Five Have a Wonderful Time (16 page)

He'll cuff me as soon as I go near, thought Jo, rubbing her left ear, which still stung from Bafflo's cuff. They won't listen to me, I know. Still I'll try.

She went up to the group of men cautiously. She saw Bufflo

take out a dagger-knife from his belt, and tie it to the end of the thin rope that the rubber-man held. She guessed in a moment

what he was about to do, and ran to him.

"No, Bufflo, no! Don't throw that knife up — you'll hurt

someone — you might wound one of them! No, Bufflo, no!"

"Clear out," said Bufflo, angrily and raised his hand to slap her. She dodged away.

She went round the group to her uncle. "Uncle Fredo," she said beseechingly, "Listen. I can hear voices — I think those…"

Alfredo pushed her away roughly. "Will you stop this, Jo?

Do you want a good whipping? You behave like a buzzing fly!"

Mr. Slither called her. "See here, Jo — if you want to be useful, hold Beauty for me. He will be in the way in a minute."

He draped the great snake over her shoulders, and Beauty hissed loudly. He began to coil himself round Jo, and she caught hold of his tail. She liked Beauty, but just at that moment she didn't want him at all!

She stood back and watched what Bufflo was going to do. She knew, of course, and her heart beat fearfully.

He was going to throw his knife through that high slit-window, a thing that surely only Bufflo, with his unerring aim, could possibly do!

But if he gets it through the window, it may stick into one of the four up there — or into Mr. Terry-Kane, she thought, in a panic. It might wound Dick — or Timmy! Oh, I wish Bufflo wouldn't do it!"

She heard low voices again — this time they came from just the other side of the wall! Men were going to follow those secret passages, and go right up to the tower-room! Jo knew they were! They would be there before Bufflo and the others had followed out their rescue plan. She pictured the four children being dragged down the stairs, and Terry-Kane, too. Would Timmy defend them? He would — but the men would certainly deal with him. They knew there was a dog there, because Timmy had barked the night before.

Oh, dear, thought Jo, in despair. I must do something! But what can I DO?

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JO suddenly made up her mind. She would follow the men through those passages, and see if she could warn the others by shouting when she came near enough to the tower-room. She would help them somehow. Bufflo and the others would be too late to save them now.

Jo ran to the wall. She was up the peg-rope left there and down the other side in a trice. She made her way to where the missing stone left the gap in the old wall.

Beauty, the python, was surprised to find himself pulled off and thrown on the ground, just before Jo ran for the wall. He wasn't used to that sort of treatment. He lay there, coiling and uncoiling himself. Where had that nice girl gone? Beauty liked Jo — she knew how to treat him!

He glided after her. He too went up the wall and over, quite easily, though he did not need to use the peg-rope like Jo. He glided after Jo quickly. It was amazing to see his speed when he really wanted to be quick!

He came to the hole in the wall. Ah, he liked holes. He glided in after Jo. He caught up with her just as she had reached the end of the small passage, through which she had had to walk bent double. He pushed against her legs and then twined himself round her.

She gave a small scream, and then realized what it was. "Beauty! You'll get into trouble with Mr. Slither, coming after me like this. Go back! Stop twining yourself round me—I've got important things to do."

But Beauty was not like Timmy. He obeyed only when he thought he would, and he was not going to obey this time!

"All right — come with me if you want to," said Jo, at last, having in vain tried to push the great snake back.

"You'll be company, I suppose. Stop hissing like that, Beauty! You sound like an engine letting off steam in this narrow passage."

Soon Jo had gone down the steep steps that led to the level passage under the courtyard. Beauty slithered down them too, rather surprised at the sudden drop. Along the wider passage they went, Beauty now in front, and Jo sometimes tripping over his powerful tail.

Up steps again, and into the thick wall of the castle itself. Something shining ahead made Jo suddenly stop.

She listened but heard nothing. She went forward cautiously and found that in the little secret room was a small lantern, left there probably by one of the men in front.

She saw the rusty dagger lying on the floor where she had left it the night before and grinned. The rope was there too, that she had untied from her arms and legs.

Jo went on, along the passage that led to the spiral stairway. Now she thought she could hear something. She climbed the steep stairs, cross with Beauty because he pushed by her and almost sent her headlong down them.

She came to the door that opened on to the little gallery. Dare she open it? Suppose the men were just outside?

She opened it slowly. It was pitch dark on the other side, of course, but Jo knew she was about to step out on the little gallery. Beauty suddenly slithered up her and coiled himself lovingly round her. Jo could not make the snake uncoil, and she stepped out on the small gallery with Beauty firmly wrapped about her.

And then, what a noise she heard! She stood quite aghast. Whatever could be going on? She heard excited voices — surely one was Bufflo's? And was that crack a pistol-shot?

What had happened down below in the courtyard when Jo had disappeared over the wall with Beauty? None of the men noticed her go. They were all too intent on their plan.

Bufflo was to use his gift for knife-throwing — but in quite a different way from usual! He was to throw the knife high into the air, and make it curve in through the slit-window at the top of the tower!

Bufflo was an expert at knife-throwing, or, indeed, at any kind of throwing. He stood there in the courtyard, looking up at the high window. He half-closed his eyes, getting the distance and the direction fixed hi his mind.

The moon suddenly went in, and he lowered his hand. He could not throw accurately in the dark!

The moon sailed out again, quite brilliant. Bufflo lost no time. Once more he took aim, his eyes narrowed —

and then the knife flew high into the air, gleaming as it went — taking behind it a long tail of very thin rope.

It struck the sill of the slit-window and fell back. Bufflo caught it deftly. The moonlight showed plainly that the knife was not sharp-pointed—Bufflo had filed off the point, and it was now quite blunt. Jo need not have worried about someone in the tower being hurt by a sharp dagger!

Once more Bufflo took aim, and once more the knife sailed up, swift as a swallow, shining silver as it went.

This time it fell cleanly in at the window-opening, slithered all the way across the stone ledge inside, and fell to the floor of the tower-room with a thud.

It caused the greatest astonishment there. Mr. Terry-Kane, the four children and Timmy were all huddled together for warmth in one corner. They were hungry and cold. No one had brought them food, and they had nothing to keep them warm except a rug belonging to Terry-Kane. All that day they had been in the tower-room, sometimes looking from the window, sometimes shouting all together at the tops of their voices. But nobody heard them, and nobody saw them.

"Why doesn't Jo bring help?" they had said a hundred times that long, long day. They didn't know that poor Jo was spending hours trying to free herself from the knots round her legs and wrists.

They had looked out of the window at the camp on the opposite hill, where the fair-folk went about their business, looking like ants on the far-off green slope. Was Jo there? It was too far-off to make out anyone for certain.

When darkness came Julian had flashed his torch from the window on and off — on and off. Then, cold and miserable, they had all huddled together, with Timmy licking first one and then another, not at all understanding why they should stay in this one room.

"Timmy will be so thirsty," said George. "He keeps licking round his mouth in the way he does when he wants a drink."

"Well, I feel like licking round
my
mouth too," said Dick.

They were half-asleep when the knife came thudding into the room. Timmy leapt up at once and barked madly. He stood and stared at the knife that lay gleaming in the moonlight, and barked without stopping.

"A knife!" said George, in amazement. "A knife with a string tied on the end!"

"It's blunt," said Julian, picking it up. "The tip has been filed off. What's the meaning of it? And why the string tied to it?"

"Be careful that another knife doesn't come through" warned Terry-Kane.

"It won't," said Julian. "I think this is something to do with Jo. She hasn't gone to the police. She has got the fair-folk to help us. This is Bufflo's knife, I'm sure!"

They were all round him, examining it now. "I'm going to the window," said Julian. "I'll look right out into the courtyard. Hold my legs, Dick."

He climbed up on the stone sill and crawled a little forward through the deep-set slit. He came to the outer edge of the window and looked down. Dick hung on to his legs, afraid that the sill might crumble away and Julian would fall.

"I can see four people down in the courtyard," said Julian. "Oh, good — one is Alfredo, one is Bufflo — and I can't make out the other two. AHOY down there!"

The four men below were standing looking up intently. They saw Julian's head appear outside the window, and waved to him.

"Pull in the rope!" shouted Bufflo. He had now tied the end of a second peg-rope to the thin rope, and he and the others lifted it so that it might run easily up the wall.

Julian slid back into the tower room. He was excited. "This string on the knife runs down the wall and is tied to a thicker rope," he said. "I'll pull it up — and up will come a rope that we can climb down!"

He pulled on the string, and more and more of it appeared through the window. Then Julian felt a heavier weight and he guessed the thicker rope was coming up. Now he had to pull more slowly. Dick helped him.

Over the window-sill, in at the window, appeared the first length of the peg-rope. The children had never seen one like it before, they were used to the more ordinary rope-ladder. But Terry-Kane knew what it was.

"A peg-rope," he said. "Circus people and fair-people make them—they are lighter and easier to manage than rope-ladders. We'll have to fix the end to something really strong, so that it will hold our weight."

Anne looked at the peg-rope in dismay. She didn't at all like the idea of climbing down that, swinging on it all the way down the high stone wall of the tower! But the others looked at it with pleasure and excitement — a way of escape — a good, strong rope to climb down out of this hateful cold room!

Terry-Kane looked about for something to fasten the rope to. In the wall at one side was a great iron ring, embedded in the stone. What it had been used for once upon a time nobody could imagine—but certainly it would be of great use now!

There were no pegs in the first yard or so of the rope. Terry-Kane and Julian cut off the string that had pulled it up, and then dragged the thick rope through the iron ring. They dragged it right through until the first peg stopped it. Then they twisted the rope-end round upon itself and made great strong knots that could not slip.

Julian took hold of the rope, and leaned back hard on it, pulling it with all his strength. "It would hold a dozen of us at once!" he said, pleased. "Shall I go first, sir? I can help everyone else down then, if I'm at the bottom. Dick and you can see to the girls when they climb out."

"What about Timmy?" asked George, at once.

"We'll wrap him up in the rug, tie him firmly and lower him down on the string," said Dick. "It's very strong string — thin rope, really."

"I'll go down now," said Julian, and went to the window. Then he stopped. Someone was clattering up the stone steps that led to the tower. Someone was at the door! Who could it be?

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THE door was flung open, and a man stood there, panting. Behind him came three others.

"Pottersham!" said Terry-Kane. "So you're back!"

"Yes. I'm back," said the panting man.

Timmy began to bark and try to escape from George's hand. He showed his teeth and all his hackles rose up on his neck. He looked a very savage dog indeed.

Pottersham backed away. He didn't like the look of Timmy at all! "If you let that dog go, I'll shoot him," he said, and as if by magic a gun appeared in his right hand.

George tried her hardest to restrain the furious Timmy, and called to Julian to help her. "Julian, hold him as well. He'll fling himself on that man, he's so angry."

Julian went to help. Between them they forced the furious dog back into a corner, where George tried in vain to pacify him. She was terrified that he might be shot.