Five Get Into a Fix (13 page)

“That way, that way,” repeated Aily, imperiously, and Dave barked as if to say she was right!

“Better fol ow her way,” said Dick. “She seems so jolly certain of it.”

So Julian swerved to the right a little, and the others fol owed. They went a good way up the steep hil , and Julian began to pant.

“Is it far now?” he asked Aily, who was petting her lamb, and apparently taking no notice of the way they were going. Not that there was anything much to take notice of, except snow on the ground and snowflakes in the air!

Aily looked up. Then she pointed again, a little more to the right, and said something in Welsh, nodding her head.

“Well - it looks as if we"re getting near this place of hers - this „big, big hole", whatever it is,”

said Juiian, and on he went.

In about a minute Aily suddenly leapt off the toboggan, and stood there, looking round with a frown.

“Here,” she said. “Big hole here.”

“Well - it may be - but I"d like to see it a bit more clearly, Aily,” said Julian. Aily began to scrape down through the snow, and Timmy and Dave obliyingly went to help her, imagining that she was after rabbits or a hidden hare.

“I"m afraid the poor kid"s led us on a wild-goose chase,” said Dick. “Why should there be a big big hole here?”

Timmy and Aily had now got down through the snow to the buried clumps of heather that grew al over the slopes of the mountains in that district. Julian could see the clumps sticking up, stiff and wiry, in the clearing that Aily and the dogs had made.

“Timmy - you take Timmy!” said Aily suddenly to George. “He fal down, down - he fall like Dave one day - down down!”

“I say! I believe she"s looking for an old pot-hole! ” said Dick, suddenly. “You know - those strange holes that are sometimes found on moors - sudden holes that drop right down underground. They"re cal ed dean-holes I think, in some places. We found one once on Kirrin Island - don"t you remember?”

“Oh yes - that was in the heather too!” said George, remembering. “And it led to a cave below, by the seashore! That"s what Aily meant by a big big hole! A pot-hole on the moors! Timmy - for goodness sake come away - you may drop right down it!”

Timmy very nearly did go down the hole! George just caught his col ar in time! But Dave was wary - he had fallen down once before!

“Hole!” said Aily, pleased. “Big big hole! Aily find for you!”

“Well - certainly you"ve found your hole - but how does it get us into Old Towers?” said Dick. Aily didn"t understand. She knelt there, looking down at the hole she had uncovered under the heather and the snow.

“I must say that was a marvel ous feat,” said Julian. “Coming straight to this place and finding the hole when she couldn"t see a thing through the fal ing snow. She really is as good as a dog. Good little Aily bach!”

Aily gave one of her sudden smiles, and slipped her hand in Julian"s.

“Go down, yes?” she said. “Aily show way?”

“Well - we"d better go down if it"s possible,” said Julian, not much liking the idea, for he could see nothing but darkness inside the hole, and had no idea of what lay below.

Fany the lamb was tired of waiting about. She gave a little leap to the edge of the big round hole, and then put her small head in. She kicked up her heels - and was gone!

“She"s jumped into the hole!” said George, amazed. “Here, wait, Aily - you can"t jump too

- you"l hurt yourself!”

But Aily slithered into the hole, then let herself go.

“Aily here,” came a small voice from below. “You come quick!”

Well! Did you see that - she just let go and dropped!” said George, amazed. “I wonder she didn"t break her legs. Julian, shine your torch down.”

Julian shone it down.

“It"s a pretty good drop,” he said. “I think we"l take the ropes off our toboggans and let ourselves down on those. I don"t particularly want to break a leg or sprain an ankle just at present.”

“If we pull our toboggans over the hole, and let their ropes hang down into it, they wil hold us safely,” said Dick, and pul ed his toboggan right across the hole.

Then Julian pul ed the other toboggan across as well, and soon the ropes were dangling down, ready to take each of the four children.

“What about Timmy?” asked George, anxiously. “Dave has jumped down - though I wonder he didn"t break a leg!”

“I"l wrap my coat over him and tie one of the ropes round him,” said Julian. “Then we can let him down easily. Come here, Tim.”

Tim was soon tied up in the coat with the rope. Then Dick slithered down on another rope, and stood on the floor of the hole, ready to take Timmy when Julian let him down. It real y wasn"t very difficult. Aily looked rather scornful as the four children used the ropes.

Julian laughed, and patted her shoulder.

“We"re not all goat-like, you know,” he said. “We don"t gambol about the mountains all day long, like you, Aily. Well - that was your big big hole. What next?”

He shone his torch round.

“Yes - it"s a pot-hole. There"s a smal underground cave here. Look - is that a tunnel leading out of it?”

“Yes,” said George, as Aily and the lamb skipped off together down into the darkness of the tunnel. “Look at that - no torch, no lamp - and yet she goes off into the darkness without any fear! I"d be scared stiff!”

“She"s got eyes like a cat,” said Anne. “Well, do we follow her? We"d better or we shall lose her!”

“Come on, Timmy,” said George, and al Five went down the dark, winding little tunnel after Aily. Anne glanced up at the rocky roof and thought with wonder of the thick masses of heather growing on its upper surface, all covered with thick snow.

Aily was nowhere to be seen! Julian grew worried.

“Aily! Come back!”

But there was no answer.

“Never mind,” said Dick. “There"s probably only one way to go, and she knows we must take it! If we come to a fork, we"ll shout again.”

But they didn"t come to a fork. The tunnel wound on and on, going steadily downhil . Its roof was of rock, and so were the walls, but underfoot was sandy soil alternating with rocky ridges that made the going rather rough.

Julian looked at his compass.

“We"ve been going in a north-easterly direction more or less,” he said. “And that should be in the direction of Old Towers. I think I know how Aily gets into the house!”

“Yes - this tunnel must pass right under the fence-that-bites, and under the grounds, and end somewhere near the cel ars of the house,” said Dick. “Or possibly in them. Where"s that child?”

They caught sight of her just then, in the light of Julian"s torch. She was waiting for them in a corner of the passage with Dave and Fany.

She pointed upwards.

“Way to garden!” she said. “Little hole there - big for Aily! Not for you!”

Julian shone his torch upwards. Sure enough there was a smal hole there, which appeared to be overgrown with weeds or heather - he couldn"t tell what. He looked at the rocky sides of the upward passage to the hole, and saw how easily Aily could have climbed up to squeeze out of it, and roam the gardens! So that was how it was she had been able to pick up the notes that the poor old woman had constantly thrown out so hopeful y! Aily must surely have been the only person who managed to get into the grounds without permission!

“This way,” said Aily, and led them past the garden-hole and downwards again.

“We must be under the house now,” said Julian. “I wonder if...”

But before he could finish his sentence he saw that the passage had led them into some old, half-ruined cellars. It went through a half-fallen cel ar wal , and Aily proudly led them into a dark, cluttered-up cel ar which, with its many barrels and old bottles, must once have been the wine-cellar.

“What cellars!” exclaimed Dick, in amazement, as they went through one after another.

“Dozens of them. Hey - what"s this, Aily?”

He had come to where one high wal had been broken down completely - but the breakage seemed to have been done by human hands, for the breaks looked new, and were not covered with grime and mould as were the other fal en-down walls. A vast opening had been made into what seemed at first glance to be a low-walled cave.

Then a curious sound came to their ears. The sound of water - water gurgling and splashing! Julian took a step forward to peer into the cave beyond the broken wal s.

But Aily tugged at his hand in terror.

“No, no! Not go there! Bad mans, very bad mans. Bad place there!”

“I say, look!” said Julian, amazed, taking no notice of Aily"s tugging hand. “An underground river - not just a stream - a river! Flowing down through the mountain, probably fed by springs on the way - and I bet it goes right down to the sea somewhere!

We know the sea isn"t far away!”

“Bad mans down there,” said Aily, in panic, pul ing Dick and George too. “Bang-bang -

big fires - big noise. You come in house, quick!”

“Gosh - isn"t this extraordinary!” said Julian, quite astounded. “What is going on here? We real y shal have to find out. What in the world does Aily mean?”

Anne and George were astonished too, but had no desire to go along the river and find out!

“Better leave this for now, and go up into the house,” said George. “After all, the old lady is the important thing at the moment. No wonder they imprisoned her in one of the towers, so that she wouldn"t know what is going on!”

“Well, I"m blowed if I know what"s going on,” said Dick. “I"m not quite sure if I"m in some peculiar kind of nightmare or not!”

“You come house,” said Aily again, and this time, to her great relief, they followed her, Timmy trotting at the back with George, not quite knowing what to make of it all.

Aily led them unerringly back through the smashed walls, through the musty cel ars, and into some that looked as if they had recently been used for store-places. Tins of food stood about, old furniture, old tins and baths and cans, barrels of al sizes and shapes.

“We go soft!” said Aily, meaning that they were now to walk quietly. They followed her up a long flight of stone cellar steps to a great door that stood half open. Aily stood at the top listening - probably for the tall caretaker, Julian thought. He wondered if the fierce dog was anywhere about the house. He whispered to Aily.

“Big dog in house, Aily?”

“No. Big dog in garden, big dog there all day and night,” whispered back the little girl, and Julian felt most relieved.

“Aily find man,” said Aily, and shot off by herself, motioning to the others to wait.

“She"s gone to find out where the caretaker is,” said Julian. “My word - did you ever know anyone like her? Gosh, she"s back again already!”

So she was, smiling mischievously al over her face.

“Man sleep,” she said. “Man safe.” She took them through the door from the cel ar into a perfectly enormous kitchen, with a colossal range at one end, black and empty now. A larder door near by was open and Aily darted into it. She brought out a meat pie and offered it to Julian. He shook his head at once.

“No. You mustn"t steal! ” he said. But Aily either didn"t understand, or didn"t want to, for she bit into the pie herself, gobbling great pieces down, and then put it on the floor for the animals to finish, which they were very pleased to do!

“Aily - take us to the old woman,” said Dick, not wanting to waste time on things like this.

“Aily - you are sure there is no one else in the house?”

“Aily know!” said the little girl. “One man to watch - he in there!” and she pointed towards the door of a nearby room. “He watch old woman, and dog watch garden. Other mans not come in here.”

“Oh - well, where do they live then, these strange „other men"?” asked Julian, but Aily didn"t understand. She led them to a great hall, from which two wide stairways swept up, meeting above at an even wider landing.

The lamb gambol ed up, and the little dog Dave barked joyfully.

“Sh!” said al the four children at once, but Aily laughed. She seemed quite at home in the house and Dick wondered how many times she had let herself down into the pot-hole and come wandering in here. No wonder she spent so many nights away from home -

she could always come and hide away in some corner of this big house! They followed her up the wide stairs.

But Aily would come no farther than the second floor. She had brought them up two flights of stairs - and now before them stretched a great picture gallery, that led to another stairway at the far end. The child hung back and refused to take Julian"s hand.

“What"s the matter?” he asked.

“Aily not come here,” said the child, shrinking back. “Not go here, not ever. Those peoples see Aily!” And she pointed at the rows of great pictures, each a portrait of some long-dead owner of the house.

“She"s afraid of the portraits!” said Anne. “Afraid of al their eyes fol owing her as she runs down the long gal ery! Funny little thing. Al right - you stay here, Aily. We"ll go on up to the towers.”

They left Aily curled up behind a curtain, with Dave and Fany. Anne glanced at the rows of grave portraits as the four of them, with Timmy, walked softly down the long gal ery. She shivered a little, for their eyes seemed to follow her as she passed, looking grave and disapproving.

Up another flight of stairs, and yet another. And now they were in a long passage that ran from tower-room to tower-room. Which was the tower they wanted?

It was very easy to find out! Al of them had their doors wide open but one!

“This must be it!” said Julian, and knocked at the door.

“Who knocks?” said a weak, sorrowful voice. “Surely not you, Matthew - you have no manners! Unlock the door and do not mock me with your knocking!”

“The key"s in the door,” said Dick. “Unlock it, Julian - quick!”

Julian turned the key in the lock and opened the door. A stately old woman sat in a chair beside the window, reading a book. She did not turn round.

“And why have you come at this time of the morning, Matthew?” she said, without turning round. “And how did you find the manners to knock? Are you remembering the time when you knew how to behave to your elders and betters?”