The Runaways by Elizabeth Goudge Read Free Book Online Page B

out.’
    â€˜And you have a sixpence,’ said Timothy. ‘The sixpence you were saving up to get a pony. You don’t want it now you’ve got Rob-Roy.’
    â€˜I might want it for something else,’ said Robert, for he would be at times what country people call ‘very near’.
    â€˜Don’t be horrid, Robert,’ said Nan. ‘You’re the eldest. You pay this time and Tim next time. We shall need all of sixpence, for we must get a stamp and a postcard as well as sweets. I think it would be nice to send a postcard to Grandmama. I think perhaps we behaved badly when we were with her. We didn’t see it at the time, but I think perhaps we did. I’d like to send her a postcard.’
    Robert capitulated with good grace, for he didn’t want to be horrid. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘The shop. But it won’t be much of an adventure.’
    He was wrong. Little did they know as they approached Emma Cobley’s low green door what her acquaintance was eventually to lead to. They got inside the shop with difficulty, for when they knocked nothing happened, and when they turned the handle and pushed the door nothing happened either. Then suddenly it gave way and to the furious jangling of a little bell, that was fixed upon its inside, they fell into a warm stuffy darkness strongly scented with soap and onions, and a great many other smells that could not be identified in the confusion of the moment. Then came a most dreadful sound, a noise of snarling hate that froze their blood in horror, and something leapt at them out of the darkness. It was as big as a calf and Absolom barked madly and Betsy screamed.

    â€˜I’ve got it,’ panted Robert, on the floor with his hands gripping a furry throat that seemed to sink in and in under his fingers.
    â€˜So have I,’ gasped Timothy, gripping a long rope-like tail. And then he yelled, for the creature had suddenly got free and was on his chest, thrusting sharp talons right through his sailor suit into his skin and gazing down into his face out of terrible blazing yellow eyes.
    â€˜It’s the cat,’ said Nan suddenly. ‘Don’t yell, Timothy, it’s only the cat.’ And bending over Timothy she picked the cat up in her arms, and suddenly he went all soft and purry, and everyone’s curdled blood began to run freely in their veins again. ‘He was asleep and we frightened him. Poor cat. Don’t growl, Absolom.’
    â€˜He may be a cat now,’ said Timothy morosely, for he had a lump coming up on the back of his head where it had hit the floor when the cat attacked him, ‘but hewasn’t when he jumped at me. He was as big as a tiger.’
    â€˜Don’t be a fool, Tim,’ said Robert, and he said it all the more crossly because he was inclined to think that Timothy was right; he felt quite sure that his hands had not met round that great throat.
    â€˜Well, he’s a cat now,’ said Nan, as she put him back in the window. ‘And this is a shop and we’ve come to buy sweets, a stamp and a postcard for Grandmama.’
    â€˜There’s no one to buy them from,’ said Robert.
    â€˜Yes there is,’ said Timothy suddenly. ‘Look.’
    They all swung round and their hearts were beating almost as hard as when the cat had jumped at them. When they had first fallen into the shop, the darkness, after the sunlight outside, had seemed complete, but now that their eyes were growing accustomed to the dim light they could see that the small low-ceilinged room had a counter in it piled high with boxes and bags full of every conceivable thing, and shelves all round the walls crowded with rows of bottles, and more boxes. Bunches of herbs hung from the ceiling and in the far corner behind the counter, perched on a high stool, was a little old woman knitting a red woollen muffler. Absolom, who was thoroughly upset, growled at her, but she took no