13 noises in the night
jack went down the stone stairways of the tower, whistling softly. kiki whistled with him. if itwas a tune she knew, she would whistle it all through with jack.
they came into the old courtyard. there was no sign of the eagles. they were probably roostingnow. but, at jack’s coming, there was a general scurrying all around the yard.
‘rabbits!’ said jack, in delight. ‘golly, what hundreds of them! i suppose they all come out thistime of the evening. i’ll curl myself up in that sandy corner and watch them for a bit. now, don’tyou frighten them, kiki.’
he went over to the soft sand, taking with him the thick rugs and a packet of chocolate biscuits.
he curled himself up, and lay there, watching the rabbits creeping out of their holes again.
it was a lovely sight to see. there were big ones and little ones, dark ones and light ones andplayful ones. some nibbled patches of wiry grass here and there. others leapt about madly.
jack lay there contentedly and nibbled his biscuits, enjoying the chocolate on them. he watchedthe rabbits in delight. kiki watched them too, murmuring a few remarks into jack’s ear now andagain.
‘i bet the eagles catch a good few of those rabbits,’ thought jack, suddenly feeling sleepy. hefinished his last biscuit, and pulled the rugs more closely around him. he felt a little chilly now.
the sand didn’t feel quite so soft as it had done before, either. jack hoped he wasn’t going to beuncomfortable. perhaps it would have been better to have chosen a patch of heather.
‘well, i’m too sleepy to change my bed now,’ he thought. ‘much too sleepy. kiki, move up abit. your claws are digging into my neck. you’d better get off me and perch somewhere else.’
but before kiki could move, jack was asleep. kiki stayed where she was. the rabbits grewbolder and played nearer to the sleeping boy. a half-moon came out of the evening clouds andlighted up the dreaming courtyard.
what woke jack he never knew. but something woke him with a jump. he opened his eyes andlay there, looking up into the night sky, full of surprise. for a moment or two he had no idea wherehe was.
usually when he woke he saw the ceiling of his room – now there were stars and clouds. thenhe suddenly remembered. of course – he was in the courtyard of the old castle. he sat up and kikiawoke too, giving an annoyed little squawk.
‘i wonder what woke me?’ thought jack, looking round the shadowy yard. the moon came outagain and he saw a few rabbits here and there. behind rose the great dark bulk of the castle.
jack felt absolutely certain that something had awakened him. some noise perhaps? or had arabbit run over him? he listened intently, but he could hear nothing save the hoot of an owl on thehillside: ‘hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!’ then he heard the high squeak of a bat, catchingbeetles in the night air.
he glanced up at the tower from which he had waved his white shirt – and he suddenly stiffenedin surprise. surely that was a light he saw flash there?
he stared intently, waiting for it to come again. it had seemed rather like the sudden flash of atorch. but it didn’t come again.
jack sat and thought hard. was it a flash? had someone walked along the battlemented wall tothe tower, and was it their footsteps that awakened him? was there someone in the castle after all?
it seemed rather weird. jack wondered what to do. he didn’t really feel inclined to get up andfind out what the flash was – if it had been a flash. he was beginning to doubt that it was now. ifonly it would come again, he would know.
he decided that it was cowardly to stay in his bed just because he felt a bit scared. he had betterget up and make his way to the tower to see if anyone was there. that would be the brave thing todo.
‘i don’t feel at all brave,’ thought jack, ‘but i suppose a person is really bravest when he doessomething although he is frightened. so here goes!’
warning kiki to be quite quiet, he made his way very carefully across the yard to the entranceof the castle, keeping in the blackest shadows. the feel of kiki’s feet on his shoulder wassomehow very comforting.
he went into the vast hall and listened. there was not a sound to be heard. he switched on historch, cautiously covering it with his handkerchief. the hall was empty. jack went up the widestone stairway, and found his way to the wall that led to the tower. he walked quietly along it,keeping close to one edge, and soon came to the tower.
‘shall i go up or not?’ wondered the boy. ‘i don’t want to in the least. if there’s anyone therethey can’t be up to any good. did i imagine that flash?’
he screwed up his courage and stole up the tower stairway. there was no one in the towerroom. he crept up the stairway that led to the very top, and put his head carefully out. the moon’slight was enough to show him that there was nobody there either.
‘well – i just must have imagined it,’ thought the boy. ‘how silly of me! i’ll go back to bedagain.’
down he went once more, kiki still on his shoulder. as he came into the wide hall, he suddenlystopped still. he had heard a sound. what could it be?
it sounded like a muffled clanking – and then surely that was the splash of water?
‘is it somebody in the kitchen – somebody getting a drink of water again?’ wondered jack,feeling a prickle of panic go down his back. ‘golly, i don’t like this. i wish the others were here.’
he stood quite still, wondering what to do. then, overcome by fear, he fled out of the hall andinto the moonlight yard, keeping in the shadows. he was trembling. kiki bent to his ear,murmuring something supposed to be comforting. she knew he was frightened.
in a minute or two he was ashamed of himself. ‘why am i running away?’ he thought. ‘thiswon’t do. just to show myself that i’m no coward i’ll walk into that kitchen and see who’s there!
it’s a tramp, i expect, who knows the way in. he’ll be far more frightened to see me than i shall beto see him!’
boldly, but very quickly, the boy went back into the dark, brooding castle. through the hall hewent, and made his way softly to the kitchen entrance. he slipped inside the doorway, and thenwent behind the door, where he waited, listening and watching to see if any light was shown.
but there was dead silence. there was no clank of the pump. there was no splash of water. jackwaited for two or three minutes, with kiki, perfectly silent.
he could not even hear anyone breathing. the kitchen must be empty.
‘i’ll switch on my torch very quickly, flash it round the kitchen, and see if there’s anyonestanding quietly there,’ he thought. ‘i can easily run out of the door if there is.’
so he took his torch from his pocket, and suddenly pressed down the switch. he flashed it to thesink, where the pump stood. there was no one there. he flashed it all round the kitchen. it wasquite empty. there was no sign of anyone at all.
jack heaved a sigh of relief. he went across to the sink and examined the floor beside it. therewas again a puddle there – but was it a freshly made one from the sink splashes – or was it thesame one they themselves had made when they used the pump?
jack couldn’t tell. he looked closely at the pump, but that told him nothing, of course.
‘it’s a puzzle,’ jack said to kiki, in a whisper. ‘i suppose the clank and the splashing were allmy silly imagination. i was frightened, and people always imagine things then. i imagined thatflash in the tower, and i imagined the clanking noise and the splashing. kiki, i’m as timid as lucy-ann – i really am.’
still feeling a bit puzzled, but rather ashamed of all his fears and alarms, jack went back to hisbed in the courtyard.
it seemed uncomfortably hard now. also he was a bit cold. he pulled the rugs round him andtried to get comfortable. he shut his eyes and told himself to go to sleep. the moon seemed tohave gone now, and everything was pitch-black. whatever he heard or saw, jack was determinedhe was not going to leave his bed again that night. let people flash lights all they liked, and pumpwater all night long if they wanted to! he wouldn’t bother about it!
he was wide awake. he simply couldn’t go to sleep. he didn’t feel frightened any more. heonly felt annoyed because sleep wouldn’t come to him. he began to think about his eagles, andplanned some fine camera work for the next day.
he could feel kiki perched on his shoulderbone. he knew she had her head under her wing, andwas sleeping. he wished she was awake and would talk to him. he wished the other children werewith him. then he could tell them what he had imagined he saw and heard.
at last he fell asleep, just as the dawn was making the eastern sky silvery. he didn’t see it turngold and pink, nor did he see the first soaring flight of the two eagles. he slept soundly, and so didkiki. but she awoke at the first yelping scream of one of the eagles, and answered it with one ofher marvellous imitations.
that woke jack with a jump, and he sat up. kiki flew off his shoulder, waited till he called her,and flew back again. jack rubbed his eyes and yawned.
‘i’m hungry,’ he said to kiki. ‘are you?’
‘fusty, musty, dusty,’ said kiki, remembering the three words she had so much liked the daybefore. ‘fusty, mus . . .’
‘yes, i heard you the first time,’ said jack. ‘i say, kiki, do you remember how we got up in themiddle of the night and went to the tower and to the kitchen?’
kiki apparently did. she scratched her beak with one of her feet and looked at jack. ‘what apity, what a pity!’ she remarked.
‘yes – i think it was a pity we disturbed ourselves so much,’ said jack. ‘i was an idiot, kiki.
now that it’s broad daylight, and i’m wide awake, i begin to think i must have dreamt or imaginedall that happened in the night – not that anything much did happen, anyway.’
kiki listened with her head on one side. jack unwrapped himself from the rug. ‘i tell you what,kiki – we won’t either of us mention that flash in the tower, or the mysterious clanking orsplashing we thought we heard, see? the others would only laugh at us – and lucy-ann andtassie might be frightened. i’m sure it was all my imagination.’
kiki appeared to agree with every word. she helped jack to get biscuits out of a packet, andfruit out of a bag, and watched him take the top off a bottle of ginger beer.
‘i wonder what time the others will be up,’ said jack, beginning his breakfast. ‘we’ll try andtake a few pictures before they come, shall we, kiki?’
