Mystery of Tally-Ho Cottage by Enid Blyton Read Free Book Online

are. I don’t know how your Ma manages with Sid and Perce, Ern - but twins are a handful, my word they are! If one isn’t in mischief, the other is.’
    ‘Mum’s always saying the same about Sid and Perce,’ said Ern. ‘I’ll take the twins off your hands for you a bit, Auntie - play ball with them, and such-like.’
    ‘That’s right, Ern,’ said Mrs. Woosh. ‘I expect you know about the happenings next door, don’t you? The Lorenzos, I mean, who were in the papers today. My word - I could tell you of some goings-on there, I could!’
    Ern felt excited. He might hear Something Important - something he could report back to Fatty. He wondered if he ought to write anything down in his notebook. Yes, perhaps he’d better - his aunt might let a few clues drop! That would be fine. So Ern pulled a notebook out of his pocket, licked his pencil, and glued his eyes on his aunt.
    ‘You tell me everything’’ he said. ‘And don’t leave NOTHING out, Auntie!’
    His aunt was pleasantly surprised to find Ern so interested in her chatter. Neither her husband nor the twins ever listened to her for more than a few seconds, and she was a born talker. She leaned her elbows on the table and began.
    ‘Well, the Lorenzos came about six months back. They took the house, furnished, from the Peters’ who are in America. They brought their own servants with them, and…’
    ‘What about the Larkins?’ said Ern, remembering what the Five had said about them. He’d better ask for news of them too!
    ‘Oh, the Larkins - they’ve been in that cottage for donkeys’ years,’ said Mrs. Woosh. ‘Don’t interrupt me, Ern. I don’t hold with them Larkins - dirty, untidy couple they are, shuffling and sniffling about. I just pass the time of day and that’s all. He’s supposed to look after the boilers, and go up to the house for the boots to clean and things like that. Dirty old man!’
    ‘They’ve got the little poodle, Poppet, haven’t they?’ said Ern, trying to scribble fast enough to keep up with Mrs. Woosh’s chatter.
    ‘Yes - and why the Lorenzos left it with them, goodness knows!’ said Mrs. Woosh. ‘We once had a cat, and it wandered into their garden - and will you believe it, they stoned the poor creature, and almost broke one of its legs.’
    Ern was horrified, and wrote down ‘legs’ and underlined it. On and on went his aunt, telling him about the extraordinary parties that the Lorenzos gave; ‘midnight bathing in the river and hide-and-seek in the garden afterwards,’ she said. ‘And once they all dressed up as animals, and I wasn’t half startled to meet a giraffe and a bear going along the lane that night!’
    Ern was soon so fascinated that he forgot to write in his notebook. He began to wish that he too lived next door to people like the Lorenzos - there would always be plenty of excitement!
    ‘The house is shut up now,’ said Mrs. Woosh, ‘no lights, no smoke from the chimneys. I passed the time of day with Mr. Larkin yesterday, and he said that even he and his wife can’t get in. Not even to air the house. He says the police have got the keys.’
    Ern decided this might be important, so he wrote down ‘Shut house. Keys.’ His aunt frowned.
    ‘Why do you keep scribbling in that notebook of yours, Ern, when I’m talking to you? That’s rude. Anyone would think you were your uncle, P.C. Goon - he’s always got a notebook he’s scribbling in. My word, I’ve just thought of an idea!’
    ‘What?’ said Ern, his pencil poised over his notebook at once. ‘Quick, Aunt!’
    ‘I’ll ask Mr. Goon in to tea while you’re here - I’ll tell him it’s just so he can see his nephew. But really it’ll be because I want to hear what he’s got to say on this Lorenzo business!’ Mrs. Woosh looked delighted at her idea. ‘He’s a wonderful man, your Uncle Theophilus Goon - always on to something. Yes, I’ll ask him to tea.’
    Ern stared at her in the utmost horror. He could think of nothing worse than having his uncle to tea, and being made to sit opposite his big, angry