Читать книгу Go Ahead, Secret Seven - Enid blyton - Страница 6

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It wasn’t Susie. It was Peter’s mother coming to say that it was getting late, and did they know what the time was? She was very surprised to meet Scamper flying out of the door in the greatest excitement, barking for all he was worth. He was quite disappointed that it was only Peter’s mother!

‘Oh, Mother, it can’t be half-past six yet,’ groaned Peter. ‘We haven’t nearly finished the meeting. Yes, I know we haven’t done our homework, but we haven’t much tonight. Can’t we have another ten minutes?’

‘Yes. Ten minutes, then,’ said his mother, and went away. The door was shut again, and the Secret Seven began to talk hurriedly.

‘George, you can do a spot of shadowing, and so can Colin,’ said Peter. ‘You girls can do the observation idea, go to the station or the bus-stop, or anywhere, Jack, you and I will do a bit of spying. We’ll find a good spying-place, sit there, and watch what goes on without being seen. It will be good practice for when we really have to do it!’

‘How do we do the shadowing?’ asked George. ‘We’d be seen following anybody in broad daylight.’

‘Well, do it when it’s dark, then,’ said Peter. ‘But don’t go shadowing anyone together, you and Colin, or you’ll be spotted at once. That would be silly. Go separately, choose someone you see, and follow them to their home without being seen. If you can do that, you’ll be very smart!’

‘I’d rather tackle a real mystery or problem than mess about practising,’ said George, in a grumbling voice.

‘I’m the head of this society, and you have to obey orders,’ said Peter in rather a haughty voice. ‘I’ve got to keep the Secret Seven going, haven’t I? Well, I’m doing my best.’

‘Anyway, you never know when we might happen on something when we’re putting in a bit of practice in these things,’ said Jack, cheerfully. ‘Things pop up most unexpectedly.’

‘We’ll practise our observation stunt on Saturday morning,’ said Janet. ‘I’ll go to the railway station. I always like that, it’s nice and busy and noisy.’

‘I’ll go to the bus-stop,’ said Pam. ‘You come with me, Barbara.’

‘Right,’ said Peter, pleased. ‘Now we’ve all got secret jobs to do, and they’ll keep us going till something turns up. Jack, I’ll let you know when I’ve thought of a good place for us to hide and keep a watch on any goings-on nearby.’

Everyone got up, sorry that the meeting had come to an end. Pam and Barbara offered to help Janet wash up, and all the boys carried in the dirty plates and mugs for the girls.

‘Now for homework,’ said Peter, with a groan. ‘I wish I’d listened better in class this morning. I haven’t the faintest idea how to do those sums we’ve been set.’

Colin, Jack and George said good night, and thanked Peter’s mother for the ‘smashing’ tea. The girls washed up together, chattering at the tops of their voices. They didn’t say a word of what had happened at the meeting, of course. Nobody was ever supposed to tell anything that had passed at one of the Secret Seven gatherings.

But all the members thought about it a lot. It was fun to belong to a secret society. It was something you could hug to yourself and think about before you went to sleep at night. Janet looked at her Secret Seven badge that evening when she took it off her dress.

‘S.S.,’ she said. ‘It should really be five S’s. S.S.S.S.S. For Super, Smashing, Secret, Seven, Society! I must remember to tell Peter that. I’ll go to the station on Saturday morning, and watch for someone to describe perfectly. I won’t miss a thing, not even the colour of his tie! I’ll show the others how good I am at noticing every single thing about somebody I see just for a minute.’

Peter was thinking about what he and Jack could do, too, as he lay in bed that night. A spyhole? Now, where would an interesting one be? In the middle of the bush beside the main road? Yes, that would be a good place. They could take note-books and note down the cars that went by. They could put down anything they thought was interesting or suspicious. It would be fun!

Each member was planning carefully what he or she was to do. George was perhaps making the most careful plans of all. He was to go and shadow somebody. Well, he would do it really properly! He would first of all hide somewhere, and watch for somebody to come by. Then he would slip out and follow them, oh, so carefully and quietly! He would put on his rubber shoes.

‘And I’ll creep behind in the shadows, just like a policeman following a thief or a spy!’ he thought. ‘I’ll be like a shadow myself. Nobody will know I’m there. I’ll choose a man with a bag, to make it more real. I’ll pretend he’s got stolen maps in it, or jewels or something. Gosh, I’m going to enjoy this!’

All the Seven fell asleep at last. What fun it was to belong to a secret society!