Five on a Hike Together (14 page)

They paddled rapidly away. Dick took a last glance back to make sure that the cork and the box were stil bobbing on the water to mark the place where the sunken boat lay. Yes

- they were stil there.

„It"l be maddening if it"s cloudy tonight and the moon doesn"t come out," said George, as they paddled. „We shouldn"t be able to see Tock Hill, Tall Stone and the rest - and we might paddle for ages in the dark without spotting our cork-and-box mark."

„Don"t cross your bridges before you come to them," said Dick.

„I"m not," said George. „I was only just hoping that wouldn"t happen."

„It won"t," said Julian, looking at the sky. „The weather"s set fine again."

As soon as Maggie saw the children coming back again, she and Dirty Dick disappeared into their tents. Julian grinned. „They"ve heaved a sigh of relief and gone to have a snack," he said. „I could do with one myself."

Everyone felt the same. Paddling was hard work, and the air on the lake was keen - quite enough to give anyone a large appetite!

They pushed the raft into its hiding-place again. Then they made their way to the old house. They went down into the cel ar room. Timmy growled and sniffed about again.

„I bet Maggie and Dirty Dick have been here, snooping round again," said George.

„Looking for their pork-pie and ham! Good thing you locked it up, Ju!"

Julian unlocked the door into the cel ars beyond, and brought out the food. „A large toad was looking at it with great interest," he said, as he brought it back. „Timmy also looked at the toad with interest - but he"s wary of toads by now. They taste much too nasty when pounced on!"

They took the meal up into the sunshine and enjoyed it. The orangeade was finished so they drank the cold clear water, pumping some vigorously.

„Do you know it"s a quarter to three?" said Julian amazed. „Where has the time gone? In a couple of hours or so it wil be dark. Let me see - the moon wil be well up about eleven o"clock. That"s the time to go, I think."

„Please don"t let"s," said Anne. Julian put his arm round her.

„Now you know you don"t mean that, Anne," he said. „You know you"ll enjoy it al when the time comes. You couldn"t bear to be left out of it! Could you?"

„No, I suppose I couldn"t," said Anne. „But I don"t like Maggie and Dirty Dick!"

„Nor do we," said Julian, cheerful y. „That"s why we"re going to beat them at their own game. We"re on the side of the right, and it"s worth while running into a bit of danger for that. Now let"s see - perhaps we"d better just keep an eye on that couple til it"s dark - just in case they try any funny tricks - and then we"ll have a snooze, if we can, so as to be sure to be lively tonight."

„There they are!" said Anne. As she spoke Maggie and her companion came out of their tents. They had a few words together and then walked off to the moorland.

„Taking their usual strol , I suppose," said Dick. „Let"s have a game of cricket. There"s a bit of wood over there for a bat, and I"ve got a ball in my rucksack."

„Good idea," said Julian. „I stil feel a bit chil ed from my bathe. Brrrrrr! That water was cold.

I don"t feel very thril ed at the thought of diving in tonight!"

„I"l do that," said Dick, at once. „My turn this time!"

„No. I know exactly where to spot the loot," said Julian. „I"l have to go down. But you can come down too, if you like, and help to tie the rope on to it."

„Right," said Dick, „Now look out - I"m going to bowl!"

They enjoyed their game. The sun sank lower and lower, then it disappeared. A cloud came over the sky and darkness came quickly. George looked up at the sky anxiously.

„It"s al right," said Julian. „It"l clear. Don"t you worry!"

Before they went back into the house Julian and Dick slipped down to the boat-house for the coil of rope they would want that night. They found it easily enough and came back, pleased. It was quite good strong rope, frayed only in one place.

Julian was right about the weather. The sky cleared again in about an hour, and the stars shone crisply. Good!

Julian put Timmy on guard at the doorway. Then he and the others went into the dark cel ar-room and lighted a couple of candles. They all snuggled down into their beds of heather.

„I shan"t be able to snooze," complained Anne. „I feel much too excited."

„Don"t snooze then," said Dick. „Just have a rest and wake us up at the right time!"

Anne was the only one who didn"t fall into a comfortable doze. She lay awake, thinking of this new adventure of theirs. Some children always had adventures and some didn"t.

Anne thought it would be much nicer to read about adventures than to have them. But then probably the ones who only read about them simply longed to have the adventures themselves! It was al very difficult.

Anne woke the others at ten to eleven. She shook George first, and then the boys. They were al in such a comfortable sleep that it was hard to wake them.

But soon they were up and about, whispering. „Where"s the rope? Good, here it is. Better put on blazers and macs. It"l be freezing on the lake. Everyone ready? Now - not a sound!"

Timmy had come to the cel ar room as soon as he had heard them stirring. He knew he had to be quiet so he didn"t give even one small bark. He was thril ed to find they were going out into the night.

The moon was well up now, and although it was not full, it was very bright. Small clouds swam across the sky, and every now and again the moon went behind one of them and the world became dark. But that was only for a minute or two, then out it came again, as bril iant as ever.

'Any sign of the others?" whispered Dick. Julian stood at the doorway and looked towards the tents. No - all was quiet there. Stil , it would be better if he and the others crept round the side of the house and kept in the shadows.

„We don"t want to run any risk of them spotting us now," whispered Julian, giving his orders. „Keep out of the moonlight, whatever you do. And see that Tim walks to heel, George."

Keeping wel in the shadows the five crept down to the lake-side. The water gleamed in the moonlight, and a bright moon-path ran all down it, lovely to see. The lake looked very dark and brooding. Anne wished it had a voice of some kind - even the little lap-lap-lap of waves at the edge. But there was none.

They pul ed out the raft and threw the coil of rope on to it. Then they clambered on, enjoying its smooth bob-bob-bobbing as they paddled out on the water. They were off!

Timmy was thril ed. He kept licking first one of the four, then another. He loved going out in the night.

The moon shone down on the little company and turned every little ripple to silver as the raft bobbed over the water.

„It"s a heavenly night," said Anne, looking round at the silent trees that lined the banks.

„The whole place is so quiet and peaceful."

An owl immediately hooted very loudly indeed from the trees and Anne jumped violently.

„Now don"t start all the owls hooting by talking about how quiet everything is," teased Julian. „I agree though that it real y is a heavenly evening. How calm and mirror-like this lake is. I wonder if it ever produces a wave of any sort! Do you suppose it stays like this even in a storm?"

„It"s a queer sort of lake," said Dick. „Look out, Timmy - that"s my ear. Don"t lick it al away. I say - anyone looking out for our four bearings?"

„Well, we know more or less where we"ve got to paddle the raft to," said Julian. „We"ll go in that direction and then see if we"re spotting the bearings. I"m sure we"re going right at the moment."

They were. George soon saw Tall Stone, and then Tock Hill came into sight. It wasn"t long before Steeple was seen too, shining in the moonlight.

„I bet the Nailer came and hid his loot out here on a moonlit night," said Julian. „Al the bearings can be seen so very clearly - even Tall Stone. We real y must find out sometime what it is. It looks like a great stone pointer of some sort, put up in memory of something or somebody."

„There"s One Chimney now," said Anne, „We have got them al in view - we should be near our mark."

„We are!" said Dick, pointing to a little dark bobbing thing nearby. „The cork and the box.

How extremely clever we are! I really have a great admiration for the Five!"

„Idiot!" said Julian, „Go on, strip now, Dick - we"l do our job straight away. Brrrrrrr! It"s cold!"

Both boys stripped quickly, putting their clothes into a neat pile in the middle of the raft.

„Look after them, Anne," said Julian. „Got the rope, Dick? Come on, then, in we go. We can"t see the boat now, the waters are so dark - but we know it"s just below the cork and the box!"

The boys dived in one after the other. Splash! Splash! They were both beautiful divers. The raft rocked as they plunged in and Timmy nearly went in too.

Julian had dived in first. He opened his eyes under the water and found that he could see the sunken boat just below him. With two strong strokes he reached it, and tugged at the waterproof bag there. Dick was beside him almost at once, the rope in his hands. The boys twisted it tightly round the top part of the bag.

Before they could finish the job they had to rise up to the surface to breathe. Dick couldn"t hold his breath under water as long as Julian and he was up first, gasping painful y. Then Julian shot up and the night was ful of great, painful breaths, as the boys gasped in the air they longed for.

The girls knew better than to ask anything just then. They waited anxiously til the boys"

breathing grew easier. Julian turned and grinned at them.

„Everything"s al right!" he said. „Now - down we go again!"

Down went the boys again and once more the raft jerked violently. The girls peered anxiously over the edge, waiting for them to return.

Julian and Dick were down at the sunken boat in a matter of a second or two. They finished the task of tying the rope to the waterproof bag. Julian gave it a hard jerk, hoping to free it if it were wedged tightly into the boat. He took the rest of the rope length in his hands in order to take it up to the surface.

Then, bursting for breath again, the two boys shot up to the raft, popping out of the water with loud gasps. They climbed on board.

They took a minute to get their breath and then Dick and Julian took the rope together.

The girls watched, their hearts beating fast. Now was the test! Would that waterproof sack come up - or not?

The boys pul ed strongly but without jerking. The raft slanted and Anne made a grab at the pile of clothes in the middle. Dick fel off into the water again.

He climbed back, spluttering. „Have to pul more smoothly," he said. „I felt the sack give a bit, didn"t you?"

Julian nodded. He was shivering with cold, but his eyes were shining with excitement.

Anne put a macintosh round his shoulders and one round Dick"s too. They never even noticed!

„Now - pul again," said Julian. „Steady does it - steady - steady! It"s coming! Gosh, it"s real y coming. Pull, Dick, pul !"

As the heavy bag came up on the end of the rope, the raft slanted again, and the boys pushed themselves back to the other side of the raft, afraid of upsetting everyone into the water. Timmy began to bark excitedly.

„Be quiet, Timmy," said George at once. She knew how easily sound travels over water, and she was afraid the couple in the tents might hear him.

„It"s coming - it"s there, look - just below the surface!" said Anne. „One more pul , boys!"

But it was impossible to pul the heavy bag on board without upsetting the raft, As it was, the girls got very wet when the water splashed over the raft as it jerked and slanted.

„Look - let"s paddle back to the shore and let the sack drag behind us." said Julian, at last.

„We shall only upset the raft. Dress again, Dick, and we"ll get back to the old house and open the sack in comfort. I"m so cold now that I can hardly feel my fingers."

The boys dressed as quickly as they could, They were shivering, and were very glad to take up their paddles and work hard to get the raft back to shore. They soon felt a welcome warmth stealing through their bodies, and in ten minutes had stopped shivering.

They felt very pleased with themselves indeed.

They looked back at the bulky object following them, dragging along just under the surface. What was in that bag? Excitement crept over al of them again, and the paddles struck through the water at top speed as all the four strained to get back as quickly as possible. Timmy felt the excitement too, and wagged his long tail without ceasing as he stood in the middle of the raft, watching the thing that bobbed along behind them.

They came at last to the end of the lake. Making as little noise as possible they dragged the raft under its usual bush. They did not want to leave it out on the bank in case Maggie and Dirty Dick saw that it had been used again, and started wondering.

Dick and Julian dragged the waterproof sack out of the water. They carried it between them as they went cautiously back to the house. It looked a most miserable, grotesque place with its burnt-out roof, doorways and windows - but the children didn"t notice its forlorn appearance in the moonlight - they were far too excited!

They walked slowly up the overgrown path between the two broken-down walls, their feet making no sound on the soft mossy ground. They came to the doorway and dragged the bundle into the kitchen.

„Go and light the candles in the cellar room," said Julian to George. „I just want to make sure that that couple are not snooping anywhere about."

George and Anne went to light the candles, flashing their torches before them down the stone steps. Julian and Dick stood at the open doorway, facing the moonlight, listening intently. Not a sound was to be heard, not a shadow moved!

They set Timmy on guard and left him there, dragging the dripping, heavy bundle across the stone floor of the kitchen. They bumped it down the cellar steps - and at last had it before them, ready to be opened!