12

capture!

philip made his way to the back door of the cottage, but just as he was about to go in, he stopped.

what noise was that? it sounded like someone going to the front door – someone tiptoeing up thepath, surely?

the boy hesitated. could it be someone after gussy? he’d better warn bill then – go in andwake him. he tiptoed quietly through the back door, into the hall and up the stairs. he stopped atthe top and looked back, hearing a small sound.

the front door was opening quietly, but with the little creak it always gave. then a torch wasflashed on and off very quickly. yes – somebody was getting in.

philip yelled at the top of his voice. ‘bill! bill ! bill ! wake up, bill. there’s someone getting in.’

he was standing just outside the girls’ door as he yelled, and they woke up at once. gracious! –who was shouting like that?

‘someone’s getting in. quick, bill, quick!’ shouted philip again, wondering why there was noanswering shout from bill’s room nearby.

the girls’ door opened and dinah looked out, scared. ‘what is it? who is it? where’s bill?’

‘keep where you are,’ said a voice suddenly, and a torch was flashed on to the three of them,for lucy-ann had now appeared, trembling.

philip pushed the girls violently, and they almost fell into their bedroom. then he rushed intobill’s room, yelling again. ‘ bill ! do wake up!’

the moonlight showed him a completely empty bed – a bed not even slept in! then where wasbill? and his mother – where was she? philip was astounded.

gussy was now awake, up in the attic bedroom. he sat up, bewildered. what was all thisshouting? he suddenly noticed that jack and philip were not in their beds, and he leapt out of his,afraid.

downstairs, in bill’s bedroom, philip was still yelling. bill must be somewhere about – butwhere? ‘bill! i say, bill !

a torch flashed into the room, and two figures loomed up by the door.

‘you won’t find bill,’ said a voice. ‘or his wife either. we’ve got them. and now we want theprince aloysius. we do not intend to harm him in any way – but he must come with us. hiscountry needs him.’

‘what have you done with my mother?’ demanded philip, fiercely. ‘i’ll get the police! what doyou think you’re doing, capturing people, and coming after the prince! you can’t do that kind ofthing in britain!’

‘oh yes, we can,’ said the foreign voice, smoothly, and the man stepped into the moonlight.

philip saw that it was the man who had come with the woman that afternoon. behind him wereother people – how many? philip wished that jack was with him. one boy wasn’t much against allthese people. he didn’t count gussy as a boy!

one of the men behind called out something in a language that philip didn’t understand, andreceived a sharp order in return. there was the sound of feet on the stairs leading up to the atticbedroom. they were after gussy, who had done quite the wrong thing, and had appeared at the topin the bright moonlight! he had been seen at once, of course.

gussy fled into the bedroom, slammed the door and locked it. he leaned against it, trembling.

then he ran to the window. could he get out?

no. gussy was no climber, and although jack and philip would certainly have had a shot atclambering down the creeper, gussy was afraid he might fall.

‘unlock this door!’ cried a voice, but gussy did not obey. then two of the men flungthemselves against it, and it broke down easily. they clambered over the broken panels and wentto gussy. he screamed.

one of the men bowed to him. ‘your highness, we have not come to harm you. we have cometo take you back to tauri-hessia to be crowned king in the place of your uncle. he is not liked,your uncle. the people want you instead.’

‘it’s a lie!’ shouted gussy, trembling. ‘i’ve been told all about it. my uncle is too strong a rulerfor you, and you want a boy instead who will do as he is told. i will not come!’

all this was said in his own language, so that the girls, listening fearfully in their room below,did not understand a word. philip pushed by the men at the door of bill’s room and ran up togussy.

‘look here,’ he said fiercely to the two men there. ‘you know that the british government andyour own government won’t let you make gussy king. you’ll get into trouble with ourgovernment, you know. you’ll be clapped into prison either here or in your own country.’

the men, joined by the other two below, had a quick conference. philip didn’t understand aword. then the tall man with the eyeglass bowed slightly to philip.

‘you too will come with us,’ he said, ‘and the other children as well. you will – er – becompanions for our little prince – and we do not think your government will be too angry whenthey know we hold you also!’

‘oh! so you think you’ll take us and make us a kind of hostage, do you?’ said philip, quitebeside himself with rage. ‘you think you can bargain with our government just because you’llhold us prisoners! my word, you don’t know the british people. you’ll be sorry for this! holdingus to ransom! i never heard such a fatheaded idea in my life. you aren’t living in the middle ages,you know!’

the man heard him out to the end, quite politely. then he made a motion with his hand, andtwo of the men pounced on philip and gussy and held them in such a vice-like grip that it wasquite hopeless to get away.

‘run, you two – run!’ yelled philip at the top of his voice, hoping that dinah and lucy-annwould have the sense to rush into the woods and get away. but although they did manage to teardownstairs, they found a man in the hall, and he was quite able to hold the two kicking, yellinggirls until yet another fellow came to his help.

sharp orders were given by the man with the eyeglass, who seemed to be in command. oneman detached himself and went upstairs. he came down with an assortment of clothes for the girlsand gussy, who was, of course, still in his beautiful silk pyjamas. the girls were in pyjamas anddressing gowns, but had no slippers on. the man was sent back to fetch shoes.

‘where’s bill?’ said lucy-ann, with chattering teeth. ‘i want bill. what have they done withhim? and where’s aunt allie?’

‘don’t be frightened,’ said the man with the eyeglass, patting her. ‘we shall treat you verykindly. we shall not hurt you. it will be nice for the little prince aloysius to have his friends withhim. you will have a fine time in tauri-hessia.’

lucy-ann suddenly realized that jack was missing. she looked round wildly for him. ‘where’sjack? what have you done with jack?’

‘ah, yes – there was another boy. i remember now,’ said the chief man. ‘where is he?’

‘out bird-watching,’ said philip, sullenly. his only hope now was that jack would see and hearthis disturbance and go to fetch help before they were all whisked away. he had given upstruggling. what was the use? he would only get hurt, and he could see that if the girls were goingto be captured, he certainly must go with them to look after them as best he could.

‘bird-watching! at this time of night!’ said the man. ‘what strange habits you britishers have!

we will not wait for this boy jack. we do not need him.’

they opened the front door again, and pushed the four children out in front of them, holdingtheir arms tightly.

‘it is of no use to scream,’ said the chief, still very politely.

‘there is no one to hear you – and we should gag you if you did scream.’

‘philip – what shall we do?’ asked dinah, scarlet with rage at being captured like this.

‘nothing,’ said philip. ‘just – er – hope for the best.’

dinah guessed what he meant. perhaps even at this very minute jack was bringing help!

lucy-ann stumbled along miserably in her dressing gown. she had been allowed to put on hershoes, and so had the others. she was worried about bill and her aunt, and very very worried aboutjack. would she be taken off to tauri-hessia and have to leave jack for months and months?

where was jack?

jack was down in the quarry with kiki. he had found plenty of owls hooting and screechingthere, for, as the old farm hand had said, it was a wonderful hunting place for owls of all kinds.

kiki had been having the time of her life. she had hooted and screeched and twitted, and hadbrought a crowd of owls almost down to jack’s shoulders. one owl, a barn owl, had screecheddeafeningly in his ear, and had struck him with a wing.

jack decided that he was too easily seen where he stood. he must get under a bush somewhere,or else the next owl might scratch his face with a sharp talon or two!

he moved to the other side of the quarry and made his way to a big hedge there. as he drewnear, the moonlight glinted on something under the hedge. something that shone brightly. jackstopped. what could it be?

he went cautiously forward, and saw that something dark and long and very big was under thetall hedge, as close to it as possible. the moonlight caught its polished surface here and there.

‘gosh! it’s a car!’ said jack, in the greatest astonishment. ‘a car exactly like the one the couplehave at the farm – it must be the same one. what’s it doing here?’

he went over to it. it was empty. nobody was in it at all. the key had been taken out so that itcould not be driven away.

‘has somebody parked it here to go and spy round quarry cottage?’ wondered jack. he went tothe back of the car. it had an enormous luggage boot. jack opened it and peered inside. it wasempty except for an extra inner tube and a few tools.

kiki hooted again, and an owl answered her. ‘be quiet now, kiki,’ said jack. ‘we’ve got to do abit of spying. we’ll creep back to quarry cottage and see if there’s anyone snooping round there.’

but before he could do that, he heard the sound of footsteps coming into the quarry, and hedived into some bushes.

the footsteps made quite a lot of noise, because there were eight people coming into thedeserted quarry, where the car had been parked. jack peered out of his bush and saw, to his greatalarm, that philip, dinah, lucy-ann and gussy were all being held very firmly indeed! he stared,bewildered, unable to think what to do.

kiki suddenly screeched – but it was not an owl screech, it was a real parrot screech – andphilip recognized it at once. it was kiki! then jack must be somewhere in the quarry still!

he gave a shout. ‘they’re taking us away! tell bill!’

the man holding him gave him a shove. ‘you were told not to shout! what’s the use ofshouting here? there’s no one to hear you!’

but there was, of course. there was jack. but what was jack to do ?