“Stop it, Kiki! We’ve had enough of that noise. Do forget it!”
“God save the King!” said Kiki, in a dismal voice. “Wipe your feet, blow your nose.”
“Come on,” said the girls, putting their heads in. “Slow-coaches!”
They all went downstairs just as Mrs. Evans was setting the last touches to the breakfast-table. It was loaded almost as much as the supper-table the night before. Jugs of creamy milk stood about, warm from the milking, and big bowls of raspberries had appeared again.
“I shan’t know what to have,” groaned Jack, sitting down with Kiki on his shoulders. “I can smell eggs and bacon — and there’s cereal to have with raspberries and cream — and ham — and tomatoes — and gosh, is that cream cheese? Cream cheese for breakfast, how super!”
Snowy the kid tried to get onto Philip’s knee as he sat down to breakfast. He pushed her off. “No, Snowy, not at meal-times. I’m too busy then. Go and say good morning to your mother. She must wonder where you are.”
Kiki was at work on the raspberries. Mrs. Evans had actually put a plate aside for Kiki’s own breakfast. She and Effans beamed at the bird. They both thought she was wonderful.
“Look you whateffer!” said Kiki, and dipped her beak into the raspberries again. It was rapidly becoming pink with the juice.
The children made an extremely good meal before Bill or Mrs. Mannering came down. The Evans’ had had theirs already — in fact they seemed to have done a day’s work, judging by the list of things that Evans talked about — he had cleaned out the pigs, groomed the horses, milked the cows, fetched in the eggs, been to see the cow-herd and a dozen other things besides.
“Mrs. Evans, do you know where the donkeys are that we arranged to have, for riding in the mountains?” asked Philip, when he had finished his breakfast and Snowy was once more in his arms.
“Ah, Trefor the shepherd will tell you,” said Mrs. Evans. “It iss his brother, look you, that has the donkeys. He is to bring them here for you.”
“Can’t we go and fetch them and ride them back?” said Jack.
“Indeed to gootness, Trefor’s brother lives thirty miles away!” said Effans. “You could not walk there, whateffer. You go and see Trefor today and ask him what has he done about your donkeys.”
Mrs. Mannering and Bill appeared at that moment, looking fresh and trim after their good night’s sleep in the sharp mountain air.
“Any breakfast left for us?” said Bill with a grin.
Mrs. Evans hurried to fry bacon and eggs again, and soon the big kitchen was full of the savoury smell.
“Golly, if I stay here and smell that I shall feel hungry all over again,” said Philip. “Bill, we’re going up to see Trefor the shepherd to ask about our donkeys. Mother, can we have a picnic in the mountains as soon as the donkeys come?”
“Yes — when I’m sure I can keep on my donkey all right,” said his mother. “If mine’s a very fat donkey I shall slide off!”
“They are not fat,” Effans assured her. “They are used in the mountains and they are strong and small. Sometimes we use ponies, but Trefor’s brother breeds donkeys, and they are just as good.”
“Well, we’ll go and have a talk with Trefor,” said Philip, getting up and letting Snowy fall off his knee. “Come on, everyone! Kiki, do you want to be left with the raspberries? You greedy bird!”
Kiki flew to Jack’s shoulder, and the party set off up the path that Effans had pointed out to them. Snowy bounded with them, turning a deaf ear to his mother’s bleats. Already he seemed one of the company, petted by them all, though Kiki was not altogether pleased to have another creature taking up so much of the children’s attention.
They went up the steep little path. The sun was up higher now and was hot. The children only wore thin blouses or shirts, and shorts, but they felt very warm. They came to a spring gushing out of the hillside and sat down to drink, and cool their hands and feet. Snowy drank too, and then capered about lightly on her strong little legs, leaping from place to place almost as if she had wings.
“I wish I could leap like a goat,” said Jack lazily. “It looks so lovely and easy to spring high into the air like that, and land wherever you want to.”
Philip suddenly made a grab at something that was slithering past him on the warm bank. Dinah sat up at once. “What is it, what is it?”
“This,” said Philip, and showed the others a silvery-grey, snake-like creature, with bright little eyes.
Dinah screamed at once. “A snake! Philip, put it down. Philip, it’ll bite you.”
“It won’t,” said Philip scornfully. “It’s not a snake — and anyway British snakes don’t bite unless they’re adders. I’ve told you that before. This is a slow-worm — and a very fine specimen too!”
The children looked in fascination as the silvery slow-worm wriggled over Philip’s knees. It certainly looked very like a snake, but it wasn’t. Lucy-Ann and Jack knew that, but Dinah always forgot. She was so terrified of snakes that to her anything that glided along must belong to the snake family.
“It’s horrible,” she said with a shudder. “Let it go, Philip. How do you know it’s not a snake?”
“Well — for one thing it blinks its eyes and no snake does that,” said Philip. “Watch it. It blinks like a lizard — and no wonder, because it belongs to the lizard family.”
As he spoke the little creature blinked its eyes. It stayed still on Philip’s knee and made no further attempt to escape. Philip put his hand over it and it stayed there quite happy.
“I’ve never had a slow-worm for a pet,” said Philip. “I’ve a good mind . . .”
“Philip! If you dare to keep that snake for a pet I’ll tell Mother to send you home!” said Dinah in great alarm.
“Dinah, it’s not a snake!” said Philip impatiently. “It’s a lizard — a legless lizard — quite harmless and very interesting. I’m going to keep it for a pet if it’ll stay with me.”
“Stay with you! Of course it will,” said Jack. “Did you ever know an animal that wouldn’t? I should hate to go to a jungle with you, Philip — you’d have monkeys hanging lovingly round your neck, and tigers purring at you, and snakes wrapping themselves round your legs, and . . .”
Dinah gave a little scream. “Don’t say such horrible things! Philip, make that slow-worm go away.”
Instead he slipped it into his pocket. “Now don’t make a fuss, Dinah,” he said. “You don’t need to come near me. I don’t expect it will stay with me because it won’t like my pocket — but I’ll just see.”
They set off up the hill once more, Dinah hanging back sulkily. Oh dear! Philip would go and spoil the holiday by keeping something horrible again!
Chapter 4
UP ON THE MOUNTAINSIDE
TREFOR the shepherd had a small cabin-like cottage a good way up the mountainside. Around him for miles grazed the sheep. Nearer in were that year’s lambs, now grown into sturdy little beasts, their woolly coats showing up against the sheared bodies of the older sheep.
The shepherd was having a simple meal when they got to his hut. He had bread, butter, cream cheese and onions, and beside him a great jug of milk that he had cooled by standing in the stream that ran down the mountainside nearby.
He nodded his head to the children as they came up. He was a curious-looking old fellow, with longish untidy hair, a straggling beard, and two of the brightest blue eyes the children had ever seen.
He spoke Welsh, which they didn’t understand. “Can you speak English?” asked Jack. “We can’t understand what you say.”
Trefor knew a few words of English, which, after much thought and munching of onions, he spoke.
“Donkeys. Tomorrow.”
He added something the children didn’t understand, and waved his hand down the mountainside towards the farm-house.
“He means the donkeys will arrive tomorrow at the farm,” said Jack. “Good! Perhaps Aunt Allie and Bill will come for a picnic on the donkeys.”
Trefor was very interested in Kiki. He had never in his life seen a parrot. He pointed at Kiki and laughed a hoarse laugh. Kiki at once copied it.
Trefor looked startled. “Wipe your feet,” said Kiki sternly. “How many times have I told you to shut the door? Three blind mice!”
Trefor stared at the parrot, half alarmed. Kiki cackled loudly. “Look you, whateffer, look you, whateffer, look . . .”
The children laughed. Jack tapped Kiki on the beak. “Now, now, Kiki — don’t show off.”