Preview The Lighthouse Secret

Chapter one of The Lighthouse Secret sets the scene for Sam and Jake's journey into mystery and adventure. What strange experiments is the old man in the lighthouse carrying out, and what will happen to Jake as a result?

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Chapter one

"C'mon Sam, its only a lighthouse."

"But Jake, we're not supposed to..."

" I'm just looking, okay?"

Jake raced his bike on ahead, up the hill towards the lighthouse. Sam pedalled quickly after him, worried. What would Mum say? They were supposed to be home by now, studying. If she found out where they were, she'd have a fit.

Panting, Sam finally reached the top. He looked at the round white tower. It seemed to go up forever. Hundreds of metres below, the Pacific Ocean crashed loudly onto the rocks sending swirls of white foam up into the air. Seagulls circled, crying. It was creepy. He looked around for Jake but he was nowhere to be seen.

Sam felt uncomfortable in the shadow of the huge tower. When they had first moved to Cameron's Cove a year ago they had driven up to see the lighthouse with their parents, but had never been back. Everyone said there was danger at the lighthouse and Sam wasn't really interested in finding out what sort of danger that was.

He leant his bike against the rusty wire fence that separated him from the ocean below and explored the area around the lighthouse, calling out to Jake. When there was no answer, he plucked up enough courage to walk over and peer through a gap in one of the boarded-up windows.

It was very dark inside but Sam could just make out the outline of some high benches. Then he saw his brother. He was there all right, walking around inside!

Sam yelled out to Jake, but he didn't hear him. This wasn't right, he knew it. What if they got caught? Even though the lighthouse wasn't open to the public anymore, it was still trespassing. The wooden door creaked and groaned as he pushed it slowly open and peered inside.

"Jake?" he whispered, then jumped in fright as Jake appeared a few metres in front of him and beckoned him over.

"The door was open so I just came in," Jake whispered back. "No-one's here."

"Then why are we whispering?" Sam asked. But he didn't raise his voice.

Jake rolled his eyes and started to walk around the room.

A cold shiver ran down Sam's spine as he followed his brother in the half dark through the maze of benches. There were a dozen or more, about chest height, and they were covered in all sorts of equipment. He was careful not to touch anything, afraid he might knock over one of the many liquid-filled glass containers.

"I wonder what sort of experiments they do?" Jake said quietly.

His voice seemed to echo in the round room, but its sound gave them both more confidence.

"Experiments?" Sam gulped. "What do you mean?"

"Well, with all this scientific stuff, someone must be doing experiments," Jake replied knowingly and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Sam said urgently.

Jake pointed to the far wall. "I'm thirsty after all that cycling and there's a fridge."

"Jake, let's get out of here," urged Sam, but Jake was already opening the refrigerator door.

"Hey, there's juices in here.They're not labelled, but it looks like orange, pineapple and that red blackcurrant stuff that Mum buys. Want some?"

"No! This is someone else's fridge, not ours."

"But the door was open. Maybe they leave it open so people like us can come in and have a drink."

"I don't think so. Let's just go."

But Jake was already taking a bottle out of the refrigerator. As he stuffed it in his pocket a voice boomed out across the room.

"Hey, what are you two doing there?"

Jake backed hastily away from the refrigerator. The door slammed shut and Sam gave a small high-pitched cry.

The voice belonged to a very old, very tall man who wore dirty grey overalls. His gold-rimmed spectacles were cracked and his grey beard fell all the way to his chest. Jake and Sam froze as he walked towards them.

"You shouldn't be in here you know, it's private property," the old man said gruffly.

"The door wa-was open," Jake stuttered. Sam was shaking too much to speak.

"Well, never mind then, off with you both."

They didn't need any more encouragement to leave. Quickly they ran between the benches, out the door and over to their bikes.

"That was creepy!" Sam gasped.

Jake pulled the bottle from his pocket and started to open it.

"Exciting though, wasn't it?" he said. "Want some orange juice?"

"No! We shouldn't have gone in there. And you shouldn't have taken that bottle! It's stealing."

"It's only orange juice," Jake said, as he took a swig. "That old man won't miss one bottle."

Sam stared at his brother in horror as he downed the juice. Why did he always have to show off like this? Just because he was older he thought he knew everything.

"Well, it doesn't taste very nice anyway," Jake said, making a face as he wiped his mouth.

"C'mon. Mum'll be mad when she finds out we're not home. I've got homework to do before dinner, even if you don't."

Little brothers spoil everything Jake thought, as he jumped on his bike. He threw the empty bottle into a nearby rubbish bin and followed his brother down the hill. He wished Sam was more adventurous. He had to admit Sam was a pretty good surfer, but he was too cautious. Always thinking about what might go wrong.

Without realising it Jake had overtaken Sam, and within seconds he was way out in front.

Jake sped down Central Avenue in record time and turned into his own street. His bike seemed to be unstoppable. He hadn't been pedalling any faster than usual, but he'd made it home unbelievably quickly. He jumped off his bike and examined it thoroughly, looking for something different. He couldn't understand it. The bike looked exactly the same as usual. If anything, his legs felt different, loose and light.

Weird.

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