FIVE GO OFF IN A CARAVAN

02 GEORGE'S GREAT IDEA

The others stared at George's excited face. She had gone quite red. Dick thumped on the ground.

 'A jolly good idea! Why didn't we think of it before?'

 'Oh, yes! A caravan to ourselves! It sounds too good to be true!' said Anne, and her eyes shone.

 'Well, I must say it would be something we've never done before,' said Julian, wondering if it was really possible. 'I say, wouldn't it be gorgeous if we could go off into the hills, where that lake is that the boy spoke about? We could bathe there, and we could perhaps get to know the circus folk. I've always wanted to know about circuses.'

 'Oh, Julian! That's a better idea still!' said George, rubbing her hands together in delight. 'I liked that boy Nobby, didn't you?'

 'Yes,' said everyone.

 'But I didn't like his uncle,' said Dick. 'He looked a nasty bit of work. I bet he makes Nobby toe the mark and do what he's told.'

 'Julian, do you think we'd be allowed to go caravanning by ourselves?' asked Anne earnestly. 'It does seem to me to be the most marvellous idea we've ever had.'

 'Well, we can ask and see,' said Julian. 'I'm old enough to look after you all.'

 'Pooh!' said George. 'I don't want any looking after, thank you. And anyway, if we want looking after, Timmy can do that. I bet the grown-ups will be glad to be rid of us for a week or two. They always think the summer hols are too long.'

 'We'll take Dobby with us to pull the caravan!' said Anne suddenly, looking down at the field where Dobby stood, patiently flicking away the flies with his long tail. 'Dobby would love that! I always think he must be lonely, living in that field all by himself, just being borrowed by people occasionally.'

'Of course, Dobby could come,' said Dick. 'That would be fine. Where could we get the caravan from? Are they easy to hire?'

 'Don't know,' said Julian. 'I knew a chap at school, you remember him, Dick, that big fellow called Perry, he used to go caravanning every hols with his people. They used to hire caravans, I know. I might find out from him where he got them from.'

 'Daddy will know,' said Anne. 'Or Mummy. Grown-ups always know things like that. I'd like a nice large caravan; red and blue, with a little chimney, and windows each side, and a door at the back, and steps to go up into the caravan, and . . .'

The others interrupted with their own ideas, and soon they were all talking excitedly about it, so loudly that they didn't see someone walking up and standing near by, laughing at the excitement.

 'Woof,' said Timmy politely. He was the only one who had ears and eyes for anything else at the moment. The children looked up.

'Oh, hallo, Mother!' said Julian. 'You've just come at the right moment. We want to tell you about an idea we've got.'

 His mother sat down, smiling. 'You seem very excited about something,' she said. 'What is it?'

 'Well, it's like this, Mummy,' said Anne, before anyone else could get a word in, 'we've made up our minds that we'd like to go off in a caravan for a holiday by ourselves! Oh, Mummy ... it would be such fun!'

 'By yourselves?' said her mother doubtfully. 'Well, I don't know about that.'

 'Julian can look after us,' said Anne.

 'So can Timmy,' put in George at once, and Timmy thumped the ground with his tail. Of course he could look after them! Hadn't he done it for years, and shared all their adventures? Thump, thump, thump!