Five Have a Mystery to Solve (3 page)

„Don"t be a fathead, Wilfrid," said Julian. „You can"t live al alone here. You"re just a kid."

„I shan"t be living al alone. I"ve plenty of friends," said Wilfrid, defiantly.

„You CAN"T have plenty of friends here in this lonely place, with only the hil s and sky around you," said Dick.

„Well, I have!" said Wilfrid. „And here"s one - so look out!" And, to the horror of the two girls, he put his hand into his pocket, and brought out a snake!

Anne screamed, and tried to hide behind Julian. Wilfrid saw her fright and came towards her, holding the snake by its middle, so that it swayed to and fro, its bright little eyes gleaming.

„Don"t be scared, Anne," said Julian. „It"s only a harmless grass-snake. Put the creature back into your pocket, Wilfrid, and don"t play the fool. If that snake is the only friend you have, you"l be pretty lonely here by yourself!"

„I"ve plenty of friends, I tell you!" shouted Wilfrid, stuffing the snake back into his pocket. „I"l hit you if you don"t believe me."

„Oh no, you won"t," said Dick. „Just show us your other friends. If they"re kids like you, it"s just too bad!"

„Kids? I don"t make friends with kids!" said Wilfrid, scornful y. „I"l show you I"m speaking the truth. Come out here on the hil side, and see some of my other friends."

They all trooped out of the little cottage, on to the hil side, amazed at this fierce, strange boy. When they were in the open, they saw that he had eyes as bright blue as the speedwel in the grass, and hair almost as yel ow as the celandines.

„Sit down and keep quiet," he ordered. „Over there, by that bush. And don"t move a finger. I"l soon make you believe in my friends! How dare you come here, doubting my word!"

They all sat down obediently beside the gorse-bush, puzzled and rather amused. The boy sat down too, and drew something out of his pocket. What was it? George tried to see, but it was half-hidden in his right hand.

He put it to his mouth, and began to whistle. It was a soft, weird whistle that grew loud and then died away again. There was no tune, no melody, just a kind of beautiful dirge that pul ed at the heart. Sad, thought Anne, such a sad little tune - if you could call it a tune!

Something stirred a little way down the hil - and then, to everyone"s astonishment, an animal appeared - a hare! Its great ears stood upright, its big eyes stared straight at the boy with the curious little pipe. Then the hare lollopped right up to Wilfrid - and began to dance! Soon another came, but this one only watched. The first one then seemed to go mad, and leapt about wildly, utterly unafraid.

The tune changed a little - and a rabbit appeared! Then another and another. One came to Wilfrid"s feet and sniffed at them, its whiskers quivering. Then it lay down against the boy"s foot.

A bird fiew down - a beautiful magpie! It stood nearby, watching the hare, fascinated. It took no notice of the children at all. They all held their breath, amazed and delighted.

And then Timmy gave a little growl, deep down in his throat. He didn"t real y mean to, but he just couldn"t help it! At once the hares, the rabbits and the magpie fled, the magpie squawking in fright.

Wilfrid faced round at once, his eyes blazing. He lifted his hand to strike Timmy - but George caught his fist at once.

„Let go!" yelled Wilfrid. „That dog scared my friends! I"l get a stick and whip him. He"s the worst dog in the world, he"s..."

And then something strange happened. Timmy came gently over to Wilfrid, lay down, and put his head on the angry boy"s knee, looking up at him lovingly. The boy, his hand stil raised to strike, lowered it, and fondled Timmy"s head, making a curious crooning noise.

„Timmy! Come here!" ordered George, amazed and angry. To think that her dog, her very own dog, should go to a boy who had been about to strike him!

Timmy stood up, gave Wilfrid a lick, and went to George.

The boy watched him, and then spoke to them all. „You can come and stay in my cottage," he said, „if you"l bring that dog too. There aren"t many dogs like him - he"s a wonderful dog. I"d like him for one of my friends."

Then, without another word, Wilfrid sprang up and ran away down the hil , leaving four most astonished people - and a dog who whined dismal y because the boy had gone.

Well, well, Timmy - there must indeed by something about that boy, if you stand looking after him as if you had lost one of your very best friends!

The Five stared after Wilfrid in silence. Timmy wagged his tail and whined. He wanted the boy to come back.

„Well, thank you, Timmy, old thing," said Anne, patting the big dog on the head. „We certainly wouldn"t have had this lovely little cottage, with its incredible view, if you hadn"t made friends with Wilfrid. What a funny boy he is!"

„Jolly queer, I think!" said George, stil amazed at the way that Timmy had gone to Wilfrid, when the boy had been about to strike him. „I"m not sure that I like him!"

„Don"t be an ass, George," said Dick, who had been very much impressed by the boy"s handling of the hares, the rabbits and the magpie. „That boy must have a wonderful love for animals. They would never come to him as they did, if they didn"t trust him absolutely.

Anyone who loves animals as he does must be pretty decent."

„I bet I could make them come to me if I had that pipe," said George, making up her mind to borrow it if she could.

Anne went back into the cottage. She was delighted with it. „It must be very very old," she thought. „It stands dreaming here al day long, full of memories of the people who have lived here and loved it. And how they must all have loved this view - miles and miles of heather, great stretches of sea - and the biggest, highest, widest sky I"ve ever seen. It"s a happy place. Even the clouds seem happy - they"re scurrying along, so white against the blue!"

She explored the cottage thoroughly. She decided that the room above, under the thatch, should be for the three boys. There were two mattresses - one smal , one larger.

„The little one for Wilfrid - the big one for Dick and Julian," she thought. „And I and George can sleep down in the living-room, with Tim on guard. I wonder if there are any rugs we could sleep on. Ah - wait a bit - this couch is a pul -out bed - just right for us two girls!

Good!"

Anne enjoyed herself thoroughly. This was the kind of problem she liked - fixing up this and that for the others! She found a little larder, facing north. It had a few tins in it, and a jug of milk, slightly sour. It also had two loaves of extremely stale bread, and a tin of rather hard cakes.

„Mrs Layman doesn"t seem to be a very good housekeeper for herself and Wilfrid,"

thought Anne, seriously. „We"ll have to go down to the vil age and put in a stock of decent food. I might get a small ham - the boys would like that. Goodness - this is going to be fun!"

Julian came to the door to see what she was doing. When he saw her happy, serious face, he chuckled. „Acting “mother” to us, as usual?" he said. „Deciding who"s going to sleep where, and which of us is to do the shopping, and which the washing-up? Dear old Anne - what should we do without you when we go off on our own?"

„I love it," said Anne, happily. „Julian, we need another rug or two, and a pillow, and some food. And..."

„Well, we"ll have to go back home and col ect a few clothes and other things," said Julian. „We can shop on the way back, and get whatever we want. I wonder if that woman that Mrs Layman spoke about wil be coming in to help?"

„Well - Wilfrid said he sent her off," said Anne. „And I think perhaps as the cottage is so small, it might be better if we managed it ourselves. I think I could do a bit of cooking on that oil-stove in the corner - and anyway we can pretty well live on cold stuff, you know -

ham and salad and potted meat and fruit. It would be easy enough for any of us to pop down to the vil age on our bikes, to fetch anything we needed."

„Listen!" said Julian, cocking his head to one side. „Is that somebody cal ing us?"

Yes - it was. When Julian went outside, he saw Mrs Layman at the gate that led on to the hil side where the cottage stood. He went over to her.

„We LOVE the cottage!" he said. „And if it"s all right, we"d like to move in today. We can easily pop home and bring back anything we want. It"s a glorious old place, isn"t it - and the view must be the finest anywhere!"

„Well, that harbour is the second biggest stretch of water in the whole world," said Mrs Layman. „The only stretch that is any bigger, is Sydney Harbour - so you have something to feast your eyes on, Julian!"

„My word, yes," said Julian. „It"s amazing - and so very blue! I only wish I could paint - but I can"t. At least - not very well!"

„What about Wilfrid?" said Mrs Layman, anxiously. „Is he behaving himself? He"s - wel -

he"s rather a dificult boy at times. And he can be very rude. He hasn"t any brothers to rub off his awkward corners, you see."

„Oh, don"t you worry about Wilfrid!" said Julian, cheerful y. „He"l have to toe the line, and do as he"s told. We all do our bit, when we"re away together. He"s a wonder with animals, isn"t he?"

„Well - yes, I suppose he is!" said Mrs Layman. „Though I can"t say I like pet snakes, or pet beetles, and owls that come and hoot down the chimney at night to find out if Wilfrid wil go out and hoot back to them!"

Julian laughed. „We shan"t mind that," he said. „And he"s managed to get over what might have been our biggest difficulty - he has made friends with our dog, Timmy. In fact, he informed us that if Timmy stayed, we could all stay - but only if Timmy stayed!"

Mrs Layman laughed. „That"s so like Wilfrid," she said. „He"s an odd boy. Don"t stand any nonsense from him!"

„We shan"t," said Julian, cheerfully. „I"m surprised he wants to stay on with us, actual y. I should have thought he would rather go home, than be with a lot of strangers."

„He can"t go home," said Mrs Layman. „His sister has measles, and his mother doesn"t want Wilfrid to catch it. So you"l have to put up with him, I fear."

„And he"ll have to put up with us!" said Julian. „Thanks very much for letting us have the cottage, Mrs Layman. We"ll take great care of everything."

„I know you wil ," said the old lady. „Well, goodbye, Julian. Have a good time. I"l get back to my car now. Give Wilfrid my love. I hope he doesn"t fil the cottage with animals of all kinds!"

„We shan"t mind if he does!" said Julian, and waited politely until Mrs Layman had disappeared, and he could hear the noise of a car starting up.

He went back to the cottage and stood outside, looking down at the amazing view. The harbour was ful of boats, big and little. A steamer went busily along, making for a great seaside town far away on the other side.

Anne came to join Julian. „Glorious, isn"t it?" she said. „We"re so very high up here that it seems as if we can see half the world at our feet. Is that an island in the middle of the harbour, Ju?"

„Yes - and a well-wooded one too!" said Julian. „I wonder what it"s called - and who lives there. I can"t see a single house there, can you?"

Dick called to Anne. „Anne! George and I are going to fetch our bikes and ride down to the vil age. Give us your shopping list, wil you? Julian, is there anything special you want us to pack for you at home, and bring back, besides your night-things and a change of clothes?"

„Yes - don"t go off yet!" called Julian, hurrying into the cottage. „I"ve made a list somewhere. I think I"d better go with you. There wil be food and other things to bring back - unless Mother would bring everything up by car this afternoon."

„Yes - that"s a good idea," said Dick. „We"l go to Kirrin Cottage first and get George"s things - and then home to get ours. I"l leave all the shopping with Mother, and all our luggage, so that she can pop up here in the car with it. She"ll love the view!"

„I"l stay behind and tidy up the cottage, and find out how the stove works," said Anne, happily. „I"l have everything neat and tidy by the time Mother comes this afternoon, Dick.

Oh, here"s Julian with the list. Why don"t you go off on your bike with George and Dick, Julian? I"l be quite happy here, messing about."

„Yes, I"m going to," said Julian, putting his list into his pocket. „Look after yourself, Anne!

We"ll take Timmy with us, to give him a run."

Off went the three, Timmy loping behind, very glad of the run. Anne waited til they were out of sight, then went happily back to the cottage. She was almost there when she heard someone cal ing her. She turned and saw a fresh-faced woman waving.

„I"m Sal y!" she cal ed. „Do you want any help with the cooking and cleaning? Wilfrid told me not to come any more, but if you want me, I wil ."

„Oh, I think we can manage, Sal y," said Anne. „There"s so many of us now, we can do all the jobs. Did you sleep here?"

„Oh no, miss!" said Sal y, coming up. „I just came in to help, and then went back home.

You tell me if you want me any time, and I"l gladly come. Where"s that monkey of a Wilfrid? He spoke to me very rudely this morning, the young varmint. I"l tel his grandmother of him - not that that"s much good! He just laughs at her! Don"t you stand any nonsense from him!"

„I won"t," said Anne, smiling. „Where do you live, in case we do want you?"

„Just the other side of the road, in the small wood there," said Sal y. „You"l see my tiny cottage when you go by the wood on your bikes."

She disappeared up the hil and across the road there. Anne went back happily to her household tasks. She cleaned out the little larder, and then found a pail and went to the well. She hung the pail on the hook at the end of the rope, and then worked the old handle that let the pail down to the water, swinging on the rope. Splash! It was soon ful , and Anne wound it up again. The water looked crystal clear, and was as cold as ice - but all the same Anne wondered if she ought to boil it!

Someone came quietly behind her - and jumped at her with a loud howl! Anne dropped the pail of water, and gave a scream. Then she saw it was Wilfrid, dancing round her, grinning.