Blyton, Enid – Famous Five 15 – Five On a Secret Trail

The boys settled down and torches were put on. Julian related the curious happenings to the two interested girls. George was thrilled.

‘Oh I say! Fancy all this springing up out of the blue so suddenly! What are you going to do?’

‘Warn Guy first thing in the morning – and then get in touch with the police, I think,’ said Julian. ‘We ourselves can’t stop the men searching the camp, and as soon as they do find the slab they’re looking for, they can easily get what they want and go off with it!’

‘Well, it’s really thrilling,’ said George. ‘I wish I’d been with you. I’ll never go to sleep tonight!’

But they did manage to drop off to sleep, for they were all very tired. After a few hours, just as dawn was breaking, Timmy lifted his head and growled. George awoke at once.

‘What is it, Tim? I can’t hear anything.’

But Timmy could, that was certain. George woke Julian, and made him listen to Timmy’s continuous growling.

‘What do you think he’s growling at?’ she asked. ‘He keeps on and on. I can’t hear a thing, can you?’

‘No,’ said Julian, listening. ‘Well, it’s no use my creeping out and going searching in the dark for whatever Timmy’s growling at. It might be something silly like a weasel or a hedgehog or a stoat. Shut up, Tim. That’s enough.’

Although it was as dark as night under the thick old gorse-bush, outside it was just getting light. What was Timmy growling at? Were there people about again? Or was it just one of the hedgehogs he so heartily disliked?

He stopped growling at last and put his head down on his paws, closing his eyes. George patted him.

‘Well, whatever it was, it’s gone. Are you comfy, Julian? It’s very cramped in here – and hot too, isn’t it?’

‘Yes. We’ll get up fairly early and go to warn Guy – then we’ll have a swim,’ said Julian, yawning. He switched off his torch and went to sleep again.

It was late when they awoke. Dick was the first, and he looked at his watch. He gave an exclamation.

‘Gosh! It’s half past eight! Hey, Ju – Anne – George – wake up, it’s almost afternoon!’

Everyone felt stiff and cramped, and they went off to have a swim and to warn Guy. As they came near the camp, they stopped in amazement.

Someone was howling down in the trench, howling so miserably and so broken-heartedly that the Five felt quite panic-stricken. Whatever in the world could have happened? They ran to the edge of the excavations and looked down into the trench.

The boy was there, lying on his face, sobbing. He kept lifting his head and howling, then putting it down again.

‘Guy! GUY! Whatever’s happened?’ shouted Julian. He leapt down beside the boy. ‘Are you hurt’? Is Jet hurt? What’s the matter?’

‘It’s Guy! He’s gone! They’ve taken him,’ howled the boy. ‘And I was so awful to him. Now he’s gone. He’ll never come back, I know he won’t!’

‘Guy’s gone? But – but you’re Guy!’ said Julian in astonishment. ‘What do you mean?’

He felt sure that the boy really was mad now – quite mad – talking about himself like that. He patted him on the shoulder. ‘Look – you’re ill. You come along with us. You need a doctor.’

The boy sprang to his feet, his face swollen and stained. ‘I’m not ill! I tell you Guy’s gone. I’m not Guy. He’s my twin. There are two of us.’

Everyone gasped. It took half a minute to think about this and get everything straight – and then, of course many things were clear! There was not one mad boy, there were two ordinary boys – but they were twins! There wasn’t, as they had thought, just one boy who contradicted himself all the time, who seemed continually to appear suddenly and unexpectedly, and who was sometimes nice and sometimes not.

‘Twins! Why on earth didn’t we think of that before?’ said Julian. ‘We thought there was only one of you. You were never together.’

‘No. We quarrelled – quarrelled bitterly,’ said the boy, tears in his eyes again. ‘And when twins quarrel, really quarrel, it’s worse than any quarrel there is! We hated one another then – we really did! We wouldn’t be with one another, we wouldn’t eat together, or dig together, or sleep together. We’ve often quarrelled before, but not like this – not like this! I just pretended that he didn’t exist – and he did the same with me!’

‘What a to-do!’ said Julian, astonished and worried. ‘Well now – what’s happened to make you so upset? Tell me!’

‘Guy wanted to be friends with me again last night,’ said the boy. ‘And I wouldn’t. I hit him and walked away. Then this morning I was sorry and went to find him and be friends – and – and…’

He stopped and howled again. Everyone felt very sad and uncomfortable. ‘Go on, tell us,’ said Julian, gently.

‘I was just in time to see him fighting two men, and screaming at them, and kicking – then they hustled him away somewhere!’ said the boy. ‘I fell down in the trench and hurt my leg – and by the time I dragged myself up, Guy had gone – and so had everyone else!’

He turned away and wept again. ‘I’ll never forgive myself, never! If I’d made friends last night I could have helped him – and I didn’t!’

Chapter Fifteen

WELL DONE, GEORGE!

It was Anne who comforted the boy. She went to him and pulled him down on a stone beside her. ‘Let me look at your leg,’ she said. ‘It’s pretty bad, isn’t it? Look, I’ll bind it up for you. Don’t be so upset – we’ll help you. I think we know what’s happened, don’t we Julian?’

The boy looked at Anne gratefully, and sniffed hard. When she offered him her handkerchief, he took it and wiped his face. Dick gave Anne his big hanky to bind up the boy’s cut and bruised leg. He must have fallen right into the trench in his fright at seeing his brother fighting and being taken away.

‘How do you know what’s happened?’ he said to Julian. ‘Can you get Guy back? Do say you can! I’ll never forgive myself for this. My twin-brother – and I wasn’t there to fight by his side when he needed me!’

‘Now don’t soak my hanky all over again!’ said Anne. He gave her a forlorn little smile and turned to Julian again.

‘My name’s Harry Lawdler, and Guy and I are mad on old camps and buildings and things. We spend almost all our holidays together, digging and finding all kinds of things, like these.’ He nodded his head towards the little shelf of relics that the four had seen before.

‘Yes – Guy told us,’ said Dick. ‘But he never said a word about you. We were often very puzzled – we thought you and he were one boy – not two, you see – and we couldn’t understand a lot of things you both said. You’re so very, very alike.’

‘Well – I tell you, we each pretended that the other didn’t even exist,’ said Harry. ‘We’re like that. We love each other best in the world, and we hate each other worse – when we quarrel. We’re simply horrible then!’

‘Can you tell us a bit about the people that Guy was fighting?’ asked Dick.

‘Yes. They were some that came before, wanting Guy to clear out while they had a look round,’ said Harry, wiping his face again. ‘Guy was pretty rude to them. In fact I heard him say that if they messed about his camp he would throw stones at them – he’s like that, you know, very fierce, when he’s roused.’

‘And you think these were the same people?’ said Dick. ‘Which way did they go with Guy?’

‘That way,’ said Harry, pointing. ‘I’ve hunted the whole camp round, but they’re gone – disappeared into thin air! It’s extraordinary!’

‘Let’s have a hunt round,’ said Julian. ‘We might find something. But I imagine that the searchers have taken Guy off with them because he knew too much – perhaps they found here what they were looking for, and saw Guy watching.’

‘Oh! Then we’re too late!’ said George, in deep disappointment. ‘They’ve got what they want – and they’ll disappear now and never be caught. I expect by now they are speeding away in a fast car – and have taken Guy with them to make sure he doesn’t talk before they’re safely in another country!’

‘Oh no!’ cried Harry. ‘He’s not kidnapped, is he? Don’t say that!’

‘Come on – let’s have a hunt,’ said Julian, and they all made their way among the various trenches and pits, looking for they hardly knew what.