FIVE FALL INTO ADVENTURE by Enid Blyton

21 A FEW SURPRISES

As soon as Julian had said that he kept hearing noises, the others felt as if they could hear some, too. They sat and listened intently, George's heart beating so loudly that she was certain the boys would be able to hear it.

"I think perhaps it's the sound of the sea, echoing in through the caves and the tunnels," said Julian at last. "In the ordinary way, of course, we wouldn't need to bother to listen - Timmy would growl at once! But, poor old chap, he's so doped and sleepy that I don't believe he hears anything."

"Will he get all right again?" asked George, anxiously,' fondling Timmy's silky ears.

"Oh, yes," said Julian, sounding much more certain than he really felt. Poor Timmy - he really did seem ill! There wasn't even a growl in him,

"You've had an awful time these last few days, haven't you George?" asked Dick.

"Yes," said George. "I don't much want to talk about it. If I'd had Timmy with me it wouldn't have been so bad, but at first, when they brought me here, all I knew of Timmy was hearing him bark and snarl and bark and snarl down below in that yard. Then Red told me he had doped him."

"How did you get to Red's place?" asked Julian.

"Well, you know I was locked in that horrible-smelling caravan," said George. "Then suddenly a man called Simmy - he's Jo's father, I think - came and dragged us out. Timmy was all stupid with the blow they'd given him - and they put him in a sack and put us both on the caravan horse and took us through the wood and along a desolate path by the coast till we came here. That was in the middle of the night."

"Poor old George!" said Julian. "I wish Tim was himself again - I'd love to set him loose on Red and the other fellow!"

"I wonder what's happening to Jo," said Dick, suddenly remembering that Jo was now imprisoned in the tower room where George had been kept so long.

"And do you suppose Red and Markhoff have discovered that we've got out of that shed, and that Timmy has disappeared, too?" said Julian. "They'll be in a fury when they do discover it!"

"Can't we get away?" said George, feeling suddenly scared. "You came in a boat, didn't you'? Well, can't we get away in that and go and fetch help for Jo?"

There was a silence. Neither of the boys liked to tell George that her beloved boat had been smashed to pieces by Markhoff. But she had to know, of course, and Julian told her in a few short words.

George said nothing at all. They all sat silently for a few minutes, hearing nothing but Timmy's heavy, almost snoring, breathing.

"Would it be possible, when it's dark, to creep up into the courtyard, and go round the walls to the big gate?" said Dick, breaking the silence. "We can't escape anywhere down here, it's certain - not without a boat, anyhow."

"Should we wait till Red and Markhoff have gone off in the helicopter?" said Julian. "Then we'd be much safer."

"Yes - but what about Jo?" asked Dick. "They think she's George, don't they? - and they'll take her away with them, just as they planned to do with George. I don't see how we can try to escape ourselves without first trying to save Jo. She's been a brick about George."

They talked round and round the idea of trying to save Jo, but nobody could think of any really sensible plan at all. Time went on, and they all felt hungry and rather cold. "If only we could do something, it wouldn't be so bad!" groaned Dick. "I wonder what's happening up at the house."

Up at the grey stone house with its big square-tower, plenty was happening!

To begin with, Markhoff had gone to shoot Timmy, as Red had ordered. But when he got to the summerhouse there was no dog there!