6 what are the two men up to?
lucy-ann was half afraid they might lose their way going back. but the boys had taken good noteof everything. it was when they got to the wood that difficulty might have arisen, but here thenotched trees soon set them right.
they saw that the plane was still down in the valley. so the men were somewhere about. itwould be as well to be careful, and jack told kiki to be quiet. the waterfall seemed to have goneto her head, and she had been very noisy coming back, singing and squawking loudly.
‘there’s our shed,’ said lucy-ann thankfully. it felt quite like home, coming back to it fromthat enormous mountainside. ‘i hope all our things are safe.’
they went inside. yes, their things were there, exactly as they had left them. good!
the sun was now sliding down the sky. it was about tea-time. the children wondered whetherto finish the rest of their chocolate and biscuits.
‘better not,’ said jack. ‘we’ll have them before we go to sleep tonight if we’re terribly hungry.
oh – wait a minute – what about the stuff aunt allie packed for us? haven’t we still got that? wehaven’t eaten it?’
‘no, of course we haven’t,’ said dinah. ‘i was saving it up. we’ve got so little that i thoughtwe’d better not start on that picnic packet yet.’
‘but all the sandwiches will be stale,’ objected philip, who was feeling very empty indeed.
‘what’s the good of that? we might as well eat them whilst they’re eatable.’
‘well – we could eat the sandwiches, and leave the cake and the chocolate and biscuits fortomorrow,’ said dinah.
‘but first let’s get this place ready for us to sleep in tonight. it’s filthy.’
‘i don’t want to sleep here,’ said lucy-ann. ‘i don’t like it. why can’t we sleep outside? we’vegot our macks to lie on, and four rugs – and we can unpack some of our clothes and have them forpillows.’
‘but it might pour with rain,’ said dinah.
‘i could perhaps rig up some sort of roof,’ said jack, looking round at the ruined shed. ‘there’ssome old posts here – and there’s a piece of corrugated iron. if philip gave me a hand, i could rigup the iron sheet on the old posts.’
the two boys tried to do this, but the sheets of iron was not held safely enough. the girls wereterrified it might blow off on to them as they slept.
‘if only we could find a cave!’ said lucy-ann.
‘well, we can’t,’ said jack, rather cross that all his efforts with the posts and the iron were of nouse. ‘anyway, i don’t think it’s going to rain. look at the clear sky. if it does pour, we’ll have toget into the stall at the end of the cowshed, that’s all.’
their work with the posts had made them hungrier than ever. dinah undid the picnic packet andtook out sandwiches and huge slices of cake. they ate the sandwiches in silence, enjoying everybite immensely.
‘wonder what those men are doing,’ said jack at last. ‘i can’t see any smoke rising now. shall islip down towards the plane, keeping well hidden, and see if i can see them?’
‘yes,’ said philip. ‘you’re sure you know your way there and back? don’t get lost forgoodness’ sake!’
‘if i do, i’ll get kiki to do her express-engine screech,’ said jack with a grin. ‘then you’ll knowwhere we are all right.’
‘look in that plane if you get a chance, and see if you can spot any food there,’ called dinah.
jack went off with kiki on his shoulder. lucy-ann didn’t at all like him going off alone. shewished she could have gone with him, but she knew he wouldn’t have let her.
‘let’s get our beds ready,’ said dinah, who always liked to be doing something. ‘come on, youtwo – help to unpack the cases and get out something for pillows – and our macks to lie on.’
whilst jack was gone the other three were very busy. soon they had a cosy-looking bed spreadon the grass under a big birch tree. first there were the four macks, to keep the damp out. thenthere was one big thick rug for softness. there were four piles of woollies for pillows, and finallythe other three rugs for coverings.
‘that looks very good,’ said dinah approvingly. ‘pull that rug a little over this way, lucy-ann.
that’s right. philip, you’re to sleep right on the outside. i won’t have the lizard crawling over mein the night.’
‘lizzie won’t hurt you,’ said philip, taking the lizard out of one of his sleeves. ‘will you,lizzie? stroke her, dinah – she’s sweet.’
‘don’t, philip!’ said dinah with a squeal, as philip brought the lizard near to her on hisoutstretched hand. ‘i’ll box your ears if you dare to let that lizard touch me!’
‘oh, don’t tease her, tufty,’ begged lucy-ann. ‘let me have lizzie for a bit. i love her.’
but lizzie would not go to lucy-ann, much to her annoyance. she ran up philip’s sleeve anddisappeared. little bumps appearing here and there in his jersey showed where she was.
dinah looked up at the sky. it was quite clear. the sun had almost gone, and soon the first starswould prick through the sky. she felt tired and irritable.
so did the others. their short night and the shock they had had were beginning to makethemselves felt. lucy-ann felt that at any moment a violent quarrel might spring up betweendinah and philip.
so she took dinah off to the spring with her, and they washed in the cold clear water, and drank.
they sat there a little while, enjoying the beauty of the valley and the mountains around.
‘they seem to be crowding in on us,’ said lucy-ann. ‘coming closer.’
‘how you do imagine things!’ said dinah. ‘come on – let’s get back. jack should be here soonand i want to hear what he’s got to say.’
they went back. philip had laid himself down on the coats and rugs, and was yawning. ‘i wasjust coming to look for you girls,’ he said. ‘what a time you’ve been! jack isn’t back yet. i hopehe’s all right.’
lucy-ann felt scared. she adored her brother. she went to stand on a rock, so that she might seewhen he came. she turned to the others as soon as she got there.
‘he’s coming!’ she called. and kiki’s on his shoulder.’ she jumped down from the rock andrushed to meet jack. he grinned at her, and kiki flew off his shoulder to perch on lucy-ann’s.
‘i was beginning to get worried, jack,’ said lucy-ann. ‘did anything happen? did you see thetwo men? what were they doing?’
they came up to dinah and philip. ‘my word, what a fine bed!’ said jack, and he sank down onit. ‘this is something like! i’m jolly tired.’
‘what happened, jack?’ asked philip. ‘anything?’
‘not much,’ said jack. ‘i got as near to the plane as i could, but i didn’t dare to go right up incase i was seen, because, as you know, it’s right out in the open. i couldn’t see or hear anything ofthe men at all.’
‘was kiki good?’ asked lucy- ann anxiously. ‘i kept on thinking she might screech orsomething and draw attention to you.’
‘she was as good as gold,’ said jack, scratching kiki’s poll. ‘weren’t you, kiki? well, ithought the next thing to do would be to try and find where the men were – where that smokecame from. so, keeping as much to the bushes and trees as i could, i made my way towards thesmoke. they must have lighted their fire again, because the smoke rose up quite black and thick.’
‘did you see the men?’ asked dinah.
‘i heard their voices first,’ said jack. ‘then i thought it would be a good idea to climb a tree anduse my field glasses. so up i shinned and came to the top of a nice little tree. not far below me,near a tumbledown hut, were the two men, cooking something over a fire they had made.’
‘gracious!’ said lucy-ann. ‘weren’t you scared of being seen?’
‘no. the tree hid me all right,’ said jack. ‘and i hadn’t made a scrap of noise. i got my fieldglasses and looked through them. the men were studying some kind of map.’
‘whatever for?’ said dinah wonderingly. ‘i should think they know this part of the world prettywell or they wouldn’t have been able to land so easily.’
‘well, they’ve come here for some reason, haven’t they?’ said jack. ‘goodness knows what –but certainly for some definite reason. they must be looking for something or someone – and themap will probably show them what they want to know. i heard one say, “this way – and then uphere,” as if they were planning some sort of expedition.’
‘we could follow them,’ said dinah at once. ‘then we’d know’
‘no, thanks,’ said jack. ‘i’m not going mountain climbing behind those men. they look jollytough. what i say is – let them get off on their expedition – and we’ll be able to explore that hut oftheirs – and the plane too. we may find something to tell us who they are and what they’re after.’
‘yes. let’s do that,’ said lucy-ann sleepily. ‘perhaps they’ll go tomorrow. i hope they do. jackcan watch them with his field glasses – and when they’re safely gone we can do a good old snoopround.’
‘there’s really nothing more to tell,’ said jack with a yawn. ‘i couldn’t hear any more. the menrolled up the map and talked in low voices. so i shinned down the tree and came back. and here iam.’
‘let’s snuggle down and go to sleep,’ said lucy-ann. ‘i simply can’t keep my eyes open. we’resafe here, aren’t we?’
‘perfectly, i should think,’ said jack, lying down contentedly. ‘anyway, kiki will give uswarning if anyone comes near. good night.’
‘good night,’ said the others. philip added a few words.
‘dinah, don’t yell if a spider runs over you, or a rat or a hedgehog. there are sure to be plentyout here.’
dinah gave a squeal and covered her head up at once. then there was silence. they were all fastasleep.
