03 The Princess of the Chalet School (20 page)

Mademoiselle was standing in front of the window wringing her hands. ‘Never, never will I understand the girls of to-day!’ she was crying. ‘When I was a child I should never have dreamed of going off like that, I – I should have told my elders, knowing that they would know if it were right for me to do so.’

Miss Bettany raised her head with a faint smile. ‘I’m afraid it is partly my own fault, Elise. It is quite true I told Joey to look after Elisaveta. I never thought of her doing it to these lengths; but that is largely what has sent her, I feel sure. In any case we cannot do anything more till Dr. Jem comes. Then I will set off at once to find the children, and I will never rest till I do.’

‘After all, it
may
be all right,’ put in Miss Maynard. ‘We’ve only what Joey imagines she heard this Carlo Belsarni say to go upon, and Jo’s knowledge of Russian is not very full as yet.’

Madge shook her head. ‘I don’t know anything about Carlo Belsarni, but I do know that I have spoken to Signor Ternikai, and – I didn’t like him.’

‘What are the girls to know?’ asked Mademoiselle.

‘Nothing – as yet. If it is all right, we should only be doing the very thing to bring Cosimo on their track; if it isn’t, then I know that Belsornia won’t want a fuss made to draw attention to it. I must wait until I hear from them.’

How the morning passed after that not one of the three could quite say. Dr. Jem appeared in about an hour’s time, and he agreed that nothing could be done until word came from Belsornia. He sent Miss Maynard along to the Seespitz end of the lake to see if there were any trefoils drawn there, and went himself up the valley to see what he could find. The mistress returned first, to report a complete failure, but he came back saying that the symbol had been drawn on the fence between the valleys, and also on the farther side of the little footbridge which led over the dry bed of the river.

‘They are going over the Tiern Pass, then,’ said Madge. ‘Well, we at least know that much!’

At fourteen o’clock – two, in English time – an answer arrived from Belsornia. It came in an aeroplane, and in the shape of Captain Trevillion, one of the Crown Prince’s equerries. He had flown from Belsornia on the receipt of Miss Maynard’s very guarded telegram, made a landing at Eben, a little way down the mountain, and come on to Briesau as fast as his legs would carry him. He reache the Chalet when the girls were busy with afternoon exams., and asked to be taken to Miss Bettany at once.

She came to meet him, her face as white as the frock she was wearing. ‘I am sorry to have to tell you, Madame,’ he said, ‘that Carlo Belsarni is one of the aliases of Prince Cosimo. I am afraid he has kidnapped the Princess.’

Madge stood in perfect silence. Dr. Jem put his arm round her to steady her, for she was swaying as she stood. The captain looked surprised at the Head’s emotion. ‘Miss Bettany’s little sister has gone after them,’

said Dr. Jem. ‘She said that she would follow them and leave a sign wherever she could to help us to track the party.’

The captain’s face relaxed. ‘I am sorry, Madame,’ he said. ‘I will go at once, if you will tell me the sign.’

‘I am coming with you,’ said Madge, speaking in a toneless voice. ‘I will go and get ready.’

She left the room, and the doctor turned to the other man, an eager question on his lips. ‘If Cosimo finds out what Joey is doing, will he hurt her?’

Captain Trevillion was silent for a moment. Then he spoke. ‘If Cosimo is in a good mood he may do no more than take her prisoner,’ he said.

‘And if not?’

‘Then God pity them both,’ replied the captain gravely. ‘Cosimo has a warped brain. I do not know what he is capable of.’

There was a stillness in the room, then the doctor spoke again. ‘Miss Bettany must not know that – yet,’ he said.

‘I agree,’ replied the other man. ‘God send we reach them in time.’

And it was with those few sentences ringing in his head that Jem Russell set off with his future wife and the captain to find the two children.

When Jo Bettany set off on her mad chase the night – or, rather, in the early morning – before the plot was discovered, she had a very definite plan in her mind. If possible she meant to keep Cosimo and Ternikai from knowing where she was. So long as they kept to the mountain regions that was all right. The dew would help her to track them, and even when it dried she expected to be able to follow them. She had always been good at tracking, and had learned to be very observant. It was just as she dropped on to the grass below her balcony that she had an idea which made all the difference to the adventure. She would take Rufus! As Miss Maynard had said, she had her head screwed on the right way, and she argued that his nose would be of great assistance supposing she were stumped. Besides that, Rufus would be a valuable bodyguard if the men tried to hurt either Elisaveta or herself. She went round to the shed where he spent the night and let him out, first clutching him round the neck and whispering that he must be very quiet.

Rufus always understood what his little mistress required of him, so he walked demurely out of his shelter and made no effort to express his delight except by low whines. Joey slipped her handkerchief through his collar, and the pair set off. Naturally what she should have done was to rouse her sister and let her arrange for the following of Elisaveta. But the sensible course never appealed to the younger Miss Bettany. Also, she was not sure how much Madge was supposed to know. Ternikai had been most impressive on the need for secrecy, and if it
were
all right, then it would never do for two or three people to know of the plan. Jo’s idea was to follow the fugitives till she knew where they were, and to find out if these two men had any right to carry off the Princess. If they had, well and good, she would come home at once. If not, then she would bring Elisaveta with her. Jo had rather vague ideas as to the responsibility of her sister in the matter, and she was resolved to save her any trouble that was possible.

The course the three had taken was easily seen for the heavy dews showed their tracks quite plainly. They had gone straight across the field, through the back gate, and on to the head of the valley. That meant that they were going over the Tiern Pass, and Joey guessed that they would be obliged to travel fairly slowly once they reached the foot of the Tiernjoch, for the path was a rough one, and Elisaveta was no climber. She herself was a good mountaineer for her age. She had climbed the Tiernjoch by herself as far as the narrow ledge, where accidents sometimes occurred, and she had been right to the summit with Herr Mensch, Frieda’s father, who was a great mountaineer, having tackled most of the Dolomite peaks, as well as climbing all round the great limestone mountains which surrounded the Tiern See. She had no fear, so long as they did not turn off to the high road and use a motor.

The dawn was filling the sky with rosy clouds by the time she reached the foot of the great Tiernjoch, which hung frowningly over the green valley. She had stopped once, to get a drink of milk and a roll at the little
Gasthaus
beyond Lauterbach, the tiny hamlet near the head of the valley. She had also bought two more rolls, and some
Blaubeeren Torte
, for she guessed it might be difficult to get anything later on in the day. More she did not dare do, for it would cause talk, and, besides she had no means of knowing how far her money had to go.

From the
Gasthaus
to the opening of the pass was a matter of five kilometers, and by the time she had got to the rocky path, which is the beginning of it, Joey felt somewhat tired. A little mountain stream fell over a miniature waterfall into a tiny pool, a little way away from the side of the road. Jo made for it, and lying on her face, drank thirstily. Rufus followed her example, and presently the two rose and went on, feeling much better.

‘Thank goodness,’ said Joey to the dog, ‘we aren’t likely to suffer from thirst. There are streams everywhere round here.’

They marched at the slow mountaineer’s pace which Herr Mensch had taught her, and which she knew she could keep up for sometime longer. They had gone a very little way along the pass when they got the first clue as to the track. Hanging from a little point of rock, and blowing idly about in the breeze, was a square of white material. Joey raced up to it eagerly and snatched it from its perch. She recognized it at once for one of the handkerchiefs Elisaveta had taken with her.

‘Sensible kid,’ said Jo approvingly. ‘Now, I know for certain that they’ve gone this way.’

She tucked the handkerchief into her pocket and went on light-heartedly. She was now in a region which she did not know at all. The rocks overhung the path, a thing for which she was thankful. It was long past noonday and the sun was hot. Joey argued that the two men would not dare to hurry the Princess too much.

Cosimo would not want to have her ill on his hands – by this time Joey had firmly made up her mind that it
was
Cosimo who had taken the Princess! – and she was not strong. It was obvious, therefore, that they would rest. The only thing was that they would not dare to rest long on the pass, which was a highway into Germany, so she must carry on for as long as she could.

It was nearly three o’clock by the sun when she finally sat down to eat her rolls and to give Rufus the piece of meat she had also got. She ate her food slowly, then lay down at full length for a few minutes, and fell asleep. She slept for an hour; then she awoke, feeling very stiff, and full of horror at the time she had lost.

She got to her feet and stumbled on. Luckily they came to another mountain stream before very long, and Joey knelt down and bathed her face and hands thoroughly in the water. She felt better after that and a long drink, and just as she rose to her feet she came on another clue.

There was a little bush of wild barberry on the other side of the stream, and tied to one of its branches was Elisaveta’s hair-ribbon. Joey tore off her shoes and stockings, and waded through the clear water. When she had reached the bush she found that the ribbon had been tied so as to bend some of the smaller twigs together, and pointing up the mountain. The Guide sign for ‘Road to be followed’! How thankful she felt that she had given up a whole Saturday afternoon once to teach the woodcraft signs to Elisaveta! If it had not been for that she might have lost the trail.

Rufus was sniffing at the ribbon. Joey held it out to him. ‘Follow!’ she said. The dog at once turned to sniff the ground, and then began to go forward up the steep mountain slope. Joey followed, clutching his collar firmly. It was a hard climb, and it struck her that Cosimo must have had a bad time of getting the Princess up here.

‘How he must have sworn!’ she thought, with an involuntary giggle. Then she sobered down. Going up was bad enough, but coming down would be infinitely worse. She wondered how ever she should get Elisaveta safely to the road again. She had cut her signs as she had promised. She did not like to trust too much to chalk. If the rain came it would soon wash away her marks, but cutting was likely to last as long as it would be wanted.

Up and up! Joey began to think she never
would
reach the top of this awful path. She had to pause once or twice to rest her weary back and legs, but always she went on after a few minutes. Then suddenly Rufus stopped. The scent was at fault. He circled round and round looking for it, but found nothing, and finally plumped down on his haunches and sat there, looking at his mistress with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. He had done his best, but he couldn’t follow a scent that wasn’t there.

Some children would have given it up after that and sat down to wait for the arrival of others; but not Joey Bettany. ‘They must have got fed-up and carried her,’ she mused. ‘I’ll bet it was that Ternikai man that had to do the carrying. I don’t suppose they did anything but go straight on. I’ll try that, anyhow! Come on, Rufus, old thing! You shall have a nice drink as soon as we come to a stream.’

Rufus got up reluctantly and followed his mistress as she struggled on up the path. It got steeper and steeper, and it was all Joey could do to go on. What was more, the sun was setting and the darkness would come very soon in this place, overshadowed as it was by mountain peaks all round. Joey put her best foot foremost. She had no desire to spend the night on a mountain-path, though she had no objection to sleeping on an
alpe
. Suddenly she came to what looked like a complete stoppage, for a huge boulder was in the way, and she did not see how she could climb over or round it. Now it was Rufus’s turn. He suddenly put his nose to the ground, uttered a low bark, and turned to the right of the obstacle. He had got he scent again. Joey, following him, discovered that it was just possible for her to scramble up by tiny projections in the rock, and guessed that is had been necessary to put the Princess down while one of the men went up first, and they pulled her up between them. It would by the only way in which they would ever get her beyond it. She cut her trefoil deep in the side of the soft rock, and then followed a scramble beside which anything that had gone before was mere child’s play. When finally she was safely at the other side she was too exhausted to do anything but lie flat on the path and pant for breath. Rufus, on the other hand, wanted to go on. With all the instincts of his magnificent breed he was ready to kill himself in the search. He had got the scent once more and he was burning to follow it. However, it was his duty to stay by his little mistress, so he lay down and made the most of this brief rest.

At length Joey got up and went on. She was nearly at the end of the climb, for she had only gone a few metres farther when she found that she was looking up at a grassy edge. That put new life into her and she made good time for the next ten minutes. Finally she found herself on a long, narrow
alpe
, which seemed to extend right round the mountain. The night had fallen by this time and she was in darkness. ‘I can’t go on,’

she thought. ‘I simply
must
rest, or I shall be all in and of no use to anybody. I wonder where I had better go?’