4

craggy-tops

the train sped on through the countryside, passing many stations, andstopping at very few. on towards the coast it went, through high mountainsthat towered up, over silver rivers, through big, straggling towns.

and then it came to wilder country. the sea-wind came in at the window.

‘i can smell the sea already,’ said jack, who had only once before been tothe sea, and scarcely remembered it.

the train stopped at last at a lonely little station. ‘here we are,’ saidphilip. ‘tumble out. hi, joe! here i am. have you got the old car handy?’

jack and lucy-ann saw a strange man coming towards them. his skinwas lined, his teeth were very white, and his eyes darted from side to side ashe looked at them. running behind him was a girl a little older than lucy?ann, but tall for her age. she had the same brown, wavy hair that philiphad, and the same tuft in front.

‘another tufty,’ thought jack, ‘but a fiercer one. it must be dinah.’

it was dinah. she had come with joe to meet philip, in the ramshackleold car. she stopped short in the greatest surprise when she saw lucy-annand jack. jack grinned, but lucy-ann, suddenly feeling shy of thisstrapping, confident-looking girl, hid behind her brother. dinah stared ineven greater amazement at kiki, who was telling joe to wipe his feet atonce.

‘you mind your manners,’ said joe roughly, talking to the bird as if it wasa human being. kiki put up her crest and growled angrily, like a dog. joelooked startled.

‘that a bird?’ he enquired of philip.

‘yes,’ said philip. ‘joe, that trunk should go in the car too. it belongs tomy two friends.’

‘they coming to craggy-tops?’ said joe in the greatest surprise. ‘misspolly, she didn’t say nothing about any friends, no, she didn’t.’

‘philip, who are they?’ asked dinah, coming up and joining the littlegroup.

‘two friends from mr roy’s,’ said philip. ‘i’ll tell you all about itafterwards.’ he winked at dinah to make her understand that he wouldexplain when joe was not there. ‘this is freckles – i told you about him,you know – and lucy-ann too.’

the three children solemnly shook hands. then they all got into thejerky, jumpy old car, with the two trunks at the back, and joe drove off in amanner that seemed most dangerous to lucy-ann. she clutched the side ofthe car, half frightened.

they drove through wild hills, rocky and bare. soon they saw the sea inthe distance. high cliffs bounded it except for breaks here and there. itcertainly was a wild and desolate coast. they passed ruined mansions andcottages on their way.

‘they were burnt in the battle i told you about,’ said philip. and no onehas rebuilt them. craggy-tops more or less escaped.’

‘that’s the cliff behind which craggy-tops is built,’ said dinah,pointing. the others saw a high, rocky cliff, and just jutting up they couldsee a small round tower, which they imagined was part of craggy-tops.

‘craggy-tops is built out of reach of the waves,’ said philip, ‘but onstormy nights the spray dashes against the windows almost as strongly asthe waves pound the shore.’

lucy-ann and jack thought it all sounded very thrilling. it would be funto stay in a house that had spray dashed against its windows. they did hopethere would be a terrific storm whilst they were there.

‘is miss polly expecting you all?’ asked joe suddenly. he was plainlypuzzled by the two extra children. ‘she didn’t say nothing to me aboutthem.’

‘didn’t she? how strange!’ said philip. kiki screeched with laughter, andjoe wrinkled up his nose in dislike of the noise. he was not going to fall inlove with kiki, that was certain. jack didn’t like the way the man looked athis pet bird.

dinah suddenly gave a shriek and pushed philip away from her. ‘oh!

you’ve got a mouse down your neck! i saw its nose peeping out. take itaway, philip; you know i can’t bear mice.’

‘oh, shut up and don’t be an idiot,’ said philip crossly. dinah at onceflew into one of her tempers. she clutched philip’s collar and shook him,trying to dislodge the mouse and frighten it away. philip gave dinah a push,and she banged her head against the side of the car. she at once slapped himhard. jack and lucy-ann stared in surprise.

‘beast!’ said dinah. ‘i wish you hadn’t come back. take your two horridfriends and go off again to mr roy.’

‘they’re not horrid,’ said philip, in a mild tone. ‘they’re fun.’ he put hismouth to dinah’s ear, after seeing that joe was paying no attention, andwhispered: ‘they’ve escaped from mr roy. i asked them to. their unclewill pay aunt polly for them to stay with us, and she can pay that bill youtold me about. see?’

dinah forgot her temper as quickly as it had come. she stared withinterest at the brother and sister, rubbing her bruised head as she did so.

what would aunt polly say? where would they sleep? this was going to beexciting.

joe drove headlong over the bumpy, stony road. jack wondered that anycar could stand such driving. they drove up the cliff, then down a hiddenway that sloped round to craggy-tops.

and there, suddenly, was the roaring sea and craggy-tops standingsullenly above it, built half-way down the cliff. the car stopped, and thechildren got out. jack gazed at the strange house. it was a strange place.

once it had two towers, but one had fallen in. the other still stood. thehouse was built of great grey stones, and was massive and ugly, butsomehow rather grand. it faced the sea with a proud and angry look, as ifdefying the strong gale and the restless ocean. jack looked down at thewater. on it, and circling above it, were hundreds of wild sea-birds of allkinds. it was a perfect paradise of birds. the boy’s heart sang for joy. birdsby the hundred, birds by the thousand. he would be able to study them tohis heart’s content, find their nests, photograph them at his leisure. what atime he would have!

a woman came to the door, and looked down at the four children insurprise. she was thin, and her hair was sandy-coloured and wispy. shelooked tired and faded.

‘hallo, aunt polly!’ cried philip, running up the stone steps, ‘i’m back!’

‘so i see,’ said his aunt, giving him a peck of a kiss on his cheek. ‘butwho are these?’

‘aunt polly, they’re friends of mine,’ said philip earnestly. ‘theycouldn’t go home because their uncle broke his leg. so i brought them here.

their uncle will pay you for having them.’

‘philip! how can you do a thing like this? springing people on mewithout telling me!’ said aunt polly sharply. ‘where will they sleep? youknow we’ve no room.’

‘they can sleep in the tower-room,’ said philip. the tower-room! howlovely! jack and lucy-ann were thrilled.

‘there are no beds there,’ said aunt polly, in a disagreeable tone.

‘they’ll have to go back. they can stay the night and then go back.’

lucy-ann looked ready to cry. there was a harshness in aunt polly’stone that she could not bear. she felt unwelcome and miserable. jack put hisarm round her and gave her a squeeze.

he was determined that he would not go back. the sight of those gliding,circling, soaring birds had filled his heart with joy. oh, to lie on the cliff andwatch them! he would not go back!

‘they all went in, joe carrying the trunks. aunt polly looked with muchdisfavour on kiki.

a parrot too!’ she said. ‘nasty, squawking, screeching bird! i never likedparrots. it’s bad enough to have all the creatures you collect, philip, withouta parrot coming too.’

‘poor polly, poor old polly,’ said kiki unexpectedly. aunt polly looked atthe bird, startled.

‘how does it know my name?’ she asked in astonishment.

kiki didn’t. it was a name she herself was often called, and she often said‘poor old polly!’ or ‘poor old kiki!’ she saw that she had made animpression on this sharp-voiced woman, and she repeated the words softly,as if she was about to burst into tears.

‘poor polly! dear polly! poor, dear old polly!’

‘well i never!’ said aunt polly, and looked at the parrot more kindly.

aunt polly felt ill, tired and harassed, but no one ever said they were sorry,or seemed to notice it. now here was a bird pitying her and speaking to hermore kindly than anyone had for years! aunt polly felt strange about it, butquite pleased.

‘you can take a mattress up to the tower-room, and sleep there tonightwith the boy – what’s his name?’ said aunt polly to philip. ‘the girl cansleep with dinah. it’s a small bed, but i can’t help that. if you bring peoplehere without telling me, i can’t prepare for them.’

the children sat down to a good meal. aunt polly was a good cook. itwas a mixture of tea and supper, and the children tucked into it well. allthey had had that day, since their breakfast, were the sandwiches that mrroy had packed for philip – and one packet of sandwiches did not go farbetween three hungry children.

dinah gave a sneeze, and the parrot spoke to her sternly. ‘where’s yourhandkerchief?’

aunt polly looked at the bird in surprised admiration. ‘well, i’m alwayssaying that to dinah,’ she said. ‘that bird seems to be a most sensiblecreature.’

kiki was pleased at aunt polly’s admiration. ‘poor polly, poor dearpolly,’ she said, her head coyly on one side, her bright eye glinting at auntpolly.

aunt polly likes your parrot better than she likes you,’ whispered philipto jack, with a grin.

after the meal, aunt polly took philip to his uncle’s study. he knockedand went in. his uncle jocelyn was bent over a sheaf of yellow papers,examining them with a magnifying-glass. he grunted at philip.

‘so you’re back again. behave yourself and keep out of my way. i shallbe very busy these holidays.’

‘jocelyn, philip has brought two children back with him – and a parrot,’

said aunt polly.

‘a parrot?’ said uncle jocelyn. ‘why a parrot?’

‘jocelyn, that parrot belongs to one of the children that philip broughthome,’ said aunt polly. ‘philip wants these children to stay here.’

‘can’t have them. don’t mind the parrot,’ said uncle jocelyn, ‘keep theparrot if you want it. send it away if you don’t. i’m busy’

he bent over his papers again. aunt polly gave a sigh and shut the door.

‘he’s so interested in the past that he forgets all about the present,’ she said,half to herself. ‘well – i suppose i must ring up mr roy myself. he’ll bewondering about those children.’

she went to the telephone. philip followed close behind her, longing toknow what mr roy would say. dinah peeped out from the sitting-room andphilip nodded towards the telephone. if only mr roy was cross and said hewould not have jack and lucy-ann back! if only aunt polly would thinkthe cheque was big enough to make it worthwhile letting them stay!