The Christmas of Adventure

©2015 June E.

Philip, Dinah, Jack and Lucy-Ann are excited at the prospect of spending their first Christmas together, but by Christmas Eve all their plans lie in ruins. Things get even worse when a severe snowstorm brings the country to a standstill and leaves Bill snowbound, hundreds of miles away. Forced to fend for themselves in Bill's remote moorland cottage, rumours abound of a strange and terrifying creature lurking in the woods nearby... and with a ruthless thief on the loose, striking at night and stealing birds from the local Sanctuary, the scene is set for a frightening and perilous adventure. Can they stop the thief before it's too late? Or will Kiki be the robber's next victim?

Chapter 9: 'How frightfully wicked!'

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After quickly settling into his new bedroom, Philip got to work. Now that it was broad daylight, he was determined to search the cottage properly and find some more torches and candles in case power was not restored by dusk. Christmas Day or not, there was no time to waste.

Deciding that the kitchen was the most likely place, Philip went through each drawer methodically. Before long he came to a funny little cupboard below the sink – he hadn't noticed it the night before when he had searched with Jack in the dark. To his delight, he found three torches, all in good working order, as well a tin box containing a whole pack of new candles and six boxes of matches.

'I knew Bill would have proper supplies, especially as he lives in such a remote place, with only a few village houses for company,' he thought.

Meanwhile, Jack was also on a mission. He had remembered the radio in the sitting room, and he was determined to somehow find a news programme. 'They might give out the weather forecast and tell us when the roads will be cleared of snow,' he thought. 'Then we might get an idea of when Bill will arrive.'

Jack was pleased to find that the radio worked, and he set about twiddling with the knobs and dials. At first there was only a good deal of hissing and crackling, but eventually he found a news broadcast. A rather posh-voiced announcer said, 'And now, the weather bulletin. England continues to be in the grip of severe weather, with more snow forecast in the coming days. Many power lines have been brought down by falling trees, and the power companies are working night and day to repair the damage and restore electricity to thousands of homes. London is badly affected, and all aerodromes remain closed, as the runways are completely snowbound. All ferry sailings are cancelled due to high winds. That is the end of the Christmas Day weather bulletin. Merry Christmas to you all.'

'Goodness,' thought Jack to himself. 'Bill might not even be in England! He might be stranded in Paris!'

While Jack was listening to the radio, Lucy-Ann was in the kitchen, intent on checking out the food supplies. She found a well-stocked larder: several boxes of porridge, two large loaves of bread, potatoes and other vegetables, a bowl of apples and pears, as well as plenty of tinned goods, including soup, tinned peaches, a big box of mince pies, a Christmas cake covered in snow white icing, and an enormous box of chocolate biscuits. In the fridge she found milk, eggs, bacon, sausages, ham and cheese.

'We have enough food here to last for weeks,' she thought, 'though we will need fresh milk in a day or two, and we'll need some new bread before long as those loaves will go stale.'

After she had explored the kitchen cupboards thoroughly, Lucy-Ann noticed a white door in the far corner of the room. Curious, she tried the handle but found it was locked. Searching about, she spotted some keys on a hook on the back door. The second one she tried turned the lock, and the white door opened. Lucy-Ann gasped. For the door led into a beautiful conservatory, octagonal in shape, its walls comprised of eight tall windows, all looking out onto the snowy back garden. Comfortable chairs and sofas were arranged in a circle. And even better, in the centre of the room stood a fir tree, adorned with sparkling tinsel and fairy lights! At the foot of the tree were piles of presents, each one carefully wrapped in Christmas paper, and finished with ribbons and bows. She clicked the switch for the fairy lights, but nothing happened – then she remembered, the power lines were down, there was no electricity.

Lucy-Ann called out to the other children – they simply had to see this marvellous room. Dinah was the first to arrive.

'Oh Lucy-Ann, it's simply wonderful,' she said breathlessly. 'I thought it was odd that Bill didn't seem to have any Christmas decorations or anything in the sitting room. Now I see why – this is the Christmas room!

Philip and Jack appeared next, and could hardly believe their eyes.

'To think, there was a whole extra room here all the time and we had no idea!' exclaimed Philip. 'And look, it's got a woodburning stove in the corner – we could set that going and sit in here this evening – it will be such fun to sit around the tree on Christmas night.'

'Let's put all our Christmas presents under the tree,' said Jack. 'And let's save them for when Bill comes. I'd much rather open them with him here.'

Everyone agreed, so to the pile underneath the tree they added their own gifts from Mother, the things they had bought for each other, and the presents they had brought for Bill.

But Jack could think of nothing but the weather bulletin – suddenly, he could keep it to himself no longer. He blurted out the news about the aerodrome in London being closed, and that Bill might stranded in Paris.

'You mean we're going to have to stay here all on our own for Christmas?' asked Lucy-Ann, horrified. 'I don't like the thought of that.'

'Whatever will Mother say!' gasped Philip. 'She will send for us to go back home.'

'But if we go back home, then Mother won't be able to look after nanny Dora,' said Dinah, looking worried. 'I don't think we should tell Mother we're on our own. I think we should find a way to manage here, by ourselves.'

'Oh Dinah, we can't!' wailed Lucy-Ann, looking really worried. 'We can't tell lies to Mother.'

Philip thought for a moment, then he spoke slowly and carefully, as if he was still deciding what to say.

'Our telephone line isn't working, so we won't be able to speak to Mother for the next day or two – not until the telephone company repairs the damage done by the storm... so we won't be telling lies... because we won't be able to speak to her at all.'

He continued, still thoughtful, 'And when we go off camping we are often on our own without any adults, sometimes for days and days... but at least now we are in a house, so we are perfectly safe... and we have plenty of food, and wood for the fire... and Mother will be very disappointed if she can't take care of nanny Dora.'

Then he spoke more decisively.

'I really think we will be fine on our own. We are all perfectly capable of fending for ourselves. And by the time the telephone is working and we can speak to Mother, Bill will probably be back anyway. Jack, what's your opinion?'

'I agree,' said Jack earnestly. 'We've already had a night here on our own and we were fine. Lucy-Ann, you and Dinah can stick by us if you are worried – we can camp in the sitting room again if you like.'

'I don't need to stick by anyone!' exclaimed Dinah, cross at being treated like a baby. 'I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.' But seeing Lucy-Ann looking alarmed again, she reached out and gave her hand a squeeze.

'Don't worry, Lucy-Ann,' she said kindly. 'We'll be fine, you'll see.'

After the children had recovered from their initial disappointment and concern, they all agreed to make the best of the situation. First they had a good lunch prepared by Lucy-Ann, and then they put on their outdoor things and went out to explore the garden. As soon as they set foot out of doors, a dog began to bark.

'I think it's coming from the house next door,' said Philip. 'It must know there are strangers about.'

'This is a dear little cottage,' said Lucy-Ann, looking happier now, 'and a very pretty garden – it's not gloomy, as we first thought.'

'I love being the first to walk on fresh snow,' said Dinah, clomping down the smooth, white garden path and then standing back to survey her footprints.

'Do you want to build a snowman to welcome Bill home?' asked Jack. 'The snow is lovely and deep, we'll be able to make a really big one!'

And they all set to work, determined to make a snowman so big that it would last until Bill returned. Philip and Jack rolled a gigantic snowball to make a body, and Dinah rolled a smaller one for his head. Lucy-Ann disappeared in search of something to use for his eyes and nose, and some good twigs with which to make arms.

'This is really good snow for building with,' said Dinah, patting the snowman's head into shape.

'Here, use this carrot for his nose,' said Lucy-Ann, handing a carrot to Dinah.

'He does look a fine fellow,' said Jack, 'but he still needs some eyes.'

Lucy-Ann proudly produced two jet black lumps of coal.

'Perfect!' exclaimed Jack, putting them firmly in place.

Amidst all the chatter and fun, the children did not notice a man peering at them from the window of a neighbouring cottage. He was elderly, with wispy, grey hair and a back that time had bent a little. But his large hands and feet suggested that in his younger days he had been a tall and powerful man. After watching them for a while, the man put on his overcoat and ventured outdoors, appearing suddenly at the garden wall.

'Now then, you're making plenty of noise,' he said in a slightly grumpy voice. 'Are you children friends of Bill? Mrs Grouch said there was some expected.'

'Good afternoon, sir,' said Philip. 'Yes, we are Bill's friends and we're staying with him for Christmas.'

'And where's Bill?' asked old man. 'I want to wish him a Merry Christmas.'

What Philip said next made the other children stand gaping with amazement.

'I'm sorry sir, but Bill is a little under the weather with a bad cold. He's gone to bed early. But I'll tell him what you said... errr, but I don't know your name.'

'I'm Fred Fletcher, and I've lived in this 'ere cottage for 80 years, man and boy.'

'Well I'm Philip, and this dark haired girl is my sister Dinah. That's Lucy-Ann with the red hair, and that's Jack, her brother.'

'Pleased to meet you, I'm sure. Just keep the noise down – my son Frank is staying with me for Christmas, and we like things quiet. Now I am away indoors out of this cold – my snowman-building days are long over.'

And with that, Fred Fletcher disappeared.

Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack, totally mystified, swung round to Philip and said in unison, 'What on earth are you talking about? Bill's not in bed with a cold! Have you lost your senses?'

'Shhhhhhh!' hissed Philip. 'Keep your voices down! I said that because if he finds out we are on our own in Bill's cottage, he might insist on contacting Mother. And we've already agreed that we don't want to worry her whilst she is taking care of nanny Dora. We simply can't risk it. We mustn't let anyone know that Bill isn't here looking after us.'

'Yes, I can see your point, Philip,' said Jack. 'Actually that was jolly quick thinking – well done. Listen, it's getting pretty chilly. Let's all go indoors and I'll light the stove in the conservatory. Lucy-Ann and Dinah, will you see about some tea?'

The woodburning stove hadn't been used for some time, so Jack had to lay a fire from scratch. He fetched some newspapers and kindling from the sitting room, and then filled a basket with logs and set it next to the stove. Kiki watched from a safe distance, curious to see what he was doing. Reaching for the first sheet of newspaper, a word caught Jack's eye and he stopped in his tracks. It was the front page of the Moorland Gazette, and this was the headline:

BIRD SANCTUARY THIEF STRIKES AGAIN!

A few minutes later when Dinah, Philip and Lucy-Ann appeared, not a stick of kindling had been laid, the room was still ice cold, and Jack's tousled red hair was just visible above a large sheet of newspaper.

'Oh Jack, you fathead, trust you to get side-tracked! And in the meantime, we're all freezing!' scolded Philip.

But Jack simply ignored him.

'You must all listen to this,' he insisted in a serious voice. 'This newspaper is only two days old. The article is about a bird thief who's been stealing rare birds from the local bird sanctuary. He strikes at night when no one is about. So far, three birds have been taken: a great grey owl, a kestrel and a red kite.'

'How frightfully wicked!' gasped Lucy-Ann.

Jack looked pale, and his mouth was set in a firm line.

'Yes, it certainly is,' he agreed, speaking quietly. 'Taking birds from a sanctuary, where they are being well cared for by experts, and selling them as trophies to thieves and idiots... I can't bear to think of it.' Jack fell silent.

'Well I vote that we look into this,' said Philip determinedly. 'Look, the article mentions the bird sanctuary's address – I'm sure it's not far from here. Let's go there tomorrow – we might even find some clues that the police have missed.'

Everyone agreed with Philip – and they hated to see Jack looking so upset. Kiki flew over and landed on Jack's shoulder, nibbling his ear gently. She had an instinct for when Jack was upset, and always seemed to know when to comfort him.

Then, as dusk was falling, and the conservatory was growing darker and darker, something spectacular happened. All of a sudden, the fairy lights flashed into life, sparkling and twinkling in the darkness! The children gasped in delight. For the strings of coloured Christmas lights were reflected back and forth in the eight windows that enclosed the room, until there seemed to be thousands and thousands of them, twinkling in red, blue, green and gold. It was as if each of the windows had its own beautiful, shining Christmas tree, and the conservatory itself was in the centre of an enchanted forest!

'Oh, it's amazing!' gasped Lucy-Ann at last.

'Yes, and there's something even better,' said Philip. 'This means the electricity is working again – the power lines must have been repaired.'

'This is a good sign,' said Jack. 'The cottage has light again – and I am determined that we are going to shed some light on the mystery of the stolen birds!'

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