Five on a Secret Trail (8 page)

The four sat in the dark and talked over the horrible noises and the weird blue and green and white lights. Anne sat close to Julian. She real y was frightened.

„I want to go back to Kirrin," she said. „Let"s go tomorrow. I don"t like this."

„I didn"t see a thing just now," said Julian, puzzled, his arm close round Anne. „I seemed to go quite close to those wailing sounds - and then they stopped as soon as I got fairly near.

But although Timmy barked and ran around, there didn"t seem to be anyone there."

„Did you get near the lights?" asked Dick.

„Yes, fairly near. But the odd thing was that they seemed high up when I got near them -

not near the ground as I expected. And again Timmy couldn"t find anyone. You would have thought if there was anyone about, playing the fool, that Timmy would have found them. But he didn"t."

„Woof," said Timmy, dolefully. He didn"t like this queer business at all!

„Well, if nobody"s making the noises and lights, it makes it even worse," said Anne. „Do let"s go home, Julian. Tomorrow."

„Al right," said Julian. „I don"t feel particularly thril ed about all this myself. But there is one idea I"ve got in my mind which I"d like to sort out tomorrow."

„What"s that?" said Dick.

„Well - it may quite wel be that somebody very badly wants us out of here for some reason," said Julian. „And that somebody may want to come and lift other stones and have a thorough search all over the place - which he can"t do with us around. So he"s trying to frighten us out!"

„Yes - I believe you are right, Julian," said Dick. „Those noises - and lights - they would be enough to scare anyone out of a place. Too eerie for words! Well - let"s have a good snoop round in the daylight, to see if we can find any trace of a trickster!"

„We wil - but it"s extremely odd that Timmy didn"t find him," said Julian. „Timmy can smel anyone out of any hiding-place! Yes - we"ll have a very very good hunt round tomorrow."

„And if you find nothing and nobody, we"ll go home?" asked Anne.

„Yes, we wil . I promise you," said Julian, hugging Anne. „Don"t worry. You shan"t have to stay here one night longer, unless you want to! Now - let"s try and go to sleep again!"

It took the four a long time to go to sleep after all this excitement in the middle of the night. Anne kept listening for the wailing noises again, but none came. She kept her eyes shut tightly in case she should happen to see any more of the queer lights outside the window.

George and the boys lay awake too, puzzling out the problems of lights and noises which were not apparently caused by anyone! Julian especially was puzzled.

Only Timmy was unconcerned. He went to sleep before anyone else, though he kept one ear wide open - and up went the other one when George moved, or Dick whispered to Julian.

The excitement of the night made them all sleep late.

Julian awoke first, and stared at the low ceiling in surprise. Now - where was he? In France? No. Ah, of course he was in the old ruined cottage!

He woke Dick, who yawned and stretched. „Remember those queer lights and noises last night?" asked Dick. „What a fright they gave us! It seems sil y to think we were all so puzzled and scared, now that the sun is shining in at the window, and we can see the countryside around for miles!"

„I"m pretty certain someone is trying to scare us away," said Julian. „We are in their way here - they want to do some thorough explorations and they can"t, because of us! I"ve a good mind to take the girls home, Dick, and come back here with you."

„Anne might go, but George wouldn"t," said Dick. „You know what old George is - good as any boy, and as ful of courage as any boy, too. Let"s not decide anything til we have had a look round this morning. I don"t really believe there"s anything spooky about this at all - I agree with you that it"s just a few tricks to frighten us away."

„Right," said Julian. „Let"s wake the girls. Hey, George! Anne! Sleepyheads! Get up and get us breakfast! What are girls for if not to get our meals?"

George sat up, looking furious, as Julian intended. „You jolly well get your own m..." she began, and then laughed as she saw Julian"s amused face.

„I was only just striking a little match to set you alight!" said Julian. „Come on - let"s all go for a swim in the pool!"

They set off together happily in the warm sunshine, Timmy padding along, his tail waving vigorously. As soon as they got to the pool, they saw the boy there, floating lazily on his back.

„There"s Guy!" said Anne.

„I wonder if he wil admit to his name or not this morning!" said George. „Remember how he told us his name was Guy - and then said it wasn"t a little while after? Silly ass! I can"t make out if he"s quite mad, or just thinks its funny to keep playing the fool!"

They came to the pool. The boy waved to them, grinning. „Come on in - it"s fine!"

„Is your name Guy this morning or not'?" called George.

The boy looked surprised. „Of course it"s Guy!" he said. „Don"t be idiotic! Come on in and have a game."

They had a fine swim and a mad one. Guy was like an eel, swimming under the water, catching their legs, splashing, swimming away fast, doubling round and going underwater just as they got up to him!

At last they all sat panting on the edge of the pond, the sun shining down warmly on them.

„I say, Guy - did you hear anything strange last night?" asked Dick. „Or see anything'?"

„I didn"t see anything strange - but I thought I heard somebody wailing and crying in the distance," said Guy. „Just now and again when the wind brought the sound this way. Jet didn"t like it at al - did you, Jet? He went and hid under my legs!"

„We heard it too - quite near us," said Julian. „And saw strange lights."

They discussed the matter for some time, but Guy could not real y help them, because he had not been near enough to the noises to hear them as clearly as the others had.

„I"m getting hungry," said George, at last. „I keep thinking of ham and tomatoes and cheese. Let"s go back to the cottage."

„Right," said Julian. „Good-bye, Guy - see you sometime soon. Good-bye, Jet, you mad little thing."

They went off together, their swim-suits almost dry already in the sun.

„Well, Guy was perfectly sensible this morning," said Anne. „Funny! I wonder why he"s so sil y sometimes."

„See - isn"t that him - running down the path there - to the right, look!" said George, suddenly. „Now how did he get there so quickly? We left him by the pool!"

It certainly looked like Guy! They called to him, but he didn"t even look round or wave, though he must have heard them. They went on, puzzled. How could one person be so different each time - and why? What was the point?

They had a good breakfast and then went out to look round and see if they could find anything to explain the strange happenings of the night before.

„The noises seemed to come from about here, when I came out last night," said Julian, stopping near the little group of trees. „And the lights seemed to start about here too - but not near the ground - they were high up, above my head."

„Above your head?" said Dick, puzzled. „That seems odd."

„It doesn"t!" said Anne. „Not a bit odd! What about those trees there? Couldn"t somebody climb up them and do the wailing and whining there, with some strange instrument - and set off the weird lights?"

Julian stared up at the trees and then round at Anne. He grinned suddenly.

„Anne"s got it! Clever girl! Of course someone was up there - or maybe two people - one doing the noises with some weird instrument and the other playing about with fireworks of some kind. Not the noisy kind - just coloured fire or bal oons lighted up from inside."

„Yes! That"s why the lights seemed to be so high up, when you came out!" said Dick. „They were sent out by someone up in a tree!"

„And floated away to scare us," said Anne. „Golly - I do feel glad that it was sil y tricks like that that frightened us so. They wouldn"t frighten me again!"

„It explains something else too," said George. „It explains why Timmy didn"t find anyone!

They were safely up trees! I bet they hardly breathed when they knew Tim was down below."

„Yes. Of course! That puzzled me too," said Julian. „It was too spooky for words when even old Tim couldn"t find anyone real about - just noises and lights!"

„Here"s something, look - a wrinkled little rubber-skin - pale green!" said Dick, picking something up from the ground. „That"s what those lights were - bal oons lighted up from inside in some way and sent floating away in the air."

„Most ingenious," said Julian. „I expect they had quite a lot of funny tricks at their disposal last night. Yes - they certainly mean to scare us away!"

„Well, they won"t," said Anne, unexpectedly. „I"m not going, for one. I won"t be scared away by stupid tricks!"

„Good old Anne!" said Julian, and clapped her on the back. „Right - we"ll al stay - but I"ve got an idea."

„What?" asked everyone.

„We"ll pretend to go!" said Julian. „We"ll pack up everything - remove our things from here

- and go and camp somewhere else. But Dick and I wil hide somewhere here tonight -

and watch to see if anyone comes, and where they look for whatever it is they"re hunting for, and why!"

„That"s a wizard plan," said Dick, pleased. „We"ll do it! Roll on, tonight! Adventure is about -

and we"ll be ready for it!"

The Five spent quite a pleasant day, but when late afternoon came, they decided that it was time to carry out their plan and pack as if they were leaving.

„I imagine someone is spying on our doings," said Dick. „And won"t he be pleased to see us apparently on the point of leaving!"

„How can anyone be spying?" asked Anne, looking al round as if she expected to see someone behind a bush. „Timmy would be sure to sniff out anyone in hiding."

„Oh, he won"t be near enough for Timmy to smell out," said Dick. „He"l be a long way off."

„Then how can he possibly see us - or know that we"re leaving?" asked Anne.

„Anne - I don"t know if you"ve heard of field-glasses," began Dick, solemnly. „Well, they"re things that can spot anything half a mile away..."

Anne went red and gave Dick a punch. „Don"t be an ass! Of course - that"s it! Field-glasses used by someone on a hil side somewhere - trained on the old cottage."

„Actually I think I know where the someone is," said Dick. „I"ve caught sight of a little flash every now and again on the hil yonder - the kind of flash that is made by the sun on glass

- and I somehow think that our spy is sitting near the top of the hil , watching us careful y."

Anne turned to look at the hil , but Julian at once spoke sharply. „No - don"t stand and stare up there, anyone. We don"t want the watcher to know that we know we are being watched."

They went on with their packing, and soon began to stagger out with their bundles.

George was told to strap her things to her bicycle, and stand well out in the open as she did so, so that the watcher on the hil would be able to observe al her doings.

Julian was in the midst of careful y folding up his things to go into his knapsack, when Anne gave a sudden exclamation.

„Someone"s coming!"

Everyone looked round, imagining that they would see a sinister-looking foreigner, or someone peculiar in some way.

But all they saw was a country-woman hurrying along, a shawl over her head, and a basket under her arm. She wore cheap glasses, had no make-up on, and her hair was pul ed straight back under the shawl. She stopped when she saw the Five.

„Good afternoon," said Julian, politely. „Isn"t it glorious weather!"

„Beautiful," said the woman. „Are you camping out - you"ve chosen a good time!"

„No - actual y we"re packing," said Julian. „We"ve been sleeping in the old cottage, but we"ve decided to move out. Is it very, very old?"

„Oh yes - and it"s supposed to have queer things happening in it at nights," said the woman.

„We know that!" said Julian. „My word - we were pretty scared last night, I can tel you -

weird noises and horrible, ghastly lights. We decided not to stay there any longer."

„That"s right," said the woman. „Don"t you stay! You get as far from this place as you can! I can tel you, I wouldn"t come by it at night. Where are you going?"

„Well, our home is at Kirrin," said Julian, evading the question. „You know - on Kirrin Bay."

„Ah yes - a fine place," said the woman. „Well, don"t you stay another night! Good-bye!"

She hurried off, and was soon lost to sight.

„Go on packing," said Julian to the others.

„The watcher is stil up in the hil s. I caught sight of a flash again just then."

„Julian - why did you tell all that to the woman?" asked Anne. „You don"t usually say so much when we are in the middle of something queer!"

„My dear, unsuspecting Anne - do you mean to say that you thought that woman was real y what she pretended to be - a woman from a nearby farm?" said Julian.

„Well - wasn"t she?" said Anne surprised. „She looked like one - no make-up - and that old shawl - and she knew all about the old cottage!"

„Anne - farm-women don"t have gold fil ings in their teeth," said Julian. „Didn"t you notice them when she smiled?"

„And her hair was dyed," said George. „I noticed it was blonde at the roots and black above."

„And what about her hands?" said Dick. „A farmer"s wife does a great deal of hard, rough work, and her hands are never white and smooth - they are rough and brown. This woman"s hands were as white as a princess"s!"

„Well yes - I did notice them," said Anne. „And I did notice too that she sometimes spoke like a country-woman and sometimes not."

„Well, there you are!" said Julian. „She"s one of the unpleasant gang that tried to scare us last night - and when the watcher on the hil reported that we appeared to be packing up and going, she was told to go and make sure. So she pretended to be a country woman and came by - but unfortunately we weren"t quite so stupid as she thought we would be!"