Читать книгу Fun for the Secret Seven - Enid blyton - Страница 4

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The Secret Seven meeting was soon under way. Jack stood up to tell everyone why he had wanted it called that afternoon. He looked worried, and spoke earnestly.

‘Thanks awfully, Peter, for calling a meeting so quickly. You see, it’s on account of something Bob told me. I saw him looking pretty worried yesterday and I asked him what was the matter and he told me about Old Man Tolly.’

‘Old Man Tolly? The old fellow who lives in that tumbledown house on the top of the hill?’ asked Peter, in surprise. ‘What’s the matter with him? You tell us all about it, Bob!’

‘Well—he lives all alone except for an old horse and his dog,’ said Bob. ‘You’ve often seen that nice old horse—brown and white, with a lovely mane. Tolly’s cottage has two rooms, and he lives in one, and Brownie the horse lives in the other.’

‘Goodness—how odd!’ said Pam.

‘Not really,’ said Bob. ‘He loves that old horse. When old Tolly worked for the farmer on the hill beyond, he and the horse were together all the time. The horse was strong then, and could pull carts and wagons and goodness knows what. Then one day it pulled a heavy cart-load of stones down that big hill—and the weight made the cart run too quickly for the old horse, and it ran into his back legs and lamed them. So he wasn’t any use for heavy work any more.’

‘What happened then?’ asked Peter.

‘Well—the farmer blamed Tolly for the accident,’ said Bob, ‘and he said the horse was only fit to be shot, he wasn’t going to buy fodder for him, if he couldn’t work for his keep.’

‘Oh! How dreadful!’ said Pam and Janet together, tears coming suddenly into their eyes. ‘Poor old horse!’

‘Well, Tolly was heart-broken,’ said Bob. ‘He was sure that the horse-doctor—that vet man called Whistler—could make the horse’s legs right again, and he called him in.’

‘Good for him!’ said Peter, and the others nodded.

‘Well, it might have been good for the vet, but it wasn’t very good for old Tolly,’ said Bob. ‘The farmer wouldn’t pay the vet’s fees, though the horse was his, and told him to send the bills to Tolly—and they came to over ten pounds!’

‘Goodness!’ said Peter, startled. ‘What a lot of money! Surely Tolly couldn’t pay all that?’

‘Of course he couldn’t,’ said Bob. ‘His wages are so low—he’s old, you see, and can only potter about, and now he’s really ill with worry. I was up there yesterday—my mother sent me up with some new-laid eggs for the old man—he used to work for us once, and we’re fond of him ... And he told me all about it then. He showed me the vet’s bills too. Whew! I do think the vet might have kept his fees low.’

‘My father won’t use that new vet,’ said Peter. ‘He says he’s too young and too hard. He hasn’t learnt to love animals properly yet. He wouldn’t even come to one of our cows one night when it got caught in a fallen tree. Poor thing, the tree had fallen on top of it in a high wind, and it was scared stiff, and one of its horns was broken.’

‘Will he have old Tolly sent to prison if he can’t pay?’ asked Pam, in a frightened voice.

There was a shocked silence as the children thought of poor old Tolly all alone in prison, without the dog he loved, and without the horse whose friend he was.

‘Have you come to us for advice?’ asked Peter, at last. ‘Is there something you want us to do?’

‘Well—I simply don’t know what I can do to help, and I thought you Secret Seven might have some ideas,’ said Bob, looking round at them all, his face very worried indeed. ‘How can old Tolly pay that bill? Where can he put the old horse now, so that the farmer won’t take him away? I’m no good at solving puzzles like these—but I thought you Secret Seven could help somehow.’

There was a little silence, and then Janet spoke up, her eyes bright. ‘Well, to begin with, I’m willing to empty my money-box to help to pay the vet’s fees. Then that farmer won’t have to worry about those, the mean old thing!’

Everyone began to talk at once.

‘Yes, that’s the first thing to do—pay the bill!’

‘No! I think the first thing to do is to find somewhere to keep the old horse safely. Don’t let’s have him left anywhere near that horrid farmer!’ That was Pam speaking, very, very fiercely!

‘Yes—Pam’s right,’ said Peter, knocking on the little table for silence. ‘Pam’s absolutely right. We must get the old horse out of that farmer’s reach if possible.’

‘Well, that would be easy—if we knew anywhere he could live,’ said George. ‘He’s a big horse—I know him. He would need a decent stable, not a tiny shed.’

‘Peter—wouldn’t Dad let us have a place in one of our stables?’ said Janet. ‘Just for the time being, anyway. Dad wouldn’t charge a penny, I know!’

‘That’s a good idea of yours, Janet,’ said Peter. ‘But remember, if we take that old horse away and stable him somewhere here, that horrid farmer may come after us, and charge us with stealing the horse!’

‘Oh my goodness!’ said Pam, scared. ‘What can we do then? We’ve simply got to do something!’

‘Well—we could find out how much the farmer wants for the old horse, and see if we can possibly earn enough money ourselves to pay for him,’ said George. ‘We’ve all got money-boxes. And if we hadn’t enough, we could jolly well earn some more. What’s the use of the Secret Seven if they can’t tackle a thing like this?’

Bob flushed red with excitement. He stood up and spoke earnestly to the meeting. ‘I knew the Secret Seven would do something. I knew they would. I think you’re fine. Well—I really can’t tell you what I think!’

‘That’s all right, Bob,’ said Peter, kindly. ‘We are all glad you came to us about this. We’ll do something, you may be sure—with your help too, of course. You can’t be a member of the Secret Seven, but you can certainly be a helper with us, in whatever we do about this problem.’

Peter then addressed the meeting. ‘I shall ask my father to let us have a stall in one of the old stables. Bob, will you please find out from Mr Tolly exactly how much the vet’s bills are—there may be more than one—and if possible get the bills—and we could ask the vet if he would be generous enough to take some of the fees off, so that there won’t be so much to pay.’

‘Well—whatever the bills come to, even if the vet reduces them, old Tolly can’t pay,’ said Bob. ‘He’s only got his pension, and that isn’t much—his work is just a few jobs here and there for the odd pound.’

‘We want someone to clear up our orchard,’ said George. ‘I’ll ask Dad to get old Tolly, and pay him.’

Ideas came thick and fast, and everyone was sorry when a knock came at the door, and Peter’s mother put in her head. ‘I’m afraid the meeting must soon stop. It’s getting quite late!’

‘Right, Mother,’ said Peter, and waited till his mother had gone. ‘Now listen, everyone. This needs a lot of thinking about—a lot of considering. I am now going to close the meeting, and everyone is to go home, and think hard this evening to get some kind of good idea about this problem. Come back here tomorrow morning at ten—you too, Bob—and we will sort out all our ideas and decide exactly what the Secret Seven can do to help—decide the best way to help. Tonight I shall ask my father about a shed or a place in our stable. That’s the most important thing at present.’

‘Oh, thank you, Peter,’ said Bob, his face red with delight. ‘I shan’t worry tonight. I know you’ll all think of something super by tomorrow. I wish I had your brains.’

‘You’ve got something better, Bob,’ said Pam, unexpectedly. ‘You’ve got a very kind heart!’

And then out came the new buns and the fizzy ginger beer. Out came the boiled sweets and some chocolate and biscuits brought by Jack and Pam. What a feast!

When the little feast was over, the meeting broke up, and everyone went their way. They certainly had something to think about that night—something very difficult—something that had to be dealt with at once.

Good old Secret Seven! Think hard, and see what you can do!