Five Go to Mystery Moor (4 page)

The man had no idea that Dick and Julian were sleeping in the stable. He had come in quietly because he had thought there might be other horses there, and he did not want to startle them and make them stamp about in fright. He had no torch, but his keen gypsy"s eyes made out Clip at once, lying in his straw.

He tiptoed across to him and fel over Julian"s feet, sticking out from the straw bed he was lying on. He fel with a thud, and Julian sat up very suddenly indeed, awake at once.

„Who"s there! What is it?"

The gypsy shrank down beside Clip, keeping silent. Julian began to wonder if he had been dreaming. But his foot distinctly hurt him. Surely somebody had trodden on it, or fallen over it? He woke Dick.

„Where"s the torch? Hello, look, the stable door is open! Quick, Dick, where on earth is the torch?"

They found it at last and Julian clicked it on. At first he saw nothing, for the gypsy was in Clip"s stall, lying down behind the horse. Then the torch picked him out.

„Hal o! Look there - it"s that gypsy, Sniffer"s father!" said Julian. „Get up, you! What on earth are you doing here, in the middle of the night?"

The man got up sul enly. His ear-rings shone in the light of the torch. „I came to get Clip,"

he said. „He"s my horse, isn"t he?"

„You were told he wasn"t fit to walk yet," said Julian. „Do you want him to go lame for life?

You ought to know enough about horses to know when one can be worked or not!"

„I"ve got my orders," said the man. „I"ve got to take my caravan with the others."

„Who said so?" said Dick, scornful y.

„Barney Boswel ," said the man. „He"s boss of our lot here. We"ve got to start off together tomorrow."

„But why?" said Julian, puzzled. „What"s so urgent about al this? What"s the mystery?"

„There ain"t no mystery," said the man, stil sullen. „We"re just going to the moor."

„What are you going to do there?" asked Dick, curiously. „It doesn"t seem to me to be the place to take a lot of caravans to. There"s nothing there at al , is there? Or so I"ve heard."

The man shrugged his shoulders and said nothing. He turned to Clip as if to get him up. But Julian rapped out at him at once,

„Oh no, you don"t! If you don"t care about injuring a horse, I do! You"ve only got to be patient for a day or two more, and he"ll be quite al right. You"re not to take him tonight.

Dick, go and wake Captain Johnson. He"l know what to do."

„No," said the man, scowling. „Don"t go waking anybody. I"l go. But just you see that Clip is given to Sniffer as soon as it"s possible, or I"l know the reason why! See?"

He looked at Julian in a threatening way.

„Take that scowl off your face," said Julian. „I"m glad you"ve seen sense. Clear out now.

Go off with the others tomorrow and I"l see that Sniffer has the horse in a short time."

The man moved to the door and slid out like a shadow. Julian went to watch him across the yard, wondering whether, out of spite, the man might try to steal a hen, or one of the ducks sleeping beside the pond.

But there was no sudden clucking, no loud quack. The man had gone as silently as he had come.

„Most peculiar, al this!" said Julian, latching the door again. He tied a piece of thick string over it his side, so that it could not be lifted from outside. „There! Now if the gypsy comes again, he"ll find he can"t get in. What a nerve, coming here in the middle of the night like that!"

He got back into the straw. „He must have fallen right over my foot," he said, snuggling down. „He woke me up with an awful jump. Good thing for Clip that we were sleeping out here tonight, or he"d be dragging along a heavy cart tomorrow, and going lame again. I don"t like that fellow!"

He fel asleep again and so did Dick. Clip slept too, his leg feeling easier. How glad he had been that day not to have to drag along the heavy caravan!

The boys told Captain Johnson next morning about the gypsy"s midnight visit. He nodded.

„Yes, I ought to have warned you that he might come. They"re not always very good to their horses. Well, I"m glad you sent him off. I don"t reckon Clip"s leg wil be ready for walking on til the day after tomorrow. There"s no harm in giving the poor creature a few days" rest. Sniffer can easily take the caravan on after the others."

It looked as if that day was going to be fun. After al the horses had been seen to, and many odd jobs done, the four, with Timmy, planned to set out for a day"s ride. Captain Johnson said he would let Julian ride his own sturdy cob and Dick took a bonny chestnut horse with four white socks. The girls had the horses they usually rode.

Henry hung about, looking very mournful. The boys felt quite uncomfortable. „We really ought to tell her to come along too," said Dick to Julian. „It seems jolly mean to leave her behind with those little kids."

„Yes, I know. I agree with you," said Julian. „Anne, come here! Can"t you suggest to George that we take Henry too? She"s longing to come, I know."

„Yes. She is," said Anne. „I feel awful about it. But George wil be mad if we ask Henry. They real y do get across one another. I simply daren"t ask George to let Henry come, Ju."

„But this is sil y!" said Julian. „To think we don"t dare to ask George to let somebody come!

George wil have to learn sense. I like Henry. She"s boastful, and I don"t believe half the tales she tel s, but she"s a sport and good fun. Hey, Henry!"

„Coming!" yel ed Henry, and came running, looking very hopeful.

„Would you like to come with us?" said Julian. „We"re all going off'for the day. Have you got any jobs to do, or can you come?"

„Can I come! Rather," said Henry, joyfully. „But - does George know?"

„I"l soon tel her," said Julian, and went in search of George. She was helping Mrs Johnson to get saddle-bags ready, full of food.

„George," said Julian, boldly. „Henry is coming too. Wil there be enough food for everyone?"

„Oh! How nice of you to ask her!" said Mrs Johnson, sounding very pleased. „She"s dying to come. She"s been so good this week, too, while we"ve been shorthanded. She deserves a treat. Isn"t that nice, George?"

George muttered something peculiar and went out of the room, her face scarlet. Julian stared after her, his eyebrows cocked in a comical manner.

„I don"t somehow feel that George thinks it"s nice," he said. „I feel as if we are in for an awkward day, Mrs Johnson."

„Oh, don"t take any notice of George when she"s sil y," said Mrs Johnson, comfortably, fil ing another paper bag with delicious-looking sandwiches. „And don"t take any notice of Henry, either, when she"s idiotic. There! If you get through al this food, I shal be surprised!"

Wil iam, one of the younger ones, came in just then. „What a lot of food you"ve given them," he said. „Wil there be enough left for us to have today?"

„Good gracious, yes!" said Mrs Johnson. „You think of nothing but your tummy, Wil iam! Go and find George and tell her the food is ready for her to put into the saddle-bags."

Wil iam disappeared and then came back. „George says she"s got a headache and doesn"t think she"ll go on the ride," he announced.

Julian looked startled and upset. „Now you listen to me, Julian," said Mrs Johnson, beginning to insert the parcels of food careful y into the saddle-bags, „just you leave her to her imaginary headache. Don"t go fussing round her, and begging her to come and saying you won"t have Henry. Just believe quite firmly in her headache, and go off by yourselves. It"s the quickest way to make George see sense, believe me!"

„Yes. I think you"re right," said Julian, frowning. To think that George should behave like a sulky little girl, after al the adventures they had been through together! Just because of Henry. It real y was absurd.

„Where is George!" he said to Wil iam.

„Up in her room," said Wil iam, who had been engrossed in picking up and eating al the crumbs he could. Julian went out of the room and into the yard. He knew which window belonged to the room where George and Anne slept. He yel ed up.

„I say, George! Sorry about your headache, old thing! Sure you don"t feel like coming?"

„No!" came back an answering shout, and the window was shut down with a slam.

„Righto! Awfully disappointed and all that!" shouted Julian. „Do hope your head wil soon be better! See you later!"

No other reply came from the window, but, as Julian went across the yard to the stables, a very surprised face watched him go, from behind the bedroom curtains. George was extremely astonished to have been taken at her word, shocked at being left behind after all, and angry with Henry and everyone else for putting her into this fix!

Julian told the others that George had a headache and wasn"t coming. Anne was most concerned and wanted to go and comfort her but Julian forbade her to.

„No. She"s up in her room. Leave her alone, Anne. That"s an order - see?"

„Al right," said Anne, half-relieved. She felt sure that George"s headache was mostly temper, and she didn"t at all want to go and argue with her for half an hour. Henry hadn"t said a word. She had flushed with surprise when Julian had announced that George was not coming, and she knew at once that there was no real headache! She was George"s headache, she knew that!

She went up to Julian. „Look, I guess it"s because you"ve asked me to come, that Georgina won"t come with us. I don"t want to spoil things. You go and tell her I"m not going after al ."

Julian looked at Henry grateful y. „That"s jolly nice of you," he said. „But we"re taking George at her word. Anyway, we didn"t ask you out of politeness. We wanted you to come!"

„Thanks," said Henry. „Well, let"s go before anything else happens! Our horses are ready. I"ll fix the saddle-bags."

Soon all four were on their horses, and were walking over the yard to the gate. George heard the clippity-clop-clippity-clop of the hooves and peeped out of the window again.

They were going after all! She hadn"t thought they real y would go without her. She was horrified.

Why did I behave like that? I"ve put myself in the wrong! thought poor George. Now Henrietta wil be with them all day and wil be as nice as possible, just to show me up.

What an ass I am! „Timmy, I"m an ass and an idiot, and a great big fathead! Aren"t I?"

Timmy didn"t think so. He had been puzzled to hear the others going off without him and George, and had gone to the door and whined. Now he came back to George and put his head on her knee. He knew George was not happy.

„You don"t care how I behave, do you, Tim?" said George, stroking the soft, furry head.

„That"s the best of a dog! You don"t care if I"m in the wrong or not, you just love me all the same, don"t you? Well, you shouldn"t love me today, Tim. I"ve been an idiot!"

There was a knock at her door. It was Wil iam again. „George! Mrs Johnson says, if your headache is bad, undress and get into bed. But if it"s better, come down and help with Clip, the gypsy"s horse."

„I"l come down," said George, flinging away her sulks at one go. „Tel Mrs Johnson I"l go to the stable at once."

„Al right," said the stolid Wil iam, and trotted off like a reliable little pony.

George went downstairs with Timmy, and into the yard. She wondered how far the others had gone. She couldn"t see them in the distance. Would they have a good day together, with that horrid Henry? Ugh!

The others were almost a mile away, cantering easily. What fun! A whole day before them, on Mystery Moor!

I think it"s got a jol y good name, Mystery Moor," said Dick, as the four of them went along.

„Look at it stretching for miles, all blazing with gorse."

„I don"t think it looks at all mysterious," said Henry, surprised.

„Well, it"s got a sort of quietness and broodiness," said Anne. „As if something big happened long ago in the past and it"s waiting for something to happen again."

„Quiet and broody? It sounds like one of the farmyard hens sitting on her eggs!" said Henry with a laugh. „I think it might be a bit frightening and mysterious at night, but it"s just an ordinary stretch of country in the day-time, fine for riding over. I can"t think why it"s called Mystery Moor."

„We"ll have to look it up in some book that tel s about this part of the country," said Dick. „I expect it was cal ed that because of some queer happenings or other, hundreds of years ago, when people believed in witches and things like that."

They followed no road or path, but rode where they pleased. There were great stretches of wiry grass, masses of heather springing up afresh, and, blazing its gold everywhere on this lovely April day, was the gorse.

Anne sniffed continual y as they rode past the gorse bushes. Dick looked at her.

„You sound like Sniffer!" he said. „Have you got a cold?"

Anne laughed. „No, of course not. But I do so love the smel of the gorse. What does it smell of? Vanil a? Hot coconut? It"s a lovely warm smel !"

„Look! What"s that moving over there?" said Julian, suddenly reining in his horse. They al strained their eyes to see.

„Why, it"s caravans!" said Julian, at last. „Of course! They were setting out today, weren"t they? Well, they must find it very rough going, that"s all I can say. There"s no real road anywhere, as far as I can see."

„Where can they be going?" wondered Anne. „What"s over in that direction?"

„They"l come to the coast if they keep on the way they are going," said Julian, considering. „Let"s ride over and have a look at them, shall we?"

„Yes. Good idea!" said Dick. So they turned their horses" heads to the right, and rode towards the faraway caravans. These made quite a splash of colour as they went along.

There were four of them - two red ones, a blue one and a yellow one. They went very slowly indeed, each pulled by a small, wiry horse.

„They all look like skewbalds, brown and white," said Dick. „It"s funny that so many gypsies have skewbald horses. I wonder why it is?"

They heard shouting as they came near the caravans, and saw one man pointing them out to another. It was Sniffer"s father!