Chapter 1

...CHAPTER 1...

...THE GREAT SURPRISE...

,”Mother, have you heard about our summer holidays yet?” said Julian, at

the breakfast-table. “Can we go to Polseath as usual?”

”I’m afraid not,” said his mother. “They are quite full up this year.”

The three children at the breakfast-table looked at one another in great

disappointment. They did so love the house at Polseath. The beach was so

lovely there, too, and the bathing was fine.

”Cheer up,” said Daddy. “I dare say we’ll find somewhere else just as

good for you. And anyway, Mother and I won’t be able to go with you this

year. Has Mother told you?”

”No!” said Anne. “Oh, Mother-is it true? Can’t you really come with us

on our holidays? You always do.”

”Well, this time Daddy wants me to go to Scotland with him,” said

Mother. “All by ourselves! And as you are really getting big enough to look

after yourselves now, we thought it would be rather fun for you to have a

holiday on your own too. But now that you can’t go to Polseath, I don’t

really quite know where to send you.”

”What about Quentin’s?” suddenly said Daddy. Quentin was his brother,

the children’s uncle. They had only seen him once, and had been rather

frightened of him. He was a very tall, frowning man, a clever scientist who

spent all his time studying. He lived by the sea- but that was about all that

the children knew of him!

”Quentin?” said Mother, pursing up her lips. “Whatever made you think

of him? I shouldn’t think he’d want the children messing about in his little

house.”

”Well,” said Daddy, “I had to see Quentin’s wife in town the other day,

about a business matter- and I don’t think things are going too well for

them. Fanny said that she would be quite glad if she could hear of one or

two people to live with her for a while, to bring a little money in. Their

house is by the sea, you know. It might be just the thing for the children.

Fanny is very nice- she would look after them well.”

”Yes- and she has a child of her own too, hasn’t she?” said the children’s

mother. “Let me see- what’s her name- something funny- yes, Diana !

How old would she be? About eleven, I should think.”

”Same age as me,” said John. “Fancy having a cousin we’ve never seen!

She must be jolly lonely all by herself. I’ve got Julian and Anne to play

with- but Diana is just one on her own. I should think she’d be glad to

see us.”

”Well, your Aunt Fanny said that her Diana would love a bit of

company,” said Daddy. “You know, I really think that would solve our

difficulty, if we telephone to Fanny and arrange for the children to go there.

It would help Fanny, I’m sure, and Diana would love to have someone to

play with in the holidays. And we should know that our three were safe.”

The children began to feel rather excited. It would be fun to go to a place

they had never been to before, and stay with an unknown cousin.

”Are there cliffs and rocks and sands there?” asked Anne. “Is it a nice

place?”

”I don’t remember it very well,” said Daddy. “But I feel sure it’s an

exciting kind of place. Anyway, you’ll love it! It’s called Kirrin Bay. Your

Aunt Fanny has lived there all her life, and wouldn’t leave it for anything.”

”Oh Daddy, do telephone to Aunt Fanny and ask her if we can go there!”

cried John. “I just feel as if it’s the right place somehow. It sounds sort of

adventurous!”

”Oh, you always say that, wherever you go!” said Daddy, with a laugh.

“All right- I’ll ring up now, and see if there’s any chance.”

They had all finished their breakfast, and they got up to wait for Daddy to

telephone. He went out into the hall, and they heard him putting the call

through.

”I hope it’s all right for us!” said Julian. “I wonder what Diana ’s like.

Funny name, isn’t it? More like a boy’s than a girl’s. So she’s eleven- a year

younger than I am- same age as you, John- and a year older than you, Anne.

She ought to fit in with us all right. The four of us ought to have a fine time

together.”

Daddy came back in about ten minutes’ time, and the children knew at

once that he had fixed up everything. He smiled round at them.

”Well, that’s settled,” he said. “Your Aunt Fanny is delighted about it.

She says it will be awfully good for Diana to have company, because

she’s such a lonely little girl, always going off by herself. And she will love

looking after you all. Only you’ll have to be careful not to disturb your

Uncle Quentin. He is working very hard, and he isn’t very good-tempered

when he is disturbed.”

”We’ll be as quiet as mice in the house!” said John. “Honestly we will.

Oh, goody, goody- when are we going, Daddy?”

”Next week, if Mother can manage it,” said Daddy.

Mother nodded her head. “Yes,” she said, “There’s nothing much to get

ready for them- just bathing suits and jerseys and shorts. They all wear the

same.”

”How lovely it will be to wear shorts again,” said Anne, dancing round.

“I’m tired of wearing school tunics. I want to wear shorts, or a bathing suit,

and go bathing and climbing with the boys.”

”Well, you’ll soon be doing it,” said Mother, with a laugh. “Remember to

put ready any toys or books you want, won’t you? Not many, please,

because there won’t be a great deal of room.”

”Anne wanted to take all her fifteen dolls with her last year,” said John,

“Do you remember, Anne? Weren’t you funny?”

”No, I wasn’t,” said Anne, going red. “I love my dolls, and I just couldn’t

choose which to take- so I thought I’d take them all. There’s nothing funny

about that.”

”And do you remember, the year before, Anne wanted to take the

rocking-horse?” said John, with a giggle.

Mother chimed in. “You know, I remember a little boy called John who

put aside two golliwogs, one teddy bear, three toy dogs, two toy cats and his

old monkey to take down to Polseath one year,” she said.

Then it was John’s turn to go red. He changed the subject at once.

”Daddy, are we going by train or by car?” he asked.

”By car,” said Daddy. “We can pile everything into the boot. Well- what

about Tuesday?”

”That would suit me well,” said Mother. “Then we could take the

children down, come back, and do our own packing at leisure, and start off

for Scotland on the Friday. Yes- we’ll arrange for Tuesday.”

So Tuesday it was. The children counted the days eagerly, and Anne

marked one off the calendar each night. The week seemed a very long time

in going. But at last Tuesday did come. John and Julian, who shared a

room, woke up at about the same moment, and stared out of the nearby

window.

”It’s a lovely day, hurrah!” cried Julian, leaping out of bed. “I don’t know

why, but it always seems very important that it should be sunny on the first

day of a holiday. Let’s wake Anne.”

Anne slept in the next room. Julian ran in and shook her. “Wake up! It’s

Tuesday! And the sun’s shining.”

Anne woke up with a jump and stared at Julian joyfully. “It’s come at

last!” she said. “I thought it never would. Oh, isn’t it an exciting feeling to

go away for a holiday!”

They started soon after breakfast. Their car was a big one, so it held them

all very comfortably. Mother sat in front with Daddy, and the three children

sat behind, their feet on two suitcases. In the luggage-place at the back of

the car were all kinds of odds and ends, and one small trunk. Mother really

thought they had remembered everything.

Along the crowded London roads they went, slowly at first, and then, as

they left the town behind, more quickly. Soon they were right into the open

country, and the car sped along fast. The children sang songs to themselves,

as they always did when they were happy.

”Are we picnicking soon?” asked Anne, feeling hungry all of a sudden.

”Yes,” said Mother. “But not yet. It’s only eleven o’clock. We shan’t have

lunch till at least half-past twelve, Anne.”

”Oh, gracious!” said Anne. “I know I can’t last out till then!”

So her mother handed her some chocolate, and she and the boys munched

happily, watching the hills, woods and fields as the car sped by.

The picnic was lovely. They had it on the top of a hill, in a sloping field

that looked down into a sunny valley. Anne didn’t very much like a big

brown cow who came up close and stared at her, but it went away when

Daddy told it to. The children ate enormously, and Mother said that instead

of having a tea-picnic at half-past four they would have to go to a tea-house

somewhere, because they had eaten all the tea sandwiches as well as the

lunch ones!

”What time shall we be at Aunt Fanny’s?” asked Julian, finishing up the

very last sandwich and wishing there were more.

”About six o’clock with luck,” said Daddy. “Now who wants to stretch

their legs a bit? We’ve another long spell in the car, you know.”

The car seemed to eat up the miles as it purred along. Tea-time came, and

then the three children began to feel excited all over again.

”We must watch out for the sea,” said John. “I can smell it somewhere

near!”

He was right. The car suddenly topped a hill- and there, was the shining

blue sea, calm and smooth in the evening sun. The three children gave a

yell.

”There it is!”

”Isn’t it marvellous!”

”Oh, I want to bathe this very minute!”

”We shan’t be more than twenty minutes now, before we’re at Kirrin

Bay,” said Daddy. “We’ve made good time. You’ll see the bay soon- it’s

quite a big one- with a funny sort of island at the entrance of the bay.”

The children looked out for it as they drove along the coast. Then Julian

gave a shout.

”There it is- that must be Kirrin Bay. Look, John- isn’t it lovely and

blue?”

”And look at the rocky little island guarding the entrance of the bay,”

said John. “I’d like to visit that.”

”Well, I’ve no doubt you will,” said Mother. “Now, let’s look out for

Aunt Fanny’s house. It’s called Kirrin Cottage.”

They soon came to it. It stood on the low cliff overlooking the bay, and

was a very old house indeed. It wasn’t really a cottage, but quite a big

house, built of old white stone. Roses climbed over the front of it, and the

garden was gay with flowers.

”Here’s Kirrin Cottage,” said Daddy, and he stopped the car in front of it.

“It’s supposed to be about three hundred years old! Now- where’s Quentin?

Hallo, there’s Fanny!”

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