Five Have Plenty of Fun (6 page)

She and Julian went off. Anne fetched her aunt"s sharpest scissors and draped a big towel round Berta"s shoulders. Berta looked as if she was going to cry.

„Cheer up," said Dick. „You"re going to look angelic with short hair! Begin, Aunt Fanny.

Let"s see what she"s like with shorn locks."

„Sit quite stil ," said Aunt Fanny and began. Clip-clip-clip! The wavy golden hair fell to the floor in big strands and Berta began to weep in earnest. „My hair! I can"t bear this. Oh, my hair!"

Soon most of it was on the floor, and Aunt Fanny began to clip what was left as best she could, to make it look as boyish as possible. She made a very good job of it indeed. Dick and Anne watched with the greatest interest.

„There! It"s done!" said Aunt Fanny at last. „Stop crying, Lesley - and let"s have a look at you!"

Berta stood in the middle of the floor, blinking her tears away. Anne gave a gasp.

„You know - it"s very odd - but she does look rather like a boy - a very, very good-looking boy!"

„An angelic boy," said Dick. „A choirboy or something. She looks smashing! Who would have thought it?"

Aunt Fanny was very struck with Berta"s appearance too. „It"s certainly very odd," she said. „But there"s no doubt about it - when she"s - I mean he"s - dressed in boy"s clothes, he"ll make a fine boy. Better than George, actual y, because her hair"s really too curly for a boy."

Berta went to the looking-glass on the wall. She gave a wail. „I look awful! I don"t know myself! Nobody would EVER recognize me!"

„Splendid!" said Dick, at once. „You"ve hit the nail right on the head. Nobody would recognize you now. Your father was quite right to say, cut your hair off and dress up as a boy. Any prowling kidnapper would never think you were Berta, the pretty little girl."

„I"d rather be kidnapped than look like this," wept Berta. „What wil the girls at your school say, Anne, when they see me?"

„They don"t say anything to George about her short hair, and they won"t say anything to you," said Anne.

„Stop crying, Bert - er - Lesley," said Aunt Fanny. „You make me feel quite miserable.

You"ve been very good to stand so stil al that time. Now I really must think of a little reward for you."

Berta stopped crying at once. „Please," she said, „there"s only one thing I want now. I want Sal y-dog to sleep with me."

„Oh dear, Ber - er Lesley - I really can"t have another dog in that little bedroom," said poor Aunt Fanny. „And George would make things most unpleasant if I did."

„Aunt Fanny - Sal y is a very very good guard for me," said Berta. „She barks at the very slightest sound. I"d feel safe with her in the bedroom."

„I"d like you to have her," said Aunt Fanny, „but..."

Joan had come into the room to put away some things and had heard the conversation.

She stared in admiration at Berta"s neat golden head, and then made a suggestion. „If you"l excuse me, Mam," she said, „Miss Berta could have her camp-bed in my room. I don"t mind the dog a bit, she can have her and welcome, he"s a pet, that little poodle.

It"s very crowded in the girls" room now, with three beds in it, and my room"s a nice big one. So, if Miss Berta doesn"t mind sharing it, she"s welcome."

„Oh Joan - that"s good of you," said Aunt Fanny, relieved at such a simple solution. „Also, your room is up in the attic - it would be very difficult for kidnappers to find their way there

- and nobody would think of looking into your room for one of the children."

„Thank you, Joan, you"re just wunnerful!" said Berta, in delight. „Sal y, do you hear that?

You"l be sleeping on my feet tonight, like Timmy does on George"s."

„I don"t really approve of that, you know, Berta," said Aunt Fanny. „Oh dear - I cal ed you Berta again. Lesley, I mean. What a muddle I"m going to get into! Anne, get the dustpan and sweep up the hair on the floor."

When Julian and George came back there was no sign of the golden hair on the floor.

They put their parcels down on the table and shouted for Aunt Fanny. „Mother!" called George. „Aunt Fanny!" shouted Julian.

She came running downstairs with Berta and Anne and Dick. Julian and George looked at Berta, thunderstruck. „Gosh - is it real y you, Berta?" said Julian. „I simply don"t recognize you!"

„Why - you do look like a boy!" said George. „I never thought you would."

„A jolly good-looking boy," said Julian. „Well, your father was right. It"s the best disguise you could have!"

„Where are the clothes?" asked Berta, rather pleased at al the interest in her looks. They opened the parcels and pul ed out the things.

They were not real y very exciting - a boy"s blazer in navy blue, two pairs of boy"s jeans, two grey jerseys, a few shirts, a tie and a pul -over without sleeves.

„And shoes and socks," said George. „But we decided you"d got plenty of socks that would do, so we only bought one pair of those. Oh - and here"s a boy"s grey felt hat in case the sun"s too hot - and a cap!"

Berta put on the cap at once. There were squeals of laughter from everyone. „It suits her!

She"s got it on at just the right angle. She looks a real boy!"

„You put it on, George," said Berta, and George took it, eager to share in the admiration.

But it looked ridiculous on her curls, and wouldn"t sit down flat as it should. Everyone hooted.

„It makes you look a girl! Take it off!"

George took it off in disappointment. How very aggravating that this girl Berta should make a better boy than she did! She threw the cap on the table, half-cross that they had bought it.

„Go upstairs and put some of the things on," said Aunt Fanny, amused at all these goings-on. Up went Berta obediently, and soon came down again, neatly arrayed in jeans, grey shirt and blue tie.

Everyone roared with laughter. Berta was now quite enjoying herself and paraded round the room, her cap tilted on one side of her head.

„She looks like a very tidy, neat little boy, a good and most angelic child!" said Julian.

„Dear Lesley, you must get yourself just a little dirty - you look too good to be true."

„I don"t like getting dirty," said Berta. „I think..."

But what she thought nobody knew because at that moment the door opened and Uncle Quentin came into the room.

„I"d like to know how you think I can do my work with all this hooting and cackling going on," he began, and then he suddenly saw Berta, and stopped."

„Who"s this?" he said, looking Berta up and down.

„Don"t you know, Father?" said George.

„Of course not. Never seen him in my life before!" said her father. „Don"t tell me it"s somebody else come to stay."

„It"s Berta," said Anne, with a giggle.

„Berta - now who"s Berta?" said Uncle Quentin, frowning. „I seem to have heard that name before."

„The girl you thought might be kidnapped," explained Dick.

„Oh Berta - Elbur"s girl!" said Uncle Quentin, „I remember her all right. But who"s this? This boy? I"ve never seen him before. What"s your name, boy?"

„Lesley," said Berta. „But I was Berta when you saw me at breakfast."

„Good heavens!" said Uncle Quentin amazed. „What a - what a transformation! Why, your own father wouldn"t know you. I hope I remember who you are. Keep reminding me, if I don"t."

Off he went, back to his study. The children laughed, and Aunt Fanny had to laugh too.

„By the way," she said, „I want you all to have lunch at home today, because it"s real y too late now to start making sandwiches for a picnic; it"s only cold ham and salad, so don"t get too hungry, wil you?"

„Is there time for a bathe?" asked Julian, looking at his watch.

„Yes - if you"l come in about twelve o"clock and pick the fruit for a pudding for lunch,"

said his aunt. „It takes ages to pick enough for eight people, and Joan and I have a lot to do today."

„Right. We"ll go for a bathe now, and then we"ll ALL pick fruit," said Julian. „Bags I pick the plums. The raspberries are such fiddley little things."

„Have you a swim-suit, Berta, I mean Lesley?" asked George.

„Yes. It"s an absolutely plain one, like a boy"s, so I"l be al right in it," said Berta. „Hurray, I shan"t need to wear a cap. Boys never do."

Berta"s cases were now all in Joan"s big room and she ran to get into her swim-suit.

„Bring your blazer and a towel," yelled George, and went into her own room with Anne.

„I bet Berta can"t swim," she said. „That wil be a pity, because most boys swim wel . We"ll have to teach her."

„Well, don"t duck her too often!" said Anne, seeing a look in George"s eye that was not too kindly. „Blow - my swim-suit isn"t here - I"m sure I brought it in from the clothes-line."

It took quite a while to find it, and the boys and Berta had already gone down to the beach with Sal y by the time Anne and George were ready to follow with the impatient Timmy.

They were down on the beach at last, and there was Sally-dog guarding the blazers belonging to Julian, Dick and Berta. She was lying on them, and she even dared to growl at Timmy when he came near.

George laughed. „Growl back, Timmy! Don"t let a little snippet like that cheek you. Growl back!"

But Timmy wouldn"t. He just sat down out of reach of Sal y, and looked at her sadly.

Wasn"t she friends with him any more?

„Where are the others?" said Anne, shading her eyes from the glare of the sun and looking out to sea. „Goodness, how far out they"ve swum! That can"t be Berta with them, surely!"

George looked out over the stretch of blue sea at once. She saw three heads bobbing.

Yes, Berta was out there!

„She must be a jol y good swimmer," said Anne, admiringly. „I couldn"t swim out as far as that. We were wrong about Berta. She swims like a fish!"

George said nothing. She ran to the waves, plunged through a big one just as it was curling over, and swam out strongly. She couldn"t believe that it was Berta out there! And if it was, the boys must be helping her!

But it was Berta. Her golden head glistened wet in the water, and she shouted in glee as she swam.

„This is great! This is wunnerful! Gee, I"m enjoying this! Hi there, George - isn"t the water warm?"

Julian and Dick grinned round at the panting George. „Lesley"s a fine swimmer," said Dick.

„Gosh, I thought she was going to race me at one time. She"d beat you, George!"

„She wouldn"t," said George, but all the same she didn"t chal enge Berta to race!

It was fun to be five, fun to chase one another in the sea, to swim under the water and grab somebody's leg. And Anne laughed til she choked when she saw somebody heave themselves out of the water right on to George"s back, and duck her well and truly.

It was Berta! And what was more, the angry George couldn"t catch her afterwards. Berta could swim much too fast!

Berta soon settled down happily with the Five. George couldn"t bear to think that the girl had to be dressed like a boy, but her jealousy wore off a little as the days went by -

though she couldn"t help feeling annoyed that Berta proved to be such a good swimmer!

She could dive wel too, and swim under water even longer than the boys could, much to their surprise.

„Oh well, you see, back home, we"ve got a pool in our garden," she said. „A wonDERful pool, gee, you should see it. And I learnt to swim in it when I was two. Pops always cal ed me a water-baby."

Berta ate just as much as the others, although she was not so sturdy and well built. She was loud in her praise of the meals, and this pleased Aunt Fanny and Joan very much.

„You"re getting fatter, Lesley," said Aunt Fanny a week later, looking at her as she sat eating her lunch with the others. „And what is better stil - you"re getting a real y good sun-tan. You"re almost as brown as the others!"

„Yes. I thought so too," said Berta, pleased.

„It"s a good thing you caught the sun so easily," said Aunt Fanny. „Now, if any kidnappers come round looking for a long-haired pale-faced American girl, they would take one look at the lot of you and off they would go! Nobody would guess you were Berta!"

„Al the same, I"d much rather be Berta," said Berta. „I stil don"t like pretending to be a boy. It"s sil y, and it makes me feel sil y. Anyway, thank goodness my hair"s growing a bit longer. I don"t look quite so much like a boy now!"

„Dear me, you"re right," said Aunt Fanny, and everyone looked at Berta. „I shal have to cut it short again."

„Gosh!" said Berta, „why did I say that? You wouldn"t have noticed if I hadn"t mentioned it.

Let it grow again, please, Aunt Fanny. I"ve been here a week and there isn"t even a smel of a kidnapper - and I reckon there won"t be either!"

But Aunt Fanny was firm about the hair, and after the meal she made Berta stand stil while she clipped it a little shorter. It was not a bit curly like George"s, and now that it was short, the wave had almost gone from it. She real y did look like a good clean little boy!

„Rather a wishy-washy one!" said George, unkindly, but everyone knew what she meant.

Sal y the poodle was a great success. Even George couldn"t go on disliking the happy, dancing little dog. She trotted and capered about on her slim little legs, and Timmy was her adoring slave.

„She always looks as if she"s running about on tiptoe," said Anne, and so she did. She made friends with everyone, even the paper-boy, who was real y scared of dogs.

Uncle Quentin was the only one who didn"t get used to Berta and Sally. When he met them together, Berta so like a small boy, Sal y at her heels, he stopped and stared.

„Now let me see - who are you?" he said. „Yes - you"re Berta!"

„No - he"s LESLEY!" everyone would say.

„You must not call her Berta, dear," said his wife. „You real y must not. It"s a funny thing that you never could remember she was Berta, and now that we"ve made her into Lesley, you immediately remember she"s Berta!"

„Well, I must say you"ve made her look exactly like a boy," said Uncle Quentin, much to George"s annoyance. George was beginning to be afraid that Berta looked more boyish than she did! „Well, I hope you"re having a good time with the others, er - er..."