(no subject)
Chapter Sixteen
Lawrie Acts Her Socks Off
Lawrie opened the door into the reception area of the Seal's Head. She wasn't in the least worried about what she had to do which was to speak to Rodney Stone directly, return his pen and make sure he knew that all the children would we well away from Kirrin Cottage for most of the day. She also had to slot it in that Joanna was out of the way too. And she must not, they had all impressed upon her, give anything else away.
Well of course she wouldn't. And Peter was quite right. She was the best person for the job. The only person really. You couldn't imagine George scowling away trying to be polite or Julian stiltedly trying to hold the right kind of conversation with Rodney Stone. Lawrie had amused herself being each of the other six as she had sauntered along the path to the village and none of them was a patch on what her own performance would be. Cocky, Peter told her, pointedly and often. But she wasn't, she knew she wasn't, she just knew she could do certain things - well, one certain thing - better than practically anyone else.
"Oh, Mr Stone," she murmured under her breath, being Anne, as she waited for someone to attend to her. "Do come and burgle the cottage while we're all out on purpose, I mean not on purpose, and the combination lock on the safe is one two three four - oh, dear, I wasn't supposed to tell you that - Oh! Good morning, Mrs Percy. Do you remember me? We came last night to see if we could speak to Mr Stone."
"Hello, my dear," Mrs Percy, arriving slightly out of breath greeted her. "Do you still want to see him? Well, aren't you in luck. He's just this minute finished his breakfast and gone up to his room."
"Oh, good," said Lawrie. "Is it all right if I call in and give him his pen back? Which is his room number?"
"He's in number four - turn right when you reach the top of the stairs second one along - is that all, my dear? I did ought to be getting back to my breakfasts - "
"Yes, thank you, Mrs Percy," said the polite Lawrie.
She took the stairs lightly, two at a time, her senses alert for anything at all that might be of interest. Lawrence Marlow, Super Sleuth, she thought, an ear cocked for any interesting snippets of conversation that might come her way.
But all was quiet. She knocked on number four's door and it was opened quite quickly. And although Rodney Stone stood in front of her blocking much of her field of vision she caught a glimpse someone sitting at a table by the window. She was almost sure it was the Sinister Stranger.
Rodney Stone did not look quite as friendly as he had on their previous meeting.
"Hello?" he said abruptly and Lawrie could hear suspicion in his voice.
"Don't you remember me?" she said her head very slightly on one side. "Lawrie Marlow. You rescued me on the cliff path."
"So I did," he replied, trying a smile. "Well - "
"And you took my telephone number in case something came up at the BBC?"
"Of course I - "
"I acted out some Shakespeare for you," continued Lawrie guilelessly. "You thought I was good."
She could very easily drop a year or two from her age and she did so now. She could also make a competent job of looking reproachful.
"So I did," said Rodney Stone again with a rather broader smile. "I have your number safe and sound. Don't you worry."
She returned the smile and then said with great interest:
"I say! You've got a smashing view of the sea - can I look?" and she slipped past him to become greatly surprised at the sight of the Sinister Stranger who had piles of papers in front of him which he had obviously been looking at. In the bright morning sunlight he didn't look nearly as menacing as he had on their previous meeting but Lawrie was still going to keep the table between them. She clasped her hands together and treated him to a winning smile. "Oh, sorry! I didn't see you have a visitor, Mr Stone. But, oh, look at the sea! You can see Kirrin Island clear as anything."
The Sinister Stranger glared at her as if he would like to push her into it.
"Hello," Lawrie went on blithely. "I think I remember you. We gave you a lift from the station. In our trap," she added as he continued to glower at her.
"Mr Klonski speaks very little English," said Rodney Stone hastily.
Lawrie took this as an introduction and held out her hand.
"I'm Lawrie Marlow."
He took her hand, immediately dropped it as if it were a wet frog and growled at her. Lawrie took a step back. It really was a growl, she was to assure the others later. Just like Timmy when he didn't like someone. And just like Timmy she wasn't at all sure Mr Klonski wasn't going to bite. Then out of the growl a few indistinct words emerged. Lawrie took another step back.
"It's all right," said Rodney Stone. "He's just asking if you know Kirrin Island."
"No," said Lawrie, panicked by this question which wasn't in her personal script. "I mean, sort of," she added because she had no idea at all which was the right answer and which one might give something away. "I mean, everyone knows about Kirrin Island, don't they?"
Optimistically she hoped she had covered every possible answer to the question. She turned back to Rodney Stone, put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the pen.
"This is yours," she said, returning to the relative safety of the doorway where he was hovering. "George found it when you came to see Uncle Quentin yesterday."
"That's kind of you," he said. "I'd thought I'd lost it for good. Thank you for returning it."
The conversation was not going according to Lawrie's master plan. By now, Rodney Stone should be making her feel at home and asking her what she was up to today in a generally friendly manner. Making it easy for her to tell him in an offhand way that they were making the most of the weather and going for a long walk. It wasn't in her grand scheme of things that he should be tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for her to go and displaying very little interest in her at all.
"I'd better be going," she said. "The others are waiting for me."
"Are they waiting at home?" asked Rodney Stone and she detected a sharpening of interest behind his casual tone. "Are you off somewhere exciting today?"
"I don't know about exciting," she replied matching his tone.
"Ah. But you're going out?"
"Mmm," she said paying him back for his earlier lack of interest. Let him work for the information, she thought.
"Where are you all off to then?"
"Oh," she said vaguely. "Don't know really."
"But it's such lovely sunny weather," he persisted. "I don't suppose you'll be wanting to sit at home all day, will you?"
Lawrie came to her senses and remembered she was supposed to be giving, not withholding information.
"We're going for a long walk," she said re-tuning to engaging mode. "Anne - that's our cousin - is making our picnic now because Joanna - that's their sort of cook person is away until tonight."
"So no grownups then," said Mr Stone jovially. "I'm sure you'll all have a fine time."
Lawrie left the Seal's Head with a faint feeling of unease. Rodney Stone had seemed different somehow. And as for the Sinister Stranger she shivered a little at the idea of actually shaking his hand. She wasn't at all sure she could have done that if she'd thought about it or if she hadn't been more immersed in being Lawrence Marlow, Super Sleuth rather than in simply being Lawrie Marlow who much preferred to leave unpleasantness or difficulties to those who seemed not to mind dealing with them.
And mentioning Kirrin Island might have been a mistake. Although it was useful, in a rather grim way, to know that the island was visible from Rodney Stone's window. Rather thoughtfully she went down to the beach to meet the others.
They were already there loading up George's dinghy with essentials for their day on the island. They had decided, after a great deal of argument, that Peter, Nicola and Julian should stay behind to keep watch on the cottage, the idea being that as soon as Rodney Stone had done what they all expected him to do and stolen what he thought were Uncle Quentin's plans, they would alert the police. Then they could signal to the others that it was safe to return with the genuine plans. George had insisted that Timmy stay with Julian, Nicola and Peter. On the island they would all be perfectly safe, she said, but the house guarders might need Timmy's help.
"Everything all right, Lawrie?" asked Julian as Lawrie approached them.
"Yes," she said.
"They know we're out of the way?"
"I told them we were off for a long walk. And that Joanna wasn't around."
"Good girl."
"And the Sinister Stranger was there too," said Lawrie. "Sitting in Rodney Stone's room. They are definitely up to something, I could tell."
"Did he say anything?"
"Not really. Although - "
"What?" said Peter impatiently seeing her hesitation as Lawrie taking any opportunity to be dramatic.
"They asked me if I knew Kirrin Island. You can see it from their room."
"Can you?" said George disbelievingly. "Are you sure? The Seal's Head doesn't face the sea."
"Well, their room does," Lawrie said. "I saw it myself."
"Must be a side room," Dick said, who like most of the others had instinctively turned to stare back in the direction of the Guest House. "Blow. That means they might be watching us. I don't somehow like the idea that they know where we are."
"Well, don't all stand and gawp at them," said Nicola who was still busy with the baskets. "Otherwise they will think something's up. But it doesn't matter, does it? It's not as if they think we suspect anything. And even if they did they'd never get on to the island because of the rocks."
"All the same," said Julian seriously. "If they are watching us and they see that some of us are staying behind it just might make them more cautious. And we want them to think that the house is going to be deserted. What we'd better do is - "
"Borrow another boat and row about for a bit," interrupted Peter.
"Which is what I was going to say," said Julian equably. "Or even better we three could follow you to the island to make them think we've all gone. Then we could come back."
"Supposing they get away in the mean time?" George asked.
"It won't matter that much if they do," said Nicola. "After all, our main task is to protect the real plans, isn't it?"
"And it won't take long to get back again," said Peter. "In fact we won't really need to land our boat at all. Will Alf mind if we borrow his dinghy again, George?"
Anne gave a little giggle of excitement.
"I say, this is a real adventure isn't it?" she said.
Lawrie Acts Her Socks Off
Lawrie opened the door into the reception area of the Seal's Head. She wasn't in the least worried about what she had to do which was to speak to Rodney Stone directly, return his pen and make sure he knew that all the children would we well away from Kirrin Cottage for most of the day. She also had to slot it in that Joanna was out of the way too. And she must not, they had all impressed upon her, give anything else away.
Well of course she wouldn't. And Peter was quite right. She was the best person for the job. The only person really. You couldn't imagine George scowling away trying to be polite or Julian stiltedly trying to hold the right kind of conversation with Rodney Stone. Lawrie had amused herself being each of the other six as she had sauntered along the path to the village and none of them was a patch on what her own performance would be. Cocky, Peter told her, pointedly and often. But she wasn't, she knew she wasn't, she just knew she could do certain things - well, one certain thing - better than practically anyone else.
"Oh, Mr Stone," she murmured under her breath, being Anne, as she waited for someone to attend to her. "Do come and burgle the cottage while we're all out on purpose, I mean not on purpose, and the combination lock on the safe is one two three four - oh, dear, I wasn't supposed to tell you that - Oh! Good morning, Mrs Percy. Do you remember me? We came last night to see if we could speak to Mr Stone."
"Hello, my dear," Mrs Percy, arriving slightly out of breath greeted her. "Do you still want to see him? Well, aren't you in luck. He's just this minute finished his breakfast and gone up to his room."
"Oh, good," said Lawrie. "Is it all right if I call in and give him his pen back? Which is his room number?"
"He's in number four - turn right when you reach the top of the stairs second one along - is that all, my dear? I did ought to be getting back to my breakfasts - "
"Yes, thank you, Mrs Percy," said the polite Lawrie.
She took the stairs lightly, two at a time, her senses alert for anything at all that might be of interest. Lawrence Marlow, Super Sleuth, she thought, an ear cocked for any interesting snippets of conversation that might come her way.
But all was quiet. She knocked on number four's door and it was opened quite quickly. And although Rodney Stone stood in front of her blocking much of her field of vision she caught a glimpse someone sitting at a table by the window. She was almost sure it was the Sinister Stranger.
Rodney Stone did not look quite as friendly as he had on their previous meeting.
"Hello?" he said abruptly and Lawrie could hear suspicion in his voice.
"Don't you remember me?" she said her head very slightly on one side. "Lawrie Marlow. You rescued me on the cliff path."
"So I did," he replied, trying a smile. "Well - "
"And you took my telephone number in case something came up at the BBC?"
"Of course I - "
"I acted out some Shakespeare for you," continued Lawrie guilelessly. "You thought I was good."
She could very easily drop a year or two from her age and she did so now. She could also make a competent job of looking reproachful.
"So I did," said Rodney Stone again with a rather broader smile. "I have your number safe and sound. Don't you worry."
She returned the smile and then said with great interest:
"I say! You've got a smashing view of the sea - can I look?" and she slipped past him to become greatly surprised at the sight of the Sinister Stranger who had piles of papers in front of him which he had obviously been looking at. In the bright morning sunlight he didn't look nearly as menacing as he had on their previous meeting but Lawrie was still going to keep the table between them. She clasped her hands together and treated him to a winning smile. "Oh, sorry! I didn't see you have a visitor, Mr Stone. But, oh, look at the sea! You can see Kirrin Island clear as anything."
The Sinister Stranger glared at her as if he would like to push her into it.
"Hello," Lawrie went on blithely. "I think I remember you. We gave you a lift from the station. In our trap," she added as he continued to glower at her.
"Mr Klonski speaks very little English," said Rodney Stone hastily.
Lawrie took this as an introduction and held out her hand.
"I'm Lawrie Marlow."
He took her hand, immediately dropped it as if it were a wet frog and growled at her. Lawrie took a step back. It really was a growl, she was to assure the others later. Just like Timmy when he didn't like someone. And just like Timmy she wasn't at all sure Mr Klonski wasn't going to bite. Then out of the growl a few indistinct words emerged. Lawrie took another step back.
"It's all right," said Rodney Stone. "He's just asking if you know Kirrin Island."
"No," said Lawrie, panicked by this question which wasn't in her personal script. "I mean, sort of," she added because she had no idea at all which was the right answer and which one might give something away. "I mean, everyone knows about Kirrin Island, don't they?"
Optimistically she hoped she had covered every possible answer to the question. She turned back to Rodney Stone, put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the pen.
"This is yours," she said, returning to the relative safety of the doorway where he was hovering. "George found it when you came to see Uncle Quentin yesterday."
"That's kind of you," he said. "I'd thought I'd lost it for good. Thank you for returning it."
The conversation was not going according to Lawrie's master plan. By now, Rodney Stone should be making her feel at home and asking her what she was up to today in a generally friendly manner. Making it easy for her to tell him in an offhand way that they were making the most of the weather and going for a long walk. It wasn't in her grand scheme of things that he should be tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for her to go and displaying very little interest in her at all.
"I'd better be going," she said. "The others are waiting for me."
"Are they waiting at home?" asked Rodney Stone and she detected a sharpening of interest behind his casual tone. "Are you off somewhere exciting today?"
"I don't know about exciting," she replied matching his tone.
"Ah. But you're going out?"
"Mmm," she said paying him back for his earlier lack of interest. Let him work for the information, she thought.
"Where are you all off to then?"
"Oh," she said vaguely. "Don't know really."
"But it's such lovely sunny weather," he persisted. "I don't suppose you'll be wanting to sit at home all day, will you?"
Lawrie came to her senses and remembered she was supposed to be giving, not withholding information.
"We're going for a long walk," she said re-tuning to engaging mode. "Anne - that's our cousin - is making our picnic now because Joanna - that's their sort of cook person is away until tonight."
"So no grownups then," said Mr Stone jovially. "I'm sure you'll all have a fine time."
Lawrie left the Seal's Head with a faint feeling of unease. Rodney Stone had seemed different somehow. And as for the Sinister Stranger she shivered a little at the idea of actually shaking his hand. She wasn't at all sure she could have done that if she'd thought about it or if she hadn't been more immersed in being Lawrence Marlow, Super Sleuth rather than in simply being Lawrie Marlow who much preferred to leave unpleasantness or difficulties to those who seemed not to mind dealing with them.
And mentioning Kirrin Island might have been a mistake. Although it was useful, in a rather grim way, to know that the island was visible from Rodney Stone's window. Rather thoughtfully she went down to the beach to meet the others.
They were already there loading up George's dinghy with essentials for their day on the island. They had decided, after a great deal of argument, that Peter, Nicola and Julian should stay behind to keep watch on the cottage, the idea being that as soon as Rodney Stone had done what they all expected him to do and stolen what he thought were Uncle Quentin's plans, they would alert the police. Then they could signal to the others that it was safe to return with the genuine plans. George had insisted that Timmy stay with Julian, Nicola and Peter. On the island they would all be perfectly safe, she said, but the house guarders might need Timmy's help.
"Everything all right, Lawrie?" asked Julian as Lawrie approached them.
"Yes," she said.
"They know we're out of the way?"
"I told them we were off for a long walk. And that Joanna wasn't around."
"Good girl."
"And the Sinister Stranger was there too," said Lawrie. "Sitting in Rodney Stone's room. They are definitely up to something, I could tell."
"Did he say anything?"
"Not really. Although - "
"What?" said Peter impatiently seeing her hesitation as Lawrie taking any opportunity to be dramatic.
"They asked me if I knew Kirrin Island. You can see it from their room."
"Can you?" said George disbelievingly. "Are you sure? The Seal's Head doesn't face the sea."
"Well, their room does," Lawrie said. "I saw it myself."
"Must be a side room," Dick said, who like most of the others had instinctively turned to stare back in the direction of the Guest House. "Blow. That means they might be watching us. I don't somehow like the idea that they know where we are."
"Well, don't all stand and gawp at them," said Nicola who was still busy with the baskets. "Otherwise they will think something's up. But it doesn't matter, does it? It's not as if they think we suspect anything. And even if they did they'd never get on to the island because of the rocks."
"All the same," said Julian seriously. "If they are watching us and they see that some of us are staying behind it just might make them more cautious. And we want them to think that the house is going to be deserted. What we'd better do is - "
"Borrow another boat and row about for a bit," interrupted Peter.
"Which is what I was going to say," said Julian equably. "Or even better we three could follow you to the island to make them think we've all gone. Then we could come back."
"Supposing they get away in the mean time?" George asked.
"It won't matter that much if they do," said Nicola. "After all, our main task is to protect the real plans, isn't it?"
"And it won't take long to get back again," said Peter. "In fact we won't really need to land our boat at all. Will Alf mind if we borrow his dinghy again, George?"
Anne gave a little giggle of excitement.
"I say, this is a real adventure isn't it?" she said.