When dawn came the children were still asleep. Kiki awoke before they did. She stretched out first one wing and then another. She erected the feathers on her head and shook them. Then she scratched her neck thoughtfully and gazed down at Philip.
Lizzie the lizard was also awake and was running over the rug that covered Philip. She came to where Philip’s feet stuck out and disappeared under the rug there. Kiki’s sharp eyes watched the little moving bump she made under the rug as she made her way all the way up Philip’s body and appeared by his neck.
“Wipe your feet,” said Kiki suddenly to the lizard. “How many times, how many times have I told you to wipe your feet?”
Lizzie was startled. She leapt from Philip’s neck on to Jack and stood half hidden in his hair, looking up into the trees, though she could focus nothing there. Kiki, annoyed at seeing Lizzie daring to tread on her beloved master, gave an exasperated squawk and flew down to peck the lizard, who promptly disappeared under the rug again.
Kiki landed heavily on Jack’s middle and gave a vicious peck where the rug covered Philip’s right leg, for she could see the moving bump there that meant the lizard was running downwards. Both Jack and Philip awoke with a start.
They stared up into the trees, both amazed to see green leaves waving above them. Then they turned their heads and saw one another. In a flash they remembered everything.
“Couldn’t think where I was,” said Jack, and sat up. “Oh, Kiki, it’s you on my middle, is it? Do get off. Here, have some sunflower seeds and keep quiet, or you’ll wake the girls.”
He put his hand in his pocket and took out some of the flat seeds that Kiki loved. She flew up to the bough above, cracking two in her beak.
The boys began to talk quietly, so as not to disturb the girls, who were still sleeping peacefully.
“Gosh, I feel better now,” said Jack, stretching out his arms. “I was so tired last night I could have cried. What about you, Philip?”
“I’m all right too,” said Philip, and he yawned hugely. “But sleepy still. Well, we haven’t got to get up for breakfast. We shan’t hear any gong sounding here. Let’s have another snooze.”
But Jack was now too wide awake to snooze. He slipped out from under the rug and went to wash himself at the spring. He gazed downwards and saw the spire of smoke rising up just as it had yesterday.
“Those fellows are up and about,” he said to himself. “Must be getting pretty late in the morning, I suppose. The sun’s fairly high. Blow! I forgot to wind up my watch last night.”
Soon the girls woke up and were amazed to find they had slept solidly all the night through and had apparently not even stirred. Dinah looked to see where Lizzie was.
“It’s all right,” said Philip amiably. “She’s down one of my socks. I like the feel of her tiny fingers on my leg.”
“Ugh! You’re awful!” said Dinah. “Well, I’m going to wash. Then we’ll have breakfast — only cake and biscuits, I’m afraid.”
Unfortunately they were all so hungry that they devoured the cake, the biscuits and the rest of the chocolate too. Now there was no food left at all.
“We’ll just have to do something about it — about the food question, I mean,” said Dinah. “Even if it means eating your lizard, Philip.”
“She wouldn’t make more than a mouthful, would you, Liz?” said Philip. “Hallo — what’s that?”
“That” was the sound of voices. Hurriedly the four children got up, and, dragging their rugs, macks and other clothes with them, they ran quickly to the cowshed. They dumped the things into the last stall and crouched there, panting.
“Have we left anything at all out there?” whispered Jack.
“Don’t think so,” whispered back Philip. “The grass is a bit flattened, that’s all. Let’s hope they won’t notice it.”
There was a crack in the side of the old cowshed and Jack put his eye to it. They had only just got away in time. The men were coming slowly up towards the birch-trees, talking. They came to where the children had slept the night before.
The men walked right past the spot, then one of them stopped and looked back with a puzzled expression. He gazed at the place where the children had slept. What he said they couldn’t hear, but he pointed to the flattened grass. Both men then walked back and looked earnestly down at it.
“What’s done that?” asked the man called Juan.
“Queer,” said the other man. He had a big fleshy face with full lips, and smallish eyes set too close together. “Some animal, perhaps?”
“Why — that’s big enough for an elephant or two to lie on!” said Juan. “Shall we have a look round?”
The other man looked at his watch. “No. Not now,” he said. “When we come back, perhaps. We’ve got a lot to do today. Come on. It can’t be anything really.”
They went on again and were soon lost to sight among the trees. “I’m going to get up a tree with my field-glasses and follow them with them as they go,” said Jack to the others. “We must make certain they really are gone before we expose ourselves to view.”
He went cautiously out of the shed and ran quickly to a tall tree. He was up it in a trice, for he was an excellent climber. He sat at the top, balanced in a swaying branch, his legs tightly wound round it. He put his glasses to his eyes.
As soon as the men came out on to the grassy, flowery part of the hillside he saw them. They did not take the same direction as the children had taken the day before, but kept on the flowery part for a long time. Jack could see them easily with his glasses. Then they took out a map or paper and stood there looking at it between them.
“Not sure of their way,” thought the boy. “Ah — now they’re off again.”
The men now began to climb steeply and Jack watched them as long as he could see them. But then they rounded a great crag of rock and disappeared from sight. He slid down the tree.
“Gracious! We thought you’d gone to sleep in the tree,” said Dinah impatiently. “I’m tired of waiting in this filthy shed. Have the men gone?”
“Yes. They’re far away now,” said Jack. “It’s quite safe to come out and have a look round. They didn’t go the way we did. I watched them climbing very steeply up the mountainside. Come on — let’s get off whilst we can.”
“We could go and have a look inside the aeroplane now,” said Dinah. So they all hurried down to the valley, and came to where the big aeroplane stood on its enormous wheels. The four children climbed up the steps into the cockpit.
“The big crate’s gone,” said Jack at once. “I wonder how they got it out. It must have been empty or they could never have managed it between them. Look — there’s where we hid the other night!”
Philip and Jack hunted all round the plane for food or information. But there was no food at all, and not a scrap of paper that would give them any idea as to who the men were or why they had come there.
They all climbed out again. “Blow!” said Jack. “We’re no better off now! Not even a bar of chocolate. We shall starve!”
“If we could explore that hut you saw the men by last night, I bet we’d find plenty of food,” said Dinah. “Don’t you remember the men saying ‘Let’s go to the hut and have a meal’? Well, they couldn’t have a meal without food, could they? — so the food must be there.”
This was a distinctly cheering idea. Jack led the way to where he had seen the men sitting by the camp-fire the night before. The fire was almost out, though it was still smouldering a little.
The hut lay nearby. It was tumble-down, but not burnt as had been all the other buildings they had seen. Rough repairs had been done to it. The one window looked strong, and was hardly big enough for anyone to get in or out, if he had wanted to. The door was also a strong one. It was shut.
“Locked, of course,” said Jack, giving it a tug. “And they’ve taken the key. Who did they think was going to come along and take anything? They don’t know a thing about us.”
“Let’s look in at the window,” said Lucy-Ann. “We could see inside easily.”
Jack hoisted Philip up. The boy looked inside, finding it difficult at first to make out anything, because the interior of the shed was dark. The only light came in from the small window.