Читать книгу The Children of Kidillin - Enid blyton - Страница 3

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Two children and a dog raced down to the village sweet-shop in excitement. They opened the little door of Mrs. MacPherson’s shop and went inside.

“Good morning,” said Mrs. MacPherson, in her soft Scottish voice. “You look excited, the two of you.”

“We are,” said Sandy, a tall boy with a jolly, freckled face. “We’ve got our English cousins coming to live with us till the war’s over! We’ve never even seen them!”

“They’re about the same age as we are,” said Jeanie, Sandy’s sister. “One’s called Tom, and the other’s called Sheila. They live in London, but their parents want them to go somewhere safe till the war’s over. They’re coming to-morrow!”

“So we’ve come down to get some of your bull’s-eye peppermints for them,” said Sandy.

“And will they do lessons with Miss Mitchell your governess?” asked Mrs. MacPherson, getting down her big jar of peppermint humbugs. “It will be right nice company for you.”

“It’s to be hoped the town children don’t find it dull down here,” said Mrs. MacPherson, handing over a fat bag of sweets. Sandy and Jeanie stared at her in surprise.

“Dull!” said Jeanie, quite crossly. “How could anyone find Kidillin dull? There’s the river that rushes through Kidillin, and the hills around, and away yonder the sea!”

“Ay, but there’s no cinema for twelve miles, and only three shops, not a train for ten miles, and no buses!” said Mrs. MacPherson. “And what will town children do without those, I should like to know?”

The two children left the little shop. They gazed into the two other shops of Kidillin—which were general stores, and sold most things—and then made their way home again, each sucking a peppermint.

Sandy and Jeanie were really indignant at the thought that anyone could be bored with Kidillin. They loved their quiet Scottish life, they loved Kidillin House, their home, and enjoyed their lessons with Miss Mitchell, their old governess. They knew every inch of the hills about their home, they knew the flowers that grew there, the birds and the animals that lived there, and every cottager within miles.

Sandy and Jeanie were to drive to the nearest town to meet their cousins the next day. So, with Miss Mitchell driving the horse, they set off. It was a long way, but the autumn day was bright and sunny, and the mountains that rose up around were beautiful. The children sang as they went, and the clip-clop of the horse’s feet was a pleasant sound to hear.

The train came in as they arrived at the station. Sandy and Jeanie almost fell out of the trap as they heard its whistle. They rushed through the little gate and on to the platform.

And there stood a boy and girl, with a pile of luggage around them—and a dog on a lead!

“Hallo!” cried Sandy. “Are you Tom and Sheila?”

“Yes,” said the boy. “I suppose you are Sandy and Jeanie? This is our dog, Paddy. We hope you don’t mind us bringing him—but we couldn’t, we really couldn’t leave him behind!”

“Well, I hope he gets on all right with our dog,” said Sandy doubtfully. “Mack is rather a jealous sort of dog. Come on. We’ve got the trap outside. The porter will bring out your luggage.”

The four children, the dog, and a porter, went out to Miss Mitchell. She shook hands with Tom and Sheila, thought that Sheila was very pretty, but far too pale, and that Tom was too tall for his age. But they had nice manners, and she liked the look of them.

“Welcome to Scotland, my new pupils!” said Miss Mitchell. “Get in—dear me, is that your dog? I hope he won’t fight Mack.”

It looked very much as if Paddy would certainly fight Mack! The two dogs growled, bared their teeth and strained hard at their leads. Their hair rose on their necks and they looked most ferocious.

“What an unfriendly dog Mack is,” said Tom. This was not at all the right thing to say. Sandy looked angry.

“You mean, what an unfriendly dog your Paddy is,” he said. “Our Mack would have been pleased enough to see him if he hadn’t growled like that.”

“Mack can come up on the front seat with me,” said Miss Mitchell hastily. She didn’t want the cousins to quarrel within the first five minutes of their meeting.

“Then I shall drive,” said Sandy at once. He wasn’t going to sit behind in the trap and talk politely to a boy who was rude about Mack.

“Can you drive this trap yourself?” said Sheila in surprise.

“Of course,” said Sandy. “I’ve driven it since I was four.” He thought Sheila was rather a nice girl—but Jeanie didn’t! Jeanie thought Sheila was too dressed-up for anything!

“How does she think she’s going to walk on the hills in those shoes?” thought Jeanie scornfully, looking at Sheila’s pretty button-shoes. “And what a fussy dress! All frills and ribbons! But I like Tom. He’s nice and tall.”

They drove home. Miss Mitchell did most of the talking, and asked the two London children all about the home they had left. They answered politely, looking round at the countryside all the time.

“Doesn’t it all look awfully big, Sheila,” said Tom. “Look at those mountains! Oh—what a funny little village! What is it called?”

“It is Kidillin,” said Jeanie. “We live not far away, at Kidillin House. Look—you can see it above those trees there.”

Sheila and Tom looked at the plain, rather ugly stone house set on the hillside. They did not like the look of it at all. When they had gone to stay with their uncle in the English countryside the year before, they had lived in a lovely old thatched cottage, cosy and friendly—but this old stone house looked so cold and stern.

“I hope the war will soon be over!” said Tom, who really meant that he hoped he wouldn’t have to stay very long at Kidillin. Sandy and Jeanie knew quite well what he was really thinking, and they were hurt and angry.

“They are as unfriendly as their dog!” whispered Jeanie to Sandy, as they jumped down from the cart. “I’m not going to like them a bit.”

“I wish we were at home!” whispered Sheila to Tom, as they went up the steps to the front door. “It’s going to be horrid, being here!”