Five on a Secret Trail (13 page)

„Good gracious!" said Julian, startled. „Then they may be back at any moment?"

„I suppose so. They left me here because they couldn"t think of anything else to do with me! They knew I couldn"t walk, because of my ankle. I think it"s broken. So of course, I couldn"t possibly find my way out myself! And here I"ve been waiting for those brutes to come back, and to hack through the rubble to go after whatever it is they want!"

Everyone began to feel rather uncomfortable at the thought that three violent men might be appearing at any moment. „Is it very far to the opening you came down?" asked Julian. But Guy didn"t know. He had fainted, as he had said, and he didn"t even know what way they had come.

„It can"t be far," said Harry. „I think it would be worth while trying to find the opening, see if the men have left the ropes there, and get out that way. If Guy"s ankle real y is broken, he couldn"t possibly manage to go back the long way we"ve come."

„No. That"s true," said Julian, thoughtful y. „Wel , that"s what we"ll do then. But we"ll go jol y cautiously, without a sound, because it might be just our luck to meet those fel ows on their way back here!"

„Shall we start?" said George. „What about Guy?"

Julian knelt down beside the boy, and gently examined his ankle. „I"ve done my First Aid Training, like everybody else!" he said. „And I ought to know if his ankle is broken or just sprained."

He examined the swollen ankle carefully. „It"s not broken. I believe I could bandage it tightly with a couple of large hankies. Give me yours, Dick."

The others watched admiringly as Julian deftly and confidently bandaged Guy"s swollen ankle. „There!" he said. „You can perhaps hobble on it now, Guy. It may hurt, but I don"t think it wil damage it. Try. You"l have to go barefoot because your ankle is too swollen for your shoe to go on."

Very gingerly Guy stood up, helped by Harry. He tried his hurt foot, and it certainly seemed al right to hobble on, though it was very painful. He grinned round at the others"

anxious faces.

„It"s fine!" he said. „Come on, let"s go! We don"t want to bump into those fel ows if we can help it. Thank goodness we"ve got Jet and Timmy."

They set off down the passage, flashing their torches in front as usual, to show them the way. The tunnel was quite wide and high here, and in a very short time came out into an enormous pit underground.

„Ah - this is the hole I saw down behind the slab where the rabbit went," said Dick. „We weren"t very far from the camp, as we thought. I"m surprised that when this pit was explored, the underground passages were not discovered, Guy!"

„I expect the men exploring it came to the roof-fal and thought there was nothing beyond," said Guy. „Or maybe they were afraid of going further in case of further falls.

They can be very dangerous, you know. Many a man has been buried under one and never heard of again."

They looked round the enormous hole - it was real y a huge round pit. Daylight showed in the roof at one place.

„That"s the opening into it," said Guy, eagerly. „The one I came through, on the rope."

He limped a few steps forward to look for the rope. Harry held him by the arm, thankful that the ankle was holding up so well. Guy pointed upwards.

„Yes. I can see the rope. The men have left it there, thank goodness. They must have been certain that I couldn"t get to it!"

The rope hung down from the little opening high above their heads. Julian looked round at Anne.

„Can you manage to climb up the rope, Anne?" he said, doubtful y.

„Of course!" said Anne, scornfully. „We do rope-climbing in the gym at school often enough. Don"t we, George?"

„Yes - but our gym rope is a bit thicker!" said George.

„I"l go up first," said Harry. „We"ve got a much thicker rope, Guy and I, that we use when we want to haul on very heavy stones. I"l find it, and let it down."

„Well - we can"t afford to waste any time, in case those fel ows come back," said Julian. „I daresay the girls can manage all right. George, you go up first."

George went up like a monkey, hand over hand, her legs twisted round the rope. She grinned down when she got to the top."

„Easy!" she said. „Come on up next, Anne, and show the boys how to do it!"

Before the boys could leap to the rope, Anne was on it, pul ing herself up lithely. Julian laughed. He cal ed up to George.

„George! You might have a squint round and see if there"s any sign of people about. If they were going to borrow Guy"s tools, they would have been back long ago, so I think probably they"ve had to go to Kirrin or some farm-house to borrow them."

„They wouldn"t get my tools!" said Guy, „or Harry"s. We had them stolen once, and now we always hide them where no one can possibly find them."

„That settles it then," said Julian. „They"ve had to go a good way, I expect, to get satisfactory tools to tackle that roof-fal . They probably imagine that it"s a pretty big fal ! Al the same, keep a watch out, George, til we"re all up.

It was difficult to get Guy up, for he was feeling weak, but they managed it at last. The two dogs had to have the boys" shirts tied round them so that the rope would not cut them when they were hauled up. They didn"t seem to mind at al . Timmy was very heavy to pul up because he appeared to think that he had to try and make his legs do a running action al the time - just to help! Al that happened was that he began to spin round and round, as he went up!

Everyone was up in the open air at last, hot and perspiring. Julian had the precious bag safely under his arm. Timmy sat down panting. Then he suddenly stopped panting and pricked up his ears.

„Woof," he said warningly, and stood up.

„Quiet, Tim, quiet, Jet," said Julian, at once aware that somebody must be about. „Hide, everyone - quickly. It may be those fel ows coming back!"

„Wuff," began Jet, but Guy stopped him immediately. The six children separated and went into hiding at once, each choosing the best place he or she could see. There were plenty of hiding-places in the old camp!

They heard voices coming near. Nobody dared to peep out and see who was coming -

but Julian and Dick recognized the drawling voice of one of the men!

„What a time we"ve been!" said the man. „Just chuck the spades and things down the hole - then we"l al climb down again. Buck up! We"ve wasted too much time already.

Anyone might come on the scene at any moment!"

The spades and jemmies went hurtling down the hole. Then one by one the men went down the rope. The children could not hear the woman"s voice. They thought she must have been left behind.

Julian gave a low whistle and al the others popped up their heads. „We"ll spring for it!"

said Julian. „Buck up!"

They all shot out of their hiding-places at once and made off - except Julian. He stayed behind for a minute or two. What could he be doing?

Julian was doing something very simple indeed! He was hauling up the rope that dangled underground! He slipped it off the rock that held it and tied it round his waist, looking suddenly very bulky.

He grinned a very wide grin and went after the others. How very, very angry those men were going to be!

Julian ran after the others. „What were you doing?" said George. „Calling rude names down to the men?"

„No. I hope they"l go and dig for hours if they want to!" said Julian. „They"l soon find that when they"ve got through it, that roof-fall is nothing much, and they"l go on til they come to the little room - and what they"l say when they find that the bag is gone, I real y don"t know!"

„I wish I could be there!" said Dick.

„What are we going to do about Guy?" asked Harry. „He real y can"t walk very far on that bad foot."

„If he can walk as far as the gorse-bush where we"ve left our things, I"ve got a bike there,"

said George. „He could pedal with one foot, I should think."

„Oh yes - I could easily do that," said Guy, pleased. He had dreaded the thought of having to walk all the way to Kirrin - but neither did he want to be left behind!

He limped along, helped by Harry, who couldn"t do enough for him. Jet ran along beside them, excited and happy at being with so many people. Timmy sometimes wuffed a little bark to him, which made Jet as proud as punch. He thought the big Timmy was wonderful!

They came to the gorse-bush, and found their things all safe. The bicycle was there, with its packages strapped to it. George unstrapped them, meaning to carry them herself, so that Guy would not have too heavy a weight to pedal with his one foot. They all started off together, Guy riding ahead on the bicycle.

„We wil go to Kirrin, dump our things at the cottage, and get Aunt Fanny to ring the police and ask them if they"l come along and collect this bag from us," said Julian. „I don"t want to leave it at the police station - I want to see it opened in front of us!"

„I do hope it won"t be empty," said Anne „It does feel terribly light!"

„Yes. It does," said Julian, swinging it to and fro. „I can"t help fearing that Paul, who drew the plan that the men found so difficult to understand, may have double-crossed his friends - drawn a deliberately difficult plan - and then left the bag quite empty in the place he marked on the plan! It would be the kind of hoax that a trickster loves to play -

and would give him time to get away in safety."

„But they said he was il ," said Dick. „Stil - perhaps he might have been pretending that too! It"s a mystery!"

„How are you getting on, Guy?" called Anne, as they overtook the boy. He kept riding on by himself for a little way, and then resting, waiting for them to catch up with him before he pedalled on again with his one good foot.

„Very well indeed, thank you," said Guy. „This bike was a very good idea of yours. What a blessing you had it with you!"

„Your foot doesn"t seem any more swollen," said Anne. „I expect you"l be able to walk on it properly in a day or two. Oh, dear - it does make me laugh when I think how puzzled we all were when we thought there was just one of you, not twins!"

„We met first one of you, then the other, and thought you were the same boy," said George, with a chuckle. „We were absolutely wild with you sometimes, you seemed so mad and contradictory!"

„Don"t remind us of it," said Harry. „I can"t bear thinking that if I"d only been with Guy, all this trouble of his would never have happened."

„Oh well - it"s an il wind that blows nobody any good!" said George. „The bad and the good have fitted together very well this time, and made a most exciting adventure!"

„Here"s Carters Lane at last," said Anne. „What a long walk it seemed over the common. It wil be much easier for you to ride that bike when you"re on a proper road, Guy. It won"t go bumping over heather clumps now."

They went down the long lane and came into Kirrin at last, realizing that they were al very hungry indeed. „It must be well past dinner-time," said George, looking at her watch.

„Good gracious - it"s a quarter to two! Would you believe it! I hope there"s some dinner left over for us - Mother doesn"t know we"re coming."

„We"ll raid Joan"s larder!" said Dick. „She never minds so long as she"s there to grumble at us while we do it!"

They went in at the gate of Kirrin Cottage and up to the front door, which was open.

George shouted.

„Mother! Where are you? We"ve come back!"

Nobody answered. George yel ed again. „Mother! We"ve come home!"

The door of the study opened and her father looked out, red in the face and frowning.

„George! How many times am I to tel you not to shout when I"m working? Oh, my goodness me, who are all these?"

„Hal o, Father!" said George, mildly. „Surely you know Anne and Julian and Dick! Don"t say you"ve forgotten them already!"

„Of course not! But who are these?" and George"s father pointed to the startled twins.

„They"re as like as peas. Where did they come from? I haven"t seen them before, have I?"

„No, Father. They"re just friends of ours," said George. „Where"s Mother? We"ve just had an adventure and we want to tell her. Oh, and we want to ring the police - and I think we ought to get a doctor to see to Guy"s foot - and Father, look, Timmy"s ear is healed!"

„Bless us al ! There"s never any peace when you are about, George," said her father, groaning. „Your mother"s at the bottom of the garden, picking raspberries - or it might have been strawberries."

„Oh no, Father - it"s August, not June!" said George. „You always..."

Julian thought he had better get his uncle safely back in his study before a row blew up between him and George. Uncle Quentin did not like being disturbed in his complicated work!

„Let"s go and find Aunt Fanny," he said, „we can tell her everything out in the garden.

Come on!"

„Wuff-wuff!" said Jet.

„Good gracious - that"s not another dog, is it?" said George"s father, scowling. „How many times have I said that..."

„We won"t disturb you any more, Uncle," said Julian, hurriedly, seeing Guy"s scared face.

„We"ll go and find Aunt Fanny."

They all went thankful y out in the garden, hearing the house echo to the slam of Uncle Quentin"s study door. George shouted.

„Mother! Where are you?"

„Shut up, George - we don"t want to make your father leap out of the window after us!"

said Dick. „Ah - there"s Aunt Fanny!"

His aunt was very surprised to see him and the others advancing on her. She went to greet them, a basket of raspberries on her arm.

„Well! I thought you wanted to stay away for longer than this!"

„We did - but an adventure descended on us!" said Dick. „We"ll tell you all about it in detail later on, Aunt Fanny."

„But just now we want two things - can we ring the police - or wil you - and ask them to come here?" said Julian, very grown-up all of a sudden. „There"s something that might be very important for them to know. And also do you think we should let a doctor see Guy"s foot - he"s sprained his ankle, I think?"

„Oh dear!" said Aunt Fanny, distressed to see the boy"s swollen foot. „Yes - he ought to have that seen to properly. Who is he? Dear me - there"s another of them! Aren"t they alike?"