Mystery of the Hidden House (6 page)

Mr. Goon wished he was safe home and warm in bed. He plodded along quietly, thinking of comforting things like oil-stoves and hot cocoa and hot water-bottles. And quite suddenly he saw a light flashing not far from him!

Mr. Goon sank down on the hillside beside a hedge. So that toad of a boy was right. There was something going on after all on Christmas Hill! What could it be?

He watched intently, almost forgetting to breathe. A red light - flash-flash! A green one - flash-flash-flash! And gracious, there was another light farther up the hill - a blue one, flash!

Larry and Pip were enjoying themselves, flashing hard, hoping that Ern was seeing the flashes and marvelling. Fatty was waiting impatiently for Ern. Where was he? All this flashing was being wasted if Ern wasn’t seeing it. Surely he hadn’t gone to sleep in bed when he had been told to come to the mill?

Then Fatty heard a sigh as if some one was letting out a big breath. Ah - that must be Ern. He must be hiding somewhere nearby. Perhaps he didn’t know quite where the mill was.

Flash-flash-flash! The lights winked out over the hill. Mr. Goon wondered if they were being flashed in the Morse code, but after trying hard to puzzle out any letters being flashed he gave it up. Who were these signallers? Were they flashing to somebody in the old deserted mill? Mr. Goon thought about the mill. It was almost ruined. He was positive there was nothing to be found there but rats and owls.

Mr. Goon moved his cramped legs and a twig cracked sharply under him. He held his breath again! Would any one hear that? He listened and heard nothing. The lights went on and on flashing merrily. Most extraordinary. Mr. Goon debated whether or not to tell the Inspector about it. He decided not to. He’d better get to the bottom of things before that cheeky Frederick Trotteville did.

The lights stopped flashing. They had been going strong for twenty minutes, and now Larry and Pip were so cold that they decided to make their way home. They would meet Fatty again in the morning, and hear what had happened to him and Ern. They chuckled as they thought of Ern, discovering Fatty crouching in a ditch, and wondered what he would do. Run away, probably.

When the lights stopped flashing Mr. Goon moved very cautiously from the hedge. He went down into some kind of ditch and tried to get a safe footing. Fatty heard him scraping about, and had no doubt at all but that it was Ern, watching the lights flashing with wonder and fear.

Well, if Ern wasn’t going to discover him, he had better discover Ern! He would leap on him and give him the fright of his life! They would have a good old rough and tumble!

Fatty crept towards Mr. Goon. He decided to make a few noises first. So he made a mewing noise like a cat. Mr. Goon stopped, surprised. A cat? Out here on Christmas Hill, with not a building near! Poor thing!

“Puss, puss, puss!” he called. Then he heard an unmistakable clucking. “Cluck-luck-luck-luck-luck! Cluck-luck-luck-luck-luck!”

A hen! Who could it belong to? Mr. Goon frowned. It must have escaped from somewhere - but where? There was no farm for miles!

Fatty then mooed like a cow. He was a good mooer and could even startle cows. He startled Mr. Goon extremely, much more than he had ever startled cows. Mr. Goon almost jumped out of his skin. A cow now! Visions of Christmas Hill suddenly populated in the middle of the night with cows, cats and hens came into Mr. Goon’s mind. He couldn’t understand it. For one moment he wondered if he could be dreaming.

But he was too cold to be dreaming. He scratched the side of his cheek and puzzled about the cow. He ought to take a cow away from this bitter-cold hill. He felt for his torch, and shone it all around, trying to find the cow. Fatty, crouched under a nearby bush, giggled. He thought it was Ern trying to see the cow, the cat and the hen. He debated whether to grunt like a pig or to wail like a baby.

He wailed, and Mr. Goon froze to his very marrow. He was petrified. What else was abroad on this dark hill tonight? Whatever there was he wasn’t going to waste any time looking for it. He turned to run, and another wail made him shake at the knees.

Fatty stood up when he heard the noise of somebody running away. He couldn’t let Ern go like that! He must go after him, pounce on him and pummel him - and then he’d let him go - and perhaps Ern would spin such a wonderful tale to Old Clear-Orf about queer mysteries up on Christmas Hill that it would bamboozle the policeman completely.

So Fatty padded after Mr. Goon. The policeman was terrified to hear somebody after him. He caught his foot on a root and fell flat on his face. Fatty fell over him and began to pummel him. He was thoroughly enjoying himself.

But Ern seemed curiously strong! Fatty found himself heaved off, and a strong arm bent him back. A familiar voice grated in his ear. “Ho, you would, would you? You comealonga me!”

Now it was Fatty’s turn to get a shock. Gracious, it was Goon, not Ern. Fatty freed himself as soon as he could and shot off down the hill, praying that Goon would not be able to put on his torch quickly enough to spot him.

His head was spinning. That was Goon. Why was he there? Where was Ern? He went cold when he thought what Mr. Goon would say if he found out that it was Fatty who had leapt on him like that.

Mr. Goon fumbled for his torch, but it was broken in the rough and tumble. He was no longer frightened. He felt victorious. He had frightened off that fellow who had attacked him, whoever it was.

“He must have been a big chap,” thought Mr. Goon, “a big hefty strong chap. And I heaved him off as easy as winking. Flung himself on me, he did, like a ton of bricks! And me down flat on my face, too. Not a bad night’s work, really.”

He made his way cautiously down the hill. He heard no more curious noises. Nobody else attacked him. He puzzled over the night’s happenings and tried to sort them out.

“Flashing lights - all colours - in two different places. A cat, a hen, a cow and something that wailed in a horrible manner. And a great giant of a fellow who attacked me out of the dark. That’s something to go on! Can’t make head nor tail of it now, but I’ll get to the bottom of it!”

Fatty made his way home too. Larry and Pip were already home and in bed, hugging luke-warm hot-water bottles. They were longing to see Fatty in the morning and to know what had happened to Ern. Had he been frightened of the lights? What did he do when he found Fatty crouching in the ditch.

Where was Ern? He was having a little adventure on his own!

Ern has an Adventure too

Ern, most unfortunately, had followed the wrong stream, so that it did not, of course, lead him to the mill on Christmas Hill. It meandered through frosty fields, and didn’t go anywhere near a hill at all. Ern was rather astonished that he had no climbing to do, but he clung to the stream, hoping that sooner or later it would take him uphill.

If he had cared to flash his torch on the water he would have seen that the stream was going exactly the same way as he was, and could on no account be expected to run uphill, but Ern didn’t think about that. He just went on and on.

He felt that it must be past midnight, and still there was no sign of a mill, and no sign of Christmas Hill either. He couldn’t imagine where he was. Thank goodness there was a stream to guide him! He stumbled on over the frosty bank beside the little stream, following its curves.

Soon it was about half-past twelve. Ern paused and considered things. He must be going the wrong way. The others wouldn’t have waited for him. They would probably have gone home after watching for the lights.

“I’d better go back,” said Ern, shivering. “It’s too cold. I don’t care what the others say, I’d better go back.”

And then Ern suddenly saw a light! He was not expecting one and was extremely astonished. It suddenly shone out from some distance away and then faded. Could it possibly be part of the Mystery?

Then he heard a noise. He listened. It was a low purring noise, like a car. It came from the same direction as the light he had seen. He couldn’t see the car at all, but it must have passed down some path or lane not very far from him, because the purring of the engine grew louder and then faded again as the car was driven farther and farther away.

“Why didn’t it have lights?” wondered Ern. He stood there, waiting and listening and then decided to move on a little farther down the stream. He went on cautiously, not liking to put on his torch.

Then he heard footsteps - soft footsteps walking nearby, crunching quietly over the frosty ground. Two pairs of footsteps - or was it three? No, two.

A voice spoke softly in the darkness. “Good night, Holland. See you later.”

There was an answering mumble, and then no other noise except departing footsteps. It sounded as if the two men had gone different ways.

Ern shivered with exctement and cold. He wished the others were there. Why weren’t they? This must be part of the Mystery Fatty had talked about. Then Fatty should have been there to share it with him. Were those men kidnappers or robbers or what?

Ern turned back. He put up his coat-collar and tightened his scarf, for now he was meeting the wind. He kept close to the stream and walked over the frosted grass as fast as he could. Ooooh! It was cold.

He came at last to the bridge he knew, that crossed the stream and led into a little lane. He went up the lane, turned into the village street and made his way quietly to his uncle’s house. He had been wise enough to take the back-door key with him. He stole round to the back, and let himself in.

Mr. Goon was now in bed, fast asleep and snoring. He didn’t even know that Ern was out! He had crept upstairs, undressed, and got into bed with hardly a sound, not wanting to let Ern know he had been out at midnight. He didn’t want him to guess he had been up to Christmas Hill, probing the Mystery!

It took Ern a long time to go to sleep. To begin with he was very cold, and the bed wouldn’t seem to warm up. And then he was puzzled by what he had seen and heard. It wasn’t much - but it didn’t make sense somehow. He thought he couldn’t be a very good detective. That boy Fatty would have guessed a whole lot of things if he had been with Ern that night. Ern was quite sure of that.

Neither Mr. Goon nor Ern said a word to each other of their midnight escapades. Mr. Goon had a bruise on his cheek where his face had struck a stone when he had fallen. Ern had a scratch across his forehead where a bramble had scraped him. They both looked tired out.

“You do what you like today Ern,” said Mr. Goon, who felt that probably Ern might pick up a few Clues from Fatty about the Mystery, and pass them on to him - or if he wrote them down in his notebook he could get them when Ern was asleep and read them.

“Thanks, Uncle,” said Ern, perking up at once. Now he would be able to go and see the others and hear what had happened.

He went round to Fatty’s shed, but Fatty wasn’t there. However, there was a message up on the door. “Gone to Pip’s. Join us there.”

Guessing correctly that the message was for him Ern went up to Pip’s. Bets saw him from the window and waved to him.

She opened the window. “Don’t go to the front door. Come in the garden door at the side of the house, and wipe your feet for goodness’ sake”

Ern did as he was told. He forgot to take off his cap when he got into the house, and when he met Pip’s mother she stared at him disapprovingly and said, “Please take your cap off. Where are your manners?”

Ern blushed bright red and fled upstairs. He pulled his cap off so hurriedly that his hair stood straight up.

“Hallo,” said Fatty, when he came in at the playroom door. “You saw the message then. What happened to you last night? You went to sleep and didn’t wake up in time to come, I suppose?”

“I didn’t go to sleep at all!” said Ern, indignantly. “I got up and followed the stream - but it didn’t lead me to Christmas Hill, or to any mill. I don’t know where it led me to. But I saw the mysterious lights all right.”

“You didn’t,” said Larry. “Pip and I and Fatty were up on the hill and saw them. You couldn’t possibly have seen any flashing lights if you weren’t up on the hill.”

“Well, I did then,” said Ern, looking annoyed. “You weren’t with me. You don’t know what I saw!”

“Did you tell your uncle that we had told you to go to the mill on Christmas Hill last night?” demanded Fatty.

“’Course I didn’t,” said Ern, even more annoyed. “He was in bed and snoring!”

“He wasn’t,” said Fatty. “He was up on Christmas Hill.”

Ern didn’t believe him at all. “Oh, goanborlyered!” he said in a disgusted voice.

The Find-Outers looked inquiringly at him. What did this peculiar word mean? “What did you say then?” asked Fatty, interestedly. “Is it Spanish or something?”

“I said ‘Goanborlyered’,” repeated Ern “And fry your face too!”

The second part of what he said threw light on the first part. “Oh! he said ‘Go and boil your head!’ ” explained Daisy.

“SwatIsaid,” said Ern, looking sulky.

“Swatesaid,” said Fatty. “What’s the matter, Ern? Why don’t you believe me when I say your uncle was up on the hill last night?”

“Because I heard him snoring like billyoh when I got in, that’s all,” said Ern.

“Did you hear him snoring like billyoh when you went out?” asked Fatty. Ern considered, frowning hard.

“No. Can’t say I did. He might have gone out without me hearing him, and come back before I did.”

“That’s about what he did then,” said Fatty. “But what I can’t make out is - why did he go up? How did he know anything about meeting at the mill on Christmas Hill?”

“He might somehow have got hold of the note you gave Ern when you disguised yourself as the red-shawled woman,” said Daisy. “He’d know then.”

“Yes. I suppose that’s what he must have done - if Ern was silly enough to give him the chance,” said Fatty.

“Well, I didn’t,” said Ern. “What you all getting at me this morning for? I got up, didn’t I, and I tried to get to Christmas Hill? I must have followed the wrong stream, that’s all. I looked up the mill in the map and I saw that if I could follow the stream that runs down by it, I’d get there all right. But it was dark and I couldn’t see anything. But I tell you I did see a light.”