But Jo-Jo seemed to spoil everything, with his scowls and continual interference. He always seemed to appear wherever the children were. If they bathed, his black face appeared round the rocks. If they fished, he came scowling out on the rocks and told them they were wasting their time.
Oh, leave us alone, Jo-Jo, said Philip impatiently. You act as if you were our keeper! For goodness’ sake go and get on with your own work, and leave us to do what we want to do. We’re not doing any harm.
Miss Polly said to me to keep an eye on you all, said Jo-Jo sulkily. She said to me not to let you get into danger, see.
No, I don’t see, said Philip crossly. All I can see is that you keep on popping up wherever we are and spoiling things for us. Don’t keep prying on us. We don’t like it.
Lucy-Ann giggled. She thought it was brave of Philip to talk to the big black man like that. He certainly was a nuisance. What fun they would have had if he had been jolly and good-tempered! They could have gone fishing and sailing in his boat. They could have fished properly with him. They could have gone out in the car and picnicked.
But all because he’s so daft and bad-tempered we can’t do any of those things, said Lucy-Ann. Why, we might even have tried to sail out to the Isle of Gloom to see if there were many birds there, as Jack so badly wants to do, if only Jo-Jo had been nice.
Well, he’s not nice, and we’ll never go to Gloom, and if we did get there, I bet there wouldn’t be any birds on such a desolate place, said Philip. Come on let’s explore that big cave we found yesterday.
It really was fun exploring the caves on the shore. Some of them ran very far back into the cliff. Others had queer holes in their roofs, that led to upper caves. Philip said that in olden times men had used the caves for hiding in, or for storing smuggled goods. But there was nothing to be seen in them now except seaweed and empty shells.
I wish we had a good torch, said Jack, as his candle was blown out for the sixth time that morning. I shall soon have no candles left. If only there was a shop round the corner where we could slip along and buy a torch! I asked Jo-Jo yesterday to get me one when he went shopping in the car, but he wouldn’t.
Oooh here’s a most enormous starfish! said Philip, holding his candle down to the floor of the damp cave. Do look it’s a giant one, I’m sure.
Dinah gave a shriek. She hated creepy-crawly things as much as Philip liked them. Don’t touch it. And don’t bring it near me.
But Philip was a tease, and he picked up the great starfish, with its five long fingers, and walked over to Dinah with it. She flew into a furious rage.
You beast! I told you not to bring it near me. I’ll kill it if you do.
You can’t kill starfish, said Philip. If you cut one in half it grows new fingers, and, hey presto, it is two starfishes instead of one. So there! Have a look at it, Dinah smell it feel it.
Philip pushed the great clammy thing near to his sister’s face. Really alarmed, Dinah hit out, and gave Philip such a push that he reeled, overbalanced and fell headlong to the floor of the cave. His candle went out. There was a shout from Philip, then a curious slithering noise and silence.
Hi, Tufty! Are you all right? called Jack, and held his candle high. To his enormous astonishment, Philip had completely disappeared. There was the starfish on the seaweedy ground but no Philip was beside it.
The three children stared in the greatest amazement at the clumps of seaweed hanging from the walls of the cave, spreading over the ground. Wherever had Philip gone?
Dinah was scared. She had certainly meant to give Philip a hard blow but she hadn’t meant him to disappear off the face of the earth. She gave a yell.
Philip! Are you hiding? Come out, idiot!
A muffled voice came from somewhere. Hi! where am I?
That’s Tufty’s voice, said Jack. But where is he? He’s nowhere in this cave.
The children put their three candles together and looked round the small, low-roofed, seaweedy cave. It smelt very dank and musty. Philip’s voice came again from somewhere, sounding rather frightened.
I say! Where am I?
Jack advanced cautiously over the slippery seaweed to where Philip had fallen when Dinah had struck him. Then suddenly he seemed to lose his footing, and, to the surprise of the watching girls, he too disappeared, seeming to sink down into the floor of the seaweedy cave.
By the wavering light of their two candles the girls tried to see what had happened to Jack. Then they saw the explanation of the mystery. The fronds of seaweed hid an opening in the floor of the cave, and when the boys had put their weight on to the seaweed covering the hole, they had slipped between the fronds down into some cave below. How queer!
That’s where they went, said Dinah, pointing to a dark space between the seaweed covering that part of the floor. I hope they haven’t broken their legs. How ever shall we get them out?
Jack had fallen on top of poor Philip, almost squashing him. Kiki, left behind in the cave above, let out an ear-piercing screech. She hated these dark caves, but always came with Jack. Now he had suddenly gone, and the parrot was alarmed.
Shut up, Kiki, said Dinah, jumping in fright at the screech. Look, Lucy-Ann, there’s a hole in the cave floor there, just between that thick seaweed. Walk carefully, or you’ll disappear too. Hold up my candle as well as your own and I’ll see if I can make out exactly what has happened.
What had happened was really very simple. First Philip had gone down the hole into a cave below, and then Jack had fallen on top of him. Philip was feeling frightened and bruised. He clutched Jack and wouldn’t let go.
What’s happened? he said.
Hole in the cave floor, said Jack, putting out his hands and feeling round to see how big the cave was they had fallen into. He touched rocky walls on each side of him at once. I say this is a mighty small cave. Hi, girls, put the candles over the hole so that we can see something.
A lighted candle now appeared above the boys and they were able to see a little.
We’re not in a cave. We’re in a passage, said Jack, astonished. At least, we’re at the beginning of a passage. I wonder where it goes to … right into the cliffs, I suppose.
Hand us down a candle, called Philip, feeling better now. Oh, goodness here’s Kiki.
Can’t you shut the door? said Kiki, in a sharp voice, sitting hard on Jack’s shoulder, glad to be with her master again. She began to whistle, and then told herself not to.
Shut up, Kiki, said Jack. Look, Philip there really is a passage leading up there awfully dark and narrow. And what a smell there is! Dinah, pass that candle down quickly, do!
Dinah at last managed to hand down a lighted candle. She lay flat on the seaweedy cave floor, and just managed to pass the candle down through the hole. Jack held it up. The dark passage looked mysterious and queer.
What about exploring it? said Philip, feeling excited. It looks as if it ought to go below Craggy-Tops itself. It’s a secret passage.
More likely a short crack in the cliff rocks that leads nowhere at all, said Jack. Kiki, don’t peck my ear so hard. We’ll go into the open air soon. Hi, you girls! We think we’ll go up this funny passage. Are you coming?
No, thanks, said Lucy-Ann at once, who didn’t at all like the sound of a seaweedy passage that ran, dark and narrow, through the cliffs. We’ll stay here till you come back. Don’t be long. We’ve only got one candle now. Have you some matches in case your candle goes out?
Yes, said Jack, feeling in his pocket. Well, goodbye for the present. Don’t fall down the hole.
The boys left the dark hole under which they stood and began to make their way up the damp passage. The girls could no longer hear their voices or footsteps. They waited patiently in the cave above, lighted by one flickering candle. It was cold and they shivered, glad of their warm jerseys.
The boys were a very long time. The two girls became impatient and then alarmed. What could have happened to them? They peered down the hole between the great fronds of seaweed and listened. Not a sound could be heard.