Five Go Back to Kirrin Island

©2006 Enid Blyton Yahoo Group

Every once in a while, regular members of the Enid Blyton Yahoo Group join forces and write a Round Robin. If you've never heard of a Round Robin, well, in this case it's a brand new story written by a group of fans, with each member writing a chapter and making it up as they go along. Nobody knows where the story will lead; there's no plot to follow, and the direction of the next chapter is decided by the end of the last one. It's a lot of fun, and the result is either a wonderful new story—or a complete mess!

What follows is the Famous Five in a brand new exciting adventure. There are over 20 members uniting to write this story, so this section will grow one chapter at a time over the next few months...

Chapter 20: Jo is an absolute treasure!
by Kay Massingham (September 11, 2006)

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"Who is making that noise?" said Julian in a low voice, looking at the locked door.

"Perhaps it's Mr and Mrs Sanders," whispered Anne.

Dick stepped up to the door and knocked gently on it. "Who's there?" he called.

"Fathead!" exclaimed Julian. "It may be Pottersham or his cronies!"

But Timmy was wagging his tail, and a voice answered joyfully, "Dick, is that you? It's Jo! I locked myself in the kitchen and I can't open the door!"

"Why on earth did you lock yourself in the kitchen?" asked Dick.

"I was hiding from Pottersham," said Jo, "I followed him all the way here from Kirrin Cottage. Do let me out!"

"Have you got the key there?" asked Dick. "Can you slide it under the door?" There was a scrabbling sound, and the key appeared through the crack at the bottom of the door. Dick picked it up, inserted it in the lock and tried to turn it. "It's a bit stiff," he said, but then there was a click and the key turned. Dick opened the door and Jo fell into his arms.

There was an embarrassed silence, then Julian cleared his throat. "Jo, where is Joan now? And where are the Sanders?"

Jo let go of Dick, who was looking rather red-faced. "Pottersham made Joan walk over here. He had a gun. He left her tied up in the cowshed. Then I saw him hide his package in the pigsty while he went snooping round the farm. When he was out of sight I skipped in, picked up the package and then locked myself in the kitchen. It was the first room I came to with a key."

"Weren't you afraid of Pottersham and his gun?" asked Sooty.

"I hid up the chimney with the package," said Jo, "just in case he did get into the kitchen. You know how, in these old houses, the fireplaces are designed for small boys to climb up to sweep? There was a ledge up there I could stand the package on." The five gazed at the massive inglenook that took up most of one wall. Jo went on: "Pottersham banged at the door but he couldn't open it."

The children listened with admiration. What a plucky girl Jo was!

"Where are the Sanders'?" asked George.

"It's Friday, so they will have gone to market today," said Jo.

"Is Joan still in the cowshed?" asked Anne. "Let's go and set her free straight away."

"Careful," warned Julian, "Pottersham may still be about."

"He isn't," said Jo.

"How do you know?" asked Dick.

"Some men came and took him off," said Jo, "and they didn't sound pleased. They made him get in their car. Said something about him having to help them pick up the final delivery and pack the stuff up before they cleared out. He protested a bit—I suppose he wanted to get his package—but he didn't mention that to the other men."

"He probably doesn't trust the other members of the gang not to steal it," said Julian. "Probably figured it was safer here, and he could come back and get it later."

"Where is the package now?" asked George.

"Still up the chimney," said Jo. "Do you think I'd take a chance on Pottersham coming back and finding me with it?"

"What a treasure you are, Jo!" exclaimed Dick, and the others agreed.

"It's safe there, so let's leave it," Julian decided. "Helping Joan is our first priority."

Jo led the children to the cowshed where poor Joan was lying tied up on the straw. Sooty produced a knife out of his pocket and cut the ropes. Joan was very shaken, but unhurt. The children helped her to the farmhouse.

"I'll make you a cup of tea," Anne said comfortingly.

Just then, the sound of horse's hooves clattered on the cobbles outside; it was Penny King returning on Minstrel. She was shocked and saddened to hear how Joan had been caught up in the adventure, and helped Joan up to the guest room to lie down and rest, while the boys turned the horse into the field.

Penny came back down to the kitchen. "We should phone the police about this," she began.

"We've got something to show you first," said George, "which we need you to positively identify." And she nodded to Jo, who went to the fireplace, stepped into the inglenook and reached down a very heavy wooden box. She placed it on the table in front of Penny.

Penny opened the lid. On the top lay several sheets of paper, which Penny lifted aside to reveal a most marvelous sight! Great brooches, wonderful necklaces, jeweled pins, and a goblet made of pure gold, studded with precious stones. Everyone gathered around the table gasped in amazement.

Penny picked up the sheets of paper she had taken from the top of the box and studied them. "These are nothing to do with the treasure," she said. "Here, George," she added, "this looks like your father's work!"—and she passed over the sheets of paper from the top of the box.

Julian bent over to have a look. The paper was covered with complicated figures. "Look!" said Julian, "some of these figures have been crossed out and others substituted in blue pen. I'd say this is an attempt to sabotage your father's reputation, George, by falsifying the results of his experiments."

"Who would hate Uncle Quentin enough to do that?" wondered Anne.

"Pottersham—or Professor Hayling!" said Dick at once. "Didn't Harper Chapman say he'd hired one of them to try and discredit Uncle Quentin's theories? This is the evidence of it; we'd better keep it for the police."

Penny was gazing in silent awe at the box's other contents. Then she said in a low voice, "A goblet with emeralds, and a brooch shaped like a peacock, and an ivory fan with sapphires are all part of the Wallace treasure..." and she held up these items from the box for the children to see. "How can I thank you enough?" she said. "I'll have to check it all against my list, but it does look like the Wallace treasure, and if it is, it'll mean I can restore Arden Hall to its former glory."

"Does this mean you won't have to study anymore?" Anne asked shyly, but Penny only laughed.

"Give up my studies! You must be joking," she exclaimed. "I love my work, I wouldn't stop it for the world."

#

"I'm glad the treasure won't spoil Penny," said Julian, as the children strolled back towards Kirrin Cottage. "I have a feeling her work could be important to the future of Kirrin Village."

"It's nice to be in the open air," said Anne, holding up her face to the sun. "I don't care if I never go in a tunnel again."

"We have spent rather a lot of time underground lately," agreed Julian.

"Woof," said Timmy with feeling.

"He says he feels the same, and he doesn't want to be pushed down any more steps," said George.

The children approached Kirrin Cottage very cautiously. It was very quiet, but so many mysterious things had happened lately that they half expected a further shock—and they got one when they walked in through the front door, for Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny were in the living room!

Uncle Quentin's coat was draped carelessly across the back of his armchair, and he was pacing up and down like a caged lion. "Of all the nerve," he was muttering. "Complete waste of my time. And humiliating too...!"

Meanwhile, Aunt Fanny, who was still wearing her own coat, was standing there looking just as cross.

"Uncle Quentin!" cried Julian. "Aunt Fanny! You're home, safe and sound!"

"Children!" said Aunt Fanny, turning to find them crowding in the doorway. "We just got back, and you won't believe what that awful fellow Hayling did to us!"

"I'll wring his neck," Uncle Quentin said in disgust. "Lying to us like that, leading us on a wild goose chase, wasting our time. We were just debating whether or not to telephone the police about it all, only I doubt they'd be very interested in a silly prank."

"We were worried about you," said Julian. "But you're back now, safe and sound, and that's main thing."

"Well, of course we're safe," said Uncle Quentin, looking surprised. "Why shouldn't we be safe?"

"Oh, Mother—Father—such an awful lot has happened!" cried George, giving her mother a big hug. "Professor Hayling was just a small part of it all."

"There was no Chair being offered to me," growled Uncle Quentin. "I should have known better than to trust him. He was always terribly jealous of me since I started collaborating with his brother while we were undergraduates, and also because Fanny agreed to go out with me and not with him. But I thought as so many years had passed, and since he now has a permanent University post, all those silly squabbles were forgotten."

George remembered the notes that Penny had given her and pulled them out of her pocket. "Father," she said, "we found these. Are they yours?"

Her father took the papers and glanced through them. Then he gave an exclamation! "These are copies of my notes with errors introduced into them! See here, these additions and alterations in blue pen have been made to make it appear that my results were flawed. Where did you find these, George?"

"We think it's the work of Professor Hayling—the younger one," cut in Julian. "We believe he was attempting to discredit you."

"Well, Father," burst out George, "I don't care if he was trying to discredit you, if it meant you didn't get offered the Chair, as it means we won't have to leave Kirrin after all. "

"Leave Kirrin? Are you mad?" said Uncle Quentin, sounding irritated. "As if I would ever ask your mother to leave her home! When Fanny mentioned the possibility to me on the train, I was amazed that she could have thought for a minute that I would have been prepared to leave Kirrin. I would not have accepted a Chair unless I could have done it from a distance, just lecturing occasionally in Cambridge." And he looked quite wounded, before continuing: "I'm very fond of Kirrin, you must know how responsible I feel for all the villagers. I would never ever leave here."

"Are you still planning to help the villagers with the tunnel and castle idea?" Julian asked.

Uncle Quentin looked worried. "It did occur to me that tourism might be a replacement for fishing," he said, "but since I consulted Lenoir last week, it's clear that we could never build a causeway here. The geology is completely unsuitable—nothing like as simple as draining a marsh. I'd already given up the tunnel idea—constructing something large enough and safe for public access would be incredibly expensive. I can't imagine any bank would be prepared to lend that kind of money on such a speculative project."

George heaved a sigh of relief. She was sorry for the villagers, of course, if they could no longer make a living from fishing, but nonetheless would hate to see Kirrin spoiled by development.

"That research student might have the answer," Uncle Quentin went on, "if she can only find out what's causing the decline in fishing stock. It might be possible to reverse it in some way. Up to now I've focused on physics, but my experiments are concluded now—some commercial interest will probably take it up from here. So I might change direction, see what I can find out about marine science." His face brightened. "I might stroll down to the bay when it's high tide and she's checking on the plankton; perhaps we could discuss her latest findings."

Aunt Fanny smiled at the children. "Your Uncle Quentin always likes to have plenty to occupy his mind. He's been at a bit of a loss since he concluded his research. Perhaps this will be his next project! Now would you five children—no, six—" she said, with a smile at Jo, "like anything to eat? I'll make you something myself, since Joan isn't here." She suddenly frowned. "Where on earth is she?"

Julian remembered. "Joan is at Kirrin Farm," he explained, "having a rest. She was kidnapped by Pottersham and tied up, but we managed to rescue her."

Uncle Quentin turned white. "Pottersham!" he exclaimed. "I heard he had escaped from prison. Surely you don't mean he is near here?"

"He is," said Julian, "and he is also in league with a gang of criminals, who are smuggling drugs out of the country using Arden Hall and Kirrin Island as bases. We've unearthed some very interesting mysteries here, Uncle Quentin, but it's taken us a while to unravel them, as there was more than one thing going on!"

"Where is Pottersham now?" asked Uncle Quentin.

"Pottersham was last seen," Julian told Uncle Quentin, "in a car leaving Kirrin Farm."

"And I know where he was going," burst out Sooty. "The final delivery means the last glider of medicines, and the drop is usually at Arden Hall. They'd have to go there and collect all the packages before packing up all the stuff to take away!"

"Pottersham is bound to return to the farm soon," George pointed out, "as he thinks the Wallace treasure is still hidden in the pigsty there."

"Didn't you say Joan is still on the farm—and Penny too," exclaimed Aunt Fanny. "Quentin, dear, they may be in terrible danger!"

"I think it's time to call in the Police," said Uncle Quentin. "I'll telephone now. You'd better come with me, Julian, as this will be a complicated one to explain!"

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