Five Are Together Again (12 page)

Mischief was very angry indeed. He ran to Charlie"s cage, which was open, and sent the straw flying everywhere. Charlie sat outside his cage, and enjoyed the fun, grinning happily.

„Come out, Mischief!" cal ed Tinker. „You"re making a nuisance of yourself!"

„Let him be," said one of the acrobats, who was standing near by. „Old Charlie enjoys a bit of temper - when it"s someone else"s! Look at him sitting grinning there."

They watched for a few seconds more, to make sure that Mischief wasn"t annoying the big chimpanzee, and then turned to watch Monty and Winks, the clowns, having an argument, which ended in Monty throwing water over Winks, and Winks emptying a basket of rubbish over Monty. What a pair!

When they turned to see if Mischief was stil annoying Charlie, they saw that the little monkey had left the cage, and was tearing down the field to the fence. He leapt up, and over, and disappeared.

„He must think it"s dinner-time," said Tinker, looking at his watch. „And golly, so it is. Buck up everyone, Jenny wil be in a fine old fury if we"re really late - it"s hot dinner today."

Away they all went in a hurry. Hot dinner! Over the fence, then, and up the garden at top speed. They mustn"t keep a hot dinner waiting - or Jenny either!

Tinker and the Five were two minutes late for their dinner. Jenny was just taking it in, looking a little grim, as she had not been able to find the children anywhere. „Ah - here you are at last!" she said. „I looked down the garden but you were nowhere to be seen.

It"s a good thing you came in when you did - five minutes more, and I"d have taken the dinner back again."

„Dear Jenny, you know you wouldn"t," said Tinker, giving her a sudden squeeze that made her squeal. „Oh, how good it smells! Mmmmm-Mmmmm!"

„You and your Mmmmms!" said Jenny, pushing Tinker away. „And I"ve told you before, that I don"t mind a gentle hug, but those squeezes of yours take al my breath away. No, Tinker, keep away from me - another squeeze like that and I"l feel like a lemon!"

Everyone laughed at that. Jenny did say the most amusing things. Anne felt sorry that she hadn"t offered to stay and help her with the dinner. Oh dear - the time went so tremendously quickly, once they were all out together.

The talk at dinner-time was very lively. So was Mischief the monkey! He took bits from everyone"s plate and handed some of them down to Timmy, who was lying under the table as usual. Timmy appreciated these titbits very much!

„Well! I didn"t see a single ladder in the circus camp that was tal enough to reach up to the tower room," said George.

„No. If there was one, it was jolly wel hidden," said Dick. „Pass the mustard, someone!"

„In front of you, ass," said Julian. „I must say I"m beginning to wonder if Mr Wooh had anything to do with the stealing of your father"s papers, Tinker. I can"t somehow see him climbing high ladders - he"s so - so..."

„Polite and proper," said Anne. „Actually, I can"t think of anyone in the circus who would either want the papers, or is nasty enough to steal them. They"re al so nice."

„I stil think Mr Wooh is the most likely one," said Julian. „He"s interested in complicated figures and clever inventions. But al the same, I"m beginning to think I"m wrong. He could NOT have got up to the tower room, as there is no ladder long enough - and I really doubt if he"d dare to take a ladder into the courtyard, and risk putting it up to the tower. He might so easily be caught."

„Right. We"ll rule him out," said Tinker. „But if nobody went up the spiral stairway, because all the doors were locked, and nobody used a ladder, I don"t see how those papers disappeared."

„Wind took them out of the window, perhaps?" suggested Anne. „Would that be possible?"

„No. For two reasons," said Julian. „One is that the window wasn"t wide enough open for the wind to blow in with enough strength to blow papers out. And secondly, we"d have been sure to have found some of them down in the courtyard if they"d been blown out.

But we didn"t find a single one there."

„Well - if nobody got through the three locked doors, and nobody got through the window, How did those papers get stolen?" demanded George. „It would have been a miracle for those papers to have hopped away by themselves - and I don"t believe in that kind of miracle!"

There was a long silence. What a mystery it was! „I suppose Tinker"s father couldn"t possibly have gone walking in his sleep, and taken them, could he?" asked Anne.

„Well - I don"t know if a sleep-walker can unlock doors with the right keys, and steal his own papers, leaving some on the floor, and then walk careful y down the spiral stairway stil fast asleep, locking all the doors behind him, and then go to his own bedroom, get into bed, and then wake up in the morning without remembering a single moment of the whole thing!" said Julian.

„No. It can"t be possible," said Dick. „Have you ever known your father to walk in his sleep, Tinker?"

Tinker considered. „No, I can"t say I have," he said. „He"s a very light sleeper, usually. No. I don"t believe Dad did all that in his sleep. It was somebody else."

„It must have been some sort of miracle man, then," said George. „No ordinary person could do it. And whoever planned it wanted those papers very, very badly, or he would never have risked getting them against so many odds."

„And if he wanted them SO VERY badly, he"ll certainly make an effort to get the ones he left behind under the table," said Julian. „Good thing we"ve got those! He wil probably try to get up into the tower the same way as he did before - but goodness knows what it was!"

„Well - those papers wil be safely out of his way, tonight!" said George. „On my island!"

„Yes," said Julian. „I"l find a most unlikely hiding-place - somewhere about the ruined castle, I think. By the way - I hope you haven"t stil got them under your jersey, Tinker. No -

you don"t look fat any more. What have you done with them?"

„George said I"d better give them to her to keep, in case they slipped out of my jersey,"

said Tinker. „You took them, didn"t you, George?"

„Yes," said George. „Don"t let"s talk about it any more."

„Why not? The thief"s not here. He can"t be listening to us!" said Tinker. „I believe you"re cross, George, because Julian won"t let you take the papers yourself!"

„Oh, do shut up, Tinker," said George. „I shal be jolly cross with you in a minute, if you let Mischief upset your glass of lemonade again, all over my bread. Take him off the table! His manners are getting worse!"

„They aren"t - but your temper is!" said Tinker and promptly received a kick under the table from Julian. He was about to kick back but thought better of it. Julian could kick very much harder than he could! He decided to take Mischief off the table in case George smacked him. He put the little monkey under the table where Timmy was sitting quietly.

Mischief immediately cuddled up to him, putting his little furry arms round the big dog"s neck. Timmy sniffed him all over, and then gave him two or three licks. He was very fond of the naughty little monkey.

„What shall we do this afternoon?" asked Dick, when they had all helped Jenny to clear away and wash-up. „What about a bathe in the sea? Is it warm enough?"

„Not real y. But that doesn"t matter, we always feel jolly warm when we come out of the water and run about and then rub ourselves down," said Anne. „Jenny - do you feel like a bathe?"

„Good gracious, no!" said Jenny, shivering at the thought. „I"m a cold mortal, I am. The thought of going into that cold sea makes me shudder. If you want your towels, they are all in the airing cupboard. And don"t you be late for tea, if you want any, because I"ve a lot of ironing to do afterwards."

„Right, Jenny," said Tinker, about to give her one of his „squeezes" but thinking better of it when he saw her warning look. „Julian, may I come with you to Kirrin Island tonight? I"d like a bit of fun."

„You may not," said Julian. „Anyway, there won"t be any fun."

„There might be if Mr Wooh did hear George say she was taking those papers over," said Tinker. „He"d be waiting on the island - and you might be glad to have me with you!"

„I should not be glad to have you with me," said Julian. „You"d just be in the way. It would be much easier to look after myself than to see what you were up to all the time. I am going by myself. Please don"t scowl at me like that, George."

He got up from the table and went to look out of the window. „Wind"s died down a bit,"

he said. „I think I"l have a bathe in an hour"s time. If any of you others want to come, we"ll go down together."

They all went down to the beach after a while and bathed, except Mischief, who put one small paw into the water, gave a howl and scampered back up the beach as fast as ever he could, afraid that Tinker might catch him and make him go in! Timmy went in, of course. He swam marvellously, and even gave Tinker a ride on his back, diving down when the boy felt heavy, so that Tinker suddenly found himself sprawling in the water!

„You wretch, Timmy!" yelled the boy, „the water"s gone up my nose. Wait til I catch you!

I"l put you under!"

But he couldn"t possibly catch old Timmy, who real y enjoyed the joke. The big dog gave a joyful bark, and swam after George. How he loved being with them all!

The rest of the day went quickly. Jenny had a fine tea for them, with slices of ham, and salad, and fruit to end with, and said afterwards that she had time to play a game of Scrabble with them if they liked. Mischief sat on the table to watch.

„I don"t mind you watching," said Anne. „But you are NOT to scrabble, Mischief. You sent all my little ivory discs on the floor last time we played, and I lost the game."

Timmy watched gravely, sitting on a chair beside George. He simply could NOT

understand what made the children play games like this when they could go for a nice long walk with him. They took pity on him when the game was over and went out for a two-mile walk along by the sea. How Timmy loved that!

„I shal cycle to Kirrin Vil age as soon as it"s dark," announced Julian. „I suppose your boat is tied up in the usual place, George? I"m sorry I can"t take you with me, but there might be a bit of danger, as we said. However I won"t run into any if I can help it. I shan"t feel comfortable until those secret papers are safely out of the way! You can give them to me just before I go, George."

Anne suddenly yawned. „Don"t start too late or I shall fal asleep!" she said. „It"s getting dark already. Al that swimming has made me feel tired!"

Dick yawned too. „I"m jolly sleepy as well," he said. „I shal bed down in our tent as soon as you"ve gone, Ju. I"l see you off safely first, papers and al ! You"d better go to your tent, too, girls - you look tired."

„Right!" said Anne. „You coming, George?"

„We"ll all go," said George. „Come on, Tinker. Bet you I get over the fence and down to our tents first! Good night, Jenny. We"re off!"

She and Anne and Tinker, with Timmy running behind, went off down the darkening garden. Dick and Julian helped Jenny to tidy up, and to draw all the curtains. „Well, good night, Jenny," said Dick. „Al you have to do is to lock the door behind us and go safely up to bed. We"ll go down to our tents now. Sleep well!"

„Oh, I always do," said Jenny. „Look after yourselves now and don"t get into any mischief!

Hide those papers wel , where nobody can find them!"

Julian and Dick went off down the garden, having heard Jenny careful y locking the door behind them.

Tinker and the girls were already over the fence, Mischief on Tinker"s shoulder. Anne spoke anxiously to George. „I do hope Julian wil be all right going over to Kirrin Island," she said.

„I wish he"d take Dick with him."

„If he took anyone it should be me!" burst out George. „It"s my island!"

„Oh, don"t be sil y, George. The papers would be much safer with Julian," said Anne. „It would be an awful business for you, cycling by yourself to Kirrin, getting your boat into the water, and rowing over in the dark!"

„It would not!" said George. „If Julian can do it, then so could I. You go into our tent, Anne, and get ready for bed. I"l come in a minute, after I"ve taken Timmy for a run."

She waited til Anne had disappeared through the tent opening. Then she went quietly off by herself in the dark, Timmy trotting beside her, rather surprised.

Soon there came the sound of voices, as Julian and Dick reached the fence and leapt over it. They went to their tent, and found Tinker there, yawning and getting ready for bed.

Soon the three boys were al rolled up in their rugs, Mischief cuddled up to Tinker. After some time Julian sat up and looked at his watch, and then peeped out of the tent opening. „Quite dark!" he said. „But the moon"s coming up, I see. I think I"l get the papers from George now, and set off on my bicyde to Kirrin. I can easily get it out of the shed."

„You know where George keeps her boat," said Dick. „You won"t have any difficulty in finding it. Got your torch, Ju?"

„Yes - and a new battery," said Julian. „Look!"

He switched on his torch. It gave a good, powerful beam. „Shan"t miss the island if I put this on!" he said. „Now - I"l get those papers. Hey, George - I"m coming to your tent for the papers!"

He went over to the girls" tent. Anne was there, only half awake. She blinked as Julian"s torch shone into her eyes.

„George!" said Julian. „Give me those papers now, please - hal o - I say, Anne - where is George?"

Anne started al round the tent. George"s rugs were there, piled in an untidy heap; but there was no George - and no Timmy either!

„Oh, Ju! Do you know what George has done - she"s slipped out with the precious papers

- and taken Timmy too! She must have gone to fetch her bike, and ridden off to Kirrin to get her boat - and row over to Kirrin Island! Julian, whatever wil happen if she rows over and finds somebody waiting to grab those papers from her!" Poor Anne was very near to tears.

„I could shake her!" said Julian, very angry indeed. „Going off alone like that in the dark -