The Circus of Adventure (6 page)

‘Poof!’ they heard her say to herself quietly. ‘Poof!’

Surprisingly enough Gussy was good at Racing Demon. He was very deft with his cards, and very sharp to see which pile he could put them on. He got very excited, and panted loudly. His hair fell over his eyes, and he pushed it back. Jack calmly put a card on a pile that Gus was just about to put one on, and Gus exclaimed in annoyance.

‘I was going to put mine there—but my hair fell over me!’

‘Why do you have hair like that then?’ said Dinah. ‘You look like a girl. Why don’t you get it cut?’

‘Yes, that’s a good idea,’ said Philip, putting a card down. ‘We’ll go into the village tomorrow and see if there’s a barber. He’ll cut it nice and short for you, Gus. You’ll get a crick in your neck, tossing your hair about like that!’

‘Yes. Good idea! We’ll have it cut tomorrow,’ said Jack, grinning at Gus.

Gus surprised them. He flung down his cards, stood up, and went scarlet in the face. ‘Short hair is for boys like you,’ he said, scornfully. ‘It is not for me. Never must I have my hair short. In my country always it is the custom for such boys as me to wear their hair long!’

‘Such boys as you!’ echoed Jack. ‘What do you mean? You’ve got a very high opinion of yourself, my lad. You may come from a rich family, but you act like royalty, and it won’t do. You’re not a Prince, so don’t try and act like one. It only makes you ridiculous.’

Gus drew himself up to his last inch. He threw back his hair once more. ‘I am a Prince!’ he said, dramatically. ‘I am the Prince Aloysius Gramondie Racemolie Torquinel of Tauri-Hessia!’

Chapter 8

BILL EXPLAINS

There was a dead silence after this dramatic announcement. Nobody said a word, not even Kiki. They all stared in astonishment at Gus, not knowing whether to believe a word of what he had said.

Then his lips began to shake, and he tried to press them together firmly. Lucy-Ann was sure he wanted to cry again!

‘I have broke my word!’ suddenly wailed Gus. ‘I am a Prince and I have broke my word!’

A voice came from behind them. It was Bill’s.

‘Yes, you have broken your word, Aloysius Gramondie Racemolie Torquinel. And your uncle told me you would never do that. How am I to keep you safe if you break your word?’

Bill came forward, his face stern. Everyone stared at him in alarm. Whatever was up?

‘Bill—he’s not really a Prince, is he?’ said Jack.

‘Believe it or not, he is,’ said Bill. ‘His uncle is the King of Tauri-Hessia.’

‘Well! That explains his peculiar behaviour,’ said Dinah. ‘His ordering people about—and his high-and-mighty airs—and all his money and boasting.’

‘And his long hair too,’ said Bill. ‘The Princes in his country never have their hair cut short as ours do. They wear it a certain length, as you see. It’s bad luck on him, really, because he gets teased. Still, the boys at his school knew who he was and knew he couldn’t help it, and he didn’t have too bad a time.’

There was a pause while the four took a look at Prince Aloysius. He shook back his hair and Dinah groaned.

‘I wish you wouldn’t do that, Gussy. I can’t call you Ally—Ally-something or other. You’ll have to go on being Gussy.’

‘Oh, he must,’ said Bill, at once. ‘I gave him the name of Gustavus Barmilevo for a special reason. Things—rather serious things—are happening in his country at the moment, and it’s essential that he should go under another name here.’

‘What serious things are happening?’ said Jack. ‘Revolts or something?’

‘Well, I’ll tell you,’ said Bill. ‘His uncle is King, and as he has no children, Gussy is the heir to the throne. Now there are certain people in Tauri-Hessia who don’t like his uncle or the firm way in which he governs the country. Incidentally he governs it very well, and our own Government think him a very sound ruler.’

‘I can guess what’s coming,’ said Jack. ‘Those who don’t like the strong uncle think it would be a good thing to get a weak youngster, who’ll have to do what they tell him, and put him on the throne. Then they can do as they like!’

‘Exactly,’ said Bill. ‘And so they are on the look-out for Gussy here. If they can get hold of him and put him on the throne, he will have to do exactly what he’s told. His uncle will be imprisoned or killed.’

‘And Gussy knows all this, does he?’ asked Philip.

‘He knows all right!’ said Bill. ‘Everything was explained to him. He’s fond of his uncle; he doesn’t want to be used as a kind of pawn by his uncle’s enemies—and so he was put in my keeping, and told to be merely a foreign schoolboy called Gustavus. And here he is.’

‘I have broke my word to you,’ said Gussy, sounding very doleful. ‘Mr. Bill, I ask you to pardon me.’

‘Well, don’t do it again, that’s all,’ said Bill. ‘Nobody here is likely to give you away, fortunately—we are all your friends—or would like to be if only you’d behave yourself a bit better.’

‘I behave better at once immediately,’ said Gussy, emphatically.

‘Hm. Well, we’ll see,’ said Bill, drily. ‘It would help considerably if you could try to behave like the others so that if any stranger comes hanging round he’ll think you are an ordinary school-boy staying with friends. At present I think you’re behaving like a spoilt baby, not like a Prince at all. In fact, if I were a Tauri-Hessian citizen, I’d be sorry to think I’d have you as a King when you grew up.’

‘Bill—is it the Tauri-Hessian Government or ours that has asked you to have charge of Gussy?’ said Dinah.

‘Both,’ said Bill. ‘It’s important to both Governments that there should be a sound, strong ruler in Tauri-Hessia. I can’t tell you why at present. I think it’s possible that all this will blow over in a few weeks, and then Gussy can go back to school in safety. In the meantime, we’ve got to make the best of all this.’

‘Yes. I see everything now,’ said Dinah. ‘You should have told us at first, Bill. We’d have understood better.’

‘I had orders not to say a word except to your mother,’ said Bill. ‘She had to be in on this, of course. I took this cottage because it was well hidden and nobody would guess that Gussy would be here. And I thought if you all came too, he would be even better hidden—hidden in the midst of you, one of many, so to speak.’

‘You’re clever, Bill,’ said Lucy-Ann, slipping her hand in his. ‘We’ll look after Gussy. We won’t let him out of our sight. Gussy, we’re your friends.’

‘I thank you,’ said Gussy, with a funny little bow. ‘It is an honour.’

‘That’s the way to talk,’ said Bill, and gave him a clap on the back. ‘Now then, everyone—you’ve got to forget all about Aloysius Gramondie and Tauri-Hessia. Got that?’

‘Yes, Bill,’ said everyone. They looked rather solemn. It was queer to have serious and unusual problems suddenly presented to them candidly in the middle of a game of Racing Demon. The ordinary and the extraordinary didn’t really mix. They turned with relief to their game again, as Bill went out of the room to find his wife and tell her what had happened.

‘Look what Kiki’s been doing while we’ve been talking!’ said Jack, in exasperation. ‘Mixing up all the cards. Put down the ones you’re holding, Kiki!’

‘She’s been playing a quiet little game by herself,’ said Lucy-Ann, with a laugh. ‘And she’s holding two cards in her foot exactly as if she was waiting for her turn to go. Put them down, Kiki.’

‘One, two, three, six, eight, four, one,’ said Kiki, getting her numbers muddled up as usual. ‘Three, four, buckle my shoe.’

‘One, two, buckle my shoe,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Your memory’s going, Kiki!’

Kiki gave a Hiccup, as she often did when she thought she had made a mistake.

‘Enough, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘Anyone want another game?’

Nobody really felt like one after all the revelations Bill had made. They didn’t like to discuss them in front of Gussy, though they were longing to talk about them.

Mrs. Cunningham put her head in at the door. ‘Bill’s going up to the farm for milk. Anyone want to go with him? Not Gussy, he says.’

‘I’ll go,’ said Lucy-Ann, scrambling up. ‘I’d like a walk. You boys stay with Aunt Allie, and look after her.’

‘Right,’ said Jack, thinking it was just as well to do so, with prospective kidnappers and revolutionaries about, even although they might be as far away as Tauri-Hessia.

‘I’ll stay behind too,’ said Dinah. ‘I’ve got a blister on my foot.’

So Lucy-Ann went off happily with Bill. She liked getting him alone. He was always jolly and full of fun when they were all together, but Lucy-Ann thought he was even nicer alone. She slipped her hand through his arm, and they walked off in the dusk together.

‘In case you want to say anything about Gussy, I’ll just warn you not to,’ said Bill, in a low voice. ‘I don’t want the slightest suspicions to get about that he’s not all he seems. It would be a very serious thing for him if he were forced to be King at his age.’

‘I won’t say anything,’ said Lucy-Ann in a whisper. ‘Let’s talk about Jack.’

‘You’re always ready to talk about Jack, aren’t you?’ said Bill, amused. ‘Well, I must say that Jack has got something I’d dearly like to have myself.’

‘What’s that? Kiki?’ asked Lucy-Ann.

‘No—a very nice little sister,’ said Bill. ‘It’s good to see a brother and sister so fond of one another.’

‘Well, our mother and father died when we were very young,’ said Lucy-Ann, ‘so we only had each other. But now we’ve got you and Aunt Allie, and we’ve got Philip and Dinah as well. We’re lucky!’

‘I’m lucky too,’ said Bill. ‘A nice ready-made family for me! Hark at the owls hooting round. What a collection of hoots!’

‘That was the little-owl,’ said Lucy-Ann, who had been well trained in bird calls by Jack. ‘That “tvit-tvit-tvit” noise. And that lovely long quavering hoot is the tawny-owl.’

‘And what in the world is that?’ said Bill, suddenly startled by a loud screech near his head. Lucy-Ann laughed.

‘The screech-owl—the old barn-owl!’ she said. ‘He does that to frighten the mice and the rats.’

‘Well, he scared me too,’ said Bill. ‘Ah—is that the farm-house looming up? It is. You come in with me, Lucy-Ann, and don’t be surprised at my conversation with Mrs. Ellis!’

They knocked at the door and went into the big, cosy kitchen. Although it was a warm night there was a fire in the chimney corner, and old Aunt Naomi sat there, knitting, huddled up in a shawl.

Mrs. Ellis hurried to meet them. ‘Well, it’s good to see you! And how are you getting on? Settled in nicely? That’s right. Now, what can I do for you? Sit you down, do!’

They sat down. Lucy-Ann found a rocking-chair and began to rock to and fro. A big tabby came and jumped into her lap, settled down and went to sleep. Lucy-Ann felt quite honoured.

Mrs. Ellis brought her a piece of cake, and she nibbled at it and listened lazily to Bill. He gave Mrs. Ellis all the news first. Then he went on to talk about Quarry Cottage.

‘It’s a lovely, peaceful spot,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t think strangers ever come along here, do they, Mrs. Ellis? Except people like ourselves who want to stay for a bit.’

‘Now, it’s funny you should say that,’ said Mrs. Ellis, ‘because two strangers came to our farm-house this very afternoon—in a lovely black car. Rather like yours, Mr. Cunningham.’

‘I suppose they lost their way,’ said Bill. Although he spoke in his ordinary voice Lucy-Ann knew that he had pricked up his ears at once.

‘No, they hadn’t lost their way,’ said Mrs. Ellis. ‘They’d been hunting round for a nice farm-house to stay in for a few days—the man’s wife has been ill, and simply longed to be in a quiet farm-house, with good food. Somebody ‘told him of our farm, and they came to inquire.’

‘I see,’ said Bill. ‘And—er—did you say you would take them, Mrs. Ellis?’

‘I did,’ said Mrs. Ellis, ‘though my husband scolded me for it. He says my kind heart runs away with me! They’re coming tomorrow. They said their name was Jones—but it’s my belief they’re foreigners!’

‘Foreigners,’ said Bill, slowly. ‘Yes—I had an idea you were going to say that!’

Chapter 9

AN AFTERNOON OUT

Lucy-Ann stopped rocking the chair, and her heart sank into her shoes. Foreigners! Did that mean they were from Tauri-Hessia, or whatever the country was—and had they tracked down Gussy? Oh dear—surely, surely another adventure wasn’t beginning! This had seemed as if it would be such a nice peaceful holiday.

‘Blow!’ whispered Lucy-Ann to the cat on her knee. ‘Blow Gussy! Blow his uncle!’

Bill asked a few more cautious questions, but Mrs. Ellis had nothing else to tell him of any interest. He got up, took the milk she had brought him from the dairy, and paid her. He thanked her, said good night, and out he and Lucy-Ann went, into the starry night.

‘I fear—I very much fear—that somebody is on Gussy’s track,’ said Bill, in a half-whisper as they went along together. ‘Now how could they have guessed he was with us? It’s a pity he’s so striking-looking, and so easily recognizable. I suppose someone must have spotted him with me, made enquiries about me—and as soon as they knew who I was, the rest would be easy. Hm! I don’t like it very much.’

‘Will you and Gussy have to disappear from here?’ whispered Lucy-Ann, so softly that Bill could hardly hear. ‘Please don’t go away, Bill.’

‘I’ll have to discuss things with your aunt,’ said Bill. ‘Don’t say a word to Gussy. He’ll get the wind up properly, if I know anything about him. And on no account must any of you leave him alone anywhere—always keep him in your midst.’

‘Yes, Bill,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Oh dear—I do wish those people weren’t going to the farm. Bill, they might be ordinary people, mightn’t they? They haven’t got to be enemies, have they?’

Bill squeezed Lucy-Ann’s hand. ‘No. I may be wrong. But I get hunches about these things, Lucy-Ann. And I’ve got a hunch this very minute. You needn’t worry. I shan’t let anything happen.’

‘Well—so long as you’re with us,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘But please don’t go away, Bill.’

‘I won’t,’ said Bill. ‘Not unless I take Gussy with me, which would really be the safest thing to do.’

They reached Quarry Cottage, and went in. Gussy and Dinah had gone to bed. Aunt Allie and the boys were still up, reading.