14 jack gets a shock
after he had had his breakfast jack went to his hide. it was a lovely day. he could take some finepictures if only the eagles were there.
he wrapped the thickest rug round him and crawled in through the prickly stems of the gorse.
kiki remained outside this time.
when he was in the hollow centre of the bush jack examined his camera to make sure that itwas all right. it was. he looked through the shutter to see if he had it trained exactly on the nest.
‘perfect!’ he thought. ‘that young eagle appears to be asleep. i might get a good picture when itwakes up. i suppose the other birds are soaring miles high into the sky.’
it was boring, waiting for the eagle to wake up. but jack didn’t mind. both he and philip knewthat the ability to keep absolutely still and silent for a long time on end was essential to the studyof birds and animals in their natural surroundings. so jack settled back in the gorse bush, andwaited.
kiki went off on errands of her own. she flew to the top of the nearest tower and looked downon the countryside. she flew down to the courtyard and looked inside a paper bag there, hoping tofind a forgotten biscuit. she sat on the branch of a birch tree, practising quietly to herself thebarking noise that button the fox cub made. so long as jack was somewhere near she was happy.
he was safe in that gorse bush. kiki didn’t know why he had chosen such a peculiar resting place,but jack was always wise in her eyes.
the young eagle suddenly awoke and stretched out first one wing and then another. it climbedto the edge of the nest and looked out over the ledge, waiting for its parents to come back.
‘fine!’ whispered jack, and pressed the trigger of the camera to take the eagle’s picture. theyoung bird heard the click and cowered down at once – but the snap had been taken!
soon the bird recovered from its fright and climbed up again. then, with yelps, the two growneagles came gliding down on outspread wings, and the young one greeted them gladly, spreadingout its wings and quivering them.
one of the eagles had a young hare clutched in its claws. it dropped it into the nest. at once theyoungster covered the food with its big wings, cowered over it, and began to pull at it hungrilywith its powerful beak.
jack snapped it. all three birds heard the click and looked towards the gorse bush suspiciously.
the male eagle glared and jack felt uncomfortable. he hoped the bird wouldn’t pounce at thegleaming camera lens and ambush it.
but kiki saved the situation by flying down in a most comradely manner to the eagles, andsaluting them in their own yelping language.
they appeared to be quite pleased to see her again although the young eagle covered the deadhare threateningly with its wings as if to keep kiki off.
‘open your books at page six,’ said kiki pleasantly. the eagles looked startled. they had notyet got used to the parrot talking in human language. she barked like button, and they lookedrather alarmed.
the female eagle bent herself forward, opened her cruel beak, and made a curious snarlingnoise, warning kiki to be careful. she at once spoke in eagle language again, and gave such a finescream that both eagles were satisfied. the young one fell upon its meal and ate till it could eat nomore. then it sank back into the big nest.
the female eagle finished the dead hare in a very short while. jack got another wonderful snapwhilst it was tearing up its food.
this time, except for an enquiring look in the direction of the click, the eagles took no notice.
‘good,’ thought jack. ‘they won’t mind the click soon or the gleaming eye of the camera!’
he spent a pleasant morning, using up the rest of his film, delighted to think of the wonderfulpictures he could develop. he imagined them in nature magazines, with his name under them asphotographer. how proud he would feel!
kiki suddenly gave a most excited squawk, making the two grown eagles rise in the air inalarm. she flew into the air, and made for the wall that ran round the courtyard. jack, peeringthrough the back of his hiding-place, saw her fly right over the wall, and disappear.
‘now where’s she gone?’ he thought. ‘i was just going to take a picture of her and the twoeagles together.’
kiki was gone for about half an hour before jack saw her again. then she came into thecourtyard on tassie’s shoulder! she had heard the other children coming up the hillside and hadflown to meet them. they had got into the castle in the usual way, and were now looking for jack.
the eagles soared into the air when they heard the children coming towards their crag. jackgave a hail from the inside of his hide.
‘i’m here! hallo, it’s good to see you. wait a sec and i’ll be out.’
he crawled out with the rug round him and went down to the others. lucy-ann eyed himanxiously, and was relieved to see him looking cheerful and well. so he hadn’t minded his lonelynight at the castle after all.
‘we’ve brought a fine dinner,’ said philip. ‘mother managed to get some cooked ham and a bigfruit cake in the village.’
‘good!’ said jack, realising that he was terribly hungry. ‘i’ve only had biscuits and fruit for mybreakfast, washed down with ginger beer.’
‘we’ve got some more ginger beer too,’ said dinah. ‘where shall we have our dinner? on thetop of the tower again or where?’
‘here, i think,’ said jack, ‘because the light is perfect for taking pictures this morning, and ifthose eagles come back i want a few more snaps of them. i’ve an idea they are going to make thatyoung one fly soon. the female eagle tried to tip it off the edge of the nest this morning.’
‘kiki came to meet us,’ said tassie. ‘did you see how button came in this morning, jack? weleft him outside, but he’s here again.’
‘no, i didn’t,’ said jack. ‘i can’t see much from the inside of that gorse bush, you know. weshall never find out how button gets in – bet it’s down an old rabbit-hole. he won’t be able to dothat when he gets a bit bigger. has he been good?’
‘not very,’ said philip. ‘he somehow got into the larder and gobbled up all mother’s sausages.
she wasn’t at all pleased. i can’t imagine how he can eat anything else at the moment. he musthave eaten a pound and a half of sausages.’
‘greedy pig,’ said jack, giving button half his ham sandwich. ‘you don’t deserve this butyou’re so sweet i can’t help spoiling you.’
‘it’s a pity he smells so strong,’ said dinah, wrinkling up her nose. ‘you won’t be able to keephim when he’s grown a bit more, philip – he’ll smell too much.’
‘that’s all you know!’ said philip. ‘i shall probably keep him till he dies of old age.’
‘well, you’ll have to wear a gas mask then,’ said jack, grinning. ‘another sandwich, please,dinah. golly, these are good.’
‘what sort of a night did you have, jack?’ asked lucy-ann, who was sitting as close to jack asshe could.
‘oh, very good,’ said jack airily. ‘i woke up once and took some time to go to sleep again.’
he was determined not to say anything about his alarms and fears in the night. they seemed sosilly now, in the full sunshine with people all round him.
‘you should have seen the rabbits in the late evening,’ he said to philip. ‘you’d have lovedthem. they wouldn’t come to me of course, but i daresay you’d have got them all over you! theyseemed as tame as anything.’
the four children stayed with jack till after tea. each crept into his hide to watch the eagles.
they went up to the tower again, and jack cautiously looked round to see if there was anythingdifferent about the tower – a cigarette end, a scrap of paper – but there was nothing at all.
‘won’t you come back with us tonight, jack?’ asked lucy-ann.
‘of course not,’ said jack, though secretly he felt that he would rather like to. ‘is it likely, just asi’m certain that young eagle is going to learn to fly?’
‘all right,’ said lucy-ann, with a sigh, ‘i don’t know why i hate you being here alone in thishorrid old castle, but i just do.’
‘it’s not a horrid castle,’ said jack. ‘it’s just old and forgotten, but it’s not horrid.’
‘well, i think it is,’ said lucy-ann. ‘i think horrid, wicked things have been done here in thepast – and i think they might be done again in the future.’
‘you’re just dreaming,’ said jack, ‘and you’re frightening poor tassie. it’s only an old emptyplace, forgotten for years, with nobody in it at all except me and the eagles, bats and rabbits.’
‘it’s time to go,’ said philip, getting up. ‘we brought you another rug, jack, in case you feltcold. coming to see us off at the window?’
‘yes, of course,’ said jack, and they all went inside the castle, their footsteps echoing on thestone floor. they went to the room where the plank reached to the windowsill, and one by onethey got across.
lucy-ann called a farewell to jack.
‘thank you for waving your shirt to me last night!’ she called. ‘and oh, jack, i saw you flashingyour torch from the tower later on, too! i was in bed, but i was awake and i saw the flash of thetorch three or four times. it was nice of you to do that. i was glad to see it and to know you wereawake too!’
‘come on, lucy-ann, for goodness’ sake!’ called dinah. ‘you know mother said we weren’t tobe late tonight.’
‘all right, i’m coming,’ said lucy-ann, and slid down the creepers to the ground. everyonecalled goodbye and then they were gone.
but jack was left feeling most puzzled and uncomfortable! so there had been someone in thetower last night flashing a torch! he hadn’t dreamt it or imagined it. it was true.
‘lucy-ann saw it, so that proves i wasn’t mistaken as i thought,’ said the boy to himself as hewent back to the courtyard. ‘it’s terribly mysterious. that clanking i heard and the splashing musthave been real too. there is someone else here – but who – and why?’
he wished now that he had told the others the happenings in the night. but it was too late, theywere gone. jack now longed to be gone with them! suppose he heard noises again and sawflashes? he didn’t like it. it was weird and eerie and altogether unpleasant.
‘shall i go after the others and join them?’ he thought. ‘no, i won’t. i’ll wait and try and findout who’s here. fancy lucy-ann seeing those flashes! i am glad she told me!’
