Joe smiled at him. ‘Getting on fine, except for worrying about you four,’ he said. ‘She’ll feel better still when she gets our radio message.’
‘Oh, have you sent one already?’ asked Dinah. ‘Oh, good! Now she’ll know we’re all right. Goodness – won’t it be strange to go back to school after all this?’
School! Sitting at a desk, learning French grammar, getting into rows for leaving tennis racquets about, playing silly tricks, having music lessons, going to bed at the proper time – how very, very strange it would all seem!
Only Lucy-Ann thought of it with real pleasure. ‘It’ll be so nice to wake up in the mornings and know there’s only lessons and tennis and things to worry about,’ she said to Bill. ‘Instead of wondering if the enemy is coming, and seeing planes parachuting guns down into lagoons, and rushing about in motor-boats, and . . .’
‘Conking poor Horace on the head,’ said Bill, grinning.
‘Well, we didn’t do that, whatever he said to you,’ said Lucy-Ann. And if ever I see him again I’m going to tell him I’m sorry we made such an awful mistake – but that honestly he deserves a good old – a good old . . .’
‘Conk,’ said Philip, chuckling.
‘Well, conk if you like,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘A good old conk for telling such awful stories.’
The seaplane was flying south now. It had left behind all the exciting little islands, and all the millions of noisy sea-birds. The sun was now almost gone and the sea was shadowed a deep blue. In a few minutes the first stars would prick through the evening sky, as bright as diamonds.
‘We’ll be over the mainland soon,’ said Bill. ‘Thank goodness it’s all ended up well! I thought it was the finish of everything when this seaplane landed beside us and hailed us. Another adventure to talk over when we see each other in the holidays. What a lot we’ve had together!’
‘I think I’ve liked this one the best,’ said Jack thoughtfully, and he scratched what was left of Kiki’s crest. All those islands – and this lonely sea, with its blues and greens and greys.’
‘The Sea of Adventure,’ said Lucy-Ann, looking down at its vast expanse of dark blue, touched here and there with the golden reflection of the sky. ‘Goodbye, Sea of Adventure! You’re a lovely place – but much too exciting for me!’
Don’t miss . . .
the next exciting book in Enid Blytons
thrilling Adventure series
1
All set for a summer holiday
Four children were singing at the tops of their voices in a car that was going up a steep mountain-side road.
A parrot was also joining in, very much out of tune, cocking up her crest in excitement. The man at the wheel turned round with a grin.
‘I say! I can’t even hear the car hooter. What’s the matter with you all?’
Philip, Jack, Dinah and Lucy-Ann stopped singing and shouted answers at him.
‘It’s the beginning of the hols!’
‘And we’re going to have a donkey each to ride in the mountains!’
‘Pop goes the weasel!’ That was Kiki the parrot, of course, joining in.
‘We’ve got eight weeks of fun all together.’
‘And you’ll be with us, Bill, as well as Mother! Mother, aren’t you excited too?’
Mrs Mannering smiled at Philip. ‘Yes – but I hope you’re not going to be as noisy as this all the time. Bill, you’ll have to protect me from this rowdy crowd of children.’
‘I’ll protect you all right,’ promised Bill, swinging the car round another bend. ‘I’ll knock all their heads together once a day at least – and if Lucy-Ann starts getting tough with me I’ll . . .’
‘Oh, Bill!’ said Lucy-Ann, the youngest and least boisterous of the lot. ‘Jack’s always saying I’m not tough enough. I ought to be by now, though, considering all the adventures I’ve been through.’
‘Tough enough, tough enough!’ chanted Kiki the parrot, who loved words that sounded alike. ‘Tough enough, tough . . .’
‘Oh, stop her,’ groaned Mrs Mannering. She was tired with their long car journey, and was hoping it would soon be over. She had eight weeks of the children’s holidays before her, and was quite sure she would be worn out before the end of it.
Philip and Dinah were her own children, and Jack and Lucy-Ann, who had no parents, lived with her in the holidays and loved her as if she were their own mother. Bill Cunningham was their very good friend, and had had some hair-raising adventures with them.
He had come with them on these holidays to keep them out of any more adventures – or so he said! Mrs Mannering vowed she was not going to let them out of her sight for eight weeks, unless Bill was with them then they couldn’t possibly disappear, or fall into some dreadful new adventure.
‘They ought to be safe, tucked away in the Welsh mountains, with both you and me, Bill, to look after them,’ said Mrs Mannering. Mr Mannering had been dead for many years and Mrs Mannering often found it difficult to cope with so many lively children at once, now that they were growing older.
Philip loved any animal, bird or insect. His sister Dinah didn’t share this love at all, and disliked most wild animals, and hated quite a number of harmless insects, though she was certainly better than she used to be. She was a hot-tempered girl, as ready to use her fists as Philip, and they had many a battle, much to gentle Lucy-Ann’s dismay.
Lucy-Ann and Jack were brother and sister too. Kiki the parrot was Jack’s beloved parrot, usually to be found on his shoulder. In fact, Mrs Mannering had once actually suggested that she should put a little leather patch on the shoulders of each of Jack’s coats to stop Kiki from wearing thin places there with her clawed feet.
Jack was fond of birds, and he and Philip spent many an exciting hour together bird-watching, or taking photographs. They had a marvellous collection of these, which Bill said was worth a lot of money. They had brought cameras with them on this holiday, and, of course, their field-glasses for watching birds at a distance.
‘We might see eagles again,’ said Jack. ‘Do you remember the eagle’s nest we found near that old castle in Scotland once, Philip? We might see buzzards too.’
‘Buzz-z-z-z-z-z,’ said Kiki at once. ‘Buzz! Buzz offi’
‘We might even have an adventure,’ said Philip, with a grin. ‘Though Mother and Bill are quite certain they will guard us from even the smallest one this time!’
Now here they were, all set for a wonderful holiday in the Welsh mountains, in a very lonely spot, where they could wander about with cameras and field-glasses wherever they liked. Each child was to have a donkey, so that they could ride along the narrow mountain paths as much as they wished.
‘I shan’t always come with you,’ said Mrs Mannering, ‘because I’m not so thrilled with donkey-riding as you are. But Bill will be with you, so you’ll be safe.’
‘Ah – but will Bill be safe with us?’ said Jack, with a grin. ‘We always seem to drag him into something or other. Poor Bill!’
‘If you manage to pull me into an adventure in the middle of some of the loneliest of the Welsh mountains, you’ll be clever,’ said Bill.
The car swung round another bend and a farmhouse came into sight.
‘We’re nearly there,’ said Mrs Mannering. ‘I believe I can see the farmhouse we’re going to stay at. Yes – there it is.’
The children craned their necks to see it. It was a rambling old stone place, set on the mountain-side, with barns and out-buildings all around. In the evening sunset it looked welcoming and friendly.
‘Lovely!’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘What’s it called?’
Bill said something that sounded like ‘Doth-goth-oo-elli-othel-in.’
‘Gracious!’ said Dinah. ‘What a name! Not even Kiki could pronounce that, I’m sure. Tell her it, Bill. See what she says.’
Bill obligingly told the name to the parrot, who listened solemnly and raised her crest politely.
‘Now you just repeat that,’ said Jack to Kiki. ‘Go on!??
?
‘This-is-the-house-that-Jack-built,’ said the parrot, running all the words together. The children laughed.
‘Good try, Kiki!’ said Jack. ‘You can’t stump Kiki, Bill – she’ll always say something. Good old Kiki!’
Kiki was pleased by this praise, and made a noise like the car changing gear. She had been doing this at intervals during the whole of the journey and had nearly driven Mrs Mannering mad.
‘Don’t let Kiki start that again,’ she begged. ‘Thank goodness we are here at last! Where’s the front door, Bill – or isn’t there one?’
There didn’t seem to be one. The track went up to what appeared to be a barn and stopped there. A small path then ran to the farmhouse, divided into three and went to three different doors.
The children tumbled out of the car. Bill got out and stretched his legs. He helped Mrs Mannering out and they all looked round. A cock near by crowed and Kiki promptly crowed too, much to the cocks astonishment.
A plump, red-faced woman came hurrying out of one of the doors, a welcoming smile on her face. She called behind her to someone in the house.
‘Effans, Effans, they have come, look you, they have come!’
‘Ah – Mrs Evans,’ said Bill, and shook hands with her. Mrs Mannering did the same. A small man came running out of the house, and came up to them too.
‘This iss Effans, my husband,’ said the plump woman. ‘We hope you will be very happy with us, whateffer!’
This was said in a pleasant sing-song voice that the children liked very much. Everybody shook hands solemnly with Mrs Evans and her husband, and Kiki held out a claw as well.
‘A parrot, look you!’ cried Mrs Evans to her husband. ‘Effans, a parrot!’
Mr Evans didn’t seem to like the look of Kiki as much as his wife did, but he smiled politely.
‘It iss very welcome you are,’ he said in his sing-song voice. ‘Will you pleass to come this way?’
They all followed Effans. He led them to the farmhouse, and, when the door was flung open, what a welcome sight met the children’s eyes!
A long, sturdy kitchen table was covered with a snow-white cloth, and on it was set the finest meal the children had ever seen in their lives.
A great ham sat ready to be carved. A big tongue garnished round with bright green parsley sat by its side. An enormous salad with hard-boiled eggs sprinkled generously all over it was in the middle of the table. Two cold roast chickens were on the table too, with little curly bits of cold bacon set round.
The children’s eyes nearly fell out of their heads. What a feast! And the scones and cakes! The jams and the pure yellow honey! The jugs of creamy milk!
‘I say – are you having a party or something?’ asked Jack, in awe.
‘A party! No, no – it is high tea for you, look you,’ said Mrs Evans. ‘We cannot do dinners for you at night, we are busy people! You shall have what we have, and that is all. Here is high tea for you today, and when you have washed, it iss ready!’
‘Oh – have we got to wash?’ said Philip with a sigh. ‘I’m clean enough. Golly, look at that meal! I say, if we’re going to have food like this these hols I shan’t want to go donkey-riding at all. I’ll just stay here and eat!’
‘Well, if you do that you’ll be too fat for any donkey to carry,’ said his mother. ‘Go and wash, Philip. Mrs Evans will show us our rooms – we can all do with a wash and a brush – and then we can do justice to this magnificent meal.’
Up some narrow winding stairs went the little party, into big low-ceilinged rooms set with heavy oldfashioned furniture. Mrs Evans proudly showed them a small bathroom, put in for visitors to the farmhouse.
There were four rooms for the party. Bill had a small one to himself. Mrs Mannering had a big one, well away from the children’s rooms, because they were often so noisy in the mornings. Philip and Jack had a curious little room together, whose ceiling slanted almost to the floor, and the girls had a bigger one next door.
‘Isn’t this going to be fun?’ said Jack, scrubbing his hands vigorously in the bathroom, whilst Kiki sat on a tap. ‘I’m longing to get at that meal downstairs. What a spread!’
‘Move up,’ said Dinah impatiently. ‘There’s room for two at this basin. We shall have to take it in turns to come in in the morning. Oh, Kiki, don’t fly off with the nail-brush! Jack, stop her.’
The nail-brush was rescued and Kiki was tapped on the beak. She didn’t mind. She was looking forward to the food downstairs as much as the children. She had seen a bowl of raspberries which she meant to sit as near to as possible. She flew to Jack’s shoulder and muttered loving things into his ear whilst he dried his hands on a very rough towel.
‘Stop it, Kiki. You tickle,’ said Jack. Are you ready, you others? Aunt Allie! Bill! Are you ready? We’re going downstairs.’
‘Coming!’ cried the others, and down they all went. Now for a proper feast!
Read all the exciting adventures
in this bestselling series
Something very sinister is happening on the mysterious Isle of Gloom and the children are determined to uncover the truth!
But Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack are not prepared for the dangerous adventure that awaits them in the abandoned copper mines and secret tunnels beneath the sea.
Why is everyone so afraid of the castle on the hill, and what dark secrets lurk inside its walls?
When flashing lights are seen in a distant tower, Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack decide to investigate – and discover a very sinister plot concealed within its hidden rooms and gloomy underground passages.
Who are the two strange pilots, and what is the secret treasure hidden in the lonely valley where the children land?
Nothing could be more exciting than a daring night flight on Bill’s plane! But Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack soon find themselves flying straight into a truly amazing adventure.
A mysterious trip to the desolate Northern Isles soon turns into a terrifying adventure when Bill is kidnapped!
Marooned far from the mainland on a deserted coast, Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack find themselves playing a dangerous game with an unknown enemy. Will they escape with Bill and their lives?
Surely a peaceful holiday in the Welsh mountains will keep the children out of trouble! But the mystery of a rumbling mountain soon has them thirsty for more adventure.
Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack are determined to explore the mountain and uncover its secret, but first they must escape from a pack of ravenous wolves and a mad genius who plans to rule the world!
An amazing voyage around the beautiful Greek islands becomes an exciting quest to find the lost treasure of the Andra!
Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack are plunged into a search for hidden riches – with some ruthless villains hot on their trail! Will they find the treasure before it’s too late?
Why did Bill have to bring the babyish Gustavus with them on holiday? Jack knows he’ll only be trouble . . .
But when Gustavus is kidnapped, along with Philip, Dinah and Lucy-Ann, Jack bravely sets out to rescue them, leading him to a faraway land and the discovery of a plot to kill the King!
A river cruise through ancient desert lands becomes a mysterious adventure when Bill disappears!
While Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack are desperately searching for Bill, they become trapped beneath a forgotten temple where no one has set foot for 7,000 years. What dangers lurk within, and will they ever escape?
Enid Blyton, The Sea of Adventure
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