"george dear, do settle down and do something," said george's mother. "you keep wandering in andout with timothy, and i am trying to have a rest.""sorry, mother," said georgina, taking hold of timothy's collar. "but i feel lonely without the others.
oh i do wish tomorrow would come. i've been without them for three whole weeks already."georgina went to boarding-school with her cousin anne, and in the holidays she and anne, andanne's two brothers, julian and dick, usually joined up together and had plenty of fun. now it wasthe summer holidays, and already three weeks had gone by. anne, dick and julian had gone awaywith their father and mother, but georgina's parents had wanted their little girl with them, so she hadnot gone.
now her three cousins were coming the next day to spend the rest of the summer holidays with her ather old home, kirrin cottage.
"it will be lovely when they are here," said george, as she was always called, to timothy her dog.
"simply lovely, timothy. don't you think so?""woof," said timothy and licked george's hand.
george was dressed, as usual, exactly like a boy, in jeans and a jersey. she had always wanted to be aboy, and would never answer if she was called georgina. so everyone called her george.
she had missed her cousins very much during the first weeks of the summer holidays.
''i used to think i liked best to be alone,'' george said to timothy, who always seemed to understandevery word she said. ''but now i know that was silly. it's nice to be with others and share things, andmake friends.''
timothy thumped his tail on the ground. he certainly liked being with the other children too. he waslonging to see julian, anne and dick again.
george took timothy down to the beach. she shaded her eyes with her hand, and looked out to theentrance of the bay. in the middle of it, almost as if it were guarding it, lay a small, rocky island, onwhich rose the ruins of an old castle.
''we'll visit you again this summer, kirrin island,'' said george softly. ''i haven't been able to go toyou yet this summer, because my boat was being mended – but it will be ready soon, then i'll 2come to you. and i'll look all round the old castle again. oh tim – do you remember the adventureswe had on kirrin island last summer?'
tim remembered quite well, because he himself had shared in the thrilling adventures. he had beendown in the dungeons of the castle with the others; he had helped to find treasure there, and had hadjust as grand a time as the four children he loved. he gave a little bark.
''you're remembering, aren't you, tim?' said george, patting him. ''won't it be fun to go there again?
we'll go down into the dungeons again, shall we? and oh! – do you remember how dick climbeddown the deep well-shaft to rescue us?'
it was exciting, remembering all the things that had happened last year. it made george long all themore for the next day, when her three friends would arrive.
"i wish mother would let us go and live on the island for a week," thought george. "that would bethe greatest fun we could have. to live on my very own island!"it was george's island. it really belonged to her mother, but she had said, two or three years back, thatgeorge could have it, and george now thought of it as really her own. she felt that all the rabbits onit belonged to her, all the wild birds and other creatures.
"i'll suggest that we go there for a week, when the others come," she thought, excitedly. "we'll takeour food and everything, and live there quite by ourselves. we shall feel like robinson crusoe."she went to meet her cousins the next day, driving the pony and trap by herself. her mother wantedto come, but she said she did not feel very well. george felt a bit worried about her. so often latelyher mother had said she didn't feel very well. perhaps it was the heat of the summer.
the weather had been so very hot lately. day after day had brought nothing but blue sky andsunshine. george had been burnt a dark-brown, and her eyes were startlingly blue in her sunburntface. she had had her hair cut even shorter than usual, and it really was difficult to know whether shewas a boy or a girl.
the train came in. three hands waved madly from a window, and george shouted in delight.
"julian! dick! anne! you're here at last."the three children tumbled pell-mell out of their carriage. julian yelled to a porter.
"our bags are in the guard's van. hallo, george! how are you? golly, you've grown."they all had. they were all a year older and a year bigger than when they had had their excitingadventures on kirrin island. even anne, the youngest, didn't look such a small girl now. she 3flung herself on george, almost knocking her over, and then went down on her knees besidetimothy, who was quite mad with joy to see his three friends.
there was a terrific noise. they all shouted their news at once, and timothy barked without stopping.
"we thought the train would never get here!""oh timothy, you darling, you're just the same as ever!""woof, woof, woof!"
"mother's sorry she couldn't come and meet you too.""george, how brown you are! i say, aren't we going to have fun.""woof, woof!"
"shut up, tim darling, and do get down; you've bitten my tie almost in half. oh, you dear old dog, it'sgrand to see you!"
"woof!"
the porter wheeled up their luggage, and soon it was in the pony-cart. george clicked to the waitingpony, and it cantered off. the five in the little cart all talked at once at the top of their voices, tim farmore loudly than anyone else, for his doggy voice was strong and powerful.
"i hope your mother isn't ill?" said julian, who was fond of his aunt fanny. she was gentle and kind,and loved having them all.
"i think it must be the heat," said george.
"what about uncle quentin?" asked anne. "is he all right?"the three children did not very much like george's father, because he could get into very fiercetempers, and although he welcomed the three cousins to his house, he did not really care for children.
so they always felt a little awkward with him, and were glad when he was not there.
"father's all right," said george, cheerfully. "only he's worried about mother. he doesn't seem tonotice her much when she's well and cheerful, but he gets awfully upset if anything goes wrong withher. so be a bit careful of him at the moment. you know what he's like when he's worried."the children did know. uncle quentin was best avoided when things went wrong. but not even thethought of a cross uncle could damp them today. they were on holiday; they were going to kirrincottage; they were by the sea, and there was dear old timothy beside them, and fun of all kinds instore for them.
4
"shall we go to kirrin island, george?" asked anne. "do let's! we haven't been there since lastsummer. the weather was too bad in the winter and easter holidays. now it's gorgeous.""of course we'll go," said george, her blue eyes shining. "do you know what i thought? i thought itwould be marvellous to go and stay there for a whole week by ourselves! we are older now, and i'msure mother would let us."
"go and stay on your island for a week!" cried anne. "oh! that would be too good to be true.""our island," said george, happily. "don't you remember i said i would divide it into four, and we'dall share it? well, i meant it, you know. it's ours, not mine.""what about timothy?" said anne. "oughtn't he to have a share as well? can't we make it five bits,one for him too?"
"he can share mine," said george. she drew the pony to a stop, and the four children and the doggazed out across the blue bay. "there's kirrin island," said george. "dear little island. i can hardlywait to get to it now. i haven't been able to go there yet, because my boat wasn't mended.""then we can all go together," said dick. "i wonder if the rabbits are just as tame as ever.""woof!" said timothy at once. he had only to hear the word "rabbits" to get excited.
"it's no good your thinking about the rabbits on kirrin," said george. "you know i don't allow you tochase them, tim."
timothy's tail dropped and he looked mournfully at george. it was the only thing on which he andgeorge did not agree. tim was firmly convinced that rabbits were meant for him to chase, andgeorge was just as firmly convinced that they were not.
"get on!" said george to the pony, and jerked the reins. the little creature trotted on towards kirrincottage, and very soon they were all opposite the front gate.
a sour-faced woman came out from the back door to help them down with their luggage. thechildren did not know her.
"who's she?" they whispered to george.
"the new cook," said george. "joanna had to go and look after her mother, who broke her leg.
then mother got this cook - mrs. stick her name is.""good name for her," grinned julian. "she looks a real old stick! but all the same i hope she doesn'tstick here for long. i hope joanna comes back. i liked old fat joanna, and she was nice to timmy."5
"mrs. stick has a dog too," said george. "a dreadful animal, smaller than tim, all sort of mangy andmoth-eaten. tim can't bear it."
"where is it?" asked anne, looking round.
"it's kept in the kitchen, and tim isn't allowed near it," said george. "good thing too, because i'msure he'd eat it! he can't think what's in the kitchen, and goes sniffing round the shut door till mrs.
stick nearly goes mad."
the others laughed. they had all climbed down from the pony-cart now, and were ready to goindoors. julian had helped mrs. stick in with all the bags. george took the pony-cart away, and theother three went in to say how-do-you-do to their uncle and aunt.
"well, dears," said aunt fanny, smiling at them from the sofa where she was lying down. "how areyou all? i'm sorry i could not come to meet you. uncle quentin is out for a walk. you had better goupstairs, and wash and change. then come down for tea."the boys went up to their old bedroom, with its queer slanting roof, and its window looking out overthe bay. anne went to the little room she shared with george. how good it was to be back again atkirrin! what fun they would have these holidays with george and dear old timmy!
