Five Have a Mystery to Solve (2 page)

for you. Get down! Good gracious, I never in my life knew such a hungry dog. Anybody would think you starved him, George."

„Well, they"d think wrong, then," said George. „Timmy, come to heel."

Timmy came, stil looking round longingly at the various bags that the others were now taking from their saddle-bags.

They all went indoors, and deposited the goods on the kitchen table. The cook opened the bags and looked inside, keeping a sharp eye on Timmy.

„Better take that dog of yours out of my kitchen," she said. „Funny how sausages always disappear when he"s around. Get down, now - take your paws off my clean table!"

Timmy trotted out of the kitchen. He thought it was a pity that cooks didn"t like him. He liked them very much indeed - they always smelt so deliciously of cooking, and there were always so many titbits around which he longed for, but was seldom offered. Ah well

- he"d trot into the kitchen again when Cookie had gone upstairs for something! He might perhaps find a few bits and pieces on the floor then!

„Hal o, Georgina dear!" said her aunt, coming into the kitchen, Timmy following her in delight. „Timmy, go out of the kitchen. I don"t trust you within a mile of sausages. Go on -

shoo!"

Timmy „shooed". He liked Anne"s mother, but knew that when she said „Shoo!" she meant it. He lay down on a rug in the living-room, with a heavy sigh, wondering how long it would be before he had that lovely meaty bone. He put his head on his paws, and kept his ears pricked for George. He thought it most unfair that George shouldn"t be shooed out of the kitchen too.

„Now for goodness sake, keep out of my way while I cook the lunch," said Cook, to the children mil ing round her kitchen. „And shut the door, please. I don"t want that great hungry dog sniffing round me all the time, making out he"s starving, when he"s as fat as butter!"

„He"s NOT!" said George, indignantly. „Timmy has never been fat in his life. He"s not that kind of dog. He"s never greedy!"

„Well, he must be the first dog ever born that wasn"t greedy," said Cookie. „Can"t trust any of them! There was that pug-dog of Mrs Lane"s - crunched up lumps of sugar whenever it could reach a sugar-bowl - and that fat poodle next door - came and knocked over the cream that the milkman left outside the back door - deliberated knocked it over, mark you - and then licked up every drop. Ha - his mistress tried to make out he didn"t like cream - but you should have seen his nose - covered in cream up to his eyes!"

Timmy looked in at the kitchen door, his nose in the air, for all the world as if he were deeply offended at Cookie"s remarks. Julian laughed. „You"ve wounded his pride, Cookie!" he said.

„I"l wound him somewhere else, too, if he comes sniffing round me when I"m cooking,"

said Cookie. That made George give one of her scowls, but the others couldn"t help laughing!

The morning went very pleasantly. The five went down to the beach, and walked round the high cliffs, enjoying the stiff breeze that blew in their faces. Timmy raced after every seagull that dared to sit on the smooth sand, annoyed that each one rose up lazily on great wings, as soon as he almost reached it.

They were al hungry for their dinner, and not one single morsel was left when they had finished! Cookie had made a tremendous steamed pudding, with lashings of treacle, which was, as usual, a huge success.

„Wish I had a tongue like Timmy"s and could lick up the lovely treacle left on the bottom of the dish," said George. „Such a waste!"

„You certainly won"t be able to eat any tea, I"m sure of that!" said her aunt. But, of course, she was wrong. When teatime came, they all felt quite ready for it, and were most impatient when Mrs Layman was late!

The tea looked lovely, laid on a big table, over a white lace cloth. The children sat and looked at it longingly. When would Mrs Layman arrive?

„I begin to feel I"m not going to like Mrs Layman," said George, at last. „I can"t bear looking at those cream cakes when I"m hungry."

The front door bel rang. Hurrah! Then in came a cheerful, smiling old lady, nodding to everyone, very pleased to see such a nice little party waiting for her.

„This is Mrs Layman, children," said Julian"s mother. „Sit down, Mrs Layman. We"re delighted to have you."

„Well, I"ve come to ask the children something," said Mrs Layman. „But we"ll have tea first, and then I"l say what I"ve come to say. My, my - what a wonderful tea! I"m glad I feel hungry!"

Everyone else was hungry too, and soon the bread and butter, the sandwiches, the buns, the cakes and everything else disappeared. Timmy sat quietly by George, who slipped him a titbit now and again, when no one was looking. Mrs Layman chatted away. She was a most interesting person, and the children liked her very much.

„Well now," she said, when tea was finished, „I"m sure you must be wanting to know why I asked to come to tea today. I wanted to ask your mother, Julian, if there was any chance of you three - and this other boy here - what"s his name - George? would you like to help me out of a difficulty."

Nobody pointed out that George was a girl, not a boy, and that George was short for Georgina. George, as usual, was pleased to be taken for a boy. They all looked at Mrs Layman, listening to her with interest.

„It"s like this," she said. „I"ve a dear little house up on the hil s, overlooking the harbour - and I"ve a grandson staying with me there - Wilfrid. Well, I have to go to look after a cousin of mine, who"s il - and Wilfrid can"t bear to be left alone. I just wondered if your mother would al ow you children to share the little house with Wilfrid - and well - keep him company. He feels a bit scary being on his own. I"ve a good woman there, who comes in to cook and clean - but poor Wilfrid"s real y scared of being in such a lonely place, high up on the hil ."

„You mean that lovely little house with the wonderful view?" said Julian"s mother.

„Yes. It"s rather primitive in some ways - no water laid on, only just a well to use - and no electricity or gas - just candles, or an oil lamp. Maybe it sounds too old-fashioned for words - but honestly the view makes up for it! Perhaps the children would like to come over and see it, before they decide?" Mrs Layman looked earnestly round at everyone, and nobody knew quite what to say.

„Well - we"ll certainly come and see it," said Julian"s mother. „And if the children feel like it, well, they can stay there. They do like being on their own, of course."

„Yes," said Julian. „We"ll come and see it, Mrs Layman. Mother"s going to be busy with a bazaar soon - she"ll be glad to get us out of the way - and, of course, we do like being on our own!"

Mrs Layman looked extremely pleased. „Tomorrow, then?" she said. „About ten o"clock.

You"l love the view. Wonderful, wonderful! You can see right over the great harbour, and for miles around. Well - I must be going now. I"l tel Wilfrid you children may be keeping him company. He"s such a nice lad - so helpful. You"l love him."

Julian had his doubts about the nice helpful Wilfrid. He even wondered if Mrs Layman wanted to get away from Wilfrid, and leave him to himself! No - that was too sil y. Anyway, they"d soon see what the place was like, tomorrow.

„It would be fun to be on our own again," said George, when Mrs Layman had gone. „I don"t expect this Wilfrid would be any bother. He"s probably just a sil y kid, scared of being left alone - though apparently there is a woman there! Well - we"ll go tomorrow! Maybe the view wil make up for dear Wilfrid!"

Next day the children prepared to go and see the cottage belonging to Mrs Layman.

„You coming too, Mother?" asked Julian. „We"d like your advice!"

„Well no, dear," said his mother. „I"ve rather a lot to do - there"s a meeting on at the Vil age Hal , and I promised to go to it."

„You"re full of good works, Mother," said Julian, giving her a hug. „Al right, we"ll go by ourselves. I daresay we shall know at once whether we"d like to stay in the cottage - or not. Also, we MUST know what this Wilfrid is like! It"s a quarter to ten, and George is already here, with Timmy. I"l call the others and we"ll get our bikes."

Soon the four were on their bicycles, with Timmy, as usual, running alongside, his long tongue out, his eyes bright and happy. This was Timmy"s idea of perfect happiness - to be with the four children al day long!

They went along a road that ran on the top of a hil . They swung round a corner - and there, spread far below them, was a great sea-vista that included a wonderful harbour, fil ed with big and little ships. The sea was as blue as the Mediterranean, quite breathtaking. Anne jumped off her bicycle at once.

„I must just feast my eyes on all this before I go a yard further!" she said. „What a panorama! What miles of sea and sky!"

She put her bicycle against a gate and then climbed over and stood by herself, gazing down at the view. Dick joined her.

Then suddenly a voice shouted loudly „FORE! FORE!" A small white thing came whizzing through the air and landed just by Anne"s foot. She jumped in surprise.

„It"s a golf-bal ," said Dick. „No, don"t pick it up. Whoever"s playing with it, has to come and hit it from exactly where it fell. Good thing you weren"t hit, Anne. I didn"t realize that this gate led on to a golf-course!"

„We ought to have a walk over it," said Anne. „Just look at those gorse bushes over there, absolutely flaming with yellow blossom - and all the tiny flowers springing up everywhere -

speedwel and coltsfoot and daisies and celandines - beautiful. And oh - what a view!"

„Yes - and if Mrs Layman"s cottage has a view anything like this, I"d certainly like to stay there!" said Dick. „Think of getting out of bed in the morning and seeing this enormous view out of the window - the harbour - the sea beyond - the hil s all round - the great spread of sky..."

„You ought to be a poet, Dick!" said Anne, in surprise. The golfers came up at that moment, and the children stood aside and watched one of them address the ball, and then strike it easily and strongly. The bal soared through the air, and landed far away on a smooth green fairway.

„Good shot!" said the man"s partner, and the two sauntered off together.

„Funny game, real y," said Anne. „Just hitting a bal al round the course."

„Wish I had some clubs!" said Dick. „I"m sure I could hit some smashing shots!"

„Well, if that cottage is anywhere near the golf-course, perhaps you could pay to have a lesson," said Anne. „I bet you could hit a bal as far as that man!"

The others were now yelling for them to come back, so they went to fetch their bicycles.

Soon they were al riding along the road again. „We have to look for a small white gate, with “Hil Cottage” painted on it," said George. „On the hil side facing the sea."

„There it is!" cried Anne. „We"ll pile our bicycles together against the hedge, and go in at the gate."

They left their bicycles in a heap and went through the gate. Not far to their left stood a funny old cottage, its back to them, its front looking down the steep hil that ran towards the great harbour and the sea beyond.

„It"s like a cottage out of an old fairy-tale," said Anne. „Funny little chimneys - rather crooked walls - a thatched roof, all uneven - and what tiny windows!"

They walked down a little winding path that led to the cottage. They soon came to a well, and leaned over it to see the water deep down. „So that"s the water we"d have to drink!"

said Anne, wrinkling up her nose. „And we"d have to let down the bucket by winding this handle - and down it would go on the rope! Do you suppose the water is pure?"

„Well, seeing that people must have drunk it for years on end - the ones living in that cottage, anyway - I should imagine it"s all right!" said Julian. „Come on - let"s find the front door of the cottage - if it has one!"

It had one wooden door, hung rather crooked, with an old brass knocker. It faced down the hil , and was flanked on each side by smal windows. Two other small windows were above. Julian looked at them. The bedrooms would be very smal , he thought - would there real y be room for them all?

He knocked at the door. Nobody came to open it. He knocked again, and then looked for a bel , but there wasn"t one.

„See if the door is unlocked," said Anne. So Julian turned the handle - and at once the door gave under his hand! It opened straight into a room that looked like a kitchen-living-room.

Julian gave a shout. „Anyone at home?"

There was no answer. „Well - as this is obviously the cottage we were meant to see, we"d better go in," said Julian and in they all went.

It was old, very old. The carved wooden furniture was old too. Ancient oil lamps stood on two tables in the room, and in a recess there was an oilstove with a saucepan on top. A narrow, crooked stairway made of wood curved up to the floor above. Julian went up, and found himself in a long, darkish room, its roof thatched with reed and held up by black beams.

„This place must be hundreds of years old!" he cal ed down to the others. „I don"t think it"s big enough for us four and the others too - the cook and that boy called Wilfrid."

Just as he finished cal ing down the stairs, the front door was flung open and someone came in.

„What are you doing here?" he shouted. „This is my cottage!"

Julian went quickly down the stairs, and there, facing them al , stood a boy of about ten, a scowl on his brown face.

„Er - are you Wilfrid, by any chance?" asked Dick, politely.

„Yes, I am. And who are you? And where"s my aunt? She"ll soon chuck you out!" said the boy.

„Is your aunt Mrs Layman?" asked Julian. „If so, she asked us to come and see her cottage, and decide if we"d like to keep you company. She said she had to go away and look after a sick friend."

„Well, I don"t want you!" said the boy. „So clear off. I"m al right here alone. My aunt"s a nuisance, always fussing round."

„I thought there was a cook too," said Julian. „Where is she?"

„She only comes in the morning, and I sent her off," said Wilfrid. „She left me some food. I want to be alone. I don"t want you. So clear off"