5

arrival of the donkeys

the next excitement, of course, was the arrival of the donkeys. the children had waitedexpectantly for them all the following morning, not liking to go for a walk in case they missed thedonkeys’ arrival. lucy-ann saw them first.

she gave a yell that sent the slow-worm back into philip’s pocket, and startled snowy so muchthat he leapt four feet in the air. even kiki jumped.

‘the donkeys!’ cried lucy-ann. ‘there they come, look, up the mountain path.’

soon all four children were tearing down the path to the donkeys. there were eight of them,strong, sturdy little creatures, with big bright eyes, and long tails that whisked the flies away. theywere all grey, and their long ears twitched to and fro as they came steadily up the steep path.

trefor’s brother david was with them, an elderly man rather like trefor but with tidier hair andbeard. he had the same bright blue eyes, but he looked timid and shy, as if the world had not beenkind to him.

he smiled faintly at the lively children. ‘can we ride four of the donkeys now?’ asked philip.

‘we know how to ride. come on, lucy-ann, up with you!’

he gave lucy-ann a shove and she was up on a donkey’s back. dinah needed no help. with aleap like snowy’s she was up at once.

the donkeys ambled up the steep path with the children, refusing to trot now that they hadheavy weights on their backs. snowy galloped beside philip’s donkey, half jealous of it, butting itin the legs.

‘hallo! here we are!’ cried jack, ambling up to mrs mannering and bill. ‘eight donkeys tochoose from! which are you going to have, aunt allie?’

david stood by smiling whilst his donkeys were examined and tried. trefor the shepherdarrived, and the two old brothers chatted together in welsh. effans and his wife came along, andsoon there was quite a company in the farmyard, discussing the donkeys.

‘we badly want to go off on the donkeys into the mountains, mother,’ said philip coaxingly‘can we? with you and bill, of course. to stay a few nights, i mean. jack and i think there shouldbe a fine lot of rare birds over there in those lonely mountains – and there will be lots of animalstoo.’

‘it would be rather fun,’ said his mother. ‘i haven’t camped out for ages, and in this weather itwould be lovely. what do you say bill?’

‘i say yes!’ said bill, who loved outdoor life and was an old hand at camping. ‘do you good,allie. we could take a couple of extra donkeys to carry the things we want.’

‘oh, bill! can we really go?’ said lucy-ann, overjoyed, and dinah danced round him too. togo off on donkeys into the mountains, and take tents and food – what could be more fun?

‘it will be an adventure!’ said dinah. ‘not one of our usual ones, of course, but a really niceone. you’ll like that, lucy-ann, won’t you?’

‘oh, yes,’ said lucy-ann, who never really enjoyed a proper adventure whilst it was happening.

‘i’d like that kind of adventure. when can we go?’

‘well, we’d better get used to our donkeys before we think of going,’ said bill. ‘i’m not used todonkey-riding, nor is aunt allie. we shall be stiff at first, so we’d better get over that stage beforewe go. say next week?’

‘oh – i can’t wait that long!’ said dinah, and the others laughed at her long face.

‘effans, where is a nice place to go?’ asked jack, turning to him. effans considered. he spoke totrefor in welsh and the old shepherd answered him.

‘he says the vale of butterflies in a good place,’ said effans. ‘it is full of birds as well asbutterflies.’

‘the vale of butterflies – that sounds gorgeous,’ said jack, pleased.

‘super!’ said philip. ‘absolutely wizard! we’ll go there. is it far?’

‘two days on donkeys,’ said effans.

bill calculated. ‘we shall want a guide – either trefor, effans or trefor’s brother – and twodonkeys at least to carry our tents and food – and six donkeys for ourselves. that’s nine. we’veonly got eight here. effans, ask this fellow if he’s got another donkey.’

it turned out that trefor’s brother had meant to ride home on a donkey himself, and take anotherdonkey back with farm produce to sell, leaving only six. effans bargained with him to come backthe next week, complete with three donkeys to add to the six left behind.

‘then you can act as guide to these people, look you,’ he said. ‘that will be money. you willhave one donkey, they will have six, and there will be two for loads. that is much money for you,david, indeed to gootness!’

david agreed. he would come on the wednesday of next week, bringing three donkeys to addto the six he would leave behind. two to carry loads, one for himself, and six for the children, mrsmannering and bill.

the children were very excited. they ran round the donkeys, patted them, rubbed their longnoses and sat on their broad backs. the donkeys seemed to like all the fuss. they stood stolidlythere, their tails whisking, following the children with their eyes. snowy darted about, runningunder first one donkey and then another, acting like a mad thing.

trefor helped his brother to load up a donkey with packages of all kinds. heavier and heaviergrew the load, but the donkey stood patiently, seeming not to mind at all. then, eager to be gone,it suddenly brayed.

kiki had never heard a donkey bray before and she sailed straight up into the air with fright.

‘ee-ore, ee-ore!’ brayed the donkey, and stamped his foot.

‘gracious! now i suppose kiki will practise braying too,’ said jack. ‘we shall have to stop herfirmly if she does. it’s bad enough from a donkey – but brays from kiki would be frightful.’

the donkey was loaded at last. david mounted his sturdy little beast, said a polite goodbye toeveryone and rode off down the path, the loaded donkey being led after him by a rope he held inhis hand.

‘now we can choose our own donkeys!’ said lucy-ann in delight. ‘aunt allie – you choosefirst.’

‘well, they all look exactly alike to me!’ said mrs mannering. bill spoke to effans, asking himif he knew which donkey was the quietest. effans turned to trefor.

trefor knew. he pointed out a little creature with a patient expression in its eyes, and said a fewwords in welsh.

‘he says that is the one for you,’ said effans. ‘it is quiet and good. its name is patience.’

‘oh, good – i’ll choose her then,’ said mrs mannering. ‘this is mine, children – the one withthe black mark on her forehead.’

‘i want this one,’ cried lucy- ann, pulling at a sturdy animal that threw his head backcontinually, and stamped now and then. ‘i like him. what is his name, trefor?’

trefor said something nobody understood. effans translated. ‘his name is clover. this one isgrayling, and that one is dapple. the other two are buttercup and daisy.’

lucy-ann had clover. jack had grayling, and dinah had dapple. bill had buttercup, and philiphad daisy. each of them was delighted with his or her own special donkey.

‘let’s ride them now,’ said jack, mounting his little beast. ‘come on, bill. aunt allie, get on.

we’ll go for our first ride now – up the path and back again.’

with effans and his wife looking on in delight, the six rode off on their donkeys. they wouldnot go fast uphill, and bill warned each child not to try and make them. ‘they’ll trot coming downall right,’ he said. ‘but it’s heavy going for them uphill, with our weight on their backs.’

it was great fun riding the grey donkeys up the steep mountain path. mrs mannering wasnervous at first when she came to the rocky bits, but her donkey was as sure-footed as the others,and went steadily along on even the stoniest parts.

bill rode close by in case mrs mannering needed help, but she didn’t. the four children, ofcourse, would have scorned any help. they were all used to riding horses, and the donkeys werevery easy to manage.

‘now we’ll turn back,’ called bill. so they all turned and went homewards. snowy came too, ofcourse, having leapt and bounded ahead of them all the way, apparently under the impression thathe was leading them.

‘that was fun,’ said lucy-ann, as they trotted homewards, the donkeys going faster now thatthey were on a downhill road. mrs mannering didn’t like the trotting so much as the ambling.

‘my donkey is a very bumpy one,’ she said to bill. ‘when i go down he comes up and when igo up he goes down, so we keep meeting with a bump!’

everyone laughed. they were all sorry when they reached the farmhouse, for by that time theyfelt as if they could go trotting on for ever. but a meal was ready for them on the table, and mrsevans was beaming at the door, so they didn’t lose much time in taking the donkeys to the fieldand carrying their harness to the stables.

‘you’ll be quite used to riding a donkey by next week,’ bill said to mrs mannering. ‘by thetime wednesday comes you’ll be ready to set off and you’ll feel as if you’d ridden a donkey allyour life!’

‘oh, yes, i’m sure i shall,’ said mrs mannering. she felt something pecking at her foot andlooked under the table. she saw a fat brown hen there and pushed it away. ‘shoo! stop peckingmy foot!’

the hen shooed, only to be replaced by snowy, who, pushed off philip’s knee as he sat at table,was amusing himself by trying to eat shoe-laces under the table. mrs mannering pushed him himaway too, and snowy went to chew the hem of mrs evans’ dress. she never noticed things likethat, so snowy had a nice long chew.

the next day the girls and mrs mannering were so stiff with their donkey-ride that they couldhardly walk. the boys and bill were all right, but mrs mannering groaned as she came down thestairs.

‘good gracious! i feel like an old old lady! i’ll never be able to ride a donkey again!’ she said.

but the stiffness wore off, and the six of them soon got used to riding their donkeys day afterday into the mountains. there were some lovely rides and magnificent views. snowy came withthem always, never tired, leaping along gaily. kiki rode on jack’s shoulder, occasionally taking aflight into the air to scare any bird that happened to be flying overhead. they flew off quickly, fullof astonishment when kiki told them to wipe their feet.

‘two days more and it’s wednesday,’ said lucy-ann happily. ‘we’ll be quite ready then – ableto ride for hours and hours.’

‘yes – off to the vale of butterflies!’ said jack. ‘iwonder what it’s like! i imagine it to be full of wings of all colours. lovely!’

‘oh, hurry up and come, wednesday!’ said dinah. ‘only forty-eight hours – and then, off wego!’

but something unexpected happened in that forty-eight hours – something that quite upset theirlovely plans!