Mountain of Adventure (Enid Blyton's Adventure Series)

by Enid Blyton

  Snowy stood there, his little ears pricked up as if he was listening. He suddenly bleated very loudly. And then, very muffled, hardly to be heard, a voice answered. Jack leapt up from the parapet. Was it Philip’s voice? Where was his cave then? Anywhere near where they were?

  Lucy-Ann and Dinah joined Jack, seeing his sudden excitement. Then Snowy gave them a really terrible shock. He jumped right over the mountain-top, off his perch on the parapet of rock!

  ‘Oh!’ shouted Lucy-Ann. ‘He’ll be killed!’

  She wouldn’t look to see what happened, but Dinah and Jack watched in horror. The little kid had leapt to the tiny ledge of rock jutting out some way below the parapet. He landed on it with all four tiny hooves close together! There was only just room for them – not half an inch to spare!

  He stood balanced there, and then, when it looked as if surely he must topple off, he leapt to a small ledge lower down, slithered down a rough bit, and disappeared completely.

  ‘Goodness gracious! What a thing to do!’ said Dinah, taking a deep breath. ‘My heart almost stopped beating.’

  ‘Is Snowy all right?’ asked Lucy-Ann, still not daring to look.

  ‘Apparently. Anyway he’s disappeared – and I should think he’s probably found the cave where Philip is,’ said Jack. ‘All I hope is he won’t try to get back the same way – or he’ll certainly break his neck.’

  But Snowy did get back the same way and appeared on the parapet about half an hour later, looking as frisky as a squirrel.

  And round his neck was a note! It was tied there with string. Jack took it off quickly and opened it. He read it to the others.

  How are you getting on? I’m all right except that I’ve nothing to eat, and only water to drink. I believe those brutes are going to starve me out! Can you send Snowy with anything for me to eat when you get a meal?

  Cheerio!

  Philip

  At that moment the guards arrived with a meal for the children. It was all out of tins but there was plenty. With it was a loaf of fresh bread. Dinah said she thought perhaps the soldiers had an oven down in the pit somewhere to bake their bread.

  They waited till the men had gone and then Jack debated how to send food to Philip. He made some sandwiches and wrapped them up firmly in the paper the soldiers had brought the bread in. He slipped a note inside the sandwiches to say they would send food by Snowy whenever they could. Then he tied the packet very firmly on to Snowy’s back. Snowy smelt it and tried to reach it, but he couldn’t.

  ‘Now you go to Philip again,’ said Jack and patted the parapet to show Snowy that he wanted him up there. As soon as he was up Snowy remembered Philip and down he went again on his clever little feet, landing on first one tiny ledge and then another.

  The other three felt pleased to think that Philip was having a meal instead of being starved. Jack took a look round the countryside below with his field-glasses, as they sat and ate, wondering if Bill would come that day. Time was getting on now. Surely Bill would arrive soon!

  The day passed very slowly. The paratroopers were taken off into the mountain by the soldiers and didn’t come back. The dogs were also taken out and Jack was sure he could see them ranging the countryside again.

  They sent food to Philip by Snowy each time they had a meal. It was a help to exchange cheery notes with him even though nobody felt all that cheerful. Kiki hadn’t yet returned and all the children were now very worried about her.

  The evening came. The paratroopers had not come back and the children wondered why. The dogs came back, however, but this time the children did not go over to them. The Alsatians were fighting over their meat and sounded savage and fierce.

  It was a cloudy, sultry evening. The children dragged their rugs out from under the awning to a place where the breeze blew more strongly. They lay down, trying to go to sleep. The two girls slept, but Jack lay wide awake, feeling worried about Kiki and Philip and the girls too.

  He heard a noise far away in the distance and sat up. He knew what that was – it was a helicopter! There was no mistaking the noise now. Was it coming to the mountain?

  He awoke the two girls. ‘Dinah! Lucy-Ann! The helicopter’s coming. Wake up and let’s watch. Get back under the awning, in case it lands too near us.’

  The girls dragged their rugs under the awning. They went to sit on the parapet and listened, wondering if Philip was awake and listening too. He was. He was lying on his tummy, looking out of his cave, watching and listening. It was too dark for him to see anything much, but he hoped he might share in the excitement.

  The noise came nearer and at last sounded very loud. ‘Look – there it is,’ said Jack, excited. ‘See – going round the mountain a bit above us. Aren’t they going to flash a light here to show it where to land?’

  As he spoke two of the soldiers appeared in a hurry on top of the mountain. They ran to the middle of the great rocky courtyard and did something the children could not see. Immediately a strong light flashed upwards into the sky, and in its beam the children saw the helicopter, its wheels poised almost above their heads.

  ‘There it is! It’s landing!’ cried Jack. ‘See how it’s dropping down slowly, almost vertically! It’s just the right sort of machine to land on a mountain-top!’

  The helicopter came down to the courtyard and stopped. The vanes ceased to whirl above it. Voices hailed one another.

  ‘It’s a jolly big helicopter,’ said Jack. ‘I’ve never seen such a big one before. It must be able to carry quite a large cargo.’

  The beam of light was now directed on the helicopter and the children could see what was going on quite clearly. Boxes and crates were being tumbled out of it on to the ground, and the hard-working men were all very busy handling them, dragging them about, opening some of them and taking the contents down the stone steps to the store-places.

  A lean-faced young man with a scar right across his cheek was the pilot of the helicopter. With him was a swarthy fellow who limped badly. They spoke to the workers in curt tones, and then left their machine and disappeared into the mountain.

  ‘Gone to report to Meier and Erlick, I should think,’ said Jack. ‘Come on – let’s go and have a look at the helicopter. Wish I knew how to fly it! We could escape nicely in it now.’

  ‘And hover outside Philip’s cave and take him off too!’ said Dinah. They all went over to the machine. Jack got into the pilot’s seat and felt grand. How he wished he knew how to fly the helicopter!

  He was still sitting there when Meier, Erlick, the pilot and his companion, and one of the paratroopers appeared. Jack tried to scramble out before he was seen but he was too late. Meier saw him and dragged him out so roughly that he fell to the ground.

  ‘What are you doing? You keep away from this machine!’ shouted Meier in a fury. Jack skipped off to the girls, rubbing his shoulder.

  ‘Are you hurt, Jack?’ asked Lucy-Ann anxiously. He whispered that he was all right. Then he said something that made the girls stare fearfully at the group of men in the centre of the courtyard.

  ‘I believe that paratrooper is the next one to try those “wings”. They’ve brought him up to show him the helicopter and where he’s to jump from.’

  Both the girls thought it would be dreadful to have to leap from a machine high up in the air – and trust to the king’s extraordinary ‘wings’. They wondered how many people had tried them and failed. Nobody would know if they were efficient or not until they had been tried.

  The paratrooper looked the helicopter over thoroughly. He talked to the pilot, who answered him shortly. Jack thought that the pilot wasn’t any too keen about the para-jumping part. He would probably have been content to fly the goods to the mountain and finish at that.

  ‘Tomorrow night you leave,’ said the voice of Meier, cutting through the night. ‘Come and eat now.’

  Leaving two soldiers to guard the helicopter from the curiosity of the children, the rest of them disappeared into the mountain. Tomorrow night! What would th
ey see then?

  23

  The wonderful wings

  The three children retired to their rugs. They were afraid to go near the helicopter again, because the obedient soldiers, they knew, would stand no nonsense. Snowy appeared from over the parapet, full of curiosity. He ran over to the helicopter, but the guards hit out at him.

  ‘The beasts! How can they be cruel to a little kid?’ said Jack. ‘Snowy! Come here! These fellows would make you into soup as soon as look at you. You’d better be careful.’

  ‘Oh, Jack – don’t say things like that,’ said tender-hearted Lucy-Ann. ‘Would they really? Surely nobody would ever have the heart to hurt Snowy?’

  Snowy retreated hastily to the children and skipped up and down the parapet, as sure-footed in the dark as in the daylight. The beam of the lamp showed up the helicopter, but the rest of the courtyard was in darkness.

  The dogs howled in their enclosure. They had not liked the noise the helicopter made, and they were uneasy and restless. The soldiers shouted threateningly to them, but the dogs took no notice.

  ‘I don’t like this adventure at all,’ said Lucy-Ann suddenly. ‘In fact, I simply hate it. I want to get away. I want to go back to Bill and Aunt Allie and Effans and Mrs Evans. Why did we have to find another adventure in these nice, peaceful summer holidays?’

  ‘It just happens to us,’ said Jack. ‘Something in us attracts them, I suppose – like animals are attracted to Philip! Some people attract good luck, some attract wealth, some attract animals, some attract adventures.’

  ‘Well, I’d rather attract something harmless, like cats or dogs,’ complained Lucy-Ann. ‘Oh dear! I do wish Snowy wouldn’t keep walking over us when we’re lying down.’

  They fell asleep at last. In the morning, when they sent some food to Philip by Snowy, they sent a note also, telling him all they had seen in the night. Snowy brought a note back.

  I’m sorry for the paratrooper! I wonder how many they’ve used in trying out this mad experiment. I’m glad I’m not chosen for anything as crazy as that! Keep your chin up! I’m all right here. I’ve got Snowy most of the time and Sally Slithery is getting so tame she eats out of my fingers. She sleeps on a bit of warm rock at the edge of my cave. Tell Snowy not to tread on her when he comes bounding in!

  So long!

  Philip

  The day seemed very long again. The dogs were not taken down into the mountain and let loose on the countryside, but were exercised round and round the courtyard by the diligent soldiers. The children were glad about that.

  ‘If old Bill arrives today, the dogs won’t be out on the mountain-side. He’ll be safe. So let’s hope he comes. Not that he can do much if he does. He won’t know where the entrance is – and if he finds it, he won’t know how to work the rope-ladder – and there’s no other way of getting in.’

  Lucy-Ann looked very dismal. ‘Shall we have to stay here all our lives long?’ she asked.

  The others laughed at her. ‘No!’ said Jack. ‘Bill will do something – but don’t ask me what!’

  The paratroopers had not appeared again that day, not even the one who was supposed to be going to use the ‘wings’ that night. The helicopter stood there in the middle of the courtyard, the sun glinting on its motionless shape.

  Evening came. The children grew restive. The soldiers had brought them food as usual, but had not said a word. What were all the paratroopers doing? Having a ceremonial feast of something to celebrate their comrade’s experiment?

  And where, oh where, was Kiki? Jack was feeling very miserable about her now. He turned over and over in his mind all the things that might have happened to her. She had never been away from him so long.

  That night the beam shone out again in the courtyard. Meier, Erlick, three or four servants and the paratrooper appeared, followed by the lean-faced, scarred pilot and his companion.

  Then up the opening, stepping out majestically, came the king!

  He was dressed in his grand robes and crown and was hardly recognizable as the poor, bald old fellow who had talked to the children a day or two back. He held himself proudly as he walked to the centre of the courtyard.

  Behind came four uniformed guards, carrying a box. They laid it down at the king’s feet. In silence he stooped down and opened it.

  He took out a pair of wings! They glittered like gold, and were shaped like a bird’s outstretched wings, big and wide. Lucy-Ann gasped in delight.

  ‘Oh! Look, Dinah! Real wings! Aren’t they lovely?’

  The king was speaking to the amazed paratrooper. ‘These will hold you up when you jump. Press this button here as soon as you leap from the helicopter. Then you will find that you cannot fall. You will no longer feel the pull of the earth. You will be free and light as air. Then you may use the wings, for guiding yourself, for planing, for soaring, whatever you wish!’

  ‘Doesn’t it sound marvellous?’ whispered Lucy-Ann, drinking in every word.

  ‘The wings must be fitted to your arms,’ said the king. ‘Hold them out and I will fix them on.’

  ‘Here – is this all I’m going to have to stop me falling?’ said the paratrooper.

  ‘You will not need anything else,’ said the king. ‘In these wings are imprisoned powerful rays. At the press of the button they are released, and shoot towards the earth, preventing its pull on you. You cannot fall! But when you want to come to earth, press the button once more – and you will glide down gently, as the earth exerts her pull on you once more.’

  ‘Yes, but look here – I understood it was a new kind of parachute I was trying out,’ said the paratrooper. ‘See? I didn’t think it was stuff and nonsense like this!’

  ‘It is not nonsense, man,’ said Meier’s curt voice. ‘It is a great invention by the greatest scientist in the world. You will find Erlick and me waiting for you to come to earth when you have flown a mile or two. We shall take the dogs and find you. Then – riches for you, and honour for the rest of your life! One of the pioneer flying-men!’

  ‘Look here – I’m a heavy chap,’ began the paratrooper again. ‘See? Those flimsy wings won’t hold me – rays or no rays! I don’t know about any pull of the earth on me – all I know is I’ll have to fall, once I jump out with only those things on my arms. Are you crazy?’

  ‘Get him!’ suddenly said Meier, in a furious voice. Erlick and the soldiers at once pinioned the paratrooper’s arms. He had to stand whilst the king fixed on the ‘wings’. The children watched with bated breath.

  The paratrooper cried out and struggled, but the apelike Erlick was far too strong for him. ‘Put him in the helicopter and take off,’ commanded Meier. ‘Go too, Erlick. Push him out at the right moment. If he’s a fool he’ll not press the button. If he is wise he will press it – and then he will see how well he flies!’

  But the pilot now had something to say. He spoke in a drawling voice, clear and contemptuous.

  ‘I think this fellow’s too heavy. The last one was too. You’d better think again, boss, and get those wings made twice the size. I’m game for an experiment where there’s a chance for everybody – but I reckon there’s not much chance for a big fellow trying out those wings of yours.’

  ‘Do you mean you refuse to take this fellow?’ said Meier, white with anger.

  ‘You’ve got it right first time, boss,’ said the pilot, getting angry too, so that his scar showed up very plainly. ‘Try a little fellow! I guess the experiment worked all right last time – for a minute or two – and then it petered out. These paratroopers are hulking great chaps – the ones you try out with me, anyway – and I tell you plainly I’m not taking anyone who doesn’t want to go. Got it?’

  Meier went up to the pilot as if he meant to strike him. Erlick pulled him back. ‘That’s right,’ said the pilot, who had not turned a hair. ‘Don’t try any funny business with me, boss. I know too much – and there’s others will know too much too, if I don’t get back on time!’

  He got into his machine, and the s
warthy man, his companion, who had not said a single word all this time, got in beside him. The paratrooper watched them dazedly. The engine of the helicopter started up.

  The pilot leaned forward and spoke again to Meier, who looked as if he was on the point of bursting with rage.

  ‘So long! I shan’t be coming next time – I’m going for a holiday! I’ll be sending somebody who’s not so pernickety as I am – but I warn you – try a little guy!’

  The machine rose vertically into the air, circled round the mountain-side slowly, and then made off to the west. In a few minutes it could not even be heard.

  The children had watched all this, the girls only half understanding what was going on. Lucy-Ann felt sorry for the frightened paratrooper and very glad he had not been forced to go off in the helicopter.

  The little group left in the courtyard paced up and down. A lot of talk and argument went on, though the paratrooper did not seem to be joining in at all. He had stripped off the wings and was held securely by the soldiers. The king carried his precious wings all the time, but at last replaced them in the box and locked it.

  ‘Very well,’ he said, ‘I agree. It may be that the men we choose are too heavy – but who else could we have asked? Only paratroopers are used to jumping from heights! Try someone lighter if you wish. It will make no difference to my ideas.’

  And then the children heard a few words that made them gasp in horror. ‘One of those kids will do,’ said Meier. ‘That insolent boy, for instance. We’ll put the wings on him and he shall jump from the helicopter!’

  24

  The helicopter comes again

  When the courtyard was completely empty, and the beam had gone out, leaving the mountain-top in darkness, Lucy-Ann began to cry bitterly. Jack and Dinah put their arms round her. They felt like howling too.

  ‘He doesn’t mean it,’ said Jack, trying to think of something really comforting. ‘Don’t worry! He only said that to scare us. They’d never make Philip do a thing like that.’