Читать книгу Five Have a Mystery to Solve - Enid blyton - Страница 7

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The Five stared after Wilfrid in silence. Timmy wagged his tail and whined. He wanted the boy to come back.

‘Well, thank you, Timmy, old thing,’ said Anne, patting the big dog on the head. ‘We certainly wouldn’t have had this lovely little cottage, with its incredible view, if you hadn’t made friends with Wilfrid. What a funny boy he is!’

‘Jolly queer, I think!’ said George, still amazed at the way that Timmy had gone to Wilfrid, when the boy had been about to strike him. ‘I’m not sure that I like him!’

‘Don’t be an ass, George,’ said Dick, who had been very much impressed by the boy’s handling of the hares, the rabbits and the magpie. ‘That boy must have a wonderful love for animals. They would never come to him as they did, if they didn’t trust him absolutely. Anyone who loves animals as he does must be pretty decent.’

‘I bet I could make them come to me if I had that pipe,’ said George, making up her mind to borrow it if she could.

Anne went back into the cottage. She was delighted with it. ‘It must be very very old,’ she thought. ‘It stands dreaming here all day long, full of memories of the people who have lived here and loved it. And how they must all have loved this view—miles and miles of heather, great stretches of sea—and the biggest, highest, widest sky I’ve ever seen. It’s a happy place. Even the clouds seem happy—they’re scurrying along, so white against the blue!’

She explored the cottage thoroughly. She decided that the room above, under the thatch, should be for the three boys. There were two mattresses—one small, one larger. ‘The little one for Wilfrid—the big one for Dick and Julian,’ she thought. ‘And I and George can sleep down in the living-room, with Tim on guard. I wonder if there are any rugs we could sleep on. Ah—wait a bit—this couch is a pull-out bed—just right for us two girls! Good!’

Anne enjoyed herself thoroughly. This was the kind of problem she liked—fixing up this and that for the others! She found a little larder, facing north. It had a few tins in it, and a jug of milk, slightly sour. It also had two loaves of extremely stale bread, and a tin of rather hard cakes.

‘Mrs Layman doesn’t seem to be a very good housekeeper for herself and Wilfrid,’ thought Anne, seriously. ‘We’ll have to go down to the village and put in a stock of decent food. I might get a small ham—the boys would like that. Goodness—this is going to be fun!’

Julian came to the door to see what she was doing. When he saw her happy, serious face, he chuckled. ‘Acting “mother” to us, as usual?’ he said. ‘Deciding who’s going to sleep where, and which of us is to do the shopping, and which the washing-up? Dear old Anne—what should we do without you when we go off on our own?’

‘I love it,’ said Anne, happily. ‘Julian, we need another rug or two, and a pillow, and some food. And ...’

‘Well, we’ll have to go back home and collect a few clothes and other things,’ said Julian. ‘We can shop on the way back, and get whatever we want. I wonder if that woman that Mrs Layman spoke about will be coming in to help?’

‘Well—Wilfrid said he sent her off,’ said Anne. ‘And I think perhaps as the cottage is so small, it might be better if we managed it ourselves. I think I could do a bit of cooking on that oil-stove in the corner—and anyway we can pretty well live on cold stuff, you know—ham and salad and potted meat and fruit. It would be easy enough for any of us to pop down to the village on our bikes, to fetch anything we needed.’

‘Listen!’ said Julian, cocking his head to one side. ‘Is that somebody calling us?’

Yes—it was. When Julian went outside, he saw Mrs Layman at the gate that led on to the hillside where the cottage stood. He went over to her.

‘We love the cottage!’ he said. ‘And if it’s all right, we’d like to move in today. We can easily pop home and bring back anything we want. It’s a glorious old place, isn’t it—and the view must be the finest anywhere!’

‘Well, that harbour is the second biggest stretch of water in the whole world,’ said Mrs Layman. ‘The only stretch that is any bigger, is Sydney Harbour—so you have something to feast your eyes on, Julian!’

‘My word, yes,’ said Julian. ‘It’s amazing—and so very blue! I only wish I could paint—but I can’t. At least—not very well!’

‘What about Wilfrid?’ said Mrs Layman, anxiously. ‘Is he behaving himself? He’s—well—he’s rather a difficult boy at times. And he can be very rude. He hasn’t any brothers to rub off his awkward corners, you see.’

‘Oh, don’t you worry about Wilfrid!’ said Julian, cheerfully. ‘He’ll have to toe the line, and do as he’s told. We all do our bit, when we’re away together. He’s a wonder with animals, isn’t he?’

‘Well—yes, I suppose he is!’ said Mrs Layman. ‘Though I can’t say I like pet snakes, or pet beetles, and owls that come and hoot down the chimney at night to find out if Wilfrid will go out and hoot back to them!’

Julian laughed. ‘We shan’t mind that,’ he said. ‘And he’s managed to get over what might have been our biggest difficulty—he has made friends with our dog, Timmy. In fact, he informed us that if Timmy stayed, we could all stay—but only if Timmy stayed!’

Mrs Layman laughed. ‘That’s so like Wilfrid,’ she said. ‘He’s an odd boy. Don’t stand any nonsense from him!’

‘We shan’t,’ said Julian, cheerfully. ‘I’m surprised he wants to stay on with us, actually. I should have thought he would rather go home, than be with a lot of strangers.’

‘He can’t go home,’ said Mrs Layman. ‘His sister has measles, and his mother doesn’t want Wilfrid to catch it. So you’ll have to put up with him, I fear.’

‘And he’ll have to put up with us!’ said Julian. ‘Thanks very much for letting us have the cottage, Mrs Layman. We’ll take great care of everything.’

‘I know you will,’ said the old lady. ‘Well, good-bye, Julian. Have a good time. I’ll get back to my car now. Give Wilfrid my love. I hope he doesn’t fill the cottage with animals of all kinds!’

‘We shan’t mind if he does!’ said Julian, and waited politely until Mrs Layman had disappeared, and he could hear the noise of a car starting up.

He went back to the cottage and stood outside, looking down at the amazing view. The harbour was full of boats, big and little. A steamer went busily along, making for a great seaside town far away on the other side.

Anne came to join Julian. ‘Glorious, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘We’re so very high up here that it seems as if we can see half the world at our feet. Is that an island in the middle of the harbour, Ju?’

‘Yes—and a well-wooded one too!’ said Julian. ‘I wonder what it’s called—and who lives there. I can’t see a single house there, can you?’

Dick called to Anne. ‘Anne! George and I are going to fetch our bikes and ride down to the village. Give us your shopping list, will you? Julian, is there anything special you want us to pack for you at home, and bring back, besides your night-things and a change of clothes?’

‘Yes—don’t go off yet!’ called Julian, hurrying into the cottage. ‘I’ve made a list somewhere. I think I’d better go with you. There will be food and other things to bring back—unless Mother would bring everything up by car this afternoon.’

‘Yes—that’s a good idea,’ said Dick. ‘We’ll go to Kirrin Cottage first and get George’s things—and then home to get ours. I’ll leave all the shopping with Mother, and all our luggage, so that she can pop up here in the car with it. She’ll love the view!’

‘I’ll stay behind and tidy up the cottage, and find out how the stove works,’ said Anne, happily. ‘I’ll have everything neat and tidy by the time Mother comes this afternoon, Dick. Oh, here’s Julian with the list. Why don’t you go off on your bike with George and Dick, Julian? I’ll be quite happy here, messing about.’

‘Yes, I’m going to,’ said Julian, putting his list into his pocket. ‘Look after yourself, Anne! We’ll take Timmy with us, to give him a run.’

Off went the three, Timmy loping behind, very glad of the run. Anne waited till they were out of sight, then went happily back to the cottage. She was almost there when she heard someone calling her. She turned and saw a fresh-faced woman waving.

‘I’m Sally!’ she called. ‘Do you want any help with the cooking and cleaning? Wilfrid told me not to come any more, but if you want me, I will.’

‘Oh, I think we can manage, Sally,’ said Anne. ‘There’s so many of us now, we can do all the jobs. Did you sleep here?’

‘Oh no, miss!’ said Sally, coming up. ‘I just came in to help, and then went back home. You tell me if you want me any time, and I’ll gladly come. Where’s that monkey of a Wilfrid? He spoke to me very rudely this morning, the young varmint. I’ll tell his grandmother of him—not that that’s much good! He just laughs at her! Don’t you stand any nonsense from him!’

‘I won’t,’ said Anne, smiling. ‘Where do you live, in case we do want you?’

‘Just the other side of the road, in the small wood there,’ said Sally. ‘You’ll see my tiny cottage when you go by the wood on your bikes.’

She disappeared up the hill and across the road there. Anne went back happily to her household tasks. She cleaned out the little larder, and then found a pail and went to the well. She hung the pail on the hook at the end of the rope, and then worked the old handle that let the pail down to the water, swinging on the rope. Splash! It was soon full, and Anne wound it up again. The water looked crystal clear, and was as cold as ice—but all the same Anne wondered if she ought to boil it!

Someone came quietly behind her—and jumped at her with a loud howl! Anne dropped the pail of water, and gave a scream. Then she saw it was Wilfrid, dancing round her, grinning.

‘Idiot!’ she said. ‘Now you just go and get me some more water.’

‘Where’s that big dog?’ demanded Wilfrid, looking all round. ‘I can’t see him. You can’t any of you stay here unless you have that dog. I like him. He’s a wonderful dog.’

‘He’s gone down to the village with the others,’ said Anne. ‘Now will you please pick up that pail and get more water?’

‘No, I won’t,’ said Wilfrid. ‘I’m not your servant! Get it yourself!’

‘Very well, I will. But I’ll tell George, who owns Timmy, how rude you are—and you may be quite sure that Timmy won’t be friends with you,’ said Anne, picking up the pail.

‘I’ll get the water, I’ll get the water!’ shouted Wilfrid, and snatched the pail. ‘Don’t you dare to tell George or Timmy tales of me. Don’t you dare!’

And off he went to the well and filled the pail. Well! What a time they were all going to have with such a very peculiar boy! Anne didn’t like him at all!