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Chapter Fourteen A SHOCK FOR GEORGE

DICK  looked  at  George.  He  didn't  think  it  would  matter  telling  Martin  where  Timmy  was,  so long as George didn't give the reason why he had been left on the island.

But George was going to hold her tongue now. She looked at Martin and spoke¹ quite airily. 'Oh, Timmy? We left him behind today. He's all right.'

'Gone out shopping with your mother, I suppose, hoping for a visit to the butcher's!' said Martin.

This was the first joke he had ever made to the children, and though it was rather a feeble one they  laughed  heartily.  Martin  looked  pleased.  He  began  to  try  and  think  of  another  little  joke, while his deft² hands put reds and blues³ and greens on the little wooden figures.

They all had a huge tea. Then, when the clock said a quarter to six the girls carried the painted figures carefully back to the coastguard, who was delighted with them. Dick took back the little tins of paint, and the brush, stuck in a jar of turpentine.

'Well  now,  he's  clever  that  boy,  isn't  he?'  said  the  coastguard,  eyeing  the  figures  in  delight.

'Looks sort of miserable⁴ and sulky -- but he's not a bad sort of boy!'

'I'll just have one more squint⁵ through your telescope,' said George, 'before it gets too dark.' She tilted⁶ it towards her island. But once more there was no sign of Timmy, or of her father either.

She looked for some time, and then went  to  join the others.  She shook  her head as  they raised their eyebrows⁷ inquiringly

The  girls  washed  up  the  tea-things,  and  cleared  away  neatly.  Nobody  felt  as  if  they  wanted  to wait and see Mr. Curton. They didn't feel as if they liked him very much, now they knew how hard he was on Martin.

'Thanks for a lovely afternoon,' said Martin, limping to the door with them. 'I enjoyed my spot of painting, to say nothing of your company.'

'You stick out for your painting,' said Julian. 'If it's the thing you've got to do, and you know it, you must go all out for it. See?'

'Yes,' said  Martin,  and  his  face went  sullen again. 'But  there  are things  that  make it difficult  --

things I can't very well tell you. Oh well - never mind! I dare say it will all come right one day, and I'll be a famous artist with pictures in the academy!'

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'Come  on,  quickly,'  said  Dick,  in  a  low  voice  to  Julian.  'There's  his  father  coming  back!'  They hurried off down the cliff-path, seeing Mr. Curton out of the corner of their eyes, coming up the other path.

'Horrid⁸ man!' said Anne. 'Forbidding Martin to do what he really longs to do. And he seemed so nice and jolly and all-over-us, didn't he?'

'Very all-over-us,' said Dick, smiling at Anne's new word. 'But there are a lot of people like that -

- one thing at home and quite another outside!'

'I  hope  Mr.  Curton  hasn't  been  trying  to  explore  that  passage  in  the  side  of  the  quarry⁹,'  said George, looking back, and watching the man walk up to his back door. 'It would be too bad if he butted¹⁰ in and spoilt our fun. I mean -- there may be nothing to discover at all -- but it will be fun even finding there is nothing.'

'Very involved!' said Dick, with a grin. 'But I gather what you mean. I say, that was a good tea, wasn't it?'

'Yes,' said George, looking all round her in an absent-minded manner.

'What's up?' said Dick. 'What are you looking like that for?'

'Oh - how silly of me -  I was just looking for Timmy,' said George. 'You know, I'm so used to him always being at my heels or somewhere near that I just can't get used to him not being here.'

'Yes, I feel a bit like that too,' said Julian. 'As if there was something missing all the time. Good old Tim! We shall miss him awfully¹¹, all of us -- but you most of all, George.'

'Yes.  Especially  on  my  bed  at  night,'  said  George.  'I  shan't  be  able  to  go  to  sleep  for  ages  and ages.'

'I'll wrap  a cushion up in a rug and plonk  it down on  your feet  when  you're in  bed,' said  Dick.

'Then it will feel like Timmy!'

'It won't! Don't be silly,' said George, rather crossly. And anyway it wouldn't smell like him. He's got a lovely smell.'

'Yes, a Timmy-smell,' agreed Anne. 'I like it too.'

The evening went very quickly, playing the endless game of monopoly again. Julian lay in bed later,  watching  for,  his  uncle's  signal.  Needless  to  say,  George  was  at  the  window  too!  They waited for half past ten.

'Now!' said Julian. And just as he spoke there came 'the first flash from the lantern in the tower.

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'One,' counted George, 'two, three, four, five, six!' She waited anxiously to see if there were any more, but there weren't.

'Now you can go to bed in peace,' said Julian to George. 'Your father is all right, and that means

'that Timmy is all right too. Probably he has remembered to give Timmy a good supper, and has had some himself as well!'

'Well,  Timmy  would  soon  remind  him,  if  he  forgot  to  feed  him,  that's  one  thing,'  said  George, slipping out of the room. 'Good night, Dick; good night, Ju! See you in the morning.'

And back she went to her own bed and snuggled down under the sheets. It was queer not to have Timmy  on  her  feet.  She  tossed  about  for  a  while,  missing  him,  and  then  fell  asleep  quite suddenly.  She  dreamed  of  her  island.  She  was  there  with  Timmy  --  and  they  were  discovering ingots of gold down in the dungeon¹². What a lovely dream!

Next morning dawned bright and sunny again. The April sky was as  blue as the forget-me-nots coming  out  in  the  garden.  George  gazed  out  of  the  dining-room  window  at  breakfast-time, wondering if Timmy was run-fling about her island.

'Dreaming  about  Tim?'  said  Julian,  with  a  laugh.  'Never  mind  --  you'll  soon  see  him,  George.

Another hour or so and you'll feast your eyes on him through the coastguard's telescope!'

'Do you really think you'll be able to make out Tim, if he's in the tower with your father at half past ten?' asked her mother. 'I shouldn't have thought you would be able to.'

'Yes, I shall, Mother,' said George. 'It's a very powerful telescope, you know. I'll just go up and make my bed, then I'll go up the cliff-path. Anyone else coming?'

'I  want  Anne  to  help  me  with  some  turning  out,'  said  her  mother.  'I'm  looking  out  some  old clothes to give to the vicar's wife for her jumble¹³ sale. You don't mind helping¹⁴ me, Anne, do you?'

'No, I'd like to,' said Anne at once. 'What are the boys going to do?'

'I think I must do a bit of my holiday work this morning,' said Julian, with a sigh. 'I don't want to

- but I've kept on putting it off. You'd better do some too, Dick. You know what you are -- you'll leave it all to the last day if you're not careful!'

'All  right.  I'll do some too,' said  Dick.  'You won't  mind scooting up to  the coastguard's  cottage alone, will you, George?'

'Not a bit,' said George. 'I'll come back just after half past ten, as soon as I've spotted¹⁵ Timmy and Father.' She disappeared to make her bed. Julian and Dick went to fetch some books. Anne went 61

to make her bed too, and then came down to help her aunt. In a few minutes George yelled goodbye and rushed out of the house.

'What a hurricane!' said her mother. 'It seems as if George never walks if she can possibly run.

Now Anne - put the clothes in three piles -- the very old - the not so old -- and the quite nice.'

Just before half past ten Julian went up to his window to watch for the signal from his uncle. He waited patiently. A few seconds after the hall-hour the flashes came - one, two, three, four, five, six - good! Now George would settle down for the day. Perhaps they could go to the quarry in the afternoon. Julian went back to his books and was soon buried in them, with Dick grunting¹⁶ by his side.

At about five minutes to eleven there was the sound of running feet and panting breath. George appeared at the door of the sitting-room¹⁷ where the two boys were doing their work. They looked up.

George was red in the face, and her hair was windblown. She fought to get her breath enough to speak. 'Julian! Dick! Something's happened -- Timmy wasn't there!'

'What do you mean?' said Julian in surprise. George slumped¹⁸ down on a chair, still panting. The boys could see that she was trembling too.

'It's serious, Julian! I tell you Timmy wasn't in the tower when the signals came!'

'Well -- it only means that your absent-minded father forgot to take him up with him,' said Julian, in his most sensible voice. 'What did you see?'

'I had my eye glued to the telescope,' said George, 'and suddenly  I saw someone come into the little  glass  room  at  the  top.  I  looked  for  Timmy,  of  course,  at  once  -  but  I  tell  you,  he  wasn't there! The six flashes came, the man disappeared -- and that was all. No Timmy! Oh I do feel so dreadfully worried, Julian.'

'Well,  don't  be,'  said  Julian,  soothingly.  'Honestly,  I'm  sure  that's  what  happened.  Your  father forgot about Timmy. Anyway, if you saw him, obviously things are all right.'

'I'm not thinking about Father!' cried George. 'He must be all right if he flashed his signals -- I'm thinking  about  Timmy.  Why,  even  if  Father  forgot  to  take  him,  he'd  go  with  him.  You  know that!'

'Your father might have shut the door at the bottom and prevented Timmy from going up,' said Dick.

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'He might,'  said  George, frowning. She hadn't  thought  of that.  'Oh dear  -  now  I  shall worry  all day long. Why didn't I stay with Timmy? What shall I do now?'

'Wait till tomorrow morning,' said Dick. 'Then probably you'll see old Tim all right.'

'Tomorrow  morning!  Why,  that's  ages  away!'  said  poor  George.  She  put  her  head  in  her  hands and groaned¹⁹. 'Oh, nobody understands how much I love Timmy. You would perhaps if you had a dog of your own, Julian. It's an awful feeling, really. Oh Timmy, are you all right?'

'Of course he's all right,' said Julian, impatiently. 'Do pull yourself together, George.'

'I  feel  as  if  something's  wrong,'  said  George,  looking  obstinate.  'Julian  --  I  think  I'd  better  go across to the island.'

'No,' said  Julian at  once. 'Don't  be idiotic²⁰, George.'  'Nothing is  wrong, except  that  your father's been forgetful. He's sent his O.K. signal. That's enough! You're not to go and create a scene over there with him. That would be disgraceful!'

'Well  -  I'll  try  and  be  patient,'  said  George,  unexpectedly  meek.  She  got  up,  looking,  worried.

Julian spoke in a kinder voice.

'Cheer up, old thing! You do like to go off the deep end, don't you?'