Читать книгу Holiday House - Enid blyton - Страница 3

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‘There!’ said the doctor, slapping Pat on the back. ‘That’s the last time I shall be seeing you, old chap. You and your sister are all right now.’

‘Can we go back to school then?’ asked Mary.

‘Do you want to?’ asked the doctor.

‘Well—we like school very much, but we don’t feel awfully like it at present,’ said Pat.

‘I think they ought to go away for a holiday,’ said their mother. ‘Don’t you, Doctor?’

‘Well, yes, Mrs Terry, I do,’ said Dr Hibbert. ‘But aren’t you off to America with your husband? I wouldn’t want them to go on an exciting trip like that—they want to laze about by the sea somewhere.’

‘Oooh, yes,’ said Pat. ‘We can easily go by ourselves somewhere, Mother—we’re twins, and twins can always look after themselves!’

‘Oh, can they?’ said his mother. ‘This year, between you, you have had one broken arm, one sprained ankle, chickenpox, and now measles!’ She turned to the doctor.

‘I’ll arrange something,’ she said. ‘I have heard of a very nice Holiday House down in Devon by the sea. I’ll see if they can go there.’

‘Can we take Tippy, our poodle?’ asked Mary, anxiously. ‘We can’t leave her here all alone with Cookie, Mother. She’d be miserable.’

‘Yes, I think you’ll be able to take her,’ said Mother. ‘I know this Holiday House takes pets, too. Well, Doctor, thank you for all your care and trouble—and, much as I like you, I do hope we shan’t see you here again for a very long time, except on a friendly visit!’

Dr Hibbert laughed, said goodbye and went off in his car. The twins looked at one another in delight.

‘Not going back to school!’ said Mary, and gave her brother a delighted punch on the arm. ‘I love school—but we’ve had a jolly thin time lately, and I’d love a holiday all by ourselves, wouldn’t you?’

‘Rather! Mother, tell us about Holiday House,’ said Pat.

‘Well, all I know about it is that it is run by a Mrs Holly, and that it’s quite near the sea, almost on the beach, in fact, and that the food is very, very good,’ said Mother. ‘Mrs Knott’s children went there, and they loved it.’

‘I hope they’ll be able to get us in at short notice—and Tippy too,’ said Mary. ‘Do write at once, Mother.’

‘I think I’ll telephone,’ said her mother. ‘I’ve got the address somewhere. I’ll do it now.’

‘That’s the best of you, Mother—you always do things at once!’ said Pat, approvingly. ‘You never put anything off, do you?’

‘I wish I could say the same of you two,’ said Mother, looking in her desk for her address book. ‘Ah—here it is.’

She was soon at the telephone, and in a minute or two was talking to Mrs Holly. The twins stood nearby, listening. It seemed as if it would be quite all right for them to go to Holiday House!

‘Very well,’ they heard their mother say. ‘I will send them down tomorrow. They’ve had chickenpox and then measles, so I’m afraid they’ve been rather spoilt for about six or seven weeks—and they’re always a bit of a handful, anyhow. I hope they won’t be any trouble, though—they’re good at heart! Send them straight back if they make themselves a nuisance!’

‘Oh, Mother,’ groaned Patrick. ‘You don’t need to say all that, you really don’t!’

‘Sh,’ said his mother, and turned back to the telephone to finish her talk. She put back the receiver and smiled at the two children.

‘Well—that was quickly arranged, wasn’t it? Now you’ll have to help me pack. You may take three books each, and a pack of cards and two games. That’s all in the amusement line. And I must try on your swim-suits—you may have grown out of them since last year.’

‘Oooh—shall we be allowed to swim?’ said Mary, pleased. ‘I thought you’d say, “You mustn’t do this, you mustn’t do that. You’ve been ill, you must be careful.” ’

‘Oh, you’re quite all right now,’ said Mother. ‘And, anyway, Mrs Holly is used to having children after they’ve been ill. I don’t expect she’ll stand any nonsense!’

‘Is she nice, do you think?’ asked Pat. ‘I don’t want to be ordered about, and told to do this and that. I hate that.’

‘It won’t hurt you not to be spoilt for a bit,’ said his mother, laughing. ‘Dear me—to think of all the hours I’ve read to you and Mary lately, and the games I’ve played on your untidy beds, and the lost things I’ve hunted for in the sheets and blankets—honestly, I think I need a holiday myself!’

‘You’ve been a darling,’ said Mary, suddenly realizing how patient and kind her mother had been. She gave her a quick hug. ‘You have a good time in America, Mother—and don’t you worry a single minute about us! I’ll look after Pat and see that he behaves himself!’

Pat looked at her indignantly. ‘Look after me! I like that! Boys look after girls, not the other way round. I’ll see that Mary doesn’t do anything silly, Mother.’

‘Now, now, don’t start squabbling,’ said Mother, seeing Mary’s face looking indignant now. ‘Come and help me to pack.’

It was fun packing to go away, and, as usual, it was very, very difficult to choose which books to take, and what games. Mary tried on her swim-suit and announced that it was much too small. Patrick said the same, and pranced about the bedroom looking ridiculous in very, very tight swimming pants.

‘We’ll go down to the shops and get a few new things,’ said Mother. ‘You both want new sandals, I see.’

By bedtime, everything was packed and ready. The twins were almost too excited to sleep. Tippy, the poodle, had caught the excitement too, and had run about on her tippy-toes all day long, getting into everyone’s way!

‘It’s a good thing Holiday House takes dogs, Tippy,’ said Mary, giving the little dog a hug. ‘I wouldn’t have gone without you. Mother! are we going to take Tippy’s basket?’

‘No,’ said Mother. ‘I expect Mrs Holly will have an old cushion she will lend you. She is used to taking pets. Now do go to sleep.’

Next day was bright and sunny, and the twins were up early. ‘We’ve got to go round and say goodbye to everything,’ said Pat. Cookie overheard him, and laughed.

‘Goodbye to the dolls, goodbye to the hens, goodbye to the horse in the field, goodbye to me, goodbye to the garden, goodbye to ...’

‘Don’t be horrid, Cookie,’ said Mary. ‘We just have to say goodbye to everything before we go. We always do. Oooh—are those biscuits for us?’

‘Yes. To eat in the train,’ said Cookie, putting them into a bag. ‘And mind you behave yourselves, now—no hiding in the larder at Holiday House and jumping out suddenly like you do to me! Good riddance to both of you, I say—and yet I’ll miss you both, you rascals!’

‘We’ll send you a postcard,’ promised Pat. ‘There’s Mother calling, Mary. Come on, it’s breakfast-time.’

Mother put them in the train after breakfast and asked the guard to keep an eye on them. He was a grumpy old fellow with sharp eyes under shaggy eyebrows. He nodded his head.

‘Ay, I’ll keep an eye on them. And if they get up to any nonsense I’ll lock them into my van! Where are they to get out, did you say? Oh—Tolly Halt. Right, Madam, I’ll see to them!’

It was quite a long way in the train. Mother had packed them up a good lunch, and they ate it far too soon, so that they were hungry again long before they came to Tolly Halt.

‘Look—there’s the sea! Surely that’s the sea!’ said Mary, pointing to a bright blue streak in the far distance. ‘We must be nearly there!’

Soon the blue streak was a wide, sparkling expanse of water. The children felt suddenly excited. A holiday—all on their own—nothing to do all day long but bathe and paddle and row and fish! What fun!

The train suddenly lost speed and began to go much more slowly. Then it came to a halt, and stood puffing out steam. Mary put her head out of the window.

‘Pat! It’s Tolly Halt! This is where we get out. Quick!’

Pat opened the door and they got out. At the back of the train they saw the guard pulling out their two suitcases. He saw them and waved.

‘Here you are—Tolly Halt. There’s someone to meet you over there.’

The twins looked round, with Tippy, the poodle, dancing round their legs on her lead. They saw a small car not far off, standing in the narrow road that led to the halt. In it was a woman who waved to them, and a small girl. The woman called out gaily, ‘Are you Patrick and Mary? I’ve come to meet you. I’m Mrs Holly. Can you manage those suitcases?’

‘Oh yes,’ said Pat, and the twins took a case each. Tippy pulled at the lead, eager to stretch her legs after the long time in the train.

They walked to the car, while the train slid away from the halt and disappeared into the distance.

‘Hallo!’ said a sharp little voice, as they came to the car, and a small girl of about eight looked them up and down. ‘I’m Ruth. This is my mother. Get in the back.’

Mrs Holly smiled at the twins. ‘Welcome to Tolly Sands,’ she said. ‘I hope you’ll have a lovely time here!’