The Shivering Vines

By Zera Rouse

In 1941, a group of British soldiers are smuggled out of the Georgetown by local resistance fighters. They are brought to Hags Island to await their rescue and are forced to make a terrible, life-changing decision. They also discover the horrible reason why the island is deserted.

Seventy years later, Sophy, Zack and Harris find their grandfathers diary. The contents are shocking and reveal secret after secret.

Meanwhile, an encounter with some strange men leaves them curious and they seek help from Marcus, a friend. The next day Marcus mysteriously disappears. Can they save him? How ruthless are his captors?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jul 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483659428

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Copyright © 2013 by Zera Rouse.

ISBN:   Softcover   978-1-4836-5941-1

             Ebook   978-1-4836-5942-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage

and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the

copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents

either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons,

living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Illustrations by Zee Branding

Rev. date: 09/27/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-800-455-039

www.xlibris.com.au

[e-mail]

503163

CONTENTS

Chapter 1:   The Escape

Chapter 2:   Saved by the Gorgon

Chapter 3:   Reunion of the Three

Chapter 4:   The Curse of Three

Chapter 5:   A Scary Encounter

Chapter 6:   Day of Firsts

Chapter 7:   The New Broom

Chapter 8:   What Zack Saw

Chapter 9:   The Diary

Chapter 10:   Heroes

Chapter 11:   The Hobbit’s Door

Chapter 12:   They’re Back

Chapter 13:   Where is Marcus?

Chapter 14:   At Death’s Door

Chapter 15:   The Kapitan’s Wrath

Chapter 16:   The Shooter

Chapter 17:   Missing Person

Chapter 18:   Hide and Seek

Chapter 19:   The Accidental Hero

Chapter 20:   The Ambush

Chapter 21:   A Chest Full of Memories

Chapter 22:   The Letter

Chapter 23:   The Unraveling

Chapter 24:   Letting Go of the Demons

Chapter 25:   The Secret of the Shivering Vines

For my parents

CHAPTER ONE

The Escape

Friday, 19th December, 1941

It was a warm balmy evening and the soft breeze blowing out to sea provided little relief to the small party of anxious British officers. They sat on a patch of beach at the foot of a cliff and waited in weary silence. They were the last of the British officers to leave the island and had been smuggled out of Georgetown by a band of local resistance fighters.

When they left, the town centre was already in a state of disorder, with people running this way and that, in absolute panic and terror. The situation worsened the following day when a spate of air raids by the invading army sparked off a frenzy of widespread looting. The chaos that followed, though unfortunate, provided convenient cover for their escape.

The soldiers arrived on the remote northwest side of Penang Island the night before and since then, had remained hidden in a secret underground chamber. A day later, news of the brutal massacre of the local towns people reached them. They were lucky. Had they remained in town, escape would have been near impossible and death, if captured, a certainty.

It is time, said Adam, their young guide.

The tide had ebbed and was at its lowest point. They could now wade through the shallow waters to the small island across the bay. If they kept within the shadows of the cliff, they could cross unseen by the Japanese watchmen high up in the tower on the hill, at least until the darkness swallowed them up.

The men took off their shoes, tied the laces together and slung them over their shoulders. One by one they followed Adam into the sea in single file, holding their knapsacks above their heads as they crossed the three quarter-mile stretch of water.

They reached the shore without any difficulty and then trekked through the dense bushes to the west side of the island. By the time they arrived, it was pitch dark and the men had to tread carefully less they stumble on the rocks that littered this part of the island. Ahead of them, Adam had made his way through a clump of bushes and was waiting in front of a moss covered stone hillock. He caught the group leader’s silent question and gave him a nod.

Great! They had arrived . . . finally, sighed Tim with exhausted relief. He looked around curiously. But where is it?

Adam smiled. Just through here, he replied before disappearing behind a mass of hanging leaves and shrubbery to his left. Mind your heads, they heard him say. His warning came too late for as soon as Tim swept aside the leaves and moved forward, his forehead met solid rock. He grunted loudly in pain.

I did warn you, he heard Adam say, followed by something that sounded suspiciously like muted laughter. The blasted boy was laughing at him! Tim grunted again, this time in displeasure. He turned around and shouted a loud warning to the others. Forewarned, the others entered without mishap and found themselves in a rather big cavern. Despite their exhaustion, the soldiers fanned out and did a quick survey of the entire cave. It didn’t take long. There was nothing much in the cave except sand and a few boulders. Satisfied that no danger lurked in the dark corners, they dropped their knapsacks and slumped down to admire the cave. As caves went, it was a rather nice one. It was easily eleven to twelve feet wide and about twenty feet long and the ceiling, at its highest point, was roughly fifteen feet high. Crude air holes here and there made the cave pleasantly airy and cool.

A gasp of surprise from Tim suddenly alerted the others. They saw him standing by the east wall in apparent confusion. Tim, who had been standing next to Adam had suddenly realised that he was no longer there. The boy seemed to have simply disappeared! He had seen Adam just seconds before, standing a couple of feet ahead of him.

Where’s Adam? asked Patrick, the soldier behind Tim.

Tim shrugged his answer. He hunkered down next to where he last saw Adam and looked down at the footprints. Could the boy walk through walls? Brushing aside the improbable idea of a miraculous disappearance, he decided to take a closer look at the wall. Creepers covered much of the cave wall and the vines with its tiny leaves hung like layers of dark green curtain. On a hunch, Tim began pushing the vines aside.

There has to be an opening in the wall somewhere, he murmured to the others. Seconds later his hunch proved right. There was an overlap in the walls that created a narrow opening of about fifteen inches wide and six feet high. He inched his way sideways through the opening to see Adam on the other side, a silly grin on his face. They shared a laugh.

For a minute there, I thought you had magically disappeared into thin air! joked Tim as he slapped Adam on the back. He wished he could have punched the exasperating boy instead. He sure had rotten timing for a joke!

The others came in one by one, equally surprised as Tim had been. After distributing mats, pillows and some food from his pack, Adam joined Tim and Patrick. He had news from his father.

A British family got caught in the massacre. The whole family was killed except for one, a boy.

Although meant for Tim’s and Patrick’s ears, the grave words seemed to echo loudly in the cave. There was no response from the men. All of them were silent and looked at each other with despair and anger, their eyes mirroring the same expressions, the same questions.

Who were they? gasped one of the men.

Where is the child now? asked another at the same time.

I don’t know where the boy is at the moment. My father says the boy’s father was the Commander’s brother. The boy was too sick to travel and by the time the family was ready to leave, it was too late.

Then his name must be Carlos. He’s only four. I met… them at a tea party last month, murmured Patrick, his voice strained as he recalled how happy the family was that day.

What about the little girl, Margaret? he asked suddenly, a horrified look on his face. He remembered how the little girl had sat on his lap and tugged on the frills of her dress. Her mother had laughed and said that her daughter hated dresses and preferred to dress up like her brother.

Adam shook his head sadly. I’m sorry. There was only one survivor.

Patrick then looked at Tim, a silent question in his eyes. Timothy shook his head slowly, an expression of deep regret on his face. He tapped his hand on his satchel and another look passed between them. Patrick nodded. He understood.

Adam observed the silent communication between the two men. There were secrets between these two, he was certain. Anyway, it was no business of his. What he said next saved Tim and Patrick the unnecessary guilt trip.

There is no time to bring him out here, in case you are wondering. The submarine will rendezvous off this island at 0600 hours tomorrow morning and there is no time for me to go back for him. You will have to leave without him.

There was some head shaking and protests but it was halfhearted at best for deep down the soldiers knew that there was no other choice. It was too dangerous for the boy, his rescuers and for them. So, after a few moments, the men went quiet. It did not last long and what happened next had them all gasping in stunned surprise.

A long, eerie howl broke out, filling the cave and their ears.

What was that? The men looked around in alarm as the hair-raising howl was followed by an angry shriek and then a long deep moan. On and on it went, pitching high and then low, swirling and coiling around them, as if to bind them in an invisible grip of fear. The air around them had turned cold and an icy chill crawled up their skin as the men, transfixed with fear, gazed as one towards the far wall where the vines were trembling and shivering… .

As suddenly as it had begun, the sounds stopped and silence descended upon them once more. Tim and the others turned to their guide, demanding an explanation. To their astonishment, the boy was wearing a wide grin on his face.

What the . . . ! He was actually enjoying the moment!

Adam put up his palm in a bid to calm their fears.

Sorry, I forgot to warn you about that, he said, not at all looking apologetic.

Don’t let it bother you too much… It does serve to keep the fishermen away. They claim the island is haunted… by three banshees, he finished with a shrug and with no further explanation to the bewildered officers, he casually continued where he had left off.

The boy saw his family being killed and is now in a state of shock. It seems he hasn’t said a word since and does not respond at all…

He went silent after that, letting the men draw their own conclusions about the situation.

Timothy and Adam shared a long look. They both understood what had to be done and the risks to Adam’s family if the Japanese found him with them.

Only till we can come and get him, promised Timothy quietly and Adam gave a reluctant nod. Adam knew there was no other way and he suspected that his father had already come to the same conclusion. The men fell quiet again, each with their own thoughts and slowly settled down for the long wait till dawn.

Very early the next morning, while it was still dark, the five British soldiers rowed a sampan to the rendezvous point about two miles out to sea. They were disguised as fishermen and their sharp profiles were hidden within the shadows of the wide brimmed straw hats they wore. At precisely 6.00 a.m., a periscope was raised and ten minutes later, the five men were gone.

His mission accomplished, Adam headed back to the cave. His parents would be waiting anxiously for his return. But, first things first, he reminded himself. He took out the diary from his satchel and made the entry for the day. He wrote in Jawi script. At least, if it fell into Japanese hands, they wouldn’t be able to understand it.