Five Have Plenty of Fun (2 page)

„We"ll go and explore some of the caves in the cliffs," said George. „I meant to do that these hols, but somehow it"s no fun going alone."

On the third day, just as they were finishing making their beds, the telephone bell rang.

„I"l go!" yelled Julian to his aunt, and went to answer it. An urgent voice spoke at the other end.

„Who"s that? Oh, you, Julian - you"re Quentin"s nephew, aren"t you? Listen, tell your uncle I"m coming over tonight - yes, tonight. Latish, say. Tell him to wait up for me. It"s important."

„But, won"t you speak to him yourself?" said Julian, surprised. „I"l fetch him, if you"l ..."

But the line had gone dead. Julian was puzzled. The man hadn"t even given his name -

but Julian had recognised the voice. It was the big, cheery American who had come to see his uncle two days before! What had happened? What was all the excitement about?

He went to find his uncle but he was not in his study. So he found his aunt instead.

„Aunt Fanny," he said, „I think that was the big American on the phone - the one who came to lunch the other day. He said I was to tell Uncle Quentin that he was coming here tonight - late, he said - and that Uncle was to wait up for him, because it was important."

„Dear me!" said his aunt, startled. „Is he going to stay the night then? We"ve no bedroom free now you and the others are here."

„He didn"t say, Aunt Fanny," said Julian. „I"m awfully sorry not to be able to tell you any details - but just as I was saying I"d fetch Uncle Quentin, he rang off - in the very middle of what I was saying."

„How mysterious!" said his aunt. „And how annoying. How can I put him up, if he wants to stay? I suppose he"l come roaring down at midnight in that enormous car of his. I only hope nothing"s gone wrong with this latest work your uncle is doing. I know it"s tremendously important."

„Perhaps Uncle wil know the American"s telephone number and he can ring him up to find out a bit more," said Julian, helpful y. „Where is Uncle?"

„He"s gone down to the post-office, I think," said his aunt. „I"l tell him when he gets back."

Julian told the others about the mysterious phone cal . Dick was pleased.

„I didn"t have a chance of getting a good look at that enormous car the other day," he said. „I think I"l keep awake tonight til the American comes and then nip down and have a look at it. I bet it"s got more gadgets on the dashboard than any car I"ve ever seen!"

Uncle Quentin appeared to be as surprised as anyone else at the phone cal , and was inclined to blame Julian for not finding out more details.

„What"s he want now?" he demanded, almost as if Julian ought to know! „I fixed everything up with him the other day. Everything! Each of us three has his own part to do.

Mine"s the least important, as it happens - and his is the most important. He took all the papers away with him; he can"t have left any behind. Coming down in the middle of the night like this - quite extraordinary!"

None of the children except Dick meant to stay awake and listen for the American"s coming. Dick put on his bed-light and took up a book to read. He knew he would fal asleep and not wake up for any noise, if he didn"t somehow keep himself wide awake!

He listened as he read, his ear alert to hear the coming of any car. Eleven o"clock came -

then midnight struck. He listened to the twelve dongs from the big grandfather clock in the hall. Goodness - Uncle Quentin wouldn"t be at all pleased that his visitor was so late!

He yawned, and turned over his page. He read on and on. Half past twelve. One o"clock.

Then he thought he heard a sound downstairs and opened his door. Yes - it was Uncle Quentin in his study. Dick could hear his voice.

„Poor old Aunt Fanny must be up too," he thought. „I can hear their voices. Gosh, I shall soon fall asleep over my book. I"l slip down and out into the garden for a breath of fresh air. I shal keep awake then."

He put on his dressing-gown and went quietly down the stairs. He undid the bolt of the garden door and slipped out. He stood listening for a moment, wondering if he would hear the roar of the American"s car in the stil ness of the night.

But all he heard was the sound of the tyres of a bicycle on the road outside. A bicycle!

Who was riding about at this time of night? Perhaps it was the vil age policeman?

Dick stood in the shadows and watched. A man was on the bicycle. Dick could just make him out dimly, a big black shadow in the starlit night. To the boy"s enormous surprise, he heard the sound of the man dismounting, then the swish of the leaves in the hedge as the bicycle was slung there.

Then someone came quietly up the path and went round to the window of the study. It was the only room in the house that was lighted. Dick heard a tapping on the window, and then it was opened cautiously. His uncle"s head appeared.

„Who is it?" he said, in a low tone. „Is it you, Elbur?"

It apparently was. Dick saw that it was the big American who had visited his uncle two days before. „I"l open the door," said his aunt, but Elbur was already putting his leg across the window-sil !

Dick went back to bed, puzzled. How strange! Why should the American come so secretly in the night, why should he ride a bicycle instead of driving his car? He fel asleep stil wondering.

He did not know whether the American rode away again, or whether his aunt made a bed for him on a couch downstairs. In fact, when he awoke the next morning, he really wondered if it had all been a dream.

He asked his aunt, when he went down to breakfast. „Did that man who telephoned come last night?" he said.

His aunt nodded her head. „Yes. But please say nothing about it. I don"t want anyone to know. He"s gone now."

„Was it important?" asked Dick. „Julian seemed to think it was, when he answered the phone."

„Yes - it was important," said Aunt Fanny. „But not in the way you think. Don"t ask me anything now, Dick. And keep out of your uncle"s way. He"s rather cross this morning."

„Then something must have gone wrong with this new work he"s doing," thought Dick, and went to warn the others.

„It sounds rather exciting," said Julian. „I wonder what"s up?"

They kept out of Uncle Quentin"s way. They heard him grumbling loudly to his wife about something, they heard him slam down his desk-lid as he always did when he was bad-tempered, and then he settled down to his morning"s work.

Anne came running to the others after a time, looking surprised. „George! I"ve just been into our room and what do you think! Aunt Fanny"s put a camp-bed over in the corner - a camp-bed made up with blankets and everything! It looks an awful squash with two other beds as well in the room - mine and yours!"

„Gosh - someone else is coming to stay then - a girl," said Dick. „Or a woman. Aha! I expect it"s a governess engaged to look after you and Anne, George, to see that you behave like little ladies!"

„Don"t be an idiot," said George, surprised and cross at the news. „I"m going to ask Mother what it"s all about. I won"t have anyone else in our room. I just wil not!"

But just as she was marching off to tell her mother this, the study door downstairs opened and her father bellowed into the hall, cal ing his wife.

„Fanny! Tell the children I want them. Tell them to come to my study AT ONCE!"

„Gracious - he does sound cross. Whatever can we have done?" said Anne, scared.

The four children and Timmy trooped down the stairs together. George"s mother was in the hall, just going to call them.

„Oh, there you are," she said. „Well, I suppose you heard that you"re wanted in the study.

I"m coming too. And listen - please don"t make any more fuss than you can help. I"ve had quite enough fuss made by Quentin!"

This was very mysterious! What had Aunt Fanny to do with whatever trouble there was?

Into the study went the Five, Timmy too, and saw Uncle Quentin standing on the hearthrug looking as black as thunder.

„Quentin, I could have told the children," began his wife, but he silenced her with a scowl exactly like the one George sometimes put on.

„I"ve got something to say to you," he began. „You remember those two friends of mine -

scientists working on a scheme with me - you remember the big American?"

„Yes," said everyone.

„He gave us a whole pound," said Anne.

Uncle Quentin took no notice of that remark. „Well," he said, „he"s got a daughter - let"s see now - she"s got some sil y name..."

„Berta," said his wife.

„Don"t interrupt me," said Uncle Quentin. „Yes, Berta. Well, Elbur, her father, has been warned that she"s going to be kidnapped."

„Whatever for?" said Julian, amazed.

„Because it so happens that her father knows more secrets about a new scheme we"re planning than anyone else in the world," said his uncle. „And he says, quite frankly, that if this girl - what"s her name now..."

„Berta," said everyone, obligingly.

„That if this Berta is kidnapped, he wil give away every single secret he knows to get her back," said Uncle Quentin. „Pah! What"s he made of? Traitor to us all! How can he even think of giving away secrets for the sake of a sil y girl?"

„Quentin, she"s his only child and he adores her," said Aunt Fanny. „I should feel the same about George."

„Women are always soft and sil y," said her husband, in a tone of great disgust. „It"s a good thing you don"t know any secrets - you"d give them away to the milkman!"

This was so ridiculous that the children laughed. Uncle Quentin glared at them.

„This is no laughing matter. It has been a great shock to me to be told by one of the leading scientists of the world that he feels certain he might give all our secrets to the enemy if this - this..."

„Berta," said everyone again, at once.

„If this Berta was kidnapped," went on Uncle Quentin. „So he came to ask if we"d take this

- this Berta into our own home for three weeks. By that time the scheme wil be finished and launched, and our secrets wil be safe."

There was a silence. Nobody looked very pleased. In fact, George looked furious. She burst out at last.

„So that"s who the bed is for in our room! Mother, have we got to be squashed up with nowhere to move about the room, for three whole weeks? It"s too bad."

„For once you and I agree, George," said her father. „But I"m afraid you"l have to put up with it. Elbur is in such a state about this kidnapping warning that he couldn"t be reasoned with. In fact he threatend to tear up al his figures and diagrams and burn them, if I didn"t agree to this. That would mean we couldn"t get on with the scheme."

„But why has she got to come here?" said George, fiercely. „Why put her on to us? Hasn"t she any relations or friends she can go to?"

„George, don"t be so fierce," said her mother. „Apparently Berta has no mother, and has been everywhere with her father. They have no relations in this country - and no friends they can trust. He won"t send her back to America because he has been warned by the police that she might be followed there - and at the moment he can"t leave this country himself to go with her."

„But why choose us?" said George again. „He doesn"t know a thing about us!"

„Well," said her mother, with a small smile, „he met you all the other day, you know - and he was apparently very struck with you - and especial y with you, George, though I can"t imagine why. He said he"d rather his Berta was with you four than with any other family in the world."

She paused and looked at the four, a harassed expression on her face. Julian went over to her.

„Don"t you worry!" he said. „We"ll look after Berta! I won"t pretend I"m pleased at having a strange girl to join us these last three precious weeks - but I can see her father"s point of view - he"s scared for Berta, and he"s scared he might find himself spilling the beans if anything happened to her! It might be the only way he could get her back."

„To think of such a thing!" burst out Uncle Quentin. „Al the work of the last two years! The man must be mad!"

„Now Quentin, don"t think any more about it," said his wife. „I"m glad to have the child here. I would hate George to be kidnapped, and I know exactly how he feels. You won"t even notice she"s here. One more wil make no difference."

„So you say," grumbled her husband. „Anyway, it"s settled."

„When is she coming?" asked Dick.

„Tonight. By boat," said his uncle. „We"ll have to let Joan the cook into the secret - but nobody else. That"s understood, isn"t it?"

„Of course," said the four at once. Then Uncle Quentin sat down firmly at his desk, and the children went hurriedly out of the room, Aunt Fanny behind them, and Timmy pushing between their ankles.

„It"s such a pity, and I"m so sorry," said Aunt Fanny. „But I do feel we can"t do anything else."

„I bet Timmy wil hate her," said George.

„Now don"t you go and make things difficult, George, old thing," said Julian. „We"re all agreed it can"t be helped, so we might as well make the best of it."

„I hate making the best of things," said George, obstinately.

„Well," said Dick, amiably, „Julian and Anne and I could go back home and take Berta with us if you hate everything so much. I don"t particularly want to stay here for three weeks if you"re going to put on a Hate all the time."

„Al right, I won"t," said George. „I"m only letting off steam. You know that."

„I"m never sure, with you," said Dick, with a grin. „Well, look - let"s not spoil this one day when we wil be by ourselves!"

They all tried valiantly to have as good a time as possible, and went out in George"s boat for a long row to Lobster Cove. They didn"t do any fishing there, but bathed from the boat instead, in water as green and clear as in an open-air bath. Timmy didn"t approve of bathing from boats. It was quite easy to jump out of the boat into the water - but he found it extremely difficult to jump in again!

Aunt Fanny had again packed them a wonderful lunch. „An extra good one to make up for a disappointment," she said, smiling. Anne had given her a hug for that. Here they had all been making such a fuss about having someone extra - and Aunt Fanny had been the only one to feel a real kindness for a child in danger.