chapter 2 tremannon farm

it certainly was a lovely ride to tremannon farm. poppies blew by the wayside in hundreds, andhoneysuckle threw its scent out from the hedges as they passed. the corn stood high in the fields,touched with gold already, and splashed with the scarlet of the poppies.

they came to tremannon village at last. it was really nothing but a winding street, set with a fewshops and houses, and beyond that, straggling out, were other houses. farther off, set in the hills,were a few farm-houses, their grey stone walls gleaming in the sun.

the four children found the general store and went in. 'any ice-cream?' said julian hopefully.

but there was none. what a blow! there was orangeade and lemonade, however, quite cool throughbeing kept down in the cellar of the store.

'you be the folks that old mrs. penruthlan be having in?' said the village shopkeeper. 'she do beexpecting of you. furriners, bain't you?'

'well, not exactly,' said julian, remembering that to many cornish folk anyone was a foreigner whodid not belong to cornwall. 'my mother had a great-aunt who lived in cornwall all her life.

so we're not exactly ''furriners'', are we?'

'you're furriners all right,' said the bent little shopkeeper, looking at julian with bird-like eyes.

'your talk is furrin-like, too. like that man mrs. penruthlan had before. we reckoned he was mad,though he was harmless enough.'

'really?' said julian, pouring himself out a third lemonade. 'well, he was a scientist, and if you'regoing to be a really good one you have to be a bit mad, you know. at least, so i've heard. golly, thislemonade is good. can i have another bottle, please?'

the old woman suddenly laughed, sounding just like an amused hen. 'well, well, marty penruthlan'sgot a fine meal ready for you, but seems like you won't be able to eat a thing, not with all thatlemonade splashing about in your innards!'

7

'don't say you can hear the splashing,' said julian earnestly. 'very bad manners, that! furriners'

manners, i'm sure. well, how much do we owe you? that was jolly good lemonade.'

he paid the bill and they all mounted their bicycles once more, having been given minute directionsas to how to get to the farm. timmy set off with them, feeling much refreshed, having drunk steadilyfor four minutes without stopping.

'i should think you've had about as much water as would fill a horse-trough, timmy,' julian told him.

'my word, if this weather holds we're going to look like red indians!'

it was an uphill ride to tremannon farm, but they got there at last. as they cycled through the opengates, a fusillade of barks greeted them, and four large dogs came flying to meet them.

timmy put up his hackles at once and growled warningly. he went completely stiff, and stood thereglaring.

a woman came out behind the dogs, her face one large smile. 'now, ben; now, bouncer! here,nellie, here! bad dog, willy! it's all right, children, that's their way of saying ''welcome totremannon farm!'' '

the dogs now stood in a ring round the four children, their tongues out, their tails waggingvigorously. they were lovely dogs, three collies and one small black scottie. timmy eyed them oneby one. george had her hand on his collar, just in case he should feel foolhardy all of a sudden andimagine he could take on all four dogs single-handed.

but he didn't. he behaved like a perfect gentleman! his tail wagged politely, and his hackles wentdown. the little scottie ran up to him and sniffed his nose. timmy sniffed back, his tail waggingmore vigorously.

then the three sheepdogs ran up, beautiful collies with plumy tails, and the children heaved sighs ofrelief to see that the farm dogs evidently were not going to regard timmy as a 'furriner'!

'they're all right now,' said mrs. penruthlan. 'they've introduced themselves to one another.

now come along with me. you must be tired and dirty - and hungry and thirsty. i've high tea waitingfor you.'

she didn't talk in the cornish way. she was pleased to see them and gave them a grand welcome.

she took them upstairs to a bathroom, big but primitive. there was one tap only and that was for coldwater. it ran very slowly indeed!

but it was really cold, and was lovely and soft to wash in. the tired children cleaned themselves andcombed their hair.

8

they had two bedrooms between them, one for the girls and one for the boys. they were rathersmall, with little windows that gave a meagre amount of light, so that the rooms looked dark even inthe bright evening sunshine.

they were bare little rooms, with two beds in each, one chair, one chest of drawers, one cupboardand two small rugs. nothing else! but, oh! the views out of the windows!

miles and miles of countryside, set with cornfields, pasture land, tall hedges and glimpses of windinglanes; heather was out on some of the hills, blazing purple in the sun; and, gleaming in the distancewas the dark blue brilliance of the cornish sea. lovely!

'we'll bike to the sea as soon as we can,' said dick, trying to flatten the few hairs that would stick upstraight on the top of his head. there are caves on this coast. we'll explore them. i wonder if mrs.

penruthlan would give us picnic lunches so that we can go off for the day when we want to.'

'sure to,' said julian. 'she's a pet. i've never felt so welcome in my life. are we ready? come ondown, then. i'm beginning to feel very empty indeed.'

the high tea that awaited them was truly magnificent. a huge ham gleaming as pink as timmy'stongue; a salad fit for a king. in fact, as dick said, fit for several kings, it was so enormous. it had in iteverything that anyone could possibly want.

'lettuce, tomatoes, onions, radishes, mustard and cress, carrot grated up - that is carrot, isn't it, mrs.

penruthlan?' said dick. 'and lashings of hard-boiled eggs.'

there was an enormous tureen of new potatoes, all gleaming with melted butter, scattered withparsley. there was a big bottle of home-made salad cream.

'look at that cream cheese, too,' marvelled dick, quite overcome. 'and that fruit cake. and are thosedrop-scones, or what? are we supposed to have something of everything, mrs.

penruthlan?'

'oh, yes,' said the plump little woman, smiling at dick's pleasure. 'and there's a cherry tart made withour own cherries, and our own cream with it. i know what hungry children are. i've had seven of myown, all married and gone away. so i have to make do with other people's when i can get them.'

'i'm jolly glad you happened to get hold of us,' said dick, beginning on ham and salad. 'well, we'llkeep you busy, mrs. penruthlan. we've all got big appetites!'

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'ah, i've not met any children yet that could eat like mine,' said mrs. penruthlan, sounding reallysorry. 'same as i've not met any man that can eat like mr. penruthlan. he's a fine eater, he is.

he'll be in soon.'

'i hope we shall leave enough for him,' said anne, looking at the ham and the half-empty salad dish.

'no wonder my uncle's friend, the man who came to stay here, went away as fat as butter, mrs.

penruthlan.'

'oh, the poor man!' said their hostess, who was now filling up their glasses with rich, creamy milk.

'thin as my husband's old rake, he was, and all his bones showing and creaking. he said''no'' to this and ''no'' to that, but i took no notice of him at all. if he didn't eat his dinner, i'd take histray away and tidy it up, and then in ten minutes i'd take it back again and say: ''dinner-time, sir, andi hope you're hungry!'' and he'd start all over again, and maybe that time he'd really tuck in!'

'but didn't he know you'd already taken him his dinner-tray once?' said julian, astonished.

'goodness, he must have been a dreamer.'

'i took his tray in three times once,' said mrs. penruthlan. 'so you be careful in case i do the samekind of thing to you!'

'i should love it!' grinned julian. 'yes, please, i'd like some more ham. and more salad.'

footsteps came outside the room, on the stone floor of the hall. the door opened and the farmerhimself came in. the children stared at him in awe.

he was a strange and magnificent figure of a man - tall, well over six feet, broadly built, and as darkas a sunburnt spaniard. his mane of hair was black and curly, and his eyes were as black as his hair.

'this is mr. penruthlan,' said his wife, and the children stood up to shake hands, feeling half afraid ofthis dark giant.

he nodded his head and shook hands. his hand was enormous, and was covered with hairs so thickand black that it was like fur. anne felt that it would be quite nice and soft to stroke, like a cat'sback!'

he didn't say a word, but sat down and let his wife serve him. 'well, mr. penruthlan,' she said,'and how's the cow getting along?'

'ah,' said the farmer, taking a plate of ham. the children gazed at the slices in awe, seven or eight ofthem. goodness!

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'oh, i'm glad she's all right,' said mrs. penruthlan, stacking up some dirty plates. 'and is the calf adear little thing - and what's the colour?'

'ah,' said mr. penruthlan, nodding his head.

'red and white, like its mother! that's good, isn't it?' said his wife, who seemed to have a miraculousway of interpreting his 'ahs'. 'what shall we call it?'

everyone badly wanted to say 'ah', but nobody dared. however, mr. penruthlan didn't say 'ah'

that time, but something that sounded like 'ock'.

'yes, we'll call it buttercup, then,' said his wife, nodding her head. 'you always have such good ideas,mr. penruthlan.'

it sounded odd to hear her call her husband by his surname like that, and yet, somehow, the childrencouldn't imagine this giant of a fellow even owning a name like jack or jim. they went on with theirown meal, enjoying every minute of it, watching mr. penruthlan shovel in great mouthfuls, andworking his way quickly through every dish. mrs. penruthlan saw them watching him.

'he's a grand eater, isn't he?' she said, proudly. 'so were all my children. when they were at home, iwas kept really busy, but now, with only mr. penruthlan to feed, i feel quite lost. that's why i likepeople here. you'll tell me if you don't have enough to eat, won't you?'

they all laughed, and timmy barked. he had had a wonderful meal, too, it was the remains of mrs.

penruthlan's big stock-pot, and was very tasty indeed. he had also got the largest bone he had everhad in his life. the only thing that really worried the well-fed timmy now was, where could he putthe bone out of the way of the farm dogs?

mr. penruthlan suddenly made a peculiar noise and began undoing a trouser pocket at the back.

'oo-ah!' he said, and brought out a dirty, folded piece of paper. he handed it to his wife, whounfolded it and read it. she looked up at the children, smiling.

'now, here's a bit of excitement!' she said. 'the barnies will be along this week! you'll love them.'

'what are the barnies?' asked george, puzzled at mrs. penruthlan's evident pleasure and excitement.

'oh, they're travelling players that wander round the countryside and play and act in our big barns,'

said mrs. penruthlan. 'we've no cinemas for miles, you know, so the barnies are always verywelcome.'

11

'oh, you call them barnies because they use your barns for their shows,' said anne, seeing light.

'yes, we shall love to see them, mrs. penruthlan. will they play in your barn?'

'yes. we'll have all the village here when the barnies come,' said mrs. penruthlan, her cheeks goingred with delight. 'and may be people from trelin village, too. now, there's a treat for you!'

'ah,' said mr. penruthlan, and nodded his great head. evidently he liked the barnies, too. he gave asudden laugh and said something short and quite incomprehensible.

'he says you'll like clopper the horse,' said his wife, laughing. 'the things he does! the way he sitsdown and crosses his legs. well, you wait and see. that horse!'

this sounded rather astonishing. a horse that sat down and crossed its legs? julian winked at dick.

they would most certainly see the barnies!