“Sorry for kicking you, Anne,” said Julian. “My foot sort of slipped.”
“So did mine,” said Dick. “Yes, Aunt Fanny, it was a magnificent sight on the island. The waves raced up that little inlet, and we had to take our boat almost up to the top of the low cliff there.”
“I wasn’t really afraid of the storm,” said Anne. “In fact, I wasn’t really as afraid of it as Ti …”
Everyone knew perfectly well that Anne was going to mention Timothy, and they all interrupted her at once, speaking very loudly. Julian managed to get a kick in again.
“Oooh!” said Anne.
“The rabbits were so tame,” said Julian, loudly.
“We watched the cormorants,” said Dick, and George joined in too, talking at the same time.
“The jackdaws made such a noise, they said ‘Chack, chack, chack,’ all the time.”
“Well, really, you sound like jackdaws yourselves, talking all at once like this!” said Aunt Fanny, with a laugh. “Now, have you all finished? Very well, then, go and wash your sticky hands-yes, George, I know they’re sticky, because I made that gingerbread, and you’ve had three slices! Then you had better go and play quietly in the other room, because it’s raining, and you can’t go out. But don’t disturb your father, George. He’s very busy.”
The children went to wash. “Idiot!” said Julian to Anne. “Nearly gave us away twice!”
“I didn’t mean what you thought I meant the first time!” began Anne indignantly.
George interrupted her.
“I’d rather you gave the secret of the wreck away than my secret about Tim,” she said. “I do think you’ve got a careless tongue.”
“Yes, I have,” said Anne, sorrowfully. “I think I’d better not talk at meal-times any more. I love Tim so much I just can’t seem to help wanting to talk about him.”
They all went to play in the other room. Julian turned a table upside down with a crash. “We’ll play at wrecks,” he said. “This is the wreck. Now we’re going to explore it.”
The door flew open and an angry, frowning face looked in. It was George’s father!
“What was that noise?” he said. “George! Did you overturn that table?”
“I did,” said Julian. “I’m sorry, sir. I quite forgot you were working.”
“Any more noise like that and I shall keep you all in bed tomorrow!” said his Uncle Quentin. “Georgina, keep your cousins quiet.”
The door shut and Uncle Quentin went out. The children looked at one another.
“Your father’s awfully fierce, isn’t he?” said Julian. “I’m sorry I made that row. I didn’t think.”
“We’d better do something really quiet,” said George. “Or he’ll keep his word-and we’ll find ourselves in bed tomorrow just when we want to explore the wreck.”
This was a terrible thought. Anne went to get one of her dolls to play with. She had managed to bring quite a number after all. Julian fetched a book. George took up a beautiful little boat she was carving out of a piece of wood. Dick lay back on a chair and thought of the exciting wreck. The rain poured down steadily, and everyone hoped it would have stopped by the morning.
“We’ll have to be up most awfully early,” said Dick, yawning. “What about going to bed in good time tonight? I’m tired with all that rowing.”
In the ordinary way none of the children liked going to bed early-but with such an exciting thing to look forward to, early-bed seemed different that night.
“It will make the time go quickly,” said Anne, putting down her doll. “Shall we go now?”
“Whatever do you suppose Mother would say if we went just after tea?” said George. “She’d think we were all ill. No, let’s go after supper. We’ll just say we’re tired with rowing-which is perfectly true-and we’ll get a good night’s sleep, and be ready for our adventure tomorrow morning. And it is an adventure, you know. It isn’t many people that have the chance of exploring an old, old wreck like that, which has always been at the bottom of the sea!”
So, by eight o’clock, all the children were in bed, rather to Aunt Fanny’s surprise. Anne fell asleep at once. Julian and Dick were not long-but George lay awake for some time, thinking of her island, her wreck-and, of course, her beloved dog!
“I must take Tim too,” she thought, as she fell asleep. “We can’t leave old Tim out of this. He shall share in the adventure too!
Chapter Eight
EXPLORING THE WRECK
JULIAN woke first the next morning. He awoke just as the sun was slipping over the horizon in the east, and filling the sky with gold. Julian stared at the ceiling for a moment, and then, in a rush, he remembered all that had happened the day before. He sat up straight in bed and whispered as loudly as he could.
“Dick! Wake up! We’re going to see the wreck! Do wake up!”
Dick woke and grinned at Julian. A feeling of happiness crept over him. They were going on an adventure. He leapt out of bed and ran quietly to the girls’ room. He opened the door. Both the girls were fast asleep, Anne curled up like a dormouse under the sheet.
Dick shook George and then dug Anne in the back. They awoke and sat up. “Buck up!” whispered Dick. “The sun is just rising. We’ll have to hurry.”
George’s blue eyes shone as she dressed. Anne skipped about quietly, finding her few clothes-just a bathing suit, jeans and jersey-and rubber shoes for her feet. It wasn’t many minutes before they were all ready.
“Now, not a creak on the stairs-not a cough or a giggle!” warned Julian, as they stood together on the landing. Anne was a dreadful giggler, and had often given secret plans away by her sudden explosive choke. But this time the little girl was as solemn as the others, and as careful. They crept down the stairs and undid the little front door. Not a sound was made. They shut the door quietly and made their way down the garden path to the gate. The gate always creaked, so they climbed over it instead of opening it.
The sun was now shining brightly, though it was still low in the eastern sky. It felt warm already. The sky was so beautifully blue that Anne couldn’t help feeling it had been freshly washed! “It looks just as if it had come back from the laundry,” she told the others.
They squealed with laughter at her. She did say odd things at times. But they knew what she meant. The day had a lovely new feeling about itthe clouds were so pink in the bright blue sky, and the sea looked so smooth and fresh. It was impossible to imagine that it had been so rough the day before.
George got her boat. Then she went to get Tim, while the boys hauled the boat down to the sea. Alf, the fisher-boy, was surprised to see George so early. He was about to go with his father, fishing. He grinned at George.
“You going fishing, too?” he said to her. “My, wasn’t that a storm yesterday! I thought you’d be caught in it.”
“We were,” said George. “Come on, Tim! Come on!”
Tim was very pleased to see George so early. He capered round her as she ran back to the others, almost tripping her up as she went. He leapt into the boat as soon as he saw it, and stood at the stern, his red tongue out, his tail wagging violently.
“I wonder his tail keeps on,” said Anne, looking at it. “One day, Timothy, you’ll wag it right off.”
They set off to the island. It was easy to row now, because the sea was so calm. They came to the island, and rowed around it to the other side.
And there was the wreck, piled high on some sharp rocks! It had settled down now and did not stir as waves slid under it. It lay a little to one side, and the broken mast, now shorter than before, stuck out at an angle.
“There she is,” said Julian, in excitement. “Poor old wreck! I guess she’s a bit more battered now. What a noise she made when she went crashing on to those rocks yesterday!”
“How do we get to her?” asked Anne, looking at the mass of ugly, sharp rocks all around. But George was not at all dismayed. She knew almost every inch of the coast around her little island. She pulled steadily at the oars and soon came near to the rocks in which the great wreck rested.
The children looked at the wreck from their boat. It was big, much bigger than they had imagined when they had peered at it from the top of the water. It was encrusted with shellfish of some kind, and strands of brown and green seaweed hung down. It smelt queer. It had great holes in its sides, showing where it had battered against rocks. There were holes in the deck too. Altogether it looked a sad and forlorn old ship-but to the four children it was the most exciting thing in the whole world.