‘Your mother’s nice,’ said George.
‘Oh, yes – Mum’s grand,’ said Jock. ‘You don’t know what it means to her to have a little farm of her ; own again, and to be able to run it with the proper machinery and all.’
They came to a large barn. The door was locked. ‘I told you what was in here before,’ said Jock. ‘Lorries! You can peek through that hole here at them. Don’t know why my stepfather wanted to buy up so many, but I suppose he got them cheap – he loves to get things cheap and sell them dear! He did say they’d be useful on the farm, to take goods to the market.’ i
‘Yes – you told us that when we were here yesterday, ‘ said Dick. ‘But you’ve got heaps of wagons for that!’
‘Yes. I reckon they weren’t bought for the farm at all, but for holding here till prices went high and he I could make a lot of money,’ said Jock, lowering his voice. ‘I don’t tell Mum that. So long as she gets what she wants for the farm, I’m going to hold my tongue.’ i
The children were very interested in all this. They wished they could see Mr Andrews. He must be a peculiar sort of fellow, they thought. Anne tried to | imagine what he was like.
‘Big and tall and dark and frowny,’ she thought. ‘Rather frightening and impatient, and he certainly won’t like children. People like that never do.’ >
They spent a very pleasant morning poking about \ the little farm. They went back to see Biddy the collie [
and her pups. Timmy stood patiently outside the shed, with his tail down. He didn’t like George to take so much interest in other dogs.
A bell rang loudly. ‘Good! Dinner!’ said Jock. ‘We’d better wash. We’re all filthy. Hope you feel hungry, because I guess Mum’s got a super dinner for us.’
‘I feel terribly hungry,’ said Anne. ‘It seems ages since we had breakfast. I’ve almost forgotten it!’
They all felt the same. They went into the farmhouse and were surprised to find a very nice little bathroom to wash in. Mrs Andrews was there, putting out a clean roller towel.
‘Fine little bathroom, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘My husband had it put in for me. First proper bathroom I’ve ever had!’
A glorious smell rose up from the kitchen downstairs. ‘Come on!’ said Jock, seizing the soap. ‘Let’s hurry. We’ll be down in a minute, Mum!’
And they were. Nobody was going to dawdle over washing when a grand meal lay waiting for them downstairs!
7 Mr Andrews comes home
They all sat down to dinner. There was a big meat-pie, a cold ham, salad, potatoes in their jackets, and homemade pickles. It really was difficult to know what to choose.
‘Have some of both,’ said Mrs Andrews, cutting the meat-pie. ‘Begin with the pie and go on with the ham. That’s the best of living on a farm, you know – you do get plenty to eat.’
After the first course there were plums and thick cream, or jam tarts and the same cream. Everyone tucked in hungrily.
‘I’ve never had such a lovely dinner in my life,’ said Anne, at last. ‘I wish I could eat some more but I can’t. It was super, Mrs Andrews.’
‘Smashing,’ said Dick. That was his favourite word these holidays. ‘Absolutely smashing.’
‘Woof,’ said Timmy, agreeing. He had had a fine plateful of meaty bones, biscuits and gravy, and he had licked up every crumb and every drop. Now he felt he would like to have a snooze in the sun and not do a thing for the rest of the day.
The children felt rather like that, too. Mrs Andrews handed them a chocolate each and sent them out of doors. ‘You go and have a rest now,’ she said. ‘Talk to Jock. He doesn’t get enough company of his own age in the holidays. You can stay on to tea, if you like.’
‘Oh, thanks,’ said everyone, although they all felt
that they wouldn’t even be able to manage a biscuit. But it was so pleasant at the farm that they felt they would like to stay as long as they could.
‘May we borrow one of Biddy’s puppies to have with us?’ asked Anne.
‘If Biddy doesn’t mind,’ said Mrs Andrews, beginning to clear away. ‘And if Timmy doesn’t eat it up!’
‘Timmy wouldn’t dream of it!’ said George at once. ‘You go and get the puppy, Anne. We’ll find a nice place in the sun.’
Anne went off to get the puppy. Biddy didn’t seem to mind a bit. Anne cuddled the fat little thing against her, and went off to the others, feeling very happy. The boys had found a fine place against a haystack, and sat leaning against it, the sun shining down warmly on them.
‘Those men of yours seem to take a jolly good lunch-hour off,’ said Julian, not seeing any of them about.
Jock gave a snort. ‘They’re bone lazy. I’d sack the lot if I were my stepfather. Mum’s told him how badly the men work, but he doesn’t say a word to them. I’ve given up bothering. I don’t pay their wages – if I did, I’d sack the whole lot!’
‘Let’s ask Jock about the spook-trains,’ said George, fondling Timmy’s ears. ‘It would be fun to talk about them.’
‘Spook-trains? Whatever are they?’ asked Jock, his eyes wide with surprise. ‘Never heard of them!’
‘Haven’t you really?’ asked Dick. ‘Well, you don’t live very far from them, Jock!’
‘Tell me about them,’ said Jock. ‘Spook-trains – no, I’ve never heard of one of those.’
‘Well, I’ll tell you what we know,’ said Julian. ‘Actually we thought you’d be able to tell us much
more about them than we know ourselves.’
He began to tell Jock about their visit to the deserted railway yard, and Wooden-Leg Sam, and his peculiar behaviour. Jock listened, enthralled.
‘Coo! I wish I’d been with you. Let’s all go there together, shall we?’ he said. ‘This was quite an adventure you had, wasn’t it? You know, I’ve never had a single adventure in all my life, not even a little one. Have you?’
The four children looked at one another, and Timmy looked at George. Adventures! What didn’t they know about them? They had had so many.
‘Yes. We’ve had heaps of adventures – real ones -smashing ones,’ said Dick. ‘We’ve been down in dungeons, we’ve been lost in caves, we’ve found secret passages, we’ve looked for treasure – well, I can’t tell you what we’ve done! It would take too long.’
‘No, it wouldn’t,’ said Jock eagerly. ‘You tell me. Go on. Did you all have the adventures? Little Anne, here, too?’
‘Yes, all of us,’ said George. ‘And Timmy as well. He rescued us heaps of times from danger. Didn’t you,
T1” “l>
Tim?
‘Woof, woof,’ said Timmy, and thumped his tail against the hay.
They began to tell Jock about their many adventures. He was a very, very good listener. His eyes almost fell out of his head, and he went brick-red whenever they came to an exciting part.
‘My word!’ he said at last. ‘I’ve never heard such things in my life before. Aren’t you lucky? You just go about having adventures all the time, don’t you? I say -do you think you’ll have one here, these hols?’
Julian laughed. ‘No. Whatever kind of adventure would there be on these lonely moorlands? Why, you
yourself have lived here for three years, and haven’t even had a tiny adventure.’
Jock sighed. That’s true. I haven’t.’ Then his eyes brightened again. ‘But see here – what about those spook-trains you’ve been asking me about? Perhaps you’ll have an adventure with those?’
‘Oh, no, I don’t want to,’ said Anne, in a horrified voice. ‘An adventure with spook-trains would be simply horrid.’
‘I’d like to go down to that old railway yard with you and see Wooden-Leg Sam,’ said Jock longingly. ‘Why, that would be a real adventure to me, you know -just talking to a funny old man like that, and wondering if he was suddenly going to throw cinders at us. Take me with you next time you go.’
‘Well -1 don’t know that we meant to go again,’ said Julian. ‘There’s really nothing much in his story except imagination – the old watchman’s gone peculiar in the head through being alone there so much, guarding a yard where nothing and nobody ever comes. He’s just remembering the trains that used to go in and out before the line was given up.’
‘But the shepherd said the same as Sam,’ said Jock. ‘I say – what about going down there one night and watching for a spook-train!’
‘NO!’ said Anne, in horror.
‘You needn’t come,’ said Jock. ‘Just us three boys.’
‘And me,’ said George at once. ‘I’m as good as any boy, and I’m not going to be left out. Timmy’s coming, too.’