“Now this kid will follow at his heels like a dog the whole time we’re here,” said Dinah. “Well, I’m glad it will be a kid, not a cow! Do you remember that awful time when Philip went into a field with a herd of cows, and they all went to him and nuzzled him and followed him about like dogs. They even tried to get over the gate and through the hedge when he went out. I was awfully scared they would.”
“You ought to be ashamed of being afraid of cows at your age,” said Philip, fondling the kid. “It’s silly at any age, of course — but you don’t seem to learn sense as you get older, Di. It’s surprising you’re not afraid of this kid. I bet you’d run if the goats came near.”
“I shouldn’t,” said Dinah indignantly, but all the same she moved off hurriedly when the herd of goats, curious at seeing the kid in Philip’s arms, began to come nearer to the children.
Soon they were all round Philip, Lucy-Ann and Jack. Dinah watched from a distance. The kid bleated when it saw its mother, but as soon as Philip put the little thing down to run to her, it leapt straight back into his arms!
“Well! You’ll have to take it to bed with you tonight, there’s no doubt about that,” said Jack, grinning. “Come on — let’s go and see the horses. They’re the kind with shaggy hooves — I just love those!”
The goats were shooed off, and the children went to look at the great horses standing patiently in the field. There were three of them. They all came to Philip at once of course.
He had put down the little kid, and now it followed so close to his heels that, every time he stopped, it ran into his legs. At the first possible chance it sprang into his arms again. It followed him into the farm-house too.
“Oh! You have found little Snowy!” said Mrs. Evans, looking round from her oven with a face redder than ever. “She has not left her mother before, look you!”
“Oh, Philip, don’t bring the kid in here,” said Mrs. Mannering, seeing at once that yet another animal had attached itself to Philip. She was afraid that Mrs. Evans would object strongly to the kid coming indoors with Philip — and once it had felt the boy’s attraction nothing would stop it from following him anywhere — even upstairs!
“Oh, it iss no matter if a kid comes into the house,” said Mrs. Evans. “We haff the new-born lambs in, and the hens are always in and out, and Moolie the calf used to come in each day before she was put in the field.”
The children thought it was a wonderful idea to let creatures wander in and out like that, but Mrs. Mannering thought differently. She wondered if she would find eggs laid in her bed, or a calf in her bedroom chair! Still, it was a holiday, and if Mrs. Evans liked creatures wandering all over her kitchen, the children would like it too!
Lucy-Ann gave an enormous yawn and sank down into a big chair. Mrs. Mannering looked at her, and then at the grandfather clock ticking in a corner.
“Go to bed, all of you,” she said. “We’re all tired. Yes, I know it’s early, Philip, you don’t need to tell me that — but we’ve had a long day, and this mountain air is very strong. We shall all sleep like tops tonight.”
“I will get ready some creamy milk for you,” began Mrs. Evans, “and you would like some buttered scones and jam to take up with you?”
“Oh, no,” said Mrs. Mannering. “We simply couldn’t eat a thing more tonight, thank you, Mrs. Evans.”
“Oh, Mother! Of course we could eat scones and jam and drink some more of that heavenly milk,” said Dinah indignantly. So they each took up a plate of scones and raspberry jam and a fat glass of creamy milk to have in bed.
There came the scampering of little hooves, and Snowy the kid appeared in the boys’ bedroom. She leapt in delight onto Philip’s bed.
“Gosh! Look at this! Snowy’s come upstairs!” said Philip. “Have a bit of scone, Snowy?”
“I say — did we hear the kid coming up the stairs?” said Lucy-Ann, putting her head round the door of the boys’ room. “Oooh, Philip! You’ve got her on your bed!”
“Well, she won’t get off,” said Philip. “As soon as I push her off, she’s on again — look! Like a puppy!”
“Maa-aa-aa!” said the kid in a soft, bleating voice, and butted Philip with its head.
“Are you going to have it up here all the night?” asked Dinah, appearing in her pyjamas.
“Well, if I put it outside, it’ll only come in again — and if I shut the door it will come and butt it with its head,” said Philip, who had quite lost his heart to Snowy. “After all, Jack has Kiki in the room with him all night.”
“Oh, I don’t mind you having Snowy,” said Dinah. “I just wondered what Mother would say, that’s all — and Mrs. Evans.”
“I shouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that Mrs. Evans has got a sick cow in her room, and half a dozen hens,” said Philip, arranging Snowy in the crook of his knees. “She’s a woman after my own heart. Go away, you girls. I’m going to sleep. I’m very happy — full of scones and jam and milk and sleep.”
Kiki made a hiccuping noise. “Pardon!” she said. This was a new thing she had learnt from somebody at Jack’s school the term before. It made Mrs. Mannering cross.
“I should think Kiki’s full up too,” said Jack sleepily. “She pinched a whole scone, and I’m sure she’s been at the raspberries again. Look at her beak! Now shut up, Kiki, I want to go to sleep.”
“Pop goes the weasel, look you,” said Kiki solemnly and put her head under her wing. The girls disappeared. The boys fell asleep. What a lovely beginning to a summer holiday!
Chapter 3
THE FIRST MORNING
THE next day the two girls awoke first. It was early, but somebody was already about in the yard. Lucy-Ann peeped out of the window.
“It’s Effans,” she said. “He must have been milking. Dinah, come here. Did you ever see such a glorious view in your life?”
The two girls knelt at the window. The sun was streaming across the valley below through the opening between two mountains, but the rest of the vale was in shadow. In the distance many mountains reared their great heads, getting bluer and bluer the further away they were. The sky was blue without a cloud.
“Holiday weather — real holiday weather!” said Dinah happily. “I hope Mother lets us go picnicking today.”
“There’s one thing about this holiday,” said Lucy-Ann, “we shan’t have any awful adventures, because Aunt Allie is absolutely determined to go with us, or send Bill with us, wherever we go.”
“Well, we’ve had our share of adventures,” said Dinah, beginning to dress. “More than most children ever have. I don’t mind if we don’t have one this time. Hurry, Lucy-Ann, then we can get to the bathroom before the boys. Don’t make too much noise because Mother doesn’t want to be wakened too early.”
Lucy-Ann popped her head in at the boys’ room on the way to the bathroom. They were still sound asleep. Kiki took her head from under her wing as she heard Lucy-Ann at the door, but she said nothing, only yawned. Lucy-Ann looked closely at Philip’s bed.
Snowy the kid was still there, cuddled into the crook of Philip’s knees! Lucy-Ann’s heart warmed to Philip. What an extraordinary boy he was, to have every creature so fond of him, and to be able to do anything he liked with them. The little kid raised its head and looked at Lucy-Ann.
She fled to the bathroom and washed with Dinah. They soon heard the boys getting up, and Kiki’s voice telling somebody to wipe his feet.
“She’s probably teaching a few manners to Snowy,” giggled Lucy-Ann. “Kiki always tries to teach things to all Philip’s pets. Oh, Dinah — do you remember how funny she was with Huffin and Puffin, the two puffins we found when we had our last adventure?”
“Arr,” said Dinah, making the noise the puffins used to make. Kiki heard them. “Arrrrr!” she called from the boys’ bedroom. “Arrrrr!” Then she went off into a cackle of laughter, and Snowy the kid stared at her in alarm.
“Maa-aa-aa!” said the kid.
“Maa-aa-aa!” said Kiki, and the kid looked all round for another kid. The boys laughed.
Kiki, always encouraged when people laughed, swelled up her throat to make the noise of a car changing gear, her favourite noise of the moment but Philip stopped her hurriedly.