2 a glorious idea
after miss lawson had hurriedly said goodbye to mrs mannering, and the front door had shutafter her, mrs mannering came back into the children’s playroom looking very cross.
‘that was too bad of you, really! i feel very annoyed and angry. how could you let kiki behavelike that, jack! – and philip, there was no need at all for you to make those rats all appear at once.’
‘but, mother,’ argued philip, ‘i can’t go away without my rats, so it was only fair to let misslawson know what she was in for – i mean, i was really being very honest and . . .’
‘you were being most obstructive,’ said mrs mannering crossly. and you know you were. iconsider you are all being really unhelpful. you know you can’t go back to school yet – you alllook thin and pale, and you really must pick up first – and i’m doing my best to give you a goodholiday in the care of somebody responsible.’
‘sorry, aunt allie,’ said jack, seeing that mrs mannering really was upset. ‘you see – it’s thekind of holiday we’d hate. we’re too big to be chivvied about by miss lawson. now – if it wasold bill . . .’
old bill! everyone brightened up at the thought of old bill smugs. his real name wascunningham, but as he had introduced himself as bill smugs in their very first adventure, billsmugs he remained. what adventures they had had with him!
‘golly, yes! – if we could go away with bill,’ said philip, rubbing squeaker’s noseaffectionately.
‘yes – and dive into the middle of another dreadful adventure,’ said mrs mannering. ‘i knowbill!’
‘oh no, aunt allie – it’s us children who have the adventures, and drag old bill into them,’ saidjack. ‘really it is. but we haven’t heard from bill for ages and ages.’
this was true. bill seemed to have disappeared off the map. he hadn’t answered the children’sletters. mrs mannering hadn’t heard a word. he was not at his home and hadn’t been there forweeks.
but nobody worried much about him – bill was always on secret and dangerous missions, anddisappeared for weeks at a time. still, this time he really had been gone for ages without a word toanyone. never mind – he would suddenly turn up, ready for a holiday, grinning all over hischeerful ruddy face.
if only he would turn up now, this very afternoon! that would be grand. nobody would mindmissing the glorious summer term for a week or two if only they could go off with bill.
but no bill came – and something had to be decided about this holiday. mrs mannering lookedat the mutinous children in despair.
‘i suppose,’ she said suddenly, ‘i suppose you wouldn’t like to go off to some place somewhereby the sea where you could study the wild sea-birds, and their nesting habits? i know jack hasalways wanted to – but it has been impossible before, because you were all at school at the besttime of year for it . . . and—’
‘aunt allie!’ yelled jack, beside himself with joy. ‘that’s the most marvellous idea you’ve everhad in your life! oh, i say . . .’
‘yes, mother – it’s gorgeous!’ agreed philip, rapping on the table to emphasise his feelings.
kiki at once rapped with her beak too.
‘come in,’ she ordered solemnly, but no one took any notice. this new idea was too thrilling.
lucy-ann always loved to be where her brother jack was, so she beamed too, knowing howhappy jack would be among his beloved birds. philip too, lover of animals and birds, could hardlybelieve that his mother had made such a wonderful suggestion.
only dinah looked blue. she was not fond of wild animals, and was really scared of most ofthem, though she was better than she had been. she liked birds but hadn’t the same interest in andlove for them that the boys had. still – to be all by themselves in some wild, lonely place by thesea – wearing old clothes – doing what they liked, picnicking every day – what joy! so dinahbegan to smile too, and joined in the cheerful hullabaloo.
‘can we really go? all by ourselves?’
‘when? do say when!’
‘tomorrow! can’t we go tomorrow? golly, i feel better just at the thought of it!’
‘mother! whatever made you think of it? honestly, it’s wizard!’
kiki sat on jack’s shoulder, listening to the babel of noise. the rats hidden about philip’sclothes burrowed deeply for safety, scared of such a sudden outburst of voices.
‘give me a chance to explain,’ said mrs mannering. ‘there’s an expedition setting out in twodays’ time for some of the lonely coasts and islands off the north of britain. just a few naturalists,and one boy, the son of dr johns, the ornithologist.’
all the children knew what an ornithologist was – one who loved and studied birds and theirways. philip’s father had been a bird-lover. he was dead now, and the boy often wished he hadknown him, for he was very like him in his love for all wild creatures.
‘dr johns!’ said philip. ‘why – that was one of daddy’s best friends.’
‘yes,’ said his mother. ‘i met him last week and he was telling me about this expedition. hisboy is going, and he wondered if there was any chance of you and dinah going, philip. youweren’t at all well then, and i said no at once. but now . . .’
‘but now we can!’ cried philip, giving his mother a sudden hug. ‘fancy you thinking ofsomebody like miss lawson, when you knew about this! how could you?’
‘well – it seems a long way for you to go,’ said mrs mannering. ‘and it wasn’t exactly the kindof holiday i had imagined for you. still, if you think you’d like it, i’ll ring up dr johns and arrangefor him to add four more to his bird-expedition if he can manage it.’
‘of course he’ll be able to manage it!’ cried lucy-ann. ‘we shall be company for his boy, too,aunt allie. i say – won’t it be absolutely lovely to be up so far north, in this glorious earlysummer weather?’
the children felt happy and cheerful that teatime as they discussed the expedition. to goexploring among the northern islands, some of them only inhabited by birds! to swim and sail andwalk, and watch hundreds, no, thousands of wild birds in their daily lives! . . .
‘there’ll be puffins up there,’ said jack happily. ‘thousands of them. they go there in nestingtime. i’ve always wanted to study them, they’re such comical-looking birds.’
‘puff-puff-puffin,’ said kiki at once, thinking it was an invitation to let off her railway-enginescreech. but jack stopped her sternly.
‘no, kiki. no more of that. frighten the gulls and cormorants, the guillemots and the puffins allyou like with that awful screech when we get to them – but you are not to let it off here. it gets onaunt allie’s nerves.’
‘what a pity, what a pity!’ said kiki mournfully. ‘puff-puff, ch-ch-ch!’
‘idiot,’ said jack, and ruffled the parrot’s feathers. she sidled towards him on the tea-table, andrubbed her beak against his shoulder. then she pecked a large strawberry out of the jar of jam.
‘oh, jack!’ began mrs mannering, ‘you know i don’t like kiki on the table at mealtimes – andreally, that’s the third time she’s helped herself to strawberries out of the jam.’
‘put it back, kiki,’ ordered jack at once. but that didn’t please mrs mannering either. really,she thought, it would be very very nice and peaceful when the four children and the parrot weresafely off on their holiday.
the children spent a very happy evening talking about the coming holiday. the next day jackand philip looked out their field-glasses and cleaned them up. jack hunted for his camera, a veryfine one indeed.
‘i shall take some unique pictures of the puffins,’ he told lucy-ann. ‘i hope they’ll be nestingwhen we get there, lucy-ann, though i think we might be a bit too early to find eggs.’
‘do they nest in trees?’ asked lucy-ann. ‘can you take pictures of their nests too, and thepuffins sitting on them?’
jack smiled. ‘puffins don’t nest in trees,’ he explained. ‘they nest in burrows underground.’
‘gracious!’ said lucy-ann. ‘like rabbits!’
‘well, they even take rabbit burrows for nesting-places sometimes,’ said jack. ‘it will be fun tosee puffins scuttling underground to their nests. i bet they will be as tame as anything too, becauseon some of these bird-islands nobody has ever been known to set foot – so the birds don’t knowenough to fly off when people arrive.’
‘you could have puffins for pets, easily, then,’ said lucy-ann. ‘i bet philip will. i bet he’ll onlyjust have to whistle and all the puffins will come huffing and puffing to meet him.’
everyone laughed at lucy-ann’s comical way of putting things. ‘huffin and puffin,’ said kiki,scratching her head. ‘huffin and puffin, poor little piggy-wiggy-pig.’
‘now what’s she talking about?’ said jack. ‘kiki, you do talk a lot of rubbish.’
‘poor little piggy-wiggy-pig,’ repeated kiki solemnly. ‘huffin and puffin, huffin and . . .’
philip gave a shout of laughter. ‘i know! she’s remembered hearing the tale of the wolf and thethree little pigs – don’t you remember how the wolf came huffing and puffing to blow their housedown? oh, kiki – you’re a marvel!’
‘she’ll give the puffins something to think about,’ said dinah. ‘won’t you, kiki? they’llwonder what sort of a freak has come to visit them. hallo – is that the telephone bell?’
‘yes,’ said jack, thrilled. ‘aunt allie has put through a call to dr johns – to tell him we’ll joinhis expedition – but he was out, so she asked for him to ring back when he got home. i bet that’shis call.’
the children crowded out into the hall, where the telephone was. mrs mannering was alreadythere. the children pressed close to her, eager to hear everything.
‘hallo!’ said mrs mannering. ‘is that dr johns? – oh, it’s mrs johns. yes, mrs mannering here.
what’s that? oh . . . i’m so dreadfully sorry. how terrible for you! oh, i do so hope it isn’tanything serious. yes, yes, of course, i quite understand. he will have to put the whole thing off –till next year perhaps. well, i do hope you’ll have good news soon. you’ll be sure to let us know,won’t you? goodbye.’
she hung up the receiver and turned to the children with a solemn face. ‘i’m so sorry, children –but dr johns has been in a car accident this morning – he’s in hospital, so, of course, the wholeexpedition is off.’
off! no bird-islands after all – no glorious carefree time in the wild seas of the north! what aterrible disappointment!
