Five Get Into a Fix (2 page)

When the time came for the children to set out on their journey they were feeling a good deal better - though their coughs were stil almost as bad! “I do hope you"l lose those awful coughs, Julian, before you come back,” said his mother. “It worries me to hear you all cough, cough, cough, day and night!”

“Poor old Mother - you have had a time!” said Julian, giving her a hug. “You"ve been a brick. What a sigh of relief you"l give when we"re al safely away in the car!”

At last the car came, driving up the snowy path to the house. It was a hired car, a very big one, and that was fortunate, as the children"s luggage was truly colossal! The driver was a cheerful little man, and he and Jenkins soon had the suit-cases, toboggans, skis and all the rest either in the boot of the car, or strapped on top.

“There we are, Mam!” said the driver at last. “Everything made fast. We"re making a nice early start, and we should be safe in Magga Glen before it"s dark.”

“We"re all ready to start!” said Julian and the little man nodded and smiled, climbing into the driving-seat. Dick sat beside him, and the other three sat at the back, with Timmy on their feet. Not that he would stay there long! He liked to look out of the window just as much as the children did!

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as the car slid down the drive. They were off at last!

Jenkins was at the gate, and waved as they went past.

“Remember me to my old aunt now!” he shouted, as he shut the gate.

The driver was very chatty. He soon heard al about their miserable holidays, and how much they were looking forward to their unexpected break before going back to school.

In return he told them all about himself and his family - and as he had eleven brothers and sisters, his tale lasted for a good part of the journey!

They stopped for a meal in the car after some time, and found that they were hungry for the first time since they had been il .

“Good gracious - I can real y taste these sandwiches!” said George, in a surprised voice.

“Can you, Anne?”

“Yes - they don"t taste of cardboard - like al our meals have lately,” said Anne. “Timmy -

you"re not going to fare so well, now that we"re getting our appetites back!”

“He was a very good dustbin while we were il , wasn"t he?” said Dick. “He simply gobbled up all the bits and pieces we couldn"t eat. Ugh - that boiled fish! It tasted like stewed knitting!”

They laughed - and that set them off coughing again. The driver listened and shook his head. “Nasty coughs you"ve got!” he said. “Reminds me of the time when me and my family got whooping-cough - twelve of us together. My, when we all whooped, it sounded like a lot of fire-sirens going off!”

That made the children laugh again, and cough. But somehow nobody minded the irritating coughs now - they would surely soon be gone, once they could get out into the country and try their legs at running and racing and skiing once again.

It was a long drive. Al the children fell asleep in the car after their meal, and the driver smiled to see them lol ing back against one another, looking very peaceful. Only Timmy was awake, and he climbed cautiously up between George and the window, wishing the window was open, so that he could put his big nose out into the wind, as he loved to do.

They stopped for a very early tea at a tea-shop in a vil age. “Better stretch your legs a bit,”

said the driver, getting out. “I know I want to stretch mine. Look - I"m going into that place over there for my tea. There"s plenty of my pals there, and I"d enjoy a chat. You go and tuck in at this tea-shop here, and ask for their buttered crumpets. Best in the kingdom they are! Be back for you in a quarter of an hour - not longer, or we shan"t be at the farmhouse before dark. It"s stil about an hour"s run, but there"l be a moon later on.”

They were al glad to stretch their legs. Timmy bounded out as if he were on springs, barking madly. He was disappointed to find that they were only making a short stop - he had hoped they were at the end of their journey. But he was pleased to be given a buttery crumpet al to himself in the tea-shop. He licked every scrap of butter off first, much to the children"s amusement.

“I"d rather like to do that myself, Timmy,” said Anne. “But it"s not real y good manners, you know! Oh, don"t make my shoe buttery - take your crumpet a bit farther away.”

They had time for two crumpets each, and a cup of hot tea. Julian bought some chocolate biscuits, as he felt unexpectedly hungry, even after two crumpets.

“Marvel ous to feel even a bit hungry, after not being able to look even bread and butter in the face!” he said. “I knew we must be jolly il that day we couldn"t eat even ice-cream though Mother tried to tempt us with some!”

“My legs are stil a bit funny,” said Anne, walking back to the car. “But they"re beginning to feel as if they belong to me, thank goodness!”

They set off again. They were in Wales now, and mountains were beginning to loom up in the distance. It was a very clear evening, and although the mountains were white with snow, the countryside they passed was not nearly as snowy as their own home had been when they left.

“I hope to goodness the snow doesn"t begin to melt, just as we"ve arrived,” said Dick. “It seems all right up on the mountains at present - but down here in the val eys there"s hardly any.”

They passed a sign-post, and Julian looked to see what it said. He made out a word that looked like Cymryhlli, and cal ed to the driver.

“Did you see that sign-post? Should we look out for Magga Glen now?”

“Yes. We must be getting on that way,” said the driver. “I"ve been looking out for it myself.

I wonder I haven"t seen it yet.”

“Goodness! I hope we haven"t lost our way,” said Anne. “It wil soon be dark.”

The car went on and on. “Better look out for a vil age,” said Julian. But they didn"t come to one - nor did they see any other sign-posts. The night was now coming on, but there was already a smal moon, which gave a little light.

“Are you sure we"re right?” Dick asked the driver. “The road seems to be getting a bit rough - and we haven"t passed even a farmhouse for ages.”

“Well - maybe we are on the wrong road,” admitted the driver, slowing down. “Though where we took the wrong turning I simply don"t know! I reckon we"re near the sea now.”

“Look - there"s a turning up to the right!” shouted George, as they went slowly on. “It"s got a sign-post, too!”

They stopped by the sign-post, which was only a small one. “It doesn"t say Magga Glen,”

said Dick, disappointed. “It says Old Towers - just that. Would it be the name of a place, do you think - or a building? Where"s a map?”

The driver hadn"t one. “I don"t usually need a map,” he said. “But this here countryside isn"t sign-posted as it should be, and I wish I"d brought my route with me. I guess we"d better turn right and go up to see this Old Towers. Maybe they can put us on our road!”

So they swung up to the right, and the car went slowly, crawling up a long, steep, winding road.

“It"s quite a mountain,” said Anne, peering out of the window. “Oh - I can see something -

a building on the side of the hil , look - with towers. This must be it.”

They came to stout wooden gates. On them was a large notice, with just two words on it in large black letters:

KEEP OUT

“Well - that"s nice and polite!” said the driver, angrily. “Keep out! Why should we? Wait a bit - there"s a little lodge here. I"l go and ask our way.”

But the lodge was no more helpful than the big gate. It was in complete darkness, and when the driver banged on the door, there was no answer at all. Now what could they do?

“Well - we"d better turn round and go back down the hil ,” said Dick, as the driver came back to the car.

“No, wait, I"l just hop out and see if there are any lights anywhere,” said Julian, and jumped out of the car. “I could go up the drive a little way and see if I can spot the house itself. It can"t be very far. After all, we spotted it just now as we came up the winding road.”

He went to the gates, and looked at them in the light from the car"s headlamps. “They"re padlocked,” he cal ed. “But I think I can climb over. There"s certainly a light somewhere beyond - though how far, I don"t know.”

But before he could climb over the gate there came the sound of running footsteps behind it - and then a loud and savage howl came on the night air, and some animal hurled itself against the other side of the gate.

The driver got back hurriedly into the car and slammed the door. Julian also ran to the car, finding his legs could go quickly if he wanted them to, for all their feebleness!

Timmy began to bark fiercely, and tried to leap through the closed car-window. The howling and barking behind the gates went on and on, and the dog there, which must have been a very big one, continually hurled itself against the gates, shaking them from top to bottom.

“Better turn round and go,” said the driver, scared.

“Whew! I"m glad I"m this side of those gates. What a din! That dog of yours is almost as bad, too!”

Timmy was certainly furious. Why wasn"t he allowed to get out and tell the other dog what he thought of him? George tried to pacify him, but he wouldn"t stop barking. The driver began to turn the car round, cautiously backing a little and then going forward, and backing again. The road was fairly wide, but there was a very steep slope to the right of the car. Old Towers was certainly built on a mountainside!

“The people there must be jolly scared of burglars to have a dog like that,” said Dick. “Yet it"s such a lonely place you wouldn"t think many people would come near it. What"s up, driver?”

“There"s something wrong,” said the driver, who now had the car facing back down the road again. “The car seems very heavy to drive, all of a sudden. As if I"d got my brakes on.”

“Perhaps you have,” said Julian.

“Well, I haven"t,” said the driver, shortly. “That is, only just a little, to make sure the car doesn"t shoot off down the hil - you can see it"s pretty steep here, and there"s almost a cliff, your side. Don"t want to drive down there in the dark! What can be the matter with the car? It wil only crawl.”

“I thought it came up the hil terribly slowly, too,” said Dick. “I know the road was steep and winding - but didn"t it seem to you as if the car was making heavy work of it?”

“Well, yes, it did,” admitted the driver. “But I just thought the hil must be steeper than I imagined. What is the matter with the car? I"ve got no brake on at all, and I"m pushing the accelerator down hard - and stil she crawls! As if she"d got a ton weight to pul !”

It real y was a puzzle. Julian felt worried. He didn"t want them to have to spend the night in the car, lost in a cold countryside - especially as now it was beginning to snow lightly!

The moon had disappeared behind heavy clouds, and everything looked very dark indeed.

They reached the bottom of the hil at last, and came on to the level road again. The driver heaved a sigh of relief - and then gave a sudden exclamation.

“What"s happened? The car"s all right again! She"s going like a bird! Whew - that"s a load off my mind! I thought she was going to pack up, and leave us to spend the night here.”

The car sped along wel now, and everyone was most relieved. “Must have been something wrong with her works somewhere,” said the driver. “But I"m blessed if I know what it was! Now - look out for a house or a signpost.”

They actually came to a sign-post not long after that, and George yelled out at once.

“Stop! Here"s a signpost. STOP!”

The car slid to a stop beside it, and everyone looked at it and gave a shout of delight.

“Magga Glen! Hurrah!”

“Up to the left,” said the driver, and swung his car into the lane. It was rather rough, and obviously only a farm-road - but there, right up the hil they were now climbing, was a house, with lights shining in the windows. That must be old Mrs. Jones" farmhouse.

“Thank goodness!” said Julian. “This must be it. I"m glad we got here before the snow set in properly. It"s quite difficult to see through the windscreen now.”

Yes - it was the farmhouse. Dogs set up a terrific barking as the car drew near, and Timmy at once answered, almost deafening everyone in the car!

The driver drew up at the farmhouse door, and looked out cautiously to make sure that none of the barking dogs was leaping about round the car. The front door opened, and framed in the light stood a little old woman, as upright as any of the children!

“Come you in, come you in!” she cal ed. “Out of this cold and snow! Our Morgan wil help with the luggage. Come you in, now! ”

The four children, suddenly feeling very tired, got out of the car. Anne almost stumbled, because once again her legs felt as if they didn"t belong to her, ancl Julian caught her arm. They went in wearily, only Timmy seeming to have any energy! A tall man hurried out to help the driver with the luggage, saluting them as he passed.

The old lady took them into a big warm living-room and made them sit down. “What a journey for you!” she said. “You look worn out and poorly. It"s late you are, too, and I"d a good tea laid for you. But now it"s supper you"l be wanting, poor children!”

Julian caught sight of a loaded table not far from the fire, set to one side. Although he was tired, the sight of the good food there made him suddenly feel hungry. He smiled at the kind old woman. Her hair gleamed like silver, and her fine old face was wrinkled al over - but her eyes were as sharp and bright as a blackbird"s.

“I"m sorry we"re so late,” he said. “We lost our way. This is my sister Anne - this is our cousin George - and this is my brother Dick.”

“And this is Timmy,” said George, and Timmy at once offered his paw to the old woman.

“Well, now, it"s a wonder to see a dog with such good manners,” she said. “We"ve seven -

but not one of them would shake hands - no, not if the Queen herself came here, God bless her!”

The barking of the dogs had now died down. Not one of them was to be seen in the house, and the children thought they must be outside in kennels somewhere.