‘I know,’ said Jack, making up his mind at once that he would go and watch in the quarry. He liked owls very much. Perhaps he could get a young one and tame it. But he’d have to be careful not to let it see Snoozy the dormouse. That would be the end of Snoozy!
The boys walked off together, exploring the cone-shaped hill. A shout from above attracted their attention.
‘Jack! Philip! We’re going back in a minute. Are you coming with us, or do you want to follow sometime later?’
‘We’ll come now,’ shouted Jack, and he and Philip began to climb up towards the others. They found Gussy awake but scowling. He spat something out of his mouth as they came up.
‘Manners, manners!’ said Jack, reprovingly.
‘He says somebody popped bits of grass into his mouth,’ said Dinah, with a giggle. ‘So he keeps on spitting them out. Did you put them in, Jack?’
‘No,’ said Jack. ‘And Philip didn’t either.’
‘There you are!’ said Dinah, triumphantly, turning to the angry Gussy. ‘Nobody put anything in your mouth when you were asleep. You’re just making it all up. I bet you chewed a bit of grass yourself.’
‘I did not,’ said Gussy. ‘It was a wicket thing to do. It nearly chocked me. I was chocked.’
‘Choked, you mean,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Well, it’s a mystery. Nobody did it – and yet you were nearly “chocked” with grass. Don’t spit any more. You can’t have any left in your mouth now.’
Jack and Philip threw a quick look at one another. They knew quite well who had played this trick on poor Gussy. Gussy saw the look and rounded on them. ‘You know who did it! I saw you look!’
‘All right. We know who did it,’ said Jack. ‘A jolly good trick too. We thought of doing it ourselves, you looked so silly with your mouth wide open, snoring.’
‘I do not snore,’ said Gussy. ‘And tell me who did it.’
‘Come on,’ said Bill. ‘I expect it was old Kiki. She’s done it before – to me! Can’t you see a joke, Gus?’
Gus suddenly exploded into his own language. He stood there, shaking his long hair back, his face scarlet, and a string of incomprehensible words coming from his mouth. Nobody understood a thing.
Kiki was intensely interested with this string of words she didn’t understand. She sat herself on Jack’s shoulder, near to the angry Gus, and listened intently. When he stopped for breath, she continued on her own.
‘Gibberollydockeryblowykettlefussy-gussy,’ she began, and poured out strings of nonsense into which she wove many of the words she knew, mixed up with ones she didn’t! Everyone roared. It sounded exactly as if Kiki was talking to Gus in his own language.
Gus was silenced. He stared at Kiki, amazed. ‘Does she spik English now?’ he demanded. ‘What does she spik?’
‘She’s spikking a lot of nonsense, bad bird!’ said Jack. ‘Be quiet, Kiki. Don’t show off!’
Bill and Mrs Cunningham had already set off down the hill. The girls followed, giggling. Gus was annoying but he really did provide them with a lot of amusement.
Gus followed them at last, shaking back his long hair defiantly. He spat now and again as if he still had grass in his mouth, and Kiki copied him with joy, going off into cackles of laughter every now and again.
It was about half-past five when they got back to Quarry Cottage. ‘If any of you want tea after that enormous lunch, will you please get yourself a glass of milk, and some biscuits?’ said Mrs Cunningham. ‘Or a bit of fruit cake if you feel real pangs of hunger?’
All the five children apparently felt real pangs, for they raided the larder and reduced the fruitcake to a mere fragment of itself. They also drank all the milk, much to Mrs Cunningham’s dismay.
‘Now we’ve none for your cocoa tonight or for breakfast tomorrow!’ she said.
‘I’ll get some at the farm when I slip up this evening,’ said Bill. ‘It will be a good excuse to go up and ask a few questions.’
‘Any mystery on?’ enquired Dinah. ‘I’m never sure about you, Bill! Even in the middle of a holiday I always wonder if you’ve got a hush-hush job on as well.’
‘Mystery or not, Bill always keeps his eyes open!’ said Philip. ‘It’s part of your job, isn’t it, Bill?’
‘Let’s play a game,’ said Dinah. ‘Where are the cards? Let’s play Racing Demon. Do you play it, Gus?’
‘I play it,’ said Gus. ‘I played it at school last term. I am good with this game. Very good. I go as fast as this.’
He pretended to be putting cards down, and was so vigorous that his hair fell over his eyes. He pushed it back. He was always doing that, and it got on Dinah’s nerves.
‘Your long hair!’ she said. ‘It’s always in the way.’
‘Now don’t start anything,’ said Jack. ‘A spark is enough to set him off. Talk about being touchy! Don’t glare like that, Gus, you make me shake at the knees!’
‘Poof!’ said Gus, rudely.
‘Poof!’ said Kiki at once. ‘Poof, poof, poof!’
‘That’ll do,’ said Jack. ‘One poofer is quite enough in the family. Got the cards, Di? Oh, good!’
They were soon sitting in a ring on the floor, playing Racing Demon. Kiki couldn’t understand the game at all and wandered off into a corner because Jack wouldn’t let her pick up any of the cards.
‘Poof!’ they heard her say to herself quietly. ‘Poof!’
Surprisingly enough Gussy was good at Racing Demon. He was very deft with his cards, and very sharp to see which pile he could put them on. He got very excited, and panted loudly. His hair fell over his eyes, and he pushed it back. Jack calmly put a card on a pile that Gus was just about to put one on, and Gus exclaimed in annoyance.
‘I was going to put mine there – but my hair fell over me!’
‘Why do you have hair like that then?’ said Dinah. ‘It’s really very long. Why don’t you get it cut?’
‘Yes, that’s a good idea,’ said Philip, putting a card down. ‘We’ll go into the village tomorrow and see if there’s a barber. He’ll cut it shorter for you, Gus. You’ll get a crick in your neck, tossing your hair about like that!’
‘Yes. Good idea! We’ll have it cut tomorrow,’ said Jack, grinning at Gus.
Gus surprised them. He flung down his cards, stood up, and went scarlet in the face. ‘Short hair is for boys like you,’ he said, scornfully. ‘It is not for me. Never must I have my hair short. In my country always it is the custom for such boys as me to wear their hair long!’
‘Such boys as you!’ echoed Jack. ‘What do you mean? You’ve got a very high opinion of yourself, my lad. You may come from a rich family, but you act like royalty, and it won’t do. You’re not a Prince, so don’t try and act like one. It only makes you ridiculous.’
Gus drew himself up to his last inch. He threw back his hair once more. ‘I am a Prince!’ he said, dramatically. ‘I am the Prince Aloysius Gramondie Racemolie Torquinel of Tauri-Hessia!’
8
Bill explains
There was a dead silence after this dramatic announcement. Nobody said a word, not even Kiki. They all stared in astonishment at Gus, not knowing whether to believe a word of what he had said.
Then his lips began to shake, and he tried to press them together firmly. Lucy-Ann was sure he wanted to cry again!
‘I have broke my word!’ suddenly wailed Gus. ‘I am a Prince and I have broke my word!’
A voice came from behind them. It was Bill’s.
‘Yes, you have broken your word, Aloysius Gramondie Racemolie Torquinel. And your uncle told me you would never do that. How am I to keep you safe if you break your word?’
Bill came forward, his face stern. Everyone stared at him in alarm. Whatever was up?
‘Bill – he’s not really a Prince, is he?’ said Jack.
‘Believe it or not, he is,’ said Bill. ‘His uncle is the King of Tauri-Hessia.’
‘Well! That explains his peculiar behaviour,’ said Dinah. ‘His ordering people about – and his high
and mighty airs – and all his money and boasting.’
‘And his long hair too,’ said Bill. ‘The Princes in his country never have their hair cut short as ours do. They wear it a certain length, as you see. It’s bad luck on him, really, because he gets teased. Still, the boys at his school knew who he was and knew he couldn’t help it, and he didn’t have too bad a time.’
There was a pause while the four took a look at Prince Aloysius. He shook back his hair and Dinah groaned.
‘I wish you wouldn’t do that, Gussy. I can’t call you Ally – Ally-something or other. You’ll have to go on being Gussy.’
‘Oh, he must,’ said Bill, at once. ‘I gave him the name of Gustavus Barmilevo for a special reason. Things – rather serious things – are happening in his country at the moment, and it’s essential that he should go under another name here.’
‘What serious things are happening?’ said Jack. ‘Revolts or something?’
‘Well, I’ll tell you,’ said Bill. ‘His uncle is King, and as he has no children, Gussy is the heir to the throne. Now there are certain people in Tauri-Hessia who don’t like his uncle or the firm way in which he governs the country. Incidentally he governs it very well, and our own Government thinks him a very sound ruler.’
‘I can guess what’s coming,’ said Jack. ‘Those who don’t like the strong uncle think it would be a good thing to get a weak youngster, who’ll have to do what they tell him, and put him on the throne. Then they can do as they like!’
‘Exactly,’ said Bill. ‘And so they are on the look-out for Gussy here. If they can get hold of him and put him on the throne, he will have to do exactly what he’s told. His uncle will be imprisoned or killed.’
‘And Gussy knows all this, does he?’ asked Philip.
‘He knows all right!’ said Bill. ‘Everything was explained to him. He’s fond of his uncle; he doesn’t want to be used as a kind of pawn by his uncle’s enemies – and so he was put in my keeping, and told to be merely a foreign schoolboy called Gustavus. And here he is.’
‘I have broke my word to you,’ said Gussy, sounding very doleful. ‘Mr Bill, I ask you to pardon me.’
‘Well, don’t do it again, that’s all,’ said Bill. ‘Nobody here is likely to give you away, fortunately – we are all your friends – or would like to be if only you’d behave yourself a bit better.’
‘I behave better at once immediately,’ said Gussy, emphatically.
‘Hm. Well, we’ll see,’ said Bill, drily. ‘It would help considerably if you could try to behave like the others so that if any stranger comes hanging round he’ll think you are an ordinary schoolboy staying with friends. At present I think you’re behaving rather stupidly, not like a Prince at all. In fact, if I were a Tauri-Hessian citizen, I’d be sorry to think I’d have you as King when you grew up.’
‘Bill – is it the Tauri-Hessian Government or ours that has asked you to have charge of Gussy?’ said Dinah.
‘Both,’ said Bill. ‘It’s important to both Governments that there should be a sound, strong ruler in Tauri-Hessia. I can’t tell you why at present. I think it’s possible that all this will blow over in a few weeks, and then Gussy can go back to school in safety. In the meantime, we’ve got to make the best of all this.’
‘Yes. I see everything now,’ said Dinah. ‘You should have told us at first. Bill. We’d have understood better.’
‘I had orders not to say a word except to your mother,’ said Bill. ‘She had to be in on this, of course. I took this cottage because it was well hidden and nobody would guess that Gussy would be here. And I thought if you all came too, he would be even better hidden – hidden in the midst of you, one of many, so to speak.’
‘You’re clever, Bill,’ said Lucy-Ann, slipping her hand in his. ‘We’ll look after Gussy. We won’t let him out of our sight. Gussy, we’re your friends.’
‘I thank you,’ said Gussy, with a funny little bow. ‘It is an honour.’
‘That’s the way to talk,’ said Bill, and gave him a clap on the back. ‘Now then, everyone – you’ve got to forget all about Aloysius Gramondie and Tauri-Hessia. Got that?’
‘Yes, Bill,’ said everyone. They looked rather solemn. It was peculiar to have serious and unusual problems suddenly presented to them candidly in the middle of a game of Racing Demon. The ordinary and the extraordinary didn’t really mix. They turned with relief to their game again, as Bill went out of the room to find his wife and tell her what had happened.
‘Look what Kiki’s been doing while we’ve been talking!’ said Jack, in exasperation. ‘Mixing up all the cards. Put down the ones you’re holding, Kiki!’
‘She’s been playing a quiet little game by herself,’ said Lucy-Ann, with a laugh. ‘And she’s holding two cards in her foot eactly as if she was waiting for her turn to go. Put them down, Kiki.’
‘One, two, three, six, eight, four, one,’ said Kiki, getting her numbers muddled up as usual. ‘Three, four, buckle my shoe.’
‘One, two, buckle my shoe,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Your memory’s going, Kiki!’
Kiki gave a hiccup, as she often did when she thought she had made a mistake.
‘Enough, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘Anyone want another game?’
Nobody really felt like one after all the revelations Bill had made. They didn’t like to discuss them in front of Gussy, though they were longing to talk about them.
Mrs Cunningham put her head in at the door. ‘Bill’s going up to the farm for milk. Anyone want to go with him? Not Gussy, he says.’
‘I’ll go,’ said Lucy-Ann, scrambling up. ‘I’d like a walk. You boys stay with Aunt Allie, and look after her.’
‘Right,’ said Jack, thinking it was just as well to do so, with prospective kidnappers and revolutionaries about, even although they might be as far away as Tauri-Hessia.
‘I’ll stay behind too,’ said Dinah. ‘I’ve got a blister on my foot.’
So Lucy-Ann went off happily with Bill. She liked getting him alone. He was always jolly and full of fun when they were all together, but Lucy-Ann thought he was even nicer alone. She slipped her hand through his arm, and they walked off in the dusk together.
‘In case you want to say anything about Gussy, I’ll just warn you not to,’ said Bill, in a low voice. ‘I don’t want the slightest suspicions to get about that he’s not all he seems. It would be a very serious thing for him if he were forced to be King at his age.’
‘I won’t say anything,’ said Lucy-Ann in a whisper. ‘Let’s talk about Jack.’
‘You’re always ready to talk about Jack, aren’t you?’ said Bill, amused. ‘Well, I must say that Jack has got something I’d dearly like to have myself.’
‘What’s that? Kiki?’ asked Lucy-Ann.
‘No – a very nice little sister,’ said Bill. ‘It’s good to see a brother and sister so fond of one another.’
‘Well, our mother and father died when we were very young,’ said Lucy-Ann, ‘so we only had each other. But now we’ve got you and Aunt Allie, and we’ve got Philip and Dinah as well. We’re lucky!’
‘I’m lucky too,’ said Bill. ‘A nice ready-made family for me! Hark at the owls hooting round. What a collection of hoots!’
‘That was the little owl,’ said Lucy-Ann, who had been well trained in bird calls by Jack. ‘That “tvit-tvit-tvit” noise. And that lovely long quavering hoot is the tawny owl.’
‘And what in the world is that?’ said Bill, suddenly startled by a loud screech near his head. Lucy-Ann laughed.
‘The screech owl – the old barn owl!’ she said. ‘He does that to frighten the mice and the rats.’
‘Well, he scared me too,’ said Bill. ‘Ah – is that the farmhouse looming up? It is. You come in with me, Lucy-Ann, and don’t be surprised at my conversation with Mrs Ellis!’
They knocked at the door and went into the big, cosy kitchen. Although it was a warm night there was a fire in the chimney corner, and old Aunt Naomi sat there, knitting, huddled up in a s
hawl.
Mrs Ellis hurried to meet them. ‘Well, it’s good to see you! And how are you getting on? Settled in nicely? That’s right. Now, what can I do for you? Sit you down, do!’
They sat down. Lucy-Ann found a rocking chair and began to rock to and fro. A big tabby came and jumped into her lap, settled down and went to sleep. Lucy-Ann felt quite honoured.
Mrs Ellis brought her a piece of cake, and she nibbled at it and listened lazily to Bill. He gave Mrs Ellis all the news first. Then he went on to talk about Quarry Cottage.
‘It’s a lovely, peaceful spot,’ he said. ‘I shouldn’t think strangers ever come along here, do they, Mrs Ellis? Except people like ourselves who want to stay for a bit.’
‘Now, it’s funny you should say that,’ said Mrs Ellis, ‘because two strangers came to our farmhouse this very afternoon – in a lovely black car. Rather like yours, Mr Cunningham.’
‘I suppose they lost their way,’ said Bill. Although he spoke in his ordinary voice Lucy-Ann knew that he had pricked up his ears at once.
‘No, they hadn’t lost their way,’ said Mrs Ellis. ‘They’d been hunting round for a nice farmhouse to stay in for a few days – the man’s wife has been ill, and simply longed to be in a quiet farmhouse, with good food. Somebody told him of our farm, and they came to enquire.’
‘I see,’ said Bill. ‘And – er – did you say you would take them, Mrs Ellis?’
‘I did,’ said Mrs Ellis, ‘though my husband scolded me for it. He says my kind heart runs away with me! They’re coming tomorrow. They said their name was Jones – but it’s my belief they’re foreigners!’
‘Foreigners,’ said Bill, slowly. ‘Yes – I had an idea you were going to say that!’
9
An afternoon out
Lucy-Ann stopped rocking the chair, and her heart sank into her shoes. Foreigners! Did that mean they were from Tauri-Hessia, or whatever the country was – and had they tracked down Gussy? Oh dear – surely, surely another adventure wasn’t beginning! This had seemed as if it would be such a nice peaceful holiday.