Читать книгу The Queen Elizabeth Family - Enid blyton - Страница 4

Table of Contents

“Cuckoo!” called Belinda, Mike and Ann, as they opened the gate leading into a field.

“Cuckoo!” called back their mother, waving to them from the steps of one of the gay caravans there. “So glad you’re back again!”

It was Friday afternoon. Mike, Belinda and Ann went to board at school all the week—but they came back to their caravan homes for the week-end. How they liked that!

“It’s such fun to have school-life from Mondays to Fridays—and then home-life in our caravans from Fridays to Mondays,” said Belinda, as they walked over to the two pretty caravans. Then Ann ran on in front and hugged her mother.

“Mummy—I was top in writing!” she said.

“And I got one of my drawings pinned up on the wall,” said Belinda, proudly. “I couldn’t bring it home because it’s got to stay there all next week.”

“And what about you, Mike?” asked his mother.

Mike grinned. “Oh—I shot three goals yesterday afternoon,” he said. “So our side won.”

“What a very successful week!” said Mummy, and she sounded pleased. “Well—I expect you’d like to know what I’ve done too. I’ve made new curtains for your caravan—and I’ve made some lovely blackberry jelly!”

“Top marks, Mummy!” said Mike, and hugged her. “Are we having the jelly for tea?”

“We are,” said his mother, and led the way into her caravan. There was one caravan for her and Daddy and one for the three children. Mummy had laid tea in her caravan, and it looked lovely. Blackberry jelly, cream in a little jug, new bread and butter, ginger biscuits, a chocolate cake and tiny buns made by their mother.

“Nicest tea in the world,” said Mike, and sat down at once.

“You must go and wash your hands,” said Ann. “Just look at them!”

“My hands are clean, and anyway I only go if Mummy tells me,” said Mike at once. “Wash your own!”

“Where’s Daddy?” asked Belinda. “Will he be late or early?”

“Late,” said Mummy. “His firm is doing a lot of business with America just now, and he has to have a good many meetings with the men who are going over there.”

“I wish we could go to America,” said Belinda. “We’re learning about it in Geography. Did you know you had to cross an enormous ocean called the Atlantic, Mummy, to get to America?”

“Well, yes, I did happen to know that,” said Mummy, pouring out mugs of milk.

“And did you know that there are two great ships called the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary, that go across it in just a few days?” asked Ann. “Goodness, how I’d like to go in one. They’re supposed to be the finest ships in the world.”

“They are,” said Mummy. “Well, perhaps one day we will all go to America, and you’ll see what it’s like.”

“Only if we could come back afterwards,” said Mike suddenly. “I expect I’d like America very much—but I should always, always like England best.”

“Well, of course,” said Mummy. “All the same you’d be astonished to see the food the Americans have—much better than ours!”

“But I don’t think there could be a nicer tea than this,” said Ann at once, with her mouth full of bread and butter and blackberry jelly and cream.

Mummy laughed. “Well, so long as you’re satisfied, that’s all right. Now—save some of the cream for Daddy. I’ve made him a blackberry tart for his supper, and he likes to pour cream all over it!”

“He’ll get fat,” said Belinda. “Why—here he is!”

And sure enough, there he was, coming in at the field-gate, waving to his little family, who were now crowding out of the caravan to meet him.

“Daddy!” yelled Ann, and almost fell down the steps. Mike reached him first. Daddy always liked his Friday welcome. He said he felt such an important person when four people rushed at top speed to meet him!

“Why are you home early?” asked Mike. “Mummy said you’d be late.”

“I’m home early for a very important reason,” said Daddy. “I’ve got an invitation for you all to see the Queen Elizabeth to-morrow! She’s at Southampton, and sails on Saturday night. How would you like to have tea on board?”

“Daddy! Really?”

“Oh, how super!”

“It can’t be true!”

Everyone spoke at once, and Daddy put his hands over his ears. “Good gracious, I shall be deaf. It really is true. Look—here are the cards. We get on board with these, and we can see over quite a lot of the ship—and have tea on board too.”

“Did you say to-morrow?” said Mummy. “That will be lovely! What a good thing it’s Saturday and the children are home. It would have been so disappointing if it had been on a school-day. How are we going?”

“I rang up Granny and she’s lending us her car,” said Daddy. “She wants to come too. So do you think you could take Ann on your knee in front, Mummy, and let Granny go behind with Mike and Belinda.”

“Oh, easily,” said Mummy. “It would be lovely to have Granny too. What a treat! The children will hardly believe a ship can be as big as the Queen Elizabeth!”

“I shall never go to sleep to-night,” said Belinda, and the others said the same. But when bedtime came they were all as sleepy as usual, of course.

Mummy came into their caravan to kiss them good-night.

“I do like the new curtains,” said Belinda sleepily. “Thank you, Mummy, for making them. They’re all over buttercups and daisies and cornflowers and marigolds. It’s like looking at a field.”

Ann kissed her mother good-night too. “Mummy,” she said, in her ear, “the ship won’t sail off with us on board, will it? It’ll wait till we’ve gone, won’t it?”

“Oh yes—don’t you worry about that!” said Mummy. “Go to sleep now, and the morning will come all the sooner. You’re going to have a really lovely day!”