11

huffin and puffin

‘isn’t it time we had a meal?’ complained jack, staggering over with a great pile of things in hisarms. ‘it makes my mouth water to read “spam” and “best tinned peaches” and see that milkchocolate.’

bill looked at his watch and then at the sun. ‘my word – it certainly is time! the sun is settingalready! how the time has flown!’

it wasn’t long before they were all sitting peacefully on tufts of sea-pink and heather, munchingbiscuits and potted meat, and looking forward to a plate of tinned peaches each. bill had broughtbottles of ginger-beer from the boat, and these were voted better than boiling a kettle to make teaor cocoa. it was very warm indeed.

‘i feel so happy,’ said lucy-ann, looking over the island to the deep-blue sea beyond. ‘i feel sovery very far away from everywhere – honestly i hardly believe there is such a thing as school,just at this very minute. and this potted meat tastes heavenly.’

philip’s white rats also thought it did. they came out from his clothes at once when they smeltthe food. one sat daintily upright on his knee, nibbling. another took his tit-bit into a dark pocket.

the third perched on philip’s shoulder.

‘you tickle the lobe of my ear,’ said philip. dinah moved as far from him as she could, but, likelucy-ann, she was too happy to find fault with anything just then.

they all ate hungrily, bill too, their eyes fixed on the setting sun and the gold-splashed sea,which was now losing its blue, and taking on sunset colours. lucy-ann glanced at bill.

‘do you like disappearing, bill?’ she asked. ‘don’t you think it’s fun?’

‘well – for a fortnight, yes,’ said bill, ‘but i’m not looking forward to living in these wildislands all alone, once you’ve gone. it’s not my idea of fun. i’d rather live dangerously than likeone of these puffins here.’

‘poor bill,’ said dinah, thinking of him left by himself, with only books to read, and the radio,and nobody to talk to.

‘i’ll leave you my rats, if you like,’ offered philip generously.

‘no, thanks,’ said bill promptly. ‘i know your rats! they’d have umpteen babies, and by thetime i left this would be rat island, not puffin island. besides, i’m not so much in love with therat-and-mouse tribe as you are.’

‘oh, look, do look!’ suddenly said dinah. everyone looked. a puffin had left its nearby burrowand was walking solemnly towards them, rolling a little from side to side, as all the puffins didwhen they walked. ‘it’s come for its supper!’

‘then sing, puffin, sing!’ commanded jack. ‘sing for your supper!’

‘arrrrrrrr!’ said the puffin deeply. everyone laughed. the puffin advanced right up to philip. itstood close against the boy’s knee and looked at him fixedly.

‘philip’s spell is working again,’ said lucy-ann enviously. ‘philip, what makes all animals andbirds want you to be friends with them? just look at that puffin – it’s going all goofy over you.’

‘don’t know,’ said philip, pleased with his odd new friend. he stroked the bird’s head softly,and the puffin gave a little arrrrr of pleasure. then philip gave it a bit of potted-meat sandwichand the bird tossed it off at once and turned for more.

‘now i suppose you’ll be followed round by a devoted puffin,’ said dinah. ‘well, a puffin isbetter than three rats, any day – or mice – or that awful hedgehog with fleas that you had – or thatpair of stag-beetles – or . . .’

‘spare us, dinah, spare us,’ begged bill. ‘we all know that philip is a walking zoo. personally,if he likes a goofy puffin, he can have it. i don’t mind a bit. it’s a pity we haven’t brought a collarand lead.’

the puffin said ‘arrrr’ again, a little more loudly, and then walked off, perfectly upright, itsbrilliant beak gleaming in the setting sun.

‘well, you didn’t pay us a very long visit, old thing,’ said philip, quite disappointed. the puffindisappeared into its burrow – but reappeared again almost immediately with another puffin, a littlesmaller, but with an even more brilliant beak.

‘darby and joan!’ said jack. the two birds waddled side by side to philip. the children lookedat them in delighted amusement.

‘what shall we call them?’ said dinah. ‘if they are going to join our little company, they’ll haveto have names. funny little puffins!’

‘huffin and puffin, huffin and puffin,’ remarked kiki, remembering the words suddenly. ‘huffinand . . .’

‘yes, of course – huffin and puffin!’ cried lucy-ann in delight. ‘clever old bird, kiki! you’vebeen talking about huffin and puffin ever since we started out on our holiday – and here they are,huffin and puffin, as large as life!’

everyone laughed. huffin and puffin did seem to be perfectly lovely names for the two birds.

they came close to philip, and, to the boy’s amusement, squatted down by him contentedly.

kiki was not too pleased. she eyed them with her head on one side. they stared back at herwith their crimson-ringed eyes. kiki looked away and yawned.

‘they’ve out-stared kiki!’ said jack. ‘it takes a lot to do that!’

the three rats had prudently decided that it was best to keep as far away from huffin and puffinas possible. they sat round philip’s neck, gazing down at the two birds. then, at a movement fromhuffin, they shot down the boy’s shirt.

bill stretched himself. ‘well, i don’t know about you kids – but i’m tired,’ he said. ‘the sun isalready dipping itself into the west. let’s clear up, and turn in. we’ll have a lovely day tomorrow,bathing and sunning ourselves, and watching the birds. i’m getting used to their eternal chorus ofcries now. at first i was almost deafened.’

the girls cleared up. lucy-ann dipped a bowl into the clear pool of water and handed it roundfor washing in. ‘we oughtn’t to wash in that pool, ought we, bill?’ she said seriously.

‘good gracious, no!’ said bill. ‘it would be absolutely black after the boys had gone in! we’llkeep it for drinking-water only, or just take our water from it when we want it for boiling orwashing.’

‘i think i’ll go and have a dip now,’ said jack, getting up. ‘no, not in the rock-pool, lucy-ann,so don’t look so upset – i’ll go down to the little cove where the boat is. coming, philip?’

‘right,’ said philip, and pushed huffin and puffin away from his knees. ‘move up, you! i’m notgrowing here!’

‘i’ll come too,’ said bill, and knocked out the pipe he had been smoking. ‘i feel dirty. you girlswant to come?’

‘no,’ said lucy-ann. ‘i’ll get the rugs and things ready for you in the tents.’

dinah didn’t want to go either, for she felt very tired. measles had certainly taken some of theenergy out of the two girls. they stayed behind whilst the others set off to the cove to bathe. thevalley sloped right down to the sea just there, and the small sandy cove was just right for bathing.

the boys and bill threw off their things and plunged into the sea. it felt lovely and warm, andrippled over their limbs like silk.

‘lovely!’ said bill, and began to chase the boys. with howls and yells and splashings theyeluded him, making such a terrific noise that huffin and puffin, who had solemnly accompaniedphilip all the way, half walking and half flying, retreated a little way up the beach. they stared atthe boys fixedly and thoughtfully. philip saw them and was pleased. surely nobody had ever hadtwo puffins for pets before!

the girls were setting out ground-sheets and rugs neatly in the two tents when dinah suddenlystopped and listened. lucy-ann listened too.

‘what is it?’ she whispered – and then she heard the noise herself. an aeroplane again, surely!

the girls went out of the tent and looked all over the sky, trying to locate the sound. ‘there! –there, look!’ cried lucy-ann excitedly, and she pointed westwards. ‘can’t you see it? oh, dinah –what’s it doing?’

dinah couldn’t spot the plane. she tried and tried but she could not see the point in the skywhere the aeroplane flew.

‘something’s falling out of it,’ said lucy-ann, straining her eyes. ‘oh, where are the boys’

field-glasses? quick, get them, dinah!’

dinah couldn’t find them. lucy-ann stood watching the sky, her eyes screwed up.

‘something dropped slowly from it,’ she said. ‘something white. i saw it. whatever could ithave been? i hope the aeroplane wasn’t in any trouble.’

‘bill will know,’ said dinah. ‘i expect he and the boys saw it all right. maybe they took theglasses with them. i couldn’t find them anywhere.’

soon there was no more to be seen or heard of the plane, and the girls went on with their work.

the tents looked very comfortable with the piles of rugs. it was such a hot night that dinahfastened the tent-flaps right back, in order to get some air.

‘that storm doesn’t seem to have come,’ she said, looking at the western sky to see if any bigclouds were sweeping up. ‘but it feels very thundery.’

‘here are the others,’ said lucy-ann, as she saw jack, philip and bill coming up from theshore. ‘and huffin and puffin are still with them! oh, di – won’t it be fun if we have two petpuffins!’

‘i wouldn’t mind puffins,’ said dinah. ‘but i can’t bear those rats. hallo, bill! did you hear theaeroplane?’

‘good gracious, no! was there one?’ demanded bill, with great interest. ‘where? how was itwe didn’t hear it?’

‘we were making such a row,’ said jack, grinning. ‘we shouldn’t have heard a hundredaeroplanes.’

‘it was funny,’ said lucy-ann to bill. ‘i was watching the aeroplane when i saw somethingfalling out of it. something white.’

bill stared, frowning intently. ‘a parachute?’ he said. ‘could you see?’

‘no. it was too far away,’ said lucy-ann. ‘it might have been a parachute – or a puff of smoke– i don’t know. but it did look as if something was falling slowly from the plane. why do youlook so serious, bill?’

‘because – i’ve a feeling there’s something – well, just a bit strange about these planes,’ saidbill. ‘i think i’ll pop down to the motor-boat and send a message through on the radio. maybe it’snothing at all – but it just might be important!’