chapter 12 a hiding place at two-trees

nobody particularly liked the place. they all stared round and julian pointed silently to something.

at each end of the house was the great burnt trunk of a big tree.

'those must be the two trees that gave the place its name,' said julian. 'how horrid they look now, sostiff and black. two-trees and gloomy water - all so lonely and desolate now.'

the sun disappeared and a little chill came on the air. julian suddenly became very busy. 'come on -we must see if there's anywhere to shelter at all in this old ruin!'

they went to the silent house. the upper floors were all burnt out. the ground floor was pretty badtoo, but julian thought it might be possible to find a sheltered corner.

'this might do,' he said, coming out of a blackened room and beckoning the others to him. 'there iseven a mouldy carpet still on the floor! and there's a big table. we could sleep under it if it rained -which i don't think it will do!'

'what a horrid room!' said anne, looking round. 'i don't like its smell, either. i don't want to sleephere.'

'well, find somewhere else then, but be quick about it,' said julian. 'it will soon be dark. i'm going tocollect heather and bracken straight away, before it's too dark. coming, dick and george?'

the three of them went off and came back with vast armfuls of heather and brown bracken. anne metthem, looking excited.

'i've found somewhere. somewhere much better than this horrid room. come and look.'

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she took them to what once had been the kitchen. a door lay flat on the floor at the end of the room,and a stone stairway led downwards.

'that leads down to the cellars,' said anne. 'i came in here and saw that door. it was locked and icouldn't open it. well, i tugged and tugged and the whole door came off its rusty old hinges andtumbled down almost on top of me! and i saw there were cellars down there!'

she stared at julian beseechingly. 'they'll be dry. they won't be burnt and black like everywhereelse. we'll be well-sheltered. can't we sleep down there? i don't like the feel of these horrid burntrooms.'

'it's an idea,' said julian. he switched on his torch and let the beam light up the cellar below. itseemed spacious and smelt all right.

he went down the steps, timmy just in front. he called up in surprise.

'there's a proper room down here, as well as cellars all round. maybe it was a kind of sitting-roomfor the staff. it's wired for electricity too - they must have had their own electricity generator. yes -we'll certainly come down here.'

it was a queer little room. moth-eaten carpets were on the floor, and the furnishings were moth-eatentoo and covered with dust. spiders had been at work and george slashed fiercely at the long cobwebsthat hung down and startled her by touching her face.

'there are still candles in the candle-sticks on this shelf!' said dick, surprised. 'we can light them andhave a bit of brightness when it's dark. this isn't bad at all. i must say i agree with anne.

there's something hateful about those burnt-out rooms.'

they piled heather and bracken into the cellar room on the floor. the furniture was so old and moth-eaten that it gave beneath their weight, and was useless for sitting on. the table was all right though.

they soon set out their food on it after george had wiped it free of dust. she caused them all to havefits of choking because she was so vigorous in her dusting! they were driven up into the kitchen tillthe dust had settled.

it was dark outside now. the moon was not yet up. the wind rustled the dry leaves left on the treesaround, but there was no lap-lap of water. the lake was as still as glass.

there was a cupboard in the cellar room. julian opened it to see what was there. 'more candles -good!' he said, bringing out a bundle. 'and plates and cups. did anyone see a well outside? if so wecould dilute some orangeade and have a drink with our supper.'

no one had noticed a well - but anne suddenly remembered something queer she had seen in a 49corner of the kitchen, near the sink.

'i believe i saw a pump up there!' she said. 'go and see, ju. if so, it might still work.'

he went up the cellar-steps with a candle. yes - anne was right. that was an old pump over there inthe corner. it probably pumped water into a tank and came out of the kitchen taps.

he turned on a big tap which was over the large sink. then he took the handle of the pump andworked it vigorously up and down. splash! splash! water came flooding through the big tap andsplashed into the sink! that was good.

julian pumped and pumped, feeling that he had better get rid of any water running into the tank forthe first time for years. the tank might be dirty or rusty - he must wash it round with a good deal ofpumped water first.

the water seemed to be clean and clear, and was certainly as cold as ice! julian held a cup from thecellar cupboard under the tap, and then tasted the water. it was delicious.

'good for you, anne!' he called, going down the cellar-steps with a cupful of water. 'dick, you findsome more cups - or a jug or something in that cupboard, and we'll wash them out and fill them withwater for our orangeade.'

the cellar room looked very cheerful as julian came down the steps. george and anne had lightedsix more candles, and stuck them about here and there. the light they gave was very pleasant, andthey also warmed the room a little.

'well, i suppose as usual, everyone wants a meal?' said julian. 'good thing we bought that bread andpotted meat and stuff. i can't say i'm as hungry as i was at breakfast, but i'm getting that way.'

the four squatted round on their beds of heather and bracken. they had put down their groundsheetsfirst in case the floor was damp, though it didn't seem to be. over bread and butter and potted meatthey discussed their plans. they would sleep there for the night and then have all the next day toexamine two-trees and the lake.

'what exactly are we looking for?' asked anne. 'do you suppose there's some secret here, julian?'

'yes,' said julian. 'and i think i know what it is!'

'what?' asked george and anne, surprised. dick thought he knew. julian explained.

'well, we know that a prisoner called nailer sent an important message by his escaped friend to twopeople - one he wanted to send to dirty dick - but he didn't get it - and the other to maggie, 50whoever she is. now what secret does he want to tell them?'

'i think i can guess,' said dick. 'but go on.'

'now suppose that nailer has done some big robberies,' said julian. 'i don't know what. jewelleryrobberies probably, because they are the commonest with big criminals. all right - he does a bigrobbery - he hides the stuff till he hopes the hue and cry will be over - but he's caught and put intoprison for a number of years. but he doesn't tell where the stuff is hidden! he daren't even write aletter to tell his friends outside the prison where it is. all his letters are read before they leave theprison. so what is he to do?'

'wait till someone escapes and then give him a message,' said dick. 'and that's just what happened,isn't it, julian? that round-headed man i saw was the escaped prisoner, and he was sent to tell dirtydick and maggie where the stolen goods were hidden - so that they could get them before anyoneelse did!'

'yes. i'm sure that's it,' said julian. 'his friend, the escaped prisoner, probably wouldn't understand themessage at all - but dirty dick and maggie would, because they knew all about the robbery. andnow maggie will certainly try to find out where the stuff is.'

'well, we must find it first!' said george, her eyes gleaming with excitement. 'we're here first,anyway. and tomorrow, as early as possible we'll begin to snoop round. what was the next clue inthe message, dick? after two-trees and gloomy water.'

'saucy jane,' said dick.

'sounds a silly sort of clue,' said anne. 'do you suppose maggie and jane are both in the secret?'

'saucy jane sounds more like a boat to me,' said dick.

'of course!' said george. 'a boat! why not? there's a lake here, and i imagine that people don't builda house beside a lake unless they want to go boating and bathing and fishing. i bet we shall find aboat called saucy jane tomorrow - and the stolen goods will be inside it.'

'too easy!' said dick. 'and not a very clever place either. anyone could come across goods hidden ina boat. no - saucy jane is a clue, but we shan't find the stolen goods in her. and remember, there'sthat bit of paper as well it must have something to do with the hiding-place too, i should think.'

'where is it?' asked julian. 'that wretched policeman! he tore it up. have you still got the pieces,dick?'

'of course,' said dick. he fished in his pocket and brought them out. 'four little pieces! anyone 51got some gummed paper?'

nobody had - but george produced a small roll of elastoplast. strips were cut and stuck behind thefour portions of paper. now it was whole again. they all examined it carefully.

'look - four lines drawn, meeting in the centre,' said julian. 'at the outer end of each line there's aword, so faintly written i can hardly read one of them. what's this one? ''tock hill.'' and this nextone is ''steeple''. whatever are the others?'

they made them out at last. ' ''chimney'',' said anne. 'that's the third.'

'and ''tall stone'' is the fourth,' said george. 'whatever do they all mean? we shall never, never findout!'

'we'll sleep on it,' said julian, cheerfully. 'it's wonderful what good ideas come in the night. it will bea very interesting little problem to solve tomorrow!'