Five on a Hike Together (11 page)

„I wonder where they are," said Dick picking up a great hunk of bread and butter and potted meat. „I"m going to look."

He came back in half a minute. „They"ve gone to the boat-house, I think," he said. „I just caught a sight of one of them moving in that direction. Looking for Saucy Jane, I expect."

„Let"s sit down and eat and talk over what we"ll do next," said Julian. „And what we think they wil do next! That"s quite important. They may be able to read the clues on that paper better than we can If we watch what they do it may give us a guide as to what we must do."

„That"s true," said Dick. „I imagine that the plan Nailer sent must mean something to Dirty Dick and Maggie, just as the message did." He chewed at his bread, thinking hard, trying once more to fathom the meaning of that mysterious piece of paper.

„I think on the whole we wil follow out our original plan for this afternoon," said Julian, after a little silence. „We"ll get out that raft and go on the lake with it. It"s a harmless looking thing to do. We can examine the banks as we go - and if Maggie and Dick are out in a boat too, we can keep an eye on them as well."

„Yes. Good idea," said George. „It"s a heavenly afternoon anyway. I"d love to paddle about on the lake with that raft. I hope it"s good and sound."

„Sure to be," said Dick. „The wood it"s made of is meant to last. Pass the cake, George -

and don"t save Timmy any. It"s wasted on him."

„It isn"t!" said George. „You know he loves it."

„Yes. But I stil say it"s wasted on him," said Dick. „Good thing we got such an enormous cake! Are there any biscuits left?"

„Plenty," said Anne. „And chocolate too!"

„Good," said Dick. „I only hope our food wil last us out It won"t if George has her usual colossal appetite."

„What about yours?" said George, indignantly, rising every time to Dick"s lazy teasing.

„Shut up, you two," said Julian. „I"m going to fil the water jug and have some orangeade.

Give me something to take to old Tim."

They spent about half an hour over their lunch, Then they decided to go and tackle the raft in the boathouse, and see if they could possibly launch it on the lake. It would be heavy, they knew.

They left the old house and went off to the boathouse. Julian suddenly caught sight of something out on the lake,

„Look!" he said, „they"ve got one of the boats out of the boat-house - the one that wasn"t half-sunk, I suppose! Dirty Dick is rowing hard. I BET they"re looking for the Saucy Jane!"

They all stood stil and watched. Dick"s heart sank, Would Maggie and Dirty Dick get there first, and find what he and the other three were looking for? Did they know where the Saucy Jane was?

„Come on," said Julian. „We"d better get going if we want to keep an eye on them. They may be rowing to where the Saucy Jane is hidden!"

They climbed in through the wooden side of the boat-house and went to the raft. Julian saw at once that one of the boats had gone - Merry Meg. It was the only boat that was fit to take.

The four began to man-handle the big raft, They took it to the edge of the ledge. It had rope-handles on each side which the children held on to.

„Now - ease her gently," said Julian. „Gently does it. Down she goes!"

And down she went, landing with a big splash in the water. She bobbed there gently, a strong sound raft, eager to go out on the lake!

„Get the paddles," said Julian. „Then we"ll be off."

There were four little paddles. Dick got them, and gave everyone one each. Timmy looked down solemnly at the raft. What was it? Surely he was not expected to ride on that bobbing, floating thing?

Julian was on the raft already, holding it steady for the others, He helped Anne on and then George stepped down. Dick came last - well, not quite last, because Timmy was not yet on.

„Come on, Tim!" said George. „It"s al right! It"s not the kind of boat you"re used to, but it acts in the same way. Come on, Timmy!"

Timmy jumped down and the raft bobbed violently. Anne sat down suddenly with a giggle. „Oh dear - Timmy is so sudden! Keep stil , Tim - there isn"t enough room on this raft for you to walk all over it."

Julian pushed the raft out of the boat-house. It knocked against the wooden ledge as it went, and then swung out on to the backwater outside. It floated very smoothly.

„Here we go!" said Julian, paddling deftly. „I"l steer, Dick, None of you need to paddle til I say so. I can paddle and steer at the moment, til we get on to the lake itself."

They were al sitting on the raft except Timmy, who was standing up. He was very interested in seeing the water flow past so quickly. Was this a boat then? He was used to boats - but in boats the water was never quite so near. Timmy put out a paw into the water. It was pleasantly cool and tickled him. He lay down with his nose almost in the water.

„You"re a funny dog, Timmy!" said Anne. „You won"t get up too suddenly, wil you, or you"l knock me overboard."

Julian paddled down the little backwater and the raft swung out on to the lake itself. The children looked to see if there was any sign of Maggie and Dirty Dick.

„There they are!" said Julian. „Out in the middle, rowing hard. Shall we follow them? If they know where the Saucy Jane is they"l lead us to it."

„Yes. Follow them," said Dick. „Shall we paddle now? We"ll have to be quick or we may lose them."

They all paddled hard, and the raft suddenly swung to and fro in a most alarming manner.

„Hey, stop!" shouted Julian. „You"re all paddling against one another. We"re going round in circles. Dick and Anne go one side and George the other. That"s better. Watch how we"re going, all of you, and stop paddling for a moment if the raft swings round too much."

They soon got into the way of paddling so that the raft went straight ahead. It was fun.

They got very hot and wished they could take off their jerseys. The sun was quite warm, and there was no wind at all - it was really a perfect October afternoon.

„They"ve stopped rowing," said George, suddenly. „They"re looking at something - do you suppose they have got a bit of paper like the one we have, with the same marks, and are examining it? I wish I could see!"

They all stopped paddling and looked towards the boat in which Maggie and Dirty Dick sat. They were certainly examining something very carefully - their heads were close together. But they were too far away for the children to see if they were holding a piece of paper.

„Come on - we"ll get as close to them as we can!" said Julian, beginning to paddle again.

„I expect it wil make them absolutely mad to see us so close, but we can"t help that!"

They paddled hard again, and at last came up to the boat. Timmy barked. Maggie and Dirty Dick at once looked round and saw the raft and the four children. They stared at them savagely.

„Hal o!" cried Dick, waving a paddle. „We took the raft out. It goes well. Does your boat go all right?"

Maggie went red with rage. „You"l get into trouble for taking that raft without permission,"

she shouted.

„Whose permission did you ask when you took that boat?" shouted back Julian. „Tell us and we"ll ask their permission to use this raft!"

George laughed. Maggie scowled, and Dirty Dick looked as if he would like to throw his oars at them.

„Keep away from us!" he shouted. „We don"t want you kids spoiling our afternoon!"

„We like to be friendly!" called Dick, and made George laugh again.

Maggie and Dirty Dick had a hurried and angry conversation. They glared at the raft and then Maggie gave an order to Dirty Dick. He took up the oars again, and began to row, looking rather mutinous.

„Come on - follow," said Julian, so the four began to paddle again following after the boat. „Maybe we"ll learn something now."

But they didn"t. Dirty Dick rowed the boat towards the west bank, and the raft followed.

Then he swung out into the middle again, and again the raft fol owed, the children panting in their efforts to keep up.

Dirty Dick rowed right across to the east bank and stayed there til the children came up.

Then he rowed off again.

„Having some nice exercise, aren"t you?" cal ed the woman in her harsh voice. „So good for you all!"

The boat swung out to the middle of the lake again. Dick groaned. „Blow! My arms are so tired I can hardly paddle. What are they doing?"

„I"m afraid they"re just leading us on a wild goose chase," said Julian, rueful y. „They have evidently made up their minds that they won"t look for the Saucy Jane while we"re about

- they"re just tiring us out!"

„Well, if that"s what they"re doing I"m not playing!" said Dick, and he put down his paddle and lay flat on his back, his knees drawn up, panting hard.

The others did the same. They were all tired. Timmy licked each one sympathetical y and then sat down on George. She pushed him off so violently that he nearly fel into the water.

„Timmy! Right on my middle!" cried George, surprised and indignant. „You great clumsy dog, you!"

Timmy licked her al over, shocked at being scolded by George. She was too exhausted to push him away.

„What"s happened to the boat?" asked Anne at last. „I"m too tired to sit up and see."

Julian sat up, groaning „Oh my back! Now where is that wretched boat? Oh, there it is -

right away down the lake, making for the landing-place by the house - or for the boathouse probably. They"ve given up the search for the Saucy Jane for the time being anyway."

„Thank goodness," said Anne. „Perhaps we can give it up too - til tomorrow anyhow! Stop snuffling down my neck, Timmy. What do you want us to do, Julian."

„I think we"d better get back," said Julian. „It"s too late now to start searching the banks of the lake - and anyway somehow I think it wouldn"t be much use. The two in the boat didn"t appear to be going anywhere near the banks - except when they began to play that trick on us to make us tired out!"

„Well, let"s get back then," said George. „But I simply must have a rest first. Timmy, I shal push you into the water if you keep sitting on my legs."

There was a sudden splash. George sat up in alarm. Timmy was not on the raft!

He was swimming in the water, looking very pleased with himself.

„There! He thought he"d rather jump in than be pushed," said Dick, grinning at George.

„You pushed him in!" said George, looking fierce.

„I didn"t," said Dick. „He just took a header. He"s having a jol y good time. I say - what about putting a rope round him and getting him to pul us to shore? It would save an awful lot of paddling."

George was just about to say what she thought of that idea, when she caught Dick"s sly grin. She kicked out at him.

„Don"t keep baiting me, Dick. I"l push you in, in a minute."

„Like to try?" asked Dick, at once, „Come on. I"d like a wrestle to see who"d go into the water first."

George, of course, always rose to a challenge. She never could resist one. She was up in a moment and fel on Dick, who very nearly went overboard at once.

„Shut up, you two!" said Julian, crossly. „We haven"t got a change of clothing, you know that. And I don"t want to take you back with bronchitis or pneumonia. Stop it, George."

George recognized the tone in his voice and she stopped. She ran her hand through her short curls and gave a sudden grin.

„Al right, Teacher!" she said, and sat down meekly, She picked up her paddle.

Julian picked up his. „We"ll get back," he said. „The sun"s sinking low. I't seems to slide down the sky at a most remarkable speed in October."

They took a very wet Timmy on board and began to paddle back. Anne thought it was a truly lovely evening. She gazed dreamily round as she paddled. The lake was a wonderful dark blue, and the ripples they made turned to silver as they ran away from the raft. Two moor-hens said „crek-crek" and swam round the raft in curiosity, their heads bobbing like clockwork.

Anne gazed over the tops of the trees that grew at the lake-side. The sky was turning pink.

Away in the distance, on a high slope about a mile away she saw something that interested her.

It looked like a high stone. She pointed at it. „Look, Julian," she said. „What"s that stone? Is it a boundary mark, or something? It must be very big."

Julian looked where she was pointing. „Where?" he said. „Oh, that. I can"t imagine what it is."

'It looks like a very tall stone," said Dick, suddenly catching sight of it too.

„A tall stone," repeated Anne, wondering where she had heard that before. „A tall... oh, of course! It was printed on that plan, wasn"t it - on the piece of paper Dick was given. Tall Stone! Don"t you remember?"

„Yes. So it was," said Dick and he stared at the faraway stone monument with interest.

Then as the raft swung onwards, high trees hid the stone. It was gone.

„Tall Stone," said Julian. „It may be only a coincidence, of course. It wants a bit of thinking about, though. Funny we should suddenly spot it."

„Would the loot be buried there?" asked George, doubtful y. Julian shook his head. „Oh, no," he said, „it is probably hidden in some position explained by that mysterious map.

Paddle up, everyone! We real y must get back."

When they arrived at the boat-house there was no sign of Maggie or Dick. But their boat was in the shed, tied up in front of the other two, where it had been before.

„They"re back al right," said Julian „I wonder where they are. Don"t let"s drag this clumsy, heavy raft into the boat-house. I don"t feel as if I"ve any strength left in my arms. Let"s drag it under a bush and tie it there."

They thought this a good idea. They pul ed the raft up to some thick bushes and tied it firmly to a root that was sticking out of the ground.

Then they made their way to the ruined house, keeping a sharp look-out for Maggie and Dick. There was stil no sign of them

They went in, Timmy first. He didn"t growl so they knew it was safe. He led the way to the cel ar steps. Then he growled!