Five Have a Mystery to Solve (7 page)

Perhaps that"s a mean thing to say - but George might have found it and kept it just for a joke."

„No. No, I don"t think she"d do that," said Anne; „It would be a very poor joke. Well - we"l just have to hope Wilfrid finds it. What are you going to do this afternoon? Sleep, by the look of you!"

„Yes - sleep out in the warm sun here, til three o"clock," said Julian. „Then I"m going for a walk - down to the harbour. I might even have a bathe."

„We"ll all go," said Dick, sleepily. „Oh how lovely it is to feel lazy - and warm - and wel -fed -

and sleeeeeeeepy! So long, everyone! I"m asleep!"

The two boys, and Anne and George, slept soundly in the sun until just past three o"clock.

Then a large fly buzzed around Anne"s head, and awoke her. She sat up and looked at her watch.

„Gracious! It"s ten past three!" she said, in surprise. „Wake up, Julian! Dick, stir yourself!

Don"t you want to go and bathe?"

Yawning loudly the two boys sat up, and looked all round. George was stil asleep. Wilfrid hadn"t yet come back.

„Stil hunting for his precious pipe, I suppose," said Anne. „Get up, you two boys. Dick, you"re not to lie down, you"l only go to sleep again. Where are your bathing-things? I"l get them. And does anyone know where our bathing towels are? We"ll probably have to dress and undress with them round us!"

„They"re up in our room, chucked into a corner," said Dick, sleepily. „Gosh, I was sound asleep. I real y thought I was in my bed, when I awoke!"

Anne went to fetch the bath-towels and the bathing things. She called back to the boys.

„I"ve got everything. Buck up, Julian, don"t go to sleep again!"

„Right!" said Julian, sitting up and stretching himself. „Oh this sun - it"s GLORIOUS!"

He poked Dick with his toe. „Get up! We"ll leave you behind if you snore again. George, good-bye - we"re going!"

George sat up, yawning, and Timmy stood over her and licked her cheek. She patted him. „Al right, Timmy, I"m ready. It"s so warm that I"m LONGING for a dip - and you"l love it too, Tim!"

Carrying their bathing-things they made their way down the hil , and across a stretch of moorland to the edge of the sea, Timmy running joyously behind them. Beyond lay Whispering Island, a great tree-clad mass, and all around and about little boats plied, and yachts sailed in the wind, enjoying themselves in the great harbour which stretched far beyond the island to a big seaside town on the opposite coast.

The four went behind some rocks, and stripped off their clothes, emerging three minutes later in their scanty bathing things. Anne raced to the edge of the water, and let it lap over her toes. „Lovely!" she said „It"s not a bit cold! I shal enjoy my swim!"

„Woof!" said Timmy and plunged into the water. He loved the sea too, and was a fine swimmer! He waited for George to come in and then swam to her. She put her arms round his neck and let him drag her along with him. Dear Timmy! How strong he was, thought George.

They had a wonderful time in the water. Further out the waves were big, and curled over like miniature waterfal s, sweeping the children along with them. They yelled in joy, and choked when the water splashed into their mouths. It was an ideal day for bathing.

When they came out, they lay on the sand in the sun, Timmy beside George, keeping guard as usual. It was real y warm. George sat up and looked longingly out to sea, where the wind was whipping up the waves tremendously.

„Wish we had a boat!" she said. „If we were back home, I could get out my own boat, and we could go out in the cool breeze and get dry."

Julian pointed lazily to a big notice not far off. It said „BOATS FOR HIRE. INQUIRE AT HUT."

„Oh good!" said George. „I"l go and inquire. I"d love a good row!"

She slipped on her sandals, and went to the hut to which the sign pointed. A boy of about fifteen sat there, staring out to sea. He looked round as George came along.

„Want a boat?" he said.

„Yes, please. How much?" asked George. „For four of us - and a dog."

„Fifty pence an hour," said the boy. „Or a pound a day. Or three pounds a week. Better to take it by the week if you"re staying here. It works out very cheap then."

George went back to the boys and Anne. „Shall we take the boat by the week?" she said.

„It"l cost three pounds. We could do lots of rowing about, and it would be fun."

„Right," said Dick. „Anyone got any money?"

„There"s some in my pocket, but not enough, I"m afraid," said Julian. „I"l go and fix up the boat for us to have tomorrow - we"ll take it for a whole week. I can easily bring the money with me in the morning."

The boat-boy was very obliging. „You can have the boat today and onwards, if you like, you needn"t wait til tomorrow," he said. „I know you"l bring me the money all right! So, if you"d like to have it this afternoon, it"s up to you. Choose which boat you like. They"re al the same. If you want to take it out at night too, and do some fishing, you can - but tie it up safe, won"t you?"

„Of course," said Julian, going to look at the boats. He beckoned to the others, and they all came over.

„Any boat we like, day or night!" said Julian. „Which do you fancy? Starfish - Splasho -

Adventure - Sea-gul - Rock-a-bye? They al look good, sound little boats to me!"

„I"d like “Adventure”, I think," said George, thinking that that particular little boat looked sturdy, deari and sound. „Nice name - and nice little boat!"

So Adventure it was! „And a jolly good name for any boat of ours!" said Dick, pushing it down to the sea with Julian. „Whooooosh! There she goes! Steady my beauty - we want to get in! Chuck in al our clothes, George! We can dress when we feel cold."

Soon they were al in the boat, bobbing about on the waves. Julian took the oars and pul ed out to sea. Now they were in the ful breeze - and a spanking one it was too! „I"m certainly not hot any more!" said George, pulling her bathing-towel round her shoulders.

The tide was running out, and pul ed the boat strongly out to sea. Whispering Island suddenly seemed very much nearer! „Better look out!" said George, suddenly. „We don"t know if a keeper"s on guard somewhere on the shore of the island. We"re getting pretty near."

But the out-going tide swept the boat on and on towards the island, so that very soon they could see a sandy shore. Dick then took one oar, and Julian the other, and they tried to row against the tide and take the boat back into calmer water.

It was no good. The tide was far too strong. Very soon the boat was quite near the shore of the island and then an enormous wave flung them right up the sand, and left the boat grounded as it went back again. It slid over to one side, and they al promptly fel out!

„Whew!" said Julian. „What a tide! I"d no idea it ran so strongly, or I"d never have brought the boat out so far."

„What shall we do!" said Anne, rather scared. She kept looking al round for a keeper with a gun. Suppose they got into real trouble through coming right on to the island?

„I think we"l have to stay on the island til the tide turns, and we can row back on it," said Julian. „I can"t think why that boat-boy didn"t warn us about the tide. I suppose he thought we knew."

They pul ed the boat a little further up on the firm sand, took out their bundle of clothes, and hid them under a bush. They walked up the beach towards a wood, thick with great trees. As they neared them, they heard a strange, mysterious sound.

„Whispering!" said George, stopping. „The trees are really whispering. Listen! It"s just as if they were talking to one another under their breath! No wonder it"s cal ed Whispering Island!"

„I don"t like it much," said Anne. „It almost sounds as if they"re saying nasty things about us!"

„Shooey, shooey, shooey, shooey!" said the trees, nodding towards one another as the wind shook them. „Shooey, shooey!"

„Just the noise of whispering!" said George. „Well - what do we do now? We"ll have to wait an hour or two til the tide turns again!"

„Shall we explore?" said Dick. „After all, we"ve got Timmy with us. No one is likely to attack us if they see him!"

„They can shoot him, can"t they, if they have guns?" said George. „If he growled one of his terrifying growls, and ran at them, showing his teeth, they"d be scared to bits, and fire at him."

„I think you"re right," said Julian, angry with himself for landing them all into what might be serious trouble. „Keep your hand on Timmy"s collar, George."

„You know what I think?" said Dick suddenly. „I think we ought to try and find the guards, and tell them the tide swept us on to the island quite by accident - we couldn"t stop the boat surging on! We"re not grown-ups, come to snoop around, so they"re sure to believe us - and we"d be safe from any chasing or shooting then."

They all looked at Julian. He nodded. „Yes - good idea. Give ourselves up, and ask for help! After all, we hadn"t any real intention of actual y landing - the tide simply threw the boat into that sandy cove!"

So they walked up to the back of the cove and into the wood, whose whispering was very loud indeed, once they were actual y among the trees. No one was to be seen. The wood was so thick that it was in parts quite difficult to clamber through. After about ten minutes very hard walking and clambering, Julian came to a stop. He had seen something through the trees.

The others pressed behind him. Julian pointed in front, and the others saw what looked like a great grey wall, made of stone.

„The old castle, I imagine!" Julian whispered, and at once the trees themselves seemed to whisper even more loudly! They all made their way to the wall, and walked alongside it. It was a very high wall indeed, and they could hardly see the top! They came to a corner and peeped round. A great courtyard lay there - quite empty.

„Better shout, I think," said Dick, beginning to feel rather creepy, but before they could do that two enormous men suddenly came down a flight of great stone steps. They looked so fierce, that Timmy couldn"t help giving a blood-curdling growl. They stopped short at once, and looked al round, startled.

„The noise came from over there," said one of the men, pointing to his left - and, to the children"s great relief, both swung off in the wrong direction!

„We"d better get back to the cove," whispered Julian. „I don"t at all like the look of those men - they look proper thugs. Quiet as you can, now. George, don"t let Timmy bark."

They made their way back beside the stone wall, through the whispering trees, and there they were, at the cove.

„We"d better row back as quickly as we can," said Julian. „I think something"s wrong here.

Those men looked like foreigners. They certainly weren"t game-keepers. I wish we hadn"t come."

„Ju - where"s our boat?" said Dick, in a shocked voice. „It"s gone. This can"t be the right cove!"

The others stared round. Certainly there was no boat! They must have come to the wrong cove.

„It looks the same cove to me," said George. „Except that the sea has come in a bit more.

Do you think it took our boat away - gosh, look at that big wave sweeping right in - and sucking back!"

„My word, yes! Our boat could easily have been dragged out on a wave like that!" said Julian, very worried. „Look out - here comes another!"

„It is the same cove!" said Anne, looking under a bush at the back. „Here are our clothes, look! We hid them here!"

„Take them out quickly!" called Julian, as another big wave swept right in. „What an idiot I am! We should have pulled our boat as far up as we could."

„I"m cold now," said Anne. „I"m going to dress. It wil be easier to carry a bathing-suit than a heap of clothes!"

„Good idea!" said Dick, and they all promptly dressed, feeling warmer at once.

„We might as well leave our bathing-things under the bush where we left our clothes," said George. „At least we"l know it"s the same cove, if we find them there!"

„The thing is - what are we going to do now?" said Julian, worried. „No boat to get back in

- and why on earth did we choose one called Adventure! We might have known something would happen!"

Julian went to the mouth of the cove and looked out over the waves, hoping that he might see their boat bobbing somewhere. „I could swim out to it if so," he thought, „and bring it in. No - there"s not a sign of a boat! I could kick myself for being so careless!"

Dick came up, looking worried. „I suppose it"s too far to swim back to the mainland, isn"t it?" he said. „I could have a shot - and get another boat and come back for everyone."

„No. Too far," said Julian. „The tide"s too strong for any swimmer at the moment. We"re certainly in a fix!"

„We can"t signal, I suppose?" said Dick.

„What with?" asked Julian. „You could wave a shirt for an hour and it wouldn"t be seen from the mainland!"

„Well - we must think of something!" said Dick, exasperated. „What about trying to find a boat here? Surely those men must have one to get to and fro."

„Of course!" said Julian, clapping Dick on the back. „Where are my brains? They seem to be going soft or something! We could snoop round and about tonight, to see if there"s a boat anywhere. They may have two or three. They"d have to get food from the mainland at times."

The two girls and Timmy came up then, and Timmy whined. „He doesn"t seem to like this island," said George. „I think he smel s danger!"

„I bet he does!" said Dick, putting his hand on Timmy"s firm head. „I"m jolly glad he"s with us. Can you girls think of any good ideas - we can"t!"

„We could signal," said George.

„No good. A signal from here couldn"t be seen," said Dick. „We"ve already thought of that."

„Well - if we lighted a fire here on the beach tonight, when the tide"s out, surely that would be seen?" said Anne.

Dick and Julian looked at one another. „Yes!" said Julian. „If we lighted it on a hil y bit it would be better stil - on that cliff up there, for instance."

„Wouldn"t the guards see it?" asked Dick.