Peter suddenly made a grab for the two bare feet and caught hold of them. There was a yell, and the feet began to kick out. But Peter held them tightly.
" You come on down," he said, angrily. " Who are you ? How dare you come to our tree-house and mess our things up. Come on down!''
" Let me go," said a boy's voice, and then there came the mewing noise again... and to the two boys' surprise a small kitten leapt down to a nearby branch and stared at Peter and Colin with wide-open green eyes.
" A kitten ! " said Colin. " It must be that boy with the kitten ! He did come back after all!"
" Don't pull me, don't pull me ! " called the boy on the bough above. " I'm slipping."
Peter let go his feet. " Come on down then, and don't play the fool, because we're two to one," he said.
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The feet came down lower, then the legs, and then a thin body. Then came the whole boy, looking scared and white of face.
" Sit down," ordered Peter. " Don't move. Now you just tell us what you're doing in our tree."
The boy sat down. He looked up at them sulkily. He was thin and pale, and his hair wanted cutting.
" I only came here to hide," he said. " I've not done any harm, except to take a few biscuits last night. But if you'd been as hungry as I was, you'd have taken them too."
" What are you hiding from? " asked Colin. " Have you run away from home or something? "
" I shan't tell you anything," said the boy. " You might tell the police."
" We shan't," said Colin. " At least... not if we can help it. Why should we tell the police anyhow?"
The kitten crept quietly back to the boy and cuddled into his coat. Colin and Peter saw that it had a bleeding leg. The boy put up his hand and stroked it gently. It began to purr.
Both Colin and Peter suddenly felt certain that the boy couldn't be terribly bad because he so obviously loved the kitten, and the kitten trusted him. They stared at the sullen boy.
" Go on... tell us," said Peter, keeping the light of his torch full on the boy. " We might be able to help you."
"Will you let me stay here at night? " asked the boy. " In case they find me. They know I'm somewhere in Windy Woods."
"Who?" asked Peter. " Tell us everything. What's your name, to begin with ? "
" Jeff," said the boy, still stroking the kitten.
It all began when my mother went to hospital.
I lived with her. My dad's dead, so there's only us two. But when Mum was taken to hospital I was sent to my Uncle Harry and my Aunt Lizzy."
" Well, go on," said Peter. " Why did you run away? "
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" I stayed there a week," said Jeff, " and my mother didn't come out of the hospital, and nobody would tell me anything. Suppose she never came out ? What was I to do? All I had was my kitten."
" Well, wouldn't your uncle and aunt have looked after you ? " asked Peter.
" I didn't want them to," said Jeff. " They are bad. My mother always said so, and she knew. They've got bad friends, and they do bad things."
" What do they do ? " asked Peter.
" Oh�steal�and worse things," saidJeff.
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" They were all right to me... I mean they gave me food, and my aunt mended some of my clothes, but they were cruel to my kitten."
Colin and Peter stared at Jeff in sympathy. Peter knew how he would have felt if someone had been unkind to Scamper. " Did... did they hurt the kitten's leg where it's bleeding ? " he asked.
Jeff nodded. " Yes. Uncle kicked at it. It's not so bad now, but it was very bad at first. So that day I ran away, and took the kitten with me. I hid in an empty house, first, but they came after me. Then I came to this wood, and guessed you were up this tree, when your dog barked. So when you'd gone I climbed up."
" I see," said Peter. " And ate our biscuits and chocolate. But why are your uncle and aunt bothering about you? They know you can go back when you want to."
" 'Tisn't my aunt," said Jeff. " It's my uncle and his friend Mr. Tizer. They're afraid I know too much."
" Too much about what ? " asked Colin.
" I used to sleep in the sitting-room," explained Jeff. " And one night I heard them talking about some plan they were making. I just heard a few things, but I couldn't make head or tail of them. I turned over to get more comfortable, and my uncle jumped up and accused me of listening."
" Ah... and now that you've run away they're afraid you will tell someone what you heard," said Colin. " Did you hear much ? "
" No... nothing to make any sense," said Jeff. " But they don't believe that, and they're after me. I saw Mr. Tizer in the woods today with his dog. They're hunting me,and I'm scared. That's why I came up to your tree-house ! Can't I stay ? "
"Yea... you stay here for the night," said Peter. " Get out the cushions. Make yourself comfortable. And tomorrow we'll all come and see what's best to be done! Don't you worry, the Secret Seven will put things right!"
