Famous Five 19 Five Go to Demons Rocks (4 page)

‘What! You’d pelt me with my own raisins! Well, that I will NOT have!’ She went to the sink and filled a cup with water, while Mischief pelted both her and Mrs Kirrin with raisin after raisin! He danced about on the top of the cupboard, screeching loudly in glee!

A bowl on the top of the cupboard fell off as the monkey danced about, and crashed to the ground. The noise scared him, and, with a flying leap, he shot off the cupboard and landed on the top of the half-open door. He pelted the two women from there, making the most extraordinary noises.

The study door was flung open, and out came Mr Kirrin, followed by the Professor.

‘What was that crash? What’s happening here? How can we w...’

It was most unfortunate that Joan should have thrown the cup of water at Mischief at that moment. He sat there on the top of the door - and the water fell all over him, splashed over the top of the door - and down on to Mr Kirrin’s head as he pushed the door open!

Joan was horrified. She disappeared into the scullery at once, not knowing whether to laugh or to make her apologies.

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Mr Kirrin was astounded to find himself dripping wet. He stared angrily up at Mischief absolutely certain that it was the monkey who had emptied the water over him.

By this time the Five had come out of the living-room, wondering what the noise was.

‘It’s old Mischief,’ said Tinker. ‘Throwing water, I should think!’

‘Well, actually, I threw the water,’ began Joan apologetically, peeping out of the scullery,

‘because...’

‘YOU threw it?’ said Mr Kirrin, amazed. ‘What is happening in this house? Things have come to a pretty pass if you start flinging water at people, Joan. You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Are you mad?’

‘Listen, Quentin,’ said his wife. ‘Nobody’s mad at present, but pretty soon we all shall be, if this sort of thing goes on! Quentin, are you LISTENING? I’ve something important to say to you - and to you too, Professor.’

The Professor remembered his manners. He gave a slight bow to Mrs Kirrin. ‘Please go on,’ he said politely, and then flinched as a raisin hit him squarely on the head. Mischief had found one on the floor, and had taken a pot-shot at the Professor. Dick looked at the monkey admiringly - he really was a very good shot!

‘What’s that little fathead of a monkey throwing!’ said Mr Kirrin, fiercely, and at once knew when a raisin hit him smartly on the nose. ‘Get rid of him! Put him in the dustbin!

Why have I to put up with monkeys that throw things and boys that chug about the house like cars gone mad? I tell you Fanny, I will NOT have it!’

Mrs Kirrin looked at him very sternly. ‘Listen Quentin, I have something to say. LISTEN!

Tinker says his father gave him a light-house for his own, and he suggests that he and all the others should leave here and go and stay in the light-house. Quentin, are you listening?’

‘A light-house! Are you mad? What, that little monkey of a boy says he owns a lighthouse? And you believed him?’ said Mr Kirrin, amazed.

‘Tinker’s quite right, as it happens,’ said Professor Hayling. ‘I bought a light-house to work in when I wanted to get right away from everywhere and concentrate - and when I’d finished, I couldn’t sell it - so as Tinker pestered me for it, I gave it to him. But not to live in!’

‘A light-house to work in!’ said Mr Kirrin, thinking what a truly marvellous idea this was.

‘I’ll buy it from you! I’ll...’

‘No, Quentin, you won’t do anything of the sort,’ said his wife, firmly. ‘Will you PLEASE

listen to me, both of you. Professor Hayling, is the light-house fit for these five to stay in

- and if so, they want to know if they can go there until you two have finished your work here. They’re a nuisance to you - and to be quite honest, you’re a nuisance to them!’

‘Fanny!’ said her husband, astonished and angry.

‘Father, listen. We’ll all get out of your way as soon as possible, if you’ll say we can go to Tinker’s lighthouse,’ said George, planting herself firmly in front of her father. ‘Say one word - YES - that’s all we want.’

‘YES!’ shouted Mr Kirrin, suddenly tired of all the argument, and longing to get back to his papers with the Professor. ‘YES! Go to the light-house - go to the Tower of London -

go and live at the Zoo, if you like! The monkeys will welcome that mischievous little creature, sitting grinning up there on the cupboard! But go SOMEWHERE!’

‘Oh thank you, Father!’ said George, joyfully. ‘We’ll go off to the light-house as soon as we can. HURRAY! THREE CH...’

But before she could continue, the study door shut with a bang behind the two exasperated men. George bent down, took Timmy’s two front legs, and proceeded to

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dance all round the living-room with him, shouting HURRAY! THREE CHEERS!’ over and over again.

Mrs Kirrin sat down suddenly in a chair, and began to laugh. Joan laughed too. ‘If we don’t laugh, we shall cry!’ she said. ‘What a hullabaloo! Well, it’s a good thing they’ll soon be off, ma’am. That loft is much too draughty for the boys, you know. Look at poor Julian - he’s got such a stiff neck he can hardly turn it this morning.’

‘Who cares?’ said Julian. ‘We’ll soon be off again together, all the Five - and two more to keep us company. It will be quite an adventure!’

‘An adventure?’ said Tinker, surprised. ‘But you can’t have adventures in a light-house -

it’s out on the rocks, all by itself, as lonely as can be! There aren’t any adventures to be found there!’

Ah - you wait and see, Tinker! You don’t know the Five! If there’s any adventure about, they’re bound to be right in the middle of it!

It was very exciting making plans to go to the lighthouse. Tinker told them all about it, time and time again. ‘It’s very tall - and there’s an iron stairway - a spiral one, going from the bottom up to the top. And at the top is a little room for the lamp that used to flash to warn ships away.’

‘It sounds smashing,’ said George. ‘What about Timmy, though? Can he climb up a spiral stairway?’

‘Well, he can live down at the bottom, can’t he, if it’s too difficult for him to climb up?’

said Tinker. ‘Mischief can climb it easily - he simply races up!’

‘If Timmy has to live at the bottom, I shall live there with him,’ said George.

‘Why not wait and see the light-house before you arrange the sleeping places?’ said Julian, giving lier a friendly punch. ‘Now first we must find out exactly where it is - and the way to get there. It’s a pity Tinker can’t turn into a real car - he could run us there in no time!’

Tinker at once imagined himself to be a large van, taking the Five and all their luggage along the road. He raced round the room, making his usual car noise, and hooting so loudly that he made everyone jump. Julian caught him as he raced round the table and sat him down firmly.

‘Any more of that and we leave you behind,’ he said. ‘Now - where’s that map of yours -

let’s have a look at it - and then we’ll get Aunt Fanny’s big map of the coast, and track down the road to your lighthouse.’

Soon Tinker and the Five were studying a large-scale map of the coast, Mischief sitting on Dick’s shoulder and tickling his neck.

‘See - that’s the way to go,’ said Julian. ‘It really wouldn’t be far by sea - look, round the coast here, cut across this bay, round the headland - and just there are the rocks on which the old light-house stands. But by road it’s a very long way.’

‘Better go by car, though,’ said Dick. ‘We’ve a good bit of luggage to take - not only our clothes, but crockery and things like that. And food.’

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‘There are still some stores there,’ said Tinker, eagerly. ‘Dad left some when we went away from the light-house.’

‘They’ll probably have gone bad,’ said Julian.

‘Well - don’t take too much,’ said Tinker. ‘It’s a pretty rough way over the rocks to the light-house - there isn’t a road that runs right up to it, you know. We shall have to carry everything ourselves, once we get to the place. We can always get fresh food if we want it - the village isn’t all that far away - but there are some days when you can’t even leave the light-house! You see the waves splash house-high over the rocks when there’s a rough wind. We’d have to get across by boat if the tide’s in - the rocks are covered then!’

‘This sounds too exciting for words!’ said Dick, his eyes shining. ‘What do you think about it, Anne? You haven’t said a word!’

‘Well - I do feel just a bit scared!’ said Anne. ‘It sounds so lonely. I do hope no ships will be wrecked on those awful rocks while we’re there!’

‘Tinker said there was a fine new light-house farther along the coast,’ said Julian. ‘Its light will keep every ship away from that wicked stretch of rocks. Look, Anne, you would like to come, wouldn’t you? If not, Aunt Fanny wouldn’t mind just you staying here -

you’re a little mouse, you wouldn’t bother Uncle Quentin or the Professor at all!’

‘I shouldn’t DREAM of not coming with you,’ said Anne, indignantly. ‘Julian - you don’t think there are still wreckers about do you? I should hate that.’

‘They belong to years gone by,’ said Julian. ‘Cheer up, Anne - this is just a little visit we’re going to pay to Tinker’s seaside house! He is kindly taking in visitors this spring!’

‘Well, let’s get on with our plans,’ said Dick. ‘We go there by car - er, what was that you just said, Tinker?’

‘I said I’ll drive you, if you like,’ said Tinker. ‘I could dr...’

‘You haven’t a driving licence, so don’t talk nonsense,’ said George, crossly.

‘I know I haven’t - but all the same I can drive!’ said Tinker. ‘I’ve driven my father’s car round and round our garden, see? And...’

‘Oh do shut up,’ said Dick. ‘You and your pretend cars! Julian, when shall we go to his light-house?’

‘Well, why not tomorrow morning?’ said Julian. ‘I’m sure everyone would be glad if we left as soon as possible! It’s hard on Aunt Fanny and Joan to have so many here. We’ll see about a car and someone to drive us, and then we’ll pack and make our getaway!’

‘Hurray’ said George in delight, and pounded on the table, making Mischief leap up to the top of a bookcase in fright. ‘Oh, sorry, Mischief - did I scare you? Timmy tell him I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. He probably understands your doggy language.’

Timmy looked up at Mischief, gave two little whines and a comforting wuff. Mischief listened with his head on one side, and then leapt down, landing neatly on Timmy’s back.

‘Thanks for giving him my messsage, Tim,’ said George, and everyone laughed. Good old Timmy! He wagged his long tail and put his head on George’s knee, looking up at her beseechingly.

‘All right old thing - I understand your language, whether you talk with your voice or your eyes,’ said George, patting him. ‘You want a walk, don’t you?’

‘Woof!’ said Timmy joyfully, and tore to the door.

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‘Let’s walk down to the garage and see if they have a car or a van to hire out to us,’ said Julian. ‘We’ll have to have a driver too, because someone has to take back the car.

Come on, Timmy-dog!’

They all set off to the garage in the village. The rain held off for a while, and the sun came out, making Kirrin Bay sparkle and shine.

‘I wish we could have gone to stay on my island,’ said George. ‘But it really is too damp to camp out. Anyway, a light-house will be nice for a change!’

The man at the garage listened to Julian’s tale of wanting a car to go to the light-house.

‘It’s the old light-house at Demon’s Rocks, not the new one at High Cliffs,’ he said.

‘We’re going to stay there.’

‘Stay at a light-house!’ said the man. ‘This isn’t a joke is it!’

‘No. It happens to belong to one of us,’ said Julian. ‘We have a few things to take there, of course, and we hoped you’d have a car and a driver tomorrow for us. We’d let you know somehow when we are ready to come back from the light-house, and you can send the same car for us then.’

‘Right,’ said the man. ‘And you’re staying at Kirrin Cottage now, you say? Oh - your uncle is Mr Kirrin? Well, I know Master George here, of course - but I wasn’t certain who you were. Some queer people order cars, you know!’

George was pleased to be called Master George. It was nice to be thought a boy. She dug her hands deep down in the pockets of her jeans.

‘We’d better take a few rugs and cushions,’ said Julian. ‘And some sweaters and wind-cheaters. I can’t imagine it’s very warm in the light-house.’

‘There’s an oil-heater there,’ said Tinker. ‘I think it was for the light-house lamp when it was in use. We can use that for warmth, if we’re cold.’

‘What sort of stores did you and your father leave there?’ asked Dick. ‘We’d better order some foodstuffs at the grocer’s - and some ginger-beer or something - and take it all in the car.’

‘Well - there’s plenty of tinned food, I think,’ said Tinker, trying to remember. ‘We left it there in case my father wanted to come back at any time and work again in peace and quiet.’

‘Hm. It’s a pity he didn’t fix up with Uncle Quentin to have him there with him,’ said Julian. ‘Then everyone would have been happy!’

They went to the grocer’s and Anne tried her best to order what she thought they would need, outside of tinned food. ‘Sugar - butter - eggs - oh dear - help me, George. How much shall I order?’

‘Don’t forget we can go shopping in Demon’s Rocks village,’ said Tinker. ‘Only it’s a bit of a nuisance if there’s windy weather - the path over the rocks isn’t very safe then. We might have to stay in the lighthouse for a day or two without leaving it. Even a boat might be too risky.’

‘It sounds thrilling!’ said George, picturing them all marooned by fierce storms, waiting to be rescued from peril and starvation! ‘Get some biscuits, Anne. And bars of chocolate.

And lots of ginger-beer. And a big bottle of lemonade. And a...’

‘Wait a minute - do you know who’s paying for all this?’ said Julian. ‘I am. So don’t ruin me completely!’ He took out his wallet. ‘Here’s a pound,’ he said. ‘That’s all I can spare at present! Dick can buy the next lot of food we want!’