by Enid Blyton
‘Come,’ said Bill after a moment. ‘We’ll try a better cave than this.’
But, before they could move, the flash of a torch shone into their cave. They all stiffened and stood absolutely still. The beam came nearer and nearer. Lucy-Ann forgot to breathe, and stood with her hand firmly clasped in Bill’s.
Just as the beam of the torch was picking out Jack’s feet – or so it seemed to Jack – a surprising interruption came. A voice came from somewhere near by, a hollow, mournful voice, full of misery and despair.
‘Poor Kiki! Ding dong bell! Peepbo!’
Jack’s heart leapt. Kiki! She wasn’t dead, then! She must have been wandering, completely lost, all about the passages and caves for days. She didn’t know they were close to her. She had seen the light of the torch and heard voices, and as usual she had joined in the conversation.
Bill’s hand squeezed Jack’s arm warningly. He was afraid the boy might call Kiki, or exclaim out loud in delight. But Jack held his tongue. Kiki went on talking in the most melancholy voice imaginable.
‘Send for the doctor! Musty, fusty, dusty, pooh, gah!’
Jack had never heard her so miserable before. Poor Kiki! She must have thought herself quite deserted.
A sharp voice rang through the cave. ‘What in the world was that? Somebody’s in this cave! Erlick, come here! Did you hear that?’
‘What?’ asked Erlick, coming in with another torch.
‘A voice,’ said Meier. ‘Somebody’s in here. Two people, probably. One talking to another. Stand there with your torch whilst I walk all round with mine.’
Meier began to walk round, examining all the walls carefully for hiding-places. Bill groaned silently. Now they had no chance to get to another cave at all.
Kiki gave a realistic sneeze and then a cough. Meier stopped his search and swung his torch in the direction of the sound.
‘We can hear you! Come out or it will be the worse for you!’ he shouted, in a furious tone.
Kiki was frightened. She had been without food for some time, and was hungry and unhappy. The man’s angry voice filled her with panic and she flew off into the next cave, having no idea that her beloved Jack was so near her. It was just as well that she didn’t know, for if she had known she would certainly have flown to Jack’s shoulder and given their hiding-place away at once!
Her voice came from the cave further on.
‘Polly put the kettle on! Send for the doctor!’ Then came a loud hiccup, and an apologetic ‘Pardon!’
‘Good heavens! What’s going on?’ cried Meier, completely puzzled. ‘It’s that voice again that we’ve been hearing at intervals. Well, where there’s a voice there’s a body and I’m going to find it this time, if I have to shoot the caves to pieces!’
A loud report made Bill and the children jump in fright. Meier had drawn his revolver and fired wildly in the direction of Kiki’s voice. Jack didn’t like that a bit. He was afraid Kiki might be hit.
Meier and Erlick went into the next cave after Kiki’s voice. It came to them from further away.
‘Upsadaisy! Wipe your feet, you naughty boy.’
The children couldn’t help smiling, scared though they were. Kiki always managed to say such ridiculous things in moments of urgency. There came another shot, which echoed all round the caves.
Kiki gave a cackle of scornful laughter, and then made a noise like a car changing gear. She came back to the next cave again, and the men followed. They still had not caught sight of Kiki because they were looking for a human being, running away in front of them, whereas Kiki flew high in the roof of the caves, and perched on small ledges, well hidden.
Somebody else ran through the cave where the children were, calling to Meier.
‘Mr Meier, sir, sir! All children run away! Helicopter come back. All alone on mountain-top. No one there. Children run away!’
It was one of the numerous soldiers, who had evidently discovered the returned helicopter, and the disappearance of the pilot and the children. There was an amazed silence.
Meier raised his voice and let forth a stream of furious foreign words, none of which Bill or the children could understand. Then came Erlick’s voice.
‘No good going on like that, Meier. Get out the dogs. The children must have gone down the ladder. You left it down when you went out tonight, didn’t you? The dogs will soon round them all up.’
‘What’s happened to the pilot, though?’ raged Meier, and lapsed into some foreign language again. The soldier came pattering back through the cave again, presumably on his way to get the dogs.
‘Send for the doctor,’ called Kiki mournfully. She screeched like an engine and made Meier flash his torch in and out of the caves again, almost beside himself with rage.
Erlick, Meier and one or two others with them then began a loud argument in many languages. Bill didn’t wait to hear what it was all about. He pushed the children out of their hiding-place and towards the nearest passage. Very quietly and quickly they all fled back towards the cave with the ladder. Maybe there was a chance now of escape. Jack wished with all his heart that he could take Kiki too.
They went down the ladder in the same order as before, Jack wondering fearfully if he would find anyone coming up this time, ready to catch him by the ankles. But he didn’t. He reached the bottom safely, his legs shaking with the effort, panting and exhausted.
Lucy-Ann almost fell off the last rung, weak with relief to find she was at last at the bottom. It had seemed an endless climb down to her. She sank to the ground beside the pool, her heart beating painfully.
Dinah followed and threw herself on the ground too. Then came Bill, not so distressed as the others, but very glad indeed to be at the bottom of the ladder.
‘Phew! The bottom at last!’ he said. ‘What a climb! Now come on – out we go on the mountain-side. We’ll join up with Philip and Johns. If only those wretched dogs don’t find us! Philip’s told me about them and how you thought they were wolves. I don’t fancy a pack of Alsatians on my trail, somehow, with Meier and Erlick urging them on!’
The dawn was beginning to come over the mountains. The sun was not yet above them, but a golden light was spreading upwards from the east. The children were very glad indeed to feel the fresh wind on their faces when they went out through the crack in the rock, and swung aside the big green curtain of creeper and bramble. They took deep breaths and gazed around them in the silvery light of dawn.
‘Come on,’ said Bill. ‘I left Philip and Johns by a stream – where you left Dapple. We took Dapple back with us by the way, when David, Effans and I came with the rest of the donkeys to look for you. Philip said you’d know where the place was, even if we landed a little way from it in the helicopter – he thinks we’re all coming through the air of course, to land on a good flat place where we left a light burning to guide me. It was a bit tricky landing in the dark with Philip and Johns! The helicopter nearly overbalanced. Still, we managed it.’
‘Philip will be looking out for us by that light then?’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Not by the stream.’
‘No. I told him not to, in case anyone was roaming about there, saw the light and spotted him and Johns,’ explained Bill. ‘I thought Meier and Co. might possibly be on the look-out for Philip, if they thought he had jumped. I was supposed to radio back to them what had happened – but I didn’t, of course!’
It was easy to find their way to the meeting-place, now that dawn was coming. But before they got there, a bit of good luck came to Jack – in the shape of Kiki!
She suddenly sailed down on him from the air with a cackle of delight, and a screech that nearly deafened them all. She flew to his shoulder and rubbed her head into his ear, giving it little pecks and pulls of love. Jack was so overjoyed that he couldn’t say a word. He just scratched Kiki’s head and made funny, loving noises, which Kiki immediately copied.
‘Oh, good!’ said Lucy-Ann in delight. ‘Oh, Jack! Dear old Kiki, isn’t it lovely to have her again. It’s been awful wit
hout you, Kiki.’
Even Bill joined in the demonstrations of affection. ‘You saved us, Kiki, old bird! You led those fellows such a song and dance that they let us escape. How did you know where we were? Did you fly out and follow us?’
Kiki didn’t tell them, so they never knew, but Jack felt sure she had flown down into the roofless cave, and come out of the crack into the open air. Then she must have heard their voices and come to join them.
‘God save the Queen,’ said Kiki, in a happy voice, and gave a loud hiccup. ‘Pardon! Pardon the queen pop goes Polly!’
‘Oh, Kiki! We thought you were dead,’ said Dinah. She looked round, missing Snowy. ‘And now Snowy’s gone! Where is he?’
‘He hasn’t been with us for some time,’ said Bill. ‘He’ll turn up, I expect – just like Kiki!’
‘Dithery Slithery,’ said Kiki suddenly, cocking her head on one side and looking at Jack’s pocket. Sally the slow-worm was half in and half out, enjoying being out in the fresh air again. Dinah didn’t even squeal!
They went on their way, with Kiki firmly on Jack’s shoulder – and suddenly they heard a yell.
‘Hie! Here we are! Jack! Dinah! Lucy-Ann! Bill! And oh, I say, there’s Kiki too. Hurrah! You’ve escaped! But where’s the helicopter? We’ve been waiting and waiting for it.’
It was Philip, of course, leaping up and down like a mad thing, with Johns standing stolidly behind him – and Snowy frisking about round them both. He had found Philip! So all the family were together again. They were full of delight – but wait – what was that howling noise in the distance?
‘The dogs!’ said Jack. ‘They’re after us!’
28
Trailed by the dogs
Lucy-Ann shrank back against Bill and Johns when she heard the savage howls and barks. She didn’t at all like the idea of the dogs being after them!
Bill and Johns exchanged glances, and Bill said something under his breath and looked stubborn and angry. They had all been so pleased at their escape – and now here they were, about to be caught again! Nobody could do anything against ten man-hunting dogs!
‘Bill! Get into the stream and wade up through the water,’ said Jack suddenly. ‘That’s what the other man did when he wanted to break his scent. Dogs can’t smell a trail through water. Let’s all wade up the stream, and try and find a good hiding-place – a big tree, like Sam went up.’
‘Well – it’s a poor chance,’ said Bill, ‘but we’ll try it! Blow that helicopter – behaving like that just when I wanted to take off to safety! We’d have been quite all right by now if it hadn’t been for the damage to the steering.’
They all waded into the middle of the little stream. Up it they went, the water very cold to their feet. Lucy-Ann was between Bill and Johns. She felt very glad indeed that there were two grown-ups with them! In the distance the dogs barked again. They were certainly on the trail!
The little company went up the stream as quickly as they could, so that their scent was well broken. But they could easily be seen, and it was essential that they should get up into a tree, or find a cave as soon as they could.
And soon they found just exactly the thing! The stream disappeared into a large hole in the mountain. The clear water came bubbling out from there into the sunshine, swirling round the feet of the two men and the children – and of Snowy too!
‘Look – it comes from that big hole,’ said Bill, pleased. ‘We’ll go in there and hope it will take us all. We ought to be able to hide here till the dogs give up all hope of finding us.’
They crawled in one by one. Bill switched on his torch. There was only just room for them all, because a few yards back the hole narrowed down to a tiny tunnel, out of which the stream gushed madly.
They sat down where they could, squeezed up closely against one another. Jack and Philip had their feet in the stream. They sat there, listening to the distant yelping of the Alsatians.
Bill pulled some chocolate out of his pocket. ‘I forgot about this,’ he said, and handed it round. It was very comforting to have something to nibble. Johns had brought some too, so there was plenty.
‘Do you think the dogs have lost the trail now?’ asked Jack, not hearing the barking coming any closer.
‘Yes. Sounds like it,’ said Bill. ‘They’re at a loss, I should think. They must have come to the stream, jumped over it and found the trail was at an end. They probably won’t have the sense to realize we’ve gone upstream.’
‘But I should think the men with them would guess,’ said big stolid Johns, who was taking this extraordinary adventure with the utmost calm, as if things like that happened to him every day. ‘I know I would! If I were hunting a man with dogs, and we came to a stop by a stream, I’d order the dogs up- or downstream at once.’
‘Oh dear!’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Would you really? Well, I’m sure Meier will, then, when he catches up with the dogs, because he’s terribly clever. He’s got the most piercing eyes, Bill – honestly, they go right through you.’
‘Well, he’d better not try looking right through me,’ said Bill. ‘He’d be sorry!’
‘Pardon!’ said Kiki. ‘Sorry!’
‘You forgot your hiccup, old thing,’ said Jack, and Kiki solemnly produced one. Johns laughed suddenly. He said he’d heard plenty of hiccups without birds, and seen plenty of birds without hiccups – but when you got the two together it was worth a lot!
‘The dogs are coming nearer,’ said Jack suddenly. They all listened, straining their ears. It was true. Their howls were distinctly louder.
‘Meier’s caught up with them, then,’ said Dinah. ‘And he’s guessed our trick, and they’re all coming upstream.’
‘Yes. And they’re sure to smell us here,’ said Philip. Absolutely certain to. We can’t diddle dogs like that!’
‘Hey diddle diddle,’ said Kiki, and screeched.
‘Shut up,’ said Jack, and tapped her on her beak. ‘Do you want the dogs to hear you?’
‘Pooh,’ said Kiki, and nipped Jack’s ear.
‘Listen! I can hear the dogs splashing in the stream!’ cried Philip. And so he could. The sound came to everyone’s ears, and Lucy-Ann clutched Bill’s hand even more tightly. Would this horrid adventure never end?
And then they saw the first dog, his red tongue hanging out, his breath coming in excited pants. He was half leaping in the water, not wading – in and out he leapt, in and out, coming nearer and nearer.
Then came Meier’s hateful voice. ‘Go on! Get them! Find them!’
The leading dog came right up to the hiding-place. He could smell everyone in there, as he stood in the stream outside the hole. He did not attempt to go in. He had found what he had been told to find – he had not been told to capture and hold.
He lifted his head and howled like a wolf. Kiki was very surprised. She attempted an imitation but an Alsatian’s howl was beyond her. She only produced a curious whirring noise that made the dog cock his big head on one side and listen.
Then the other dogs came up, panting too, their tongues all hanging out. They stood beside and behind their leader, sniffing. They looked very fierce indeed!
‘Not a nice sight,’ murmured Bill to Johns, who was staring stolidly at the dogs as if he was perfectly used to being hunted by a pack of Alsatians and didn’t mind it at all.
‘Keep still,’ Bill commanded everyone. As long as we don’t attempt to move or get away, the dogs won’t do anything more than stand there and stare.’
There came the sound of shouts and Meier and Erlick appeared, very red in the face with running. Meier stopped dead when he saw the pack of dogs standing looking in the hole where the stream poured out.
He pushed Erlick behind a tree quickly. It was plain that he feared Bill might have a gun. He shouted out loudly.
‘Come on out! The dogs have found you. If you don’t want them to set on you, come on out – and throw any gun you’ve got down on the ground, and put your hands up. We’ve got you covered.’
&nbs
p; ‘Pleasant fellow, isn’t he?’ said Johns to Bill. ‘It’ll be nice to get hold of him. Do we go out, boss, or don’t we?’
‘We don’t,’ said Bill shortly. ‘I doubt if he’ll dare to set the dogs on us. He knows the children are here.’
‘Meier wouldn’t stick at anything,’ said Jack. And he was right. When there was no answer, and not even a movement from the hole in the hill, Meier began to lose his temper as usual. He shouted out something in a foreign language, then changed to English.
‘You heard what I said. You have one more chance. The dogs are ready to pounce. They’ll round you up all right, and I warn you, their teeth are sharp, so don’t resist!’
Still nobody moved. Lucy-Ann shut her eyes. She really couldn’t look at the eager, panting dogs any more. She could see that they were just awaiting the word to rush into the cave and drag them all out.
And then Philip suddenly moved, and before anyone could stop him, he was outside the cave.
‘Put your hands up!’ called Meier, and Philip put them up. The dogs sniffed at him, and under his breath Philip talked to them.
‘Don’t you remember me? I’m Philip. You slept with me up on the rock. Fine dogs you are. We’re friends, don’t you remember?’
The dogs did not understand one word, but they understood his tone of voice. They remembered this boy. They felt his friendliness and his attraction. The leader began to whine a little. He longed to have this boy pat his head. But Philip had his hands above his head, and had only his voice to charm the dogs with.
He went on talking to them in a low voice, whilst the other children, and Bill and Johns, watched spellbound. They all thought the same. Philip, Philip, what is there in you that makes all creatures your friends? What gift have you got, so rare, so irresistible? ‘Lucky boy!’ thought Bill. ‘And lucky for every one of us that you can charm these dogs!’
Meier called out angrily. ‘Where are the others? Tell them to come too, or I’ll give the order for them to be dragged out!’