Five Get Into a Fix (4 page)

Someone came rushing round the corner. It was Mrs. Jones, running as if she were a twelve-year-old!

“Tang! Bob! Dai!” she cal ed, but the three dogs took no notice of her. And then, from somewhere, came a voice. What a voice! It echoed all round the farmyard as if it had come through a megaphone.

“DAI! BOB! TANG!”

And at the sound of that stentorian voice the three dogs stopped as if shot. Then they turned about and tore off at top speed.

“Thank God! That was Morgan,” panted the old woman, clutching her shawl round her.

“He must have heard the barking. Oh, my little dear - are you hurt?” She took hold of George"s arm, and looked at her anxiously.

“I don"t know. I don"t think so,” said George, looking rather white. “It"s Timmy that"s hurt.

Oh, Tim, darling Tim, where did they bite you?”

“Woof!” said Timmy, who, though extremely startled, didn"t seem at all frightened. It had all happened so suddenly. George dropped down on her knees in the snow, and gave a little scream. “He"s been bitten on the neck - oh look! Poor, poor, Timmy. Why did I let you off the lead?”

“It"s not much, George,” said Julian, looking at the bleeding place. “The other dog bit just where his col ar is, look - and his teeth went through the col ar, not real y into Tim"s neck.

It"s real y not much more than a graze.”

Anne was leaning against the wal , looking sick, and Dick suddenly felt as if his legs were wobbly again. He couldn"t help thinking what would have happened if the three savage dogs had bitten George instead of Timmy. Good old George! She was as brave as a lion!

“What a thing to happen!” said old Mrs. Jones, upset. “Why for did you let him loose, my boy? You should have waited for my Morgan to come along with his dogs, and tell them your Timmy was a friend.”

“I know,” said George, stil on her knees beside Timmy. “It was al my fault. Oh, Timmy, I"m so thankful you"ve only got that one small bite. Mrs. Jones, have you any iodine? I must put some on at once.”

But before Mrs. Jones could answer, the giantlike figure of Morgan came round the corner of the barn, his three dogs, extremely subdued now, at his heels.

“Hey?” he said, enquiringly, looking at the four children and his mother.

“The dogs attacked this one,” explained his mother. “You shouted just in time, Morgan.

But he"s not much hurt. You should have seen this boy here - the one the dog belongs to -

he stood in front of his dog, and fought off Tang, Bob and Dai!”

Julian couldn"t help smiling to hear George continual y cal ed a boy - but, standing there in snow-trousers and coat, a wool en cap on her short hair, she looked very like a sturdy boy.

“Please come and get the iodine,” said George, anxiously, seeing a drop of blood drip from Timmy"s neck on to the white snow. Morgan took a step forward and bent down to look at Timmy.

He made a small scornful sound and stood up again. “He"s al right,” he said, and walked off.

George stared after him angrily. It was his dogs that had attacked and hurt Timmy - and he hadn"t even been sorry about it! She felt so angry that tears came suddenly into her eyes. She blinked them away, ashamed.

“I don"t think I want to stay here,” she said, loudly and clearly. “Those dogs wil be sure to attack Timmy again. They might kil him. I shal go home.”

“Now, now, you"re just upset,” said kind old Mrs. Jones, taking George"s arm. George shook off her hand, scowling. “I"m not upset. I"m just angry to think my dog should have been attacked for nothing - and I"m sure he"ll be attacked again. And I want to see to his neck. I"m going indoors.”

She stalked off with Timmy at her heels, her head well up, bitterly ashamed of two more tears that suddenly ran down her cheeks. It wasn"t like old George to cry! But she was stil not quite herself after being il . The other three looked at one another.

“Go with her, Anne,” said Julian, and Anne obediently ran after George. Julian turned to the worried old woman.

“You shouldn"t stand out here in the cold,” he said, seeing that she was shivering, and pul ing her shawl more closely round her. “George wil soon be al right. Don"t take any notice of what she says.”

“She! What, isn"t she a boy, then?” said Mrs. Jones, in surprise. “Is it a girl she is - as brave as that? Now there"s a fine thing, to be sure! What"l Morgan say to that? But now, surely she won"t go home, wil she?”

“No,” said Julian, hoping he was right. You never could tell with George! “She"ll soon get over it. If we could get some iodine it would help, though! She"s always terrified of wounds going bad, where Timmy is concerned.”

“Come away in, then,” said Mrs. Jones, and hurried back to the farmhouse, refusing Julian"s hand over the snow. What an independent little old woman!

George was in the living-room with Timmy. She had got some water and was bathing the wound with her handkerchief, having first taken off Tim"s col ar.

“I"l fetch you the iodine, boy,” said Mrs. Jones, forgetting again that George was a girl.

She ran to her kitchen, and came back with a big bottle of brown liquid. George took it grateful y, and dabbed some on Timmy, who stood stil , quite enjoying all the fuss. He jumped a little when the iodine stung him, and George patted him and praised him.

“He wouldn"t mind having iodine dabbed on him all day long, George, if you would only make a fuss of him,” said Dick, with a laugh.

George looked up. “He might have been kil ed,” she said. “And if those dogs get him again, he certainly wil be! I"m going to go back home - not to your home, Ju - but to my own, at Kirrin Cottage.”

“Oh, don"t be an ass, George,” said Dick, exasperated. “Anyone would think Timmy had been injured for life or something. He"s only got a skin wound! Why spoil what may be a jolly good holiday just for that?”

“I don"t trust those three dogs,” said George, stubbornly. “They"l be out to get Tim now - I know they wil . I tell you I"m going home. I"m not spoiling your holiday - only my own.”

“Well, listen - stay one more day,” said Julian, hoping that if she did, George would see how stupidly she was behaving. “Just one more day. That"s not much to ask. It wil upset old Mrs. Jones dreadful y if you rush off like this - and it wil be difficult to make arrangements for you to go back today, now that everywhere is under snow again.”

“Al right,” said George, ungraciously. “I"l stay til tomorrow. It wil give Timmy a bit of time to get over his fright. But ONLY til tomorrow.”

“Tim"s not frightened,” said Anne. “George, he would have taken on all three dogs by himself if you hadn"t gone to his help. Wouldn"t you, Timmy?”

“Woof, woof!” said Timmy, agreeing at once. He wagged his tail vigorously. Dick laughed.

“Good old Tim!” he said. “You don"t want to go home, do you?”

“Woof!” said Timmy, obligingly, and wagged his tail again. George put on one of her scowls, and Julian nudged the others to warn them to stop teasing her. He didn"t want George suddenly to change her mind and rush off home straightaway!

“I vote we go for a walk,” said Dick. “It"s a shame to stick indoors like this on this sunny, snowy day. Anne, are you coming?”

“I wil if George does,” said Anne. But George shook her head.

“No,” she said. “I"l stay in with Tim this morning. You go off together.”

Anne wouldn"t come, so the boys left the two girls and went out into the keen, invigorating mountain air once more. Already they felt better, and were not coughing at all. What a pity this had happened! It spoilt things for everyone - even for old Mrs. Jones, who now appeared at her front door, looking anxious.

“Don"t you worry now, Mrs. Jones,” said Julian. “I expect our cousin wil be al right soon.

She"s given up the idea of rushing home today at any rate! My brother and I are going for a walk up the mountain. Which way is best?”

“Well now, take that path,” said the old woman, pointing. “And go on til you come to our summer chalet. You can rest there before coming back - and if you don"t want to come back for dinner, well, you"l find food in the cupboard there. Here is the key to get into the little place!”

“Oh thanks,” said Julian, surprised. “That sounds good. We"d love to have our lunch up there, Mrs. Jones - we"l be back before dark. Tell the girls for us, wil you?”

And away they went, whistling. It was fun to have a day al to themselves, just the two of them, together!

They took the snowy path and began to climb up the slope of the mountain. The sun was now melting the snow a little, so they could make out the path fairly easily. Then they discovered that big black stones marked the way here and there - a guide to the farmer and his men, when the snow covered path and everything!

The view was magnificent. As they climbed higher, they could see the tops of more and more hil s, all of which sparkled snowy-white in the pale January sun. “I say - if only we had a bit more snow, what tobogganing we could have down these slopes,” said Dick, longingly. “I wish I"d brought my skis this morning - the snow is deep enough for them down that hil - we"d whizz along like lightning!”

They were glad when they at last came to the little hut or chalet that old Mrs. Jones had spoken about. After two hours" climbing it was nice to think of having something to eat, and a good rest!

“It"s quite a place,” said Julian, slipping the key into the lock. “A little wooden house, with windows and al !”

He opened the door and went inside. Yes - it was a very fine little place indeed, with bunk-beds let into the wooden walls, a stove for heating - and cupboards ful of crockery -

and tins of food! The two boys had the same idea at once, and swung round to one another.

“Couldn"t we stay here - on our own? George would love it too,” said Julian, putting into words what Dick was already thinking. Oh - if only they could!

The boys were tired, but not too tired to examine the little hut thoroughly - though it really was more like a one-roomed house. It faced across the deep valley, and the sun shone straight into it. Julian opened cupboard after cupboard, exclaiming in delight.

“Bedding! Towels! Crockery - and cutlery! And look at these tins of food - and bottles of orangeade and the rest! My word, people who come to stay at Magga Glen in the summer must have a fine time!”

“We could light the stove to heat the room,” suggested Dick, pul ing the oil-stove into the middle of the room.

“No. We don"t need to,” said Julian. “The sun is pouring in, and it really isn"t cold in here.

We could wrap ourselves round in the rugs from that cupboard if we want to.”

“Do you think we"d be allowed to come up here, instead of living down at the farm?”

said Dick, opening a tin of ham with a tin-opener that hung on a nail by the cupboard.

“It"s so much nicer to be quite on our own and independent! George would simply love it!”

“Well, we can ask,” said Julian, taking the cap off a bottle of orangeade. “Can we find some biscuits to eat with this ham? Oh yes - here are some cream-cracker biscuits. I say -

I"m real y ravenous!”

“So am I,” said Dick, his mouth full. “Pity George was such an ass - she and Anne could have enjoyed this too.”

“Well - perhaps on the whole it"s as well they didn"t come,” said Julian. “I think Anne would have been too tired to come al this way on her first day - and George certainly had a worse cold and cough than anyone. A day at the farm wil probably do her good.

Gosh - she"s absolutely fearless, isn"t she? I"l never forget her standing up to those three savage dogs! I was jolly scared myself.”

“I"m going to get a rug and wrap it round me and sit out on the doorstep in the sun,” said Dick. “That view is too marvel ous for words!”

He and Julian took a rug each, and then sat out on the wooden door-step, munching their ham and biscuits. They stared across at the great hil opposite.

“Is that a house on the slope over there - near the top, look,” said Dick, suddenly.

Julian stared across at the opposite hil , but could make out nothing.

“It can"t be,” he said. “The roof would be covered with snow, and we"d never see it.

Besides, who would build a house so high up?”

“Plenty of people,” said Dick. “It"s not everyone who likes towns and shops and cinemas and traffic and the rest. I can imagine an artist building a house on one of these mountains, just for the view! He"d be quite happy looking at it and painting it al day long.”

“Well - I like a bit of company, I must say,” said Julian, “This is all right for a week or two -

but you"d need to be an artist or a poet - or a shepherd or something, to stand it all the time!”

He yawned. Both boys had finished their meal, and felt comfortably full and at peace.

Dick yawned too, and lay back on his rug. But Julian pul ed him upright.

“Oh no! We"re not going to take naps up here! We"d sleep like logs again, and wake up in the dark. The sun"s going down already, and we"ve got al that long walk back to the farm - and no torch to light our way if we go wrong!”

“There are those black stones,” said Dick, with another yawn. “Al right, all right - I agree with you! I certainly don"t want to stumble down this mountain in the pitch dark!”

Julian suddenly clutched Dick"s arm, and pointed upwards, where the path stil wound on and on. Dick turned - and stared. Someone was up there, skipping down the path towards them, with a lamb gambolling around, and a small dog scampering after.

“Is it a boy or a girl?” said Julian, in wonder. “My word - it must be cold, whichever it is!”

It was a small girl coming along, a wild-looking little creature with a mass of untidy black curls, a face as brown as an oak-apple - and very few clothes! She wore a dirty pair of boy"s shorts, and a blue blouse - or it might have been a shirt. Her legs were bare, and she had old shoes on her feet. She was singing as she came, in a high sweet voice like a bird"s.

The dog with her began to bark, and she stopped her song at once. She spoke to the dog, and he barked again, facing towards the hut. The lamb gambolled round without stopping.