Blyton, Enid – Famous Five 14 – Five Have Plenty of Fun

‘Don’t you worry!’ he said. ‘We’ll look after Berta! I won’t pretend I’m pleased at having a strange girl to join us these last three precious weeks – but I can see her father’s point of view – he’s scared for Berta, and he’s scared he might find himself spilling the beans if anything happened to her! It might be the only way he could get her back.’

‘To think of such a thing!’ burst out Uncle Quentin. ‘All the work of the last two years! The man must be mad!’

‘Now Quentin, don’t think any more about it,’ said his wife. ‘I’m glad to have the child here. I would hate George to be kidnapped, and I know exactly how he feels. You won’t even notice she’s here. One more will make no difference.’

‘So you say,’ grumbled her husband. ‘Anyway, it’s settled.’

‘When is she coming?’ asked Dick.

‘Tonight. By boat,’ said his uncle. ‘We’ll have to let Joan the cook into the secret – but nobody else. That’s understood, isn’t it?’

‘Of course,’ said the four at once. Then Uncle Quentin sat down firmly at his desk, and the children went hurriedly out of the room, Aunt Fanny behind them, and Timmy pushing between their ankles.

‘It’s such a pity, and I’m so sorry,’ said Aunt Fanny. ‘But I do feel we can’t do anything else.’

‘I bet Timmy will hate her,’ said George.

‘Now don’t you go and make things difficult, George, old thing,’ said Julian. ‘We’re all agreed it can’t be helped, so we might as well make the best of it.’

‘I hate making the best of things,’ said George, obstinately.

‘Well,’ said Dick, amiably, ‘Julian and Anne and I could go back home and take Berta with us if you hate everything so much. I don’t particularly want to stay here for three weeks if you’re going to put on a Hate all the time.’

‘All right, I won’t,’ said George. ‘I’m only letting off steam. You know that.’

‘I’m never sure, with you,’ said Dick, with a grin. ‘Well, look – let’s not spoil this one day when we will be by ourselves!’

They all tried valiantly to have as good a time as possible, and went out in George’s boat for a long row to Lobster Cove. They didn’t do any fishing there, but bathed from the boat instead, in water as green and clear as in an open-air bath. Timmy didn’t approve of bathing from boats. It was quite easy to jump out of the boat into the water – but he found it extremely difficult to jump in again!

Aunt Fanny had again packed them a wonderful lunch. ‘An extra good one to make up for a disappointment,’ she said, smiling. Anne had given her a hug for that. Here they had all been making such a fuss about having someone extra – and Aunt Fanny had been the only one to feel a real kindness for a child in danger.

They had enough food for tea too, and did not get home until the evening. The sea was calm and blue, and the children could see almost to the bottom of the water, when they leaned over the side of the boat. The sky was the colour of harebells as they rowed into the bay and up to the beach.

‘Will Berta be there yet, do you suppose?’ said George, mentioning the girl for the first time since they had set out that morning.

‘I shouldn’t think so,’ said Julian. ‘Your father said she would be coming tonight – and I imagine that, as she’s coming by boat, it will be dark – so that she won’t be seen.’

‘I expect she’ll be feeling very scared,’ said Anne. ‘It must be horrid to be sent away to a strange place, to strange people. I should hate it!’

They beached the boat and left it high and dry. Then they made their way to Kirrin Cottage. Aunt Fanny was pleased to see them.

‘You are in nice time for supper,’ she said. ‘Though if you ate all I gave you today for your picnics, you’ll surely find it difficult to eat very much supper.’

‘Oh, I’m terribly hungry,’ said Dick. He sniffed, holding his nose up in the air just as Timmy often did. ‘I believe you’ve been making your special tomato soup, with real tomatoes, Aunt Fanny!’

‘You’re too good at guessing,’ said his aunt with a laugh. ‘It was meant to be a surprise! Now go and wash and make yourselves tidy.’

‘Berta hasn’t come yet, I suppose, has she?’ asked Julian.

‘No,’ said his aunt. ‘And we’ll have to think of another name for her, Julian. It would never do to call her Berta now.’

Uncle Quentin didn’t appear for supper. ‘He is having his in the study by himself,’ said Aunt Fanny.

There was a sigh of relief. Nobody had looked forward to seeing Uncle Quentin that night. It took him quite a long time to get over any annoyance!

‘How sunburnt you all are!’ said Aunt Fanny, looking round the table. ‘George, your nose is beginning to peel.’

‘I know,’ said George. ‘I wish it didn’t. Anne’s never does. Gosh, I’m sleepy!’

‘Well, go to bed as soon as you’ve finished your supper,’ said her mother.

‘I’d like to. But what about this Berta?’ said George. ‘What time is she coming? It would be rather mean to be in bed when she arrives.’

‘I’ve no idea what time she will come,’ said her mother. ‘But I shall wait up, of course. There’s no need for anyone else to. I expect she’ll be tired and scared, so I shall give her something to eat – some of the tomato soup, if you’ve left any! – and then pop her into bed. I expect she would be quite glad not to have to meet any of you tonight.’

‘Well – I shall go to bed,’ said Dick. ‘I heard Mr Elbur arriving last night, Aunt Fanny, and it was pretty late, wasn’t it? I can hardly keep my eyes open tonight.’

‘Come on, then – let’s all go up,’ said Julian. ‘We can read if we can’t sleep. Good night, Aunt Fanny. Thank you for that lovely picnic food again!’

All the four went upstairs, Anne and Dick yawning loudly, and setting the others off too. Timmy padded behind them, quite glad that George was going to bed so early.

They were all asleep in ten minutes. The boys slept like logs and didn’t stir at all. The girls fell fast asleep for about four hours – and then George was awakened by hearing Timmy growl. She sat up at once.

‘What is it?’ she said. ‘Oh – is it Berta arriving, Tim? Let’s keep quiet and see what she’s like!’

After a minute Timmy growled again. George heard the sound of quiet footsteps on the stairs. Then the bedroom door was slid softly open, and two people stood in the light of the landing lamp. One was Aunt Fanny.

The other, of course, was Berta.

Chapter Four

BERTA

George sat up in bed and stared at Berta. She looked very peculiar indeed. For one thing she was so bundled up in coats and wraps that it was difficult to see if she was fat or thin, tall or short, and for another thing she was crying so bitterly that her face was all screwed up.

Anne didn’t wake up. Timmy was so astonished that, like George, he simply sat and stared.

‘Tell Timmy not to make a sound,’ whispered George’s mother, afraid that the dog might bark the house down, once he began.

George laid a warning hand on Timmy. Her mother gave Berta a little push farther into the room.

‘She’s been terribly seasick, poor child,’ she told George. ‘And she’s scared and upset. I want her to get into bed as soon as possible.’

Berta was still sobbing, but the sobs grew quieter as she began to feel less sick. George’s mother was so kind and sensible that she felt comforted.

‘Let’s take these things off,’ she said to Berta. ‘My word, you are bundled up! But if you came in an open motorboat I expect you needed them.’

‘What am I to call you?’ asked Berta, with one last sniff.

‘You’d better call me Aunt Fanny, as the others do, I think,’ said George’s mother. ‘I expect you know why you’ve come to stay with us for a while, don’t you?’

‘Yes,’ said Berta. ‘I didn’t want to come. I wanted to stay with my father. I’m not afraid of being kidnapped. I’ve got Sally to look after me.’

‘Who’s Sally, dear?’ asked Aunt Fanny, taking a coat or two off Berta.

‘My dog,’ said Berta. ‘She’s downstairs in the basket I was carrying.’

George pricked up her ears at that bit of news! ‘A dog!’ she said. ‘We can’t have a dog here. Mine would never allow that. Would you, Timmy?’