三短一长

The hidden tunnel returned the group to the lighthouse cellar. The keeper took care of the injured stranger while Mara and Theo climbed to the lamp room. A supply ship was approaching the island, unaware that the main light had failed. To prevent an accident, the students had to send the warning by hand.

They opened the shutters and moved a small emergency lamp: three short flashes, then one long flash. The ship turned safely away from the rocks. Later, the rescue crew arrived and learned the truth about the missing keeper. The students had not solved the mystery through one brilliant guess. They had listened, tested each clue, and changed their plan when the evidence required it. Each student had noticed a different detail, and none of those details would have been enough alone. The island felt less frightening now that every clue had a clear place. In the end, the keeper offered Mara the stopped clock from his desk. It had broken at 3:10, but now the numbers would always remind them that courage works best when careful people share it.