The Secret Series - Complete Collection. Enid blyton
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none of us go to school now, and I have to help Uncle in the fields from morning to night. I don’t mind that, but I do wish
Aunt Harriet wouldn’t treat the two girls so badly. They are not very old, and she makes them do all the work of the house for her.”
“I do every bit of the washing now,” said Nora. “I wouldn’t mind the little things, but the sheets are so big and heavy.”
“And I do all the cooking,” said Peggy. “Yesterday I burnt a cake because the oven got too hot, and Aunt Harriet sent me to bed for the rest of the day without anything to eat at all.”
“I climbed through the window and gave her some bread and cheese,” said Mike. “And Uncle caught me and shook me so hard that I couldn’t stand up afterwards. I had to go without my supper, and my breakfast this morning was only a small piece of bread.”
“We haven’t had any new clothes for months,” said Peggy. “My shoes are dreadful. And I don’t know what we shall do when the winter comes, because none of our coats will fit us.”
“You are much worse off than I am,” said Jack. “I have never had anything nice, so I don’t miss it. But you have had everything you wanted, and now it is all taken away from you - you haven’t even a father and mother you can go to for help.”
“Do you remember your father and mother, Jack?” asked Mike. “Did you always live with your old grandfather?”
“I never remember anyone except him,” said Jack. “He’s talking of going to live with an aunt of mine. If he does I shall be left all alone, for she won’t have me, too.”
“Oh, Jack! Whatever will you do?” asked Nora.
“I shall be all right!” said Jack. “The thing is what are you three going to do? I hate to see you all unhappy. If only we could all run away together!”
“We should be found at once and brought back,” said Mike gloomily. “I know that.
I’ve read in the papers about boys and girls running away, and they are always found by the police and brought back. If I knew some place where we would never be found, I would run away - and take the two girls with me too. I hate to see them slapped and worked hard by Aunt Harriet.”
“Now listen to me,” said Jack suddenly, in such an earnest voice that all three children turned to him at once. “If I tell you a very great secret will you promise never to say a word about it to anyone?”
"Oh, yes, Jack, we promise,” said all three.
“You can trust us, Jack,” said Mike.
“I know I can,” he said. “Well, listen. I know a place where nobody could find us - if we ran away!”
“Where is it, Jack?” they all cried in great excitement.
“I’ll show you this evening,” said Jack, getting up. “Be by the lakeside at eight o’clock, when all your work is done, and I’ll meet you there. I must go now, or Granpa will be angry with me, and perhaps lock me into my room so that I can’t get out again to-day.”
“Good-bye, Jack,” said Nora, who was feeling much better now. "We’ll see you this evening.”
Jack ran off, and the three children made their way slowly back to Uncle Henry’s arm. They had taken their dinner out into the fields to eat - now they had to go back to work. Nora had a great deal of ironing to do, and Peggy had to clean the kitchen. It was a big stone kitchen, and Peggy knew it would take her until supper-time - and, oh dear, how tired she would be then! Aunt Harriet would scold her all the time, she knew.
“I’ve got to go and clean out the barn,” said Mike to the girls, "but I’ll be in at supper-time, and afterwards we’ll see about this great secret of Jack’s.”
They each began their work, but all the time they were thinking excitedly of the evening. What was Jack’s secret? Where was the place he knew of? Could they really and truly run away?
They all got into trouble because they were thinking so hard of the evening that they did not do their work to Aunt Harriet’s liking nor to Uncle Henry’s either.
Nora got a few more slaps, and Peggy was scolded so hard that she cried bitterly into her overall. She was made to scrub the kitchen floor all over again, and this made her late for supper.
Mike was shouted at by Uncle Henry for spilling some corn in the barn. The little boy said nothing, but he made up his mind that if it was possible to run away in safety he would do so, and take the girls with him, too.
“Nora and Peggy ought to be going to school and wearing nice clothes that fit them, and having friends to tea,” said Mike to himself. “This is no life for them. They are just very hard-worked servants for Aunt Harriet, and she pays them nothing.”
The children ate their supper of bread and cheese in silence. They were afraid of speaking in case their aunt or uncle shouted at them. When they had finished Mike spoke to his aunt.
“Please may we go for a walk in the fields before we go to bed?” he asked.
“No, you can’t,” said Aunt Harriet in her sharp voice. “You’ll just go to bed, all of you. There’s a lot of work to do to-morrow, and I want you up early.”
The children looked at one another in dismay. But they had to do as they were told.
They went upstairs to the big bedroom they all shared. Mike had a small bed in the corner behind a screen, and the two girls had a bigger bed between them.
“I believe Aunt Harriet and Uncle Henry are going out to-night, and that’s why they want us to go to bed early,” said Mike. “Well, if they do go out, we’ll slip down and meet Jack by the river.”
“We won’t get undressed then,” said Nora. “We’ll just slip under the sheets, dressed - and then it won’t take us long to run down to the lake.”
The three children listened hard. They heard the front door close. Mike popped out of bed and ran to the front room. From there he could see the path to the gate. He saw his uncle and aunt walk down it, dressed to go out.
He ran back to the others. “We’ll wait for five minutes,” he said, "then we’ll go.”
They waited quietly. Then they all slipped downstairs and out of the back door. They ran down to the lake as fast as they could. Jack was there waiting for them.
“Hallo, Jack,” said Mike. “Here we are at last. They sent us to bed, but when they went out we slipped down here to meet you.”
“What’s your great secret, Jack?” asked Nora, “we are longing to know.”
“Well, listen,” said Jack. “You know what a big lake this is, don’t you, perfectly wild all round, except at the two ends where there are a few farmhouses and cottages. Now I know a little island, a good way up the south side of the lake, that I’m sure nobody knows at all. I don’t think anyone but me has ever been there. It’s a fine island, and would make the best hiding-place in the world!”
The three children listened, their eyes wide with astonishment. An island on the big lake! Oh, if only they could really go there and hide - and live by themselves - with no unkind aunt and uncle to slap them and scold them and make them work hard all day long!
“Are you too tired to walk down the lakeside to a place where you can see the island?” asked Jack. “I only found it quite by chance one day. The woods come right down to the lakeside opposite the island, and they are so thick that I don’t think anyone has ever been through them, and so no one can have seen my island!”
“Jack! Jack! Take us to see your secret island!” begged Nora. “Oh, we must go. We’re all tired - but we must, must see the secret island.”
“Come on, then,” said Jack, pleased to see how excited