chapter 2 finniston farm

the four children, with timmy trotting beside them, walked down the hot, dusty village street untilthey came to the end, and then saw the lane turning off to the right, just as the little girl had told them.

'wait a minute,' said anne, stopping at a curious little shop at the end of the village street. 'look- here's a queer shop - it sells antiques. look at those old horse-brasses - i'd like to get one or two ofthose. and just see those lovely old prints!'

'oh no - not now, anne,' said julian, with a groan. 'this awful sudden craze of yours for second-handshops has been going on too long! horse-brasses! you've got stacks of them already! if you thinkwe're going to go into that dark, smelly little shop and...'

'oh, i'm not going in now,' said anne, hurriedly. 'but it does look rather exciting. i'll come by myselfsometime and prowl round.' she glanced at the name on the shop front. 'william finniston - howfunny to have the same name as the village! i wonder if...'

'oh, come on, anne,' said george impatiently, and timmy tugged at her skirt. anne gave onebackward glance at the fascinating little shop-window, and hurried after the others, making up hermind to slip down to the shop one day when she was alone.

they all went up the little winding lane, where red poppy-heads jigged about in the breeze, and aftera while they came in sight of the farm-house. it was a big one, three storey's high, with 6whitewashed walls, and the rather small windows belonging to the age in which it was built. old-fashioned red and white roses rambled over the porch, and the old wooden door stood wide open.

the five stood on the scrubbed stone entrance, looking into the dim hall. an old wooden chest stoodthere, and a carved chair. a rather threadbare rug lay on the stone floor, and a grandfather clockticked slowly and loudly.

somewhere a dog barked, and timmy at once barked back. 'woof, woof!'

'be quiet, timmy,' said george sharply, afraid that a horde of farm-dogs might come rushing out.

she looked for a bell or a knocker, but couldn't see either. then dick spotted a beautiful wrought-ironhandle hanging down from the roof of the porch. could it be a bell?

he pulled it, and at once a bell jangled very loudly somewhere in the depths of the farm-house,making them all jump. they stood in silence, waiting for someone to come. then they heardfootsteps and two children came up the hallway.

they were exactly alike! the most twinny twins i've ever seen! thought anne, in amazement.

julian smiled his friendliest smile. 'good afternoon - we're the kirrins - i - er i hope you're expectingus.'

the twins stared at him without a smile. they nodded together. 'come this way,' they both said, andmarched back down the hall. the four stared at one another in surprise.

'why so stiff and haughty' whispered dick, putting on a face exactly like the twins. anne giggled.

they all followed the twins, who were dressed exactly alike in navy shorts and navy shirts. theywent right down the long hall, passed a stairway, round a dark corner, and into an enormous kitchen,which was obviously used as a sitting-room as well.

'the kirrins, mother!' said the twins, together, and at once disappeared through another door,shoulder to shoulder. the children found themselves facing a pleasant-looking woman, standing by atable, her hands white with flour. she smiled, and then gave a little laugh.

'oh, my dears! i didn't expect you quite so soon! do forgive my not being able to shake hands withyou - but i was just making scones for your tea. i'm so pleased to see you. did you have a goodjourney here?'

it was nice to hear her welcoming voice and see her wide smile. the five warmed to her at once.

julian put down the suitcase he was carrying and looked round the room.

'what a lovely old place!' he said. 'you carry on with your scone-making, mrs. philpot - we'll lookafter ourselves. just tell us where to go. it's nice of you to have us.'

7'i'm glad to,' said mrs. philpot. 'i expect your aunt told you the farm's not doing too well, and shekindly said she'd send you here for two weeks. i've some other boarders too - an american and hisson - so i'm pretty busy.'

'well, you don't need to bother too much about us,' said dick. 'in fact, we'll camp out under ahaystack, if you like - or in a barn. we're used to roughing it!'

'well - that might be a help,' said mrs. philpot, going on with her mixing. 'i've a bedroom that woulddo for the girls all right - but i'm afraid you boys would have to share one with the american boy -and - er - well, you mightn't like him.'

'oh, i expect we'll get on all right,' said julian. 'but my brother and i would certainly prefer to be byourselves, mrs. philpot. what about putting up camp-beds or something in a barn? we'd love that!'

anne looked at mrs. philpot's kind, tired face, and felt suddenly sorry for her. how awful to have tohave your home invaded by strangers, whether you liked them or not! she went over to her.

'you tell georgina and me anything you'd like us to do to help,' she said. 'you know - making thebeds, and dusting and things like that. we're used to doing things at home, and...'

'i'm going to enjoy having you!' said mrs. philpot, looking round at them all. 'and you won't need tohelp very much. the twins do a great deal - too much, i think, bless them - because they help on thefarm too. now, you go up the stairs to the very top of the house, and you'll see two bedrooms, one oneach side of the landing - the left-hand one is yours, girls - the other is where the american boy issleeping. and as for you two boys, you can slip out to the barn, and see if you'd like a couple ofcamp-beds there. i'll get the twins to take you.'

the twins came back at this minute, and stood silently shoulder to shoulder, as alike as peas.

george looked at them.

'what's your name?' she said to one twin.

'harry!' was the answer. she turned to the other. 'and what's yours?'

'harry!'

'but surely you don't both have the same name?' exclaimed george.

'well, you see,' explained their mother, 'we called the boy henry, and he became harry, of course -and we called the girl harriet, and she calls herself harry for short - so they're known as the harries.'

'i thought they were both boys!' said dick in amazement. 'i wouldn't know which is which!'

8'well, they felt they have to be alike,' said mrs. philpot, 'and as harry can't have long hair like a girl,harriet has to have short hair to be like harry! i often don't know one from the other myself.'

dick grinned. 'funny how some girls want to be boys!' he said, with a sly glance at george, who gavehim a furious look.

'twins, show the kirrins up to the top bedroom,' said mrs. philpot, 'and then take the boys out to thebig barn. they can have the old camp-beds, if they like the look of the barn.'

'we sleep out there,' said the harries, both together, and scowled just like george.

'well, you shouldn't,' said their mother. 'i told you to take your mattresses to the little room off thedairy.'

'it's too stuffy,' said the twins.

'i say, look here - we don't want to cause trouble,' said julian, feeling that the twins were toounfriendly for words. 'can't we sleep in the room off the dairy?'

'certainly not,' said mrs. philpot, and sent the harries a warning glance. 'there's room for you all inthe big barn. go on, now, twins, do as i tell you, take the four up to the top bedroom, with the cases,and then out to the barn.'

the twins went to pick up the suitcases, still looking mutinous. dick interposed himself betweenthem and the cases. 'we'll carry them,' he said stiffly. 'we don't want to be any more trouble to youthan we can help.'

and he and julian picked up a suitcase each, and set off after the harries, who looked suddenlysurprised. george followed with timmy, more amused than cross. anne went to pick up a spoon thatmrs. philpot had dropped.

'thank you, dear,' said mrs. philpot. 'look - don't get upset by the twins. they're a funny pair -but good at heart. they just don't like strangers in their home, that's all. promise you won't mindthem? i do want you to be happy here.'

anne looked at the kindly, tired face of the woman beside her, and smiled. 'we'll promise not toworry about the twins - if you'll promise not to worry about us!' she said. 'we can look afterourselves, you know - honestly, we're used to it. and please do tell us when you want anything done!'

she went out of the room and up the stairs. the others were already in one of the two bedrooms at thetop of the house. it was a fairly big room, whitewashed, with rather a small window and 9boarded floors. julian looked at the boards he was standing on. 'i say! look at the wood this floor'smade of - solid old oak, worn white with the years! my word - this farm-house must be very old. andlook at the beams running across the walls and into the roof. hey, twins, this is a fine old house ofyours!'

the twins unbent enough to nod in time together. 'seems as if you two go by clockwork - you speakthe same words at the same time, you walk in time, you nod your heads in time!' said dick. 'but, i say- do you ever smile?'

the twins looked at him with dislike. anne nudged dick. 'stop it, dick! don't tease them.

perhaps they'd show you the barn now. we'll unpack some clean things we've brought for you in ourcase, and come down with them when we're ready.'

'right,' said dick, and he and julian went out of the room. opposite, with its door open, was the otherroom, where the american boy slept. it was so very untidy that dick couldn't help exclaiming, 'gosh- how does he get his room into all that mess?'

he and julian went down the stairs, and dick turned back to see if the harries were following.

he saw them standing at the top, each shaking a furious fist at the door of the american boy's room.

and what a furious look on their faces, too!

whew! thought dick. the harries have got some sort of hate on there - let's hope they don't get onefor us, too. 'well - now for the barn,' he said aloud. 'don't go so fast, ju. wait for the twins -they're just falling over themselves to look after us!'