Five Have a Wonderful Time (9 page)

"We're probably leaving tomorrow," repeated Julian. He nodded to him, and went on with the others.

"I'm beginning to feel I'd rather like to stay after all," said George. "It makes such a difference if people are friendly."

"Well, we're not staying," said Julian, shortly. "I've practically made up my mind — but we'll just wait till tomorrow. It's a — a matter of pride with me. You girls don't understand quite how I feel about the whole thing."

They didn't. Dick understood, though, and he agreed with Julian. They went on down to the village and made their way to the ice-cream shop.

They had a very pleasant day. They had a wonderful lunch on the grass by their caravans — and to their surprise Mrs. Alfredo presented them with a sponge sandwich she had made. Anne thanked her very much indeed to make up for a certain stiffness in the thanks of the two boys.

"You
might
have said a bit more," she said reproachfully to them. "She really is a kind little woman.

Honestly I wouldn't mind staying on now."

But Julian was curiously obstinate about it. He shook his head. "We go tomorrow," he said. "Unless something unexpected happens to
make
us stay. And it won't."

But Julian was quite wrong. Something unexpected
did
happen. Something really very peculiar indeed.

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THE unexpected happening came that evening after tea. They had all had rather a late tea, and a very nice one. Bread and butter and honey — new doughnuts from the dairy — and the sponge-cake that Mrs. Alfredo had presented them with, which had a very rich filling indeed.

"I can't eat a thing more," said George, "that spongecake was too rich for words. I don't even feel as if I can get up and clear away — so don't start suggesting it, Anne."

"I'm not," said Anne. "There's plenty of time. It's a heavenly evening — let's sit for a while. There goes that blackbird again. He has a different tune every time he sings."

"That's what I like about blackbirds," said Dick, lazily. "They're proper composers. They make up their own tunes — not like the chaffinch who just carols the same old song again and again and again. Honestly there was one this morning that said it fifty times without stopping."

"Chip-chip-chip, cherry-erry-erry, chippee-OO-EE-Ar!" shouted a chaffinch, rattling it all off as if he had learnt it by heart. "Chip-chip-chip…"

"There he goes again," said Dick. "If he doesn't say that, he shouts 'pink-pink-pink' as if he'd got that colour on the brain. Look at him over there — isn't he a beauty?"

He certainly was. He flew down to the grass beside the children and began to peck up the crumbs, even venturing on to Anne's knee once. She sat still, really thrilled.

Timmy growled, and the chaffinch flew off. "Silly, Timmy," said George. "Jealous of a chaffinch! Oh, look, Dick — are those herons flying down to the marsh on the east side of the castle hill?"

"Yes," said Dick, sitting up. "Where are your field-glasses, George? We could see the big birds beautifully through them."

George fetched them from her caravan. She handed them to Dick. He focused them on the marsh. "Yes —

four herons — gosh, what long legs they've got, haven't they? They are wading happily about — now one's struck down at something with its great beak. What's it got? Yes, it's a frog. I can see its back legs!"

"You can't!" said George, taking the field-glasses from him. "You're a fibber. The glasses aren't powerful enough to see a frog's legs all that way off!"

But they
were
powerful enough. They were really magnificent ones, far too good for George, who wasn't very careful with valuable things.

She was just in time to see the poor frog's legs disappearing into the big strong beak of the heron. Then something frightened the birds, and before the others could have a look at them they had all flapped away.

"How slowly they flap their wings," said Dick. "They must surely flap them more slowly than any other bird. Give me the glasses again, George. I'll have a squint at the jackdaws. There are thousands of them flying again over the castle — their evening jaunt, I suppose."

He put them to his eyes, and moved the glasses to and fro, watching the endless whirl and swoop of the black jackdaws, The sound of their many voices came loudly over the evening air. "Chack-chack-chack-chack!"

Dick saw some fly down to the only complete tower of the castle. He lowered the glasses to follow them.

One jackdaw flew down to the sill of the slit-window near the top of the tower, and Dick followed its flight. It rested for half a second on the sill and then flew off as if frightened.

And then Dick saw something that made his heart suddenly jump. His glasses were trained on the window-slit and he saw something most astonishing there! He gazed as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

Then he spoke in a low voice to Julian.

"Ju! Take the glasses, will you? Train them on the window-slit near the top of the only complete tower —

and tell me if you see what I see. Quick!"

Julian held out his hand in astonishment for the glasses. The others stared in surprise. What could Dick have seen? Julian put the glasses to his eyes and focused them on the window Dick had been looking at. He stared hard.

"Yes. Yes, I can. What an extraordinary thing. It must be an effect of the light, I think."

By this time the others were in such a state of curiosity that they couldn't bear it. George snatched the glasses from Julian. "Let
me
see!" she said, quite fiercely. She trained them on to the window. She gazed and gazed and gazed.

Then she lowered the glasses and stared at Julian and Dick. "Are you being funny?" she said. "There's nothing there — nothing but an empty window!"

Anne snatched the glasses from her just before Dick tried to take them again. She too trained them on the window. But there was absolutely nothing there to see.

"There's nothing," said Anne, disgusted, and Dick took the glasses from her at once, focusing them once more on the window. He lowered them.

"It's gone," he said to Julian. "Nothing there now."

"DICK! If you don't tell us what you saw we'll roll go you down the hill," said George, crossly. "Are you making something up?
What
did you see?"

"Well," said Dick, looking at Julian,
I
saw a face. A face not far from the window, staring out. What did you see, Ju?"

"The same," said Julian. "It made me feel pretty queer, too."

"A
face
!" said George, Anne and Jo all together. "What do you mean?"

"Well — just what we said," replied Dick. "A face — with eyes and nose and mouth."

"But nobody lives in the castle. It's a ruin," said George. "Was it someone exploring, do you think?"

Julian looked at his watch. "No, it couldn't have been a visitor, I'm sure — the castle shuts at half past five and it's gone six. And anyway — it looked a — a — sort of
desperate
face!"

"Yes. I thought so too," said Dick. "It's — well, it's very peculiar, isn't it, Julian? There may be some kind of ordinary explanation for it, but I can't help feeling there's something
queer
about it."

"Was it a man's face?" asked George. "Or a woman's?"

"A man's, I think," said Dick. "I couldn't see any hair against the darkness inside the window. Or clothes.

But it
looked
a man's face. Did you notice the eyebrows, Ju?"

"Yes, I did," said Julian. "They were very pronounced, weren't they?" , This rang a bell with George! "Eyebrows!" she said at once. "Don't you remember — the picture of that scientist, Terry-Kane, showed that he had thick black eyebrows you said he'd shave them off and use them upside down for moustaches, don't you remember, Dick?"

"Yes. I do remember," said Dick, and looked at Julian. Julian shook his head. "I didn't recognize the likeness," he said, "but after all it's a very long way away. It is only because George's glasses are so extraordinarily good that we managed to spot a face looking out of a window so very far away. Actually I think there will be an ordinary explanation — it's just that we were so startled — and that made us think it was very queer."

"I
wish
I'd seen the face," sighed George. "They're my glasses, too — and I never saw the face!"

"Well, you can keep on looking and see if it comes back," said Dick, handing over the glasses. "It may do."

So Anne, George, and Jo took turn and turn about, gazing earnestly through the field-glasses — but they saw no face. In the end it got so dark that it was quite difficult to make out the tower, let alone the window or a face!

"I tell you what we might do," said Julian. "We could go and see over the castle ourselves tomorrow. And we could go up into that tower. Then we should certainly see if there's a face there."

"But I thought we were leaving tomorrow," said Dick.

"Oh — yes, we did think of leaving, didn't we?" said Julian, who had quite forgotten this idea of his in his excitement. "Well — I don't feel as if we can go before we've explored that castle, and found the explanation of the face."

"Of
course
we can't," said George. "Fancy seeing a thing like that and rushing off without finding out about it. I couldn't possibly."

"
I'm
going to stay anyhow," announced Jo. "I could stop with my Uncle Alfredo, if you go, and I'll let you know if the face comes again — if George will leave me her glasses."

"Well, I shan't," said George, with much determination. "If I go, my glasses go with me. But I'm not going.

You
will
stay now, won't you, Julian?"

"We'll stay and find out about the face," said Julian. "I honestly feel awfully puzzled about it. Hallo, who's this coming?"

A big figure loomed up in the twilight. It was Alfredo, the fire-eater. "Jo! Are you there?" he said. "Your aunt invites you to supper — and all your friends too. Come along."

There was a pause. Anne looked expectantly across at Julian. Was he still going to be high-and-mighty and proud? She hoped not.

"Thanks," said Julian, at last. "We'd be pleased to come. Do you mean now?"

"That would be nice," said Alfredo, with a little bow. "I fire-eat for you? Anything you say!"

This was too tempting to resist. Everyone got up at once and followed the big Alfredo over the hillside to his caravan. Outside there was a really good fire, and on it was a big black pot that gave out a wonderful smell.

"Supper is not quite ready," said Alfredo. The five children were relieved. After their big tea they didn't feel ready even for a meal that smelt as good as the one in the pot! They sat down by it.

"Will you really eat fire for us?" asked Anne. "How do you do it?"

"Ah, very difficult!" said Alfredo. "I do it only if you promise me not to try it by yourselves. You would not like blisters all over your mouth inside, would you?"

Everyone felt certain that they wouldn't. "I don't want you to have blisters in
your
mouth, either," added Anne.

Alfredo looked shocked. "I am a very good fire-eater," he assured her. "No good ones ever make blisters in their mouths. Now — you sit still and I will fetch my torch and eat fire for you."

Someone else sat down beside them. It was Bufflo. He grinned at them. Skippy came and sat down too.

Then the snake-man came up, and he sat down on the opposite side of the fire.

Alfredo came back carrying a few things in his hands. "Quite a family circle!" he said. "Now watch — I will eat fire for you!"

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ALFREDO sat down on the grass, some way back from the fire. He set a little metal bowl in front of him, that smelt of petrol. He held up two things to show the children.

"His torches," said Mrs. Alfredo, proudly. "He eats fire from them."

Alfredo called out something to the snake-man, dipping his two torches into the bowl. They were not alight yet, and to the children they looked like very large buttonhooks, with a wad of wool caught in the hook-part.

The snake-man leaned forward and took a burning twig out of the fire. With a deft throw he pitched it right into the metal bowl. Immediately it set light to the petrol there, and flames shot up in the darkness.

Alfredo had held his torches out of the way, but now he thrust first one and then another into the burning petrol in the bowl.

They flared alight at once, and red flames shot up as he held one in each hand. His eyes gleamed in the brilliant light, and the five children sat still, spellbound.

Then Alfredo leaned back his head — back and back — and opened his great mouth wide. He put one of the lighted torches into it, and closed his mouth over it, so that his cheeks gleamed a strange and unbelievable red from the flames inside his mouth. Anne gave a little scream and George gasped. The two boys held their breath.

Only Jo watched unconcerned. She had seen her uncle do this many times before!