Five Have a Mystery to Solve (10 page)

Everyone laughed at the thought of the tins rolling at top speed down the hil . Anne slipped her arm through Wilfrid"s and gave it a squeeze.

„You did jolly well," she said, and Wilfrid beamed at her, astonished and pleased at everyone"s warm friendliness. Timmy went up to the boat and began sniffing at the bread.

Then he turned and barked as if to say „Is there anything here for me?"

Wilfrid understood at once. „Oh yes, Timmy!" he said.

„I brought a special tin of dogmeat for you - here you are - a large tin of Waggomeat!"

Timmy recognized the tin at once, and barked joyfully. He pawed Wilfrid as if to say

„Come on, then - open it! I"m hungry!"

„Anyone got a tin-opener?" said George. „It would be too dreadful if we couldn"t open the tins!"

„Gosh - I never even thought about that!" said Wilfrid. „What an ass I am!"

„It"s al right. I"ve a thing on my pocket-knife that"s supposed to open tins," said Dick, taking out a very large closed knife. „I"ve never bothered to use it - so let"s hope it wil work the trick. Chuck me a tin, Wilfrid."

Wilfrid threw him the tin of Waggomeat. With everyone watching very anxiously indeed, Dick opened a peculiar-looking tool in his knife, and gashed the point into the top of the tin. It worked!

„First time I"ve ever used it," said Dick, running the gadget round the tin-top. „Three cheers for the man who thought of including it in a knife!"

„Wil Timmy be able to swallow yet?" asked George, anxiously. „His throat must stil be hurting him where that wooden bal choked him."

„Oh, Timmy wil be able to judge that for himself," said Julian. „If I know anything about him, not even a sore throat wil stop him from wolfing half that tin!"

Julian was right. As soon as Wilfrid scraped out a third of the meat with his knife on to a flat stone nearby, Timmy was wolfing it in great gulps!

„Nothing much the matter with your throat now, Tim!" said Anne, patting him. „Dear old Tim. Don"t ever choke again. I simply couldn"t bear it!"

„Let"s have a meal ourselves now," said George. „We"ll open more of those tins. We don"t need to be stingy about them because we can leave in Wilfrid"s boat at any time, and get back to the mainland."

Soon they had opened a tin of tongue, two tins of fruit, and a large tin of baked beans.

They cut the big loaf into six pieces (one for Timmy, of course) and then sat down at the back of the cove to feast.

„Best meal I ever had in my life!" said Dick, enjoying himself. „Tasty food - fresh air - sea nearby - sun on our heads - and friends sitting all round me!"

„Woof!" said Timmy, at once, and gave Dick a very wet lick.

„He says he couldn"t agree more," said Anne, with a laugh.

„The sun"s going down," said George. „What are we going to do? Go back to the mainland in Wilfrid"s boat - or stay here for the night?"

„Stay here," said Julian. „Nobody knows we"re here, and I want to snoop round a bit tonight, when those men can"t see me. There"s a lot of things that puzzle me. For instance, how on earth do they send away the things from here - such as those packed statues we saw? It must mean that a fairly big vessel comes along to collect them, I suppose. And I"d like to know how many men there are on the island - presumably the guards we saw, with guns - and the men who have found that underground cave, where everything was hidden. Then we"ll go back, tell the police, and leave things to them!"

„Couldn"t Wilfrid take the two girls back to the mainland, then come back with the boat?"

said Dick. „I don"t think we ought to let them run any risk."

Before Julian could reply, George spoke quickly - and crossly. „We"re staying here -

though Anne can go back if she wants to. But Timmy and I are staying with you boys, so that"s that."

„Al right, al right, no need to shout!" said Dick, pretending to cover his ears. „What about you, though, Anne? You"re the youngest, and..."

„I"m staying," said Anne. „I"d be worried stiff al night if I left you on the island. And I certainly don"t want to miss any excitement!"

„Right," said Julian. „We all stay then. Wilfrid, did you know that Timmy has his nose in the pocket where you keep your hedgehog?"

„Yes. They"re just making friends," said Wilfrid. „Anyway, the hedgehog"s only a baby - his quil s won"t prick Timmy"s nose, they"re stil too soft. He"s a dear little thing. I thought I"d cal him Spiky."

„Wuff," said Timmy, quite agreeing. He was sitting between George and Wilfrid, very happy indeed, for both fondled him and patted him at the same time.

„I think I"l take a walk round the island," suddenly announced Wilfrid. „Timmy, like to come with me?"

Timmy got up at once, but George pul ed him down. „Don"t be an ass, Wilfrid," she said.

„Timmy"s been shot at once, by the men here - and I"m not going to risk it again - besides, we don"t want them to know we"re here."

„I"d be very careful," persisted Wilfrid. „I wouldn"t let them spot me. They didn"t spot me coming over in the boat."

Julian sat up very suddenly. „How do we know they didn"t?" he said. „I never thought of that! They might have a telescope - they might keep watch al the time - they might even have seen us in our boat! After all, they can"t risk being spied on!"

„I don"t think they could have seen us," said Dick. „They would have made a search."

„I"m jol y sure they didn"t see me," boasted Wilfrid. „They"d have been waiting for me on the shore, if they had." He got up and looked all round. „I think I"l go for my walk now," he said.

„NO! You are DEFINITELY not to go for a walk, Wilfrid," said Julian, and lay back in the sun again. It was sinking now, but stil very bright. Dick began to think of the night, and how he and Julian would snoop round and find the way into that strange place underground where those golden statues stood silently in the darkness.

Then he fel fast asleep, and only awoke when Anne gave him a friendly punch. He sat up and began a long and leisurely conversation with his sister - and then Anne suddenly looked al round.

„Where"s Wilfrid?" she said. They all sat up then, and looked startled. Wilfrid was nowhere to be seen!

„He must have slipped away without a sound!" said Dick, angrily. „The little idiot. He"s been gone quite a long time! He"l get caught, as sure as can be. Good thing Timmy didn"t go with him - he might have been caught too - and shot!"

George put her arms round Timmy in fear.„Timmy would never go with Wilfrid if I wasn"t there too," she said. „What a little fathead he is! I say - those men wil guess there"s someone else on the island with Wilfrid, won"t they? They might even make him tell al he knew - and where the boat is, and everything!"

„What shall we do?" said Anne. „We"d better go after him."

„Timmy wil track him for us," said George, getting up. „Come on, Tim. Find Wilfrid. Find that sil y disobedient boy Wilfrid!"

Timmy understood at once. He put his nose to the ground, found Wilfrid"s scent, and began to walk away. „Not too fast, Timmy," said George, and he at once slowed down.

George looked round at the little place among the bushes where they had been sitting.

„Had we better take a tin or two with us?" she said.

„Yes. Good idea," said Julian. „You just never know!"

He and Dick took a couple of tins each, stuffed uncomfortably into their pockets. Blow Wilfrid!

„He must have gone in this direction," said Dick. „I never spotted him slinking away, the little nuisance! I"m surprised Timmy didn"t make a sound! Track him, Tim, track him!"

„Listen!" said Anne, suddenly, and she stopped. „Listen!" They al listened - and didn"t at all like what they heard. It was Wilfrid"s voice, yel ing in fright.

„Let me go! Let me go!"

And then a stern, loud and threatening voice came „Who are you with? Where are they?

You"re not alone, we"re certain of that!"

„Quick - we must hide!" said Julian, angry and worried. „Dick, look about for a good place and I wil too."

„No good," said Dick. „They"l beat everywhere for us. Better climb trees."

„Good idea!" said Julian. „Anne, come with me. I"l give you a shove up. Hurry, everybody!

Hurry!"

What about Timmy? He can"t climb," said George, fearful y. „He might be shot."

„Put him under a bush and tell him to sit, sit, sit!" said Julian, urgently. „He knows perfectly well what that means. Go on, George, quick."

George took Timmy by the collar and led him to a very thick bush. She pushed him under it. He turned himself round, poked his nose out of the leaves, and looked at her in surprise.

„Sit, Timmy! Sit, and keep quiet!" said George. „Sit, sit, sit - and keep quiet. Understand?"

„Woof," said Timmy, very quietly, and withdrew his nose, so that nothing of him could be seen at al . He knew perfectly well what George meant. Clever old Timmy!

Dick was giving Anne a shove up a tree with drooping branches thick with leaves. „Get as high as you can," he said, in a low voice. „And then stay put til you hear me cal you.

Don"t be afraid. Old Timmy"s down here to protect you!"

Anne gave him rather a small smile. She was not like George, fearless and always ready to rush into trouble. Anne was all for a peaceful life - but how could she have that if she was one of the Five!

The boys and George were now high up in trees, listening to the shouting going on.

Apparently Wilfrid was not going to give away his friends - one up to him!

„How did you get here?" a man was shouting.

„In a boat," said Wilfrid.

„Who was with you?" shouted another man.

„Nobody. I came alone," said Wilfrid, perfectly truthfully. „I wanted to visit the island. I"m an animal-lover and I heard that all the wild creatures here were tame."

„A likely story that!" sneered a man"s voice. „Huh! Animal-lover!"

„Al right then - look what I"ve got here in my pocket," said Wilfrid, and apparently showed the man his baby hedgehog. „He was trodden on by a horse - and I"ve been looking after him."

„Very well - you can go back to your boat, and row away," said the man. AT ONCE! mind.

And don"t look so scared. We shan"t hurt you. We"ve business of our own here, and we don"t want strangers round - not even sil y little kids with hedgehogs in their pockets!"

Wilfrid took to his heels and fled. He felt lost now. He would never find the others - or the cove where his boat was. WHY had he disobeyed Julian? Had the others heard the men shouting at him? Which way should he go?

He had entirely lost his sense of direction and had no idea whether to go to the left or the right. He began to panic. Where could the others be? He must find them, he must! He ran through the trees, wishing that Timmy was with him. Then he stopped. Surely this was quite the wrong way? He turned and went in a different direction. No, this couldn"t be right either, he didn"t recognize a thing!

He thought he heard voices in the distance. He stood and listened. Could it be the others? If only George would tel Timmy to find him! But she wouldn"t, in case he was shot at. Was that noise voices - or was it just the wind? Perhaps it was the others looking for him.

Wilfrid rushed off towards the distant sound. But alas, it died down. It was only the wind!

The trees thinned out into bushes - and then Wilfrid suddenly saw the sea in the distance!

Good! If he could get to it, he could walk round the shore til he came to his cove. He would know where he was then. He began to run towards the blue sea.

Through the bushes he went, and came out at last on to what seemed to be a very high cliff. Yes - there was the sea, below and beyond. If only he could scramble down the cliff he could bear to the right and at last come to his cove. He came to the edge of the cliff and looked down - and then he started back in fear. What was that noise - that awful, dreadful noise? It was like a giant wailing and wailing at the top of his voice, the wailing going up and down in the wind. Wilfrid found his knees were shaking. He simply didn"t dare to go on. He sat down and tried to get his breath, putting his hands over his ears to keep out the horrible wailing.

And then he suddenly remembered something and heaved a sigh of heartfelt relief. „Of course - these must be the Wailing Cliffs we were told about!" he thought thankful y. „We heard about the Whispering Wood - and it does whisper - and the Wailing Cliffs - and they do wail! At least, it"s really the wind, of course. But goodness, what a queer, strange sound!"

He sat for a while longer, then, feeling much bolder, he went to the edge of the great cliff, and looked over. He stared down in surprise.

„There"s somebody down there - three or four people! Mustn"t let them see me - they must belong to the men on the island! What are they doing down there?"

He lay down and peered over. Four men were there - but, as Wilfrid watched, they disappeared. Where had they gone? He craned over the cliff to see. „There must be caves in the cliff, I suppose," he said to himself. „That"s where they"ve gone! Gosh, I wish this wailing would stop. I shal start wailing myself in a minute!"

After some time voices came faintly up to him, as he lay watching, and he saw two men coming out on to the rocks below again. What were they carrying? A long, deep box -

why, it looked exactly like one of the boxes in which the others had seen those beautiful little statues, packed in sawdust!

„So that"s how they get them away from here - take them down through some passage in the cliffs - to a waiting boat. Where"s the boat, thought I can"t see one. Not arrived yet, perhaps."

He watched with intense interest as the men carried out box after box and piled them on a great flat rock that abutted on a stretch of fairly calm water.

„Big boxes - little ones - my word, those men have been busy lately!" thought Wilfrid, wishing and wishing and wishing that the others were with him. „I wonder what"s in them.

Not the bed of gold, that"s certain. I bet it would be far too big to put into a boat. Have to be pul ed to pieces first! Hal o - here comes another box - a small one this time. Good gracious, they"l soon need a steamer to take all these!"