27

escape at last

no sooner had he felt certain that somebody was climbing up very steadily below him than jackimmediately stopped climbing down and began climbing back again at top speed. he didn’t wantto meet meier or erlick on that ladder.

some way up he bumped into lucy-ann’s feet. she gave a small squeal of surprise. ‘it’s allright, lucy-ann. it’s only me,’ said jack in a low voice. ‘there’s somebody coming up the ladder.

go back again as quickly as you can!’

lucy-ann at once began to climb up as fast as possible, in a great fright. gracious! how awfulto feel that somebody was coming up the ladder just as they were going down! she felt certain itwas that horrid meier!

she in turn bumped into dinah’s feet and passed the urgent message on to the surprised girl.

dinah began to climb back again up to the cave at the top very quickly indeed. lucy-ann and jackwere immediately below her. jack felt as if somebody might catch his ankles at any moment.

and, of course, the next thing was that dinah nearly got her head trodden on by bill’s big feet.

he was descending at top speed to join the others, and was most amazed to find dinah just belowhim.

‘what’s the matter? didn’t i tell you to buck up?’ he said, and then caught dinah’s agonizedwhisper.

‘somebody’s coming up! quick, before they get jack. quick, bill!’

muttering something under his breath, bill climbed back quickly. he pulled dinah up, thenlucy-ann, then jack. the ladder still shook. the climber, or climbers, were coming up steadily.

‘back into the passages!’ commanded bill. ‘we can’t afford to be caught now. we’ll wait tillwhoever it is has gone and then we’ll try again.’

they came to where the passage forked into three, and bill pushed them all up into the darkestone – but coming towards them were footsteps, and somebody’s shadow at the far end! they allrushed back again.

but now the climber had reached the top of the ladder and was behind them. they tried thesecond passage and found themselves in a maze of funny little caves, all leading one out ofanother.

‘wait here!’ said bill. but they had been seen, and challenging voices now began to echo alongthe dark passages.

‘who’s there? come out at once!’

they didn’t stir. they were all crouched in a dark corner, overhung by a rocky ledge. billwondered if the beam of a torch would find them. he was afraid it would.

the feet passed by in another cave. then came more voices. the hunt was on! bill groaned. itsounded as if four or five searchers were about now. they would separate and search until theyhad found them. and they had been so near freedom!

‘come,’ said bill after a moment. ‘we’ll try a better cave than this.’

but, before they could move, the flash of a torch shone into their cave. they all stiffened andstood absolutely still. the beam came nearer and nearer. lucy-ann forgot to breathe, and stoodwith her hand firmly clasped in bill’s.

just as the beam of the torch was picking out jack’s feet – or so it seemed to jack – a surprisinginterruption came. a voice came from somewhere near by, a hollow, mournful voice, full ofmisery and despair.

‘poor kiki! ding dong bell! peepbo!’

jack’s heart leapt. kiki! she wasn’t dead, then! she must have been wandering, completely lost,all about the passages and caves for days. she didn’t know they were close to her. she had seenthe light of the torch and heard voices, and as usual she had joined in the conversation.

bill’s hand squeezed jack’s arm warningly. he was afraid the boy might call kiki, or exclaimout loud in delight. but jack held his tongue. kiki went on talking in the most melancholy voiceimaginable.

‘send for the doctor! musty, fusty, dusty, pooh, gah!’

jack had never heard her so miserable before. poor kiki! she must have thought herself quitedeserted.

a sharp voice rang through the cave. ‘what in the world was that? somebody’s in this cave!

erlick, come here! did you hear that?’

‘what?’ asked erlick, coming in with another torch.

‘a voice,’ said meier. ‘somebody’s in here. two people, probably. one talking to another.

stand there with your torch whilst i walk all round with mine.’

meier began to walk round, examining all the walls carefully for hiding-places. bill groanedsilently. now they had no chance to get to another cave at all.

kiki gave a realistic sneeze and then a cough. meier stopped his search and swung his torch inthe direction of the sound.

‘we can hear you! come out or it will be the worse for you!’ he shouted, in a furious tone.

kiki was frightened. she had been without food for some time, and was hungry and unhappy.

the man’s angry voice filled her with panic and she flew off into the next cave, having no idea thather beloved jack was so near her. it was just as well that she didn’t know, for if she had knownshe would certainly have flown to jack’s shoulder and given their hiding-place away at once!

her voice came from the cave further on.

‘polly put the kettle on! send for the doctor!’ then came a loud hiccup, and an apologetic‘pardon!’

‘good heavens! what’s going on?’ cried meier, completely puzzled. ‘it’s that voice again thatwe’ve been hearing at intervals. well, where there’s a voice there’s a body and i’m going to find itthis time, if i have to shoot the caves to pieces!’

a loud report made bill and the children jump in fright. meier had drawn his revolver and firedwildly in the direction of kiki’s voice. jack didn’t like that a bit. he was afraid kiki might be hit.

meier and erlick went into the next cave after kiki’s voice. it came to them from further away.

‘upsadaisy! wipe your feet, you naughty boy.’

the children couldn’t help smiling, scared though they were. kiki always managed to say suchridiculous things in moments of urgency. there came another shot, which echoed all round thecaves.

kiki gave a cackle of scornful laughter, and then made a noise like a car changing gear. shecame back to the next cave again, and the men followed. they still had not caught sight of kikibecause they were looking for a human being, running away in front of them, whereas kiki flewhigh in the roof of the caves, and perched on small ledges, well hidden.

somebody else ran through the cave where the children were, calling to meier.

‘mr meier, sir, sir! all children run away! helicopter come back. all alone on mountain-top.

no one there. children run away!’

it was one of the numerous soldiers, who had evidently discovered the returned helicopter, andthe disappearance of the pilot and the children. there was an amazed silence.

meier raised his voice and let forth a stream of furious foreign words, none of which bill or thechildren could understand. then came erlick’s voice.

‘no good going on like that, meier. get out the dogs. the children must have gone down theladder. you left it down when you went out tonight, didn’t you? the dogs will soon round themall up.’

‘what’s happened to the pilot, though?’ raged meier, and lapsed into some foreign languageagain. the soldier came pattering back through the cave again, presumably on his way to get thedogs.

‘send for the doctor,’ called kiki mournfully. she screeched like an engine and made meierflash his torch in and out of the caves again, almost beside himself with rage.

erlick, meier and one or two others with them then began a loud argument in many languages.

bill didn’t wait to hear what it was all about. he pushed the children out of their hiding-place andtowards the nearest passage. very quietly and quickly they all fled back towards the cave with theladder. maybe there was a chance now of escape. jack wished with all his heart that he could takekiki too.

they went down the ladder in the same order as before, jack wondering fearfully if he wouldfind anyone coming up this time, ready to catch him by the ankles. but he didn’t. he reached thebottom safely, his legs shaking with the effort, panting and exhausted.

lucy-ann almost fell off the last rung, weak with relief to find she was at last at the bottom. ithad seemed an endless climb down to her. she sank to the ground beside the pool, her heartbeating painfully.

dinah followed and threw herself on the ground too. then came bill, not so distressed as theothers, but very glad indeed to be at the bottom of the ladder.

‘phew! the bottom at last!’ he said. ‘what a climb! now come on – out we go on the mountain-side. we’ll join up with philip and johns. if only those wretched dogs don’t find us! philip’s toldme about them and how you thought they were wolves. i don’t fancy a pack of alsatians on mytrail, somehow, with meier and erlick urging them on!’

the dawn was beginning to come over the mountains. the sun was not yet above them, but agolden light was spreading upwards from the east. the children were very glad indeed to feel thefresh wind on their faces when they went out through the crack in the rock, and swung aside thebig green curtain of creeper and bramble. they took deep breaths and gazed around them in thesilvery light of dawn.

‘come on,’ said bill. ‘i left philip and johns by a stream – where you left dapple. we tookdapple back with us by the way, when david, effans and i came with the rest of the donkeys tolook for you. philip said you’d know where the place was, even if we landed a little way from it inthe helicopter – he thinks we’re all coming through the air of course, to land on a good flat placewhere we left a light burning to guide me. it was a bit tricky landing in the dark with philip andjohns! the helicopter nearly overbalanced. still, we managed it.’

‘philip will be looking out for us by that light then?’ said lucy-ann. ‘not by the stream.’

‘no. i told him not to, in case anyone was roaming about there, saw the light and spotted himand johns,’ explained bill. ‘i thought meier and co. might possibly be on the look-out for philip,if they thought he had jumped. i was supposed to radio back to them what had happened – but ididn’t, of course!’

it was easy to find their way to the meeting-place, now that dawn was coming. but before theygot there, a bit of good luck came to jack – in the shape of kiki!

she suddenly sailed down on him from the air with a cackle of delight, and a screech that nearlydeafened them all. she flew to his shoulder and rubbed her head into his ear, giving it little pecksand pulls of love. jack was so overjoyed that he couldn’t say a word. he just scratched kiki’s headand made funny, loving noises, which kiki immediately copied.

‘oh, good!’ said lucy-ann in delight. ‘oh, jack! dear old kiki, isn’t it lovely to have heragain. it’s been awful without you, kiki.’

even bill joined in the demonstrations of affection. ‘you saved us, kiki, old bird! you led thosefellows such a song and dance that they let us escape. how did you know where we were? didyou fly out and follow us?’

kiki didn’t tell them, so they never knew, but jack felt sure she had flown down into theroofless cave, and come out of the crack into the open air. then she must have heard their voicesand come to join them.

‘god save the queen,’ said kiki, in a happy voice, and gave a loud hiccup. ‘pardon! pardon thequeen pop goes polly!’

‘oh, kiki! we thought you were dead,’ said dinah. she looked round, missing snowy. ‘andnow snowy’s gone! where is he?’

‘he hasn’t been with us for some time,’ said bill. ‘he’ll turn up, i expect – just like kiki!’

‘dithery slithery,’ said kiki suddenly, cocking her head on one side and looking at jack’spocket. sally the slow-worm was half in and half out, enjoying being out in the fresh air again.

dinah didn’t even squeal!

they went on their way, with kiki firmly on jack’s shoulder – and suddenly they heard a yell.

‘hie! here we are! jack! dinah! lucy-ann! bill! and oh, i say, there’s kiki too. hurrah!

you’ve escaped! but where’s the helicopter? we’ve been waiting and waiting for it.’

it was philip, of course, leaping up and down like a mad thing, with johns standing stolidlybehind him – and snowy frisking about round them both. he had found philip! so all the familywere together again. they were full of delight – but wait – what was that howling noise in thedistance?

‘the dogs!’ said jack. ‘they’re after us!’