Five Go Off in a Caravan by Enid Blyton Read Free Book Online

old one.'

    'Will you be here camping for long?' asked Nobby.

    'Well, not just exactly here, said Julian. 'We thought of going up higher into the hills. It will be cooler there. But we might camp here just for tonight. We meant to go up higher this evening, but we might as well stay here and go tomorrow morning now. Perhaps we could see round the camp tomorrow morning.'

    'Not if Lou's there you can't,' said Nobby. 'Once he's told people to clear out he means it.
    But it will be all right if he's not. I'll come and tell you.'

    'All right,' said Julian. 'I'm not afraid of Lou — but we don't want to get you into any trouble, Nobby. If Lou's there tomorrow morning, we'll go on up into the hills, and you can always signal to us if he's out of the camp, and we can come down any time. And mind you come up and see us when you want to.'

    'And bring Pongo,' said Anne.

    'You bet!' said Nobby. 'Well — so long!'

    He went off with Barker and Growler at his heels and with Pongo held firmly by the paw.
    Pongo didn't want to go at all. He kept pulling back like a naughty child.

    'I do like Nobby and Pongo,' said Anne. 'I wonder what Mummy would say if she knew we'd made friends with a chimpanzee. She'd have a fit.'

    Julian suddenly looked rather doubtful. He was wondering if he had done right to fol ow the circus and let Anne and the others make friends with such queer folk and even queerer animals.
    But Nobby was so nice. He was sure his mother would like Nobby. And they could easily keep away from Tiger Dan and Lou the acrobat.

    'Have we got enough to eat for supper tonight and breakfast tomorrow?' he asked Anne.
    'Because there doesn't seem to be a farm near enough to go to just here. But Nobby says there's one up on the hill up there — the circus folk get their supplies from it, too — what they don't get from the nearest town. Apparently somebody goes in each day to shop.'

    'I'll just see what we've got in the larder, Julian,' said Anne, getting up. She knew perfectly well what there was in the larder — but it made her feel grown-up and important to go and look.
    It was nice to feel like that when she so often felt small and young, and the others were big and knew so much.

    She called back to them: 'I've got eggs and tomatoes and potted meat, and plenty of bread, and a cake we bought today, and a pound of butter.'

    'That's all right then,' said Julian. 'We won't bother about going to the farm tonight.'

    When darkness fell that night, there were clouds across the sky for the first time. Not a star showed and there was no moon. It was pitch-black, and Julian, looking out of the window of his caravan, before clambering into his bunk, could not even see a shimmer of water from the lake.

    He got into his bunk and pulled the covers up. In the other caravan George and Anne were asleep. Timmy was, as usual, on George's feet. She had pushed him off them once or twice, but now that she was asleep he was undisturbed, and lay heavily across her ankles, his head on his paws.

    Suddenly his ears cocked up. He raised his head cautiously. Then he growled softly in his throat. He had heard something. He sat there stiffly, listening. He could hear footsteps from two different directions. Then he heard voices — cautious voices, low and muffled.

    Timmy growled again, more loudly. George awoke and reached for his collar. 'What's the matter?' she whispered. Timmy listened and so did she. They both heard the voices.

    George slipped quietly out of the bunk and went to the half-open door of the caravan. She could not see anything outside at all because it was so dark. 'Don't make a noise, Tim,' she whispered.

    Timmy understood. He did not growl again, but George could feel the hairs rising all along the back of his neck.

    The voices seemed to come from not very far away. Two men must be talking together, George thought. Then she heard a match struck, and in its light she saw two men lighting their cigarettes from the same match. She