(no subject)
Chapter Fourteen
Trip to the Moonlit Beach
It was a beautiful moonlit night. The seven children - for Lawrie had decided that her ankle was up to this trip - and Timmy left the house when the moon was properly risen and went down the cliff path to the beach.
"We ought to play a game," Dick said. "Who remembered to bring a bat and a ball so we could play beach cricket?"
"It's a fag going back for them," said Julian. "Let's just enjoy a quick walk and then home."
"Oh, but beach cricket would be lovely," said Nicola. "It's as bright as day and the sand's beautifully hard. Shall I go back?"
"You're always running errands," Dick said. "Let someone else go. George, you always like a challenge - how about seeing if you could get there and back as fast as a boy could?"
"No thanks. I don't want to play cricket that much. And you know what Timmy's like about running off with the ball."
"Gosh, you do sound fed up," said Dick. "Cheer up, old thing. After all it was your idea to come down here in the first place."
"What's up, George?" asked Anne kindly. "Dick's right. You do seem a bit fed up. You're not still worried about Mr Stone, are you?"
"No," said George and kicked at a pebble. "I'm not worried about anything. Come on, I'm getting cold. Let's run some races or something to warm up."
Running races and winning most of them seemed to raise George out of her sombre mood and by the time they began the uphill path home she was telling Nicola about the wreck that had foundered on the rocks of Kirrin Island. But as they were approaching Kirrin Cottage George stopped suddenly and grabbed Nicola's arm.
"Look!" she exclaimed in a warning whisper. "There's someone outside the house! Get down, Nick! Get down everyone!"
The other five crouched down. Definitely there was someone near the cottage. He was too far away for the children to catch more than a brief glimpse but George was in no doubt about who it was.
"It's Rodney Stone!" she said. "Quick - we must go after him! Timmy! Timmy! Where are you?"
"Woof!" said Timmy, instantly returning from his quietly joyous rabbit hunt. "Woof! Woof!"
They saw the person begin to hurry away at some speed.
"He's too far away. We'd never catch him," Julian said grabbing hold of Timmy's collar. "And you can't just send Tim after him. It could be someone just out for a walk - "
"Julian will you shut up being so reasonable all the time!" said George obviously holding on to her temper with an effort. "If you won't chase after him then I will!"
Julian caught hold of her.
"No, listen, George," he said. "He's got too much of a start. You can't catch him up. And what would you do if you did?"
"I've got Timmy - "
"You can't charge around setting dogs on people! George, you'll get into serious trouble if you did."
George shrugged him off, not convinced. Julian went on:
"We'll go back home first and see if everything's in order. If it is then you won't have made an idiot of yourself chasing after some poor chap who's just out for an evening stroll and got startled by Timmy's barking."
"And if it isn't in order?" demanded George fiercely, still poised for flight. Julian clutched at her coat holding it fast. "If Father's plans are missing we've let him get away. Let me go, Julian!"
"I'll go after him," Peter said suddenly. "You come too, Nick - George needs to go home to do the checking to see if anything's missing. If it is Rodney Stone and he's up to no good then at least we can keep an eye on him."
"No," said Julian. "Take Dick with you, not one of the girls. The rest of us will go back and check."
Peter held back his annoyance.
" Nick's a fast runner - faster than Dick. You saw that in our races and we need to move quickly."
"Cut back along the beach," George said. "It's quicker. And he won't see you. If it is him he'll be heading back up the village street to the Seal's Head."
Before Julian could raise any more objections Peter and Nicola set off at breakneck speed back down the path.
"Come on," said George impatiently. "Let's go home."
They entered the house very cautiously indeed, switching on lights and calling out as they went. Julian had been very careful about fastening all the doors and windows before they left and nothing that they could see had been tampered with. George went straight to the safe, clicked through the combination lock and breathed a huge sigh of relief to find the pink folder was exactly as she had left it.
"Happy now?" Julian inquired, looking over her shoulder.
She nodded, looking shamefaced.
"Sorry I made such a fuss," she said gruffly. "I was an idiot."
"That's all right, old thing," said Julian handsomely. "We all know you get a bit worked up about Uncle Quentin and his inventions - "
He was interrupted by Dick bursting into the study.
"I say, come and look at the pantry window! You know, the one that doesn't always close properly because it swells up in the winter. Someone's tried to force it!"
"What!"
Julian and George hurried into the kitchen where Lawrie was trying out her own brand of comfort on a white faced Anne.
"It's all right, Anne. Think how much worse it might have been if we hadn't decided to go out - and you nearly didn't. Because you were too tired, remember? You might have been murdered in your bed and we'd have come back and found - "
"That's enough, Lawrie!" said Julian sharply. "No need for anyone to talk about people being murdered."
He examined the pantry window which was awkwardly positioned above shelves of preserves. It had indeed been forced although there was no sign of entry.
"And no-one could get through it anyway," he said in an effort to reassure Anne.
"They could if they were desperate," George said.
"Shut up, George, you're frightening Anne and Lawrie."
"I'm not in the least frightened," said Lawrie.
"Or very thin," went on George obstinately. "And Rodney Stone is thin enough to get through, I would think."
"George, shut up!" said Julian warningly. "Anne, why don't you make us all a hot drink? I'm sure we could all do with one."
Anne nodded and gave her big brother a watery smile. She began to get out the milk and the saucepan.
"Do you think they'll come back?" she asked in a small voice.
"No," said Julian loudly. "Not now we're all here. And we've got old Timmy to protect us as well, don't forget."
"If they do come back," said Dick helpfully, "we'll hear them, won't we? That's why Aunt Fanny keeps all those jam jars of stuff underneath so any burglar would come crashing down on them and wake everyone up."
Anne looked as if she found this little comfort.
"I do wish Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin hadn't gone away," she said. "And Joanna too. Just when something like this happens."
"Well I don't think it's coincidence," said George. "And stop glaring at me like that, Julian. I can't help it if Anne's frightened. We need to talk about what we ought to do."
"At least wait until the others get back," said Julian. "See if they have anything to report. How're those drinks coming along, Anne?"
They didn't have long to wait for Peter and Nicola who arrived back just as Anne was pouring out hot chocolate for all of them.
"You'll never guess what we saw!" Peter said collapsing into a chair and holding his side. "And I've never had such a stitch! We ran all the way there and back."
"Tell us," said Dick. "And then we'll tell you what we found."
"What?" asked Nicola taking a scalding gulp of her drink. "What did you find?"
While Nicola and Peter caught their breaths Dick filled them both in with the news about the pantry window.
"Now. What did you two find out?" he asked as soon as he had finished.
"George was right," said Peter. "It was Rodney Stone. We got to the village first and watched him - there's only one path from here to the village isn't there? And no-one else was about so it must have been him. And then … " He paused for dramatic effect. "We saw the Sinister Stranger. Who looked pretty cross, didn't he, Nick?"
"He was waiting at the top of the village street. When they met up they had a real row. We couldn't hear what they were saying - they were sort of whispering and waving their hands about - but you could tell they were angry. Or the Sinister Stranger was. Rodney Stone seemed to be trying to calm him down. Then they went back into the Seal's Head."
"Wonder why they didn't meet inside," Lawrie said. "I wouldn't plan to meet someone on a cold winter night when I could be indoors. I say, isn't this exciting! I wonder what's going on!"
The others looked more serious.
"Well, you know what I think," said George. "I think they're after Father's plans. And surely now you'll all agree with me."
"The thing is," said Julian. "What do we do? I wonder if we ought to go to the police?"
"But what would we say?" Dick said. "You know what the police are like. It'll be PC Neanderthal from the village who'll come and not believe us about the window and pooh pooh any of our ideas about who it probably was - "
"Definitely was," said George firmly. "Dick's right. They might go round and see Rodney Stone but he'd only have to deny it and they'd believe him. After all we haven't any evidence."
"Fingerprints!" suggested Lawrie making her dramatic best of the word. "On the pantry window. I'd love to see how they dust for fingerprints!"
"He's bound to have been wearing gloves," said George shortly. "Didn't you notice how cold it was outside? And this isn't a game, Lawrie."
"Could we phone Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny?" asked Anne longingly. "Especially as they're not going to do the programme after all."
"No," said George. "They probably wouldn't believe us either. They both really liked Rodney Stone. And anyway, Mother deserves a holiday even if it's only for a couple of days. I think we should be able to sort this out ourselves."
"We'll just have to stay in the cottage all the time," said Julian. "That way nobody can break in."
"We'll go mad with boredom," protested Dick.
"As long as some of us stay," amended Julian. "We boys could stay behind for instance while you girls go off somewhere if you wanted to."
"But what about if they get desperate for the plans?" Peter asked.
"What do you mean, desperate?"
"George says Uncle Quentin's designs are worth thousands and perhaps they're worth even more to the right people," said Peter. "So their scheme to get hold of them - they've obviously thought it through. Make up the whole BBC story to get access to the house, get Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny out of the way and then break in to get what they want. They were obviously expecting us all to be fast asleep."
"And I bet it was Rodney Stone in the phone box!" said Nicola. "You know, when we were following them before supper and he had his scarf muffled up all over his face? Somebody said it was odd how he undid his scarf when he came out of the phone box. He must have been disguising his voice!"
"What time was it?" Peter asked.
"About six o'clock."
"It was ten past," Julian said. "I remember looking at my watch when we'd said we'd give them a few more minutes."
"It was ten past when they phoned here," said Peter slowly. "Because I'd just looked at my watch wondering how long 'til supper. I heard the phone and then I heard Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny talking about going to London."
"I say!" said Dick. "This is getting really exciting."
"But like I said," Peter said, "they might get desperate. Supposing they turn up with a gun or something?"
"A gun?" repeated Anne, going pale, and Julian said hurriedly:
"They wouldn't go that far, Peter."
"They might," said Peter stubbornly. "If they came here with a gun and made us hand over the plans - well, we'd have to, wouldn't we?"
"We wouldn't have to let them in," Nicola said knowing it sounded feeble.
Nobody responded. They were all thinking about what Peter had said.
"So we need to get Uncle Quentin's plans to a safe place," Peter said after a few moments. "The thing is where?"
Trip to the Moonlit Beach
It was a beautiful moonlit night. The seven children - for Lawrie had decided that her ankle was up to this trip - and Timmy left the house when the moon was properly risen and went down the cliff path to the beach.
"We ought to play a game," Dick said. "Who remembered to bring a bat and a ball so we could play beach cricket?"
"It's a fag going back for them," said Julian. "Let's just enjoy a quick walk and then home."
"Oh, but beach cricket would be lovely," said Nicola. "It's as bright as day and the sand's beautifully hard. Shall I go back?"
"You're always running errands," Dick said. "Let someone else go. George, you always like a challenge - how about seeing if you could get there and back as fast as a boy could?"
"No thanks. I don't want to play cricket that much. And you know what Timmy's like about running off with the ball."
"Gosh, you do sound fed up," said Dick. "Cheer up, old thing. After all it was your idea to come down here in the first place."
"What's up, George?" asked Anne kindly. "Dick's right. You do seem a bit fed up. You're not still worried about Mr Stone, are you?"
"No," said George and kicked at a pebble. "I'm not worried about anything. Come on, I'm getting cold. Let's run some races or something to warm up."
Running races and winning most of them seemed to raise George out of her sombre mood and by the time they began the uphill path home she was telling Nicola about the wreck that had foundered on the rocks of Kirrin Island. But as they were approaching Kirrin Cottage George stopped suddenly and grabbed Nicola's arm.
"Look!" she exclaimed in a warning whisper. "There's someone outside the house! Get down, Nick! Get down everyone!"
The other five crouched down. Definitely there was someone near the cottage. He was too far away for the children to catch more than a brief glimpse but George was in no doubt about who it was.
"It's Rodney Stone!" she said. "Quick - we must go after him! Timmy! Timmy! Where are you?"
"Woof!" said Timmy, instantly returning from his quietly joyous rabbit hunt. "Woof! Woof!"
They saw the person begin to hurry away at some speed.
"He's too far away. We'd never catch him," Julian said grabbing hold of Timmy's collar. "And you can't just send Tim after him. It could be someone just out for a walk - "
"Julian will you shut up being so reasonable all the time!" said George obviously holding on to her temper with an effort. "If you won't chase after him then I will!"
Julian caught hold of her.
"No, listen, George," he said. "He's got too much of a start. You can't catch him up. And what would you do if you did?"
"I've got Timmy - "
"You can't charge around setting dogs on people! George, you'll get into serious trouble if you did."
George shrugged him off, not convinced. Julian went on:
"We'll go back home first and see if everything's in order. If it is then you won't have made an idiot of yourself chasing after some poor chap who's just out for an evening stroll and got startled by Timmy's barking."
"And if it isn't in order?" demanded George fiercely, still poised for flight. Julian clutched at her coat holding it fast. "If Father's plans are missing we've let him get away. Let me go, Julian!"
"I'll go after him," Peter said suddenly. "You come too, Nick - George needs to go home to do the checking to see if anything's missing. If it is Rodney Stone and he's up to no good then at least we can keep an eye on him."
"No," said Julian. "Take Dick with you, not one of the girls. The rest of us will go back and check."
Peter held back his annoyance.
" Nick's a fast runner - faster than Dick. You saw that in our races and we need to move quickly."
"Cut back along the beach," George said. "It's quicker. And he won't see you. If it is him he'll be heading back up the village street to the Seal's Head."
Before Julian could raise any more objections Peter and Nicola set off at breakneck speed back down the path.
"Come on," said George impatiently. "Let's go home."
They entered the house very cautiously indeed, switching on lights and calling out as they went. Julian had been very careful about fastening all the doors and windows before they left and nothing that they could see had been tampered with. George went straight to the safe, clicked through the combination lock and breathed a huge sigh of relief to find the pink folder was exactly as she had left it.
"Happy now?" Julian inquired, looking over her shoulder.
She nodded, looking shamefaced.
"Sorry I made such a fuss," she said gruffly. "I was an idiot."
"That's all right, old thing," said Julian handsomely. "We all know you get a bit worked up about Uncle Quentin and his inventions - "
He was interrupted by Dick bursting into the study.
"I say, come and look at the pantry window! You know, the one that doesn't always close properly because it swells up in the winter. Someone's tried to force it!"
"What!"
Julian and George hurried into the kitchen where Lawrie was trying out her own brand of comfort on a white faced Anne.
"It's all right, Anne. Think how much worse it might have been if we hadn't decided to go out - and you nearly didn't. Because you were too tired, remember? You might have been murdered in your bed and we'd have come back and found - "
"That's enough, Lawrie!" said Julian sharply. "No need for anyone to talk about people being murdered."
He examined the pantry window which was awkwardly positioned above shelves of preserves. It had indeed been forced although there was no sign of entry.
"And no-one could get through it anyway," he said in an effort to reassure Anne.
"They could if they were desperate," George said.
"Shut up, George, you're frightening Anne and Lawrie."
"I'm not in the least frightened," said Lawrie.
"Or very thin," went on George obstinately. "And Rodney Stone is thin enough to get through, I would think."
"George, shut up!" said Julian warningly. "Anne, why don't you make us all a hot drink? I'm sure we could all do with one."
Anne nodded and gave her big brother a watery smile. She began to get out the milk and the saucepan.
"Do you think they'll come back?" she asked in a small voice.
"No," said Julian loudly. "Not now we're all here. And we've got old Timmy to protect us as well, don't forget."
"If they do come back," said Dick helpfully, "we'll hear them, won't we? That's why Aunt Fanny keeps all those jam jars of stuff underneath so any burglar would come crashing down on them and wake everyone up."
Anne looked as if she found this little comfort.
"I do wish Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin hadn't gone away," she said. "And Joanna too. Just when something like this happens."
"Well I don't think it's coincidence," said George. "And stop glaring at me like that, Julian. I can't help it if Anne's frightened. We need to talk about what we ought to do."
"At least wait until the others get back," said Julian. "See if they have anything to report. How're those drinks coming along, Anne?"
They didn't have long to wait for Peter and Nicola who arrived back just as Anne was pouring out hot chocolate for all of them.
"You'll never guess what we saw!" Peter said collapsing into a chair and holding his side. "And I've never had such a stitch! We ran all the way there and back."
"Tell us," said Dick. "And then we'll tell you what we found."
"What?" asked Nicola taking a scalding gulp of her drink. "What did you find?"
While Nicola and Peter caught their breaths Dick filled them both in with the news about the pantry window.
"Now. What did you two find out?" he asked as soon as he had finished.
"George was right," said Peter. "It was Rodney Stone. We got to the village first and watched him - there's only one path from here to the village isn't there? And no-one else was about so it must have been him. And then … " He paused for dramatic effect. "We saw the Sinister Stranger. Who looked pretty cross, didn't he, Nick?"
"He was waiting at the top of the village street. When they met up they had a real row. We couldn't hear what they were saying - they were sort of whispering and waving their hands about - but you could tell they were angry. Or the Sinister Stranger was. Rodney Stone seemed to be trying to calm him down. Then they went back into the Seal's Head."
"Wonder why they didn't meet inside," Lawrie said. "I wouldn't plan to meet someone on a cold winter night when I could be indoors. I say, isn't this exciting! I wonder what's going on!"
The others looked more serious.
"Well, you know what I think," said George. "I think they're after Father's plans. And surely now you'll all agree with me."
"The thing is," said Julian. "What do we do? I wonder if we ought to go to the police?"
"But what would we say?" Dick said. "You know what the police are like. It'll be PC Neanderthal from the village who'll come and not believe us about the window and pooh pooh any of our ideas about who it probably was - "
"Definitely was," said George firmly. "Dick's right. They might go round and see Rodney Stone but he'd only have to deny it and they'd believe him. After all we haven't any evidence."
"Fingerprints!" suggested Lawrie making her dramatic best of the word. "On the pantry window. I'd love to see how they dust for fingerprints!"
"He's bound to have been wearing gloves," said George shortly. "Didn't you notice how cold it was outside? And this isn't a game, Lawrie."
"Could we phone Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny?" asked Anne longingly. "Especially as they're not going to do the programme after all."
"No," said George. "They probably wouldn't believe us either. They both really liked Rodney Stone. And anyway, Mother deserves a holiday even if it's only for a couple of days. I think we should be able to sort this out ourselves."
"We'll just have to stay in the cottage all the time," said Julian. "That way nobody can break in."
"We'll go mad with boredom," protested Dick.
"As long as some of us stay," amended Julian. "We boys could stay behind for instance while you girls go off somewhere if you wanted to."
"But what about if they get desperate for the plans?" Peter asked.
"What do you mean, desperate?"
"George says Uncle Quentin's designs are worth thousands and perhaps they're worth even more to the right people," said Peter. "So their scheme to get hold of them - they've obviously thought it through. Make up the whole BBC story to get access to the house, get Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny out of the way and then break in to get what they want. They were obviously expecting us all to be fast asleep."
"And I bet it was Rodney Stone in the phone box!" said Nicola. "You know, when we were following them before supper and he had his scarf muffled up all over his face? Somebody said it was odd how he undid his scarf when he came out of the phone box. He must have been disguising his voice!"
"What time was it?" Peter asked.
"About six o'clock."
"It was ten past," Julian said. "I remember looking at my watch when we'd said we'd give them a few more minutes."
"It was ten past when they phoned here," said Peter slowly. "Because I'd just looked at my watch wondering how long 'til supper. I heard the phone and then I heard Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny talking about going to London."
"I say!" said Dick. "This is getting really exciting."
"But like I said," Peter said, "they might get desperate. Supposing they turn up with a gun or something?"
"A gun?" repeated Anne, going pale, and Julian said hurriedly:
"They wouldn't go that far, Peter."
"They might," said Peter stubbornly. "If they came here with a gun and made us hand over the plans - well, we'd have to, wouldn't we?"
"We wouldn't have to let them in," Nicola said knowing it sounded feeble.
Nobody responded. They were all thinking about what Peter had said.
"So we need to get Uncle Quentin's plans to a safe place," Peter said after a few moments. "The thing is where?"