NEXT morning, on a dewy hillside a good distance from Kirrin, where George lived, two boys leaptdown the steps of a caravan1, and went to one nearby. They rapped on the door.
'Anne! Are you awake? It's a heavenly day!'
'Of course I'm awake!' cried a voice. 'The door's unlocked. Come in. I'm getting breakfast.'
Julian and Dick pushed open the blue-painted door. Anne was standing2 at a little stove at one end ofher caravan, boiling eggs in a saucepan.
'I can't look round,' she said. 'I'm timing3 them by my watch. One minute more to go.'
'The postman has just brought a card from George,' said Julian. 'She says her tail and Timmy's areboth well up! I'm glad she's coming at last - and old Timmy too.'
'We'll all go and meet her,' said Anne, still with her eyes on her watch. 'Twenty seconds more.'
'We only came here ourselves three days ago,' said Dick. 'So she hasn't really missed much.
Surely those eggs will be hard-boiled, Anne!'
Anne stopped looking at her watch. 'No, they won't. They'll be just right.' She scooped4 them out ofthe little saucepan with a big spoon. 'Put them in the egg-cups, Dick. There they are-just under yournose.'
Dick picked an egg up from the plate on which Anne had placed them. It was so hot that he 6dropped it with a yell, and it broke its shell. Yolk5 flowed out of it.
'DICK! You saw me take it out of boiling water!' said Anne. 'Now I've got to do another. It's a pityold Timmy isn't here. He'd soon have licked that broken egg up from the floor and saved me clearingup the mess.'
'We'll eat our breakfast sitting on the steps of your caravan, Anne,' said Julian. 'The sun's so lovely.'
So they all sat there, eating boiled eggs, well-buttered bread, with chunky, home-made marmaladeafterwards, and then juicy apples. The sun shone down and Julian took off his coat.
Their two caravans6 were set on a sloping, grassy7 hillside. A tall hedge grew behind, and kept off thewind. Primroses8 ran in a pale gold streak9 under the hedge, and brilliant celandines shone in the sun,turning their polished faces towards it.
Not far off were three more caravans, but they were modern ones. The people staying in those werenot yet up, and the doors were fast shut. The three children had had no chance of making friends withthem.
On the opposite hill rose an old, ruined castle, whose great walls still defied the gales10 that sometimesblew over the hills. It had four towers. Three were very much broken, but the fourth looked almostcomplete. The windows were slitholes, made centuries back when archers11 shot their arrows fromthem.
A very steep pathway led up to the castle. At the top of it was a gateway12, enormously strong, built ofbig white blocks of stone. The gateway was now filled by a great screen of wrought-iron to preventanyone entering, and the only entrance was by a small tower in which was a narrow door. Here therewas a turnstile through which visitors might go to see the old castle.
A high, strong wall ran all round the castle, still standing after so many years. Bits of the top of it hadfallen down the hill and lay half-buried in grass and weeds. It had once been a magnificent old castle,built on the high, steep hill for safety, a place from which the castle guards might see the countryeasily for miles around.
As Julian said, anyone up in one of the towers, or even on the wall, would be able to see enemiesapproaching from seven counties. There would be plenty of time to shut the great gate, man the walls,and get ready to withstand quite a long siege if necessary.
The three of them sat on the steps, lazing in the sun, when they had finished their breakfast. Theylooked at the ruined old castle, and watched the jackdaws circling round the four towers.
7
'There must be about a thousand jackdaws there,' said Dick. 'I wish we had field-glasses so that wecould watch them. It would be as good as a circus. I love the way they all fly up together, and circleround and round and yet never bump into one another.'
'Do they nest in that old castle?' asked Anne.
'Oh, yes - they fill up the towers with big sticks,' said Dick, 'and put their nests on the top. I bet we'dfind the ground beneath the towers strewn ankle-deep in sticks if we went to see.'
'Well, let's go one day when George is here,' said Anne. 'It only costs five pence to go in. I like oldcastles. I like the feel of old places.'
'So do I,' said Julian. 'I hope George brings the field-glasses she had for her birthday. We could takethem up into the castle with us and see all round the countryside for miles and miles. We could countthe seven counties!'
'I must wash up,' said Anne, getting up. 'I must tidy the caravans too before George comes.'
'You don't really think old George will notice if they're tidy or not, do you?' said Dick. 'It will be awaste of your time, Anne!'
But Anne always enjoyed tidying things and putting them away in cupboards or on shelves. She likedhaving the two caravans to look after. She had just got used to them nicely and was looking forwardto showing George round them.
She skipped over to the hedge and picked a great bunch of primroses. Back she went and dividedthem into two. She stuffed half into one little blue bowl, set their green crinkled leaves round them,and then put the other half into a second bowl.
'There - you go with the green and yellow curtains!' she said. She was soon very busy sweeping13 anddusting. She debated whether to send Dick to the stream to wash the breakfast things, and decided14 notto. Dick wasn't too good with crockery, and it was not theirs to break - it belonged to the owner of thecaravans.
By the time it was half-past eleven the caravans were spick and span. George's sheets and blanketswere on the shelf above her bunk15, which, in the daytime, let down neatly16 against the wall to makemore room. Anne had a bunk on the opposite side.
'This is the kind of holiday I like,' said Anne to herself. 'Somewhere small to live, fields and hills justoutside, picnicky meals - and not too much adventure!'
'What are you murmuring about, Anne?' said Dick, peeping in at the window. 'Did I hear somethingabout adventure? Are you looking for one already?'
8
'Good gracious no!' said Anne. 'It's the last thing I want! And the last thing we'll get too, in this quietlittle place, thank goodness.'
Dick grinned. 'Well, you never know,' he said. 'Are you ready to come and meet George, Anne?
It's about time we went.'
Anne went down the steps and joined Dick and Julian. 'Better lock the door,' said Dick. 'We've lockedours.' He locked Anne's door and the three set off down the grassy hillside to the stile that led into thelane below. The old castle on the opposite hill seemed to tower up higher and higher as they wentdown and down towards the village.
'It will be lovely to see Timmy again,' said Anne. 'And I'll be jolly glad to have George too, in mycaravan. I didn't really mind being alone at night - but it's always nice to have George near me, andTimmy grunting18 in his sleep.'
'You want to sleep with Dick if you like grunts19 and snorts and moans,' said Julian. 'What do youdream about, Dick? You must have more nightmares than anyone else in the kingdom!'
'I never grunt17 or snort or moan,' said Dick indignantly. 'You want to hear yourself! Why...'
'Look - isn't that the train coming in - isn't that it curving round the line in the distance?' said Anne. 'Itmust be! There's only one train in the morning here! We'd better run!'
They ran at top speed. The train drew in at the station just as they raced on to the platform. A head ofshort curly hair looked out from a window - and then another dark brown head just below it.
'George - and Timmy!' yelled Anne.
'Hallo!' shouted George, almost falling out of the door.
'WOOF!' barked Timmy, and leapt down to the platform almost on top of Dick. Down jumpedGeorge, her eyes shining. She hugged Anne, and gave Julian and Dick a punch each. 'I'm here!'
she said. 'I felt awful knowing you were away camping without me. I gave poor old Mother adreadful time.'
'I bet you did,' said Julian, and linked his arm in hers. 'Let me take that suit-case. We'll just slip intothe village first and have a few ice-creams to celebrate. There's a shop here that has some jolly decentones.'
'Good. I feel exactly like ice-creams,' said George, happily. 'Look, Timmy knows what you said.
His tongue is hanging out for an ice-cream already. Timmy, aren't you pleased we're all togetheragain?'
9
'Woof,' said Timmy, and licked Anne's hand for the twentieth time.
'I really ought to bring a towel with me when I meet Timmy,' said Anne. 'His licks are so very wet.
Oh no, not again, Timmy - go and use your tongue on Julian!'
'I say, look - George has brought her field-glasses with her!' said Dick, suddenly noticing that thebrown strap20 over George's shoulder did not belong to a camera but to a very fine leather case thatheld the new field-glasses. 'Good! We wanted to watch the jackdaws with them and there are someherons down on the marsh21 too.'
'Well, I thought I must bring them,' said George. 'It's the first hols I've had a chance to use them.
Mother wouldn't let me take them to school. I say - how much further is this ice-cream shop?'
'In the dairy here,' said Julian, marching her in. 'And I advise you to start off with vanilla22, go on tostrawberry and finish up with chocolate.'
'You do have good ideas!' said George. 'I hope you've got some money as well, if we're going to eatice-creams at this rate. Mother didn't give me very much to spend.'
They sat down and ordered ice-creams. The plump little shop-woman smiled at them. She knew themby now. 'This is very good weather for you,' she said. 'Are there many caravanners up on FaynightsField?'
'No, not many,' said Julian, beginning his ice.
'Well, you're going to have a few more,' said the little plump lady. 'I hear there's some fair-folkcoming - they usually camp up in your field. You'll have some fun if so.'
'Oh, good!' said Dick. 'We'll really be able to make a few friends then. We like fair-folk, don't we,Timmy?'
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1
caravan
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n.大蓬车;活动房屋 | |
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standing
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n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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3
timing
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n.时间安排,时间选择 | |
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scooped
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v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 );(敏捷地)抱起;抢先获得;用铲[勺]等挖(洞等) | |
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5
yolk
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n.蛋黄,卵黄 | |
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caravans
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(可供居住的)拖车(通常由机动车拖行)( caravan的名词复数 ); 篷车; (穿过沙漠地带的)旅行队(如商队) | |
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grassy
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adj.盖满草的;长满草的 | |
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primroses
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n.报春花( primrose的名词复数 );淡黄色;追求享乐(招至恶果) | |
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streak
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n.条理,斑纹,倾向,少许,痕迹;v.加条纹,变成条纹,奔驰,快速移动 | |
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10
gales
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龙猫 | |
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11
archers
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n.弓箭手,射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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12
gateway
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n.大门口,出入口,途径,方法 | |
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sweeping
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adj.范围广大的,一扫无遗的 | |
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14
decided
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adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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15
bunk
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n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位;废话 | |
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16
neatly
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adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地 | |
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17
grunt
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v.嘟哝;作呼噜声;n.呼噜声,嘟哝 | |
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18
grunting
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咕哝的,呼噜的 | |
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grunts
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(猪等)作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 ); (指人)发出类似的哼声; 咕哝着说; 石鲈 | |
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strap
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n.皮带,带子;v.用带扣住,束牢;用绷带包扎 | |
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21
marsh
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n.沼泽,湿地 | |
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vanilla
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n.香子兰,香草 | |
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