Five Get Into a Fix (7 page)

The Five sat at the top of the slope, eating their sandwiches hungrily, very glad of the rest.

Julian grinned round at them all.

“Pity Mother can"t see us now!” he said. “We look marvel ous! And nobody"s coughed once. I bet we"ll be stiff tomorrow though!”

Dick was looking across the slope to the opposite hil , rising steeply up a mile or so away.

“There"s that building I thought I saw yesterday,” he said. “Isn"t that a chimney sticking up?”

“You"ve got sharp eyes! ” said George. “Nobody could surely see a building as far away as that, when the snow is on it!”

“Did we bring the field-glasses?” asked Julian. “Where are they? We could soon find out if there"s a house there or not, if we look through those.”

“I put them into a cupboard,” said Anne, getting up. “Ooooh, I"m stiff! I"l just go and get them.”

She soon came back with the glasses and handed them to Dick. He put them to his eyes and adjusted them, til they were properly focused on the far-away hil opposite.

“Yes,” he said. “I was right. It is a building - and I"m pretty sure it must be Old Towers, too.

You know - the place we went to by mistake two nights ago when we lost our way.”

“Let"s have a look,” said Anne. “I think I might recognise it. I caught a glimpse of the towers when we swung round a corner on the way up Old Towers Hil .”

She put the glasses to her eyes and gazed through them. “Yes. I"m sure that"s the place,”

she said. “Wasn"t it queer - that big rude notice on the gate - and that fiercely barking dog - and nobody about! How lonely the old lady must be living there all by herself!”

As they sat there, nibbling their apples, Timmy suddenly began to bark. He stood up, turning his head towards the path that ran higher up the hil .

“Perhaps it"s Aily, that funny child, coming,” said Julian, hopeful y. But it wasn"t. It was a small, wiry-looking woman, a shawl over her head, neatly-dressed, walking swiftly.

She didn"t seem very surprised to see the children. She stopped and said “Good day.”

“You"l be the boys my Aily was telling me of last night,” she said. “Are you staying in the Jones" hut?”

“Yes,” said Julian. “We were staying at the farm first - but our dog didn"t get on with the others, so we"ve come up here. It"s fine. Marvellous view, too!”

“If you see that Aily of mine, you tell her not to stay out tonight,” said the woman, wrapping her shawl more tightly round her. “Her and her lamb! She"s as mad as the old lady in the house yonder!” and she pointed in the direction of Old Towers.

“Oh - do you know anything about that old place?” asked Julian, at once. “We went to it by mistake, and...”

“Well, you didn"t get into it, I"l be bound,” said Aily"s mother. “Notices on the gate and all!

And to think I used to go up there three times a week, and never anything but kindness shown me! And now old Mrs. Thomas, she won"t see a soul except those friends of her son"s. Poor old lady - she"s out of her mind, so they say. Must be - or she"d see me, that waited on her for years!”

This was al very interesting.

“Why do they say „Keep Out" on the gates?” asked Julian. “They"ve a fierce dog there, too.”

“Ah well, young sir, you see some of the old lady"s friends would like to know what"s going on,” said Aily"s mother. “But nobody can do a thing. It"s a queer place now - with noises at night - and mists - and shimmerings - and...”

Julian began to think this was an old wives" tale, made up because the vil agers were angry that they were now kept out of the big old house. He smiled.

“Oh, you may smile, young man,” said the woman, sounding cross. “But ever since last October, there"s queer doings there. And what"s more, vans have been there in the dead of night. What for, I"d like to know? Well, if you ask me, I reckon they"ve been taking away the poor old thing"s belongings - furniture and pictures and such. My poor old Madam -

she was sweet and kind, and now I don"t know what"s happening to her!”

There were tears in the woman"s eyes, and she hastily brushed them away.

“I shouldn"t be telling you all this - you"l be scared sleeping here alone at night now.”

“No - no, we shan"t,” Julian assured her, amused that she should think that a vil age tale might frighten them. “Tell us about Aily. Isn"t she frozen, going about with so few clothes on?”

“That child! She"s fey, I tell you,” said Aily"s mother. “Runs about the hil s like a wild thing -

plays truant from school - goes to see her father - he"s shepherd, up yonder where the sheep are - and doesn"t come home at nights. You tell her there"s a good whipping waiting for her at home if she doesn"t come back tonight. She"s like her father, she is - likes to be alone all the time - talks to the lambs and the dogs like they were human - but never a word to me!”

The children began to feel uncomfortable, and wished they hadn"t spoken to the grumbling gossipy woman. Julian got up.

“Well - if we see Aily, we"ll certainly tel her to go home - but not about the whipping, because I expect she wouldn"t go home then,” he said. “If you pass by the farmhouse wil you be kind enough to step in and tell Mrs. Jones we are quite al right, and enjoying ourselves very much? Thank you!”

The woman nodded her head, muttered something, and went off down the hil , walking as swiftly as before.

“She said some queer things,” said Dick, staring after her. “Was that a sil y vil age-tale she told us - or do you suppose there"s something in it, Ju?”

“Oh - a vil age tale of course!” said Julian, sensing that Anne hadn"t liked it much. “What a strange family - a shepherd who spends al his time on the hil s - a child who wanders about the countryside with a lamb and a dog - and a mother who stops and tel s such angry tales to strangers!”

“It"s getting dark,” said Dick. “I vote we go in and light the oil-lamp and get the hut warm

- and light the table-lamp too. It"l be cosy in there. I"m feeling a bit chil ed now, sitting out here so long.”

“Well, don"t begin to cough,” said Julian, “or you"l set us al off! Indoors, Tim! Come on!”

Soon they were al in the hut, the oil-lamp giving out a lovely warmth and glow, and the table-lamp shining brightly.

“We"ll play a game, shall we?” said Dick. “And have a sort of high tea later. Let"s have a sil y game - snap, or something!”

So they sat down to play - and soon Dick"s cards had all been “snapped” by the others.

He yawned and went to the window, looking out into the darkness that hid al the snowy hil s. Then he stood tense for a moment, staring in surprise. He spoke to the others without turning.

“Quick! Come here, all of you! Tell me what you make of this! Did you ever see such an extraordinary thing! QUICK!”

“What is it, Dick? What can you see?” cried George, putting down her cards as soon as she heard Dick"s call. Julian rushed to stand beside him at once, imagining al sorts of things. Anne went too, with Timmy leaping excitedly. They all stared out of the window, Anne half fearful y.

“It"s gone!” cried Dick, in disappointment.

“But what was it?” asked George.

“I don"t know. It was over there - on the opposite slope, where Old Towers is,” said Dick. “I don"t know how to describe it - it was like a - like a rainbow - no, not quite like that - how can I describe it?”

“Try,” said Julian, excited.

“Well - let me think - you know how, on a very hot day, all the air shimmers, don"t you!”

said Dick. “Well that"s what I saw on the hil over there - rising high into the sky and then disappearing. A shimmering!”

“What colour?” asked Anne, amazed.

“I don"t know - al colours it seemed,” said Dick. “I don"t quite know how to explain - it"s something I"ve never seen before. It just came suddenly - and the shimmering rose all the way up into the sky, and then disappeared. That"s all.”

“Well - that"s what Aily"s mother said - mists - and shimmerings,” said Julian, remembering.

“Gosh - so that wasn"t just a tale she told us. There was some truth in it. But what in the wide world can this shimmering be?”

“Had we better go back to the farm and tel them there?” asked Anne, hopeful y, not at all wanting to spend the night in the hut now.

“No! They"ve probably heard the tale already,” said Julian. “Besides - this is exciting. We might be able to find out something more about it. We can easily watch Old Towers from here - it"s one of the very few places where anyone can look straight across at it. As the crow flies, it"s less than a mile away - though it"s many miles by the road.”

They all gazed towards the opposite hil again, though they couldn"t see it, of course, hoping something would happen. But nothing did happen. The sky was pitch black, for heavy clouds had come up - and the distant hil couldn"t be seen.

“Well - I"m tired of looking out into the darkness,” said Anne, turning away. “Let"s go on with our game.”

“Right,” said Julian, and they all sat down again, Dick watching the others play, but occasional y glancing out of the window into the black darkness there.

Anne was out of the game next, and she got up and went to the food cupboard.

“I think I"l start preparing a meal,” she said. “We"ll have boiled eggs, shall we, to begin with - and I"l boil a kettle too and make some cocoa - or would you rather have tea?”

“Cocoa,” said everyone, and Anne got out the tin.

“I"l want some snow, for the kettle,” she said.

“Well, there"s some nice clean snow just behind the hut,” said Dick. “Oh wait, Anne - you won"t like going out in the dark now, wil you? I"l get it! If you hear me yell, you"l know there"s something going on!”

Timmy went out with him, much to Anne"s relief. She held the kettle, waiting for the snow -

and then suddenly there came a loud yell!

“Hey! Who"s that?”

Anne let go the kettle in fright, and it dropped on the floor with a crash, making the other two jump violently. Julian rushed to the door.

“Dick! What"s up?”

Dick appeared at the doorway, grinning, with Timmy beside him.

“Nothing much. Sorry if I frightened you. But I was just scraping up some snow in the basin here, when something rushed at me, and butted me!”

“Whatever was it?” said George, startled. “And why didn"t Timmy bark?”

“Because he knew it was harmless, I suppose,” said Dick, grinning aggravatingly. “Here, Anne - here"s the snow for the kettle.”

“Dick! Don"t be so annoying!” said George. “Who was out there?”

“Well - I couldn"t real y see much, because I"d put my torch down to scrape up the snow,” said Dick. “But I rather think it was Fany the lamb! It was gone before I had time to cal out. I got quite a shock!”

“Fany the lamb!” said Julian. “Well - that must mean that little Aily is about. What can she be doing out in the darkness at this time of night?”

He went to the door and cal ed:

“Aily! Aily, if you"re there, come in here and we"ll give you something to eat.”

But there was no answering call. Nobody appeared out of the darkness, no lamb came frisking up.

Timmy stood by Julian, looking out into the darkness, his ears pricked. He had been surprised when the tiny lamb trotted up out of the darkness, and had had half a mind to bark. But who would bark at a lamb? Not Timmy!

Julian shut the door.

“If that kid is out there in this frosty night, with only the few clothes she had on yesterday, I should think she"ll catch her death of cold,” he said. “Cheer up, Anne - and for goodness"

sake, don"t be scared if you hear a noise outside or see a little face looking in at the window. It wil only be that mad little Aily!”

“I don"t want to see any faces looking in at the window, whether it"s Aily or not,” said Anne, putting snow into the kettle. “Honestly I think she must be mad, wandering about these snowy hil s alone at night. I don"t wonder her mother was cross.”

It wasn"t long before they were al sitting round the small table eating a very nice meal.

Boiled eggs, laid that morning, cheese and new bread and butter, and a jar of home-made jam they found in the cupboard. They drank steaming hot cups of cocoa, into each of which Anne had ladled a spoonful of cream.

“No King or Queen in all the world could possibly have enjoyed their meal more than I have,” said Dick. “Anne, shall I take the milk and cream out into the snow - they"l keep for ages out there.”

“Al right. But for goodness" sake don"t put them where the lamb can get them - if it was a lamb that butted you,” said Anne, giving them to Dick. “And don"t yell again if you can help it!”

However, Dick didn"t see anything this time, nor did anything come up and butt him. He was quite disappointed!

“I"l wash the plates and cups out in the snow tomorrow,” said Anne. “How long are you al going to stay up? It"s awfully early, I know - but I"m half asleep already! The air up here is so very strong!”

“Al right. We"ll all pack up,” said Julian. “You take those two bunks over there, girls, and we"ll have these. Shal we have the little oil-stove on, or not?”

“Yes,” said Dick. “This place wil be an ice-box if we don"t!”

“I"d like it on too,” said Anne. “What with shimmerings and buttings and yellings I feel I"d like a little light in the room, even if it only comes from an oil-stove!”

“Well - I know you don"t believe my „shimmerings",” said Dick. “But I swear they"re true!

And what"s more, I bet we"ll al see them before we leave this hut! Well - good night, girls -

I"m for bed!”

In a few minutes" time the bunks were creaking as the four children settled into them. They were not as comfortable as beds, but quite good. George"s bunk creaked more than anyone"s.

“I suppose you"ve got Timmy in your bunk, making it creak like that!” said Anne sleepily.

“Well, I"m glad I"m in the bunk above yours, George. I bet Tim fal s out in the night!”

One by one they fel asleep. The oil-stove burned steadily. It was turned rather low, and shadows quivered on the ceiling and walls. And then something made Timmy"s ears prick up as he lay asleep on George"s feet. First one ear pricked up - and then the other - and suddenly Timmy sat up straight and growled in his throat. Nobody awoke - they were al too sound asleep.