"Blyton, Enid - Famous Five 13 - Five Go to Mystery Moor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Blyton Enid)

‘Oh, we’ll send the little wagon,’ said Mrs Johnson. ‘The one that always goes to meet the train or the bus. I’ll get George to meet you with Anne, they can drive it in. We’re pleased you are coming. The weather’s very good and you’ll enjoy yourselves!’
‘Rather!’ said Julian. ‘Thanks awfully for putting us up. We won’t be any trouble, in fact we’ll help all we can.’
Mrs Johnson said good-bye and put down the receiver. She saw Henrietta passing outside the window, looking much cleaner and tidier than usual. She called to her.
‘Henry! Where are George and Anne? Julian and Dick are arriving at the bus-stop at Milling Green at eleven-thirty and I’ve said we’ll meet them in the little wagon. Will you tell George and Anne? They can put Winkie into the cart and trot him down to the bus-stop.’
‘Right,’ said Henry. Then she remembered that George and Anne had been sent up to Hawthorn Field with the four ponies.
‘I say, they won’t be back in time!’ she called. ‘Shall I take the wagon and meet them?’
‘Yes, do. That would be kind of you, Henry,’ said Mrs Johnson. ‘You’d better hurry, though. Time’s getting on. Where’s Winkie? In the big field?’
‘Yes,’ said Henry and hurried off to get him. Soon he was in the wagon shafts, and Henry was in the driving-seat. She drove off smartly, grinning to herself to think how cross George and Anne would be to find they had missed meeting the two boys after all.
Julian and Dick had already arrived at the bus-stop when Henry drove up. They looked hopefully at the wagon, thinking that perhaps one of the girls was driving into meet them.
‘No go,’ said Dick. ‘It’s somebody else, driving into the village. I wonder if the girls got our message. I thought they would meet us at the bus-stop here. Well, we’ll wait a few minutes more.’
They had just sat down on the bus-stop seat again when the wagon stopped nearby. Henry saluted them.
‘Are you Anne’s brother?’ she called. ‘She didn’t get your telephone message, so I’ve come with the wagon instead. Get in!’
‘Oh, jolly nice of you,’ said Julian, dragging his things to the wagon. ‘Er - I’m Julian - and this is Dick. What’s your name?’
‘Henry,’ said Henrietta, helping Julian with his things. She heaved them in valiantly, then clicked to Winkie to stand still and not fidget. ‘I’m glad you’ve come. There are rather a lot of small kids at the stables. We’ll be glad of you two! I say, Timmy will be pleased to see you, won’t he?’
‘Good old Tim,’ said Dick, heaving his things in. Henry gave them a shove too. She wasn’t very fat but she was wiry and strong. She grinned round at the boys. ‘All set! Now we’ll get back to the stables. Or do you want to have an ice-cream or anything before we start? Dinner’s not till one.’
‘No. We’ll get on, I think,’ said Julian. Henry leapt into the driver’s seat, took the reins and clicked to Winkie. The boys were behind in the wagon. Winkie set off at a spanking pace.
‘Nice boy!’ said Dick to Julian, in a low voice, as they drove off. ‘Decent of him to meet us.’
Julian nodded. He was disappointed that Anne and George hadn’t come with Timmy, but it was good to be met by someone! It wouldn’t have been very funny to walk the long road to the farm carrying their packs by themselves.
They arrived at the stables and Henry helped them down with their things. Mrs Johnson heard them arriving and came to the door to welcome them.
‘Ah, there you are. Come along in. I’ve a mid-morning snack for you, because I guessed you’d have had breakfast early. Leave the things there, Henry. If the boys sleep in one of the stables, there’s no sense in bringing them into the house. Now, are George and Anne still not back? What a pity!’
Henry disappeared to put away the wagon. The boys went into the pleasant house and sat down to lemonade and home-made biscuits. They had hardly taken a bite before Anne came running in. ‘Henry told me you’d come! Oh, I’m sorry we didn’t meet you! We thought you’d come by train!’
Timmy came racing in, his tail waving madly. He leapt at the two boys, who were just giving Anne a hug each. Then in came George, her face one big beam.
‘Julian! Dick! I am so glad you’ve come! It’s been dull as ditch-water without you! Did anyone meet you?’
‘Yes. An awfully nice boy,’ said Dick. ‘Gave us quite a welcome and dragged our packs into the wagon, and was very friendly. You never told us about him.’
‘Oh, was that William?’ said Anne. ‘Well, he’s only little. We didn’t bother about telling you of the juniors here.’
‘No, he wasn’t little,’ said Dick. ‘He was quite big, very strong too. You didn’t mention him at all.’
‘Well, we told you about the other girl here,’ said George. ‘Henrietta, awful creature! Thinks she’s like a boy and goes whistling about everywhere. She makes us laugh! You’ll laugh too.’
A sudden thought struck Anne. ‘Did the - er - boy who met you, tell you his name?’ she asked.
‘Yes, what was it now, Henry,’ said Dick. ‘Nice chap. I’m going to like him.’
George stared as if she couldn’t believe her ears. ‘Henry! Did she meet you?’
‘No - not she - he,’ corrected Julian. ‘Fellow with a big grin.’
‘But that’s Henrietta!’ cried George, her face flaming red with anger. ‘The awful girl I told you about, who tries to act like a boy, and whistles and strides about all over the place. Don’t tell me she took you in! She calls herself Henry, instead of Henrietta, and wears her hair short, and...’
‘Gosh, she sounds very like you, George,’ said Dick. ‘Well, I never! It never occurred to me that he was a girl. Jolly good show she put up. I must say I liked him - her, I mean.’
‘Oh!’ said George really furious. ‘The beast! She goes and meets you and never says a word to us, and makes you think she’s a boy - and - and - spoils everything!’
‘Hold your horses, George, old thing,’ said Julian, surprised. ‘After all, you’ve often been pleased when people take you for a boy, though goodness knows why. I thought you’d grown out of it a bit. Don’t blame us for thinking Henry was a boy, and liking him - her, I mean.’
George stamped out of the room. Julian scratched his head and looked at Dick. ‘Now we’ve put our foot in it,’ he said. ‘What an ass George is! I should have thought she’d have liked someone like Henry, who had exactly the same ideas as she has. Well, she’ll get over it, I suppose.’
‘It’s going to be a bit awkward,’ said Anne, soberly.
She was right. It was going to be very awkward!

Chapter Three

SNIFFER

As soon as George had gone out of the room, a scowl on her face, Henry walked in, hands in jodhpur pockets.
‘Hallo!’ said Dick, at once. ‘Henrietta!’
Henry grinned. ‘Oh, so they’ve told you, have they? I was tickled pink when you took me for a boy.’
‘You’ve even got your riding jacket buttons buttoning up the wrong way,’ said Anne, noticing for the first time. ‘You really are a fathead, Henry. You and George are a pair!’
‘Well, I look more like a real boy than George does, anyway,’ said Henry.
‘Only because of your hair,’ said Dick. ‘It’s straight.’
‘Don’t say that in front of George,’ said Anne. ‘She’ll immediately have hers cut like a convict or something, all shaven and shorn.’