Читать книгу Circus Days Again - Enid blyton - Страница 7

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The two children made their way through the dark windy night, guided by Lucky, who was pulling hard at her lead. The wind was still very strong indeed and blew the clouds to rags—but every now and again the moon shone out and the children could see where they were.

“I say, Lucky is taking us down to the seashore!” said Jimmy anxiously. “I hope to goodness the bears haven’t gone there.”

But they had, for Lucky was still following their scent. Nose to ground she smelt out the footsteps of the two bears and whined a little because she couldn’t go as fast as she liked.

Down a steep, rocky cliff-path went the two children—and when the moon came out for a moment, Jimmy gave a cry, and pointed to the ground.

“Look!” he said. “Can you see the claw-marks of Dobby and Grizel? See how they dug their claws into the path to keep themselves from slipping!”

The children reached the shore. They looked around, wondering if they would see the bears anywhere. The moon swept out from the clouds at that moment, and they could see the track of footmarks going over the sand.

“Come on! They’ve gone that way!” cried Jimmy, pleased. “Hurry, Lotta—we may find them round the corner of that cliff.” They followed the footprints eagerly and went right round the point of the rocky cliff. Lucky pulled at the lead again, and the children let her drag them where she wanted to go. They could not see the footmarks when the moon was behind the clouds, but Lucky could always smell them.

They went on round the cliff. A great wave suddenly tore up the beach and splashed Jimmy from head to foot. He looked at the dark raging sea in alarm.

“I say, Lotta! I wonder if we ought to have come all the way round that rocky cliff. If the tide’s coming in, we may not be able to get back.”

“Gracious!” said Lotta, frightened. “What sillies we are. Of course the tide is coming in. Jimmy, what shall we do—go back, do you think? The sea comes right up to the cliff here, when the tide is in. We may be cut off unless we get round that corner again quickly.”

The moon sailed out again, and the restless sea tossed beneath the silver light. Another great wave came swirling up the beach, and the children jumped up on to a rock to escape it. Jimmy looked back.

“We’re cut off already,” he said, in dismay. “Look—the tide is right round that rocky corner. We’d never get back. Our only chance is to climb the cliff here.”

“But where have the bears gone?” asked Lotta, who had almost forgotten them in the worry of the moment.

“Goodness knows,” groaned Jimmy. “Swept off their feet and drowned, I expect. And the same thing will happen to us and Lucky if we don’t get up this cliff mighty quick. Come on, Lucky—hurry! Look out, Lotta, there’s another enormous wave.”

The children began to climb the rocky cliff at the back of the shore. It was slippery, and when the moon went in, it was hard to feel the best way to climb. It was slow work too, and all the time the tide came in a little more, splashing foamy fingers up the cliff, trying to catch their feet.

“I don’t like the sea when it behaves like this,” said Lotta, half crying. “I’m cold and wet and frightened. We were silly to come, Jimmy. We didn’t think of the darkness and the wind.”

“Well, the wind’s dying down a bit now,” said Jimmy, helping Lotta over a slippery piece of rock. “Come on—here’s a nice easy bit now.”

“Have we got to stay and shiver on this cliff all night long?” asked Lotta miserably, her teeth chattering. “My goodness—what will everyone say?”

The wind certainly was dying down. It no longer wailed and roared around them like a mad thing. The clouds in the sky slowed down a little, and the moon shone more steadily.

“Look! There’s a cave or something over there,” said Jimmy suddenly. He had spied a dark opening just above them. “Let’s see if we can get in there, Lotta. We shall at least be sheltered from the gale.”

They waited for the moon to sail out once again and then they climbed up to the cave. The opening was small, but big enough to squeeze into. It was so dark inside that the children could see nothing at all. They groped their way in, and found a rocky ledge to sit on. It was quiet and sheltered there—but how cold the two children were!

“I think we’ve behaved very stupidly,” said Lotta, shivering. “We just rushed off after the bears without thinking. Why in the world didn’t we bring a torch? We shall both get awful colds too, sitting here all night—and then we shan’t be able to go into the ring and Galliano will be angry and scold us for being stupid.”

The two sat and thought about Mr. Galliano. He was very good-tempered when things went well, but both children had been in trouble before with him, and they knew that he might be angry about this. Whatever had made them come out without telling someone? Now no one would know where they were, and half the circus-folk would waste the night looking for them. Worst of all, nobody would find them in the little cave half-way up the dark cliff.

Lotta shivered so much that Jimmy was anxious about her. He lifted Lucky on to her knee.

“Cuddle her,” he said. “She’s warm, Lotta. I’d give you my coat only it’s so wet. I wonder if there’s any dry seaweed in the cave. I’ll feel around and see. We could make a kind of bed of that.”

He got up and began to stumble round the cave. It was quite big inside. Jimmy felt about but could find no seaweed—only sand on the floor and stones, and rock all around.

And then the two children suddenly heard a most peculiar noise in the cave. They listened. It sounded exactly like somebody breathing.

“Lotta! Can you hear that noise?” asked Jimmy, coming back to her. “Do you think it’s the wind—or the sound of the sea coming up into the cave?”

“No,” said Lotta, holding his hand rather tightly. “It’s in the cave. But whatever can it be? It’s funny that Lucky doesn’t growl or bark. She always does if there’s any stranger about, or if anything’s wrong.”

Lucky wagged her tail. She settled down even more comfortably on Lotta’s knee. The breathing in the cave didn’t seem to worry her at all.

The children listened hard. The noise went on and on, regularly, as if someone was fast asleep and breathing peacefully.

“Well, I’m going to see what is making that noise,” said Jimmy, at last. “I can’t sit here and wonder any more. If there’s something in this cave I’m going to find out what it is. Here, Lucky—come with me.”

“Be careful, Jimmy,” said Lotta.

Jimmy and Lucky made their way to the back of the cave. Lucky didn’t bark or growl at all. Jimmy couldn’t understand why she was so quiet.

And then he suddenly touched something warm—and furry—and soft. He jumped in surprise.

A grunt came from the furry bundle at the back of the cave. Jimmy gave such a yell that Lotta fell off the ledge she was sitting on, and shook with fright.

“Lotta! Lotta! The bears are here, too! It’s their breathing we heard. Oh, Lotta, we’ve found the bears! They had the sense to find this cave too, and creep into it.”

Lotta was thrilled. She stumbled over to the corner and touched the bears. They were awake now, but did not mind the children at all. They knew their smell and they loved Jimmy and Lucky, who often played with them. Dobby, the half-grown bear-cub, grunted and rubbed his head against Jimmy’s arm.

“Well, that’s one piece of luck at any rate,” said Lotta. She sat down with her back to the furry bear. He was warm and soft. “Come on, Jimmy. Let’s cuddle up to the bears. They will soon make us warm. Get on to my knee, Lucky—I’ll have hot-water bottles at my back then, and a hot-water bottle on my knee too.”

The children cuddled up to the sleepy bears. They were like warm fur rugs. The bears liked feeling the children there. They were company. They made the bears feel safe, for they had been very much frightened by the wind and the flapping white tent that had flown out of the night at them.

And there in the cliff-cave slept the five creatures all night long. Dobby and Grizel, the bears, grunted and twisted in their sleep. Lucky yelped once or twice as she dreamed of chasing rabbits. The children lay against one another, feeling the delicious warmth of the furry bodies behind them.

The noise of the sea and the wind did not come into the cave. All was peace and quiet.

But how surprised Jimmy was when he awoke! Daylight crept in at the small cave-entrance, and for a moment the boy could not imagine where he was. Then he stood up and stretched himself, stiff with the night’s strange bed. The bears awoke too, and Lucky leapt off Lotta’s knee and licked her hands. The little girl rubbed her eyes and stared around her.

“Gracious! Where am I?” she cried. Then she remembered, and her face fell.

“Oh, Jimmy—do you think we’ll get into trouble?” she said. “Let’s hurry back with the bears quickly. Perhaps we haven’t been missed.”

“No such luck,” said Jimmy, peeping out of the cave. “I say, look—there’s a boat out. Perhaps it’s looking for us. We’ll get out of the cave with the bears and hail the boat. The tide is still swishing round the cliff.”

So the two children took hold of the bears’ great paws, and with Lucky behind urging them on, the great animals shuffled to the cave-entrance. They all squeezed out, and Jimmy hailed the boat below.

“Hie! Will you rescue us?”

The two men in the boat looked up and saw the children with two bears! They stared and they stared.

“We must be dreaming,” said one to the other. But when the children shouted again, they knew they were not, and they drove their boat in closer to the cliff. They didn’t mind rescuing children, but they drew the line at bears.