to him?" asked George.

  "You'll see in due course" Julian winked.

  Peter called the monkeys to gather, while Mr. Arnold went to zoos to 'hire' monkeys. In a few minutes work, Peter and his father had a large monkey army. "Perfect!" remarked Julian. "Now..."

  "Ooh! Boo! Eeek Ach!" shouted the father and the son. The monkeys obeyed and went down to each trap door. They found Alfred in the furthest trap door, sleeping. Then, the monkeys tied a rope around Alfred, and went out. "Ooh! Eeh!" said a monkey to Peter, handing him the other end of the rope to him. "Ah Eeh Oh!" said Mr. Arnold to monkeys. "Great!" said Julian. "Now, it's time for us to work. Pull!!!" Uncle Quentin and the others came to help.

  Alfred, still in his cell, was asleep. He suddenly woke up, as the rope pulled him. "Hey! Stop!" he shouted, dangling in the mid-air. "You're hurting me!" Poor Alfred, the others didn't hear him, so they pulled as hard as they can. "Oi! Stop" Alfred shouted, still hanging from the rope. 

  "Look!" said Dick. "I can see his legs! He's coming up!"

  "Of course, he is coming up!" said George. "Ah! Here he is!"

  Alfred, pulled out of the dreadful place, was still in pain. "Thank you!" he said. "What a dreadful experience!"

   "Thur is still in there!" said Julian. 

  

  Julian's wrong - Thur, of course, had escaped. So, when the polices went down, but couldn't find anything. 

  "Now..." said Uncle Quentin, looking at his watch. "Time for lunch!"

  The troop went to eat in a grand restaurant. But the children weren't hungry, they were filled with excitement.  Once again, The Five and the others went on their search again.  "Thur has a lot of secrets and technology!" said Alfred. "I saw something like a scanner when I was in the cell. But it was much larger!"

  "Maybe it was for scanner and printing large objects?" said Peter.

  "Oh!" cried Dick suddenly. "So that's why we saw so many Thurs!"

  "Errr...?" asked Alfred. "What?"

  "You see," said Dick." When you were in the cell, we saw Thur's clones. Thur must have used the copier (yes, I call it the scanner 'copier') to duplicate himself!"

  "Dick's right!" agreed Anne. "So, we must be more careful now!"

  "But now we'll never catch the real Thur!" signed Alfred.

  "Don't be sad," said Mr. Arnold. "We'll find him, dead or alive."

  Alfred ordered the polices to put up posters about Thur.

   The poster's image was blur, so it wasn't very useful.

  "Never mind," said Alfred, with a sign. "We'll get him soon...."

TO BE CONTINUED...
THANKS TO
ENID BLYTHON