Five Have Plenty of Fun (11 page)

„You"l like this one al right," said Julian. „She"s a pickle and a scamp and a scal ywag -

but her heart"s in the right place - isn"t it, Joan?"

Joan nodded. She had always been fond of the reckless, cheeky little Jo, and it was she who had found a home for her when Jo"s father had had to go to prison. „Come on, Master Lesley," she said. „We must hurry. Master Julian, is she to go as a girl or a boy now -

we"ve got to decide that too."

„A girl, please - please, please, a girl!" said Berta, at once.

Julian considered. „Yes, I think you"re right," he said. „You"d better be a girl now - but for goodness" sake don"t cal yourself Berta yet."

„She can be Jane," said Joan, firmly. „That"s a nice name, but quite ordinary enough for nobody to notice. Berta is too noticeable a name. Come along, now - we"ll have to pick out your simplest clothes!"

„Now I"l ring up the police," said Julian, „and also ring for a taxi."

„No, don"t get a taxi for us," said Joan. „I don"t want to arrive at my cousin"s little cottage in a taxi, and make everyone stare! Jane and I wil catch the market bus and people wil think I"m going off to market. We can get another bus there, that wil take us almost al the way to my cousin"s. We"ve only to walk down the lane then."

„Good idea," said Julian, and went to the telephone. He got hold of the police sergeant, and told his tale. The man showed not the least excitement, but took down quickly all that Julian told him. „I"l be up in ten minutes," he said. „Wait in til I come."

Julian put down the receiver. Dick and Anne were watching him with troubled eyes. What was happening to George? Was she frightened - or furious - or perhaps hurt?

Timmy was absolutely miserable. He knew by now that something had happened to George. He had gone a dozen times to the place where her dressing-gown girdle had been found, and had sniffed round disconsolately.

Sal y knew he was unhappy and trotted after him soberly. When he lay down she lay down beside him. When he got up, she got up too. It would have been amusing to watch if anyone had felt like being amused. But nobody felt that way!

Footsteps came up the path. „The police!" said Julian. „They"ve not been long!"

The sergeant had come and also a constable. Anne felt comforted when she saw the big, solid, responsible-looking men. Julian took them into the sitting-room, and began to tell all that had happened.

In the middle of it there came the sound of footsteps racing down the stairs, and up the hall. „We"re just off!" shouted Joan"s voice. „Can"t stop to say good-bye, or we shall miss the bus!"

Down the garden path rushed Joan, carrying a small suitcase of her own, which she had lent Berta, because Berta"s was too grand. In it she had packed the very simplest of Berta"s clothes, but secretly she had thought that she would tel her cousin to dress Berta in some of Jo"s things.

Berta ran behind her - a different Berta now, dressed in a frock instead of jeans and jersey.

She waved to the others as she went, trying to smile.

„Good old Berta!" said Dick. „She"s got quite a lot in her, that kid."

„In fact, she"s quite a honey!" said Julian, trying to make Anne smile.

„What"s all that?" said the sergeant, in surprise, nodding his head towards the front path, down which Joan and Berta had just rushed.

Julian explained. The sergeant frowned. „You shouldn"t have arranged about that til you"d consulted us," he said. Julian was quite taken aback.

„Well, you see," he said, „it seemed to me that I must get Berta out of the house and hidden away at once in case the kidnappers realised quickly that they"d got the wrong girl."

„That"s so," said the sergeant. „Stil , you should have consulted us. It seems quite a good idea to put her in that quiet vil age, with Jo to see to her - she"s sharp, that Jo. I wouldn"t put it past her to hoodwink the kidnappers any day! But this is a very serious business, you realise, Master Julian - it can"t be dealt with by children."

„Can you get George back?" asked Anne, breaking in with the question she had been longing to ask ever since the police came.

„Maybe," said the sergeant. „Now I"l get in touch with your aunt and uncle, Master Julian, and with Mr Elbur Wright, and..."

The telephone rang just then and Anne answered it. „It"s for you, Sergeant," she said, and he took the receiver from her.

„Ha. Hm. Just so. Yes, yes. Right. Ha. Hm." The sergeant replaced the receiver and went back to Julian and the others. „News has just come in that the kidnappers have contacted Mr Elbur Wright, and told him they"ve got his daughter Berta," he said.

„Oh! And have they demanded that he shal tell them the secret figures he knows?" asked Julian.

The sergeant nodded. „Yes. He"s almost off his head with shock! He"s promised to give them all they want. Very foolish!"

„Gosh - you"d better tel him it"s not Berta they"ve got, but George," said Dick. „Then he"ll sit tight!"

The sergeant frowned. „Now, you leave this to us," he said, ponderously. „You"l only hinder us if you interfere or try meddling on your own. You just sit back and take things easy."

„What! With George kidnapped and in danger'?" exploded Dick. „What are you going to do to get her back?"

„Now, now!" said the sergeant, annoyed. „She is in no danger - she"s not the person they want. They wil free her as soon as they realise that."

„They won"t," said Dick. „They"l get on to her father and make him give up a few secrets!"

„Well, that wil give us a little more time to find these men," said the irritating sergeant, and he stood up, big and burly in his navy blue uniform. „Let me know at once if you have any other news, and please do not try to meddle. I assure you that we know the right things to do."

He went out with the constable. Julian groaned. „He doesn"t see that this is urgent. It"s so complicated too - the wrong girl kidnapped, the wrong father informed, the right one not at all inclined to give up powerful secrets - and poor old George not knowing what is happening!"

„Well, thank goodness we got Berta out of the way," said Dick. „Anne, you look queer - are you all right?"

„Yes. I think I"m just shocked - and oh dear, I feel awfully empty!" said Anne, pressing her tummy.

„Gosh - we forgot all about breakfast!" said Dick staring at the clock. „And it"s almost ten o"clock now! What have we been doing al this time? Come on, Anne - get us some food, there"s a dear. We shall al feel better then."

„I"m so sorry for poor old Timmy and little Sally," said Anne, going into the kitchen. „Timmy, darling, don"t look at me like that! I don"t know where your beloved George is, or I"d take you to her straight away! And Sal y, you wil have to put up with me for a little while, because although I do know where Berta is, I can"t possibly take you there!"

They were soon sitting down to a plain breakfast of boiled eggs, toast and butter. It seemed queer only to be three. Dick tried to make conversation, but the other two were very quiet. Timmy sat under the table with his head on Anne"s foot, and Sal y stood beside her, paws on her knee. Anne comforted both the mournful dogs as best she could!

After breakfast Anne went to wash up and make the beds, and the boys went outside to have another look at the place where George"s dressing-gown girdle had been found.

Sal y and Timmy came with them.

Timmy sniffed around a good bit, and then, nose to ground, went down the garden path to the front gate, and then pushed it open and went through it. Nose to ground he went down the lane and turned off into a little path.

„Dick - he"s fol owing some kind of trail," said Julian. „I"m certain it"s George"s. Even if somebody carried her away, Timmy is clever enough to know George might be with him -

he might just get a whiff of her."

„Come on then - let"s follow Timmy," said Dick, and the boys and Sal y went along the little path, hot on Timmy"s track. Timmy began to run, and Dick called to him.

„Not so fast, old boy! We"re coming too."

But Timmy did not slow down. Whatever it was he smelt, the scent was quite strong. The boys ran after him, beginning to feel excited.

But soon Timmy came to a full stop, in a little clearing in the wood. Dick and Julian panted up to where he was nosing round. He looked up at them forlornly. Evidently the scent came to an end there.

„Car-tracks!" said Dick, pointing down to where the dampish grass under a great oak tree had been rutted with big tyre-marks. „See? The men brought a car here and hid it, then crept through the woods to Kirrin Cottage, and waited for a chance to get Berta. They got George instead - but they wouldn"t have got anyone if only George hadn"t been ass enough to take Sal y to the kennel! The house was well and truly locked and bolted!"

Julian was looking at the wheel-tracks. „These tracks were made by very big tyres," he said. „It was a car - and I rather think these are American tyre-marks. I can check that when I get back - I"l go and ask Jim, at the local garage - he"ll know. I"l just sketch one quickly."

He took out a notebook and pencil and began to sketch. Dick bent down and looked more careful y at the tracks. „There is quite a lot of criss-crossing of tracks," he said. „I think the men came here and waited. Then, when they got George, they must have pushed her into the car, and turned it to go back the way they came - see, the tracks lead down that wide path over there. They made a mess of the turning, though - bumped into this tree, look - there"s a mark right across it."

„Where?" said Julian at once. „Yes - a bright blue mark - the car was that colour - or the wings were, at any rate. Well, that"s something we"ve learnt! A big blue car, probably American. Surely the police could trace that?"

„Timmy"s stil nosing round, the picture of misery," said Dick. „Poor old Tim. I expect he knows George was pushed into a car just there. Hal o - he"s scraping at something!"

They ran to see what it was. Timmy was trying to get at some smal object embedded in a car-rut. Evidently, in turning, the car had run over whatever it was.

Dick saw something broken in half - something green. He picked up the halves. „A comb!

Did George have a little green comb like this?"

„Yes. She did," said Julian. „She must have thrown it down when she got near to the car -

to show us she was taken here - hoping we would find it. And look, what"s that?"

It was a handkerchief hanging on a gorse bush. Julian ran to it. It had the initial G on it in blue.

„Yes, it"s George"s," he said. „She"s got six of these, al with different-coloured initials. She must have thrown this out too. Quick, Dick, look for anything else she might have thrown out of the car, while they were trying to turn it. They would probably put her in the back, and she would just have had a chance to throw out anything she had in her dressing-gown pocket, to let us know she was here if we came along this way."

They searched for a long time. Timmy found one more thing, again embedded in a car-rut - a boiled sweet wrapped in cel ophane paper.

„Look!" said Dick, picking it up. „One of the sweets we al had the other night! George must have had one in her dressing-gown pocket! If only she had had a pencil and bit of paper - she might have had time to write a note too!"

„That"s an idea!" said Julian. „We"ll hunt even more careful y"

But although they searched every bit of ground and every bush, there was no note to be found. It was too much to hope for!

„Let"s just follow the car-tracks and make sure they reached the road," said Julian. So they followed them down the wide woodland path.

At the side, a little way along, a piece of paper blew in the wind, hopping an inch or two each time the breeze flapped it. Dick picked it up - and then looked at Julian excitedly.

„She did have time to write a note! This is her writing. But there"s only one word, look -

whatever does it mean?"

Julian and Dick frowned over the piece of paper. Yes, it was George"s writing - the G was exactly like the way she always wrote the big G at the beginning of her signature.

„Gringo," read Julian. „Just that one word. Gringo! What does it mean? It"s something she heard them say, I suppose - and she just had time to write it and throw out the paper.

Gringo! Timmy, what does Gringo mean?"

Dick and Julian went back to Kirrin Cottage with the two disconsolate dogs. They showed Anne the things they had found, and she too puzzled over the word Gringo.

„We"ll have to tell the police what you have discovered," she said. „They might trace the car, and they might know who or what Gringo is."

„I"l telephone them now," said Julian. „Dick, you go down to the garage with this sketch of the tyre-mark, and see if it"s an American design."

The police were interested but not helpful. The sergeant said he would send his constable up to examine the place where the car had stood in the clearing, and gave it as his opinion that the bit of paper wasn"t much use, as the boys had found it some way from the turning-place of the car.

„Your cousin wouldn"t be able to throw it out of the window once the car was going," he said. „There would be sure to be someone in the back with her. The only reason she could throw things out at the clearing would be because the second fel ow - and there would certainly be two - would be guiding the other man in the turning of the car."

„The wind might have blown the note along the path," said Julian. „Anyway, I"ve given you the information."

It was a very miserable day, although the sun shone down warmly, and the sea was blue and most inviting. But nobody wanted to bathe, nobody real y wanted to do anything but talk and talk about George and what had happened, and where she could be at that moment!

Joan came back in time to get their lunch, and was pleased to find that Anne had done the potatoes and prepared a salad, and that Dick had managed to pick some raspberries. They were very glad to see Joan. She was someone sensible and comforting and matter-of-fact.