"Blyton, Enid - Adv 05 - Mountain of Adventure" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

"They must not go hungry," said kind Mrs. Evans. "There! I think I have thought of everything. Children, you must use one donkey for the food and the other for everything else, look you. I will see that David straps everything on well."



The children listened to her kind, sing-song voice as they sat at breakfast. They felt very happy, and the only thing that spoilt their pleasure was the fact that Bill and Mrs. Mannering were not coming with them. On the other hand, they would be freer without grown-ups!

Kiki gave a hiccup, with one eye on Mrs. Mannering. She looked at the parrot severely. "Kiki! You did that on purpose. Do you want your beak smacked?"

"Pardon," said Kiki, and went off into a cackle of laughter. Effans choked over his bacon, trying to laugh with his mouth full, and went purple in the face. His bacon went down the wrong way, and he got the hiccups too.

"Pardon, look you!" he said to Mrs. Mannering, with such a horrified look on his face that everyone roared with laughter.

"Now here is David, all ready for you!" cried Mrs. Evans from the door, where she had gone to chase away a turkey that had suddenly appeared. It made a gobbling noise that scared Snowy terribly. Kiki, of course, at once gobbled too, and the turkey looked into the kitchen in amazement. "Shoo!" said Mrs. Evans. "Good morning, David, it's early you are, and a nice day you have brought with you!"

"Indeed to goodness I have," said David in Welsh, and smiled timidly at the company in the big kitchen. His donkeys crowded round him, sturdy and patient, their harness clinking and glinting.

"Come on!" yelled Jack, suddenly feeling too excited to sit at the table any longer. "Come on! Let's pack the things on the donkeys and go!"

They all rushed out. Soon David and Effans were strapping everything on two donkeys. One donkey had big panniers each side for food. The other had the things strapped across his broad little back. They stood perfectly still, their ears twitching as a fly or two settled on them.

"Well — are we ready to start?" said Philip. "I think we've got everything. Oh, gosh, where are my field-glasses?"

At last everyone and everything was ready. It had been explained to David that Bill and Mrs. Mannering could not come, and Effans had said he would care for the two extra donkeys till the children came back. David did not seem too pleased to think he was to go alone with the children. He looked rather scared, Bill thought. Poor timid little fellow! Bill wished it was Effans who was going with the children, not David. Still, Jack and Philip were used to camping out and could be trusted to be sensible.

"Good-bye!" called everyone. "See you in a few days' time. Take care of your hand, Mother! Now we're off — off to the Vale of Butterflies! Good-bye, everyone!"





Chapter 7

ON THE WAY



WITH Bill, Mrs. Mannering, Effans and Mrs. Evans waving and calling good-bye, the party set off on their donkeys. They had to go by Trefor the shepherd's little cabin, and the donkeys picked their way steadily up the steep hillside.

Snowy ran beside them, bobbing about under the donkeys' bodies as he pleased. They seemed to like him, and Dapple kept putting his head down to the kid whenever he came near. Kiki was perched as usual on Jack's shoulder, jogging up and down contentedly, snapping her beak, and making a few quiet remarks into Jack's ear.

They came to Trefor's cabin. He was on the hillside, seeing to a sick sheep. He came to meet them, his untidy hair blowing in the wind, and his eyes shining as blue as forget-me-nots.

There was a conversation between the two men in Welsh. David sounded rather complaining. Trefor seemed to be pooh-poohing what he said. David got out a map that Bill had given him, and appeared to be saying that he didn't understand it at all.

Trefor then spoke earnestly, pointing in this direction and that, poking David with his finger every time he wanted to make a point go home. The children thought he must be telling David the exact way to go.

"I hope David really does know the way," said Jack. "He might have thought Bill would help him with the map if Bill had been going. It looks to me as if he's telling Trefor he's not too certain of the way."

"Well, what does it matter?" said Philip, pushing Snowy off with his hand as the kid tried to jump up onto his donkey with him. "I'd like to see the Vale of Butterflies — but so long as we go off camping in those gorgeous mountains, that's all that matters."