“You’ve got rid of your uncle,” said Dinah at once. Lucian grinned.
“Yes. He’s gone. Said he had had an urgent business message and couldn’t fool about cruising around with Auntie and me any longer. Gosh, I’m glad he’s gone.”
“Yes, he’s not a pleasant person,” said Jack. “I’m glad he’s not my uncle. Some of his little ways are not what you might call attractive.”
“They’re not,” said Lucian, who felt he was quite free now to speak his mind about his uncle. “Do you know — he wanted me to take your little carved ship to him and not say a word to you about it? What do you think of that?”
“Not much,” said Jack. “Did you take it?”
“Of course not!” said Lucian, with such indignation that everyone felt he was telling the truth. “What do you take me for?”
Nobody said what they took him for. They felt that it would be a pity to spoil his pleasure. Lucian beamed round at them.
“Now we can have a jolly good time, without my uncle, can’t we?” he said.
“I can’t say your uncle makes any difference to us one way or another,” said Jack. “I don’t want to talk about him any more. He’s an unpleasant subject for discussion. There’s the gong to dress for dinner, Lucian. You’d better go. You had no lunch and you must be ravenous.”
“I jolly well am,” said Lucian and went, looking quite delighted with life. The others, however, looked anything but delighted. In fact, they looked distinctly gloomy.
“Well — that’s the end of what looked like a most promising adventure,” said Philip.
But he was wrong. It wasn’t the end. It was really only the beginning!
Chapter 14
THINGS BEGIN TO HAPPEN!
THINGS began to happen the very next day. The ship was cruising along as usual in a purple-blue sea, and the sun shone down from a sky spread with dazzling white clouds and patches of brilliant blue.
Gulls glided by, and all kinds of other sea-birds bobbed on the water, or soared high above the ship. Everyone was peaceful in their deck-chairs, reading or snoozing, waiting for the mid-morning drink of iced lemonade brought by the stewards. Even the children were lazing in their chairs, tired after their strenuous morning game at deck-tennis.
Kiki sat on the back of Jack’s chair, snoozing too. She had been chasing gulls, calling to them in a voice so like theirs that the poor things were completely bewildered. Now she was tired out. Micky was curled up in the shade of a lifeboat, fast asleep.
A small page-boy appeared, the one who ran messages, and fetched odds and ends for the passengers. He carried a long envelope on a salver.
He called out loudly as he went. “Radiotelegram for Mrs. Mannering, please. Radio for Mrs. Mannering, please.”
Philip nudged his mother, and beckoned to the call-boy. Mrs. Mannering looked up, startled to hear her name shouted out. The boy came up to her and presented the radiotelegram.
She tore it open, wondering who it was from. She read it out loud to the listening children.
Your aunt seriously ill and calling for you. Fly back if you can, and I’ll take over the kids. Radio me, please.
BILL.
There was a silence. “Oh dear,” said Mrs. Mannering. “This would happen on a cruise. What shall I do? It’s all very well for Bill to say ‘Fly back.’ But where from? And how can I leave you all?”
“Don’t upset yourself, Mother,” said Philip. “I’ll see to things for you. I know the second officer very well and he’ll tell me what you’re to do.”
“As for us, you needn’t worry at all,” said Jack. “You know we’re all right on the boat. You wouldn’t want us all to fly back with you, surely!”
“Oh no. Of course not. Especially after I’ve paid such high fares for you all on this cruise,” said Mrs. Mannering, still looking worried. “Oh dear — I do hate sudden things like this. I really do.”
“Mother dear, it’s all right,” said Dinah. “You can get a plane from the very next place we stop at, if there is an airfield. You’ll be in England tomorrow. And Bill will take over, as he said. He’ll probably meet you at Croydon, if the plane lands there, see you safely on to your train, and then catch a plane to join us. He’ll enjoy the rest of the trip. Maybe you’ll be back too.”
“Oh no, I shan’t — not if Aunt Polly has got one of her really bad turns,” said Mrs. Mannering. “She’s been so good to me — and to you too — that I must stay with her till she’s quite herself again. Oh, I do hate leaving you four by yourselves.”
Mrs. Eppy couldn’t help overhearing all this. She spoke to Mrs. Mannering. “I can keep an eye on the four for you till your friend comes, you know. After all, I have to look after Lucian, and he’s much the same age. I shall be pleased to do what I can.”
“Well, that’s good of you,” said Mrs. Mannering, getting out of her deck-chair, helped by Philip. “I suppose it’s idiotic of me to worry about them — they’re all quite big now — but they do seem to get into such awful scrapes sometimes!”
She went off with Philip. He was very useful indeed. He found the second officer, and very soon he had worked out all the details with him. The ship would go out of her way a little, and call at an island that had an airport. A radio message would be sent immediately, so that a plane would be waiting. In no time at all Mrs. Mannering would be back in England.
“We could wait at the island till your friend comes on his plane,” said the second officer, after consulting with the captain. “It would only mean altering our programme a very little — it is a very free-and-easy one, as you know. Now — do you want to radio instructions to Mr. Cunningham, so that he will know what time to meet your plane at Croydon?”
It was amazing how easily everything was arranged after all. “I was silly to get upset and flustered,” said Mrs. Mannering to the children. “Thanks to Philip it’s all been arranged beautifully. I’ll be away tomorrow, and Bill will arrive later — probably that evening. It’s wonderful!”
The girls helped her to pack. The Viking Star steamed to a large island, where there was a good airport. The children saw aeroplanes taking off as they came near, for the airport was on the coast.
A motor-boat came out to take Mrs. Mannering off. She kissed all the children good-bye. “Now don’t get into any scrapes,” she begged them. “Be good. Keep away from danger and trouble. Give Bill my love and tell him if he leads you into anything I’ll never, never forgive him!”
They waved good-bye as the motor-boat chuffed away to the port. They watched it through their binoculars and saw Mrs. Mannering getting out on to the jetty, with a porter carrying her cases.
“She’s got into a taxi,” announced Jack. “Now she’s off to the airport. She’ll soon be away!”
Half an hour later an aeroplane took off from the airport on the coast, and rose into the air. It flew towards the ship, circled it twice and made off to the west.
“That was Mother’s plane,” said Philip. “I think I even saw her waving. Well — safe journey to her! And now we must look out for old Bill.”
A curious silence fell on the children. They were all thinking the same thing, but nobody quite liked to say it. Jack cleared his throat.
“Er — you know — now that this has happened — er . . .” He stopped.
Everyone waited politely. “Well, go on,” said Dinah.
“Er — I was just thinking,” said Jack, “just thinking that now — well — with old Bill coming and all. Er . . .”
He stopped again. Dinah gave a little giggle. “I’ll say it for you,” she said. “It’s what we’ve all been thinking, I know. Dear old Bill is coming — and we can tell him all about the map and the Andra treasure — and Mr. Eppy. And maybe — maybe, he’ll do something about it!”
“Gosh, yes,” said Jack. “I didn’t know how to put it without seeming a bit heartless, as Aunt Allie has only just gone. But things are a bit different now. Bill may think we ought to do something.”
“How — simply — super!” said Philip, drawing a deep breath. “Just as we’d given up hope!”
“We couldn’t possibly drag Mother into an adventure,” said Dinah. “But Bill’s different. I mean — he won’t want us to plunge into an adventure, I know — but he may quite well think he ought to do something about it.”