Five Have a Wonderful Time (4 page)

This was a most alarming threat. With an enormous heave Julian, Dick and George at last got Timmy under control, dragged him up the steps of Anne's caravan, and shut the door on him, Anne tried to quieten him, while the other three went out to the angry little man again.

He had dragged out the big, shallow box, and had opened the lid. The three watched, fascinated. What snakes had he in there? Rattlesnakes? Cobras? They were all ready to run for their lives if the snakes were as angry as their owner.

A great head reared itself out of the box, and swung itself from side to side. Two unblinking dark eyes gleamed —and then a long, long body writhed out and glided up the man's legs, round his waist and round his neck. He fondled it, talking in a low, caressing voice.

George shivered. Julian and Dick watched in amazement. "It's a python said Julian. "My, what a monster.

I've never seen one so close before. I wonder it doesn't wind itself round that fellow and squeeze him to death."

"He's got hold of it near the tail," said Dick, watching "Oh, look — there's another one!"

Sure enough a second python slid out of the box, coil upon gleaming coil. It too wreathed itself round its owner, making a loud hissing noise as it did so. Its body was thicker than Julian's calf.

Anne was watching out of her caravan window, hardly able to believe her eyes. She had never in her life seen snakes as big as these. She didn't even know what they were. She began to wish their caravans were miles and miles away.

The little man quieted his snakes at last. They almost hid him with their great coils! From each side of his neck came a snake's head, flat and shining.

Timmy was now watching out of the window also, his head beside Anne's. He was amazed to see the gliding snakes, and stopped barking at once. He got down from the window and went under the table. Timmy didn't think he liked the look of these new creatures at all!

The man fondled the snakes and then, still speaking to them lovingly, got them back into their box again.

They glided in, and piled themselves inside, coil upon coil. The man shut down the lid and locked it.

Then he turned to the three watching children. "You see how upset you make my snakes?" he said. "Now you keep away, you hear? And you keep your dog away too. Ah, you children! Interfering, poking your noses, staring! I do not like children and nor do my snakes. You KEEP AWAY, SEE?"

He shouted the last words so angrily that the three jumped. "Look here," said Julian, "we only came to say we were sorry our dog barked like that. Dogs always bark at strange things they don't know or understand. It's only natural."

"Dogs, too, I hate," said the little man, going into his caravan. "You will keep him away from here, especially when I have my snakes out, or one might give him too loving a squeeze. Ha!"

He disappeared into his van and the door shut firmly.

"Not so good," said Julian. "We seem to have made a bad start with the fair-folk — and I had hoped they would be friendly and let us into some of their secrets."

"I don't like the last thing he said," said George, worried. "A 'loving squeeze' by one of those pythons would be the end of Timmy. I shall certainly keep him away when I see that funny little man taking out his snakes. He really seemed to
love
them, didn't he?"

"He certainly did," said Julian. "Well, I wonder who lives in the second newly-arrived caravan. I feel I hardly dare even to look at it in case it contains gorillas or elephants or hippos, or…"

"Don't be an idiot," said George. "Come on, it's getting dark. Hallo, here comes the caravan we saw down in the lane just now!"

It came slowly up the grassy hillside, bumping as it went. On the side was painted a name in large, scarlet letters.

"Mister India-rubber."

"Oh — the rubber-man!" said George. "Dick — is he the driver, do you think?"

They all stared at the driver. He was long and thin and droopy, and he looked as if he might burst into tears at any moment. His horse looked rather the same.

"Well — he
might
be Mr. India-rubber," said Julian. "But certainly there doesn't seem to be much
bounce
in him! Look — he's getting down."

The man got down with a supple, loose grace that didn't seem to fit his droopy body at all. He took the horse out of the shafts and set it loose in the field. It wandered away pulling here and there at the grass, still looking as sad and droopy as its master.

"Bufflo!" suddenly yelled the man. "You in?"

The door of the second caravan opened and a young man looked out — a huge young man with a mop of yellow hair, a bright red shirt and a broad smile.

"Hiya, Rubber!" he called. "We got here first. Come along in — Skippy's got some food ready."

Mr. India-rubber walked sadly up the steps of Bufflo's caravan. The door shut.

"This is really rather exciting," said Dick. "An india-rubber man — Bufflo and Skippy, whoever they may be -and a man with tame snakes next to us. Whatever next!"

Anne called to them. "Do come in. Timmy's whining like anything."

They went up the steps of her caravan and found that Anne had got ready a light supper for them — a ham sandwich each, a piece of fruit cake l.nd an orange.

"I'll have a pickled onion with my sandwich, please," said Dick. "I'll chop it up and put it in with the ham.

What wonderful ideas I do have, to be sure!"

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AS they had their supper they talked about the queer new arrivals. Timmy sat close to George, trying to tell her that he was sorry for causing such a disturbance. She patted him and scolded him at the same time.

"I quite understand that you don't like the snakes, Timmy — but when I tell you to stop barking and come away you MUST do as you're told! Do you understand?"

Timmy's tail dropped and he put his big head on George's knee. He gave a little whine.

"I don't think he'll ever go near that box again, now he's seen the snakes that came out of it," said Anne.

"You should have seen how scared he was when he looked out of the window with me and saw them. He went and hid under the table."

"It's a pity we've made a bad start with the fair-folk," said Julian. "I don't expect they like children much, because as a rule the kids would make themselves an awful nuisance — peering here and poking there."

"I think I can hear more caravans arriving," said George, and Timmy pricked up his ears and growled. "Be quiet, Timmy. We're not the only ones allowed in this field!"

Dick went to the window and peered out into the twilight. He saw some large dark shapes in another part of the field, looming out of the darkness. A little camp-fire burned brightly in front of one, showing a small figure bending over it.

"These are jolly good sandwiches, Anne," said Dick. "What about another pickled onion, everyone?"

"No Dick," said Anne, firmly. "You've eaten your sandwich."

"Well, I can eat a pickled onion
without
a sandwich, can't I?" said Dick. "Hand over, Anne."

Anne wouldn't. "I've hidden them," she said. "You want some for tomorrow, don't you? Don't be greedy, Dick. Have a biscuit if you're still hungry."

"I meant to ask if we could have a camp-fire outside tonight," said George, remembering. "But somehow I feel so sleepy I think I'd nod off if I sat by it!"

"I feel sleepy too," said Anne. "Let's clear up, George, and snuggle into our bunks. The boys can go to their caravan and read or play games if they want to."

Dick yawned. "Well — I might read for a bit," he said. "I hope you've got enough water, Anne, for the various things you use it for — because I do NOT intend to stumble over this dark field to the stream, and fall over snakes and anything else the fair-folk may have strewn carelessly about the grass!"

"You don't think those snakes could get loose, do you?" said Anne, anxiously.

"Of course not!" said Julian. "Anyway, Timmy will bark the place down if even a hedgehog comes roving by, so you don't need to worry about snakes!"

The boys said good night and went off to their own caravan. The girls saw a light suddenly shine out there, and shadows moved across the curtains drawn over the windows.

"Dick's lighted their lamp," said Anne. Theirs was already lighted, and the caravan looked cosy and friendly.

Anne showed George how to put up her bunk. It clicked into place, felt nice and firm and was most inviting-looking.

The girls made their beds in the bunks, putting in sheets and blankets and rugs. "Where's my pillow?" asked George. "Oh — it's a cushion in the daytime, is it? What a good idea!"

She and Anne took the covers off the two cushions in the chairs, and underneath were the pillow-cases over the pillows, ready for the night!

They undressed, washed in stream water in the little sink, cleaned their teeth and brushed their hair. "Does the water go under the caravan when I pull the plug out of the sink?" said George. "Here goes!"

The water gurgled out and splashed on the ground under the van. Timmy pricked up his ears and listened.

He could see that he would have to get used to quite a lot of new noises here!

"Got your torch?" said Anne when at last they had both got into their bunks. "I'm going to blow out the lamp. If you want anything in the night you'll have to put on your torch, George. Look at Timmy sitting on the floor still! He doesn't realize we've gone to bed! Tim — are you

waiting for us to go upstairs? "

Timmy thumped his tail on the floor. That was just exactly

what he
was
waiting for. When George went to bed she
always
went upstairs, whether she was at school or at home — and

though he hadn't managed to discover any stairs in the caravan

yet, he was sure that George knew where they were!

It took Timmy a few minutes to realize that George was

going to sleep for the night in the bunk she had put up against

the wall. Then, with one bound he was on top of her, and settled

down on her legs. She gave a groan.

"Oh, Timmy — you
are
rough! Get off my legs — get

further down — get into the curve of my knees."

Timmy found the bunk too small to be really comfortable.

However he managed to curl himself up in as small a space as

possible, put his head down on one of George's knees, gave one

of his heavy sighs, and fell asleep.

He had one ear open all the time, though — an ear for a rat that for some peculiar reason ran over the roof

— an ear for a daring rabbit that nibbled the grass under the caravan — and a very alert ear for a big cockchafer that flew straight into the glass pane of the right-hand window, just above George's bunk.

Plang! It collided with the pane, and fell back, stunned. Timmy couldn't for the life of him think what it was, but soon fell asleep again, still with one ear open. The blackbird in the hawthorn tree woke him up early. It had thought of a perfectly new melody, and was trying it out very loudly and deliberately. A thrush nearby joined in.

"Mind how you do it, mind how you do it!" sang the thrush at the top of its voice. Timmy sat up and stretched. George woke up at once, because Timmy trod heavily on her middle.

She couldn't think where she was at first, then she remembered and smiled. Of course — in a caravan, with Anne. How that blackbird sang — a better song than the thrush! Cows mooed in the distance, and the early morning sun slid in through the window and picked out the clock and the bowl of primroses.

Timmy settled down. If George wasn't going to get up neither was he! George shut her eyes and fell asleep again too. Outside, the camp began to awake. Caravan doors opened. Fires were lighted. Somebody went down to the stream to get water.

The boys came banging at the door of the girls' caravan. "Come on, sleepyheads! It's half-past seven, and we're hungry!"

"Goodness!" said Anne, sitting up, bright-eyed with sleep. "George! Wake up!"

It wasn't long before they were all sitting round a little fire, from which came a very nice smell. Dick was frying bacon and eggs, and the smell made everyone very hungry. Anne had boiled a kettle on her little stove, and made some tea. She came down the steps with a tray on which she had put the teapot and hot water.

"Anne always does things properly," said Dick. "Here, hold your plate out, Ju — your bacon's done. Take your nose out of the way, Timmy, you silly dog — you'll get it splashed with hot fat again. Do look after Timmy when I'm cooking, George. He's already wolfed one slice of bacon."

"Well, it saved you cooking it," said George. "I say, aren't there a lot of caravans here now? They must have come last night."

They stared round at the field. Besides the snake-man's caravan, and Bufflo's and Mr. India-rubber's, there were four or five more.

One interested the children very much. It was a brilliant yellow with red flames painted on the sides. The name on it was "Alfredo, the Fire Eater'.

"I imagine him to be a great big fierce chap," said Dick. "A regular fire-eater, with a terribly ferocious temper, an enormous voice and a great stride when he walks."