Читать книгу The Rockingdown Mystery - Enid blyton - Страница 5

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Diana and Roger had no wish to fling themselves joyfully on Snubby; but Loony flung himself on them so violently that he almost knocked Diana over. He appeared from under the table, barking madly, and threw himself at them.

“Hey—wait a bit!” said Roger, very pleased to see Loony. The spaniel licked him lavishly, whining joyfully. Miss Pepper looked crossly at them.

“Diana! Roger! You are very late.”

“Well!” said Diana indignantly. “Snubby wasn’t on the train—and we waited and waited, and tried to find out when the next train was. It wasn’t our fault!”

“We’ve had lunch already,” said Snubby. “I was so hungry I couldn’t wait.”

“Sit down, Roger and Diana,” said Miss Pepper. “Snubby, call Loony to you, for goodness’ sake!”

Roger and Diana sat down. Loony tore back to Snubby and began to fawn on him as if he too had been away for some time.

“Still the same old lunatic,” said Diana, holding out her plate for some cold meat-pie. “Snubby, what happened to you?”

“I suppose you were late for the train, and missed Snubby, and didn’t see him or Loony on the road,” said Miss Pepper. “I ought to have gone to meet him myself. I can’t think how you missed him.”

“They’re not very observant,” said Snubby, accepting another helping of tinned peaches and cream. “I mean—I could walk right past them with Loony, under their very noses and they wouldn’t see me.”

Diana looked at him scornfully. “Don’t be an idiot. You can’t make out you passed us and we didn’t see you.”

“Well, but what else could have happened?” said Miss Pepper. “Snubby, I will not have Loony fed at meal-times. If you give him any more titbits I shall say he’s to remain out of the room when we have a meal.”

“He’d only scratch the door down,” said Snubby. “As I said, my two cousins are not very observant, Miss Pepper. Fancy not even seeing Loony.”

Loony jumped up in excitement whenever his name was mentioned. Miss Pepper made a resolve that she would never mention his name at all—only refer to him as “the dog.” Oh dear—things were going to be twice as difficult with this mischievous boy and his excitable little dog.

“Snubby, you didn’t come by that train,” said Roger quietly. “What did you do? Go on—tell us, or we’ll never go to meet you again.”

“I got out at the station four miles before Rockingdown,” said Snubby. “The train had to wait three-quarters of an hour there for a connection—so out I got, hopped on to a bus and here I was at a quarter to one! Easy!”

“Oh, Snubby!” said Miss Pepper. “Why couldn’t you have said so before? It was so nice of your cousins to meet you—and all you did was to make them late for their lunch, and arrive cross and hot and hungry.”

Diana glared at Snubby. “He’s just the same horrid little boy,” she said to Roger, speaking as if Snubby wasn’t there. “Same old ginger hair, same old green eyes, same old freckles, same old snub-nose, and same old cheek. I’m sure I don’t know why we put up with him.”

“Well, I put up with you,” said Snubby, wrinkling his turned-up nose and grinning, so that his face appeared to be made of rubber, and his eyes almost disappeared under his sandy eyebrows. “Sorry to upset you, cousins. Honestly, I didn’t know you were going to meet me. I’m not used to kind attentions of that sort from you. Are we, Loony?”

Loony leapt up madly and pawed violently at Snubby’s knees, knocking his head against the table. He whined and yapped.

“Loony wants to go out,” said Snubby, who used Loony as an excuse whenever he wanted to go wandering off by himself. “Can we go, Miss Pepper?”

“Yes,” said Miss Pepper, thankful to be rid of them both. “Leave him outside in the garden when you come in again, and then go upstairs to help me to unpack your trunk. It came this morning.”

Diana and Roger finished their meal in peace. Roger grinned to himself. What an idiot Snubby was—but it would certainly liven things up a bit to have him there—and Loony too. Diana mooned over her peaches and cream. She wasn’t pleased. She would rather have had Roger to herself. She knew that Snubby admired Roger and wanted to be with him, and this always made her want to push Snubby away.

Except that Snubby found an outsize stag-beetle in the garden, which he insisted on displaying on the tea-table, to Miss Pepper’s horror, and that apparently he had arrived with some other boy’s trunk instead of his own, things passed off fairly peacefully the first day.

He and Loony explored everywhere thoroughly by themselves. Snubby hated being “shown round.” He liked to size up things for himself and go his own way. He was a most intelligent and sharp-witted boy, very clever at hiding his brains under a constant stream of tricks, jokes and general idiocies. He was adored by all the boys in his form, and was their natural leader—but the despair of all the masters who seemed to vie with one another in making biting remarks about his work and character in his reports.

His jokes and tricks were endless. All his pocket money was spent either on ice-creams, chocolate—or the newest trick. It was Snubby who tried out all the trick-pencils on the various masters—the pencil whose point wobbled because it was made of rubber—the one whose point disappeared inside the pencil as soon as the unsuspecting master tried to write with it—the pencil that could be nailed to the floor and couldn’t be picked up.

It was Snubby who experimented with stink-pills which, when thrown on the fire, at once gave out a smell like bad fish, and Snubby who climbed to the top of the school tower without falling. Everything was always Snubby—even when it really wasn’t! But Snubby didn’t mind. He accepted his punishments, rightful ones or wrongful, with pluck and resignation, and always owned up when tackled.

“A bad boy with a lot of good in him,” said the headmaster. “It’s a pity he has no parents. If he had he would behave better because he wouldn’t like to let them down. He’ll turn out all right—but in the meantime he’s a pest.”

Snubby was pleased with Rockingdown Cottage and the garden and grounds of the old mansion. He could make plenty of good hidey-holes in the grounds for Loony and himself. They could play pirates, wrecked sailors, and Red Indians to their hearts’ content under the thick bushes, and up in the tall trees—because Loony didn’t at all mind being dragged up trees by the scruff of his neck. In fact, he didn’t mind where he went as long as he was with his beloved master. He had even been known to crouch in a smelly dustbin with Snubby for an hour whilst Snubby waited to play a trick on the unsuspecting butcher’s boy.

Snubby made up his mind to explore the old mansion. It would be locked and bolted and barred, but he’d get in somewhere all right. If Di and Roger would come, that would be fun—if not, he’d go by himself. He hoped Roger would come, though. He would like to be in Roger’s good books—Roger was fine. Diana was a nuisance—but then, in Snubby’s opinion all girls were a nuisance. Always in the way.

It was a terrible shock to Snubby to hear that he was to have coaching those holidays. Diana broke the news to him that night.

“You know you’re to have lessons these hols, don’t you, Snubby?” she said. “Mr. Young’s coming to coach you.”

Snubby stared at her in horror. “I don’t believe you,” he said at last. “Nobody could do that to me—make me learn things in the summer hols! I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Well, you’ll have to believe it,” said Diana. “Daddy’s arranged it. Roger is to have coaching in Latin and maths, I’m to be coached in French and English.”

“What am I to be coached in?” said Snubby gloomily.

“Oh, I should think you want coaching in everything,” said Diana. “I don’t suppose you know your tables properly yet, do you, Snubby? And can you spell yet?”

“All right. I’ll pay you out for that,” said Snubby. “What about a worm or two under your pillow?”

“If you start doing that kind of babyish thing again I’ll sit on you and bounce up and down till you cry for mercy,” said Diana. “I’m much bigger than you are, baby-boy!”

This was quite true. Snubby was not big for his age and hadn’t really begun to grow yet. Diana was a sturdy girl, and quite able to do what she threatened.

Loony appeared and rolled himself over and over on the floor. Snubby tickled him with his foot. The spaniel leapt up and fetched something in from the hall. Diana gave a shriek.

“Oh—he’s got my hairbrush. Snubby, get it from him. Quick!”

“Why? You never use it, do you?” said Snubby, neatly getting back at his cousin for her jibes of a minute or two ago. “What good is it to you? You might as well let Loony play with it.”

The brush was rescued and Loony got a few spanks with it from Diana. He retired under the table, and looked at her mournfully with big brown eyes.

“Now you’ve hurt his feelings,” said Snubby.

“I’d like to hurt a lot more of him than that,” said Diana. “Now I shall have to wash this chewed-up brush. Blow Loony!”

“Blow everything!” said Snubby dismally. “Fancy—coaching with Mr. Young. I can’t think of anything worse!”