6

travelling far

bill had told the children exactly where to wait for him at euston station, so, each carrying a bagand a mackintosh, they went to the spot.

they stood there waiting. ‘suppose,’ said philip, in a mysterious voice, ‘just suppose that one ofthe gang that bill is after, knew bill was going to meet us here – and came up and told us he wasbill – and took us all off with him, so that we were never heard of again!’

poor lucy-ann stared at him in the greatest alarm. her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

‘oh, philip – do you think that might happen? gracious, i hope to goodness we recognise billwhen we see him. i shall be scared stiff of going with him if we don’t.’

a very fat man approached them, smiling. he was big all over, big head, big body, big feet –and big teeth that showed when he smiled. lucy-ann felt her heart sink. this couldn’t be bill!

nobody could make himself as big as that, if he wasn’t fat to begin with. she clutched philip’shand. was it one of the gang?

‘little girl,’ said the big man to lucy-ann, ‘you’ve dropped your mackintosh behind you.

you’ll lose it if you don’t pick it up.’

lucy-ann had gone pale when he first began to speak. then she looked round and saw her macon the ground. she picked it up. then, scarlet in the face, she stammered out a few words ofthanks.

the big man smiled again, showing all his fine teeth. ‘don’t look so scared,’ he said. ‘i shan’teat you!’

‘he looks just as if he might,’ thought lucy-ann, retreating behind jack.

‘pop goes the weasel,’ said kiki, in a polite conversational tone. ‘pop, pop, pop!’

‘what a remarkably clever bird!’ said the big man, and put out his hand to pat kiki. she gavehim a vicious nip with her beak, and then whistled like an engine.

the big man’s smile vanished and he scowled. ‘dangerous bird, that,’ he said, and disappearedinto the crowd. the children were relieved. they didn’t think, of course, that he was one of thegang – that had only been philip’s make-up – but they were worried in case he kept them talking,and prevented bill from coming up and fetching them.

they stood there, under the clock, looking all round for bill. they couldn’t see anyone evenremotely resembling him. then a rather shambling, round-shouldered man came up, wearing thickglasses through which his eyes peered sharply.

he wore a thick long coat, had field-glasses slung across his back, and a curious black-checkedcap. he also had a black beard. but he spoke in bill’s voice.

‘good evening, children. i am glad to see you are punctual. now at last we start on our littleexpedition.’

lucy-ann beamed. that was bill’s nice warm voice all right, in spite of the beard and thestrange get-up. she was just about to fling herself on him, crying, ‘oh, bill, it’s good to see you,’

when jack, feeling sure that lucy-ann was going to do something impulsive like that, pushed heraway and held out his hand politely.

‘good evening, dr walker. how are you?’

the others took their cue from jack, and anyone looking on would have thought that here werefour children greeting a tutor or a guardian who was going to take them on a journey somewhere.

‘come this way,’ said dr walker. ‘i have a porter for your things. hey, porter, put these bags onyour barrow, will you, and find our reservations in the ten o’clock train. thank you.’

it wasn’t long before they were all safely on the night train. the children were thrilled with theirlittle ‘bedrooms’. lucy- ann liked the way everything could fold down or fold back, or besomehow pushed out of the way.

‘now, you must sleep all night,’ said bill, his eyes smiling at them from behind his thickglasses. ‘dr walker will see that you are awake in time for breakfast.’

‘how do we get to the place we’re going to, and where exactly is it?’ asked jack.

‘well, we get there by this train and another, and then by motor-boat,’ said bill. the childrenlooked thrilled. they loved travelling.

‘i’ve got a map here,’ said bill, making sure that the door was shut. ‘it’s a map of all the manylittle islands dotted off the north-west coast of scotland – hundreds of them. some are too small tomap. i don’t expect anyone has ever visited all of them – only the birds live there. i thought we’dmake one of them our headquarters, and then cruise around a bit, taking photographs, andwatching the birds in their daily life.’

the eyes of the two boys gleamed. what a glorious thing to do! they visualised days ofsunshine on the water, chugging to and from tiny islands inhabited by half-tame birds, picnickinghungrily in the breeze, sitting on rocks with their feet dangling in the clear water. their heartslifted in happiness at the thought.

‘what i should really like,’ said philip, ‘would be a tame puffin or two. i’ve never seen a livepuffin – only a stuffed one – but they look real characters.’

‘i suppose you would teach them to sit up and beg,’ said bill, amused.

‘huffin and puffin,’ announced kiki. ‘god save the queen.’

nobody took any notice. they were all too much absorbed in thinking of the unusual holiday.

‘i shall remain behind there, once you have gone back,’ said bill. ‘it’ll be a bit lonely withoutyou all, but no doubt you will leave me your tame puffins for company.’

‘i shall hate leaving you,’ said lucy-ann. ‘will you have to be there all alone for long, bill?’

‘a goodish time, i expect,’ said bill. ‘long enough for my enemies to forget about me, or tothink i’m dead and gone.’

‘oh dear!’ said lucy-ann. ‘i wish you didn’t have to lead such a dangerous life, bill. can’t youdo something else instead?’

‘what? be a gardener, or a tram conductor or something safe like that, do you mean?’ askedbill, grinning at lucy-ann’s serious face. ‘no, lucy-ann – this kind of life suits me. i’m on theside of law and order and right – and to my mind they’re worth while running any risk for. evil isstrong and powerful, but i’m strong and powerful too, and it’s good to try one’s strength againstbad men and their ways.’

‘well, i think you’re marvellous,’ said lucy-ann stoutly. ‘and i’m sure you’ll always win.

don’t you hate having to hide now?’

‘i’m furious about it,’ said bill, looking anything but furious, but with a note in his voice thatmade the others realise how desperate he felt, having to ‘disappear’ when there was work to bedone, ‘but – order are orders. and anyway, my disappearance means a perfectly glorious holidayfor all of us. well, boys, have you finished studying that map?’

the two boys had been poring over the map of islands. jack put his finger on one. ‘look – thatsounds a good one – the isle of wings – it must be full of birds!’

‘we’ll try and go there,’ said bill. ‘we shall probably get well and truly lost, but never mind.

who minds being lost on the blue-green sea in may-time, with all kinds of little enchanted islandsready to welcome you?’

‘it sounds glorious,’ said dinah. ‘oh, look at kiki. she’s trying to pull the plug off its chain inthat basin.’

kiki had thoroughly explored the whole of the ‘bedroom’, and had had a good drink out of oneof the water decanters. now she settled down on the little towel-rail and, with a remarkably humanyawn, put her head under her wing. at the same moment there came a loud banging of doors alldown the train. she took her head out again.

‘shut the door,’ she remarked. ‘pop goes the door. send for the doctor.’

the whistle blew, and to kiki’s alarm the whole ‘bedroom’ suddenly shook as the train pulledout of the station. she almost fell off the towel-rail.

‘poor kiki, what a pity, what a pity!’ she said, and flew to jack’s shoulder.

‘now it’s time we all retired to bed and to sleep,’ said bill, getting up. he looked very queer inhis black beard and thick glasses. thank goodness he had taken off the awful black-checked cap.

‘do two of us sleep here, or four of us?’ asked lucy-ann, looking doubtfully at the small beds,one on each side of the ‘bedroom’.

‘two of us,’ said bill. ‘i’ve got a single room on the right of you – and to the right again isanother compartment, or room, for the two boys. i’m in the middle of you, you see – and you’veonly to bang hard on the wooden wall between us, if you want anything, and i’ll come rushing in.’

‘oh, good!’ said lucy-ann. ‘i’m glad you’re so near us. bill, are you going to sleep in yourbeard?’

‘well, as it’s rather painful to remove at the moment, being well and truly stuck on, i think iwill,’ said bill. ‘i’ll take it off when we’re safely among our little islands. no one will see us there.

don’t you like me in my beautiful beard?’

‘not much,’ said lucy-ann. ‘i feel as if you’re not you when i look at you, but when i hearyour voice, it’s all right.’

‘well, my child, look at me with your eyes shut, and you’ll have no horrid feelings,’ said bill,with a grin. ‘now good night, and sleep well. come on, boys, i’ll take you to your compartment.

i’ll wake you in the morning, and we’ll dress and go along to the restaurant car for breakfast.’

‘i feel a bit hungry now,’ said philip, ‘although we had a jolly good supper. but that’s agesago.’

‘well, i’ve got some sandwiches and some bananas,’ said bill. ‘i’ll get them. but don’t be longturning in, because it’s getting late.’

‘only just gone ten,’ said dinah, but she yawned loudly as she spoke. kiki promptly imitatedher, and that set everyone else yawning too.

bill went into his own compartment and fetched sandwiches and ripe bananas. then he saidgood night to the girls and took the boys to their own ‘bedroom.’ it really was very exciting to goto bed in a train. it was queer undressing with the train swaying about, rushing through the night atsixty miles an hour.

it was nice to be in bed, listening to the ‘tutta-tut-tah! tutta-tut-tah!’ of the train wheels turningrapidly over the rails.

‘travelling far, travelling far, travelling far,’ said the wheels to lucy-ann, as her eyes closed,and her mind swung towards sleep. ‘travelling far . . .’

in spite of all the excitement the four children were soon fast asleep and dreaming. what werethey dreaming of? that was easy to guess. blue-green water, clear as crystal, enchanting littleislands, big white clouds flying across an enormous blue sky, and birds, birds, birds . . . travellingfar, travelling far, travelling far.