Five Go to Mystery Moor (13 page)

„It came up so suddenly," said Anne, shining her torch downwards. „I couldn"t believe my eyes when I looked round and saw it creeping up on us. I..."

She stopped suddenly. Timmy had given a low growl. „What"s up, Tim?" whispered George. He stood quite stil , his hackles up and his tail motionless. He looked steadfastly into the mist.

„Oh dear. What can be the matter now?" whispered Anne. „I can"t hear a thing, can you?"

They listened. No, there was nothing to hear at all. They went on into the quarry, thinking that Timmy might have heard a rabbit or hedgehog, and growled at it as he sometimes did.

Timmy heard a sound and ran to the side, lost in the mist at once. He suddenly yelped loudly, then there was a heavy thud, and no more sound from Timmy!

„Timmy! What"s happened! Timmy, come here!" shouted George, at the top of her voice.

But no Timmy came. The girls heard the sound of something heavy being dragged away, and George ran after the sound.

„Timmy! Oh Timmy, what"s happened!" she cried. „Where are you? Are you hurt?"

The mist swirled round, and she tried to beat against it with her fists, angry that she could not see. „Tim! Tim!"

Then a pair of hands took her arms from behind and a voice said, „Now you come with me! You were warned not to snoop about on the moor!"

George struggled violently, less concerned for herself than for Timmy.

'Where"s my dog?" she cried. „What have you done to him?"

„I knocked him on the head," said the voice, which sounded very like Sniffer"s father. „He"s all right, but he won"t feel himself for a bit! You can have him back if you"re sensible."

George wasn"t sensible. She kicked and fought and wriggled and struggled. It was no use. She was held in a grip like iron. She heard Anne scream once and knew that she had been caught too.

When George was too tired to struggle any more, she was led firmly out of the quarry with Anne.

„Where"s my dog?" she sobbed. „What have you done with him?"

„He"s all right," said the man behind her. „But if you make any more fuss I"l give him another blow on the head. NOW wil you be quiet."

George was quiet at once. She was taken with Anne across the moor for what seemed like miles, but was real y only the fairly short distance between the quarry and the gypsies"

camp.

„Are you bringing my dog?" asked George, unable to contain her fears about Timmy.

„Yes. Somebody"s got him," said her captor. „You shall have him back safe and sound, if you do what you"re told!"

George had to be content with that. What a night! The boys gone, Timmy hurt, she and Anne captured, and this horrible, wreathing mist al the time!

The mist cleared a little as they came near to the gypsy camp. The hil behind seemed to keep it off. George and Anne saw the light of a fire, and of a few lanterns here and there.

More men were gathered together, waiting. Anne thought she could see Sniffer and Liz in the background but she couldn"t be sure.

„If only I could get hold of Sniffer," she thought. „He would soon find out if Timmy is real y hurt. Oh Sniffer, do come nearer if it"s you!"

Their captors took them to the little fire, and made both girls sit down. One of the men there exclaimed in surprise.

„But these are not those two boys! This is a boy and a girl, not as tall as the others were!"

„We"re two girls," said Anne, thinking that the men might treat George less roughly if they knew she was not a boy. „I"m a girl and so is she."

She got a scowl from George, but took no notice. This was not the time to pretend anything. These men were ruthless, and very angry. They thought their plans had gone wrong, all because of two boys. Perhaps when they found they had got two girls, they would let them go.

The men began to question them. „Where are the boys then?"

„We"ve no idea! Lost in the mist," said Anne. „We all went out to go back home, and got separated, so George, I mean Georgina, and I went back to the quarry."

„Did you hear the plane?"

„Of course!"

„Did you see or hear it dropping anything?"

„We didn"t see anything drop, we heard it," said Anne. George stared at her furiously. Why was Anne giving all this away? Perhaps she thought that Timmy would be given back to them if they proved helpful? George immediately changed her mind about feeling cross with Anne. If only Timmy were all right!

„Did you pick up what the plane dropped?" The man rapped out the question so sharply that Anne humped. What should she say?

„Oh yes," she heard herself saying. „We picked up a few queer parcels. What was in them, do you know?"

„Never you mind," said the man. „What did you do with the parcels?"

George stared at Anne, wondering what she was going to say. Surely, surely she wouldn"t give that secret away?

„I didn"t do anything with them," said Anne, in an innocent voice. „The boys said they would hide them. So they went off into the mist with them, but they didn"t come back. So George and I went to the quarry again. That"s when you caught us."

The men talked among themselves in low voices. Then Sniffer"s father turned to the girls again.

„Where did the boys hide these packets?"

„How do I know?" said Anne. „I didn"t go with them. I didn"t see what they did with them."

„Do you think they wil stil have got them with them?" asked the man.

„Why don"t you go and find the boys and ask them?" said Anne. „I haven"t seen or heard of the boys since they left us and went into the mist. I don"t know what became of them or the parcels!"

„They"re probably lost somewhere on the moors," said the old, grey-haired gypsy. „With the packets! We"ll look for the boys tomorrow. They won"t get home in this! We"ll fetch them back here."

„They wouldn"t come," said George. „As soon as they saw you, they"d run. You"d never catch them. Any way they"d get back home as soon as the mist cleared."

„Take these girls away," said the old gypsy, sounding tired of them. „Put them in the far cave, and tie them up."

„Where"s my dog?" shouted George, suddenly. „You bring me my dog!"

„You haven"t been very helpful," said the old gypsy. „We"ll question you again tomorrow, and if you are more helpful, you shal have your dog."

Two men took the girls away from the fire and over to the hil . A large opening led into the queer hil . One of the men had a lantern and led the way, the other man walking behind.

A passage led straight into the hil . There was sand underfoot, and it seemed to Anne as if even the wal s were made of sand. How strange!

The hil was honeycombed with passages. They criss-crossed and forked like burrows in a rabbit-warren. Anne wondered however the men could find their way!

They came at last to a cave that must have been right in the heart of the hil , a cave with a sandy floor, and a post that was driven deeply into the ground.

Ropes were fastened firmly to it. The two girls looked at them in dismay. Surely they were not going to be tied up like prisoners!

But they were! The ropes were fastened firmly round their waists and knotted at the back.

The knots were gypsy knots, firm, tight and complicated. It would take the girls hours to unpick those, even supposing they could manage to reach right round to their backs!

„There you are," said the men, grinning at the two angry girls. „Maybe in the morning you wil remember where those packets were put?"

„You go and get my dog," ordered George. But they only laughed loudly and went out of the cave.

It was stuffy and hot in there. George was worried to death about Timmy, but Anne was almost too tired to think.

She fel asleep, sitting up uncomfortably with the ropes round her waist, and the knots digging into her back. George sat brooding. Timmy - where was he? Was he badly hurt?

George was very miserable indeed.

She didn"t go to sleep. She sat there, worrying, wide awake. She made an attempt to get at the knots behind her, but it was no use, she couldn"t.

Suddenly she thought she heard a noise. Was that someone creeping up the passage to the cave? She felt frightened. Oh, if only Timmy were here!

Sniff! Sniff!

„Gracious goodness, it must be Sniffer!" thought George, and at that moment she almost loved the dirty little gypsy boy!

„Sniffer!" she cal ed quietly, and put on her torch. Sniffer"s head appeared and then his body. He was crawling quietly up the passage on all fours.

He came right into the cave, and stared at her and the sleeping Anne. „I"ve sometimes been tied up here too," he said.

„Sniffer, how is Timmy?" asked George, anxiously. „Tell me, quickly!"

„He"s all right," said Sniffer. „He"s just got a bad cut on his head. I bathed it for him. He"s tied up too, and he"s mad about it!"

„Sniffer, listen, go and get Timmy and bring him to me," said George, breathlessly. „And bring me a knife too, to cut these ropes. Wil you? Can you?"

„Oooh, I dunno," said Sniffer, looking frightened. „My father would half kil me!"

„Sniffer, is there anything you want, anything you"ve always wanted?" said George. „I"l give it to you if you do this for me. I promise you!"

„I want a bike," said Sniffer, surprisingly. „And I want to live in a house, and ride my bike to school."

„I"l see that you have what you want, Sniffer," said George, wildly. „Only, do, do go and get Timmy, and a knife! You got here without being seen, you can surely get back again safely with Timmy. Think of that bike!"

Sniffer thought of it. Then he nodded and disappeared down the passage as silently as he had come.

George waited and waited. Would he bring dear old Timmy to her, or would he be caught?

George sat in the darkness of the cave, hearing Anne"s peaceful breathing nearby, waiting for Sniffer to come back. She was longing to see Timmy again. Was the cut on his head very bad?

A thought came into her mind. She would send Timmy back to the stables with a note! He was very clever, he knew what to do when he had a note tied to his collar. Then help would come very quickly indeed. Timmy would know his way all right out of this hil , once he had been in it!

Ah, here was Sniffer coming back again. Was Timmy with him? She heard Sniffer"s sniff-sniff-sniff, but no sound of Timmy. Her heart sank.

Sniffer appeared cautiously in the cave.

„I didn"t dare to take Timmy," he said. „My father has him tied up too near to him, and I"d have waked him. But I"ve brought you a knife, look."

„Thank you, Sniffer," said George, taking the knife and putting it into her pocket. „Listen, there"s something important I"m going to do and you"ve got to help."

„I"m scared," said Sniffer. „I"m real scared."

„Think of that bicycle," said George. „A red one, perhaps, with silver handles?"

Sniffer thought of it. „Al right," he said. „What are you going to do?"

„I"m going to write a note," said George, feeling in her pocket for her note-book and pencil. „And I want you to tie it on to Timmy"s collar, under his chin, and set him free somehow. Wil you do that? He"l run off back to the stables with the note, and then Anne and I wil be rescued, and you wil get the most beautiful bicycle in the world!"

„And a house to live in," said Sniffer, at once. „So"s I can ride my bike to school?"

„Al right," said George, hoping that somehow he could have that too. „Now, wait a minute."

She scribbled the note, but she had hardly written more than a few words, when a sound came up the passage. Someone was coughing.

„It"s my father!" said Sniffer, in fright. „Listen, if you cut your ropes and escape, can you find your way out from here? It"s very twisty and turny."

„I don"t know. I don"t think I can!" whispered George, in a panic.

„I"l leave patrins for you!" said Sniffer. „Look out for them! Now I"m going to slip into the cave next door, and wait til my father"s finished talking to you. Then I"l go back to Timmy."

He slipped out just in time. The lantern shone into George"s cave and Sniffer"s father stood there.

„Have you seen Sniffer?" he asked. „I missed him when I woke just now. If I catch him in here I"l whip him til he squeals."

„Sniffer? He"s not here," said George, trying to sound surprised. „Look round the cave and see!"

The man caught sight of the note-book and pencil in George"s hand. „What"s that you"re writing?" he said suspiciously and took it from her.

„So you"re writing for help, are you!" he said. „And how do you think you"re going to get help. I"d like to know? Who"s going to take this note home for you? Sniffer?"

„No," said George, truthfully.

The man frowned as he looked again at the note. „Look here," he said, „you can write another note, to those two boys. And I"l tell you what to say."

„No," said George.

„Oh yes, you wil ," said the man. „I"m not going to hurt those boys. I"m just going to get back those packets from wherever they are hidden. Do you want your dog back safely?"

„Yes," said George, with a gulp.

„Well, if you don"t write this note you won"t see him again," said the man. „Now then, take your pencil and write in that note-book of yours."

George took up her pencil. „This is what you must write," said the man, frowning as he thought hard.

„Wait a minute," said George. „How are you going to get this note to the boys? You don"t know where they are! You won"t be able to find them if this mist stil goes on."

The man scratched his head and thought.

„The only way to get the note to them is to tie it on my dog"s collar and send him to find them," said George. „If you bring him here to me I can make him understand. He always does what I tell him."

„You mean he"ll take the note to whoever you tell him to take it?" said the man, his eyes gleaming. „Well, write it then. Say this:

„ “We are prisoners. Follow Timmy and he wil bring you to us and you can save us.” Then sign your name, whatever it is."

„It"s Georgina," said George, firmly. „You go and get my dog while I write the note."