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 3: What's going on at Arden Hall?
by Margaret Walker (January 28, 2006)

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They all crowded impatiently round the larger window in George's bedroom. It had taken George a long time to wake Dick from his deep slumber: Julian had jumped up, alert, as soon as George shook his shoulder.

Timmy let out a low growl. "Quiet, Timmy," murmured Anne. She tried to see what her brothers and cousin were looking at so intently. A cloud obscured the full moon for a second, and they could see nothing except a brooding darkness.

"What is it, George? What did you see?" whispered Dick.

"Over there. I saw something move near Arden Hall."

"Well, there's nothing there now. Anyway it's too dark to see anything," muttered Dick who was still sleepily rubbing his eyes.

Just at that moment, the moon seemed to sail serene and clear from the cloud which had hidden its silvery magical light, and the four children could see this mysterious night time world where everything looked so different from the sunny landscape they knew so well.

They could see now why George had woken them so urgently. They could make out, uncertainly, figures moving. But there was something strange about them.

"They're high up," breathed Julian, "and they seem to be a queer shape. What can they be wearing? Pass me your field glasses, George. They're jolly good ones, and it might just be possible to see something, if the moon doesn't go behind a cloud again."

"Gosh!" exclaimed Dick. 'the moon is so high, it's lighting up part of the road to Arden Hall that we don't normally see. And those people, whoever they are, must be standing on something or else we could never see them. There's no hill there, is there?"

"No," replied George, "it's just a long, rutted track, with bushes on both sides. No-one has looked after the house and grounds since the owners moved away suddenly. It's been empty and neglected."

"Well, there's someone there now, all right," Julian said, with excitement in his voice. He put George's field glasses to his eyes but at that moment a dark cloud covered the moon, and all was darkness once more.

"Blow!" said Dick, rather loudly.

"Quiet! Do you want to wake Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny?" asked Julian, turning away from the window.

"Ju, quick, look!" exclaimed Anne.

There, on the track to Arden Hall, they saw lights: not torches, but brighter, more dazzling lights, which shone for a moment, then disappeared. Then a second burst of light, as rays raked across the moor. The four children, and the ever watchful Timmy, gazed out of the window for another quarter of an hour, but the moon stayed hidden, and there were no more lights. They could hear nothing except some mournful hooting from a nearby copse of trees.

The children conferred in low voices.

"I think we should go and find out what's going on," insisted Dick.

"Yes," said the plucky George. "I don't like the thought of strangers near Kirrin, not with all that's been going on here lately. And especially not with Pottersham on the loose."

"He can't be here," whispered Anne, anxiously. "Why would he come here?"

"Well, remember what Jo said. He's got a real grudge, and he's on the run from prison," replied Dick.

Anne paled, and felt glad that the other children couldn't see her. Why did adventures and mysterious happenings always have to happen to them? The thought of a desperate man, bent on revenge, scared her terribly, but she was determined not to let anybody see it, and she was grateful for the covering darkness.

"Let's go and look for ourselves," said George.

"No," said Julian firmly. "We'll go and scout round Arden Hall tomorrow. We don't know anything is going on yet, but if there is, we don't want to stumble on it in the dark."

The others recognised that tone of voice, and knew that Julian wouldn't change his mind.

"Just before we leave George's window, let's see if we can spot anything that might help us find the place in daylight," added Julian. They all gazed intently, but it was hard to recognise any features now that the moon was hidden.

"Perhaps we could find out some more tomorrow from Jo?" suggested Dick.

"It's an idea," replied Julian. "Whatever we do, though, we need to keep it secret. We don't want to make matters worse. And now we must go to bed. Anne's yawning, and we'll need to be fresh in the morning."

The four children went back to their beds, a little thoughtful and subdued, but, apart from poor Anne, with a little excitement at the thought of what they might discover the following day.

I do hope this isn't an adventure, was Anne's last thought as she fell asleep.

#

The children discussed the night's happenings over breakfast, as soon as they were alone. George told her mother that the five would like to go and explore the countryside, now that they were together again, back at Kirrin.

"Good idea! It's a lovely day," responded Aunt Fanny. "Why don't you ask Joan for a packed lunch?"

She went off into the garden, ready to enjoy a lovely peaceful day in the garden, with the children out from under her feet, Quentin busy and happy in his study, basking in the recognition which was his at last, and the shadows over their life at Kirrin lifted at least for a little while. She was pleased that George was no longer the shy, solitary girl she had been, though she did still worry that George could be secretive still. What had she been up to last night whilst everyone else played charades?

In the kitchen Joan slapped the bread together on the last sandwich.

"There you are," she said, "Extra potted meat sandwiches for Timmy, and a lovely meaty bone."

"Woof." Timmy barked his approval and wagged his tail vigorously.

"Stop it, Timmy! You're wagging the packets of sandwiches off the table," cried Dick as dived across to grab the food, skidding as he did so.

"Idiot!" laughed George, affectionately.

"Well, Timmy certainly is a tail-y sort of dog," said Anne.

They took the packets of food which Joan had prepared for them. Dick peeped into the packets to see if Joan had included some of her special fruit cake. Yes, she had. What a good sort Joan was!

They followed the track across the moors, away from the sea and Kirrin Island. George glanced back and saw the village basking in the sun, and the cornflower blue sea sparkling under the clear sky: not a cloud was in sight. Little waves danced on the shore, and the bay seemed safe in the clasp of its protecting cliffs. George sighed with satisfaction at the lovely scene, then scowled as she saw the sun glinting on the aluminium tower, and watched Alf—no, James—begin to row a boatload of trippers, with their loud voices, gaudy clothes and cameras, across the bay to her island.

How she hated the award that might take Kirrin away from her, or her away from Kirrin. She wished her father had never found nutrinos. What did she care about cheap energy sources? Why did her life have to change, just when everything had seemed so perfect?

"Buck up, George!" shouted Dick. "We need to get a move on."

Timmy sensed George's unhappiness, and nudged her gently with his nose. She bent down to stroke him, and he licked her hand.

"Come on, then, Timmy," she said. "Let's catch up the others."

"Woof," barked Timmy excitedly, relieved that his precious mistress was happy again. Anne glanced at George. The sensitive little girl had some idea of George's feelings, but she knew how much George would hate any sympathy.

The five walked across the moor, using old tracks where no motorised vehicle had ever driven. All was quiet and peaceful, with just the sound of a skylark high above them. The sun beat down, and they grinned in pleasure at being out together in the country, worries for the moment forgotten. Even Timmy seemed to grin, as his tongue lolled out in the heat.

Their path crossed a little stream, more of a brook, but with clear, clean water. Timmy put his head down and lapped eagerly, and the four children scooped water in their hands and drank: they might as well save the lemonade for later.

There was silence, apart from the Timmy's noisy gulping. "What's that?" said Julian, suddenly. His sharp ears had picked up something that the others could not yet hear.

They stood, stock still, and listened.

"It sounds like an engine," whispered Dick, though he was not sure why he was whispering. "Is it a car?"

"But we're miles from any road," said Julian.

The droning noise grew louder, but they could see the moor for long distances in every direction, and there was nothing in sight. Then George cried out, and pointed upwards. "It's a plane!"

They saw the small plane, at first a speck in the sky, get bigger. "It's coming down," breathed Dick. He squinted into the sun, but it was hard to follow the plane's flight. The four children moved uneasily, feeling exposed out there on the moor, as the noise of the engine increased. Then, it dwindled as the plane passed.

"Where was it going? Was it getting ready to land?" asked Anne, feeling a little scared.

"Don't worry, Anne," Julian reassured her. "It's probably something to do with that air field north of here. It's nothing to be bothered about."

All the same, he and Dick exchanged uneasy glances.

The four children and Timmy continued, only Timmy unaffected by the incident. Their path sloped gently upwards, and the bare moor gave way to clumps of trees, though the landscape was still empty and uninhabited. The track widened and deepened, and there were scrubby bramble bushes at its sides; they were no longer so exposed, and their view was now more restricted.

"We're quite close to Arden Hall now, "said George. "I wonder exactly where we saw those strange figures last night."

"Let's see if we can work it out," replied Julian. "We need to look back towards Kirrin Cottage and think about where we were looking. Maps are no help in this empty landscape."

"Everything looks so different in daylight, though," objected Dick. "The moonlight seemed to change everything."

They all knew exactly what he meant. The beautiful silvery moonlight changed the landscape as if by magic, and landmarks were hard to spot in the open glare of day. And when they had tried to locate the spot, there had not even been moonlight to guide them.

They paused, and Timmy lifted his head, his ears pricked up. As the four children gazed round, George suggested that they climbed up a little in order to see over the hedge. Anne shivered a little: their track was surrounded by the high hedges and it was almost as if they were trapped. They moved towards the side of the track.

Crash! Anne stumbled and screamed as a figure on a black horse leapt the hedge and galloped down the track. The figure, head bent low over the horse's mane, disappeared down the track in the direction of Arden Hall almost before they had taken in its presence.

Timmy barked loudly, Julian tried to console the sobbing Anne, and Dick ran fruitlessly after the horse and rider.

"Who on earth was that?" exclaimed George.

"And where on earth were they going?" panted Dick.

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