Five on a Hike Together by Enid Blyton Read Free Book Online

sure."
    „Whatever wil George and Julian be thinking?" said Anne. „They"l be dreadful y worried, won"t they, wondering what has become of us. Do you suppose they"re at the real Blue Pond Farm-house?"
    „We"ll have to find out," said Dick „Do I look very messy and untidy, Anne? I feel awful."
    „Yes. Haven"t you a comb?" said Anne. „Your hair"s all up on end. And your face is very dirty. Look, there"s a little stream over there. Let"s get our flannels out and wash our hands and faces with them."
    They did a little washing in the cold water of the stream, and Dick combed back his hair.
    „You look a lot better," said Anne, „Oh dear - I wish we could have some breakfast. I"m real y starving! I didn"t sleep awfully well, did you, Dick? My mattress was so hard, and I was rather scared, up in that funny little room all alone."
    Before Dick could answer, a boy came whistling through the gate. He looked astonished to see Dick and Anne.
    „Hal o!" he said. „You hiking?"
    „Yes," said Dick. „Can you tell me if that place up there is Blue Pond Farm-house?"
    He pointed back to the old woman"s house. The boy laughed.

    „That"s no farm-house. That"s Mrs. Taggart"s place, and a dirty old place it is. Don"t you go there, or her son wil drive you off. Dirty Dick we cal him - he"s a terror! Blue Pond Farmhouse is down along there, see? Past the Three Shepherds Inn and away up to the left."
    „Thanks," said Dick, feeling very angry indeed with the man who had said „ar" and sent them all wrong the day before. The boy waved, and set off across a moorland path.
    „We certainly went the wrong way last night," said Dick, as they walked over the fields they had crossed in the dark the night before. „Poor Anne! Dragging you all that way in the dark and the rain to a horrible place that wasn"t Blue Pond Farm-house after all. I can"t think what Julian is going to say to me."
    „Well, it was my fault too," said Anne. „Dick, let"s go down to the Three Shepherds and telephone Blue Pond Farm-house from there, shal we? If it"s on the phone, that is. I don"t somehow feel as if I want to walk for miles and perhaps not find Blue Pond Farmhouse again."
    „Good idea," said Dick. „The Three Shepherds was where that woman was shaking a duster out of the window, wasn"t it? She told Julian the way to Spiggy House. I wonder how old Timmy is. I hope he"s better. I say - this hike isn"t as good as we hoped it would be, is it?"
    „Well, there"s stil time for it to be all right!" said Anne, much more cheerfully than she felt.
    She so badly wanted her breakfast that she felt quite bad-tempered!
    „We"ll telephone to Julian from the Three Shepherds to say what happened to us," said Dick, as they came to the lane where they had floundered in the mud the night before.
    He helped Anne over the stile and they jumped down to the narrow road. „And what"s more, we"ll have breakfast at the Three Shepherds - and I bet we eat more than ever the Three Shepherds did, whoever they were!"
    Anne felt more cheerful at once. She had thought they would have to walk all the way to find Blue Pond Farm-house before they had breakfast!
    „See - a stream does flow right across the road here," she said. „No wonder I got my feet wet yesterday! Come on - the thought of breakfast makes my legs want to run!"
    They at last arrived in Beacons Vil age, and made their way to the inn. On the sign three shepherds were painted, looking rather gloomy.
    „They look like I feel," said Anne, „but I shall soon feel different. Oh Dick - think of porridge -
    and bacon and eggs - and toast and marmalade!"
    „We must telephone first," said Dick, firmly - and then he suddenly stopped, just as he was going into the inn. Someone was calling him.
    „DICK! DICK! ANNE! Look, there they are! Hey, Dick, DICK!"
    It was Julian"s voice! Dick swung round in delight. He saw Julian, George and Timmy racing along the vil age street, shouting and waving. Timmy was first to reach them of